Fly Fishing Tip for Avoiding UV (ultra violet) Sunburn

I was feeling a bit poorly having just had a bout of food poisoning thanks to the local supermarkets ready meal.  My wife is away helping my youngest daughter who is expecting our 23rd grandchild!  So to cheer myself up I thought I would treat myself to a new rod, reel and line.  I had met a chap using a 7 foot rod on the chalk streams and realised he could fish the carriers and small pocket waters that my 8 foot 6 inch was just too long for.  Now I don't believe in spending shed loads of money on tackle for the following reasons:-

• I don't have shed loads of money (if I did it would be a different matter)
• the fish only gets to see the fly (hopefully), they don't care which rod and reel were used to serve it up
• given the advances in rod design I think it is quite hard for a manufacturer to make a lousy rod!  Someone can probably prove me wrong on that.

So I thought I would try a firm called Sonik and I got a rod and reel from them together with a Cortland line.  So far I have only tried them out on the garden lawn but the action has been encouraging.

 

Whilst looking through the Fishtec catalogue I came across something that I had seen used whilst fishing the Yakama River in WA with a guide called Joel.  It was the first time I had fished with Joel and we were drifting the Canyon stretch with him on the oars and me standing in the bows casting.  When I looked round to talk to him I got a shock!  He had covered up his face like he was going to rob a bank or bump me off!  I then noticed that he had cute white gloves on!  Was this to prevent leaving finger prints on the murder weapon?  Fortunately my experience as an engineer saved me from saying something stupid and I realised he was protecting himself from ultra violet radiation!  So I played it cool and pretended that everything was totally normal.

 

Now I don't like getting sunburnt, or sore throats, or insect bites so this fabric tube that Joel was wearing round his neck and up over his face appealed to me.  In the photo below you can see it round his neck as I had asked him to display his smile for the camera.

 

Anyway you can now buy them over here and mine came today from Fishtec and it is called a Buff.  They are rather fun as there are lots of different ways to wear them summer or winter.  I will be using mine as scarf, neckerchief, cap and face mask (no not to rob banks).

 
Joel on the Yak complete with white gloves and the Buff round his neck so we can see his smile!
 
 
PS. I am not affiliated to any of the companys mentioned above.
 

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!