End of the brown trout season

30th September is the last day of the brown trout fishing season, so yesterday I took full advantage of the weather and our location which is in very close proximity to the River Dwyfach (about 20ft). For a good hour I could not find what the fish were feeding on, even though they were feeding voraciously. I kept at it, changing flies, changing tactics and getting more and more frustrated. I had a couple of bites but missed them. When just about at the point of giving up BANG! a large fish hit the fly, I lifted the rod and the hook was set. I could see it was a trout, as it thrashed about violently in a valiant attempt to throw the hook. I did not want to lose this fish. I kept the rod high and slowly brought the fish to the bank, all of the time thinking what a fighter this was. Safely out of the water and on the bank the fish did not look as large as I had thought it might be. Quickly I measured it, 9 inches, this was a specimen fish for such a small river and just on the size limit to take. I then photographed it, because I know that no-one would believe me. Doesn't look so large, does it? It's all relative you see, fish do not grow to any real size in this river, because the food is just not available. This summer I have caught about fifty fish here and have never hooked into anything the size of this one. I savoured the moment and admired my catch for just a few seconds longer before returning it to river, maybe I'll see it next year. As you might be able to tell I was ecstatic, so while waiting for my evening meal I fished a little further down stream for another half hour. I landed another two fish, the usual size and lost several more. What a great note on which to end the season. Thank you river, thank you fish, for the company, the many happy hours and I have really enjoyed the challenge.