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Post by halfstoned on Jan 7, 2022 19:57:51 GMT
Just a quick nod to the online magazine Fish Wild put together by Fred Carrie aka Wildfisher on YouTube ( excellent laid back videos fishing the rivers and loughs of Scotland). The January issue is available here www.fishwild.org.uk/Well worth a read if your stuck for something to do on a cold winters evening, its even got some of my own scribblings in it but don't let that put you off!! |
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Post by johnesmithson on Jan 11, 2022 9:40:52 GMT
Nice article Chris, really helpful point about generously treating the furled leader with floatant. It made all the difference for me when I was using one made of thread by Luke Bannister. Like you, I am one of the few Sassenach members of Fred Carrie's Wild Fishing Forum which I have found to be a very friendly and useful place to visit. The only thing to remember is that you have to abstain when the subject of Scottish politics comes up...
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Fishwild
Jan 11, 2022 13:29:30 GMT
via mobile
Post by halfstoned on Jan 11, 2022 13:29:30 GMT
Many thanks John, I believe Luke Bannister took over Rod Dibbles furling boards so you won't go wrong with his, mine are a little more um "rustic". Still work for me though.
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Post by wildfisher on Jan 12, 2022 18:51:36 GMT
Thanks for the plug Chris. Looking forward to seeing more videos from you next season. I guess things kick off earlier down your way than up here in NE Scotland, but it all depends on the weather. Most years it's April before things get going in our neck of the woods.
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Fishwild
Jan 12, 2022 20:26:25 GMT
via mobile
Post by halfstoned on Jan 12, 2022 20:26:25 GMT
Your welcome Fred, I hope a few on here will take a look.
Yes it CAN start earlier "down south", dry fly on opening day isn't unheard of ( you wouldn't have thought so last year)! Generally though it's April and the Grannom before it really gets going, even later on the Moor, all weather dependent of course.
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Post by wildfisher on Jan 12, 2022 20:38:09 GMT
Funny thing the Grannom. On the Aberdeenshire Don we used to get hatches of Grannom so dense they blocked out the sun. OK that's slight exaggeration but the number of flies was staggering. I have yet to see a fish take a Grannom, they must take the emergers or something. There was just this biblical plague hatch, millions of flies heading upstream above what appeared to be fishless water. It really had to be seen.
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Fishwild
Jan 12, 2022 20:56:35 GMT
via mobile
Post by halfstoned on Jan 12, 2022 20:56:35 GMT
It used to be the same on Teign ( not hatches on that scale but still noticeable), totally ignored by the Trout, not a rise to be seen, and yet rivers like the Taw and the Culm,different story. Strange creatures Trout.
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Jan 13, 2022 9:16:13 GMT
Interesting you mention grannom halfstoned. It is, as you say, an indicator of me starting to see rising fishing on the Taw.
I was fishing with a friend who spends his times on chalk streams during the peak of the hatch last year and he'd said he'd never seen anything like it. The cold start we'd had to the season meant that there weren't any fish rising but as a whole, I thought hatches last year were pretty good where I was fishing.
When I was guiding I used to have a guy book me during the hatch every year (it was timing of a family holiday more than grannom) and he was usually the first person I'd catch a fish on a dry with.
More recently, I haven't bothered with trout early on or if I do, I head farther up the river. I always feel I have a better chance there but not always.
We used to have a get together to mark the start of the season. I was fishing with a good friend Toby (Mr Funky) and I spotted a trout rising in a small trib that ran into the Taw just below the junction of the Little Dart.
One cast, one take and a fish on a dry on 15th March. I don't recall getting close to that in a while though.
Welcome to the forum wildfisher
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Post by yeoman on Jan 13, 2022 9:20:41 GMT
I always feel Grannom are a bit like Hawthorns, there can be lots of them about, but they don't get on the water much.
However, when they do......
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Jan 13, 2022 9:28:31 GMT
I always feel Grannom are a bit like Hawthorns, there can be lots of them about, but they don't get on the water much. However, when they do...... I believe the emerger hatches and leaves the water extremely quickly and so the window for a trout to eat them is a little smaller than other bugs. I remember seeing a hatch on the CFFC section of the Culm. Fish going mad. I haven't been there for a long time now but have so seen it there? Hawthorn, now that can be fun. Do you get much on them Ben? |
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Post by wildfisher on Jan 13, 2022 9:36:29 GMT
I always feel Grannom are a bit like Hawthorns, there can be lots of them about, but they don't get on the water much. However, when they do...... I think this is the key. The only fish I've seen taking them have been eager salmon parr jumping four feet into the swarm. These flies must return to the water to lay eggs at some point but I have never seen it. |
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Post by wildfisher on Jan 13, 2022 9:37:03 GMT
Welcome to the forum wildfisher Thanks Pete.  |
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Post by terry on Jan 13, 2022 10:09:23 GMT
Welcome to the board Wildfisher. I’ve very much enjoyed your videos from the far north. Please keep them coming.
That goes for you to Chris. The new season is no too far away.
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Post by wildfisher on Jan 13, 2022 10:43:02 GMT
Welcome to the board Wildfisher. I’ve very much enjoyed your videos from the far north. Please keep them coming. That goes for you to Chris. The new season is no too far away. Thanks Terry. I'll do them until I or the audience get fed up with them, whichever comes first.  I do enjoy making them although it is a lot of work. I watch Chris's videos too which are similarly non-shouty. You should check out Philip's offerings from the Isle of Lewis which are again similar. www.youtube.com/channel/UCHclad9VlQW_rbGA8Oi6XyA |
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Post by wildfisher on Jan 13, 2022 10:50:02 GMT
By the way Pete I loved your podcast with Sandy Nelson. I 've known Sandy for quite a while and your presentation prompted me to commission a rod build. Sandy has built me an 8 foot #4 wt on Livingston glass blanks. It casts beautifully and hopefully I'll lose fewer fish with it. |
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Jan 13, 2022 13:53:15 GMT
By the way Pete I loved your podcast with Sandy Nelson. I 've known Sandy for quite a while and your presentation prompted me to commission a rod build. Sandy has built me an 8 foot #4 wt on Livingston glass blanks. It casts beautifully and hopefully I'll lose fewer fish with it. Many thanks. I've known him on and off for a number of years and finally got to properly catch up. It was nice to cover such a varied topic and to hear from people about their enthusiasm for glass and rod building. The issue I still have with rolling my own is that I know it won't be great and hate to think of something sitting in a cupboard doing nothing as I'm too ashamed to take it out! I'm relatively new to glass having been bitten by some nasty examples in the past but I love and fish the rod I mention a fair bit. Like we said, the ability to play fish is fantastic and I actually recorded a podcast with my first outing with it and managed to keep a fish of just under 2 lb out of a really nasty snag with some ease. They cast nicely too and I'm amazed by their ability to cast some tungsten too. Good luck with the Livingston. I think Sandy mentioned them, I hear good things and so hope you'll enjoy! |
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Post by yeoman on Jan 13, 2022 17:12:47 GMT
Hi Pete,
No, not generally.
I do remember a time years ago fishing on the Frome with a friend. It was early May and a rather chilly, breezy day with absolutely nothing hatching/rising.
We fished nymphs in the morning to no avail, then after lunch a few hawthorns appeared and some were getting blown on the water.
All of a sudden a few fish started to take them here and there, and we had some great sport on the dry Hawthorn for a couple of hours and until they switched off.
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Jan 13, 2022 17:19:31 GMT
It was part of the reason I asked Ben as it has been similar for me. I did have one day with someone I was guiding and he asked me about hawthorn, I said I rarely use them and of course, we hit the perfect storm and caught fish on some patterns he'd tied.
I know they are an important hatch on the Wylye too. Do you think it might be as there is less/not much tree cover?
The best I hit was at Roadford. It was an amazing day yet we went to Colliford the next and there was nothing happening.
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Post by yeoman on Jan 13, 2022 18:11:51 GMT
Hi Pete,
Quite possibly.
A couple of seasons back on the Culm there were tmasses of Hawthorn all milling about along the bankside vegetation but virtually none on the water.
I tie a few Hawthorn patterns about every 5 years, I think that tells a story!
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Jan 14, 2022 8:14:17 GMT
Yes, I've barely seen them on the water and the trout eating them on just a few occasions. My flies are equally as old, they live in a dark recess in my fly box somewhere just in case.
It has made me wonder if the tree-lined nature of our rivers is a reason why the hatch isn't as prevalent from a fishing perspective.
Anyone else had spectacular river fishing to hawthorn?
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