Jumping Jack Flash

The weathers been a shocker this week . Really windy and wet, but mild with the southerlies. Tuesday offered a  tiny window the dog sacrificed his walk for a stand as he would chaperone  me up to the canal  . First thing was first though i had to tie up a flash fly , as my stash was looking a bit weathered.

 That coupled with a few other flies and essentials i was ready , it was also a opportunity to try out my new telescopic  long-handled net which i bought for pollock fishing off the cliffs next summer but is equally useful for the canal withn its high banking and weedy fringes.

The flash fly worked it's magic first cast despite me thinking the canal might be on the dirty side.

 Five more fell for it's enticing charms and a few more lost before losing it up a  tree.

 Decided to try a chartreuse hair extension baitfish, and it took a further brace again nothing big ,  if i had more time  might have explored further try and locate a bigger fish  but the days are so short just now.The net worked great although it is pretty heavy, not really a problem though as what i bought it for may see it get some abuse.

 Tied up a couple more flash flies for a future opportunity .

On the Cut

The weathers been terrible still yet to get a proper summer, last weekend it rained, this weekend looks to be the same, and the last two days have been torrential,to the point that most rivers look high and dirty.

 On Wednesday evening i decided to get out after dinner for a couple of hours since there was no football on.
 decided on the canal for the pike, my usual hot spot not did not produce but my back-up was contrastingly good with 4 jacks taking a liking to my pink fly, beats sitting in the house.

Jack- attack

Went up the canal again , fished my usual bits took a few jacks , a couple to green bucktails, and a couple to the flash fly. I then  went and tried a bit i havent fished for good  while , and it was choked with jacks. The flash fly did the trick taking around a dozen jacks , none of them would have made 3lb , i was hoping for something a bit bigger but  great sport none the less. 

toothy critters

Not much of a chance for fishing this weekend, yesterday we went to Achingarrich wildlife centre near Comrie, it's in a nice area and was a fine enough way to spend a couple of hours, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves including Clyde!

i found these wee toothy critters quite amusing, they seemed to have tunnel networks all over the place

 We stopped at the butchers in Comrie on the way back home which was worth the journey alone, the sausages for my breakfast this morning were top quality! we also drove past loch Monzievaird which is reputed to hold a wild population of brook trout, no fishing unless you book the  accommodation, the loch looks magic, sorry i should have stopped to take a picture.
Today Ruth was working until mid afternoon, but when she got back Jamie and I went to the canal for an hour or so, not much happening to be honest, a take on the flash and eventually just as Jamie was loosing interest a wee but well fed pike on the clouser.

Piking Old School

Before i started fly fishing for pike most pike flies i saw  were tied with buck tail, then the synthetics such as supreme hair , ep fibres etc kind of seen buck tail as old hat . I recently received a few buck tails variety of colours so thought I'd give them a bash . This is what i came up with tied on a 4/0 hook.

This weeks been really mild, for the time of year, so mild that yesterday afternoon whilst having a stroll by the river i saw a few trout rising to a smattering of olives, the trout season though is still to get underway! Back to chilly weather tomorrow   even possibly with snow, with this in mind i was keen to get a cast in today so this morning a 9am i slung a few flies , including the buck tail in a pack, along with all the other gear and by 9:30 i was casting out a flash fly on the canal. What a pleasant day overcast, but nice !

The pike were very much in the mood, a wee count down on the intermediate line to 15 then a slow jerky retrieve saw 4 jacks succumb to the charms of the flash fly a few more close calls.

flashed

After flogging the water i decided to move to another spot, which has recently been good . But despite my best efforts with the flash fly followed by a Fire Tiger Bait fish, i couldn't get a take. So i returned to the basin . Cast a bigger flash fly but that didn't work, i then remembered how much success Brian has been having with his Clousers recently, so decided to look one out , that's when the buck tail caught  my eye. 3 casts and a jack and then a few more casts and another. I think I'll tie a few more up ,especially in roach colourations,  it seems these pike become wary of a pattern after a while but a complete pattern change seems to generate fresh interest.

Happy with my morning fishing it was home for some beans , bacon and eggs on toast.

the one eyed flash fly

I took Clyde for a walk along the canal this morning, on a section i haven't fished for many years now. I noted a few spots that looked really pikey along the way and also had a look at a near by pit which is reputed to hold some big pike. Back home for a couple of bacon rolls and a coffee,  and also a quick session on the vice to tie up a flash fly before heading out with the rod this time.

Fished the choice bits of the canal from the walk earlier and also had a few casts in the pit but disappointingly no takes so back in the car to a more familiar stretch.
Where a couple of wee jacks quickly fell to the charms of a green, white and red clouser
and then the best of the day took the now one eyed flash fly, need to glue them eyes in properly next time!

Don't leave home without them.

It's been mild all week, today was 11degrees , but it was drizzly and windy. decided to have a go up the canal , packed  a few biggish clousers tied  that got a fair bit of interest  on Sunday, and also remembered to grab a flash fly, a fly i wish i had on Sunday  .

The water had fairly good clarity , the barges haven't been able to get along the canal due to trees being down from the storms last month. So perfect for piking. First i tried a  kanekallon bait fish in fire tiger  colours and finally a small pike took it, which i landed then released. It wasn't exactly setting the water on fire though , so i changed to a red and white  clouser, but nothing , time to play the ace card , and put on a flash fly. Unlike most flash flies this one had a red litebrite head which is tied in on a wire a bit like a dubbing loop whether it was anymore deadly , i don't know.  Anyway , it worked with 5 jacks following for it's charms over the next hour or so and a few lost.

Best of the session

So flash flies , don't leave home without them.

An Hour on the Canal

 Took the dog for a walk along the canal, it looked tempting for roach as a few were dimpling on the surface. Went home cleaned all the mud off my wading boots from yesterday, and watched the F1 at Abu Dhabi, which was ok , Lewis Hamilton won. As soon as the race finished i jumped into action, grabbed the net, , and pike gear (cause i wasn't really prepared for roach fishing) lead for the dog   and we were on our way with only a few hours of light left . I had  packed only 3 flies a pink one , one based on the "fire tiger" colouring, and a flash fly. I had a tiny jack on the fire tiger .

Eyes bigger than his belly!

Then a brace on the pink before calling it a night,   as darkness came over. Slow -slow retreives was  the tactic  of the day and a wee countdown of 15 on the intermediate.

Synthetic price!

Thats my rod for a yard stick!

I got a link for synthetics from someone on a Forum, this stuff is a bargain, almost identical to other crinkley nylon synthetics , the tackle shops sell, but for the same price (actually maybe a £1 or so less) ,and  a lot , lot, lot more! It's marketed not for fishing though but for hair . As soon as i got my hands on it i flung together a fly sealing the eye and gill plate with uv gel.

I couldnt resist but to try it out, casting it is easy, the action is superb being just that little bit limper that some other crinckly synthetic type products. The Pike seemed to agree as well!

even the micro jacks wanted a bit!

After half a dozen pike the fly was still in good shape!

 My only regreat now is i didnt buy more colours  , i would like to get a grey and an olive, theres no shortage of colour choices must be about 100 from naturals to neons!

Morning glory.

Had a morning free so, went and had another shot at the canal as the gear was still packed and ready from yesterdays trip. Clear sky's and very cold this morning , used the big flash fly again , but the pike hadn't really woke up, maybe the temperature was a factor?

 I did manage a few takes though fishing the margins , in some areas , but only had one fish , Counted down to15 then started a slow retrieve on a intermediate when it all went tight. A nice jack.

Flash! ahhh.... saviour of the canal

Could'nt decide what to do today go for the grayling , the pike or a bit Coarse fishing. Ive got a fly tying night , tonight  being the first night i'll have to get myself organised so decided to go up the canal , it's a nice to ring the changes , and it would just be nice to familiarise myself a bit more with the rod i built recently. The water has been very coloured with all the rain recently but today there was a wee bit clarity , not clear by any stretch of the imagination but clear enough to catch a pike. There was only one fly for it flash flies. The first flash fly had a hint of mettalic red at the head, quickly i had a take, then lost a good pike around 5lb, thanks to leaving my net yards down the bank. I then caught it's wee brother.

Takes though did dry up, i tried a popper, but no joy ithen tried a monty Flash fly , an d started getting a wee bit action , some good surface  slashes others just casual pounces. I only had 3 pike though in the few hours i was there , so theres plenty left for next time.

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

Roach in the sun

2nd,3rd

The dog needed walking the sun was high in the sky, so i grabbed a few hours. Roach a plenty were in there shoals, the nymph scored well.

 

I really enjoy fishing for them , i think there a worthy quarry for the fly fisher.

My New Addiction!

Sun was out today, had to satisfy my new addiction. Some wee size 18 kamasan B410 arrived in the mail, so I tied up some tiny nymphs. They did work but not on the big fish, i don't think the slow descent attracts them like the size 14 turkey biot nymph. So ive decided this is going to be my go to fly despite the lack of hook-ups with smaller fish, in anycase i'm not really interested in catching the wee roach, if i wanted to do that i'd just fish with a waggler float and some bait. For me this is becoming a selective method, a way to get the better fish, and how satisfying it is when all go's to plan!

On the Cut

As luck would have it i had the afternoon to myself. So i decided to go and See if the roach were up for it. It was a overcast day with occasional light showers and occasionally the sun would come out. The sun  is useful for spotting the shoals, the cloudier it gets the deeper the shoals seem to go.

Theres plenty perch amongst the shoals they behave exactly like the roach until the nymph is presented and on the retrieve they have a go.

Jack pike

I had plenty roach most took on the descent of the nymph missed a big one, in fact when a decent roach shoal came into view it was exciting these roach seem to take a nymph fairly confidently, i did manage to get a substantial roach plus a few good quality ones and a few wee ones. It's a very selective and effective way of fishing , cant wait to get up there again. Some pics:

wee fellae

fin perfect (looking at the anal fin looks like it has a bit of bream in it)

specimen roach

A wee handful

A change of Coarse

I walked the dog along the canal today, where i spotted a few shoals of roach here and there ,a  few perch amongst them and the usual jack pike in the margins. Was thinking about going for the pike but decided it would be a nice change to target the roach.  So at 2:30pm i grabbed the gear and had a go. I tried the dries, first  a shuttlecock buzzer i briefly hooked into one, but they quickly sussed it out. so tried a few various dries , including a size 14 black klink but they weren't fooled, so into the fly box and i selected a small size 16 brown turkey biot nymph with a black(actually called gunmetal) 2.4mm bead. With instant results.

Shoals that seemed to be sleeping suddenly woke up there was a good mix of sizes with a few big ones amongst them. The important thing was seeing the fish take the fly so Polaroids were essential , this would be either by seeing a flash of the flank or one in the shoal shooting forward out of suit with the rest of the shoal. I'm convinced the plop of the fly was a trigger as was the decent as i further experimented hanging the fly off a large klink , the minute the decent stopped the fish lost interest  the , klink you might think would be good for showing takes but if i was looking at the klink i would have missed fish it never moved though a few fish did show interest to the klink , they did not take it properly a bit like mullet mouthing bread, a better presentation was a single nymph, takes were within seconds of it hitting the water.

A few fish. I reckon fly fishing is a good way of getting the better roach . Or atleast it was the case today. 

A good one!