Tinca tinca time

We were  going to go float tubing on a hill loch for pike yesterday, but with the forecast not looking to great we had a change of plan. Col was speaking to a very knowledgeable coarse angler who had had a great session on a local venue for Tench during the week, so we thought we would give it a try instead.

Getting to the swim we wanted to fish was no easy task, but after fighting through the thick undergrowth we finally arrived at the hot spot. We set up our rods to float fish the lift method, then started to introduce balls of ground bait to the swim with red maggots for hook bait. Encouragingly there were quite a few Tench rolling on the surface and soon we saw the great sight of fizzing bubbles enter the swim. My float lifted and I was excited to get my first glimpse of a good tench which tore of in the shallow water, great fight and 3lb 8oz, a good start!

   Col's turn next  with a nice fish which put up a great scrap too 

back you go

 a period of inactivity followed before the last fish of the morning, I could see the slightest movement on my float and sensed I was about to get a take, this time the float shot under rather than lifting, another  good fish over 3lb's.

The sport dried up completely into the early afternoon with no sign of any tench in the swim, so we decided to go home and come back in the evening in the hope that they would be on the move again. In the evening there was one or two rolling on the surface but nothing like in the morning, Cols float eventually did register a bite but unfortunately not a tench!



    a hard but interesting days fishing, next time we'll get there super early in the morning I think.

LRF fun at St Abbs Harbour

This weekend i fancied a change from trout fishing , Brian suggested we try St Abbs harbour just to see what we could pick up .  First stop though was mikes tackle shop to see if we could get a few bits of tackle, being new to this LRF game we are steadily building up a bit tackle , and soft baits, and hopefully with that, and time we will attain a better understanding of the methods and techniques  used by the seasoned lrf'er.  

The sea was fairly flat when we got there before low tide, first i tried a 2g jig head with a peice of tan isome and i managed a wee sea scorpion.

 Brian was fishing a dropshot rig and was quickly into fish also a few more sea scorpions and then the first flounder on gulp sandworms, i decided at that point to also change to a dropshot set up as it seemed more productive, well for Brian anyway.

After sport slowed a little  then Brian found a hot spot where he started getting more flounder , the best of the day unfortunately got off , whilst handlining it up to the quayside, we had a longhandled landing net but it was a little short .

Handling them up

Brian was doing a bit better than i getting more bites , i was getting a bit worried i was doing something wrong when i hooked up using half a  xl  red isome.

atlast!

They really do go well on the light gear! Great fighters! A few more followed for us.

As the day wore on and the bites dried up we decided to head back home , it had been a great trip . Content with our day, and  that we  marginally had a better understanding of LRF than when we arrived, cant wait to do it again and with a bit luck ,we will extend our species range using these methods  over the coming months.   

Back on my Old Stomping Ground

Ive been a bit lacking enthusiasm of late, so this evening i decided to do something a bit differant or atleast it felt like it, i decided on my old stomping ground , been a good while since i wet a line on this part of the river, and the memories lived up to expectation .

The river was low and the stones ,covered in  slimy slippy green  algae as we have not had any rain for several weeks now, the air thick with  spinners and midge. But in the early part of the evening the nymph ruled supreme , the deeper pocket water and runs producing the best sport, the first fish i hooked got off as it embedded my tippet in a clump of algae , pretty much a lesson from the off, "play them hard"!  But after that i got into the groove.

  there was the odd fish that fell for the dry too.

 But the nymph was definitely more effective.

     As the evening  wore on and more risers became more evident i decided to try a  rusty spinner , and i did the trick taking a few more  trout before calling it a night at 9:30 pm.

it was greatfishing this stretch again , must do it again befor ethe seasons out , till then i fancy a change of scene , perhaps pike or pehaps a trip to a beach?  

Lean pickings in the highlands

Went back up to the highland stream hoping it mightbe a bit more on. Still very slow but i think the main reason for lack of sport had far more to do with the lack of flow, really needs rain as the hatch looked quite promising today.some lovely plants on show including globe flower , a indicator species the sign of fertility in the area.

And some i dont know , but very cool.

birds foot trefoil

?????

To the fishing , hard work , tried lots of methods in differant  pools to try and get a response , had a good spell late on in then day, taking several trout including this bizarre looking "spotless trout"

That was followed by a nice 2 lber that fought really hard.

You can see by his head some fodder he coughed up a couple of parr and some gadgers (stonefly nymph)

After that in the next pool i saw a rise form at the head of the pool, i decided to cover it with a big klinkhammer , he ignored it for the first few casts   , but eventually took it, a good trout , perhaps 3lb , all was going well then the hook came out! och well , cant win them all!
If the rain falls in this region there should be some excellent sport to be had on this stream .

A sunny sunday

Just a few pics:

spotted woodpecker

bluebells

Evening on the Green burn

Went up to a fertile local burn this evening. I tied some spinners prior to this visit having seen them (olive upright spinners) in abundance further down on the river last night whilst walking the dog.

 hook: sprite model perfect 14
 tail: coq de leon
abdomen: mahogany turkey biots
 wing: light grey poly yarn
 thorax: rust dubbing






 

The river was low and fairly clear with a green tinge. we haven't had any rain for a fortnight now and its showing on all the local rivers , they could do with a freshen up and a bit more flow.   

As i walked down its banks there was no fly to be seen on the water, and there fore no trout rising .

Water Avens

Then while setting up a fish rose tight to the foot of a tree trunk in the tail of a pool. so once set up i put on a size 12 klink , but didn't want to know, i then decided to size up to a size 10 dirty polly and try and get this stubborn fish to rise, half a dozen casts or so later nothing, i was just about to put that disturbance down to something else then up he came . He was a fine fish for a burn  too.

 First fish out the way i had steady sport taking fish not in all pools but most. Not quite the perfect spinner fall but the newly tied patterns took a few.

The woolly bugger also came in useful in a few pools , although the majority were caught on a dry. it had been a nice evening fishing , even though there was no true evening rise just the odd sporadic fish to go for.

Some you win some you Lose

Today i fished a local I've recently acquired a permit for, its opened up lots of new water so today i went to sample it. Walking it banks i was pleased to finally see the hawthorns flies hatching , there was hundreds of them on the bank side vegetation, approximately a month late..

bibio marci

first i fished some featureless flats , a few up wings were hatching so i used my trusty shucked CDC ,rose a few fish but missed them, eventually though one stuck and it proved to be a good fish , a few hairy moments when i ploughed into some snags , but eventually i took it to hand , just a couple of ounces under 2lb.

I was fairly chuffed to get off the mark especially with such a nice trout. continuing upstream i landed some more trout averaging around the pound, then i spotted what was clearly a better fish in a prime spot. Best i could do though was prick him, i held my head in my hands for a while. The next pool had two trout rising, eventually i hooked the lower one on a brown biot klink and it was a good one . i just about had it beat then it nutmegged me (ran between my legs ) went round my leg and broke off, things just were not going well. I got his wee pal though who was just over the pound. A couple of pools up again . Two fish rising , the lower one intermittently, but I'm glad i stuck it out with him as he was a belter. Took me ages to tame this beast, applying side strain trying to prevent it finding any  sunken branches etc lots of hairy moments as my tight tippet stroked a bankside twig on my near bank this time i kept my legs firmly closed and On my third attempt i finally managed to slip the net under him. I was delighted. What a fish!

3lb 2oz

 I needed a rest after that i sat for 5 minutes just to take in the occasion.

once on my way again , i caught a few more fish , then i spotted another better fish feeding , i chose to ignore the smaller fish rising in my near side , he was feeding well taking everything, and the first cast he walloped my CDC , and fought well, nothing like the fish above but as he hit the shallows he shot off upstream ripping line off. but eventually he was netted. Looks like he had had a tussle with either a mink or a otter with a section of his ample tail missing and a nasty wound on his belly.

    A couple more around the pound and a quarter mark followed, it had been a great wee session, a few better fish lost yet some crackers landed.