Fly Fishing - Dry Fly Success - Day 35

17th August 2015

With a couple of hours to spare and the sun beating down i headed off to the river. Starting off in my new starting run, the deep slow section i tried a new klinkhammer, a white body with orange back, and the good old BWO flymph. I also had my new line that i got from the USA 'Drift' for the price it had very small diameter so was willing to give it a run.  I worked up the slow section and quickly worked the riffles, they were very shallow and fast but i seen a trout jump from behind a rock to chase the nymph but gave up. It didn't try again unfortunatly. As the way down is the only way back i fish my way back down stream, and yet again a got a hit and was into a trout. It fought well for it's size, plenty of energy and didn't want to come up. after a short fight it was in the net and back safely in the water.

That was all there so i headed off to my usual run and noticed alot of people around. it was school holidays and a hot day, people were rife around the river in these conditions like hogweed. How they find paths through the woods i have no idea. I had cast in to a riffle when i struck into a fish, just as 2 small kids came through the woods on the opposite side to see if i'd seen 3 people. A bit of a distraction as the fish was intent on flying, jumping at me twice i had no time for the net to reduce it's chance of injury and managed to keep it from smacking on the rocks.

 I reached the end of my stretch and it was quieter here surprisingly, and in the top shallows i was into a 3rd trout. Another jumper! Something about them today made them all want to jump. And that held true as i looked downstream to see plenty of rises.

 With a nice long stretch downstream with an almost clear behind i decided to practise my casting on the dry fly. i had had some pointers from Mike when we went for Grayling and he was happy with my casting on the canal but i had to put the presentation in too on a river.  Fishing downstream i had to create slack to avoid drag. I had only ever caught 5 on the dry prior to today and was quite excited when i seen the fish rise and take my fly. i had done it right! A small trout but it was fooled none the less.

Now i had to keep consistancy and not long after i was in again! Magical! I love fly fishing due to the different methods and tricks that you can use. With nymping being so successful for me and enjoyable, some of the hits you get are unreal i was still lacking in my dry fly ability. Seeing the fish rise to take the fly off the top was confirmation i was doing it right! Another small trout but i didn't mind. I had tried several dries before today and this was the first to be consistant.

 

Now having had 2 i decided i had to try to present a fly upstream. So i waded downstream and turned to cast upstream. After seeing a rise after 5-10 mins after the fish had settled from me wading past i cast to it, and it popped up and took it, again a small trout but it had helped me in my confidence with my presentation!

 3 children asked could they watch despite their mother telling them to not mither me, i said yeah why not and 5 minutes later one through a rock into my swim. I questioned him, 'i'm not going to catch a fish now am i?' Reeling my line in i set off home.

Cutting through the woods i ran into a few fish rising, and was spoilt for choice in where i cast. I chose the closest rise and it soon took it! It was marginally the biggest of the day and a nice way to end the day.

Was crazy to think i almost doubled my dry fly tally from 5 to 9 today. With confidence now in my dry fly i won't be put off as easily when the nymph is a bit quiet and with 2 methods in my arsenal i can cover more fish!

Video of todays action!

Fly Fishing - Canal - Tench on the fly

13th August 2015

Had sorted a pike and perch fly session on the canal with Mike mainly for a laugh. Whether we caught or not we didn't mind but we'd give it a go as it is very much possible. I arrive late to find Mike has already bagged a pike so we now had the intention of catching a big perch. It was warm but cloudy. Not comfy fishing but better than bright sunshine.

Starting off with a false bread fly acting as an indicator and 2 feet below i put on a white nymph which other than imitating the caddis on the river looked a fairly good maggot. But after 10-20 minutes without a nibble i switched to a bloodworm fly. basically a red nymph with a bit of pipe cleaner either side.  I felt a few nibbles but they were probably small perch and after 5 minutes or so i eventually got a good enough take and struck. A nice small perch but i wanted bigger.

With a few nibble inbetween it was 10 minutes before my next decent take in which i struck and got a nice perch. There was some activity around, pike or carp knocking about but after a few more nibbles it went quiet for 10 minutes or so. Mike came back from the pike fly to target perch, had a quick chat and fished the opposite side of the weeds.

It went quiet which i pointed out to Mike until i saw my indicator wobbling slowly then it went under slow. I struck, it was heavy, it wasn't moving particularly fast but i had 2lb leader through to tippet on so couldn't pull it to hard. I seen a tail and knew it was probably a tench with its short broad shape. I fought it the best i could basically having it swimming round in a big circle, the rod held high above my head as it swam against the bank under my feet. I pulled it through some weeds and managed to get it flat on it's side. Mike readied the net were it tried one last pull but it was game over and in the net. A very nice tench and a personal best, i've only had 1 previously in my life that i'd landed.

But that wasn't it. 15 minutes later after resetting up. i was in to another tench. I fought this in the same way but the weed stuck to the indicator this time and i had a good amount of weed snagged up.  Mike readied the net but with the fish dead weight at the bottom we was unsure if it was still on and if it was in the large weed build up that occured. we gambled and netted the weed which caused the tench to rise up beside the net, with the indicator snagging in the net the sheer weight of the weed and the tench diving caused the 2lb tippet to snap. A shame but all good fun.

A very fun day for the short space of time we fished. with 3 species caught on the fly between me and Mike it was mission complete.  Probably the first Pike, Perch and Tench caught on the Fly on the MBB Canal.

Fly Fishing - Meeting the Lady of the Stream - Day 34

 11th August 2015

The title suggests i ran into another woman doing voodoo in the river, however this is a very much different and special story. I had made plans with Mike to go fishing on a river were Grayling are meant to live and at early doors we was off. Upon arrival we had a scout around and found it fairly easy to spot the Brown Trout swimming below, popping out for nymphs. Gearing up we trekked off downstream and set up under a bridge.

Mike had given me some info on Grayling. They like bling and colour. so i popped on a peasant tail with a gold bead, purple collar and a red cotton tail, and to cover the natural food i popped on the BWO Flyph for good measure. Mike would lead as he knew the water better and without a wading stick it was good to see someone go first. I nymphed as i usually would, working the lanes when i got a hit and struck into a fish. It had some pull on it but after a short fight i got it to the top only to see a long dorsal fin. It was a Grayling! Trying to not let excitement get the best of me i kept my cool and bagged him. Beautiful little fish, didn't want to show its dorsal fin so i didn't force it and i released it happily back into the river.

Worked our way upstream and Mike bagged a small trout before we jumped out and walked up a little bit.  Seeing a couple of fish rise we jumped in and fish there. I saw a flash of a decent trout next to my nymphs and i stupidly struck, reacting at the fish rather than the take. Further up i managed a tiny trout which swam straight towards me and plopped straight off as i picked it up.

Now the next bit was somewhat surreal. There was a a fast riffly run, not deep but just enough and i snagged, so pulling from the snag i cast and snagged again. Stepped forward to remove it to see my snag had moved. Slightly confused my eyes adjusted and realised i'd somehow snagged a Grayling in it's dorsal fin. It was literally just sat there. It came to as i tried to pull it across. Very difficult considering i was hooked in it's midriff. IT was bigger than the first and pulling a flat object through water is tough, if it had taken then nymph i would of been able to turn it's head. It soon figured out what was happening when it realised Mike had a net and it bolted downstream and popped the hook. We laughed as we hadn't caught it how we wanted to so it didn't count but would of been nice to see.

As we headed upstream we kept running into trout swimming around us as we waded. Mike spotted a fish rise up ahead and within one or two casts it struck hard and he bagged it. Unfortunately it didn't stay around long enough for a picture after the hook was out. It was coming up to dinner time so we was fishing the last run when i got a big hit and with the clarity of the water being clear despite it's murky color i could see it was a good trout. Back and forth i turned it not letting it get any powerful runs and it was in the net. It was a very nice trout and a possible PB after measuring it up it came to be 1inch above my PB at 16inches. I'd now caught my first Grayling and a new PB.

We went back to the car and had dinner before we moved off to our next section. The water level was down everywhere so we knew it would be tough but we was pleased so far. After Mike missed a few fish in a run he let me have a pop at it. With a klink and dink method now on with 2 nymphs the dry went under and i struck, back and forth i took it as it tried to stay deep. A dark little trout but it added confidence to my new set up so i refished the run i'd just done.

It wasn't long after i had learnt to bounce my nymphs off the wall to keep the close that i was in and this trout wasn't staying around. It tore off upstream as far as i would allow it before i turned it's head round. it wasn't finished though after swimming deep it came up at my feet almost giving it slack line but i was quick to pull it tight with my left hand. After a few turns i noticed the fish had started to swim funny and we contemplated if it had been foul hooked or the line had wrapped round and it turned out to be the latter.  That was 15inch an equal to my original record.

It was an amazing days fishing,despite the water level being down knowing we would of had alot more didn;t dishearten us. it just gave us incentive to go again in the rainny months.

Fly Fishing - Morning Glory - Day 33

8th August 2015

Back on the water after my accident, my leg from my ankle to my knee a mix of purple and yellow bruising. Sore enough that the waters current hurt, and it wasn't a pain that you got used to. deeper water hurt more, and faster currents especially. None the less it was 6am. I'm on the river as a light mist hangs across the water. Klink & dink with a orange parachuted emerger and a BWO flymph on the point. 2 feet tippet.  Now i'll cut this short. I fished my whole stretch in just under 2 hours. not a jiffy. not even a fish rising. I said to myself, "water temperature" with the trees surrounding the water it was hard for the sunlight to reach the water. 7.50am i was hanging round the end of the river when a fish rose, and another and another. Turns out there alarms are at 8am.  5 minutes later i had a fish on, taking the nymph just at the back of the pool. I played it back and forth in a bid to tire it out, it seemed really up for it. Probably a whole nights worth of energy built up! Netted in 1. A nice trout and i was on a high.

I moved into the riffles and the fly had barely been in the water a second when i was in, only a small trout but it was jumping around, jump jump jump rock. On colliding with the rock on the bottom of the riffle the hook came out. Silly fish, i thought, only wanted a picture! I changed my rules and fished downstream, as i didn't want to go all the way back to come back up again. I reached a pool where hogweed lined an undercut on the edge of a pool, i have not caught many here but have lost a few 'bigger' ones here, the fly drifted past the hogweed and bam i was in again. after a couple of twists it shot off upstream with a surge of pace giving the impression it was really big but it gave up pretty much after that and was happily having it's picture taken and off it went.

I was back to the beginning and still a bit disappointed i had only hit into 3 but the sun still wasn't on the water so i decided to explore! i knew a spot where it was a little more open but getting there was dangerous and with my recent accident you'd think 'don't bother' well you can't catch them if you don't go to them. Fighting through thornbushes with spikes easily 2 inches my net getting snagged up my body, arms and face too. don't even mention my rod! I made it to 'the edge' which is a 70' slope with no hard surfaces surrounded by... thorn bushes and the occasional hogweed. after tiptoeing down like i was attempting limbo in a bid to keep balance i reached the bank below. The shallows were filled with tiny fry, i even caught one in my hand there was that many!

I stood up and cast, my net was caught on my jacket so i was just untangling it when the klinkhammer twitched and then went under, i struck and was greeted by a large splash. It felt good and it fought well, jumping clear out of the water, after turning it back and forth to confuse it as these early morning trout were packed with fight i managed to steer it towards the net. But it wasn't ready and it turned away inches from the net. i had it near the surface now, it seemed tired and i pulled it towards the shallows but again it didn't  want to be there and turned back but luckily towards my net, but with a last dash splash as it came towards it i held my nerve and netted all 11 inches of him.  The fish was far beyond tired though, one picture and he was off with a crazed leap from my hand back into the murky waters. That's why i photograph over water.

I was walking down the same bank, casting as i explored as it was new territory when i was in again! Initially swimming downstream with a quick flick in the air it headed back upstream. Initially it was an easy fight, pulling him across into the shallows i was convinced his batteries weren't charged.  But the seeing the net with a splash and a turn he shot off whence he came. I tried the same trick, back and forth changing direction, it felt like i was pulling him along yet he was pulling the whole time i was just changing his direction. on the 4th turn i'd got him back near the shallows and this time i was ready with the net and bagged him.  A well hooked trout square in the middle of the top lip. A little blood from there which was a first for me, from over 100 trout caught since starting this was the first to bleed. He already had a large scar on his body but it looked well healed. Probably a heron.

It was a great day despite the slow start. At this point it was very warm as midday drew near. Definitely taking pruners to trim them hawthorns, will take a while but will save time and reduce risk of damage in the future.

Todays Video

Fly Fishing - Accidents Happen - Day 32

3rd August 2015

It was a unplanned days fishing today, with rain forecast all week i was surprised to see it clear so with no jobs to do i was onto Mark to see if he was up for a stab for a couple of hours. Thankfully he was and we met up and walked down to the river.

We fished the usual spots but with barely any sign of fish we was a little stumped. It was drizzling at this point but nothing major and my duo nymph and Marks single nymph were not tempting anything.  We was half way round and in the section were trees are a menace. I quote Mark 'I hate this section'. They are awful especially as if you snag and manage to pull out of it, or even ping a hook off a fish it will go straight into the trees above. 

Now i'd changed to a duo dry earlier as i seen a single fish rise once but in this riffly section i took off the bottom dry and stuck a nymph on. One i hadn't used before either. So with the klinkhammer a foot above the nymph and in fast moving water i really didn't expect too much. I was wrong, i was soon in and had a tricky little fight with a trout, my rod got stuck in the tree at one point which had me worried for a second. I moved up to the slow run where the fish rise but got nothing. Mark changed to the same set up of a nymph below a dry and about 5 minutes later he was in. On the dry! Finally tricked one of them! Wasn't a big trout but we expected that as there is alot of trout here so they'll greatly vary in size. 

With time running short for Mark we headed to the final run and i missed one and lost one as it jumped on the strike. I was surprised how this method i had set up was working so well. It will probably never work again for some time as that's how river fishing works. I walked back with Mark and decided to stay an hour. Doing a quick run of the river with the 'new method' i hit into a fish literally as the nymph hit the water, the hook didn't set and it was off. Expletives.

I worked up all the way back to where i caught my first fish and i was in again! This time it was bigger, it was surreal at first as it was swimming the current, i pulled back and it was literally just staying in the one spot as the forces cancelled each other out. It realised it wasn't getting anywhere so turned downstream. Taking me straight under a rock i had menueavre the rod tactically to avoid a snap and though it felt like it took some time it was fairly quick. It then swam to another rock a little bit further downstream and sat under it, i advanced on it net read presuming it was tired when it swam towards me, the klinkhammer just brushing the net, thankfully not snagging it and turned back downstream. i was still chasing this trout downstream. I eventually got it stopped near a rough riffle which tired it out quite quickly, having to swap hands with the rod to get the net in with my right hand and bag the trout. A perfect 11 inch Brownie. Tired enough to have a decent picture taken.


 

I was chuffed and with it being 4pm which was around the time i said i'd be home i made my way back up onto the path. Rung the Mrs to let her know i was on my way and then proceeded to fall 20feet down the cliff face. Yes, you read that right. The bank had collapsed under my feet and i feel almost vertically down the cliff. My reel made slight contact as it was muddy and my shin made definate contact with the rocky face. Ripping a hole in my wader. Thankfully fixable! I had a dead leg but could walk thankfully. I reclimbed out of the river and made my way to the end section of the river to test my waders. They are indeed leaking now. However, i managed to hook another trout during the test and this was a little fighter too, pulled me all around the shallows and as i drew it towards the net after a fair fight, it pinged off. More expletives. I decided to head off home.

On getting home i inspected my leg, it was pretty obvious it was a bad injury, as my waders came off i was greeted by a tennis ball glued to my leg. This was infact the swelling. I had x-rays in hospital for a suspected hair line fracture as i could support my weight. But thankfully 'the worlds biggest tibia' (as the nurse described it) had held strong and i was able to go home!

It was an unavoidable accident and if it wasn't me it would of been the next person who walked that path. Thankfully i'm ok and lived to tell the tale.

Fly Fishing - Future Planning - Day 31

31st July 2015

Today i was eagerly anticipating meeting up with Mark and hopefully the fish were even more hungry than yesterday. Fortunately with some cloud cover it would keep alot of the people off the river. I went down to the river to meet Mark who had been there a bit earlier before me and after 5-10 minutes he waded upstream to me. After a catch up about the perils he'd endured, wading into deep water surrounded by 8 foot pools and a steep bank covered in hogweed, he'd practically crawled through the overgrowth and luckily only met his match with several bramble bushed, he had cuts and bruises to boot, fortunatly that section is on my radar for next spring. by the time i went down there to watch the water to see a fish rise every 5 seconds and to hear Marks fight with something big, the hogweed had already engulfed the bank and with very deep pools and a silty bottom the risk in getting there is too great. Next spring i will look at limiting the hogweed in certain areas especially the better runs.

We showed each other our set ups to make sure we didn't match, to find what the fish were on earlier and worked our way upstream. With no hits in the riffles we did see fish rising up ahead but somehow despite how stealthy we are within 30 feet the rises stop. And they'll start once your 30 feet past them.  Strange! It wasn't until i was working an overcut that i saw my first trout. as i pulled the nymphs out to recast a trout chased them up to the surface then turned away. I tried a few casts but couldn't tempt it so let Mark know so he could have a pop but it still wasn't interested. Probably seen me as it rose up.

A little further up i hit into a fish, i had no idea of its size as it swam straight at me, rod held straight up as i tried to keep the line taught, it jumped at my feet and came off. It was only a small trout but i was still a bit gutted. We headed a little bit upstream to a fork in the river, we allocated ourselves a side and worked our way up. First cast in the second section and i was in, it splashed around some but i let it have some water and managed to ease it into the net. No sooner had i let the fish go i looked up to see Mark netting his own trout.

We tried our hand at streamer fishing for 5-10 minutes, something we hadn't done before and still alot to learn. Trying to lure the fish out of deep slow pools with nothing rising is key on the agenda. But with nothing showing we headed upstream to a quieter spot which had 3 girls playing in the water. They soon cleared as we made our way down but again nothing was showing in the riffles. Up ahead though there was plenty rising so i tied on a klink and dink set up while Mark retained a shiny nymph.

The fish stopped rising as they always do as we drew closer, after my 3rd or so cast down went my klinkhammer as something grabbed my nymph but i missed the strike, i had no other hits but plenty of tangles as i found it tricky in the enclosed space. Again the trout started rising behind us as we moved up so Mark allowed his line to run downstream. As his line drew taught and created drag his nymph would rise in the water like an emerger and sure enough a fish rose up after it with a slight leap before disappearing again. it had rejected it at the last second, and unfortunately it was the last of our action.

A strange day as i had expected more after the previous days fishing and with better conditions and less people around but that is river fishing for you, totally unpredictable. Still a great day though!

My Trout

Marks Trout

 Where the first fish chased the nymph

 

 Mark wading up after his adventures

Fly Fishing - Summer Madness - Day 30

30th July 2015

It's been a whole week since i entertained the fish and it's been a whole week of rain. Even yesterday there was a short, sharp spell at 2am, and being a dad of a young child i am up at that time.  Today was much better, windy but warm and with plans to fish in the morning with Mark i thought i'd go check on the river to see how it is and remove anything that might have washed down.

All seemed quiet i reached my 'testing' run and was into a fish straight away but it was off no sooner had i hooked it. Not bad considering water visibility was about half a foot. I had a Czech-mate beadhead and the zug bug on. A little light for the fast water but it had worked. As i worked upstream towards 'big fish hole' i spotted several children swinging from tree branches, with 4 of them on 1 it was clear they was trying to snap it.  I worked my run a little hastier as they began throwing boulders in when as i got closer the worst sight came upon me. Around 20 or so children aged 2-14 and around 8 adults all messing around in the river. Throwing stuff, swinging on trees, picnicking and they didn't seem the 'take it home' type. Jumping in the river, paddling in it. Well i don't think i'll get much in this run today so i cut through the bodies and one parent had the audacity to ask if i had caught anything. I ignored him as i had a few too many replies. One being 'i'm sure your kids have caught more off this water than i have today' little did they know that they was yards from a huge forest of hogweed.

It was pretty quiet all the way round, 1 fish rose twice but nothing else. no knocks or nothing. Until i reached my end run.  Oh i don't know if it's the fly or i've lost my touch but i had easily 20 takes and misses. 1 fell off as it came to the net but i managed to land 2. Nothing special but trout all the same, at one point i had 3 takes cast after cast and still failed to set a hook.

After 20 minutes or so of being into fish, a few dog walkers with children came down, 2 of them left as i heard them mention someone was fishing and the rest decided to throw stones. so i packed up sticks and headed home, checked the family fun day spot earlier and they were all still there. it's a shame the river can't be private sometimes. but with the summer holidays here i can only expect more of it.