Poppy Pointon n Annie Rose on the fly and LTD

Annie on the net waiting for action

Well i have had my little chickens over the last few days and since they were born i have dreamed of them fishing with me at some point.....
I have taken them the Wye once and once the stones were being thrown in i had to call it a day after 2 mins!!

Well Popps is 5 and Annie nearly 3, yes too young to take them fishing yet but everytime i ask them to go there little face light up and i just cant help myself to give it a go...they have never seen me catch a fish and this is a goal for me but on two occasions i have failed as they get bored after 5 mins..Wednesday i took them down to see Woody fish the Dove near Rocester, well this was a chance to get them to see a real fish for the first time, we arrived to the shouts across the river of WWWooooddddyyyy!!, my girls love Woody and always laugh when i mention him so they were keen to get there...

The river was shocking for rising fish, infact i think the Dove has been very poor this year but thats another story...

Poppy n Annie living the dream

It looked like we were on for a blank when Woody got the bugs out as this was going to be the only way to get a fish...watching Woody fish was a pleasure, he has come on to be a very good angler and fishes very well, far from when i met him a few years ago on the bridge at Elly, he catches fish whenever he goes and his whole fly selection and presentation is as good as any these days...Woody is also a very good friend and has done things for me that only a proper mate would do, through my ban on Leek and district he stuck by me through this tuff time and stuck his neck on the block without batting a eye lid..a 'proper sound youth' where i come from...

Well before long woodys line stopped and he tightened up into a beautiful Grayling and brought it over to my girls...there faces lit up with anticipation, they touched the fish and were loving it, i told them that this fish was the lady of the stream and they looked at it like magic as i do everytime i land one! 
A real special moment for me and one i wont forget and i dont think they will...
We left Woody after a few more fish shouting WWWooodddyyy all the way home...

Tonight i got the chance to take them down to the stepping stones at dovedale, my plan to get daddy to catch a fish for them so i could be there hero for the night!
I knew i would struggle and opted to play around the stones pool until i saw a fish rise, this never happened and it was time to give Poppy her first proper casting lesson, shes a left hander and boy did she pick it up, pausing and the back cast and putting a line out!!! wicked!!
The river is in the saddest state i have seen, it so low it looks nothing like the river i knew last year, time will tell but i feel if the rain comes the Dove will fish its head off for trout in late September...
I tried to fish but had no chance, there were no rises and i just was happy to watch Poopy casting a fly while Annie Rose thrashed the water with my net!!
At the end of the session i still could not catch one for my girls but this day will come soon i hope..
On the way home Poppy asked why i had not caught? i said its very hard to catch a fish and she said 'but Woody caught them last night'!! what more could i say...

Was i living the dream? oh yes, we all were!!!

Nice one

Pure Magic