I had the pleasure to take Ian out to teach him a range of stillwater techniques. It was a day of great sport and the fish are feeding hard on buzzer. Slow drifts, just keeping in touch with a team of three produced some arm-wrenching takes and fine rainbows and blue trout were the reward. In brighter conditions, small lures pay dividends. Blagdon and Chew have also been producing fish to lures but when the conditions are right, there's already a chance of fish coming to the dry.
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| A handsome buzzer-feeding rainbow |
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| Ian with the first fish of the day on a black buzzer |
Early season hatches are usually a civilised affair, with the bounty occuring at around lunchtime. We have had some good flurries of Grannom that have brought the fish to the surface. Make the most of these though as they are gone as quickly as they started.
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| A plkump Garnnom-feeding brownie taken on the dry |
Most recently I fished the Usk with a good friend. Conditions were tougher than tough and, whilst going after big fish is always a potentially frustrating affair, the fish we did find feeding were amongst the spookiest I think I have ever encountered. I will be back there soon!
Fly hatches were sparse and highly inconsistent. It was interesting to see a few Turkey Brown Duns (Paraleptophlebia submarginata) on the surface - a species that usually hatches a little later in the season.
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| Turkey Brown Dun |
It won't be long before we start to think about Mayfly - infact I have already heard reports of a few hatching in April! In this month's Fly Fishing and Fly Tying, I offer my favourite spinner pattern that has been serving me well. I hope you enjoy it.
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| The spent spinner |
~Dave
