Back on the river at last!

Well I have been fishing a few times this April. Just haven't found the time to update the blog. Spent some time this Easter Monday putting some flies I have caught on. You can find them on the River Diary page. Fluorescent orange seems to be the go to fly colour this month!

High water on the middle Lathkill on the 9th April. Crystal clear

Not quite so clear and clean on the 18th April. Something was coming down the river on that afternoon, creating some flat scum and cloudy water. Most unusual!

And have you remembered to buy your fishing licence?

Last day of March and last years rod expires tonight.
Renew your rod licence here

If any of your licence details have changed, such as your address, or if you would like a different type of rod licence, you’ll need to click here to buy it. 
Applying on the internet means you won't lose precious fishing time waiting for your licence, you immediately get a reference number.
For those of you waiting to visit the river - as I was when I took this video a little way further up the Wye than the Peacock water - here is a little sound and vision that you may enjoy.

Apologies for the wobble - mobile phones are amazing things, but not terribly well designed to hold steadily for filming!
Tight lines. Here's to a good summer and lots of time to enjoy the river.

Fly tying with Stuart Crofts in Eastwood, Notts. Saturday 22nd February 2014

Something not to be missed. Stuart Crofts always gives excellent demonstrations.

Organised by Flies by Wendy

Email: fliesbywendyg@homecall.co.uk to book your place

Venue

At Eastwood Baptist Church hall, Percy Street, Eastwood. NG16 3EP

Follow link above for map.

Saturday 22nd February

Arrive at 9am for tea/coffee

Start at about 9.15 - 9.30am

Finish about 4.30pm

Tea / Coffee on all day

Buffet Lunch included in price

Bring along your fly tying vice etc.

Any materials should be available through Wendy, prescribed for the day from Stuart

The cost will be £25 or thereabouts.

Cash to be paid on the day.

Silver on the Derbyshire Wye

The dull and frequently windy weather of late gave way to a sunny day yesterday, 17^th December.

It was cold and clear; I wrapped up well and set off to the river.

I had been reading Fly fishing and fly tying and noticed a letter referring to a 5 bead tungsten nymph by John Tyzack in a 2003 edition of the mag. I had also looked at the ‘Fish On productions’ site (which features John Tyzack) and noted a nymph tied using a cdc feather to make it leggy and shrimpy. With no idea what the 5 bead nymph looked like I created a good sinking fly that I hoped would work. It did. I caught 2 grayling, a rainbow and an out of season small trout.

The tying details are on the 'River fly diary' page - Silver fly for a silver fish

I was also trying a long leader. I had set up an extra reel already and left it at home!

So I quickly looped up a long length of 8lb line, a pink braid indicator and tied on a couple of flies. I use a figure of 8 loop to attach line to leader etc. For the dropper I use a ‘dropper loop’.

Having decorated a tree with the 2 flies I retied on using just one fly - which I cast and fish with much more confidently. At this point I almost gave up and went back to the car for the tenkara rod, which I find much easier for nymph fishing. 

Then I tied on my silver fly and found fish.

Chris Worthy appeared and gave me one of his much more visible braid indicators which improved the situation further. Thanks Chris.

It took a little while to get used to casting with no fly line out of the rod tip. Fortunately the lack of wind and weight of the nymphs allowed me to develop a method of getting the fly to the river. As there is no wading, lifting the line at the end of its run and casting using the resistance on the water to load the rod only worked when casting close to the bank. Generally this was too close in and snagged in the edge growth.

Being a right hander on the left bank I held some of the slack to shorten the line, then swung the line behind with the rod across my left shoulder, (clear backspace needed) keeping an open loop (slight elipse on the rod tip) and returning the fly upriver, where it quickly sank.

Keep an eye on the fly and rod tip whilst you get used to casting. If you have any tips or web links to this casting let me know please!

Just searching for a few grayling flies to tie

The internet is a blessing and a curse. Brilliant for finding flies that hopefully catch fish, but dreadful for being so pleasantly distracting. I had ordered a few bits from Fish On Productions and noticed that they had some videos......

If the link to the video doesn't work just go to the page showing all the videos through Fish On Productions
Now I must get on and tie some flies to fish with tomorrow.... for the grayling... of which there is another video on the site above.

Hoping its not too windy to try fishing with a long leader tomorrow.

What's in the Derbyshire Wye this month?

Though the river was rather high at the Rowsley end I thought I would challenge myself by trying to fish it. Just gathering my thoughts when Bernie Maher appeared armed with his kick-sampling kit. The colourfull results are shown in the photo. There were many shrimps of varied sizes (all smaller than the ones I have been tying). Cased caddis; quite large and dark, and a mayfly nymph.
And no, I didn't catch any fish, clearly the shrimps were too large!

Fishing for grayling

Fly fishing is defined for me when fishing with a dry fly, but with the grayling season and winter weather ahead of us, it is time for me to try to fish deeper into the water.
The talk at the end of the season given by Glen Pointon at the club meeting at the Peacock, was, therefore, well timed. Glen demonstrated making his soft touch shrimp and talked about how to fish it, and the pros and cons of sub surface fishing. He also gave me a tungsten headed fly, which he said he will fish with through winter.
Armed with copies of this and my Tenkara rod, I headed out to the river. Nymph fishing is something I get a little impatient with as I usually cast too far to hold the fly in the current correctly. The Tenkara would prevent me doing this. Thus, I went to a fishy bit of water cast upstream, followed down and - fish on. Fish returned (unfortunately a rainbow not a grayling). I recast, and amazingly, another fish on. Gently bring in a grayling was Glen's advice; unfortunately I rushed it and lost it as I steered it to the net. But, hey ho, I was not complaining.

This is Glen's fly, you can see my copies of it and the materials used on the 'River fly diary' page.