Beginners learning to fly fish at Coltsfold Mill Fishery, Oxted, Surrey, UK

 

Well the weather has improved (that is it has stopped raining) and I have been able to get to the waters edge at last.  The occasion was an outing for Niel, Bryant and Malcolm, the three chaps I have been teaching to cast on grass.  Today was the big test, had they been listening, had they understood, had they remembered and if the answer to all those questions was YES, then could their brains make their muscles do the right thing!  Well the answer was both YES and NO!  Sometimes they got it right and the line went out reasonable well and sometimes the timing was wrong, too much effort was used, the wrist was broken and the result was dumping and knitting.  However, we had fun, enjoyed the venue and three large rainbow trout were caught.

 

The venue was Coltsfold Mill, near Oxted, Surrey, UK, a well managed trout fishery.  The bailiffs Neil and Paul were most friendly and helpful. 

 

The pictures can speak for themselves.

 

 Mill lake

 Niel with the biggest fish

 Malcolm with one of his two

 Bryant fishing the lower cascade

 Neil the helpful Fishery Manager

 

The gold headed daddy longlegs (complete with rubber legs) that proved very effective.



Lovely company and dragon boats, but frustrating fishing at Bewl Water.

My internet access at home is down and I am trying to post this from the local library pc. They have just up dated their systems and now I can add pictures.

Tony Hern of Fishability and Ian Thomas of Telereal Trillium



Last Saturday I had an interesting but frustrating day at Bewl Water.  I was supporting a “Fishability” event organised by Tony Hern, the Fishery Manager from Albury Estates (a splendid fellow).  Fishability is an organisation that supports people from the military services who have suffered trauma resulting in mental or physical challenges.  Tony had a dozen or so military or ex-military folk sharing boats with an equal number of experienced guides. 

I drew the long straw having Martha, a charming military nurse, assigned to my boat.  (This was a far more attractive proposition than sharing the boat with some tough and rugged squaddie!) 

 

Having had a bacon bap for breakfast we loaded up the boat and set off, conditions looked perfect, overcast, reasonable breeze rippling the water the temperature of which had dropped to 17 C.  However, Rob Dixon, one of the Bewl staff had warned me that the fishing would be hard.  Apparently, there was a tremendous amount of aquatic insect life in the water and the fish were stuffing themselves with naturals and avoiding anything suspicious!   This was confirmed by the number of house martins working the water.  Rob recommended drifting between the cages and the dam, so that’s what we did.  The good news was that, in spite of it only being her second go at fly fishing, Martha, who was bursting with enthusiasm, could cast quite well, certainly well enough to cover fish on the drift.

Well Martha maintained her enthusiasm and we fished our socks off and all to no avail.  At one point Martha spotted a pike on the top of the water right in front of her, when she moved her rod it spotted her and did an impressive “crash dive”.  We saw fish but in spite of changing flies, lines, locations and speed of retrieve we didn’t even get a touch.  The trout definitely had other things to distract them.

 

However, entertainment was provided by the dragon boat races down by the dam.  We must have heard the Hawaii Five O theme tune five hundred times!  Lunch was excellent, and the whole event was kindly financed by Telereal Trillium, with Ian Thomas signing the cheque and him and Richard Becksmith both from TT also acting as fishing guides.

 

Desperate to provide some excitement for Martha I asked her if she would like to drive the boat.  Well she jumped at the chance and we did a grand tour of the lake at full speed.  She even brought us into the jetty with finesse!   I was sad I had failed to deliver the goods, and get Martha hooked up with bar of pink or blue silver, but she did not complain once.  She has a bright future as a fly fisher.

CHALK STREAM FLY FISHING MAGIC AT LAST!

Well I finally managed to steal away from family, projects and chores and headed for the Whiltshire Avon.  As I had not been on the SADAC club waters for something like three months I headed to "The Cart Shed". This is the club's office and home of Andreas Topintzis, the General Manager, and very helpful top (what's happening where) guru! Following a friendly greeting Andreas proceeded to recommend I fished the Avon as the Whylie was a bit "hit and miss" at the moment. As the weather was going to be very warm, with bright sunshine he suggested beats with plenty of tree shade and he made it clear that during the day it was "nymphing" if I wanted success.  So I settled on beat 18 as I had fished it before and knew at least half of it had good tree cover and could be waded.

 

Beat 18 has at its top a hatch pool.  The hatches are used to control the level of water in each section of the river.

The hatch lifting mechanisms are a tribute to old fashioned engineering and have weathered the passage of time.

 

With summer flows low and only one hatch passing a lot of water the hatch pool is one big whirlpool and I could see some big fishing waiting for food to be jetted towards them.  Sadly I have never found a way of getting a fly or nymph in front of these monster fish.

 

As it was so hot I decided to forego my chest waders, and having forgotten my thigh waders, so I decided to "free wade".  I unzipped the lower half of my fishing trousers and laced my wading boots up tightly.  I then forced myself to walk quietly down stream to the start of the beat, watching out for fish.  Having seen plenty of fish I started to work my way up stream on the bank covering the water that was in full sun.  I caught a few "little fellers", then when I got to the wading section I slipped into the cool water (which is always deeper than you think) and commenced to creep up on some decent fish.  I found I had to relearn my nymphing technique as I was out of practice coping with the fast currents. I caught a couple more fish and got to familiarise myself with more of the beat and then had to quit around 6pm so as to get to my daughter's for supper!

 

The next morning saw me fishing at West Amesbury and I had a blast.  I parked in the recreation ground and walked down to the Ham Hatches bridge where I watched the huge trout dancing (and presumably feeding) in the deep pool just below the hatches. 

 

I had a look upstream but the ranunculus looked a bit daunting so I headed downstream checking out the water for fish as I went. Enroute I found clear evidence of someone poaching!

I picked up the can as I hate seeing litter on the river bank and it's a club rule that you are responsible for collecting any litter even if it is not your litter.  I did wonder what would happen if the bailiff saw me with the can.

 

Having got down to the Allenby Bridge I decided to walk on a bit further as I had seen a splash!  As often happens fish seem to show where getting at them can be quite challenging or even potentially dangerous.  Fortunately being a well run club warning signs were in place.

 

Eventually I managed to cover a fish without any drag and was rewarded with a half pound brownie. So I walked onto the next beat and watched a gentleman laying a nice straight line on the water in classic upstream nymphing style.

We exchanged a few pleasantries and names and he kindly allowed me to take his photograph.  Sadly, I didn't write his name down, I do hope he forgives me and the picture compensates.

 

Now you have been waiting for the action and this is when it starts.  Working my way upstream I soon spotted some serious sub surface activity in the wading section.  Entering the water and using a tiny gold-head nymph I started to get touches.  Refining my technique with a very straight up stream cast and a quick retrieve, so there was no slack between my hand and the fly, I started to pick up good-sized fish, mainly brownies, but one whopping grayling.  Sadly I also caught a large brown that had one side split open by a preditor!  He put up an energetic fight and was obviously feeding so I decided to return him to the river.

After a frantic hour in which I caught five good-sized trout and four grayling, things calmed down and I had a break.  Whilst wading elsewhere I first noticed a heron banging around in a tree on the edge of the river.  At first I ignored it but then roughly under where it had been I noticed a twitching reed with something really bright flashing where the reed entered the water.  This went on for sometime so I decided to investigate.  Well the flashing was caused by a vertical reed moving in the current lifting a horizontal reed lying on the water.  As the reed was lifted the film of water on it was catching the sun and flashing like a natural heliograph.  Having solved the mystery I was just about to move away when I saw a movement in the water between the reeds and the bank. Wow, there were between fifteen and twenty large torpedo shapes quietly swimming there and some of them were honkers!!!  Concious that I was in full view of them I eased myself away downstream putting a bush between them and me.  I then started on developing my strategy.  How could I cover them when I had to fish upstream, dodge overhead branches and avoid the massive weed bed with the reed sticking up out of it between them and me?  After a few minutes deliberation, you cannot rush opportunities like this, I felt I had a plan, albeit a risky one.

 

Having manouvred myself into position I cast a few metres upstream of them and as the line drifted downstream towards the vertical reed I flicked the line gently over it. The next thing was one of the fish broke ranks and presumably chased the nymph as the line went tight and I was in and he was on!  Before the fish realised what was happening I managed to get him to the top and over the weed into open water where he went ballistic.  Eventually I got him under control and brought him to hand where I used the old trick of turning him upside down.  This disorientates the fish and they stop struggling enabling easier unhooking.  The crucial thing is to turn them back the right way up before letting them swim off  your hand.

 

I was pleased to see that the quick exit of their companion had not disturbed the other members of the shoal so I decided to see if I could manage a repeat performance.  Well I spent the next hour and a half trying to cast to these fish to no avail, I just could not get the presentation right, but it was great fun trying and as I close my eyes I can still see them there.  I retreated exhausted, concious that I had a long drive ahead.  It was a priceless experience I will always remember. Thanks for letting me share it.

Incidentally as I was leaving the fishery I was politely stopped by a club bailiff who asked to see my membership book.  This I gladly handed over for him to check and sign.  This friendly policing of the water helps maintain the quality of the fishing.

 

 



Fly Fishing: River Wandle Magic

Ever since hearing first Alan Suttie and then Theo Pike (renowned author of "Trout in Dirty Places," see the post dated 1^st Feb 13) give talks about how the River Wandle had been rescued from being an industrial dumping ground back towards being a chalk stream with trout in it, I had resolved to fly fish it.  Today, as my son had borrowed my car, I decided to take the bus and the tram and go check it out.  Needless to say nobody paid any attention to me wearing all my fly fishing garb as I travelled to Watermeads, a public park near Mitcham.  I was not brave enough to wear my waders on the bus, I thought that was pushing my luck a bit too far, so I carried them in a bag.

As I walked the bank I spooked a cormorant.  That is bad news and good news.  Bad news because they eat a lot of fish, good news because it was there because it obviously thought there was a chance of a fish dinner!

 Yours truely in the Wandle at last

Anyway I got into the water and had some casting practice.  River fishing is so much more challenging than still water fishing and I hadn't fished a river for 5 months.  I also benefitted from some wading practice, especially as in some areas I sank around a foot deep in silt.  I also had some dodging branches with the fly practice.

No I didn’t see any fish or catch any but there was plenty of fly life coming off the water.

Magical highlight of the day was meeting a splendid chap called Alex Titov an AAPGAI fly casting instructor who was on the water practising. 

Alex Titov

He kindly took a couple of pictures of me (to prove I was there).  He then demonstrated some superb casting and let me video him.  I know when I am being outclassed, watching Alex really was magic!  Please play the video.

FLY FISHER IN TROUBLE WITH LADIES BECAUSE OF THE BOOBY

Oh dear!  I expect to be sleeping in the shed tonight!  I made the mistake of mentioning “booby” in my last post, which then got seen on Facebook by my daughters and a niece!  So in an effort to recover the situation and stay out of the shed (which is damp, dirty and has spiders) here is my defence.

Fly fishermen (and ladies) don’t just use artificial flies to catch fish they also use artificial lures.  A lure is something designed to look like a small fish (a lot of fish are cannibals) or something else edible.  The booby is a very effective lure for trout, because it is very buoyant as it has two polystyrene balls attached to make it float.  Sometimes they are coloured to look like large eyes. Some bright spark decided to call this type of fly a “booby” for reasons that might appear obvious from the picture. 

Being a bit naïve the significance of the name didn’t occur to me for several years!

My favourite technique for fishing the booby when the fish are just under the surface is to strip the booby quickly across the top of the water.  The trout chase them and can be seen chasing by the bow wave they produce behind the booby.  Sometimes the trout just turn away, sometimes they hit the booby and don’t hook up, but fairly often they connect and you have a fish on.  Booby flies can also be fished effectively on a sinking line as they get dragged under and buoyantly provide quite a big target for hungry fish!

So with an apology to the fairer sex (who usually make very good fly fishers) I rest my case.

 

PS:  Needless to say we don't use the booby on chalk streams!  You would end up in prison!

FLY FISHING WITH A BROKEN WRIST

In my experience the most common fly casting fault amongst newcomers learning to cast is the broken wrist.  No, I don’t mean they fracture it and end up in the hospital casualty department (or the ER) screaming their head off!   What I am talking about relates to what happens to the wrist on the back cast. This is where the wrist is allowed to flex backwards taking the spring out of the rod and resulting in the line tumbling to the water in front of the caster on the forward cast.  You probably know what I mean as I think we have all done it.

Here is Emily (granddaughter age 10) learning to cast and slightly breaking her wrist!

 

Let us review some of the basics of fly casting:-

1.       The line is a long linear weight and we are casting the line, not the fly.

2.       Because the fly is attached to the line by the leader when we cast the line, some energy is transmitted down the leader and that in turn moves the fly.

3.       The rod is a spring and also an extension of the arm.

4.       When we use the arm to accelerate the rod through an arc, the weight of the fly line slightly bends the rod, loading the springiness of the rod.

5.       The loading of the rod spring, plus the movement of our arm, allows the fly line to be projected smoothly, if done properly, some distance.

6.       Casting a fly is more about the timing of the loading and unloading of the rod than it is about using strength.

Now if we consider a simple overhead cast the basic moves are:-

1.       Rod tip down just above the water.

2.       Smooth lift to 10 o’clock, note the surface tension of the water on the line starts to load (bend) the rod tip down.

3.       At 10 o’clock, without pausing, immediately accelerate and lift the rod until the thumb is vertical (by the side of the ear) and the rod at 1 o’clock. (The acceleration Joan Wulff calls a power snap, which is quite a helpful graphic description others refer to it as a “flick” as if you were trying to flick some mud off the rod tip).

4.       A pause whilst the line flies out up and behind and loads the rod tip i.e. bends it backwards (so it has energy to spring forwards).

5.       The instant the rod is loaded the rod hand is pushed forward and this movement plus the spring in the loaded rod projects the line forward.

6.       Ideally, the rod is then stopped at 10 o’clock whilst the line projects forward and when it is fully extended the rod and line are lowered so the whole line rests gently, we hope, on the water.

Now if, during 4 above the rod tip is allowed by a floppy or “broken” wrist to carry on travelling back, the rod remains straight, does not get loaded and the forward cast degenerates into a "chuck" rather than a cast.

 

Now with some novices this broken wrist action can be so bad that the rod not only passes through the horizontal, the rod tip can actually touch the ground behind them!!  (Poor rod tip, the ground always survives.)

So how do we correct a broken wrist?  Well, I use a stepped approach along the following lines:-

1.       I explain why it is bad to break the wrist.  And if that does not work …..

2.       I show them the 3 finger spacing rule.  And if that does not work …..

3.       I stand behind them with my arm held up high and tell them they owe me money if they hit my arm with the rod on the back cast. And if that does not work …..

4.       I threaten them with a physical restraint.  Some smile when I say that!  My physical restraints come in a variety of forms.  If they have a long-sleeved item of clothing on I get them to put the end of the rod handle down the sleeve. 

 





If that is not an option then I use one of the following:-   lady’s elastic tight tops; Velcro strap, rubber inner tube. 



The lady’s tights tops always get a lot of interest from elderly gents!   They are good because they are elastic and you can adjust the tension by employing more loops round the wrist or round the rod butt.  Now the physical restraint should allow a little movement of the rod backwards, and the caster will feel it is a bit awkward, but they usually do not fail to agree that as a result their casting has suddenly improved.

One time I was teaching a colleague, let’s call him “Bob” (as that was his name).  In spite of doing all the steps above Bob still kept executing back casts that resulted in the rod ending up in a horizontal plane.  He would vehmently deny that he was doing it!  One time he even hooked a sheep on the back cast!  Needless to say he didn’t land it!  The fascinating thing for me was that he was in complete denial that he was breaking his wrist to a colossal extent.  In the end I resorted to "plan X" the video camera and the statement “the camera doesn’t lie”.  Bob can cast quite well now and we are still friends.

Now before the casting experts “beat me up” let me add that when a caster has got a feel for the timing and the rod action, yes, we do use a bit of wrist action!

 



FLY ROD CASTING: REASONS TO USE YOUR OTHER ARM

First off a big thank you to everyone visiting the blog.  I am amazed at the following round the world.  The blog has been visited by fishers from 23 different countries!  I have been delighted with the positive comments from fishers and non-fishers alike.  Please do not hesitate to add to what I have posted or to put me right if you feel I have got something wrong.  You can do it by posting a comment at the bottom of the posts. The weather here in the UK is still very cold and wintery so I am blogging rather than fishing, but that will change soon and I will be able to make my posts more exciting!

Most of us have a favoured arm when it comes to casting.  In reality a lot of single handed rod fishers only have one “casting” arm.   However, there are many reasons why it is a good idea to be able to cast with both arms.  Let me review them:-

·         You have flown abroad on a fishing trip and on taking your suitcase out of the taxi you sprain the wrist of your casting arm.  Disaster!  However, if you can switch arms for casting you could prevent the holiday being a total failure.

·         A strong wind is blowing the fly behind you on the back cast and you run the risk of imbedding the fly or heavy lure in the back of your head on the forward cast.  Being able to change casting arms means that the wind is now blowing the fly away from you on the back cast.  You are safer and don’t have to keep ducking or resorting to casting across your body or forward casting away from the water and laying the line on the water using the back cast!

·         Being able to cast left-handed means that in an adverse strong wind you can move away from all the right-handed fishers and fish a location that is less disturbed, catch more fish and leave them green with envy!

·         When sharing a boat with a companion, ghillie or guide you can cast with an arm that takes the fly over the water and not over the boat occupants.  I find fewer apologies are required!

Fishers on the Yakima: Left and right-handed casting keeps the guide safe!

·         When teaching your left-handed pal, you can hold the rod the same way they are.

·         Particularly when river fishing, being able to cast with both arms means you can handle dealing with obstacles and the wind better.  Also, you can cover both sides of the river more comfortably. 

·         When the fishing is a little too easy (yes, that has been known to happen) and (say) you are on a four fish ticket/limit, having caught the first brace fairly quickly you can make it a little harder by switching rod arms.

·         When your favoured casting arm feels like it is about to fall off (often a sign of poor casting technique) you have a fresh arm in reserve.

Now learning to cast with the other arm is almost as difficult as learning to cast with your usual arm but all it needs is practice.  The best way, I am told, is to get two identical rod and line setups and practice the overhead cast action with both rods simultaneously.  You don’t even have to be casting on water, casting on short grass can be fine.  Now when my wife reads this she will know why I keep our lawn nice and short!  When fishing, a good time to practice is when the fish are having their afternoon siesta.  At that time, you probably don’t want to pack up and go home because you are anticipating the evening rise, so to usefully use the time, have a casting practice session.    I also favour having my own “siesta” as when I get tired even my good casting can end up as aerial knitting!

So rise to the challenge, be brave and let’s see you becoming ambidextrous and more able to conquer the conditions and land more fish!  Wow! I surprised myself with that line.  Am starting to sound like Joan Wolff?