Yeo below Yeoford 2018

[halfstoned]

First trip of the season today and despite now being a member of CFFC with seven rivers to choose from ( I must admit to feeling a bit like a kid in a sweet shop with so much choice for the new season), I decided that it would be slightly disrespectful not to start on the stretch that has given me so much enjoyment over the last few years. I also wanted to see what effect the winter floods had had on "my" water. First impressions weren't all that encouraging with this lot of trash blocking my usual access meaning I had to miss out two pools.

There was a lot of fallen branches, some of them are in prime back cast territory and probably won't be there after the Easter weekend( weather permitting)

As to the fishing well to be honest the river was still a bit high and slightly coloured but by fishing the tails of pools and backwaters I managed to catch two WBT and lose one good fish that went straight into the fast current I was standing in and shot past me before I could react and pinged the flies up into the trees above me ( these branches will also have to go).


Nice to have a net where the fish don't wriggle through the d**n holes!
Saw some midges and two dark olives but no rising fish, the fish took my standard pheasant tail with 2.5mm tungsten bead, perhaps should have tried a heavier version as I got the impression it wasn't getting down to the bottom in some of the pools.
Despite using copious amounts of Aquasure my right neoprene sock is still leaking, I can confirm the water is really rather chilly!

[boisker]

Hey... if the leak is in the neoprene then I don’t think aquasure is any good... you’d need tape and and a different adhesive

[halfstoned]

Is it not used in neoprene wetsuits? The leak seams to be in the big toe region not on the seam/join thankfully.

[boisker]

Depends on what you mean by leak... pinhole size then aquasure should be fine, but anything larger I think you need to patch... I never had much joy when trying to sort leaky neoprene boots with just glue... you can get patch kits for neoprene online.... dive shops probably a better bet

[halfstoned]

Cheers for the advice Boisker, I must say I find with breathable waders that I just limp from leak to leak, fix one and another one appears, mind you given the nature of my fishing I don't buy expensive models, the thought of trashing a £700 pair of Simms is too scary to contemplate. Can you buy a patch shaped like a foot  and just glue a whole new "darn" sock on. Perhaps not.

[sanctuary67]

Empty a loaf of bread, put your foot in the bag (before you put your waders on)....jobs a good 'un.

[yeoman]

Good result!
Nice to get started with a couple of fish.

[halfstoned]

With more rain forecast and the weekend booked up by the OH the only chance of a fishing fix ( yes someone's been watching "on the bank" ) was a quick session tonight so I decided to have a few casts on "my" stretch. Loads of midges about but not surprisingly nothing rising. Water was still slightly coloured but I managed some fish on a black magic nymph plus one hooked on the klink which threw the hook. Best fish about 10" and they were all in good condition in fact they were all quite plump and fought well despite the cold water ( the very cold water). Some fish taken in the faster water at the heads of pools, I always think this is a good sign that the fish are starting to take up more aggressive feeding lies after their winter torpor. Hands were a bit cold by the end, roll on Summer.

[halfstoned]

A quick smash and grab session of 1 1/2 hours today between the showers. A few Mayflies were hatching and I saw some Alders but the dominant fly on the water was the black gnat. Not many fish were rising but the ones that were took my black gnat well enough if I didn't muck up the presentation. I need to practice my dry fly strike as I missed some takes by striking too quickly ( still in nymph mode) but it was great to target rising fish for a change and while I might have caught more on the nymph it was more fun on the dry. Mostly small fish but three in the 9" to 10" class wasn't too bad given the lack of activity.

[halfstoned]

I spent a couple of hours on the river tonight from 7 till 9, very enjoyable. The lower section was coloured because of crossing cattle but the top part was clear and had a few rising fish. There were some Mayfly about but only two fish took the megamay, more productive was a soft hackle dry or a black gnat, both taken confidently by any risers. The last two pools had fish making those tiny rings in the surface as if smutting or taking spinners, there were some spinners dancing so I thought I would try a poly wing dressing that I used to use on the teign ( a fly I've probably not fished for the best part of thirty years!) two nice 10" trout sucked in the fly without hesitation both needing the forceps to extract the hook showing that they had been properly fooled. Brought back some nice memories, very pleasing.

[halfstoned]

I keep seeing these in the garden but still haven't managed to catch many trout on them!

[halfstoned]

Had a great dry fly session tonight on "my" section of the Yeo. I think the small amount of rain on Sunday must have helped, plenty of rising fish and most willing to take my imitation. The only flies about of any concequence were some tiny midges so I tried a "new" fly of my own design ( basically a tiny coch-y-bonddhu parachute style with a pink Tiemco post) and the fish took it solidly most times.

I missed quite a few takes to start with until I slowed down the strike, it is hard to stay your hand in these slower conditions especially when your used to a fairly instant strike on the moors. As usual the best fish released itself before I could land it, second best was this 10" trout.

All fish pictured/released while still in the net to avoid handling them in these low water conditions.
One pool had fish rising so well that I stoped and took a short but blurry video to show a fellow fisherman at work, in three minutes I can count 16 rises! More rain please! Anyone else getting out?