Pink

Pink - It's my new Obsession. Well not really, that's just a line from the excellent Aerosmith song of that name. There is a lot to be said for Pink however when the river is in the state it still stubbornly seems to be. I had resisted visiting the river for nearly a week due to the high levels and yucky colour, but today I couldn't wait any longer, and paid a visit to Trottenden. Strangely there had been no Catch Returns from there as yet, though a fair few from Harpers, and even Stonebridge. I therefore had high hopes that the colour would have settled and the level might have gone down.

The reality was not the Trottenden we've grown to love, as it was still a stubborn 43cm, and pretty chocolatey. Fishable, but not easy. I did manage a stocked Rainbow fairly early on, using a Grayling Bomb. This is a bright pink shrimpy type nymph with a double bead, so quite heavy, and that was crucial today. I've often found that bright pink works early in the season, especially in coloured water. After that, it was proving very challenging, though my companion caught on a pink shrimp dropper, but we eventually had to resort to that failsafe for these conditions, the pink squirmy.

Here's proof of how effective they can be, though the squirmy I used today had been tied by me, on a size 16 hook, with a 3.5mm slotted tungsten bead, and using no thread whatsoever, just a length of squirmy and some self-amalgamating tape and a drop of UV glue - another signature Rubbish Fly, but it did catch about 6 fish (3 of them got away after a fight).

It's always nice to catch on flies that you've tied yourself, but I admit to having some reservations about using squirmies, as do some other people. I wouldn't use them except in conditions like this when most normal flies just won't work, but some people just won't use them at all. I have no reservations about recommending Pink flies at this time of year though, so do consider it if you're struggling (and listen to some Aerosmith on the way home perhaps).

If you have views either way about squirmies (or about Pink), maybe leave a comment here?

Tight Lines

PeterB