As expected the river was up a tad and a bit more coloured than last week following the recent rain. Like last week, though, the water was really cold as it should be. The wind and rain had knocked a lot of debris into the river from the trees. There was little sign of insect life or rising fish so spiders it was. Is somebody who fishes spiders a spiderist or spideriser?
One thing I had done is make up some furled leaders, just to help turn over the flies especially into the wind. I'd made two from 3.2lb nylon which I'd greased and two from 3lb flouro which I'd de-greased. The later in case I needed to get the flies deeper with out resorting to a weighted nymph on the point. With the furled leader being about 3'6" and 2'6" between flies the overall length is 11' and even with the gusty breeze the leader turned over well. The flies were, my pearly butt bloa variant on point, a partridge and yellow in the middle and a black magic variant at he top. When I get a decent camera I'll take some pictures of them. In the mean time here are the recipes.
Pearly Butt Bloa Variant
Thread: Yellow Silk
Tag: Pearl Tinsel
Body: Mole Hair - Not too sparse
Hackle: Grey Feather from a Jackdaw Scalp
Partridge and Yellow
Thread: Yellow Silk
Hackle: Grey Partridge Neck
Black Magic Variant
Thread: Black
Thorax: SLF Blend Black - Peacock looking dubbing
Hackle: Black Hen
For the first hour and a half there was little or no action, so I sat and had a cuppa and sandwich whilst watching the river. A couple of times a little trout flung itself well over a foot in the air. Quite why they do this I've no idea, but this was the area I cast to when I'd finished lunch. Striking at the swirl I ha my first fish to the black magic. Around the corner I spotted a couple of rises so cast to one of the and again a near instant take as the flies landed. The afternoon was to continue like this to the point I lost count of the fish. A couple of times I had two fish on. These were the only times the partridge and yellow was taken. Even hen I swapped it around with the other flies it wasn't touched. By three o'clock things started to slow down and by half three had come to a halt. It didn't catch anything between then a four so packed up.
Not a bad day at all. Nothing huge, but good fun all the same. Currently black/grey flies seem to be the killers. Quite what the fish were rising to I've no idea, staring at the water with my polariods on I could see a thing. Something most have been happening given the fact that fish hadn't been rising before one, but did so for a couple of hours after.
It was nice wandering down to the river wondering whether to remove the fleece rather than thinking I should have brought another one. While the warm breeze was welcome the bright sunshine wasn't, as there was no sign of fly life. There was, however, a couple of those little pencil size eels heading upstream. While I'd rather have seen a couple of trout, I don't mind the eels given how scare they've become.
As there was no sign of fly life I set up a spider rig. A nine foot cast, I was using an eight foot rod, with a Black Magic on the top dropper, a partridge and orange on the middle, and a pearly butt bloa variant on the tip. As the third cast drifted towards me the tip of the fly line jagged, but I was a bit slow. Not on the next cast though. A lively little trout around the eight inch mark had taken my bloa variant. I had a couple more casts before moving a couple of yards upstream, I repeated this process a couple more times before contacting another fish on the bloa variant again. Then a third to the same fly. A little while later I spotted a rising fish, the first I'd seen. I covered it with a rather clumsy cast and struck at the swirl. Another little trout this time to the black magic. That was it for the next half hour so I stopped for a cuppa and sandwich.
It was a while after I'd had my cuppa before I contacted another fish. This time on the partridge and orange. I then bumped a couple off before getting two more on the bloa variant. The next fish was on the black magic, again covering a rise. The final fish came to the bloa variant. I did see a couple more rising fish, but they were behind trailing branches and I couldn't get a cast to them.
Not a bad few hours. Nice not to be struggling to even get a take. One thing that was noticeable was that all the fish came from the slower glides that were one to two feet deep. Nothing came from deeper or shallower water or from broken water. I'm also glad my bloa variant worked. Based on Paul Proctors pearly butt bloa but with a grey hackle from a jackdaw head rather than waterhen hackle.
As I looked down from the bridge I could see a couple of small trout either side of a patch of weed, unfortunately this stretch belongs to another club. I wandered down to my club stretch and got set up. Out of the breeze it was rather warm, but between the bright sunshine and cold breeze nothing was hatching. I decided to try a couple of spiders, a snipe and purple, and a partridge and orange. I gave it a hour with these before changing to a copper head pheasant tail jig. I fished it in the shallows, the deep slow sections, round the tree roots with out any success. I hadn't seen another trout or insect in the two hours I'd been fishing. Because of the meanders on the river I wasn't that far from the car, even though I was halfway along the length. I returned to the car for a warm cuppa and a contemplate.
By the time I'd finished my sandwich and cuppa the chill wind had dropped an it was noticeably warmer. I wandered back up the river to where I'd left off. There was still no sign of fish or fly life, even the two near the bridge had disappeared. In the hope that the fish may be looking up, and that the previous methods hadn't worked, I put on a DHE. I worked my way up the river alternating between the DHE and PT jig to the top of the length with out any success. On the way back I spotted a rise near some tree roots. From the top of the opposite bank I could see one of the larger residents, a fish of 10-12" holding station behind a large tree root. I sat and watched for a while to see if I could spot what it had risen to. In the ten minutes I sat there watching absolutely nothing happened, apart from the geese and sheep having a shouting match further down stream.
The bank side saplings made casting rather problematic so, I wandered downstream and crossed the river. I sneaked up behind the fish. Three chucks I had at it with the DHE and it just sat there waving it's tail about. Initially I thought about putting a larger fly on such as a jingler, but decided to put the cat of spiders on instead. My thinking being that something at eye level may entice it out. First cast was probably to far out in the river. The second cast had me thinking the top dropper had snagged on the root as drift came to a halt, but no, a tiny little beastie had grabbed the bottom fly. Despite me keeping the rod low and sweeping it back quickly the little horror managed to splash about on the surface. The large trout I was after gave a couple of waves of the tail and shot away upstream. To cap it all the little 'un shook itself loose as I'd allowed the line to go slack while I cursed my luck.
As it was nice and warm where I was, out of the wind, I sat there for a while hoping the big'un would reappear. Not surprisingly this didn't happen. The sheep did, however, pop over to see what all the fuss was about. Cattle do this all the time, being nosey buggers, but I've rarely seen sheep do it. They normally keep a reasonable distance from you. Just to make sure the fish didn't return, a couple of mallards crash landed in the swim.
I can take a hint. Time to give up. I wandered back to the car. Pondering what to do if the weather doesn't warm up a bit and things start hatching. I've seen reports of people saving the day with streamers, so maybe next time I'll bring a few. The first trip of the year to a stretch of river like this is never wasted though. One or two fish holding spots have been washed away in the winter floods and others have appeared.
Interesting start to Friday's session. As I arrive at the parking spot a sheep was gazing longingly into the field from the wrong side of the gate. I opened the gate and it just sauntered back into the field. Quite how it had got out I've no idea, nr had the farmer when I mentioned it later.
The river has been dropping less than half an inch a day so is still well up. The section I was fishing was one I'd never landed a trout from. As part of my cunning plan for the day I'd tied up some San Juan Worms to along with the usual collection of weighted nymphs. I'd also acquired a Wychwood River Nympher Line, which proved quite interesting. The san juan worm proved very tempting to the minnows who kept grabbing at the ends, occasional one managed to hook itself as I worked my way up from the bottom of the section. Thank fully the minnows were only present in the slower lower half of the section.
While having a cuppa and something to eat a stoat popped in and out of some rabbit holes on the far bank until a couple of crows dive bombed it. After lunch I had a try casting small dries with the nymph line. It had functioned very well flicking weighted nymphs about, far better then the long leader rig I'd used previously. The rod I'm using, an eight foot four weight, probably isn't the best for this sort of tactic on a river this size another foot or so would help, but I don't feel it's hindering either. I was rather surprised at the lines ability to cast small flies the sort of distances I'd require. Not sure how it would cope into a gusty wind though. It did take a little while getting used to as it gives very little feedback through the rod. We'll see how it goes over the season.
Back to the nymphing, as there was no sign of any hatches or fish rising. I was generally fishing as close to the banks as I could as this was were I assumed the fish would be sheltering in the still swollen river. Near the end of the day and the top of the section I got my first proper take. A small grayling quickly flicked off the hook as apart from the take it was pretty lethargic, coming in like a leaf. One trout in three sessions may not sound great, but given the state of the river and the fact that there are not a lot of trout in this section, is one more than I felt I'd get when I arrived on opening day.
On the way home I ha a wander along a short section of a beck I've access to. It looked in far better condition then I thought it would. The steamer weed was a bit sparse, don't know if the floods had washed a lot of it away again. I did however see one nice sight. Four small pencil size eels swimming up a shallow section. Like most I've not seen many eels over the past few years never mind any this small. lets hope they can avoid the predators.
Tuesday a different section of the river from Monday, but the wind was basically the same - cold and blowing downstream. The sun did make the occasional welcome appearance though. As I drove up the track to the upper end of the fishery I was greeted by a rather desolate scene where bank repairs were taking place. Not the nicest looking scene, but something needed to be done as the floods had been scowering away the bend and threatening the road and the flood bank with the farmhouse just behind. As it's going to be fenced off from the cattle nature should take over once complete and hide the scar.
This section seemed to have been affected by the winter floods more than the previous section. Shallow runs had disappeared or moved and a couple of deep holes had filled in. I found a couple of nice bits to flick my heavy nymphs into and was rewarded by a good take only to have it fall off the hook after a few seconds. After this it was hard going, with little or no sign of fish, or any other wildlife come to that. I only saw the kingfisher once. It wasn't until late in the day that I had another contact. Again it fell off, but this time it was my fault. I forgot about the branches above me. I snagged the rod on one momentarily which allowed a bit of slack.
Apart from a chat with a fellow angler it hadn't been the most pleasant of days. The temperature and wind hadn't been enough for a big coat, but the fleece I'd been wearing wasn't quite enough. There again it is only march so can't really complain. The wildlife doesn't seem to be stirring much either. One thing I did find were these little red flowering plants in various states from buds to flowers starting to open. I have no idea what they are. The area they were in has had the brambles and briers cut back. , so they've probably been there before, but hidden.
The river is still dropping, very slowly. another couple of weeks or so should see it in better fettle. Some of the better swims are still inaccessible do to the height of the water. As mentioned earlier some of the nice shallow runs have vanished or moved so it make take a while to find where the rather sparse population of trout have moved to.
First day of the river trout season here in Yorkshire and we're greeted with lovely sunshine and a rather chilly nor'easter. As expected, no matter which way the river is going the wind appears to be downstream. There's also a bit more water in the river than I'd like, but it's not bad, about six inches extra. At the first swim I flicked the fly out and wiggled a bit of line out, as I went to cast I thought I'd snagged until it moved. A small chub was the first fish to grab the bait. As I rummaged through my pockets I realised I'd left, not for the first time, my phone in the car. Thankfully it was a short wander to retrieve it.
I made my way up the length fishing a variety of heavy nymphs, mainly GRHE type things with either brass or tungsten beads depending on depth current. The lack of fly life and rises wasn't really a uprise as things tend to start a bit later here. The only wildlife about seemed to be the crows and a king fisher, which shot past me several times. It was well into the afternoon when I got near the top of the length. A fish rose close to the bank, the first I'd seen. A quick chuck landed the nymph just upstream and the line tightened. I soon had my first trout of the season. A nice little fish of 9".
Rather chuffed at catching a fish on opening day on this stretch. They often don't show up until later and even then can be few and far between. Hope fully I'll get one on dry fly later in the week.
Pearly Butt Bloa Variant
