Chalk Stream Fly Fishing Masterclass

Yours truely on the chalk

Because I do so many different kinds of fly fishing I tend to be a "Jack of all and master of none".  Now I am retired I am keen to improve my chalk stream performance because being a member of the Salisbury and District Angling Club (SADAC) I have, for a reasonable annual subscription, access to a lot of lovely water and beautiful fish.  Acknowledging that local knowledge is king and having not fished the club waters for several months I decided to pay a visit to the office and seek the guidance of the Fishery Manager, Andreas.  After we had swapped a few stories and discussed ways of avoiding backache while fishing he advised me where to fish adding that he would be there later himself.  

 

Andreas focused

So later that afternoon I got to fish with Andreas and it turned out to be a master class on how to outwit the fish and catch.  Here is a summary of the key things I learnt:-

• I am reasonably good at spotting fish but Andreas was better.  I think the fact that his Polaroid sun glasses had side shades gave him an advantage.  I have never bothered to fit mine side shades but I will now.  
• He knew the river far better than me and where the fish's favourite feeding locations were.
• He prioritised the nearest fish, crouched forward and really focused on them and what they were doing.
• If fish were not seen to be actively feeding he left them after a few casts and moved on.
• He used a longer leader than I, say around 12 feet.
• He used smaller flies than I, sixteens and eighteens.
• He was constantly watching the fly life around, both above and on the water.
• If there was no top of the water activity he switched to nymphing.
• When the sedge were hatching he used F- flies, little V shaped CDC flies in brown or black.
• As the evening drew to a close and activity on the deeper water slowed down he moved us to the faster riffles where there was lots of surface activity.

It was a privilege to have fished with an expert who so willingly shared his knowledge.

The reward a pretty brown

Salmon parr

Searching for bigger fish under the trees

Supper!

A stripped and twisted willow twig makes a handy fish carrying handle!

 

 

Back on the chalk streams with the Salisbury and District Angling Club

My brother Chris finally on the water

Finally my brother and I got on the water on the 19th May. The weather was kind and I showed him the club beats at West Amesbury. There was plenty of water and it was a bit coloured so I took him down the club office (interestingly called "The Cart Shed") and as it was windy we picked beats 18 and 19 as the trees provide some shelter there.  The water seemed clearer and it was just great being back on the chalk.  He managed one BT and I managed three all on klinkhammers. The fish were small but beautifully coloured. We then tried beats 8 and 10 and met up with the bailiff who was fishing 9.  We all blanked (including the bailiff, so no shame).  There was the occasional mayfly showing.

 

The next day I fished the Wylye for a couple of hours on my own and had 3 BTs and 2 grayling.  The water was clearer here but the wind made casting a bit tricky.

I cannot wait to get back and enjoy some more of these lovely fish.

Fly Fishing a Chalk Stream Paradise, worth every mile!

As things slowed down on the M25 motorway I asked myself “Is it worth driving over 100 miles for some fishing?”  My answer to myself was “I am going to a beautiful river, with crystal clear waters and lush vegetation.  I will probably meet the odd friendly person fishing and see wonderful fish and enjoy the solitude of standing in or by the river.  If I can trick a few fish into taking an artificial fly, steer them safely through the river’s obstacle course and bring them to hand for a quick photo opportunity and a safe release then it is all worth the miles!  For a few brief hours I will be in paradise.

So what happened?  I parked up at the recreation ground, noting another vehicle with a club sticker on the windscreen.  Having donned waders etc and decided to use my old Sage 9 foot 4wt rod I headed for the river.  At the bridge over the Ham Hatches I could see the monster fish darting back and forth as they fed on the nymphs jetted towards them by the water rushing through the hatch restrictions.  Normally you cannot get a fly to them, but I decided to try using the Czech nymph approach.  I have never used that much as generally the waters I fish are not deep enough.  In the space of 15 minutes I had hooked two twelve inch grayling, both released to grow on.

I then walked downstream only to find a grandfather and his son in the river at the beat I had fancied fishing.  No problem, there is plenty of river; I think the club has something like 26 miles of water.  I asked if they minded me fishing 100 yards upstream of them and they agreed.   Having entered the water I then had a frustrating time of hooking trees and vegetation and losing flies!  This was exasperated by the fact that my eyes were watering in the breeze and I was having trouble getting the fine leader through the eye of tiny gold headed nymphs.  Whilst all this was going on I kept quietly moving upstream conscious of the two anglers downstream of me also wanting to move upstream.  Eventually it all came together as having spotted a few brownies lying close to the bank I managed to tempt one into a take.  She immediately (yes I think it was a female) took to the mass of vegetation and I managed to swim her downstream through the ranunculi (up-steam would have been fatal, with everything catching up).  There was still a bunch of vegetation wrapped around her head so rather than using my net I brought her to hand and with the rod tucked under my arm proceeded to lift the debris off her head.  In doing so I also must have released the hook because with one violent movement she was back in the water, heading for safety!  So no photo opportunity for either of us!

I then decided to take a break and drift back to the car for a sit down and a sandwich.  As I got back to the bridge I found a middle aged lady standing on the bridge trotting bread down over the very excited monsters below.  I wasn’t sure how to react, was it poaching or was there some local tradition that allowed non club members to fish from the bridge?  Anyway she was very pleasant and I wasn’t going to spoil her day or mine by challenging her.  So I watched.  Eventually she hooked up and landed a nice brownie of around a pound, after a quick photograph I released it for her having made sure it had fully recovered from the experience.  By this time another couple of fishing gents had arrived and I joked with them that I would probably be sent to prison for aiding poaching!  The lady then departed to e mail the picture of the fish to her son on the other side of the planet and I got to eat my sandwich. 

After a brief lunch I walked the bank upstream spotting fish lying in close to the bank and trying to tempt them.  When I got to the wading section I quietly entered the water and slowly moved upstream.  At first I didn’t see much but there were fish there and as my eyes adjusted to the light and conditions I started to see plenty of fish.  Whilst standing next to a large bush, changing a fly, three large fish moved in, right in front of me just a rod’s length away.   They were in less than 18 inches of water.  Keeping my movements to a minimum I started casting trying to get the fly in the water a couple of yards upstream of them.  Then the phone rang and like a fool I answered it.  It was an update on a burglary that had happened at a church I am an honoree facilities manager for.  I then tried to make a call and got my old fishing pal, Richard by mistake.  I told him where I was, he was at work.  I mentioned the fish in front of me and he kindly recommended trying the “induced take” method.   I didn’t tell him that the water was coming towards the fish at around 5 miles an hour!  The lesson worth learning is “leave the phone in the car”!

It was a big fish just under my rod tip.

Eventually I spooked the fishes and returned to the car.  I popped in to see my daughter and family at Andover on the way home.  In the car I had what we use to call a soap box cart I had built and I wanted my seven year old grandson to get to drive it.  My session with him was a great success; he started out a bit nervous about driving it but after about an hour had mastered steering and was fairly good at stopping!  So finally a rather tied granddad headed for home.

What a wonderful day it had been, well worth the driving!

Fly Fisherman has just seen this years FIRST Mayfly!!!

 

Wow, the season is late this year on the Wiltshire Avon.  Last year at this time we were desperately short of water, this year we are desperately short of sun and heat!  Having assisted my son in law with a little paint job I found myself walking towards the banks of the River Avon with condtions over cast and windy.  A fellow angler was walking away from the water and I could tell he was not a "happy bunny".  He said "I am wet and cold and the wind makes casting impossible, no fish are rising, take my advice and go home!"  I thanked him for his advice and agreed it did look unpleasant with grey clouds scudding across the sky.  However, when home is 110 miles away, and the river only 50 yards away you have to have a look.  I had timed it just right, the wind eased, a ray of sunlight hit the water and a fish rose with a splash.  Darn it I was hooked, so I legged it back to the motor and got kitted out ready for action.  Slowly the weather improved and so did my optimism!  The river was high but the water was clear and I could see fish clearly taking nymphs and only occasionally rising to take an emerger.  On the SADAC club waters at this time of the year it is strickly upstream dry fly only.  So I persevered with a selection of dries and emergers.  Why dry fly only I hear you asking?  Well one of the characteristics of English sportsmen (and women) is that we like to create obstacles to make things difficult for ourselves so that if we are finally successful there is an enhanced sense of achievement!  It does seem a bit daft to be fishing on the top when the quarry is dancing around on the bottom.

 

Well to cut to the chase, I saw my first mayflies (green drakes), hooked a couple of nice fish but they ejected the hook before I could bring them to hand (I say hand because I had forgotten my landing net)!  I need to re-read my post dated 30th Jan 13 which advocates using, and details my tackle list!

 

The weather improved and so did the number of rises.  I found I was responding to takes too quickly and pulling the fly out of mouths that were still open.  This is something I have to overcome every year.

 

Highlight was when someone crossing a bridge sprinkled the crumbs from their lunch box on the water, suddenly the water was alive with fish, one or two of which were probably 5lb plus!  A fellow angler cast a fly into the boiling water but the fish were intelligent enough to know the difference between wholemeal bread and fluff a la hook!

 

So the Mayfly have returned.  Sadly I will miss a lot of the Avon action this year as I have two days next week teaching reservoir fly fishing on the drift and then I am off to the States for 6 weeks!  Have rod, will travel, have blog, will post!  Promise!

Fly Fishing the Wiltshire Chalk Streams with SADAC

Spring, weatherwise this year, has got off to a very slow start so I put off my first visit to the chalk streams until things started to warm up.  I managed two days this week.  On Tuesday I had a look at the Wiltshire Avon at Amesbury but as I could not see anything moving and the water (and there was plenty of it) was slightly coloured I decided to move to the Whylye.  The water was clearer and I saw the occasional rise, but I did not hook up. Another gent obviously more skillful than me managed two grayling and a small trout.  Highlight of the trip was meeting Jed Stone, the bailiff, (I hope I got his first name right) who came to check my credentials.  He spotted that I had not put my Environment Agency license number in my Members Year Book so we quickly remedied that.  The club has an excellent team of bailiffs who not only police the waters but give friendly and helpful advice. 

A well run club ensures the access is generally solid and safe. This step over below is state of the art!

Another way you can tell the club is well run is by the clear signage.

 

 The system of tally boards, that indicate who is fishing where, are excellent.

The tally board below is the main one outside the Club Office indicating the 22 beats on that stretch of the Avon. The club has so many waters that during the week I hardly ever see anyone else fishing.

The catch return books are all housed in neat wood boxes that are almost weather proof.  They detail who fished where and when and how they got on. Very helpful if you take time to study it!

 

The second day I decided to go and talk to the "Main Man", the club's General Manager, for advice on where to fish. Andreas Topintzis, based in the office affectionately known as "The Cart Shed", is always most helpful. He recommended a particular beat and then said "Watch out, another car has just pulled into the car park!" Just as I walked out to go to the Tally Board to take the recommended beat token the gent who had just driven up beat me to it. Andreas kindly stuck his head round the door and recommended another beat involving some wading. I was very happy with that as I wanted to try out my new thigh waders.

As soon as I got to the beat I could see why I think Andreas recommended it, not only were there fish about but I also had an upstream wind! Finding the beats is facilitated by appropriate signage.

One of the things that confused me for a while when I first started to fish the chalk streams was the mention of hatches. I first thought that was a reference to flies hatching. If you look at the following video clip you will see what the hatches really are. Put your sound on for the highly informative commentary by me (and the sound of the water)!

Anyway, I broke my chalk stream duck this season by catching the smallest brown trout I have ever caught followed by two more reasonably sized relations. Three others managed to slip the hook.

It is wonderful to be back on the chalk streams and I just need more practice!  If you are interested in putting your name down to join SADAC see the link on the page (top right).