The River Swale in North Yorkshire is one of the lesser known Yorkshire Dales Rivers however it has everything you might expect....beautiful countryside, wild brown trout and grayling all in stunning scenery and steeped in history.
The article by a good fishing friend Don Stazicker was featured in Trout & Salmon magazine in 2020. I, The Durham Fly Fishing Company was the Local Guide for the day. It provides lots of information on the river, the fish, the history of the area as well as top flies and methods.
The River Swale is not an easy river and this article was done during a prolonged hot spell of weather and very low river levels. The fish were extra spooky and the advantage of local knowledge and a local Guide reaped dividends with some wonderful fish to the net for both of us.
There is another story, when doing the feature, I hooked into a monster +3lb trout which screamed downstream after being hooked and removing all my fly line and a good load of backing... our photographer caught the moment when I lost it and the accompanying expletive ***!!! being uttered. Well, you win some and you lose some... that's fishing and I know where that trout lives now.
I hope you enjoy the article and feel free to get in touch if you're interested in fishing any of our great Northern Rivers or just want some good honest friendly advice.
Tight lines
Stuart
