The perfect afternoon....

Well with all important activities sorted for the day, the missus happy and the kids busy I decided to pop off to the river for a few hours. With a round trip of two hours to get to and from the river I usually hesitate if I can only go for a few hours. Dovedale always seems the obvious choice, easy parking, easy access and you are fishing within minutes of arriving.

However I was desperate to try another section of the river and so this afternoon I decided to head to Lords Bridge. I've fished this section before and found the wading treacherous, so was a bit apprehensive about fishing by myself!

Having parked and tackled up(and realised I'd forgotten my camera) I walked down the river bank looking for somewhere to drop in. The most difficult thing about fishing Lord's Bridge is getting into the river. Having found an ideal spot I dropped into the river and waded slowly upstream.

Having just watched a video on the Fly Forum(www.flyforums.co.uk) on how to fish the duo, I realised that I was probably not fishing this quite right. So I was determined to try and get my setup right. After a bit of fiddling around with the depth and size of fly I was finally into my first fish...a cracking brownie with bright red spots synonymous with Lord's Bridge.

And the fish came all afternoon, from tiny little brownies to a real lunker with the biggest tail I've ever seen. Thrown in were a few out of season grayling which were quickly released!

Around four o'clock a small hatch started and fish started rising all around me. Off came the duo and on went a small Olive and within minutes I was rewarded with a brownie of about a pound. Fish continued coming to the dry for about 15 minutes and it provided me with some heart-stopping action....there really is nothing better than watching a fish come up and suck your fly down, and then lifting into it as it swims rapidly off upstream.

The best thing about the few hours that I spent on the river was the complete lack of people...it was just me and nature! The only sounds that could be heard was the river and the odd bird....perfect!