Grayling Match

 After the pegging out the previous day I was geared up and ready for the draw with fifteen others. It's not a viciously competitive match, more of a social. The arrangement is that you can fish between your peg and the peg downstream. All the pegs had the sort of feature grayling like so any peg could win. The only advantage of drawing early was that you could get to your peg quicker. I waited to near the end before drawing 13. A couple of deep holes and a long riffle on my allocated stretch.

 A 12' float rod with 'pin and a 10' quiver rod were set up with maggot for bait. First trot down the float dipped and a tiny grayling was heading towards me. As it was small I went to bring it to hand rather than net it. Silly mistake as it wriggled off the hook. I wasn't the only one to do this. The trout then turned up along over the length before another somewhat bigger grayling turned up. All 7oz of it. The feeder produced very little and sport slowed generally halfway through the four hour match. By the end most were looking forward to the pie and chips at the pub.

 

A total of ten grayling were caught. Three lost. A couple of bullheads showed up along with more than a few trout. The winner had 5 grayling. The winner of the fly fishing cup two grayling. The biggest grayling was 8oz. The beck has been up and down since Xmas, colouring up on occasions. Not the sort of thing grayling like, but it was still rather disappointing.

Nice But Nuisance Grayling

 Thursday started a bit chilly but came out bright and sunny. A typical Autumn day really. While bright and sunny is rather nice for a spot of River Fly Monitoring it isn't really great for trout fishing. No shortage of Baetis and Gammerus. A surprise Stonefly nymph was found. A first for the beck.

Site 3 19 Sept 2024, 10 am	Count	ARMI   2 Bullheads
Cased Caddis	25	2
Caseless Caddis	2	1
Baetis	600	3
Stonefly	1	1
Blue Winged Olive	1	1
Heptagens	0	0
Mayfly	0	0
Gammerus	500	3
Trigger level = 6	ARMI score total =	11

Site 4  11:00 am	Count	ARMI   Bloodworm
Cased Caddis	8	1
Caseless Caddis	9	1
Baetis	105	3
Stonefly	0	0
Blue Winged Olive	5	1
Heptagens	0	0
Mayfly	0	0
Gammerus	120	3
Trigger level = 7	ARMI score total =	9

After lunch we participated in a spot of angling. I had a wander upstream while the others had a wander downstream. As expected it was tough going in the bright sunshine. It was nice to see the pods of grayling up and down the length. These though would become a nuisance later.

 

A the only fish rising were the little grayling I avoided dry flies a stuck with nymphs drifting them next to the weed beds euro style. The only tout I saw were escapee rainbows. Thy did a great job of ignoring my offerings most of the time. When they did show interest a grayling would usually dive in before them. I was interesting watching the grayling's reaction to the small nymphs. The silver bead one was generally ignored. They seemed to prefer the copper bead, along with the killer bug and a black spider.

 I took several of the little grayling despite me trying to avoid them. Apart from one, for a photo, the rest were shaken from the barbless hook in the water. The others had given up earlier than me and moved on to a more productive water. I did do a spot of balsam bashing though. A pleasant day by a beck even so.

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 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.

Down The Bottom And In The Woods

 As I wandered down to the bottom end of the stretch looking for signs of life in or on the water I spotted the flash of a fish. I got myself in a position to have a cast at it. I had a klink 'n' dink rig with a small gold head PTN on the bottom. Second cast and the Klinkhammer skated on the surface and I was into a fish which turned out to be a 7-8" out of season grayling which kindly flipped off the hook as I grabbed the leader. It was certainly livelier than the previous grayling I'd caught.

As no more fish were forthcoming I continued to the bottom of the stretch. There was still no fly life. I cast into all the likely places to no avail. About half way back I'd cast over to the far side when I thought I saw a fish jump. I forgot about the flies that had now swung into the near bank. Another little fish jumped the other side of some trailing roots. The rod tip then jagged about. By the time I'd realised what was happening the fish had vanished. I had a couple of casts by the tree roots but ended up getting snagged and ended up wrecking the swim retrieving the fly.

 

Nothing more was forth coming on that stretch so I retired for a late lunch. After lunch I headed up to the woods. I'd changed to flies to an Elk hair caddis and a lighter copperhead olive bug/nymph. Quite why I'd changed I don't know but a change seemed like a good idea. Again there was no fly life about nor any sign of fish. Again I just cast into the likely looking spots. The trees we layered a few weeks back had come into leaf and new shoots showing.

Further up the beck the first sign of fly life fluttered past. A olive upright. Still no sign of fish though. A couple of bends later and the caddis shot under the water the moment it hit the water. A swift strike and I was into a reasonable fish. A lovely 11" wild brown trout eventually graced the net after a bit of acrobatics near the net. It must have hit the nymph soon after it hit the water. A few more casts in the same area produced only a twig.

I continued on but my right leg was now feeling decidedly wet. The deep wading had found another hole in the waders. When I reached a spot I could climb out I decided enough was enough. I had managed a couple of fish so called it a day. Apparently there had been a fair bit of fly life furtehr upstream just not on the stretches I'd fished. That's trout fishing for you.

Life, The Universe, And The Fly Box

 On Friday there was a work party on the beck which was slowly rising. A couple of benches were to be installed. Then a couple of fallen trees removed from across the beck that were inhibiting upstream wading. The benches installed with out a hitch. No tree roots or rocks got in the way. A bit of careful pruning of overhanging briars was carried out along with removing the offending tree trunks. The benches are a nice thing to have as the proved a nice spot to sit and contemplate life, the universe, and your fly box with out having to sit on the currently boggy ground.

By the time we'd finished the beck had risen a couple of inches or so and coloured up a bit. By the time I'd had my lunch it had stopped riding and the colour had dropped out a bit. I headed up to the woods rod in hand, but not before testing a bench out. All OK.

The second bench proved useful for setting up the rod and line, and perusing the fly box. A retirer sedge and a gold head PTN were selected. While I was setting up I thought I saw something rise, or maybe something fell from the trees. Either way there were rings on the water.

 

 

The first couple of takes on the PTN were from twigs, but the third turned out to be a rather skinny looking grayling with precious little fight. It was quickly flicked off the barbless hook. Around the next corner a similar set of events occurred and another skinny apathetic grayling of similar size, about 10", was quickly flick from the hook. A bit further on something took a liking to the dry but I failed to contact. Next cast something livelier grabbed the PTN but managed to slip the hook before I could see it. By now it was starting to rain and was nearly time to depart. I thought I'd best start back as I had no idea how far I'd gone into the woods. As it happens it wasn't far as the crow flies but the beck does wiggle about a lot at this point. With storm Kathleen heading up the country I suspected Saturday would be a washout, and from reports and looking at the gauges my suspicions were well founded. Maybe I'll get out on Sunday.

Day 2 - 2024 Trout Season

 As I didn't have much time available for my second session of the trout season I headed to the downstream end of the beck. A couple of anglers were euro nymphing up stream from the bridge so I headed downstream of the bridge to work my way back up to it. An elk hair caddis was on the end of the leader. I was using an eight foot rod today rather than the seven foot rod I'd used yesterday as the was a bit more room. Third or fourth cast I managed to land the fly close to the tree roots. The fly had drifted about six inches when I got a take. After a bit of a hectic fight mid river it was on it's way to the net. It then woke up again and dodged the net and dived into the pile of debris to my right where it manage to dislodge the hook. It looked like a good twelve inch fish as well. Oh well, others may be looking up.

 

I worked my way upstream casting into likely looking spots. About halfway back I cast next to some vegetation on my bank as I lifted the fly for a recast a fish swirled at it. Judging by the silveriness I think it may have been a grayling. I was nearly back at the bridge when a fish slashed at the fly the moment it landed. By now it was lunch time. I decided to fish a duo rig after lunch for the short time I had left, but on another stretch upstream of me.

 Sadly this produced nothing in the short time I had but it did allow me to have a look at this section which does look rather fishy. One thing I did see, on the sheep droppings, were dung flies. Not something use see as much these days. I think I may have to tie some up. Despite the sunshine I think the cold wind kept the fish down. That'd my excuse anyway.

Trout And Other Fishes

 Last Thursday I had a bit of a wander  along a stretch I'd not fished for a long time. I only had an hour. I'd set up a duo rig for a bit of searching about if nothing was showing. As I got to where the public footpath deviates from the route I needed to take there was a hare apparently pointing me in the right direction. The section was far shorter than I remembered and I was soon at the bottom of it. There appeared to be a couple of fish rising on the far bank under the trees. I flicked the rig out into the river to start to cast and the klinkhammer shot away and in came a dace. I tried again and same thing, as dace had grabbed the nymph. Looking down from the top of the bank there was a very large shoal of them.

I cast over top the far bank and again the klinkhammer shot under. This time, though, it was a small grayling. I moved upstream and had another cast over to the faster current on the far bank and got another grayling. The slow current on the inside appeared to be full of dace and the faster current on the outside grayling. A I wandered up I had a few more casts. If I got a bit it was either a dace or grayling. All the same size like peas in a pod. I moved up to one of the faster riffles. This was full of ravenous minnows either try to sink the klink or devouring the nymph. The wind then got up and made a nuisance of its self. If it was blowing down stream the fly got dragged along faster than the current and if it was blowing upstream the fly line was held stationary in the slow current. This made fishing the far bank nay on impossible. Anyway time was up.

As I wandered down the stretch on Sunday there was the usual black stuff flittering about, along with the occasional Yellow May. Waders probably weren't the best idea in the heat but the wind was only light so I should be able to get a decent drift.  Near the bottom of the stretch I spotted two, possibly three, 10-12" trout apparently feeding in the shadows near an over hanging branch. They weren't rising but were darting about grab something or other just below the surface.   I set up a duo rig like last time only this time I put on a yellow klinkhammer. It took three casts to get the drift right but right it was. A larger trout of some 18" porpoised grabbed the klink and was away. The overhanging branch must have trailed well into the river as the line was going round it as the fish fled down stream. Sinking the rod tip caused the line to come loose and also the fish. Poo, or words to that effect.

I waited a bit but the other trout didn't return. A bit further up another trout was spotted in the shadows and first cast the nymph was grabbed. A spirited fight and a bit of leaping and my new floating landing nets was christened. A trout of 10" or so. A similar scenario played out a few minutes later this time with a slightly bigger trout. When i released it it sat for a while before launching it's self straight towards the bank and beaching it's self. It didn't make that mistake second time. It was a long release on the next two trout. One took the dry the other the nymph.

It was quite a while before I saw any more fish activity, apart from the parr leaping out of the water. It's surprising how far these little 4-6" beasties can get above the water. I was also surprised I hadn't hooked any. Given the heat I was about to give up when I spotted a fish of a similar size to the others casually swimming upstream in the middle of the river. I dropped the flies ahead of it and it slunk away before rising up to inspect the klink. It continued upstream, as did the klink. It must have grabbed the nymph as it exploded when I struck. Despite keeping the rod low it leapt about all over the place and was an absolute bugger to net, but net it I did. The biggest of the day at 12".

With lots of small grayling, some large shoals of dace and plenty of par about things are looking quite good for the river. A light flush through would be nice with the thunderstorms about. I also noticed a awful lot of pin fry in the margins. How many of these will survive I don't know. Many of the them will end up fattening the trout up. On the way back to the cat I noticed a kingfisher staring into what can only be described as a puddle. It shot away as I approached. Watching the puddle I could see a few 3-4" either dace or chub. I assume they'd ended up there when the river last flooded. A passer-by asked what I was looking at and when I pointed out the fish they suggested I could rescue them with my net. I suggested they were probably best left where they were to feed the kingfishers or what ever. They said they'd never have thought of that and that maybe things like that were supposed to happen to give the youngsters a fighting chance. The opening day of the coarse fish season is soon so I'll see you all then and tight lines to you all.