Induced Take a Prerequisite

A couple of hours spent on the Wellow brook this afternoon was, as ever, a pleasure. There was very little rising, although a short lived hatch of olives did bring a flurry (10 minutes?) of activity. I lost my first fish which took a #16 bead-head nymph, but eventually found a small pod of brownies in a deeper channel. With the sun on the water, through polaroids it was easy to spot the fish - and amongst them were some bigger specimens. They simply ignored every nymph I presented to them - until I tried the induced take. Just a steady lift of the PTN up through the water was all that was needed to persuade a take. Several fish would follow the fly up. Some would turn away; others obliged. They were very accomodating and put up with my presence long enough for me to take a couple of fish (and miss some!). It reminded me of chalkstream grayling fishing. A change to #20 loop emerger gave me another positive take at the head of the pool before I left them to it.



~ Dave.

Mayfly Life Cycle Patterns

Whilst it takes a while for the trout to switch on to the mayfly properly, even when they do seem more educated (and willing), you cannot ignore the nymphs and emerger patterns. There are many, many options when it comes to patterns. Here are a few examples to help through each stage.

1) The Nymph ~ Two possible options here:



Hook: Grip 12003 #12
Thread: 10/0 Powersilk, orange
Abdomen: Amber/ cream Awesome Possum
Thorax: Natural Awesome Possum
Rib: DNA (olive) & Copper wire twisted
Wing Buds & Back: Pheasant Tail fibres

Or the Pheasant Tail nymph:

Hook: B175 #12
Copper wire & Pheasant tail fibres only




2) The Emerger



Hook: TMC 103BL #13
Thread: 10/0 Powersilk, orange
Shuck: PT fibres & olive DNA
Abdomen: PT fibres & olive DNA twisted and wound
Thorax: Natural Awesome Possum
Wing: White & Khaki CDC

3) The Dun (also a possible option for the spent-spinner too)


Hook: TMC 102Y #11
Thread: 10/0 Powersilk, orange
Tail: Moose
Body: Awesome Possum, amber/cream
Rib: 6/0 brown silk
Post: TMC Aerowing, white
Thorax: Natural Awesome Possum
Hackle: Silver Badger

4) The Drowned Spinner (for sub-surface work)



Hook: TMC 102Y #11
Thread: 10/0 Powersilk, orange
Tail: Moose
Body: Awesome Possum, amber/cream
Rib: 6/0 brown silk
Thorax: Natural Awesome Possum
Hackle: Sunburst yellow hen / Coq de Leon hen (Olive) wound together

~ Dave

One from this evening on a CDC & Elk.

~Dave

Mayfly Crescendo

The river's calling.

~Dave

I clapped eyes on my first Mayfly of the year this evening. A prolific hatch it was not, but there were a few around. With the warm air, most seemed to make it air-bourne, but there were some making a real meal of breaking out of the surface; and a meal is exactly what they will become - just once the fish realise what they are! At the moment, most of fish seemed happy to be sipping black gnats with perhaps the odd olive being met by a splashy rise. The best is still very much yet to come: but they have made a start.




The weather has been stable over the past few days. The rain has helped, but the water is still clear. With such bright days, evening fishing is a real must to get in range of many of the fish. They are easily spooked and delicate casting is a must. Presentation is the key.



It is still small, simple flies that are needed at present. Here's a simple pattern to consider:

CDC Olive 'G'



Hook: TMC2489G #16
Thread: 10/0 Powersilk, olive
Abdomen / Rib: Tying Silk
Wing: CDC
Thorax: Rabbit




~Dave

Rising Hopes for the Mayfly

So the rain contunues to fall and we've had some proper downpours. It will be welcomed by the salmon anglers and it is more than welcome for my local streams and rivers. With them already running low, hopefully this will help them to pick up some pace, clean through any silt that had built up so early and give the fish a good belt of fresh water to get them in the feeding mood. Yes, a little colour may occur in all but the luckiest of chalkstreams, but I have always found a little colour gives the fish confidence to feed. The forescast suggests the weekend will be a mixture of sunny spell, more showers and some broken cloud. With the winds easing, but possibly becoming more easterly, we wait to see if the fishing picks up.

In hoping for a hatch of Mayflies / E. Danica / Greendrakes (call them what you will) here's a slightly bigger pattern... just in case. Many mayfly patterns I see are heavily dressed and oversized. Sometimes, perhaps, even with the huge meal that these are offereing, something sparser will be the ticket:



Hook: TMC 103BL #11
Thread: Sheer 14/0, tan
Tail: Silver Badger hackle fibres
Abdomen: Porcupine Quill (Olive)
Wing: TMC Aero-wing, tan
Thorax: Rabbit
Hackle: Silver Badger, two turns

~Dave.

Rain, CDC, rabbit and a little flash...

With the persistent rain this weekend, surely the rivers will soon be in perfect condition for some superb sport (touch wood!). The last few years' heavy rains have prevented any real chance of tackling the May-fly hatch properly on my local river. I'll be keeping a watchful eye on the forecast over the next couple of weeks with my fingers crossed and my hopes high. So with spectacular sport in mind...

Simplicity itself really. CDC loop emergers tied on a straight shank hook can be highly effective. Everything is happening right in the surface film and the addition of a flashy shuck sometimes gives the fly just that little bit extra.





Hook: TMC 531 #14 / TMC 102Y #21
Thread: 10/0 Powersilk, olive
Tail: DNA Frosty fibre, dark olive
Body: Rabbit, mix of underfur & guard hairs
Wing: Natural CDC (Khaki)

~Dave.

The Foundations of Tying Spiders

"How many times have you been asked to consider the question ‘What is your favourite fly?’ An impossible one to answer because it depends on so many factors. My favourite fly is the one that best matches the fish’s food type at the specific time; obviously the one that will catch the fish. That’s a cheating answer though I suppose. However, there is another way to look at the posed question. ‘Which fly would you least want to be without?’"

...read more

~Dave

Parachute Options

The second entry for today: Just a couple of dun imitations to consider:



Hook: TMC100 #16
Thread: Sheer 14/0, tan
Tails: Microfibbets
Abdomen: Wapse superfine, dun
Thorax: Awesome Possum, amber
Hackle: Ginger Metz, red label
Post: TMC Aerowing, tan


The alternative, with a wound CDC hackle. This is tied with the fibres in a split thread and then wound around the post as a parachute. The whip finish is under the hackle, in the 'usual' way.





Hook: TMC100 #16
Thread: Sheer 14/0, tan
Tails: Microfibbets
Abdomen: Wapsi superfine, dun
Thorax: Awesome Possum, amber
Hackle: CDC fibres, in a split thread and then wound as a parachute
Post: TMC Aerowing, tan

~Dave

Sportfish Reading Show

I made it up to the Sportfish show today. A good turn out, aided by some spectacular weather. It was good to catch up with people I hadn't seen for a while and it's always good to meet new friends. I had the pleasure of listening to Paul Procter give a talk on fishing for wild brown trout. He also discussed the challenge of seeking out big wild fish. He maintained, quite rightly I think, that a wild fish over a pound is worthy specimen, a fish of 2lb+ is something very special and a 3lb+ fish is 'one of a life time'. He had some photos of cracking wild browns over the 4lb mark (!) taken from big rivers such as the Deveron, Aberdeenshire Dee and the Don.



There were casting demonstrations too by Paul, Eoin Fairgrieve, Hywel Morgan to name just a few.

I had a play with some of the G-Loomis rods. These were really superb, and well worth the price tag. I did, however, manage to resist.

Mark Roberts (GAIA) was demonstrating some fly-tying. I caught up with him at the end of the day for a chat. He was tying some very tasty flies. You can see some of his step-by-steps on the Gwent Angling Society website.

~Dave.

Catch Magazine #5

Take a look at Catch Magazine's May 2009 issue.

As ever, stunning.

~Dave

Subsurface... but only just

I couldn't help myself: I had to get back to the river yesterday to tackle the challenge of the tricky fish. The tiniest fall of rain over night had made little difference, if any to the river. CYRSTAL clear again. I didn'tstart until about six o'clock and fished into the falling light - perhaps that would give them more confidence and make them a little less spooky.

Sure enough, fish were showing and were equally wary of any presence. The Kingfishers were darting down the stream's valley and didn't seem to mind my being there. The heron was another matter.

I took a hooked and landed a lovely little wild fish that confeidently took my PTN. With a good thorax of copper, it fished pretty deep - and this indicated were the fish were feeding in the absence of Saturday's rises. Things soon changed though and the fish started to feed. Gentle dimples in the surface, but although with the lower light they were happier with me being there, they ignored all my offerings, including the tiny Klinhamer I thought would be there undoing. Clearly they were feeding just below the surface. I worked hard for my few fish and really enjoyed switching between patterns - the sort of fishing that tests your fly boxes out.

Here's a little, light weight pattern that persuaded some takes - either fished singly or under a dry fly:



Hook: Grip 12003, #14
Thread: Powersilk 10/0
Tail: PT
Abdomen & thorax cover: PT
Rib: Fine silver wire
Thorax: Hare, dyed olive

Small spider pattern also work well - fished singly with a greased leader:



Hook: Grip 12003 #14
Thread: Powersilk 10/0
Abdomen: Porcupine Quill
Thorax: Amber Awesome Possum
Hackle: Starling


Finally, one extra soft hackle for when the caddis are up:



Hook: Grip 14273BL #16-#12
Thread: Sheer 14/0, tan
Abdomen: Hare, blend of natural & olive
Rib: Fine Silver Wire
Thorax: Orange Awesome Possum
Hackle: Coq de Leon hen, dyed light olive

~Dave

Back Markers, Caenis & Black Midges

I managed a couple of hours on the river this evening.We had a little bit of rain this last week, so I secretly had high hopes for an evening fall and some obliging fish.



Sure enough, my starting pool showed signs of fish; a couple of subtle rises amongst a broken run. A #17 CDC & Elk proved attractive enough to a >very feisty wild fish and since I had made only half a dozen casts, things were looking good. A change to a PTN also brought some success in the next pool.



However, as the clock ticked, swarms of black midge started to appear and without doubt, the fish were happily feeding on them. A #18 black Klinkhamer was the choice, but it was hard going. However, fly choice was not proving the problem: instead these fish were very spooky.



As I fished up the runs, casting to the back markers, if I hooked, raised or just plain spooked a fish, that would call the end of the throughout the remainder of the pool. Delicate wading and accurate casting is a must on this fantastic stream - but when the fish are this cagey, it makes it very difficult. The exceptional water clarity did not help. I did see a couple of other anglers (unusual in itself). I wondered if they had fished this section making the fish even more edgy. Who knows?

It was good to be out though. Every minute on the river educates you further. Challenging fishing helps us to learn even more quickly. Especially if you manage a few wild treasures during the lesson.



~Dave.