I woke up at 6am to the sound of rain lashing against my window but it was forecast to die down, even if the wind wasn't. I met Sean at his place and after a coffee and quick break down of the days plans we where on the road. On the way down through the countryside I was treated to my first ever sighting of wild deer. A memory that will stay with me for life. The rain had died and the day was all of a sudden looking up.
We got to the lake, got tackled up, paid for our tickets and off we went, the first spot we tried was unfishable so we headed further across the lake to get some shelter, the drift was still a little fast but was fishable. I spent the first 15 minutes of fishing time trying to find my rhythm, my leader kept tangling and I was having a total nightmare, Sean offered to help but i declined as I knew I just needed to battle it out with myself and get my head in the game. After some swearing all was ok and I soon settled into the routine.
Sean had landed a few rainbows before I got my first take; I defy any man to not don a ear to ear grin as that fly rod wraps over for the first time, it can only be likened to ones first string of mackerel or first ever Tope run, very exciting. The smile says it all, My first ever Rainbow trout and my first ever fish on a fly.
A few other boats had noticed our success and had come to join us so It was time to find another drift.
In the next four drifts we managed 5 fish between us, not bad. I had left my dinner in my car, outside Seans so we motored back to the visitors center for a quick lunch. When we got to the pontoon we noticed the water was a few inches lower.
After dinner we tried the bottom end near the damn but the wind was pushing us across the lake at a fair rate so it was back to the area that had been producing earlier on. Where had all the fish gone
It had died completely we put the change down to the water being let out but carried on keen to add to our tally.A fishless hour or so later I managed a cheeky little pike which although wasn't the target of the day it massively increased our now dwindling interest and I had nailed a pike on the fly before I'd even tried for them. Soon after Sean took another Rainbow but it was hard going.
We moved into a bay in an attempt to find some fish, a few hours later I had a take but the hook was soon spat, I sharpened up and had two fish on consecutive drifts and I was made up to have reached my bag limit of 6 Trout on my first ever fly trip, Id of been happy to have caught one
We decided enough was enough and we would start heading back in drifting the banks as we went, Sean managed 2 more fish to take his total to 10 to the boat. We had come to the end of 'drift able' bank and the whistle was blown. Time to cross the lake, even stenaline wouldn't have crossed the lake in them conditions but we managed it back safely, albeit wetter than we would have liked. I had a great day out with a great bloke and I can't thank Sean enough for putting me on the fish and making my first fly fishing experience a memorable one. I must admit It was nice to be the novice for a change and hopefully Sean got the same enjoyment from teaching me as I get when I take new Kayak anglers out
that's what us gillies try to do for others get them onto the fish 
