RFM & Hunting Aliens

 Thursday started with a spot of River Fly Monitoring. Four of us kicked sampled a couple of sites above and below a sewerage outlet. The results were much as expected with no alarms apart from a large increase in blood worm below the outfall.

Site 3 11 July 2024, 10:00	Count	ARMI
Cased Caddis	46	2
Caseless Caddis	1	1
Baetis	500	3
Stonefly	0	0
Blue Winged Olive	14	2
Heptagens	0	0
Mayfly	0	0
Gammerus	300	3
Trigger level = 6	ARMI score total =	11

Site 4 11 July 2024, 11:00	Count	ARMI
Cased Caddis	22	2
Caseless Caddis	8	1
Baetis	200	3
Stonefly	0	0
Blue Winged Olive	31	2
Heptagens	0	0
Mayfly	1	1
Gammerus	300	3
Trigger level = 7	ARMI score total =	12

A few Bullheads and a solitary Stickleback put in and appearance as well. The Bullheads are far more tolerant of pollution than was previously thought. 

After a spot of lunch it was time to try and capture some of the escapee rainbows. There were a couple of hotspots for them. One chap fished fly larva under a float in one spot. While another fished nymphs on a French style leader in the other. I had a wander downstream with a euro nymphing setup. Euro style nymphing is not something I do very often, which is probably why I'm not very good at it. A couple of runs down between the weeds and the indicator showed a bite. It felt like something of a decent size but didn't feel like a trout. Through the clear water I could see an eel which plunged into the weed and snaffled my fly.

A couple of swims later I managed to hook a reasonable brown trout which I managed lose with the classic poking the rod tip into the over hanging hawthorn technique. In the next swim I spotted a couple of good sized grayling. They were over the other side of a weed bed and to reach them I'd have to wade. The beck though was quite a way up following the rain earlier in the week. While it was three foot deep next to the bank it was a bit deeper further out. The bottom was also softer and after stating to sink I decided better of it. The kerfuffle of me get back to the bank spooked the grayling. A few more swims were tried as I continued upstream, along with changes to fly. Eventually I managed a couple of the escapee rainbows.

I didn't catch any more by the time I'd reached the others. My couple of fish looked a bit pathetic to the numbers they'd caught. As they pointed out though, they had been in the hotspots.

After another go a couple of us had another go but the rainbows were happy to follow the flies but not take. Only one more was caught. I had ago from below the hotspot with spiders but this was the same. I could see the fish following them turn away. We'll be back to remove some more.

 

Snotty Baggin'

 With Wednesday morning's activities cancelled due to the previous days precipitation I decided to nip up to a local pond, with the half pint of maggots I'd got left, for a couple of hours. I set up a simple paternoster feeder rig. With a couple of maggots on the hook. First cast resulted in a bite before I'd properly tightened up. A little roach.

Next cast the same thing, but the little roach dropped of into the margin as i swung it in. A little jack then shot up of the drop off and nearly beached it's self trying to grab it. Things then went quiet for a while. I then got a rattling bite that I missed. As one leg of the chair had sunk slightly I dropped the remains of the maggots in the margin while I sorted myself out. When I lifted the feeder back out there was a little perch attached to the hook. I dropped the fresh maggots back in the margin and soon got another one. Again the little jack made a charge for it bit missed out as I'd lifted it well above the water. I went back out to the swim I'd caught the roach from to find the little skimmers had moved in. 

A few more quickly followed before one came in at great speed followed by a bow wave. Again the little jack missed out on a meal and nearly beached itself. The skimmers seemed to have disappeared as I got no more bites. Soon after a short sharp downpour swept over. While I didn't get wet while it rained due to the trees. I had to suffer the occasional shower every time there was was a gust of wind. By the time it got to be time for me to be elsewhere I'd had no more bites. As I stated packing up the tip pulled round and another little skimmer turned up.

If it hadn't been for the hungry little jack(s) I think it would have been a better haul for the couple of hours I was there. A nice way to waste a couple of hours though.

Umbrella Testing

It had been my intention to go fishing Wednesday with a mate, as we hadn't fished together for a while. Unfortunate he'd made a bit of a pig's ear of his calendar and got his shift pattern all wrong. He was working Wednesday but had today off.  The weather forecast, for those that haven't noticed, was rain, rain, and more rain. While it would be a good test for my new brolly come advertising hoarding I dislike setting up in the rain. We were lucky with the weather though. It was only a slight drizzle when we arrived. We'd also chosen a spot where we were only a few yards from the car parking. Float Fishing in the rain under a brolly is no fun so I only set up the feeder rod. A simple running rig with a black feeder and a short 9" hook length.

First cast produced a good rattling bite. Which turned out to be a rather tatty roach. Followed by a tiny dace. These little things proved to be a right nuisance. They would give a really good twang of the tip which proved unhitable. The trick was to just ignore this and wait for the tip to start rattling about.

We both tried single maggot rather than double but this didn't produce many bites at all. After a couple of hours we'd both amassed a couple of dozen of these little things. Strangely both swims went quiet about the same time. The rain had eased to drizzle again so we had a cuppa and a natter. On resuming fishing I found roach had turned up in the swim. While my mate was back with the tiny dace. The roach were either hand size or tiny. The bites were well spread out though. At least they were hittable. While my mate had another couple of dozen of the little dace I had about a dozen roach over the next couple of hours.

 

With another break in the weather we decided to call it a day. Despite the rain it had been a reasonably pleasant session. No big 'uns, which was a good job as I'd forgotten my net bag with the landing net in. One thing that surprised us both was the lack of perch. They normally put in an appearance, or used to. The brolly did everything expected of it. Being a bit bigger than my old one it was easier to hide under and keep dry.

Trouble With The Wind

 The weather forecast for Thursday was for gusts above 40MPH. Not ideal float fishing weather but it made it a good time to try out the new feeder rod. I'd acquired a Daiwa N'Zon 12' Medium Feeder the other week but not got around to using it. 

I've know idea what an N'Zon is but the rod is of a three piece design and come with two tips rated 1.5oz and 2oz. It's supposedly capable of casting 80g. I reckon 50g feeders would be enough for today. After a bit of balsam bashing I set up a simple running rig with a two foot hook length and the lighter of the two tips. The intention was to sort of alternate between a cage feeder and a blockend feeder. I started with half a dozen casts with the cage feeder load with groundbait before switching to the blocked loaded with maggots.

It was quite while before I got any bites I could see. The gusty wind was wobbling the tip about despite the fact I was protected from the worst of to by a willow to my right. When the bites came they were very fast often leaving me with just a chewed maggot. I tried a shorter, foot long, hook length. This resulted in me being able to hit a few of the bites which turned out to be rather small dace.

I continued with three casts of groundbait then one of maggots as roach displaced the dace. The bites were few but more positive, again this was the ones  I could see. The roach vary in size somewhat. Half a dozen been caught in as many casts before things went quiet again.

After a couple of gonks put in an appearance a reasonable chub followed. It had a bit of a gash on its back. A couple of smaller ones followed.

For a while I picked up the of small fish. Now that the wind had dropped a bit the bites were easier to see.  It looks like a light 1oz tip may be needed though. Especially on slower rivers. I then started to get bites the moment the feeder hit the bottom. Although the tip pulled well round I just couldn't hit them. I tried striking the moment the feeder hit bottom but this didn't help. I still ended up with no fish or maggots on the hook. Except when a jack pike intervened. A rather battered beastie around the 2lb mark hooked in the scissors.

The jack had clearly managed to empty the swim as I didn't get any more bites. Not even a chewed maggot. l had managed 29 fish for a tad over 6lb, plus the jack. Roach, dace, chub, gudgeon, but no perch. This really surprised me as the fish had a good head of perch last year.

Despite the wind the rod had performed well. Not too stiff. The handle not too long like many these days. A softer tip is definitely needed, although I don't think it would have helped in the strong wind.

With out the wind I'm sure I could have doubled the number of fish but ti was still a nice session.

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.