The Sun Shines On Phil-K

The sun was shining and I'd arranged a few hours on the river with Phil & Tony. With a spring in my step i was really looking forwards to an afternoons fishing. Rather than fishing the usual pools and runs I decided to have a change and took advantage of the low water conditions by upstream nymphing my way through a section of river thats virtually impossible to access during normal flow.

I had really good fun slipping and sliding over the boulders and was rewarded by catching some lovely small brownies from the little pots and runs I found.

None of fish were any size but I was compensated by their beauty and the tremendous fight that they gave in the fast boiling water.

Phil-K joined Tony and I later in the afternoon, and we decided to have a mooch upriver to try our luck on one of the deeper water sections. Phils luck was certainly in as he caught this cracking brownie of 1lb 15oz - a new personal best - congratulations Phil.

It an unusual feature of this stream that the fish often have a very silvery hue at this time of year.

Early Season On A Local Stream

As its still early in the season and the trees are still bare, I took the opportunity to go trout fishing on a river that gets so overgrown in summer that fly fishing is virtually impossible. My previous visits to this length of water have always been productive, and despite its diminutive size, I've always been able to find the odd fish tucked away in its deeper runs and overhanging banks.

I was accompanied by Pete, a friend of Big Dave - despite being an accomplished still water fly fisherman - hasn't that much experience of moving water. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

As we were tackling up we could see fish rising to flies which were hatching off the river. My attendance at Bolton Fly Tying Club is now paying dividends as i could proudly tell Pete that they were LDO's (Large Dark Olives) but when he asked which fly should he use to catch them my limited knowledge became evident as i had to tell him i hadn't a clue.

So it was a case of stick something bushy on that wont sink and lets hope for the best - anyway the best didn't happen and we frightened the fish to death with our clumsy wading and crappy casting.

I did enjoy watching the LDO's hatch, its amazing how quickly once they emerge from their pupa stage at the surface of the river, and how quickly they get airborne. These trout must be quick if they want to get a meal.

Undeterred by our lack of success, Pete and I tied on a couple of bugs and made our way upstream. The lack of rainfall in the North West is reflected in the very low water levels found in the river. Many of the pools were very shallow, and some of the runs i fished last year are high and dry. Its a real contrast to this time last year when it wouldn't stop raining and the rivers were close to bursting their banks.

I caught fish from this run last year, its now as dry as a bone!

It was nice to walk up this river corridor which goes through a town centre, even though we could hear traffic noise we didn't see another soul all afternoon. We did get to see how these little green oasis provide homes for an amazing variety of wildlife, i got to within 5 feet of a long tailed tit which amazed me with its soft pink plumage.

Its a pity the fishing wasn't so amazing, a combination of our clumsy wading, poor presentation and very low water made fishing inevitably difficult. I managed to hook and lose a small trout in some fast water and Pete managed to rise another small fish to a dry but that was the sum total of action for the afternoon.

Baptism

Just like everyone else, there are events which we look forward to, plan for, and as a result build a mental picture of the outcome. Today was the opening day of the trout season on the river, something I've been looking forwards to all winter. When you look forwards to something for a long time, you always end up building a picture in your mind about how things are going to pan out - in my imagination I often dreamed about huge hatches, fish crawling up the line - I've dreamt about all outcomes. Unsurprisingly, one of the dreams I didn't have was taking two steps into the river, slipping on a smooth rock and falling flat on my face and taking an early season bath. Talk about an early season baptism.

So there I was, soaked to the skin before I'd even cast a line - what a great start to the new season.

Luckily for me despite being piss wet though I hadn't put the fish down, as about 5 minutes after starting fishing I had my first ever river brownie on a self tied fly. It was a typical fish for the river, well marked and about 12oz. The fly was a tungsten beaded, hairs ear finished with red copper wire.




Heartened by this initial success i made my way slowly upriver.
Only about 10 yards further upstream, my minicon darted forwards, and i struck into what i thought was going to be another 12oz fish. After a heart stopping 5 minutes, Phil did the honours for me and this cracking fish graced the net.

To say i am pleased is an understatement. a 2.75lb wild brownie on a fly I've tied myself. What a fabulous way to start the season!
The rest of the afternoon was spent searching about a few swims I'd never really spent time on before, but no more fish were forthcoming. To be honest i didn't really care - that fish was a cracker and here's some more photos of it.

One sleeve was blue and the other red as i fell on my left side and was soaked from my shoulders to my toes, and i was making a vain attempt to dry out.

Home Made Lures

After spending a large part of last season chasing trout on my local streams and rivers, it has become more than obvious that shop bought flies are not as effective as those tied by my friends. Rather than constantly badgering them for "samples" i decided that during the winter months i would learn to tie my own. Phil-K persuaded me to join Bolton Fly Tying Club whose members have been very patient with my cack handed ineptitude. The talks and demonstrations they put on during the dark winter evenings have been both informative and thought provoking. In addition to the talks, demos and tying the club also organise trips to fly fishing venues throughout the north of England and the occasional competition.

So last Tuesday the evening was spent tying three flies for their first competition of the year -a three fly challenge at Foxhouses Lake near Lancaster. The rules of the competition being that you are only allowed to use three flies all day which you must tie during the club meeting. Rather than tying imitative patterns such as buzzers, nymphs i made three big brash lures thinking that freshly stocked early season Rainbow Trout would be aggressive and likely to be attracted to large bright lures. I think some of the members were amused at my dayglo lures - more suited to mackerel fishing than trout fishing.

However, yesterday was the day of the match and despite appalling weather conditions i had the pleasure of catching 11 Rainbows up to 4.5lbs. I took extra special pleasure from catching these fish as they were the first fish i have ever caught using flies i tied myself.

The leech pattern was made from a strip of rabbit fur, the two other flies from yellow and red marabou feathers and yellow fritz.

The high winds and hail storms didn't spoil a great day out which was as much a social experience as a day out fishing. The owner of the fishery Pat was a great character - I know it made his day when i told him that i caught my first fish using self tied flies on his lake, using tools, fur and feathers which i had purchased from his website http://www.flytek.co.uk/

Phil-K in typical rod bending action.

The wild brown trout season opens this Sunday and I'm really looking forwards to getting out on the river with a box of flies which i have tied myself. I only started fly fishing for trout again seriously last year and it was great fun. My next challenge is to catch a fish on a dry fly!

Lets hope that the weather is better than Sunday. This is a picture of Chris from Bolton Fly Tying Club - he was using an olive damsel nymph pattern which he's promised to teach me how to make. Whilst fishing is often a solitary pastime - meeting other likeminded souls has really revved up my desire to get out fishing on some new waters and catch some fish. Oh by the way I won the match:)

Mel Sykes On A Gondola?

I have spent my last three outings on the lower Irwell close to the city centre and blanked on each occasion. My intention has been to have a crack at some of the roach which shoal up in the city centre during the winter months. Bags of 60lbs of roach have been common during the last few winters, but this winter has been something of a disappointment as far.
Undeterred by rumours that the river has been "Cormoranted Out" i have attempted three usually productive swims using 3 different tactics, (stick, feeder and waggler). End result not even 1 bite in 10 hours fishing.
Next weekend is the last chance i will get to fish the Irwell until the season re-starts on June the 16th so am going to give it one last try opposite the Lowry Hotel and i will then be able to find out if patience is to be rewarded - or i am just a chump fishing water devoid of fish.
At i get into my feed, cast, trim, feed, reel in trance, my mind might wander to a dream about Melanie Sykes coming down the river on her gondola, delivering me a pint of Manchesters finest! What a girl - now that would be suitable compensation for 4 consecutive blanks:)