Bank Holiday Outing....

- a little bit of gear porn, we all love it! -

After I caught up with all the paperwork and jobs ( which seemed to be never ending ), I managed to gather my fly boxes and headed towards the river. On arrival, things were looking less than hopeful........the river was up 4inches due to recent precipitation and slightly coloured.

- the tail of a pool sometimes holds good promise -

Just as I was about to head back home, in the corner of my eye I heard a rising fish. I clambered down the embankment and sat patiently.......A decent hatch of large dark olives and iron blues all intermingled causing a few more fish to start showing. Ended up with a few fish to hand and it was certainly better that twiddling my thumbs at home.

- a lovely brownie that couldn't resist a size 18 Iron Blue -  

- a victim of the recent spate -

Be aware of tails and glides at the end of pools

Don't just dive in.....use your eyes and ears

- A Large Dark Olive resting up-

-a decent fish rising to LDO's-

I see a lot of people clattering through the tails of pools to jump on a rising fish higher upstream. I would strongly suggest you think again on this approach.........

Lots of larger trout will sit in the tails off pools where there is lower resistance in the water. Think of it like a feeding lane, with all fly life coming down the foam lines, for trout to make easy pickings.

From the image below, you can see that using the faster water can create a good approach to rising fish. As anglers we need all the help we can get when tackling larger fish.

-The tail of long glides can harbour some large and hungry trout-

-sitting on a rising fish-

Easter Hunt.....but not for eggs

A wild brown trout coming to the net....

Well yesterday started promising on one of my local rivers with good hatches of large dark olives littering the air. Sadly, so little seemed to be 'sticking' around on the surface. The tail end of this pool screamed fish and it wasn't long before we started to see fish moving for emerging duns. Once the fish were confident feeding, I made my move and was rewarded with this 1 1/4lb trout. Not a massive specimen but a bonny one at that. Thanks to Paul for the photos. 

(Photos courtesy of Paul Procter Fly Fish)

-Courtesy of Paul Procter Fly Fishing-

-Courtesy of Paul Procter Fly Fishing-

 ‪#‎wildbrown‬ ‪#‎browntrout‬ ‪#‎guidelinegear‬ Guideline ‪#‎wildtrouttrust‬ ‪#‎flyfishing‬‪#‎wildbrowntrout‬ ‪#‎Simms‬  Simms Fishing Products

Gear addiction: its a illness you know!!

My Local.......and I don't mean the pub!

Tried my local water today, River Kent, where I usually fish for salmon and sea trout at the back end of the season. I feel that most of these better known salmon/sea trout rivers are ignored for there wild brown trout potential. From today I have to say I under estimated its potential......with several 2lb+ fish to the net, I certainly cannot complain. One very decent fish (3lb+) snapped off as it dived for cover under a ledge. It certainly tested my Guideline​ reaction. Cant wait for my Fario CRS to arrive!!!!! A fish for another day I hope.

River Tweed up and running

Well the Tweed season is underway!!!!!

Congratulations to Magnus Klintheim who caught the first springer of the season two years on the trot!!! The 7lb fish was caught from Lower Floors on a Garry dog fly.

Will water levels dropping all over, some good runs a fish should be caught.

- picture courtesy of FishTweed and Tweedside Tackle - 

New Gear for 2013

- Guideline Reaction.....all new for 2013 -

Something new for 2013...........should freshen things up slightly.

( Courtesy of Guideline.no )

Start to the Season

As the new season approaches, we all start to panic and wonder if all the gear is still in tact and stored just where we left it..........Thankfully, it was exactly where i had left it, well stored and packed safely in a place where no one can intervene.

Even-though I couldn't make my invitations to the opening day on the River Tay, I did manage to escape the office a few days after opening. With a close friend, we decided on a beat a hop skip and a jump away from his house in Birnam, Dunkeld. I had never visited the Murthly and Strathbraan Estate yet always viewed it from the beat above and form what I could see it looked pictur-esk!

We drove down the snow packed road, which the trusty Audi had struggled to get back up later that very day, and arrived at the beat hut at around 9:30 am. The air temp. was around -2oC with no wind and the snow was hugging the fur and conifer tree's. After a brew and a morning dram, we ventured to the top of the beat where the water looked perfect. The water level was almost perfect and hopes were high but given it was the first outing.....just a cast felt heavenly.

To cut a long story short......the day didn't result in any lines tightening but it was pleasant to be back out on the water after blowing off the cobwebs.

The second day saw us on the bottom beat which again tingled the senses. As you looked upstream you had the famous Island Pool and below the hut it looked to be perfect for the fly.

After walking down the beat with Tony Black, he pointed out various areas where fish lay and would take the fly. I began to wade out to the position he said was ideal. I looked around and couldn't believe how far out into the river I was but this was where I was told to start.

After gradually pealing off line and casting square and working the fly in the water....the line tightened and I lifted into a head thrashing kelt. I returned the fish and began pealing off line, again starting in the position Tony had recommended. A short while after working down the oily slip....bang, fish on again! This was repeated 4 times........to which 4 fish came to the fly, but sadly none were fresh spring salmon.

Soon it was time for lunch and oh my did we eat in style! soups, buns and other bits and pieces!

After lunch, and a dram, the weather closed in and began to snow heavily so it was time to pack up and drive the 3 hours back home.

Even-though there was no spring salmon, its was nice to get the gear out and get the cobwebs off. The casting muscles will soon be back and ready to fight those big salmon.......well, hopefully!

Will write again soon......

Chaos at the bench

A picture of my fly tying bench after a busy season of tying flies......

From the picture you can see i needs a little tidying..

Its amazing how much stuff tying fanatics own...... I must have over 4-digits worth!!!!

Check out the Hatch on that...

.....a picture I took before all this horrific weather we had in the North. A fantastic mixed hatch

- all thats missing is feeding trout... -

and they have arrived.........Say hello Mr Mayfly

ITS ABOUT TIME!!!!!!!!!

Finally the "Big Lads" are here.........

Walked up one of the many tributaries of the upper Eden today in search of the mayfly!

With time on my hands, I sat on the tail end of a silty pool and watched the Mayfly take flight....... I knew it wouldn't be long until the trout came on the feed.

Here's one that fell to one of my size 14 mayfly variation.................

- a true Eden beauty - 

.....Seeking the cover of darkness

- casting into the shadows -

Britain has almost turned tropical over the last week and many fishers have been seen with strange red markings over their forearms and necks....... Sunshine and scorching hot days seem to make fishers uneasy and cautious about fishing. But for those who persevere, the fishing can be very rewarding... With the sun beating down on my local river, the fish tend to turn on terrestrials for feeding. With a little north westerly wind, many terrestrials were being blown onto the surface causing the fish to feed.......and feed hard for short bursts. 

 From this 'cloud' of midge......you can see what I mean. It's no wonder the wild fish in my local river grow so big!!

- a dense cloud of midge - 

Even though we cannot complain about the currnet weather in the North West, it really does make fishing hard and testing, but knowing the river and knowing where the fish will be lying or "sunbathing" is key to success. 




Here is my great friend and fellow fisher John from KSDAA looking rather happy about the day and weather.....possibly life in general............

- happy about something -

- my favourite bits of tackle -

When the wind keeps coming......

This bank holiday up in Cumbria has been on the cool and breezy side.

With the average temperature of 5-7 decree centigrade and breezy winds, I didn't hold up much hope on there been good numbers of fly on the water. However, when I arrived at the river bank (11am) I was surprised to see large numbers of large darks bobbing on the water.

Thinking I had missed the hatch, I gathered my gear and assembled on the go. Once I had got the terminal gear up and running, I just had to find a suitable pool, out of the wind!!!!!, and settled down ready for another burst of flies to hatch.

As I was waiting this little critter climbed up and dried its wings on my waders....

Whilst this chap was drying out, I heard some sips and rolls on the surface.......the time was right.

With a 16ft leader with 3.4lb tippet, line-shine removed for that one chuck cast, the first cast went out with some mend to account for the different flows in the river......bang! the first fish was on.....A fish of around 14inchs (1lb 7oz)...a lovely specimen to start the day.

Once I had found to GoPro in my many pockets..........I managed to get some footage. Please see the Video



After relocating about 2 miles upstream, Flies were still coming off the water!! The hatch was immensely dense and in the slack water I must have counted around 20 LWO in a foot square area.

Here is one that rested on the butt section of my Marksman 8ft 4wt.

Some more videos uploaded..........

Here is a video of KSDAA club secretary John Garner playing a nice wild Eden brown trout.

.......one of todays efforts

The weather today was far from ideal given the clear skies and that it was also flat calm.

Even-though this was the case, its always worth a cast.........

After a while, clouds began to form and a hatch began. A good number of March browns came off which of that volume, I had never witnessed.

It wasn't log before I hooked into a decent fish.

Here is the video of the capture........



And here is a picture of the butter bellied beast!!!!!!!

The opening day of the season

Thank god the start of the season has arrived!!!!

After going cold turkey from september, there's only so many times you can check, recount and recount again your equipment making sure everything you need is in its rightful place in your jacket/vest/boxes. I think I counted 6 fly boxes when I emptied my jacket and simms vest.

After venturing down to my local, I managed to hook into a decent fish of 2lb 4oz and a few more fish. Luckily, thanks to my new GoPro Hero HD 2, I captured the fight on camera!!!

So here it is!


Hope you enjoy the video.

Hopefully there will be many more to come!!!!

For now...
TL

CH FlyFishing

River Dee - First Spring Salmon.

After recently purchasing a GoPro Hero 2 HD......it needed to be tested!

So where better than to try it on the river!!!

So...........here he is. The video and the fish!

Hard Frost..........Hard Fishing

After several days of hard frosts, myself and KSDAA club secretary and dear friend John Garner headed to the river in search of grayling. After a slippy drive, we both arrived at the river raring to go.

The weather was sunny and the ground was beginning to thaw as we were assembling rods and talking tactics. We were going to do a kick sample but our friends Neil and Simon, also KSDAA members, from Blackpool had beaten us to it.......so thanks for saving us some time.

After walking up the river in search of suitable runs and glides we settled on a favourite "hotspot" so eat sarnies and have a coffee.

To cut a long story short..............it was a blank day. We thought we stood a high chance of hooking some grayling but they had other plans today.

The time in between fishing a walking the bank gave me time to take some stills so please have a look.

TL to you all.

CH Flyfishing

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.