Finally........Patience and Persistence

As fishermen, we all get that feeling of "why the hell do we bother....." and sometimes it gets us down. For many many evenings after work I have made my way down to my local river in pursuit of my quarry.

This evening I approached the river with a positive and strong mental attitude.... I will catch a fish, I will catch a fish. After working my way down several pools, I came to a nice pool with some movement. So I changed my fly to a small Garry Dog hairwing pattern and away I went.

After a few casts through this pool, the line tightened and I presumed I had hit bottom, but the bottom moved. And here was my reward.

And one picture for good luck !!!!!

Final outing before the shop closes

Myself and KSDAA Secretary, John Garner, made a final outing today before the end of the trout season on the Eden. There was plenty of fly about but hard to find any visible rising fish. However after walking and stalking, myself and John hooked into several fish and John hooked into a nice grayling ( see video below ).



A great way to finish of the season with fish brought to the net and released. Always a joy to see.

Twitter world......

I now have a Twitter account.

Follow my Twitter here and you will share my river adventures..........

Check for updates daily.

Guideline Haze V2 10/12

There seems to be a huge thing for "blinged" up reels at the moment. I feel that some people are going for looks over function and practicality. I have had the pleasure of owning Abel, Hardy, Orvis and Ari reels but they are really looks rather than practicality of use. Abels and Ari's are things of beauty.

After using Guideline products for 2 years now, I have decided to get one of there mid range salmon reels. The Haze 10/12 v2. This beast has good line capacity and can hold 300m x 30lb backing which is great for those big silvers or early season spring fish.

For a reel thats about £250, its a great buy and spare spools are to excessive either.

Have a look at one and see what you think

Its anodised high-gloss black finish is a great and will match most rods.

River Kent - Sea Trout

Last week saw me down by the river bank most nights waiting for the darkness to fall. When the splashes begin, it's time to rock and roll. I have experimented with using lighter equipment, I moved down to a 9ft 5wt which I thought would be unable to turn over the flies but it managed to remarkably.

With some fresh patterns in the box, the hunt began.

Heres is one of the bigger ones from last week. ( slightly coloured )

A selection of the flies I used last week. Mainly all black. Better the devil you know and all that.

Evenings are hotting up!

As the evenings are now lasting longer and the sport is lasting longer, us fisherman need to start dusting off the cob webs and head down to the river to separate the men from the boys.

With the hot weather and fresh showers we have had lately in the Eden water system, the hatches have been more often and more dense. Some great hatches of BWO and mayfly have seen trout roll, splash and thrash which is always great to see.

Paul Procter's article in this months T+S is certainly worth a read as its based on the Eden.

You may even recognise this young man...................

Galloway Lochs

The last few days have seen me in the Galloway area near Gatehouse of Fleet. Never did I think there would be so much fishing both Loch and Rivers in one area. Given the rivers mainly hold salmon and sea trout and the water levels where high, loch fishing seemed my only option.

Seeing as this was the area where I learned to fish, it only seemed right to return to the place of origin. Staying on the Rusko Estate near Gatehouse of Fleet over 10 years ago saw my passion for fly fishing develop.

From casting wool on the lawns of Rusko house to casting on the glorious glistening waters of the Estates private loch gave me the "buzz" to continue my hobby.

The trout were as spectacular as I remember, beautifully coloured, large dark speckles and vivid blues and greens on the cheek plates. Heres a picture of a typical Rusko trout.



With the water being so clear, keeping low was key when casting to fish rising meters from the bank



Casting to a rising fish.



..........and fish on.

Wild Trout Weekender - 18th-19th June. River Eden System.

Hi all,

The Eden River's Trust and WIld Trout Trust are throwing a wild trout weekender on the 18th - 19th June on the River Eden system.

In brief, there will be a presentation evening with Paul Procter and Jeremy Lucas at the Tufton Arms Hotel, Appleby in Westmorland, where flies, tactics and entomology will be talked about.

A range of beats will be offered throughout the entire system (competitive bidding basis) to be taken on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th June. Prices range from £10 – £50 per rod per day. Some beats will also ‘rent out’ the services of guides, again with proceeds going to ERT / WTT.

Tickets for the Dinner are priced at £19.50 include a two course supper. There will also be a charitable auction of ‘Affordable Promises’ with items such as signed books, flies, fishing tackle and other sporting ephemera!

Evening and beat tickets can be bought through the Go-Wild website

See you there

CH

Who's ya' Dadddddddy

Have a trip in the borders approaching and there has been many reports of daddies and heather flies been blown onto the water......soo............ I spend a few hours this evening tying and here is one of the 'hopeful' fish catchers........touch wood.

Hook: 12-14 Tiemco Nymph/Mayfly
Thread: Uni Rusty Olive 8/0
Body: Hareline Superfine March Brown Dubbing
Rib: Strteched clear krystal flash
Legs: Knotted Pheasant Tail (bunches of 2)
Hackle: Light Dun Saddle Hackle
Wing: Grizzle Hackle Tips

Enjoy.............

CH Fly Fishing

Some Olive fancies

after seeing some large olives float down the river, it has appealed to me that maybe I should tie some less well known flies. My friend Ulf has come up with a great design which can be followed in the link below. here is the finished product.

You can view Ulf's step by step via this link to the Hatches website. Have a look around, its a great site for any fly tyer.


Tying the Uffe Killer by Ulf Hagstrom

First Mayfly of the year.

After the weather we have had I have struggled to believe that I saw my first Mayfly (Ephemeroptera) of the season today. I usually see these on my local river at the end of May so to see one this early makes me ponder..........why this early?

As you do, you take your cap off and grab the opportunity to snatch a look at this great insect.

Here is the culprit on my rod cork.

MAY DAY MAY DAY!!

Today saw probably the least ideal fishing conditions. Low water, high winds and sun seem to be a recipe for disaster, put for some who were brave enough, sport could be found if known where to look for it.

There was plenty of fly on the water varying from olive uprights to black gnats with the gnats being the fish's food of choice. Feeding came in bursts but they were frequent. The fish did not seem to bothered by our presence but were very fussy when it came to presentation.

Here is my first fish of the day, a nice grayling weighing 2.5lb.

My Dark Quill Dun

here is my trusty dark olive dun pattern for the start of the season.

You can use any dry fly/emerger hook sizes 14-18 to tie this pattern.
Starting at the eye, using a 8/0 light dun thread, put down a layer of thread down the shank untill you are in line with the point of the hook.

Take a small bunch of light dun cock hackle fibres and tie them on. Bring the thread back to the eye catching the fibres in. Cut the remaining fibres off. This creates a nice tapered body.

Take a peacock quill that has been dyed either dark olive or green. Strip off the fibres using either a rubber or the back of your scissors. Be careful here as the fibre is very fragile. Tie in at the tail and wind on the quill with touching turns or leave a small gap between turns shown here. Tie off and cut off excess.

Take three to four CDC feathers and lay them on top of each other to line them up. Tie in tips forwards using pinch and loop turns. Add some dubbing on top of thread loops and add one or two turns behind the eye to make the CDC stand up slightly. Trim excess off leaving a little or no CDC showing. I prefer some showing as it creates a abdomen to the fly. Whip finish and your done.

In the beginning..........

The new season is here for many of us keen river trout anglers.

Large Dark Olives and good midge hatches have been coming off my local water creating some good action early season

Here is one LDO that landed on my rod to dry its wings.

Some March Temptations

Here are some of my recent ties for my journey up to the Tay. River level is looking good at the moment for hopefully (fingers crossed) it will remain steady.

So......... here they are!!!!

Fishing Heaven - At World's End

I have dreamed for years of going to the end of the Earth in pursuit of my passion to land a 10lb+ Sea Trout. The Rio Grande is a prolific Sea Trout river which only very fortunate people have the opportunity to fish.

With fishing available 24 hours a day in some months of the year, how can fishermen/women leave the bank. Tiredness is not and excuse !

Here is a link to Guideline's Articles were Matt Hayes has written a piece on the grande river, The Rio Grande.

Big net's at the ready.......

http://www.guideline.no/Sea+Trout+at+the+End+of+the+World.9UFRvKWA.ips

Nice Snips Sir!

Everyone in fly fishing has surely heard of Abel. They make some fantastic gear and recently I came across these new snips that they have designed. Having a good sharp and reliable pair of snips is essential on the river if your fishing for either trout or salmon or like me both! The jaws are made from premium graded stainless steel then heat treated to make them solid as a rock. Prices go up to $100 for the Artistic graphics but the $50 would do me.

Fingers crossed a pair soon!

Todays tying!

Here are two of the patterns I have tied up today. Hope you like them

I haven't posted anything on the blog for ages and I do apologise!!

The winter has seen me tying and flying around doing busy things just about managing to keep my feet on the ground. With the trout season soon upon us, its time to start tying those march brown and olive patterns up in order to carry out my attack!

March see's me up in the "Holy" land on the famous River Tay fishing the Newtyle Beat. I am kindly been shown the ropes by new found friends and prestigious ghillie's Martin Ritchie and David Steele. Here are some patterns I have tied up to hopefully land a silver tourist.

All the Best.