"The brown Trout on a fly is the finest test of a fisherman there is"

You're making me feel better with that statement Dan. I've only ever fly fished but remember a magical afternoon on the River Dove in Derbyshire fishing for wild Brown Trout with my dad some years ago. It was perfect weather, just the right warmth for lots of insects there were mergansers fishing for smaller fish on the stiller stretches. The river was crystal clear.

We stalked along the back for a while looking for trout and at some point Dad stopped to fish. I carried on upstream and eventually spotted a beautiful large brown sculling in the shallows, plucking insects from the surface in that powerful, incredible and indescribable way they curve and twist when they rise. I had a dry fly on and repeatedly cast upstream, gently guiding the fly right above his nose. He was having none of it and eventually I conceded defeat and we moved on. In truth I wasn't sorry I didn't catch him; he seemed like the living embodiment of the river, a true spirit of nature.

I caught a fish later in the day, but it was smaller and I put it back. Wonderful times.