The spider and the fly

Early summer in Aberdeenshire has been particularly dry this year, resulting in low, clear water and challenging angling conditions. Regardless, I have been out along the banks of my local river Don, in pursuit of wild brown trout, at every opportunity.

Friday evening last looked promising, with cloud cover and a light southerly breeze, so donning waders, jacket and age-worn fishing bag, I made my way riverward through fields of thigh-high barley. A farm collie, leaving his bed of straw, barked in protest at my passing, my words of reassurance doing little to pacify him. Perhaps the dog was barking out a warning, for on reaching the river, a heron rose almost at my feet, shrieking ‘Frank. Frank’ and giving me quite a jolt.

Bamboo wand

Regaining composure, I looked along my chosen pool, which runs between stands of