It's funny how old favourites sometimes get relegated down the list of most used patterns and then forgotten about - todays saviour was one of many in the box I never use now and one I've often thought about stripping down or discarding.
For a couple of years it was a fly that was rarely off a cast of three when bugging for Grayling and it once accounted for all but one in a catch of 27 Grayling in January 2001 - just before the rivers in this area were closed to fishing due to the Foot and Mouth epidemic. This particular stretch of the mid to upper Eden held good numbers of Grayling around that time but after a break of just under a year when the association waters were closed, they seemed to disappear and although numbers have been on the increase over the last couple of years, this area has never produced the same.
For some strange reason this pattern just stopped producing and was replaced by newer, more productive patterns.
That was until today. On a mainly cloudless day, with bright sunshine and a low, gin clear Eden, fishing was going to be tough. The first few pools produced nothing and it was turning into one of those sessions when you start thinking 'it's not going to happen'
I decided to change my team of flies and try one more pool before calling it a day. With nothing to lose and the 'usual suspects' not producing, I decided to give the 'Amber bug' a go. I was into a fish and dropped it first cast.Then a number of fish picked it out of the team of three in the last hour before the light began to fade.
It may have been coincedence, the fish may have come on because the sun had dropped in the western sky and was off the water, but regardless of what it was, all the fish came to the same fly. So it's back in favour again. I only had one left in my box so a few will be getting knocked up before my next outing.
And just like another favourite... It's not averse to picking up the odd 'rock fish' either.
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