A Muggy Night

Very hot, even though overcast today. The grass is always greener, is a phrase that is fitting . Ive neglected my local recently, don't know why probably because it's the school holidays, and theres a good chance of bumping into undesirables. Anyway tonight i decided to go to a stretch which was my favourite a few years ago. Other stretches seem to have more attraction to me and to most, but tonight i wanted soltitude, as i do on most ocassions.   I fished NZ style with the occasional chuck with the wooly bugger, there was a slight stain in the water although the further upstream i went it did seem to get clearer, but it was enough to convince me that a prince nymph would be a better bet than the usual wire nymph . Finding a decent sized fish has been difficult on the river this season , yes theres been plenty pounders but nothing much better. The prince nymph started picking up fish from the off, my second fish fought hard, and it was a belter, just a shade under 2lb , it had a fly in it's mouth a wire nymph, turns out my pal Gary lost it the day before!

Just shy of 2lb

Had plenty other fish of a good stamp, mainly to the nymph but the odd one on the klink. Despite the muggy conditions there was no great hatch and risers were relatively scarce.

1 3/4lb

A good stamp

feeling hot hot hot!

It was roasting and windless , and thats how we felt when we walked down to the bottom of the beat. It was worth the walk though as we were straight into fish i had one about 3/4lb then lost another. The next pool Brian had one about 3/4lb. Things were going well.

Next pool i had a succesion of wee trout and the net again Brian lost a trout,then landed this beauty of 1 1/4lb.

We headed up to the next pool and in the distance we saw another angler! I blanked in that pool,infact the next mile or so did'nt produce at all. Some of these rivers are soooooo sensitive to pressure, though other factors may have been at cause here such as the bright/hot conditions. At the top of the beat we once again got fish after leap frogging another angler (turned out to be a nice fellae from the wild fishing forum) and we caught a few but it was time to go home. Not the most succesful fishing day , but you've got to have the odd bad trip, just  makes the next good one more appreciated.

Oh B*llocks!

Sunday 24th
The return leg to the mountain river. Unlike Thursday the water had lost a bit pace the day was bright , maybe too bright, and hot and we had a downstream breeze to contend with. We started fishing at about 1:30pm. We planned to take a fish a turn, It all started well , when Brian hooked and  lost a fish  then shortly after was into another, it went 1lb 2oz and had taken the klink .

So things were looking up , my turn next , a few casts in my klink dipped and i lifted into a  fish , another fish of 1lb 2oz.

Brian then had another in the fast head on a wooly bugger . A good start to the day.

Buggered!

On to the next pool, it was a pool i'd done well on , on Thursday. Good presentation though was problematic with the wind, i did however get a response from what looked to be a better than normal fish, which looked or maybe even took the nymph all i saw was a yellow shape lift in the current, but i struck into fresh air . In retrospect maybe ishould not have struck at all . As in the next pool a fairly featureless one there was a riseer just above a crease in shallow water. I decided to fish the crease first , and first cast a fish seemed to swing round and  follow the flies for 5-6 yards or so downstream, both of us seen this, the reason why we seen it became apparent,  2 casts later when i hooked into a good fish, and it was big!

The battle

He was played out , and ready for netting , confidence had just started to kick in with visions of glory when for no reason the tippet broke at the nymph. we estimated the fish as a long lean  +3lb' er. I was gutted, it would have been my best fish from this river.
After that we seemed to go through a catching lull . Although there was one pool which is normally crap which Brian had about 5 , other good pools though didnt produce  it was odd , the stimulators had a swim and did manage a fish or two. By 8pm we headed home, i was a bit sore with the lost fish , but you can't complain about the quality of fish we did land. All in all it was a enjoyable day as ever in good company. 

Early evening

Dark fish (deep pool)

Fly life

A few brief flings on the canal

Had a few wee casual sessions on the canal , jabbed  lost some very  good roach, the hook just didn't quite catch hold, had my first Rudd on the fly on Friday.

 

Today was the better day the sun was out .Here's the best i landed. I took the longer 7ft 6" rod and got on better with it, more accuracy and easier to avoid the bank side vegetation!

fat roach

Great Expectations

A whole day free! I had this trip planned in my head for the last fortnight. A river with a good stamp of fish , reasonable numbers. But for the first 3 hours i went fishless. At 12pm  i caught a tiny fish on a klink, then in the next pool up i was just about sleeping going through the pool, when a fish rose, eventually my brain told me to strike! A wee yellow  pounder came kicking to the net.

My fortunes were changing although the river was dead, i started picking up the odd fish , a couple too 1 1/4lb,

Lean fish

Fighting fit!

but the water was a shadow of it's potential self. It was carrying a bit more water and the water was cold, although crystal clear and this is my theory for it fishing poorly. There was a wee hot spell between 5:30pm   -6;30pm where i managed a few trout from water i had previously fished earlier in the day fruitlessly. I'll be back fishing it again on Sunday with Brian hopefully the trout will look up!

camouflage

A day of bad luck

Went round to Brians  for 1pm , first i was introduced to their new family member a Blue Roan pup named Clyde!

Clyde (8 weeks old)

Then we were bound for our destination, a nice looking loch we had never fished before, we decided to fish dries i started with a corrie/polly and first cast a fish took , a nice pounder was landed apparently a good fish for the water.

We seperated i went to the otherside of the wood took another to the corrie polly then took one one on the cdc and elk. Brian fished the burn mouth with wooly buggers and had a few pulls, we joined up again and i had a further 2 trout , unfortunately it was'nt Brians  day ,  he fell in above his waders  and drowned his camera.We decided to call it quits early on , the water was kind of dour perhaps because of the massive ammount of rain that had fallen in the previous 24hrs. On other days i'd expect it to be jumping .

update: good news on Brians camera seems to be working fine now!

Twiss Family Wilson

On my hols to the Yorkshire dales. Not a fishing holiday as such , though i did manage to steal a few hours most days.We arrived in the Dales  On Saturday when we arrived we just got our bearings walking along the Village of Ingleton which we were staying in which sit by the river Doe and Twiss  and at Ingleton Viaduct where they join they become the River Greta. these are not rivers you find in every Dales fishing guide , like the Ure , Wharfe , etc, this chain of rivers are known for other reasons probably most for there waterfalls. I got my permit on Sunday , £25 for the week and got my rod licence on Monday a further £10. I did though fish on the Sunday lincenseless. But before that i did a wee trip with my son to White scar caves , very interesting and gives you a idea of the local geology, which is mainly carboniferous limestone over a layer of slate, good news for the fly fisher.

The rivers were still fining down from a recent thunderstorm , but they were fishable , the water carrying a peat stain, i couldn't wait and fished the stretch of the river Doe, in which the cottage overlooks, catching some fine brightly coloured trout up to the pound , i was surprised to see such fine fish  from a wee river.

My favourite pool

I returned for tea, then at 9pm grabbed the wee 6ft6" rod and sampled the Twiss, i took a fish , on a klink,

then a few more on a huge G&h sedge , then headed over to my new favourite pool on the Doe , where i hooked this  fatty. And that was my first day fishing on my hols.


The next day we did the waterfalls walk a great way to see the rivers. First we walked along the Twiss viewing some of its many falls.

Pecca falls

The most impressive and famous of all is Thornton force.

The next few are on the Doe, the top one is Beezley falls, where in the photo below you also just see the Triple spout in the foreground.

Beezley falls (and Triple Spout)

After the walk i managed a few hours on the Greta.

River Greta

Walked downstream and managed a few fish on a mixture of nymphs and size 12  klinks.

I lost one weighty fish at a salmon ladder which snapped me(5lb trippet) , i didn't see him though and it could have been the way i struck?

  Next day saw us visit Hawes, a colder day, but still dry, on the way i couldn't help but notice the difference in character of the upper Doe above Beezley falls  . Here the river was less rocky meandering through a meadow in a valley between the scars.

So it was here i sampled that evening. 

The trout were numerous , feisty but the biggest perhaps only made 3/4lb , but gone were the salmon parr of the lower water. A great place to spend a few hours.
On Wednesday i went to Blackpool for a treat for my son and after a day on the Pepsi Max, i decided for a few casts on the Twiss and Doe, fishing wasn't great, in fact i started on the Twiss and after a few wee fish decided to head for the Doe,( the midges were terrible on the Twiss ) , but it wasnt much better in the low water, the best fish being a 3/4lber in the dying light on a g and h sedge).

On Thursday i took the dog for a walk down the Greta and in the distance i spied a nice looking pool, so later i decided to start from there. I'd decided to fine down too 7x and try smaller patterns today so put on a size 14 olive klink  . Taking a few wee browns (and salmon parr) from the pool below the pool i planned to start at i now found myself on the pool, made a cast into the bubble line a fish took and lifted in to him and he swam upstream then to the other bank, this was a hefty fish  i felt things were going well  , then for no apparent reason the line went limp, no curly tail , i reckon the fish bit through the line. A big sigh followed!

The Pool

 I then continued and hooked another good fish , at 1 1/4lb , a small consolation. But all of a sudden the boundaries had moved , this water had some good fish, maybe something to do with the limestone?

I lost another fish , not big but that's when i decided too beef up on the tippet. So back with the 5x and it wasn't a minute too soon as i approached a smashing looking pool and first cast a nice trout took the klink , leaping around the pool, and luckily i brought this one to the net, a shade over 2lb, beautifully marked!   

 
This was my fish of the trip. i was delighted, but was still left wondering what I'd lost in "That pool".

Ingleborough (peak) from the Greta.

"Zebre" trout

The next day i could not help myself but try and replicate the previous, but landing them . A few nicely coloured trout including this almost  "Zebre" trout, but the big trout proved elusive. That concluded all the fishing on my Holiday to the Dales, on the whole i was most impressed by the Dales not just it's fishing but it's beauty , and it's people, i never saw another angler all the time i was there.