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2013
May 26, 2013 21:17:28 GMT
Post by mojo on May 26, 2013 21:17:28 GMT
Hi Paul
The dancing mayflies will be either Large Brook Duns or March Browns not sure which, I have seen them before on the Taw, large grey-brown fluttery things, need more description, fish probably put off by the cold wind, lets hope it warms up before autumn.
Mo
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2013
May 26, 2013 21:35:55 GMT
Post by paul on May 26, 2013 21:35:55 GMT
Thanks Mo,
I'll remember the March Browns- first time I've seen them.
I'll catch or photo the fluttery ones next time (there was one smaller dark brown version around as well) but one mnew one at a time is all the poor old brain will absorb effectively
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2013
May 28, 2013 15:54:16 GMT
Post by rubble on May 28, 2013 15:54:16 GMT
Just jogged past salmonpool weir in Exeter and the river still seemed reasonably clear following last night's rain. How is it up Crediton way?
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2013
May 29, 2013 17:41:34 GMT
Post by rubble on May 29, 2013 17:41:34 GMT
Good sport on the Yeo today. 15 or so to hand this pm. One on a nymph, the rest on a parachute style olive. Lost many others. No mafly seen.
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2013
May 31, 2013 18:32:37 GMT
Post by rubble on May 31, 2013 18:32:37 GMT
Fished the Culm from 10ish to 1ish today.
Had two at 10 and 11" at the very bottom on a para olive again. A couple of other smaller ones. Lost my fly when one took it as the blood knot between the tippet and leader went. Can't seem to join a 3lb tapered leader to a 2.7lb tippet very well for some reason. Re-tied with a 3lb tippet instead, the water.was.a.bit coloured so I thought it wouldn't matter. Tied on another olive type fly with a half deer hair hackle.
Found a rising fish up through the tree tunnel by skinners farm. Plonked my fly upstream and BANG! Line was stripped through my fingers and my 5'9" vision cult fibre went semi-circle. I was mid stream and found myself with a monster crashing from one bank to the other. Thank heavens I put on a stronger tippet. Finally netted what turned out to be a 17 and a half inch brownie. Took me five minutes to compose myself after that.
Met a fellow member upstream and had a chat, Nigel I think (sorry, I'm poor with names). Both agreed it seemed quiet in terms of fish activity. Lots of flies come lunch time with olives and quite a few mayfly. Saw finches and a dragonfly take some on the wing. Never saw a trout take one but Nigel caught one on a mayfly. Saw a woodpecker too which was nice.
Walking back together we saw a fish rising regularly above the road bridge. Nigel declined so I sneaked up the bank and contorted a few casts through the trees and managed to winkle out a nicely conditioned 10 incher. Nice way to finish.
Having cleaned the large fish for supper I found its flesh to be quite pink so I wonder if it was in fact a stockie from somewhere? All wild brownies I've had had white flesh but then this is the largest river brown I've had so I don't know.
Will try to post a picture of said fish if I can get on my pc to resize it.
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2013
Jun 1, 2013 18:39:31 GMT
Post by mojo on Jun 1, 2013 18:39:31 GMT
Hi Rubble Taking your post in order try the 3 turn water knot a lot simpler to tie and a lot stronger, congratulations on the 17.5" BT. As to the fish activity on the Culm, 1. it is a very fickle river, I have been there in what I thought were perfect conditions and have not only not seen a fish rise, I have totally blanked, 2. you are dealing with the law of Deminishing Returns, you don't make it clear how many fish you killed, the more you kill the less there are as BTs are a finite resource and we don't stock, also the bigger fish are the best brood stock, they produce fitter and faster growing offspring, if you practice catch and release the fish are still there but become much harder to catch, this is called Sods Law, so you're up against it either way. We do get stocked fish in our water, they are easy to tell either rainbows or obvious stocked BTs, as to flesh colour I can't answer that, it's a long time since I killed a wild BT.
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2013
Jun 2, 2013 14:16:29 GMT
Post by rubble on Jun 2, 2013 14:16:29 GMT
I only took one fish. And usually only on 1 in every 5 trips on average will I take one if the mood takes me for my own consumption. I don't stuff the freezer. I don't coarse fish like I did when I was a lad as that's just bothering fish for no good reason. In my own mind, and I'm not judging anyone else, if there is no prospect of eating what you catch I don't see the point. I enjoy the whole pleasure derived from what we do whether I catch or not but ultimately I see no wrong in eating the odd fish here and there. Better than farmed crap from Tesco anyway.
As an aside, I also spearfish. Minimum sizes for bass etc have meant that I have stayed my hand on many occasions. It's amazing how fish look bigger under water. You can't put it back once you've shot it!
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2013
Jun 2, 2013 15:52:19 GMT
Post by mojo on Jun 2, 2013 15:52:19 GMT
Hi Rubble, most of the members take the odd fish for the table, as you say much better than farmed fish. When fishing the Culm you may get the odd Rainbow and you should always knock them on the head. The only trout I eat these days (apart from the odd Sea-Trout) are the ones I catch when we go to Blakewells in February, these are cooked in a Green Thai Curry Sauce, this is the result of fishing reservoirs for many years and having to take every thing home, sometimes I dreaded catching a limit! Which is one of the reasons I took up river fishing. In the States they have slot limits, where you can only take fish between certain sizes, say between 8" and 10" to protect the brood stock and the younger fish, a bit difficult on our waters as the size of fish varies so much. I will have to find the pic of the last BT I killed, it was a stocked fish that had come downstream from the estate above our water where they used to stock, don't know if they do anymore, 2 large fish that I have seen this year were wild fish as far as I could see, fin perfect, which is the usual give away, unless they have been reared in low numbers in earth ponds which makes them very expensive - £400 pounds a day and upwards to fish on the Test for stocked fish that are in very good condition.
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2013
Jun 2, 2013 16:23:19 GMT
Post by rubble on Jun 2, 2013 16:23:19 GMT
It wasn't in great nick really compared to the 19incher posted on cffc website, a blunted top nose, a few raggedy bite on the tail and a few scars on the back. Kind of why I thought it might be a stocky. And because Nigel mentioned the landowner upstream who claimed to have stocked a load of brownies at one time.
I wondered about the best 'slot' or bracket size. It does vary though I guess, Duchy fish take much longer to attain size compared to our waters for instance.
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2013
Jun 2, 2013 17:54:02 GMT
Post by mojo on Jun 2, 2013 17:54:02 GMT
It varies on our waters, the Culm has the biggest fish, and our other rivers can vary, we had someone on the Taw who was stocking with 12" fish and we wondered why we were catching so many 12" fish as they made their way downstream, there not being enough food for them, probably came back as sea trout! On a completely different subject how do you find the Cult Fibre, a long time since I fish a glass rod, tobym on the home board fishes with a Scott fibre rod now and then, the last glass rod I fished with was a Hardys dick Walker Superlite, the first wife managed to shut it in the car door. Looking back on your posts you seem to be catching a good lot of fish, keep it up you could be in line for the cup for the most fish caught, so far Mike W & Roy T are in line for the biggest as they have both caught the 19" BT in the Culm.
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2013
Jun 2, 2013 19:08:22 GMT
Post by paul on Jun 2, 2013 19:08:22 GMT
Hi all,
I enjoy rubble's regular reports; they inspire me to get of my backside and go fish, but the frequency with which he gets out is a bit depressing- and I'm retired!
It would be good if a few more members also described their exploits- I would but rarely have anything to report. Today, for example, i flogged the Culm for 4 1/2 hours for two fish, one 10" and one 4" both on nymphs. No fly life on the water- not even a grey brown large fluttery thing- and little beyond midges in the air. Two pools showed three or four rises- covered but no success.
See, boring!
Two points to note. The first was that, as I walked downstream I decided not to take the girder bridge ( we need to cover the barde wire in a couple of pLAces on the far side) but to cut left to go down the left bank. Last time I did that I noted that the wooden boards across a little ditch looked rotten and wouldn't last long. It didn't; its now difficult to get across, but no damage done to me when my foot went right through it!
The second was as I approached the treed area just below said girder.
I was casting into the tree cover- a 4" was my reward- and i was about 25 yards below a little riffle of very shallow pebbly water.
An enormous commotion and splashing came from upstream; I caught a glimpse of a substantial thing clattering upstream over the shallows. It was definitely a fish- dorsal fin very distinct; it was at least 15". It was too far upstream for me to have spooked it.
It must have been a BT. But would't it be nice to dream!
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2013
Jun 2, 2013 19:52:30 GMT
Post by mojo on Jun 2, 2013 19:52:30 GMT
Paul, it was in this area, the girder pool to be precise, that I saw the first big BT when we first took the water on, to many a raised eyebrow, this fish was feeding on spawning Minnows and made a several attacks on them, not something I use to carry copy of, I do now, but have never seen it happen again!
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2013
Jun 2, 2013 20:17:23 GMT
Post by yeoman on Jun 2, 2013 20:17:23 GMT
could have been a chub, probably spawning about now.
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2013
Jun 2, 2013 21:12:47 GMT
Post by rubble on Jun 2, 2013 21:12:47 GMT
Apologies to Paul but I went out for an hour and a half before dusk this evening on the Yeo. I have been on hold this week so in between family outings I've been lucky enough to be get out on the rivers. Back to the daily grind tomorrow:(
Anyway, managed to land about 5 or 6 fish on dries. Lots of flies about, mainly small dark things but some upwings, also some mays seen mating.
Fish were rising periodically in various spots. Some went for a grhe, some on a para adams,no joy with balloon head caddis or sedge. However, I saw some yellow coloured flies, third of the size of mayfly but an upwing of some sort. Pale.wateries? Bunged on a Tups Indespensible as a guess as it looked vaguely similar and brought the two best fish in with it, a 12" and one that was about 14", the latter taking 5 minutes to yield. I have a photo of the biggeost taken on my phone through.an aquapac. I must catch up and post them. I write most of this bumpf on my phone but can't resize pics without a pc.
Mojo, the cult fibre in 5'9" form is great, provided it's not too windy, or you have a following wind. Lots of feel and can, I now know, handle larger fish. Really good for stalking through narrow sections and branches. Not so good for taking on fishat tue.back of a pool as it's so short your line will fall down the riffle and drag the fly. It's doable if you crawl for stealth!
Forgot to add, all fish returned.
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2013
Jun 3, 2013 4:55:31 GMT
Post by rubble on Jun 3, 2013 4:55:31 GMT
Well I never. I managed to resize a pic on my phone. Here is this evenings best fish (if I've done this right). It's flopped over, it so looks a bit more wee than it was! Best Yeo fish for me so far though. Attachments:
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2013
Jun 3, 2013 4:58:20 GMT
Post by rubble on Jun 3, 2013 4:58:20 GMT
The beast from the Culm Attachments:
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2013
Jun 5, 2013 7:06:57 GMT
Post by rubble on Jun 5, 2013 7:06:57 GMT
7 fish at dusk yesterday on the upper creedy, the largest at 12". All caught on a tupps. All returned. Very warm and lots of flies, some mays seen.
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2013
Jun 5, 2013 20:47:16 GMT
Post by paul on Jun 5, 2013 20:47:16 GMT
Only had an hour this afternoon- glad I went out.
Pottered 400yds upstream from home to the Exe just downstream of Tiverton town. Best this season- 7 fish to 9", several lost- all where I thought they'd be- under trees and just off the foam line. Lots of mayflies- different sorts, one very spectacular pure white one- a mouthful of midges but no other fly life.
Despite the mayflies, all fish caught on a tungsten bead head a good 3' below the dry.
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royt
New Member
Posts: 19
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2013
Jun 7, 2013 23:41:55 GMT
Post by royt on Jun 7, 2013 23:41:55 GMT
I was interested to read Mojo’s recent description of the Culm as a “fickle river” – and glad to hear its not just me that struggles there on occasions. However recently it has become my favourite of the club’s waters ! Inspired by the photo of Mike W with his 19” beauty, I went for the afternoon on 17 May. Until about 2.15pm, it was bright and sunny, with occasional fish rising, and I had two 10-inchers on dry fly. Then the rain started, then hailstones, then thunder and lightning ! Surprisingly a few fish continued to rise, even though the rain was so heavy I couldn’t see what they were taking, or even my own fly on the water. By 4.30 the rain had slackened but I’d had no more fish, was very wet and about to give up, but luckily gave it one last go – the result was a lovely “porpoise-roll” rise to my dry fly (Grey Wulff), a fight that seemed like an eternity and a beautiful butter-yellow-bellied 19 inch brown trout (I tried to stretch the tape to beat Mike’s but it didn’t work !). Photo taken (below, hopefully) then returned safely: On the way back to the car I watched an otter frolicking in the water for about 5 minutes – a prefect day ! And I’ve had two more almost as good days on the Culm since then – more later !
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2013
Jun 8, 2013 7:34:27 GMT
Post by rubble on Jun 8, 2013 7:34:27 GMT
Super fish. Brave to stay out during thunder. I would have legged it! I find the Culm higher up on the passport beat to be very fishy with lots of mid sized fish in almost every pool and run. Fishing blind here always seems to work because the river is so small the fish will almost always be where you expect them - there is nowhere else to go! The club beat is very different, fickle as stated. Lots of places I would expect fish have yet to work for me. As for champerhaies further down, I always struggle although the catch returns show I'm obviously just failing badly here;)
Had 6 last night on the Yeo all returned, best was 11". Quite tricky, fish ignoring several flies but the tupps was the.favourite again.
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