River Test @ Wherwell

I was really looking forward to fishing the River Test. For many years it had been on my "must do before..." list and for some reason had never had the opportunity till this weekend. And it never let me down as with just an hour to go on Sunday afternoon I managed to land this 44cm Grayling from the main river. I cast across to the far bank and mended the line again and let the tungsten headed gold ribbed hares ear head for the bottom. As i tightened up i was in and it was solid. With the current pushing through that dorsal fin gave it extra fight but after a good fight wow, good fish! My first Grayling was not quite that size but welcome none the less. I had had 4 takes and fish on but they wouldn't stick. As i headed back to the hut Jim Collins was settled in his chair by the weir and said their a loads of fish in hear but i can't touch them, help yourself. It was only 3rd cast and as the fly came round I saw the flash of silver in the clear water and a welcome grayling brightened up the morning. I was not the only one catching good fish and everyone was having a few fish with Grant more than most as usual. Stuart had a good rainbow off the river but goodness knows where they escaped from. Even with it drizzling with snow and all the fields water logged it was still a lovely place. Manicured grass paths and neat river edges with close cut reeds, clear water and white chalk gravel bottoms - lovely. I kept thinking i should take my boots off on the carpet or at least repair any divots i made. A great weekend!

Food for thought

This was the title of my talk this week to the Northampton Fly dressers Guild at the Cardigan Arms ( I have added their site to my links ). I tried to take my Wildlife monitoring knowledge and demonstrate this with all the samples i have to try and bring alive what trout are thinking when they are eating. The weather has been naff so my gathering of samples was not great. I had break the ice but came up with a few Damsels and Corixa's and that went down great as they swam around the trays.

It's a Shame you cant do a talk in the summer when all the flies/nymphs are about. However there was plenty of samples to work through ant it seemed to go down really well.

First ever fly line

I was out with Matt this weekend at Ravensthorpe trying to catch his first fish. It was due to be a nice day, cloudy but warming as the day went. That was how it was and with black buzzer hatching early, olive buzzers later and a few fish on top, perfect conditions i thought. Unfortunately it was a little more difficult than that. I set up with a Wetcel 2 which is a little old but it has a great feel to it, small white lure and a black and silver gold head on the point. I had heard the fish had been mid water to to the bottom. The first stop was in willow bay and though they were not fast and furious the first 3 were in the boat and i was convinced of the method. Matt although not casting as far was on a Di5 and getting to the depth. Every now and then the rod was dip over with a take but they wouldn't stick. It went a little quiet so we headed over towards the far shore where the small green buzzers were hatching and a few fish on top. Although a number of others were chasing these surface fish i went down deeper onto the Di7. An early fish for me confirmed there were fish at depth and although i questioned Matt's takes I was amazed that i saw his rod arch over twice with nothing to stick. It was then that Matt declared he had a fish on - YES!!! I cooley reached for the camera to take a few shots for posterity while he played it.

As it came to the surface the fight got a little less and DAMM!! it was only a full floating and three flies. I pulled it in carefully with the hope of a fish still on the end from the previous owner but to no avail.

We moved around a little after this and got a good view of the whole reservoir. We finished off back dragging across the front of the Dam where i thought something could just pick up his flies. Fortunately for me they grabbed mine including a nice 3 to 4 pound rainbow. Time was up and i had failed to catch Matt his first trout. Never mind the challenge is still on!

Bob Pickering Challenge

The final Bob Pickering Challenge match was held today at Grafham with memories for Bob - where have those 10 years gone? but also for John Wilson who died at the weekend. It was Johns idea to get a few more together and hold this for the last time before the trophy is handed back to Andrea to keep and although he tried hard to attend thanks to Mike Philpott who finalised the arrangements and made a great day. We all enjoyed ourselves and with Ash looking professional and ready for action ( with a cool box big enough for the job ) he was destined to win the day with 5 fish for over 12lb.

Dougie was on form as usual although it had been so long since he had fished you can see him in his course gear asking "where do i shove this line?"

Vernon was also on form and managed to come 2nd with 5 fish for 10lb. Rumour has it he only fished half a day as it took so long to work out how to put his MFI boat seat together!

My boat partner for the day, Shane Tibbets was third with 3 fish. Although i was sure that mine would have weighed more if I had left in the stomach contents of killer shrimp!

It gets dark early these days and as the sun came down over Grafham and the Bob Pick Trophy we headed off to the Lion at Buckden for a very civilised sit down and for Andrea to present the trophy. With a few beers in memory of Bob and John they would have approved!

John Wilson and Julian Davies pass away

Having been ages since i last added a post it is really sad that i have have to write about loosing two friends over the weekend. John Wilson from Market Harborough was a lifelong friend/colleague/mentor of mine and someone i always looked up to and respected, unfortunately he lost his battle with cancer this weekend. He gave me many subtle steers in life that i shall always be grateful for. Our approach and outlook on life were very similar but his came in an engaging way with more experience. He had a great way to get me relaxed, positive and motivated, as i am am sure he did with others to,o and this meant I always fished well in his company which gave me many treasured memories. John had a great passion for the outdoors and absolutely loved all aspects of it. He enjoyed being out in the fresh air of the countryside and marvelled at how spectacular it can be. He wrestled with his conscience around how killing an animal could be conservationist as i do, but in his era of commercial excess, pesticides and habitat loss i have no doubt he gave back much much more! One of his qualities i admired most was that he was an excellent leader, not only managing many staff at Barclaycard and Barclays Bank but also their fishing clubs. He did this in an all encompassing way making everyone part of it and its success. The Barclays Fishing Club and thoughts of him will live on for many many years. Julian Davies was still fighting his cancer battle and we thought was on the winning side until unexpectedly passing away suddenly this weekend. Many Monday nights in Julian's company has been entertaining, engaging and enjoyable. He has done an enormous amount for fishing in Northamptonshire through Gilders and Mid-Northants. I have worked for him when he was Chairman and with him when a Vice-president and was always impressed how he had an aura of authority and used it in the right ways. Out on a fishing boat though and he was fantastic company but fiercely competitive. I remember very clearly how i am sure he tried to knock one of my fish off the line at Grafham that would have taken me one ahead. Funny how I perhaps liked him more for it too!

River Ure

What a great couple of days at Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales fishing for brown trout and grayling on the River Ure. It runs down Wenesleydale and is almost as good as the cheese!

Last week it was the site of floods that left people stranded that had to be rescued but luckily for us it is a spate river that levels out very quickly and when we arrived it looked great. As i stood on the banks if I wasn't fishing i did fancy climbing the hills. The beat was 17 miles of meandering river with some great pools with a mix of open grassy fields or overhanging trees. Mmm mouth watering.

Day one was spent in a chicken fields next to the bridge and with loads of rising fish in the foamy water. It was almost as though I was being watched!

Trying many flies I settled on olive patterns of beacon beige, kites imperial as well as partridge and orange and snipe and purple. I must have been out of practice and lost 4 fish that i couldn't keep on. yes thats what i want!!

The second day started great with a Dipper perched on a rock as as it swam for food and Common sandpipers were on most pebbly spits making a racket to distract you away from their nests. As i searched under the trees on the far bank i put a size 16 black parachute dry on a short leader. This allowed me to get closer more consistently. A fish rose under a bush and i cast a foot above and let it drift over the rise and up it came again - yes i was in! It is surprising how well a fit river brownie can fight on an 8ft 4wt.

It was afternoon before the next fish after we had moved to a pool further down the river. Phil cast to a fish with a dry sedge and yes he was in with another great coloured buttery brownie, magic.

It was starting to drizzle a little and i thought one last pool. It was shallow gravel on my side and i walked up that casting to the far bank. There were a few sedge coming off and as a fish rose up stream i cast upstream again and a perfect second rise and i was in again. A lovely fight and it was safely in the net. Pub and food i think next!

My last morning and it was raining steady. It kept getting worse so i decided to head home and leave Phil too it. I wasn't far down the road and the text came through - just had a grayling and it stopped raining - damm i should have stayed longer!!

The shortest boat trip

Matt had attended a beginners course but had not been out since, so tonight was a bit of casting practice. It seems though that they had put a few fish in the small half recently so just a 50 yard hop in the evening boat and we were fishing. I forgot how much there is to learn when you start fishing, just setting up and casting takes a while to get to grips with but tangles - wow they always take ages! Matt did well and casting improved loads and he was fishing well. My first two fish took well, early in a long cast they hooked themselves and after a bit of pulling and jumping at least we had something to take home. The next fish was played by Matt and he was a natural! We moved for the last 45 mins into the shelter of the bay and the swifts and swallows were buzzing the water but unfortunately the rain had started. After 10/15 mins i was starting to think that the fish were not here and suddenly the line went tight and a large fish wallowed on the top on a full cast - nice! Matt played it like an expert and and there was a pristine 4lb brownie in the net - gorgeous! There were a few fish rising and i finished on the dries. Raining a bit heavier now it was nice to get in the dry but a great evening though.