Think I might be weird but not sure

[Pete Tyjas]

I got back from work and had forgotten to get some milk so I took the long route via the river. I guessed I had an hour and a half before I was declared missing in action so I headed up the Taw a bit a rigged up. Although it was cool (Monday) I tied on a dry and decided I was going to just target and cast to rising fish. I did manage a few too. I usually work the water pretty quickly prospecting likely looking spots and will move on if nothing takes. This time I waited a bit at the tail of each pool to see if anything was going on and if not I slowly moved up. It really took something not to throw a fly to where I though a fish might be but it was a different and fun way of fishing....I find it fun to set myself little challenges from time to time...does anyone else do this or am I just weird?!

[flyboxfan]

I guess that we all a little weird, if not we would just go to the fishmonger. Come to think of it most of the time if I want fish that is what I do. Does that make me a little weird

[troutbum]

Not weird at all Pete.

If fishing followed the same pattern every time we went it would drive us mad. It reminds me of a story where a guy catches the same fish from the same spot on the same fly day after day (kind of a fishy Groundhog day for anglers). Great for the first 2 days then aaarrghhh. It turned out he at first thought he was in fishing heaven but after day 100 he realised he was in Hell.

I love to set limits on the day such as one fly or one pattern or no wading etc etc. On other days I just fish with no limits - mix it up a bit. It tends to make you look at the river in a different way and almost like a new river even if you have fished it many times. Oh and yes I do cheat if Olives hatch on mass and my chosen one fly is a grannom. I even find myself looking over my shoulder as I change patterns just to see if anyone is watching - now that is truly weird!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark

[Deleted]

Ddi you get the milk?

[Pete Tyjas]

yup, but the wrong one semi instead of skimmed.

[paul]

Totally skimmed? Now that is seriously weird. As you are also TT I wonder where you get your liquid sustenance. Perhaps its prelactate osmotic resolution from a surfeit of chocolate in the solid diet!

Today was seriously frustrating. An e-mail from Howard from the Crediton club asked for volunteers to help the bank-walking day for new members. I sensed a touch of panic in Howard's e-mail. It was scarcely veiled as even I at my least sensitive smelt a problem. Both Ben abd truned up with our cars full of kit hoping we would be declared surplus to requirements and we could go and have a fish. Sadly some 15 new members turned up and five mebers so we couldn't sneak away.

So I ended up spending the best day of the season so far walking the banks without a rod!

By lunchtime we had covered all the entry and exit points for the Yeo, Creedy and Culvery. It took me nearly a season of getting into very uncomfortable situations to realise that, one should never enter a river- particularly the spectacular slide down the bank the old hands show off with- without having recced how one is going to get out again!

I then took the two that were interested in the Culm to go and see our extensive waters there. The rest all went to the Taw- which might keep the Culm quiet and exclusive.

As with my visit last Wed. there was a massive grannom hatch. Unlike wed. there were fish rising- typical Culm pattern- some pools alive with activity, some as dead as dodos

Also a goodly number of hawthorns- few on the water as there was only the lightest of breezes; I'd seen quite a swarm on Saturday at Bernaville nurseries near the lower Creedy.

I am, However, getting very worried; The story line that 'it is forecast to rain heavily tomorrow and that will put the fishing off for a week so I can go today and leave the garden till then' is starting to wear thin!

[Pete Tyjas]

Hi Paul,

I'd have thought you'd have realised that my body is a temple!

Sounds like you had a good time and great to see so many new members in the club.

[Deleted]

More like Shirley Temple Pete!
As an aside what do you reckon finally triggers fish to take surface flies for we have been seeing terrific grannom hatches only for little surface activity and then suddenly they are on. Is it just a matter of acquainting themselves with looking up and realising there is grub u pthere as well as on the bottom, temperature change, light or what?

[Pete Tyjas]

If only I had the hair to match

I think the temps are playing a part having had clear nights and cold mornings it has taken a bit more to get the fish going and so the lunchtime hatch does bring a few fish up but not all and then further hatches sometimes just a hour to 1 1/2 hours later has brought some more interest from the fish. It has been the case that the fishing has switched off from 3 to 4pm and not really got going again. This is only what I have experienced on the Taw though. The funny thing is that we are still only in April but the good weather has certainly made me feel like it is later in the season and it is easy to forget when it has been so settled that we are only a month in. I think the photo of the fish I popped up in the Taw reports shows that some are still lean and are slowly coming back on the feed.

That having been said I spent a very enjoyable few hours on the Teign with Paul K who sometimes posts here. We shared a rod on the Teign from about 3pm to 6pm and just fished a dry. We only fished 3 or 4 pools down stream of Fingle Bridge and had small fish all over the dry (I missed the only decent one!) when we first started and then it suddenly just switched off. It felt like it had cooled just a little bit and then about 5pm the sun just peeked through and we started getting some nicer fish taking the dry. Looked like they were on gnats but there were some caddis about too.

Paul fished upstream of the bridge and I sat and watched and looked up and there was a load of Hawthorn above me...Colliford anyone?!