Lots happening on the fishing and other fronts!

Well I finally got all of my children (all 7) together for my mother's memorial service. The pictures in the background are of my mum.

Then I managed to take my son Daniel (the tallest at 6' 10" who had flown in from the States) fishing in a boat at Bewl. He even managed to land a big one, with a bit of help, whilst wearing gloves!

My pal Malcolm was in the boat with us spinning!  I am pleased to report I caught 50% more fish on the fly than he did spinning.  Well, OK he got 2 and I got 3!

Then I slipped down to the Salisbury and District waters to tackle the grayling. The fishery manager, Andreas recommended I try the Laverstock Fishery on the River Bourne and as I had never fished there I decided to give it a go.  In spite of the recent rains it was running beautifully clear, so clear, I kept spooking the fish.  Also I had failed to bring my box of size 18 grayling flies with me so I was fishing nymph that were too big. The net result, well there weren't any "net" results as I blanked.  However, I did get to wade the river and to find the official access by the bridge (the map in the Year Book is a bit misleading).  In the afternoon I fished the Avon at West Amesbury.  There was a lot of coloured water coming down and I blanked there as well.  On the positive side I did see all the work the river keepers had been doing.  I particularly appreciated the plastic matting covering the boggy patches.  Well done!

I made up for my disappointing fishing yesterday when I took my American pal Bryant to Albury Estates Western Fishery.  We met up with the fishery manager at the lake at Western and had a pleasant chat and he suggested we try Western.  The water was crystal clear and I soon realised that I could, if I looked hard, see the fish cruising 2 to 4 rod lengths out.  It was the dark reflection of the trees on the opposite bank that enabled me to see in the water.  So I was fishing with my back to the road.  I got my first fish fairly quickly.  Then I spotted a fish and cast my blue flash damsel fly to try to get it a couple of metres in front of him/her.  The cast went wrong and the fly dropped behind the fish.  Hearing and feeling the sound, the fish turned and hit the fly. We had a 5 minute tussle and just at the net the fish came off.  I tried several other areas with no luck so I returned to where I could see the fishing.  I found that having spotted one, if I took my eyes off it, even for a second or two, I would lose it visually.  So I tried to retrieve and cast all the time, keeping my eyes on the fish.  The next encounter was pure text book stuff.  I saw, I cast it took and I caught, but not quite!!!.  When it saw the net the fish took off and surprise, surprise the hook broke on the bend.  Meanwhile I kept an eye on Bryant, occasionally offering tips on how he could improve his casting.

Then I spotted a large fish well out from the bank. Knowing I had to extend my back cast in order to get the distance on the forward cast I checked out the trees behind me and positioned myself to take advantage of a gap.  Double hauling like crazy I deliberately cast well behind the fish as I was just gauging the line length required.  Having adjusted to get that right I went for the big one landing the fly about 3 metres in front of it.  I then lost sight of the fish and gently retrieved using a slow figure of eight.  My arm was wrenched forward and I was on.  The fish quickly took me back onto the reel and the rod bent through 90 degrees.  I recovered line as it ran towards me and then it made for the protection of branches that hung in the water.  I tightened the clutch and managed to turn it back into open water.  Some minutes later it was in the net and on the bank.  It was a cracker and I was chuffed.

It was exactly 5lb in weight and perfect

Just to prove it was me who caught it.

Whether river or lake, sight targeting fly fishing gives me the most satisfaction.  Well done Albury Estates, we had a great time.

Total Contrast at Bewl Water

One of the amazing things about living in the UK with its temperate climate is that the weather can change completely in a short space of time. In my last post I told of the strong winds and heavy rains experienced whilst fishing at Bewl, a week later and it was blue skies, gentle breezes and "sun burn"!  Yes I came away with 5 rainbows and rosy cheeks.

I was boat fishing with my pal Chris who had not fished Bewl before and who casts a modest distance.  In spite of that he had 3 fish on a single cats whisker before I had caught my first fish!  I was fishing a 3 fly team with a booby on the point and a couple of black buzzers on the droppers (known as the "washing line method").  Eventually it dawned on me that the fish were deeper, well below my flies but in range of his cats.  I switched to a lure and caught up with his total.  Then I thought I would experiment a bit so I fished 3 black buzzers approximately a metre apart under a "strike indicator" with the heavier gold headed  buzzer on the point. That technique caught me 2 more fish but both were caught on the point fly. I think the bright sun was keeping the fish deep. When we both left at around 5pm we each had 5 Superb rainbows and a suntan!

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.



Extreme Fly Fishing: Rainbow Trout on New Years Day 2014

Not having had the chance to fish for several weeks I decided to get 2014 off to a good start by going fishing on New Year's Day.  The weather forecast predicted heavy rain and strong winds all day, but I followed Boyd K Packer's maxim of "Do it in spite of the weather". My main concern was finding somewhere where the water clarity was clear enough to let the fish see the fly.  Muddy brown water does not suit fly fishing!  So I went on the Albury Estates Fishery web site, noted that the info had been updated the day before and that it mentioned that the large lake at Vale End had been isolated from the Tillingbourne (river) to safeguard clarity during the recent floods.  The drive was exciting as there were various flooded sections but eventually I arrived there and found a new closed gate.  The instructions said swipe your membership card and I did.  To my surprise (my membership card is very old) the gate opened.  

This access gate is a relatively new feature and is there I imagine to inhibit poaching.  Having got through the gate I parked up as near to the fishing hut as I could as I wanted to set up in the dry.  Another couple of brave individuals turn up and we swapped ideas as we got ready.  The rain did not ease off and the wind experimented with all points of the compass.  I did't mind, I was in the fresh air with a rod in my hand and water in front of me.  I fished a small cats whisker on an intermediate line counting it down to explore different depths.  Eventually I was reward with a sustained pull and lifting the rod found myself connected to a good fish.  Knowing it, if landed, was destined for the dinner table I played it carefully as it's performance told me it was on tip top condition!  As I was on a two fish ticket I decided to make things a bit more challenging by moving location and changing the fly.  Guess what, I fished for another couple of hours working my way right round the lake and I didn't get another pull.  As the rain was getting heavier and the wind more contrary I decided to head for home knowing that I could use the ticket for the second trout on another visit.  I thoughly enjoyed my fishing at Albury.  I regard it as a well run fishery for the following reasons:-

• The fish are raised in their own fish farm and are in excellent condition.
• Careful records are kept of catch returns so stocking can be appropriate
• The waters are well maintained and pretty
• Access and parking is good
• The ticket system seems fair and works well
• Tony Hern, the manager is a splendid fellow and his team are always friendly and helpful
• It is a good place to teach fly fishing and novices have a good chance of getting a fish
• The internet site is informative and kept up to date

At nearly 2lb 8oz it was a nice fish, you can see how wet I got fortunately underneath I was dry!

Fly Fisher Back at Bewl Water and some thoughts on tying knots

So to celebrate BT finally getting my Broadband back up and working I decided I needed to check on the trout fishing at Bewl Water personally. I shelled out on an eight fish ticket and an evening boat (£40, say $60).  Spoke to Rob Nixon on the jetty who said try the area near the dam.  It was 3.30pm before I started fishing but it was over cast with a nice breeze producing a ripple and I could see fish moving on the top.  I had a floating line with a long leader and a team of three flies.  Small booby on the point, hopper on the middle dropper and a daddy (crane fly) on the top dropper.  I had put the small white booby on because in the August Issue of the Bewl Angle, the Editor, Ray French had mentioned in one of his brillant articles that competition anglers were finding them very effective.  Well my third cast proved that to be true as the booby disapeared in a splash and I knew I was into a good fish.  It rapidly stripped loose line back onto the reel and then went seaching the depths.  Eventually I got it to the top and was glad I had my long handled landing net with me.

As you can see it was a lovely 3lb blue trout, in tip top condition.  Sadly he had destroyed my one and only small booby, but I solved that problem by taking my scissors to a larger booby, snipping away at the boobs!

 

It was half an hour later before I hooked my second fish, a 2lb rainbow also on the booby.  Then the sun came out and the wind veered and things went quieter.  There was still the odd fish showing, sometimes right next to the boat, when my flies were 30 yards away!  Eventually, and rather belatedly, I decided to fish sub surface and put a cats whisker on the point but I did not get any further action and time ran out.  I also got rather cold. I am a fool, I know it is always worth wearing plenty of layers when you out on the water.  So now as I write this I am developing a sore throat!  Still it was great to be out on the water and feeling a couple of good fish pulling a bend into the rod.  I shall be back for more as the autumnal sport hots up.

 

Footnote:  As I get older I find my fingers seem thicker and my eyesight dimmer.  This makes tying knots more challenging especially with the fine tippets I use on the streams.  This summer, I saw Rowland, one of my former fly fishing pupils, quickly tie a knot using a pair of small long nose pliers.  This reminded me that I had inherited from my American stepfather an old original Orvis Cinch Tie (a rather clever knot tier). See picture.

 

I checked the Orvis catalogue and they show a different version called a "Winder" which comes with a DVD presumably to show you how to use it.  It is priced at £22.50. Remember time spent messing about with knots means less time that your flies are doing what they are meant to be doing i.e. attracting and connecting with fish!

 

BEWL WATER FISHING WELL: THE FISH ARE ON THE TOP TAKING DRIES!

 

 

This is the news we have all been waiting for.  Having exhausted myself on the chalk stream over the last two days I thought I would check on Bewl.  I spoke to Rob Dixon, one of the fishery managers and he said a change in wind direction has brought the food and the fish to the top of the water and anglers are catching on dries! Apparently the best action is along the dam and both bank and boat fishers are getting pleanty of action.  My guess is that hoppers and daddies will do the trick.  You heard it here first, now I need to get down there before you do!

They call it fishing, not catching! Welsh Fishing Trip July '13

It is not everyday you get invited to spend a couple of days with pals fishing and when one of them has a caravan not far from the fishing, how can you refuse?  Anyway, I couldn't!

 So there I was with Andy Jones a top sewin (seatrout) man and Rowland Elvidge who years ago I introduced to fly fishing and who now probably has more kit than me. Then there's Ian Govier another sewin expert who,  a few days before this event, had fished his local estuary and caught five sea bass and a sewin in just a couple of hours.  On the right is me looking more streamlined than ever!

Travelling around was slow because the local boys, being sewin fishers, had to stop to look at every river we crossed.

All were well worth a look.

 

Rather than sewin fishing, it was decided to fish a small stillwater for rainbows at Hayescastle, a favourite spot of Ian's.  However, when we turned up we found that half the children in South Wales were there under instruction and the organiser, a very pleasant lady gently shoed us away! We didn't need much shoing!  So I suggested we head to Llys-y-fran reservoir.  As Andy and Ian had never boat fished a reservoir before they were up for it.  We were beguiled by the beauty of the reservoir and soon discovered the excellent fleet of fishing boats in the boat house.

 



The boats and engines all looked brand new.  The only slight negative was that the engines did not have a reverse gear, but they started first pull and had an auto clutch, so using them was easy.

 Here is Andrew on his first boat fly fishing session but sadly the sun and water temperature (21 C) kept the fish down deep where they were concentrating on oxygen rather than feeding!  The net result (sorry about the pun) we all blanked!  As we were coming away, around 9 pm fish started to show around the boat house and we all had another go at them from the bank (Ian even borrowed a row boat and got amongst them) but the fish did not oblige.

 

 

 The next morning saw us as tourists but when we visited the lovely fishing village of Solva and saw the large mullet cruising the river we could not resist the temptation of casting a fly.  Needless to say the mullet were not fooled!  Then we walked a lovely coastal path.

And we found our way to St David's.  Although a small town, St David's is classed as a city as it has a majestic cathedral.

 

 Finally we made it to Hayescastle Fishery where we had it all to ourselves.  It looked promising as there was a damsel hatch on, swallows and martins were working the water and the odd large fish was disturbing the surface.

Ian, like all of us, was really fishing hard.  I tried buzzers and then had a fish on using a montana which sadly took to the vegetation and came off.  I, like the others, tried everything I could think of.  I cast a minkie out and it must have hit the water right in front of a large fish as the fish snatched at it but I didn't connect.  Eventually the montana fooled a nice 2lb+ rainbow.

 

Having dispatched it I used the forked stick method of carrying it that I had seen the steelhead fishers use in the States, to avoid getting my hands sticky!

 

 Ian showed me another useful tip.  If you break a rod ring (called a rod guide in the USA) you can do a temporary repair using a paper clip and some electrical tape.

So it was with pleasant memories that we left Ian's well-equipped caravan on Sunday morning.

 

 Our destination was the recently-built Milford Haven Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints where we attended for spiritual inspiration!

 

 

I came away with a lovely book that Rowland kindly gave me, it was called FISHING Observations of a Reel Man and I will have to make that the subject of a future post!

 

 

 

 

 

Trout Fishing: Guaranteed way of improving the success rate!

Those who follow this blog will be aware that in spite of being in the State of Washington, USA with all its amazing fishable waters for 6 weeks, I had not caught a lot of fish of any size.  My excuse is that I spent a lot of time decorating a very large room plus baby sitting and transporting 4 grandchildren around.  Still I was determined to have a successful "bring home the bacon" session with my grandson, Harrison, age seven, before I left.  So to guarantee success I took him to:-

 Here they have a couple of ponds well stocked with hungry rainbow trout.

 A simple pole with a line and hook is provided.

 The bait is fish guts mixed with bread paste.

Harrison was so happy with his catch, he jumped up and down!

 Harrison caught five beauties!  Granddad caught zero!

 As she cleaned the fish, Pam the owner, carefully explained what all the internal bits were.  She kept the hearts as bait when the fish were hard to catch on the normal bait. Here she is using the spoon dodge to clear the kidney strip from under the back bone.

 Pam was very friendly and kind to Harrison.

 This kiosk is the nerve centre of the operation. 

You pay for the fish by their length which is clearly posted.

 

The fish caught were all in tip top condition and we only had to pay for the fish.  The cost of the fish was just over thirty dollars which I thought was very reasonable as it provided a good learning experience for a young man, a nice meal or two and it got a grandfather "off the hook"!



Dry Fly fishing on the Snoqualmie

My American pal, Brandon and his dad Scott picked me up at 6 am.  The plan was to fly fish the Snoqualmie for trout.  I knew the locations where there was good access to the river so I shared my knowledge with them.  Sadly the day started out cool and overcast as you can see from this picture of Mount Si.

Scott was pretty new to fly fishing and Brandon hadn't fished since moving to WA but both soon managed to be casting effectively.  The trout did not appear until halfway through the morning when the sun broke through.

As soon as the sun came out I drifted a sedge down a seam and "hey presto" it got hit.  I had several more "hits" before I hooked up and then I had fish in quick succession.  Anxious that Scott should also have some success I moved him into the location and watched him perform. He did not disappoint!

Scott and I only caught little guys and it was Brandon who caught the bigger fish.

We then moved downstream and I fished some "structure" looking for something bigger!

Scott decided to test out my spare waders (I had warned him that they leaked).  He proved it.

A lovely half day in beautiful surroundings and with excellent company.

 

If I had been downstream fly fishing on my home chalk streams in the UK and was caught I would probably have been sent to prison (or at least chucked out of the club)! I can see why as it is very effective.