The goal for today was to get a trout on a big mayfly pattern. I spotted one trout upstream from me that came for the mayfly but I struck to soon … fish gone. Trout nr. 2 was close to the bank and hit the fly, solid hookup at least that was what I though. It took one jump from the trout so get rid of the fly so no luck.
The third chance for a trout came soon as I spotted another one but it just would not commit to anything I offered. My last resort was to use a fly I had recently acquired … the mop fly. Had no luck with that pattern last week but today it was the ticket for that picky trout.
Tossing nymphs, squirmies and sedges yielded some small roach, dace and rudd. The water level had dropped considerably so fishing was tough. Tomorrow I think I might hit the chub section again, maybe the combination of low water and clear sunny skies might reveal some fish.
For a change I tried some spots in the village hoping to do well with the silver fish. Hopes where high but reality kicked soon in as I could not spot any fish and did not get any bites. Many spots seemed shallower and I could not spot any fish. Normally you would expect schools of dace and roach moving about this time of year.
In the end I found some tiny dace feeding in the surface and did some target practice with a dry fly. This resulted in a tiny dace but it was the first fish caught on sight with a dry fly this season. Could not find any larger dace roaming the stream though. That whole village plan did not work at all so to save the day I went back to the spot where I had previously caught the trout.
The location switch paid of as I landed two trout, missed two and landed a few dace. Fly of choice was again the perdigon nymph with the squirmy being totally useless. Ran into a buddy of mine but he blanked at the stretch he was fishing.
Overall the action was very slow despite seeing numerous BWO’s on the water and some dace going for them. Spring so far has been pretty cold in regards to previous years so I expect it will take a while before the bite gets be
With the rain finally gone it was time to check the stream yesterday. The water was still a bit high but clear. It was so clear that I could see a trout shoot away in the pool I was fishing. First though I hooked a couple of dace on the squirmy, my to go fly early season and in turbid conditions.
For some reason I could not get that trout to eat the squirmy. I dragged a streamer through the pool and the trout came and chased the fly but would not commit. At another pool I saw another trout but the same story.
I took a small break and send a status report to one of my buddies who also intended to fish the stream this day. He asked if I had fished the mill pool which was temporary opened for members of the syndicate if they purchased a day ticket. I replied no since this occasion generally caused the influx of the meat fisherman crowding the place … not my idea of fun.
I had not even looked at the pool but checked it out just in case.
My first observation … no signs of fish, the second … no people. Since it was noon I figured the chance of any meat fisherman shelling out 10 bucks for a couple hours of fishing was minimal. Besides it was cold, not comfy sitting outside watching bobbers.
So I made the decision to get a ticket, my buddy soon arrived and as I was wading he entered the premises. Something big was swimming at my feet but I could not make out it was a huge rainbow trout or a pike.
Anyways we fished the pool and boy it was dead, not much going on. My buddy had been there a few days before and said lots of trout where in the shallows … not today. I switched to a streamer and finally hooked my first fish, a tiger trout. Then after an hour a small pike nicked my fly.
At the end of the day I managed a small brown on the squirmy. My buddy … no bites at all. I spotted one blue dun on the water but that was the only insect action of the day. Blind casting seemed useless so we called it a day.
I made a stop at the pub on the way back home. Apparently it had been busy a few hours before my arrival but now it was quiet. Went for the mushroom soup as starter with as main dish the porkchops with mushrooms. Finishing it all off with coffee and a piece of gooseberry cake.
After a successful first session of the year on Jan. 8th. I hoped for another good session a week later but alas conditions where against me. Heavy rains had turned the stream in to a chocolate colored mess and my best was not good enough to produce any fish.
With more bad weather and a case of the flu it was only last weekend that I finally could get out and about again. I went straight for one of my honey holes where the squirmy yielded some small dace and roach.
The rainbows from the first session of the year had obviously moved on although Managed a small brown trout that was hitting my indicator all the time. I had a short tussle with a larger brown trout but the fish was not properly hooked.
In search for the rainbow I tried some pools downstream and got one bite from one fish that was located under some tree roots. I fought the fish for a while but the hook came out so no joy. Only the small shiners seemed to cooperate.
There had been some talk from one of the syndicate members that he had seen a lot of large fish upstream. Not a reliable source but I opted to check it out anyway. Before leaving I tried to catch that trout that I had missed earlier.
The first hit was from a dace which missed the squirmy but I noticed that the brown trout had also come out of hiding. The squirmy drifted near the brown trout and it just could not resist to hit the fly, this time I managed to land the fish. The upstream section did not yield the fabled big fish. Not surprising since the source was known to be all talk…
Along the way I ran into my buddies and talked some shop with them. It was late in the afternoon and I was ready for the pub. My friends still wanted to fish a little so I pointed them to the rainbows. At the end of the day I met up with them a the pub and on of them had indeed caught a rainbow trout.
Went on the first session of the year last Sunday. After a dry summer and fall the weather finally brought some much need rain. The border stream out of the moor carried water for the first time since spring.
The first larger stream I crossed carried a lot of water so I opted to fish a stretch where I knew I could catch fish in high water conditions. Fly of choice was a pink squirmy that performed well in these conditions. Takes where plenty and although the catch consisted out of small roach and dace I was happy catching the first fish of the year.
The partly blue skies did not last and at noon light rain started. Combined with the wind it was not exactly comfy but temperatures where pretty high for January. I headed for a more sheltered spot in the forest and suddenly got a take from something bigger. When I noticed the size I figured trout and as it was light in colour I wondered if it was a rainbow trout … it was.
Knowing the stream and the fact that those trout could only be recently stocked I figured there might be more of them. I checked out an eddy near some fast flowing water and immediately hooked another fish, again good size.
The party continued until I had caught four nice rainbows, extra fun when getting them on a 3-4 glass rod. With the sun setting I called it a day and ended this fantastic in the pub.
I was not that early this morning but luck would have it that the competition also slept late so I had the mill pool to myself. The water was really low and some stones surfaced that I had not seen before. Small shiners where feeding in the surface but I tried streamer fishing first hoping a pike would hit. The pike however did not want to play.
Next try was the squirmy and it yielded a small perch. The only deep spot in the pool with some flow was right under the weir. A casts there yielded a decent strike and for a moment I was connected to a brown trout. Alas only for a moment as the hook came out.
I gave the fish in at the mill a break and tried the stream itself. Some fish where rising but these where small dace, they were to quick with their strikes. No luck so it was off to the mill pool again. As I was curious what insects and other critters where present I turned around some stones an found my first crayfish.
In the mill pool I fished a small dry fly and had hits of small dace and golden shiners that were feeding in the surface, nymphs yielded no fish at all. A friend came by and as we talked shop some of the bait scattered in all directions. Time to get the streamer out again.
The first attack on the stream was from a small pike but it let the fly go. Several casts later I had a good hook up and could land a nice pike from the mill pool. With a good fish landed it was chowtime at the pub. Opted for the Parmensano burger and finished it off with coffee and a strawberry-rhubarb cake.
When I left I took a look above the weir and noticed many fish hovering about. It was a mix of perch, golden shiners and roach and not only small fish. At the moment there were to many people around to fish it but next time that spot would be the one I would hit first.
Last Saturday was predicted a 100 percent rain day by the weather guru’s. It actually stayed dry all day and I even got a tan in the end. Once again I tried to fool the chub and even had some new weapons in my armory. Besides the large abstract hoppers I usually fished I decided to try a more natural and smaller pattern hoping to fool the wary fish.
It was tough again to even get to the water which was btw very murky. This summer is completely different than last one, unstable weather with a constant supply of water. The water just was not as clear as last summer.
I tried some of the known spots and noticed a few fish in the murky water. The first reaction to the new hopper where promising as it was instantly attacked. After a few missed bites and one hooked it went quiet … fish gone. The other spot on the main stream remained fishless.
Next stop the feed, it was clear and had fish in it. Also big ones but I only nailed one slightly larger fish. The problem here was the extreme shallow water, dumping a hopper usually meant all the fish took off. Noticed one pike in the water but without the proper streamer it was no use trying, lots of weed in the water with no real depth to make a long retrieve.
With the fish not cooperating I did some sightseeing and took the long road to the pub. Went for the double cheeseburger this time.
On Sunday I tried the home stretch hoping to find a trout but I hardly found any fish. The squirmy yielded a small dace from one of the pools and that was it, The only thing hitting the squirmy where the gudgeons, small bottom feeders that constantly grabbed the tail section of the squirmy,
I tried some other places but the water was shallow, found a few small dace and fished a small dun pattern to get some bites. The pub visit was early as I had hoped that I would find fish surface feeding in the nearby village. Alas the surface waters where void of feeding fish, a small pink Perdigon yielded one roach and that was it.
A cloudy day with some of the clouds looking like thunder heads, it stayed dry though. Maybe it is time to visit some of the spots that are more off track in order to find fish.
In the so called dark days before Christmas I was not the only one to hit the river while it was possible. Pretty consistant action for such a late date in the year. I spotted a few carp, noticed dace rising to small midges and caught several roach and dace on nymphs and squirmies. I had many tail bites on the squirmies which again shows how effective that fly can be to generate bites … Catching fish that bite on the squirmy however is a different story.
I had planned to fish on saturday despite the cold weather. On friday message came that help was needed at the club’s hatchery. I figured the best time to fish would be the afternoon so I headed to the hatchery first.
The task at hand was to clear out a hatching pond. Before that could happen the resident trout needed to be caught and sorted along weight. I had my waders with me so I entered the basin and caught a few hundred brown trout with some very nice fat rainbows mixed in.
After the work I warmed at the fire in our club house for a while and went out to the river. Recent rains had risen the water level but clarity remained. As it was standard in winter fish where few and at first I could not spot any. Nymphs remained untouched whatever I tied on or how deep I fished them. As a last resort I tied on a squirmy and that did the trick as I caught a small dace.
Other spots I visited where empy, with the sun low in the sky I went into the forest to check the last mark of the day. I noticed fish, again small dace with curiously a gold fish mixed in. I had counted that all dumped gold fish would have been victim of the herons by now. After getting two more dace I called it a day.
As the sun was still visibile I made a short stop at a nearby sand pit and made some exploratory casts along a few reedbeds. I fished a small streamer in perch livery hoping for a pike or perch but nothing was moving. I stopped to watch the sun set and headed back home.
A few days of rain had put water and color in the stream. I fished the upper section of the stream as the weather was no good for chub fishing.
Since the mill pool was open again for members with a special permit I tried to catch some fish there. Unfortunately the lack of water over the past year had filled in the pool completely so it was to shallow for decent fishing. Surprisingly the usual present roach and dace where a no show.
Luckily some other sections of the stream still housed some fish with as icing on the cake a nice brown trout. The perdigon produced some fish but with the murky water I soon opted to fish the squirminator. A borderline fly but it has it’s moments and the many gudgeons I caught showed it was fished properly deep.
Drawback of the squirminator or squirmy is that you get a lot of tailbites and that their durability is minimal. The plus side is that they are easy to tie so you should be able to tie a good supply of them in a short time. I like the original material from Fulling Mill best as it really moves.
