If Only The Trout Were As Numerous As The Balsam

It was rather still and muggy when I arrived at the beck on Thursday. Looking around there was precious little in the way of bugs and flies about.Not even the smuts and midges that are often seen were about.  I'd only recorded THREE bugs on my numberplate with Bugs Matter on the 30 mile journey there.

Given the lack of fly life I opted for a spot of nymph fishing. I also opted to head upstream from the bridge/ford, something I'd not done before. It was not pleasant wading. Waist deep with a rather dodgy river bed made up of silt, woody debris, and the odd wobbly rock. I spent most of my time removing twigs from the hook. After an hour of this I gave up and retired for a cuppa and sandwich. After lunch I headed downstream for a spot of balsam bashing then some more fly fishing.

 I thought I'd spend an hour or so pulling up the few plants there were left form my last visit. Clearly a lot of it has been hiding behind other plants and had sprung up when I'd finished pulling their friends up. Thankfully only one had formed seed pods. These were clipped off very carefully and placed in an empty crisp packet. I'd also had a bit of a panic when I saw some pink plants a long way from the beck, but as I got closer I realised they were foxgloves.

After two and a half hours of balsam bashing I felt it was time for a drink. It took me some fifteen minutes to find my vest and rod that I'd leant against a tree. Like a dropped screw they just seem to merge with their background. I all this time I'd not seen a single fish rise. Apart from a couple of bees the only fly life I's seen was a mayfly and a small olive. I had, however seen some deer tracks under a fallen barbedwire fence. I'd also seen a nice large pool that I though would be a good stating point.

The problem with these large pools in small becks they  often turn out to be very disappointing, but just after I arrived I saw my first rise of the day. I changed the Nymph to a dry fly. As I moved around to get a cast there was another rise. I landed the fly close to the area of the two rises, But trying to get enough slack to keep it on the bubble line with out dragging wasn't easy. Third or fourth cast I got it about right. The fly disappeared, but the strike contacted with nothing except the Sycamore behind me. A little wait and another cast and the fly was back in the Sycamore. How do trout manage to grab a fly like that but fail to get the hook point in their mouth.

I continued on upstream. Overhanging branches made life difficult as they always seemed to be positioned above the bubble line. The odd log jam and deep section didn't help either. I much prefer it if I don't have to wade but the steep banks make access very difficult. Not to mention the barbed wire fence on one side. Still very little sign of insect life. I continued casting to likely looking spots with little success. A drift of the fly along the edge of a fallen tree in the edge produced a nice take and this time I connected. A spotty little 62 WBT soon graced the net. Another drift down the side produced another one. However this one managed to shed the hook near the net.

I continued on with no more luck until I arrived at the large pool below the railway bridge. I had a bit of a cast about. A fish rose on the far side in the slack. Despite several casts to the area it never rose again. I let the fly drift past me along the edge of a dead shrub like thing. As I did so a vole trotted along the tree roots above me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a ripple and as I looked round realised my fly had gone. Too late for me to contact with anything though. I tried fishing above the bridge but the light had disappeared with the very cloudy sky. It was nearly impossible to see the fly as most of this stretch is surrounded by trees as well. I tried nymphing again but this only produced one rattle and that was it.

Ignoring Balsam While Hunting WBT

 Today I spent a short time ignoring the huge stands of Balsam while hunting for trout on the bottom beat of the beck. The first fish I found were little fry around the 1-2" mark sunning themselves. Some of the beck now had nice clean, fish free, gravels. Other parts a seriously overgrown. It was in one of these areas I saw a decent trout as it shot away upstream as I stumbled over a sunken branch while wrestling my way through overhanging willow branches. I see to spook far more fish than I should on here.

A bit further on I came across a fish rising on a bend with a deep hole. The fish was in a back eddy across a rather complicated set of currents. I managed to negotiate the hole to get my self to the downstream end of the eddy. I watched the fish for ten minutes or so. In this time it rose three times. It never moved more than a few inches from the bankside vegetation. It took a few roll casts before I got my Elk Hair Sedge to drift along the edge of the vegetation. A tried a few more times but it wasn't interested as it rose twice for something else. I tried another good standby in the shape of a small daddy, but his too was ignored. I didn't put he fish down though as it did rise occasionally but not for my fly. I changed again to a size 18 double badger and second drift through it was taken. All hell broke loose when i struck as the fish raced about the pool before wrapping the leader around a sunken twig. Keeping tension on I managed to dislodge the twig. This now gave it chance to demonstrate it's acrobatics before it gave up and came to the net. A lovely WBT of 11".

I didn't see any more fish as battled my way upstream. It had taken some time to navigate the beat and it was now time to go. Still I was rather pleased to get the fish in a section where they appear to be rather rare.

I'm sure there are more in there but this is real jungle warfare at times and I'm pretty sure I spook far more than I see. Plenty of season left to get the hang of the beat though.

Balsam Bashing (Again) & Rainbow Bashing

I arrived a bit early for the Balsam bashing session so has a bit of a chuck about with the fly rod and a dry fly. A size 16 Elk Hair Sedge to be precise. There wasn't much sign of fish. I tried to keep the fly as close to the bankside vegetation as I could as I suspect that's where they were hiding. It wasn't until I got to one of the three foot deep holes that something stirred. Third cast and one of the larger fish grabbed the fly. A very lively 11" escapee rainbow that did a sterling job of dodging the net. At one point it managed to get between my legs, but was eventually in the net. An autopsy revealed it has been eating Baetis & BWO nymphs along with the odd gammarus.

After some three hours of serious Balsam bashing and nearly falling in as we splodged about in the beck I was time for a cuppa. We'd covered about 200 yards of bank. Bank we'd been over at least twice before. No doubt more will pop up over the next month.

After lunch I had another go along the stretch but this time with a nymph. I'd kind of hoped that Our splodging about would have stirred up the nymphs etc. and have the trout feeding. It didn't work quite as I'd hoped, but I did hook a couple of rather small fish which managed to flip themselves of the hook. I don't know why I have such a hard time keeping these little rainbows on the hook.

Jungle Warfare And A Few Trout

The last time I'd been on this stretch was for a work party a month or so ago. Since then the greenery had become even more luxuriant. Avoiding tripping over the fallen trees wasn't easy as they were now hidden. The wading staff saved me from falling head first in nettles or brambles on more than one occasion.

The first fishable spot I got to a fish, or two, were rising every now and then. First cast with a CDC & Elk Caddis snagged a sycamore on the back cast. The next cast I landed it on another sycamore branch over the beck. Swim ruined as I waded up to retrieve the fly. Some precarious wading through sunken logs and soft sand got me round the corner where I saw another rise. This time I landed it with perfection the the middle of the beck where it was immediately snaffled by a little 4" WBT.

Around the next corner was along low stretch. I don't like wading stretches like this as a bow wave is pushed ahead of you spooking fish. Luckily the fish rising on the next bend didn't seem bothered. With some sort of bizarre underhand roll cast, due the the low branches, I was able to land a fly with in a couple of feet of it's last rise. To my surprise it took nearly straight away. It felt like a reasonable fish, but it managed to get the line wrapped round a twig embedded in the sand. I got it to the surface but it shook it's self free with the aid of the twig.

Another fish was lost when it dived into the woody debris it was rising near. I then spooked another On a slow shallow length with my bow waves.

As I headed upstream i had a few speculative casts here and there as the appeared to be enough room to wave the rod about. I still managed to snag the fly a couple of times but was able to retrieve it. I then missed a take. At the next corner I missed a take from a rising fish. I then had to retreat back down stream as there was hell of a log jam and the banks were too high and sheer to clamber out.  Trying to navigate through the vegetation to bypass the log jam I sort of misplaced the beck for a while. 

When I did find it I could see three fish rising along the length. The first near some tree roots. For the life of me I couldn't get a decent drift the fly being dragged away from the roots by the current. I moved forward a bit and managed to drift it past the spot then lost sight of it. I saw a rise in the vicinity of where I thought it was and struck. This was a nice fish for the beck. After a bit of a battle it was in the net. A lovely chubby little beast of 10" with which I was well pleased. The other fish rising on the opposite bank was far easier to cast too and took the fly with barely a ripple. Not as big as the first at 8" or so but equally welcome.

I'd notice a 'wind knot' in the tippet while landing the previous fish so I retied the fly having chopped off the last couple of inches of line. While doing this the third fish rose again. It took half a dozen cast before it took the fly. After splashing about on the surface it dived behind a sunken log. I waded up but by the time I got there the line parted. Despite snagging all sorts this was the first fly I'd lost. It seemed like a hint to go home. Especially a the corner seemed unwadeable do to it's depth. The trek back wasn't easy. Lots of stumbling over hidden logs and and plainly visible brambles. An attempt at a short cut came to an end with a blackthorn thicket. following the beck was easier. Not a bad three hours. Twelve fish rising, three spooked, three missed, three lost, and three landed for one fly lost.

Dry Fly On A Lowland River

After errands I had a couple of hours on a lowland river with the fly rod. There are trout in it but they aren't the most free rising, but I thought the chub may provide some action. With this in mind I tied on a large sedge. As I arrived at the river there were quite a few fish rising, but many of them looked small. Very small in some cases. Probably dace and/or grayling. Second cast A small chub grabbed hold and was quickly landed. Two more were soon taken from the same area. All exactly the same.

The little stuff then started to attack the size twelve sedge. I had to admire their ambition but it became annoying after a while. Moving on I managed two more of the little chublets. In one of the larger pools  there was plenty of fish rising but non except the little 'uns wanted my sedge. A change to the old faithful size eighteen double badger produced plenty of takes but I just couldn't hit them. Eventually I managed to extract three small dace and a couple of little grayling. A couple more twisted off the hook. I must have hit about one in ten takes. Little dace and grayling really are hard to catch on fly at times.

I changed back to the large sedge and made my way back to the car. Having  cast here and there. I just ignored the little 'uns attacking the fly. Eventually a couple more chublets managed to get to the fly. Seven chub, three dace, and a couple of grayling for a couple of hours fishing. Equal parts enjoyable and frustrating.

A Few Trout And More Damn Balsam

Thursday I descended into the valley to fish the upper reaches of a moorland stream. After wandering down the path to the downstream end of the beat contemplating what fly to use I noticed a few more trees had fallen here and there. A couple had come down over the river where there was already a bit of a log jam. The only insects I could see were the usual black stuff. On went a Double Badger as it had done well in the past.

There seemed to be quite a few trout rising, but they mainly looked like small stuff. This was confirmed with the first fish. A six inch WBT. Soon followed by an other slightly smaller one. I then missed a series of takes. The problem with little trout is their aim isn't very good at times and they can miss the fly but it looks like a take. Halfway up a smooth glide a larger fish was rising near some tree roots. My first cast was a about a foot wide and the fish didn't seem to want to move far for a meal. The second was within an inch or two of the rising fish but the fly drifted into the roots and snagged up. As I moved up to retrieve the fly a good ten to twelve inch trout shot upstream. I had two more instances of this where the fly got snagged and I ruined a swim with a decent trout in it. By the time I got to the end of the beat I'd amassed five small trout and missed or lost many more.

 

After Tea I wandered down to the beat below. I stopped at the pool at the top of the beat to find quite a few olives hatching. Nothing, though, was rising. Fifteen minutes I sat and watched but not one fish showed itself. Wandering down the beat I didn't see anything rise even though there were a few olives about. There was, however, a lot more balsam than I'd seen and pulled last time. Spent about an hour pulling and/or recording it's location. Keeping half an eye on the beck. Nothing rose while I pulled the damn stuff up.

I swapped the Double badger for a large Elk Hair Caddis in the hope that this may prove to be a tempting mouth full for a trout. Casting it into likely looking spots as I wading back upstream. I suffered the usual problems of trees grabbing the fly. Landing it in tree roots or bankside vegetation. The wading was a bit trick at times. Some deep holes within inches of the top of the chesties. Eventually I spotted a rise and cast to it. The current as the beck came around the corner was a bit all over the place. As soon as the fly began to skate the trout took. A nice nine inch fish still with it's parr markings.

 

That was it for the evening. Nothing else was seen. I did try skating the caddis  but it didn't attract anything else. Quite what the trout are up to I don't know but they don't seem keen on taking dries apart from the little 'uns.

Flicking Flies About In The Shade

Had another quick session with the fly rod. This time on a moorland beck. I thought the dappled shade provided by the trees would make my life and that of the fishes more pleasant. It seemed to. There was an obstacle, or two, to over come first though. The gates to the fishery now had five padlocks each. Thankfully I knew which was ours.

The beck was now down to the sort of level you'd expect for the time of year, but the water was still cool. I'd put on the usual to start with, the Elk Hair Sedge. The only fly life about was the usual black stuff. After a few speculative casts a fish rose midstream. A covered it a couple of times before took. A 9" WBT that didn't like the net. After three or four attempts it was in. Hopefully there would be many more of these.

As I made my way upstream looking for rising fish I made the odd speculative cast to no avail, but plenty of fish were seen rising. Strangely they were all around the 5" mark. I probably connected with less than half the rises but still ended up with nearly a dozen fish most of which I could just flick off the hook with out removing them from the water.

All in all a fun couple of hours.

Balsam Bashing And Trout

The intention was to spend an hour or so pulling the odds and sods of Balsam left on this stretch before having a bit of a fish. As it was there was more Balsam then I'd realised. Even when I thought I'd got most of it, having wandered up and down three or four times, I spotted a four foot tall plant in flower in among a stand of them. Quite how I'd missed this I don't know.

The Balsam bashing left me with about an hour for fishing. Slightly less after a cuppa. As I crossed the bridge to enter the water I spotted one of the escapee rainbows. A rather clumsy cast landed the Elk Hair Caddis just above it. It wasted no time grabbing the  fly. After bit of a hectic dash about it came adrift just beyond the net.

I worked my way up the narrow little beck bow-and-arrow casting the fly into likely looking spots until I got two thirds the way up the short length. A fish was ring ahead in a very tight spot. I couldn't get a cast to it with out the fly creating drag. Dropping back and going around on the bank I was able to get a cast downstream. Second attempt and the fish took. Things were rather hectic in the confined space but I got it in the net. A nice little WBT around the 9" mark. I think the Eeyores approved as they came over to have a look.

I continued to the top of the stretch but nowt else was seen. 

Time had run out. Especially as the traffic was building up and I had to be else where. So that was that, but i have more time tomorrow for a go elsewhere.

A Trip To The Dales (Rishishire)

 I had chance of a couple of hours fishing up the valley of cheese. As I got to the river in the glorious sunshine Swifts and Martins were grabbing insects from the surface. They were so quick I couldn't see what the birds were taking. They then moved away. With no sign of what had been hatching I put on a Elk Hair Caddis for want of a better idea.

I had few speculative casts here and there as I wandered along the river with out any luck. The Oyster catchers were up and down with their sirens going. Again I saw Swifts and Martins going after insects but by the time I got there they'd moved along. As I wandered back upstream I spotted a couple of fish rising in a shallow riffle by an island. First cast produced a nice little WBT.

I sat and waited to see if there would be any more rises. After a few minutes two or three fish appeared to be rising, but for what I couldn't tell. After a couple of casts a small chub of similar size to the trout took the fly. As I brought it in a couple of dozen other chub scattered. Some upstream and some past me. After dealing with the chub I waited again but no fish returned. I continued upstream. The occasional speculative cast again failed.

At the top of the stretch I spotted a couple fish rising in the fast riffle. After wandering back downstream and crossing the river I was able to get up to a position to cast at them. It took several casts to get a drag free drift. A very splashy rise resulted in something a bit bigger. A nice 10" Grayling. Time was running out but nothing else rose. A few more speculative casts produced nothing.

The couple of hours had flown past, but it had been quite enjoyable. Two more species caught add to the list.