Spring migrant banquet

I had a very pleasant half day boat at Ravensthorpe today and it was great to see so many flies hatching so early in the season. There were loads of small black midges and a few small green ones but the best was a massive dark green buzzer that were hatching in great numbers.


Some of the spring migrant birds have started to arrive now. I could hear chiffchaff, chiffchaff, chiff from the shrubs and Sand Martins were buzzing the surface feeding on the banquet of buzzers. A welcome treat after the log trip from Africa I assume.

I started off between the island and the causeway and stuck the pick down. The wind was off the trees and therefore fairly sheltered. I set up a green pea and a couple of buzzers on a floater, cast out and then put the rod down while i organised my kit. It was only a minute when I felt the rod move and with an instinctive reaction I picked up the rod and I was in to a very nice 3 and a half pound rainbow - great start!

the fish were feeding and there were the occasional rises but I seemed to struggle to find what they wanted. I did have another fish on a black buzzer but it wasn't a method. As the hatch gained in numbers, so did the numbers of fish rising. I chopped and changed flies and methods and while i felt they were on dry it wasn't working for me.

After lunch the boat next to me had a fish on a dry and i thought that's it, there must be some easier fish somewhere. I headed up to cotton end and when I arrived there were no fish rising but there was fly hatching, hopefully they are feeding on nymph rather than dry so i put on a damsel and a black buzzer and cast toward the wall.

It was only third cast and and all went tight - yes! I had found a few fish and for the next hour I couldn't go wrong catching and returning 7 fish. They took the buzzer to start and then switched to the damsel as the hatch wore off.

After 15 minutes without a fish (inpatient!) I thought i would head off home and save myself for another day.