Otters catching on the river Wye

Not the svelte, furry creatures, but a small dry fly!

First fish of the new season on an otter!
Fishing the Cressbrook & Litton stretch of the Wye as Hilary's guest - she saw a fly pop up for the orange indicator on her fly line. So I put on a size 18 scrappily tied Otter. Up swam a fish and took it. A beautifully marked browny.

Don't forget to buy your rod license before April 1st

Don't get caught on the river without a rod license. You can apply online for your license now
You can also buy a licence:

• by calling EA on 0344 800 5386 (find out about call charges)
• in person at a Post Office
  

  Prices for licences before 1 April

  Licence type	Non-migratory trout and coarse	Salmon and sea trout
  1-day licence	£3.75	£8.00
  8-day licence	£10.00	£23.00
  Full licence (valid until 31 March 2017)	£27.00	£72.00
  Over 65 or disabled (valid until 31 March 2017)	£18.00	£48.00

   Some prices have gone up for 2017-18

Some where over the rainbow.....

........the trout season on rivers may be over - but there is a pot of silver at the end of the rainbow!

Silver in the form of a grayling. 

The lady of the stream. 

Ladies of the stream (Lots) is the name of the womens/female fishing group that is slowly growing in numbers. Sign up to join us or find out a little more

Catch and release and the weedy problem

Ok, so finally the fish is well hooked - unlike the 'tap it and flee' fish that occasionally seem to predominate - you faff about with your landing net whilst trying to control the rod and fish. The fish cavorts up and down the river. You now have your net in the river and realise that the play on the line has changed. Your fly is hooked, but no longer to the fish. Out comes the fly (hopefully) with a long stream of healthy river weed attached. Again!
Damned clever these catch and release fish!
Hey ho.... Well at least the net dries rapidly - having bought a replacement Snowbee rubber-mesh - incredibly cheaply - ordered from Peter Arfield at the Bakewell fly fishing shop. They do them in different sizes. I can recommend them. As long as they are the right rim measurement I should think they fit any net. They are better for toothy fish and the hook less readily attaches itself to the mesh.

Updated river fly diary page

Crane flies and bright flies seem to be the order of the month. Crane flies (or daddies) for the windy days and gold bodies for the bright days. Sedges and spinners in the evening

LOTS - Ladies of the stream fly fishing Derbyshire Wye August 2016

Six women fly fishing met up with Dave Southall on a gloriously hot day on the Derbyshire Wye. No wading - which was a slight disadvantage in the heat! Dave gave us some tuition on Tenkara and Italian casting. I have the video on my phone of Dave 'bicycle' casting (without wheels), which I have yet to master. We had a very enjoyable day. I applied the 'bright sun, bright fly' principle, which was productive for me.

We went for a late and extended lunch and resumed fishing until dark!

A wonderful day. Thank you to all who have given us these fly fishing days this summer. 

Tight lines and lets get more children and women fly fishing!

The heaviest catch at Wolfscote

What a weighty beast being hauled from the river by Sarah. Not a very large trout, but a very wet and firmly stuck large lamb. It had clearly done something many of us fly fishers do at the waters edge and thought solid ground was between us and the river, discovering our error as we sink into the water! Unfortunately the lamb could not recover itself from this position and, had Sarah not so obligingly and professionally, stepped in, I am sure the animal would not have survived the night. It was sodden. The lamb was lucky that we had Sarah with us - she keeps sheep and knew what to get hold of to haul it out - without landing herself in the river too.
Well done Sarah, you had the largest catch of the day!
To make it a double sheep catch - this event was preceded by Hilary releasing a noisy lamb with its head stuck in fencing. Which just goes to show that a day fly fishing at the river isn't just about fishing!
LOTS (Ladies of the Stream) were fly fishing on the temple beat and Wolfscote yesterday. The drizzle persisted almost all day - but - there was only a gentle southerly wind, highly unusual for Wolfscote Dale. The fishing was hard but we all stuck at dry fly fishing - with results.
I only caught grayling - but then, we are not called the Ladies of the Stream for nothing!
Next event on the 16th of August on the Derbyshire Wye. Check the Womens river fishing days for details.