Fifth Session Sixth River Of The Trout Season

 Thursday, before the bank holiday traffic took hold, I headed up to the valley of cheese in my pursuit of trout on fly. Whilst I've fished the river plenty of times before I've not fished this stretch. I've seen plenty of trout come out of it when I've walked the myriad of paths in the area. On arrival I had a wander up and down the length perusing the clubs notes at the same time. The river appeared to be very much as described with the upper section looking the best. The only thing I saw rise was a couple of mallard, three oyster catchers and the odd wagtail. I did, however, spot an interesting bit of bank protection restoration using old rubbish. Judging by the old MW/LW radio facia I'd say it had been there a long time.  By the time I got back to the car the sky had got greyer and a chill breeze had got up.

As I sat by the car having my cuppa a rather panicky ewe came trotting up the bank and on to the road. She made an attempt to get through the sprung gate onto the public footpath before heading to the field gate and back again. By this time her bleating had attracted her two offspring who came over and attempt to get through the fence. Luckily four bikers turned up. I held the small gate open while a biker held the field gate open and the other three attempted to shoo her towards the gates. She had other ideas though and with a couple of strides and a leap hoped over the barbed wire fence into the field. Her and her twins raced off to the other side of the field well away from us. gate secured the bikers went on their way.

 

With no insects about, apart from the odd bumble bee, it looked like a nymph and/or spider sort of day. A small flashback PTN on the point, a partridge & orange, then a pearly butt bloa on the top seemed a good starting point. Third cast and I was in. A small grayling on the partridge & orange, quickly flicked off the barbless hook. Where there's one there's normally more so I waded further up. Further up the tip of the fly line jagged again and I hit something heavy. It came downstream slowly, like a large twig or some other debris. With only a few feet of fly line out of the tip it suddenly turned into a fish and swung out to the middle of the river before heading downstream a rate of knots. I managed to slow it down before it turned towards the nearside bank and started to head towards some tree roots. A bit more pressure to stop it and it came adrift. What do I have to do to keep them on the hook. By the tattered look of the partridge & orange it was that that was taken. A tad pissed off I headed back to the car for a cuppa and something to eat.

I ventured further upstream flicking the team of three ahead of me until I reached a nice looking spot where the river narrowed somewhat. A couple of casts and in again. Another small grayling to the partridge & orange. A gentleman appeared on the opposite bank, fishing rod in hand. Grayling? he inquired. We had a natter. He'd fished his club beat half a dozen times this season and all he'd had was grayling and one trout that fell off. A comparison of flies showed we were fishing very similar setups. He had a copperhead mary on the point, a bloa on the middle and an partridge & orange on the top dropper. He said he preferred dry fly as nymphs and spiders tended to attract the grayling, but fly life had been scarce when the river was fishable. A deer hair emerger or something small and black were his recommendations for dries unless you can see what the fish were taking. We wished each other tight lines and started fishing again. A few casts later I was into another small grayling on the partridge and orange. 

Further up I thought I saw a rise. I sat on the bank and watched. Over the next couple of minutes there was three more rises in the same area. I changed to a DHE and waited. Nothing rose again. I made a few speculative casts to the area but nothing was interested. Wandering further up I spotted a couple of rises on the far bank. The occasional rise continued as I waded across the river to a suitable spot for a cast. The first two fell short. The third was spot on, and the fly ignored as a rise appeared closer to the bank. My cast was too close to the bank and the fly snagged some trailing vegetation. I had to wade up to release it which kinda ruined the swim. Thankfully something was rising upstream in the middle of the river.  It took a few casts and a change to spot to get a drag free drift. Eventually something took my fly. Another damn grayling, slightly bigger than the previous three.

I wandered to the top of the beat with out seeing any more risers. By now the breeze had got stronger and it was starting to feel cold. As I headed back it started drizzling. Time to go I thought. I kept scanning the river and saw a couple of rises in the spot I'd first tried with a dry fly. I had a cast from the top of the bank and was taken by surprise when the fly disappeared. It was another grayling that refused to fall off the hook even when I gave it slack line. I slid down the bank grabbed the leader and slid my hand down to unhook it. The moment I touched it it flipped off the hook. 

 

That was it as the drizzle turned to rain. By the time I'd got back to the car and made a cuppa it returned to drizzle. The other angler returned to his car. He'd managed a 12" trout to DHE and four grayling on the same method. As he said you just have to persevere and hope a trout gets to the fly before the grayling. Despite the lack of trout it was a pleasant enough exploratory day and I'll be back. The drive home showed how patchy the rain was. You'd be driving through a heavy shower, turn a corner and the road was bone dry.

On The Navigation Ⅴ : The Return Of The Landing Net

 It was somewhat grey and drizzly when I got to the navigation but the was only a slight breeze for a change. My intention was to try a Z-Man's TRD TicklerZ bait on a light jig head and this is how I started. For some reason I clipped it on to the wrong rod. A slightly more powerful one I normally use for small crank baits. Because of the the stiff tip bite detection isn't great for the style of fishing I was doing but I still managed a small perch on the first cast. I persisted for a while in the same area but suspected the rod wasn't showing the bites properly, as I could see the occasional rattle on the tip but couldn't contact.

A trip back to the car for the lighter softer tipped rod and a wander up to the lock area showed just how many bites I couldn't see. I still couldn't hit them mind you. Eventually I latched on to one. Then got snagged up on the next cast. Then an angler, I believe called Martin, got snagged on something that was heavy but could be moved. I jokingly suggest it might be my landing net and sure enough as it surfaced it was. Only a couple of yards from where it went in despite been down there nine days and no doubt a  fair number of boats had gone through the lock. Apparently it was a new PB for him. Three more lure anglers arrived as we all continued to struggle. The trick to bites, and the occasional fish, was to be as close to the lock wall as possible but not too close so as to avoid the snags. I managed another small perch over the next hour.

By now I'd been fishing four hours for five small perch. Other shad faired less well. After a cuppa I headed in the opposite direction to the locks, but there were three other anglers fishing the area I wanted to fish so I fished a bit away from them. After twenty minutes or so I latched onto something bigger that I first suspected to be a small jack. It turned out to be a nice perch.  Landing it was another matter though. I was fishing over a fence and my net wouldn't reach the water so I had to climb over while stopping the perch from heading into the nearside snags. Thankfully things ended well and a 31cm perch was soon in the net. I fished on for another half hour before I had to be elsewhere. Nothing else bothered my lure though. Not a bad end to the day. Wasp[ bashing shouldn't be such hard work, but even the bait anglers were struggling to catch them. Though they were getting a few roach. I believe Martin ended up with five or six small perch and his lad one less. The other three lure anglers had had a pike and a perch between them by the time I left.

Fourth Session Fifth River Of The Trout Season

I had to head some distance south west today into what looked like some rather rainy weather. Despite this I'd put some fly tackle in the boot of the car as I'd have to amuse myself for a few hours while the elders attended a funeral. I search of the web had suggested that there was a stretch of free fishing on one of the revitalised industrial rivers. The articles and videos were quite old though so things may not be true. Between the photos. videos, and google maps I'd thought I'd worked out an accessible stretch with some parking. My guess proved right. A quick wander about down in the valley showed there to be a rather nice looking river and if it wasn't a few bits of graffiti on the industrial buildings you could have been anywhere.

 What little info I'd found suggested a small pheasant tail nymph and a spider was the way forward. Looking at the river this seemed reasonable. After a few casts it became clear the gold head nymph was too heavy as I was constantly snagging the bottom. A change to a little brass head one elicited a violent take on the second drift down. I was taken completely by surprise by this and completely fluffed the strike and failed to contact. A bit further upstream I had another take, not as violent, that stuck momentarily. The rod lurched over then the hook came adrift. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, if anything, but I can't get trout to stick this season. Maybe I'm not striking hard enough with my new lighter, longer rod.

 By now I wasn't far off the Private Property notice with only a couple more runs to fish. As I waded along the edge of the river it changed from stoney to sandy. Suddenly I went from ankle deep in water to over my waders. I plummeted into a hole of semi-rotten vegetation judging by the smell of methane. Luckily I was able to grab a tree root and pull myself up before too much freezing water got down the front of the waders. The bottom had looked no different to the rest of the sandy area. It had now decided to start rain as well. I can take a hint and retired to the car. Of course my bag of spare clothes wasn't in the car. They'd got slightly damp after being in the car so long so I'd taken them out and washed them but not returned them. I did have the waterproof seat cover though.

Luckily I wasn't too wet and the stuff I had on was fairly quick drying. After a cuppa with the car heater running I was only damp. With the rain coming down heavy I pondered what to do next. A look on google maps showed Peaks Fly Fishing to be nearby so I had a drive up there. With the aid of Vanessa, and a nice black lab who's name I forget, I soon managed to spend a three figure sum on some essentials.

 After a spot of lunch I had a drive back along the road by the river and hunted down a couple more access points with parking. If the wind and rain sort themselves out I have three directions to travel for some trout fishing. Hopefully I'll get one to stick to the hooks soon.

On The Navigation Ⅳ : There Goes The Rod Tip

Tried a different section of the navigation to the last three sessions in the hope of a bit more action. Unfortunately it was a lot sunnier, but at least the strong winds had gone. There was also a lot of moored boats to fish between. I spent the first hour and a half dropping 3-4" shads between the boats, around the lock gates, and anywhere else for that matter with out a sign of any fish.

 

After a cuppa I tried the same thing with the lighter outfit and the small blue/silver paddle-tail I'd used on the previous session. I got nothing nothing around the moored boats or running it along the edge. First cast below the lock I hooked either a world record perch, or a decent jack. After a prolonged fight, partially caused by me having to get down to a lower bank so the landing net would reach, a plump little jack was just about in the net. A very tidy fish at just over 60cm and four and a half pounds.

I worked my way along towards the trees with nothing to show until I found a dead tree in the water. Dropping the bait close to the tree produce half a dozen small perch in as many casts before things went quiet. Back at the lock I had a few more small perch before a couple of boats came through. A few more came out of the lock itself after it had filled back up.

After another cuppa I had another go with the heavier set up, again to no avail. Sadly I managed to brake the tip of the rod when I tapped a bankside sign with it. I wasn't looking where I was going mind you as a heron had landed on the far side of the lock despite the joggers, cyclists, and dogs. I'm not sure how it intended to fish the lock. I just think it was hoping as the nearby river was in flood still.

 

Not sure how many small perch I had in the end but it was fun and pleasant weather as well. The rod is going to be about a inch or so shorter when I put a new tip ring on it, so shouldn't be too detrimental.

On The Navigation ⅠⅠⅠ : There Goes Another Landing Net

 I knew it was going to be a drafty day so fishing the navigation probably wasn't the best idea. This was confirmed when ten minutes in my cap went full Mary Poppins and landed in the middle of the water, quickly sinking out of sight. I wouldn't of minded so much but I had my back to the wind so I'm not sure how it got lifted off my head. Luckily I have a spare in the car. As the wind was mainly straight along the navigation there wasn't anywhere to hide from it. I worked my way towards the lock dropping a small orange jig down between the moored boats. This resulted in very little not even a tail nip.

Once I got to the lock complex I started to get the odd follow, but takes or even tail nips. A rummage around the lure box produced a small blue sparkly shad type thing with a 2g bullet head jig. This did the trick. Second cast and a little wasp wasp hooked. A few casts later another one. The first had taken it on the drop, but the second took it as I twitched it. This was the pattern for the next half hour or so. A dozen fish. Some on the drop. Some as the bait was lifted. All at different depths, but all close to the walls.

Eventually the inevitable happened the lure got snagged. The quickest way of dealing with this, if it doesn't flick off first time, is to walk along the lock to the other side of the snag. The lure generally comes free with the minimum of fuss. As the lure came free I heard the sound of metal on concrete. As I looked back down the lock I saw my landing net heading towards the water. By the time I got back it had disappeared. How it sank so quickly I don't. How it got blown into the lock I don't know either as the direction of the wind should have blown it away from the water. I attached a 10g jig head on to see if I could snag it before a barge arrived in the lock but unsurprisingly I had no luck. By the time the barge had been though and the lock gates opened and shut it could be anywhere. I retired back to the car for a cuppa and something to eat as It also started to rain. 

 

After lunch i tried a different tactic further down the navigation. I spent an hour throwing crankbaits and jerkbaits about. This resulted in one half-hearted lunge by a small jack. I then returned to the lock complex and after a little while found the wasps again. I manage eight quite quickly before another boat went through the locks and everything went quiet. Another heavy shower persuaded me it was time to head home especially as there was road works to deal with and it wasn't quite rush hour. The queue in my direction wasn't too bad, but in the opposite direction it was the best part of three miles long. 

 

Looks like a trip to the tackle shop is going to be needed as I don't have another small rubberised landing net. Landing nets are not something I normal lose. Usually I break them. These two hadn't done bad as both were around twenty years old. The netting had been replaced with rubberised versions but they were both perfectly functional.

A Quickie On The Cut Ⅰ

 As it was a dull overcast morning I thought I'd have a quick go down the cut before the boat traffic started up. As the little orange paddle tail from the last session was still on I started with that. After fifteen minutes or so working my way round the feature I had the gentlest of plucks. I struck but appeared to miss it then the rod tip whacked over. After a brief but hectic fight a rather nice perch was in the net It had been accompanied by a couple of other perch of similar size so I unhooked the fish and left it in the net while I had a cast about for one of the others. I managed to cast right on top of a snag. Despite various attempts to dislodge the lure I eventually had to pull for a break. While I re-rigged a convoy of boats passed by colouring the canal and dislodging  various bits of vegetation. Some quite large. I measured and weighed the perch As I didn't think the others would still be about. At 36cm and 2lb it was a rather nice dark fish.

I tried a couple more spots before returning to the first feature which was now clear of debris. Third or fourth cast over to the far bank saw a little jack shoot out and hit the lure. As it turned back towards the vegetation the flouro leader was severed. As more boats were heading towards me I took this as a hint and headed home to partake in some horticultural duties. Not sure why the boaters and bargees where out before breakfast, but with out them I'm sure a lot of canals would have been filled in.

On The Navigation ⅠⅠ : Pike Rescue

I was going to go trout fishing, but remembered it was a bank holiday, and sunny, so it was highly likely that there would be an unnecessary amount of traffic about. I there decide to head to the navigation for a few hours despite the forecast of a sunny day. I hoped the boat traffic would pick up and colour the water a bit. By the time I arrived there was a bit of mist about blocking the heat from the sun, so woolly jumper and fleece was required. Amazingly I was the only angler down there.

I started below the locks where I spent 45 minutes fling a few craft shads about on the U/L baitcasting set up. This produced absolutely nothing, not even a tail nip. I then changed to the dropshot with a little 2" lure. This produced the odd tail nip and rattle. moved into the lock complex and got the same result. A couple more anglers had turned up one of whom had had a 12lb 8oz pike on a little dropshot lure. It was nicely hooked in the top lip with the line away from the teeth.  I retired for a cuppa as that's all they'd had, but boats were starting to move through the locks so maybe it would be better with a bit of colour to the water.

When I returned they'd managed to add a couple of wasps to they're tally. A natter with one of them showed that they'd struggled on previous sessions much like myself. After they'd wandered to another spot a boater told me there was a huge pike on the surface in the lower lock but when I went to look there was no sign. Another boat came up the lock and told me there was a twenty pound pike dead near the upper gate. I had a look and sure enough there was a pike struggling to remain upright, but certainly not a twenty. more like quarter of the size. I managed to snag it with a lure and got it in the net and moved to to a shaded spot. Slowly it recovered and righted itself. It felt heavier than it looked. I gave it a quick weigh and it came in at 7lb. I intended to photograph it in case it turned up again, although the scar on the side of it's head would be rather distinctive. As I went back for the phone, which was in my jacket pocket that I'd taken off as it was now quite warm, the pike started to swim off with the landing net. I managed to grab the handle just as the pike flipped out of the net. It appeared to swim off quite strongly. By the look of the damage to it's head I think it may have been hit by a boat.

After that bit of drama I got back to fishing working my way through a few lures before changing to a really light jig rig. A 1.5g jig head with a 2" paddle tail. This worked reasonably well. I was able hit hit every third take and ended up with eleven little perch from around thirty casts before everything went quiet again. All the fish were taken on the drop as the lure slowly fluttered down. I fished on for another thirty minutes or so to no avail. With the sun getting brighter and more and more dog walkers about I decided to call it a day.

On The Navigation Ⅰ

 Things didn't get off to a great start when I dropped my landing net handle and it bounced into then lock. It bobbed about for a few seconds, three and a half foot below me before sinking in a cloud of bubbles. The absence of anglers was surprise, but eventually they started to arrive. The pound below the lock was a good foot lower than usual as well.

I started with a 10cm roach jig in the lock and had the odd tail nip and rattle before trying a pink bug on the drop shot. Second twitch along the wall produced a decent take and what turned out to be the largest perch of the day. After that it went back to tails nips again. Talking to others they were having the same problems. after a cuppa I put on a 3cm chartreuse pin tail, my last one. Moving round the lock complex I eventually managed six more perch and lots and lots of tail nips and rattles.

Four hours for seven wasps is not great going but everybody else was struggling as well. A match was on opposite the boats so that area was off limits and the area below the lock didn't produce  either. I was told by two people that a seventeen pound pike had been caught in the lock yesterday so there is still the odd good fish around.

Opening Day Of The Trout Season II : The Flood

 The date(s) for the opening of the trout season vary from river to river. As the river at the top of the county opened on the 1st April I could have a second go at the 'First Day of the Trout Season'. I'd already arranged to transport the old folk to a birthday do  up there, so regardless I was going. Unfortunately it rained quite considerably and the river was rising when I looked at the gauge. Although it doesn't look much the gauge doesn't tell the whole truth. Feeder streams alter the state of the river downstream quite a bit.

 The river was carrying an awful lot of colour and even the local worm anglers said it was a lost cause, even with out the constant drizzle making life uncomfortable. A standing wave over a ford really isn't a good sign. Although the river was starting to drop the colour wasn't dropping out.

I had a wander along a couple of sections to see what the winter floods had done to river, but this wasn't much fun with the drizzle. I did reacquaint my self with some of the 'free' sections. Well known to those that know and badly described by them as if they want to be helpful and annoying at the same time.

I did get a nice cup of tea and a slice of cream cake when I went to pick up the elders, which brightened the day up a bit. My trout season isn't getting of to a great start, but I'm sure the struggles will be all worth it in the end.