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Post by Pete Tyjas on Feb 4, 2024 12:08:17 GMT
Hi everyone,
Please accept my apologies for not being around much. Fly Culture has grown into a monster (one I love very much) and has taken up a lot of my time but I hope I'll be able to drop by more regularly.
Like many of you, I think this has probably been some of the longest spells I've gone without standing in a river that I can remember. Grayling was a washout from October although I found somewhere that was on the cusp of being fishable (it wasn't but was close enough!) in Jan on the day temps hit -7. The water temp was warmer than the air and made the leak in my waders feel a whole lot better.
Even the chalk stream venues I fish have just been too high but I've enjoyed walking the Taw keeping my fingers crossed that the river hasn't had too many trees down! I also walked the Teign the other day and it has whetted my appetite for what is to come.
It feels a little early to say it's not too long now and I'm old enough to know better but I'll still be excited to be back in our streams once more.
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Post by terry on Feb 4, 2024 16:32:53 GMT
No need to apologise Pete and welcome back. You have been missed. For you grayling boys this winter so far must have been a nightmare we seem to have a named storm every couple of weeks. Who thought of naming bloody storms anyway. Not too long to go for the new season although I’ve just realised this is a leap year which means we have one more day to wait 😡
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Feb 5, 2024 10:30:52 GMT
Thanks Terry.
Yes, my wife will tell you it has been a long winter!
There has been much pacing, checking river gauges and sorting fly boxes.
As ever, I am optimistic about what the season will throw at me.
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Post by boisker on Feb 6, 2024 7:24:45 GMT
I’ve been grayling fiahing twice since mid-October…. Just before Xmas on the Frome, v sketchy the river was 12” over the banks…. And about 10 days ago… I’ve resorted to tying streamers, not something I fish much, but something I’m gonna have a bit of a focus on the coming season.. I have a knew measure for how sh!t the winter has been, based on how many knew fly patterns I have played with… I’ve also tied up some folded wing or origami wing flies- The season needs to open soon😂
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Feb 6, 2024 8:11:51 GMT
Some nice ties there Boisker.
I caught my biggest ever Devon trout on a streamer. The big fish do like something meaty!
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Post by boisker on Feb 6, 2024 9:19:16 GMT
I would def fish streamers more, but it’s ‘frowned’ upon fishing the Frome/Piddle. Which is a real shame, it would be loads of fun sight fishing a streamer😂
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Feb 6, 2024 15:18:16 GMT
It would be interested to see though as I think I'd learn something from seeing what the fish do.
From what I've seen though, there is often a hard bite pretty quickly or as the fly moves into the shallows (not always) but I've also seen fish escort the fly off of the premises without biting it!
The other thing is even the little fellas will have a go at a big old fly too.
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Post by terry on Feb 6, 2024 19:33:42 GMT
Judging by the amount of fry that I witnessed on the Duchy waters at the end of last season I would definitely give a streamer a much better swim than I’ve tried previously. Dear old Ollie Edwards video on fishing large streamers on the Wharfe is definitely worth another watch. Welcome to the dark side.
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Post by yeoman on Feb 11, 2024 0:55:17 GMT
A couple of seasons back, when not much was happening,I tried a wooly bugger in a deep corner pool and promptly hooked and landed a trout of about 9 inches. I was surprised to find when unhooking, that it had the tail of a half swallowed Bullhead hanging out of it's mouth !
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Feb 11, 2024 9:51:25 GMT
A couple of seasons back, when not much was happening,I tried a wooly bugger in a deep corner pool and promptly hooked and landed a trout of about 9 inches. I was surprised to find when unhooking, that it had the tail of a half swallowed Bullhead hanging out of it's mouth ! Those trout never stop amazing me!
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Apologies
Feb 14, 2024 16:26:30 GMT
via mobile
Post by boisker on Feb 14, 2024 16:26:30 GMT
They make a fun change tying streamers, although I must remember when pushing the spun hair back to whip finish not to slip…. A size 2 hook slammed into the thumb is a ‘tad’ more painful than a size 18, at least it was barbless 😂 2nd full attempt at a zoo cougar, following advice on the US forum to use more hair on the collar… Not sure whether they’ll hook BT or just scare them into my net😂
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Feb 15, 2024 12:06:44 GMT
Another interesting fly. It is worth looking into streamers for the names alone, I love people's imagination!
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