2026 and it starts with the BFFI

 

To say the least, It will be interesting to see what this year brings .  This year will bring full retirement and apart from the obvious lifestyle change it brings more leisure time ( or so I am hoping )  .  from the blogs perspective I intend to change things too.  I`ve had the blog a long time and I have become sort of fond of it.  Granted the days of blogs being the must have in the online world have long gone. But I look at the internet these days and it appears to me to be largely rubbish or worst AI generated drivel.  Perhaps people will start to hunt down something real. You readers will have noted that for me fishing is more than just something that you do in your spare time it is part of who I am .  

One thing I do most years is trek the 150 miles across country to the  BFFI that’s the British Fly Fair International which has always been primarily about fly tying ,  but yesterday I noted a further shift and seeing more manufacturers exhibiting luggage,  packs and also it seemed more mainstream rod makers as well as some independent .  For me it’s a few hours nosying around the fly tying stands .  For various odds and ends .  Rods , reels and major stuff I have plenty and could probably stage my own fair .  

As usual I met old some friends and made a few new ones .  One friend had a bad back and was putting a brave face on whilst signing books, ( keep smiling Dave the rivers will soon be back between their banks again and the back will soon unknot ) .  There was long conversations around rods getting lighter and blanks getting thinner .  I cast an envious glance at the lovely piece of burr on the Fortidude rods stand , would love to get that on my lathe.  If that’s an example of their starting materials it’s no wonder their reel seats look so nice. 

I had a quick chat to the guys in the Grayling Society stand .  There was a quick hello to The Trout and Salmon stand and a quick conversation about the deterioration of social media and the rise of AI rubbish . I hope the new format works out for both the magazine and for Pete the new editor ,  it would be nice to see the circulation up and maybe the price to come down .  I guess advertising revenue departing to the internet is a huge problem .  

I travelled across with Duncan a friend who despite his fly fishing interest and despite my encouragement declined to open his wallet apart from a few furled leaders from Luke Bannister who built me the nice Garrison 201 a year or so back .  My friend declined to commit to splurge on a new rod for the very sensible reason he really wasn’t convinced of what he needs .  “Need “  is a ghastly word , “ Want ” and “ Fancy “ are much more interesting and joyful words ……I must try and educate him…

The fly tiers row is brilliant with an amazing amount of talent in show .  I am always fascinated but strangely this year I didn’t seem to spend as much time there .  Too much time chatting to friend’s probably. 

Also this year there was definitely more bamboo rods on display.  Let’s hope that is a reflection of more people wanting to try them . 

The quality of the Coq de Leon feathers on Ed Madrigals was superb and I snagged a nice snowshoe hare foot there as well , Thanks for the heads up Pom … as usual the coach y bondhu books stand was excellent . Apologies Paul if I spelt it wrong again . Sadly I have a self imposed ban on new books .  Until I can thin out some of the existing titles I am out of space . 

Only criticism on an otherwise fantastic show was why have everyone queuing together  , there seems no adavantage on prebooking online if everyone just queues in the rain the same , but again a brilliant show .  Now that all the game fairs seem to have become country clothing and dog bed shows , a bit like Orvis shops . The BFFI has become a rare pearl that needs to be supported . Probably see you again next year . In fact I may will make a two day trip next year and catch more of the lectures and Demos ….

 

Happy Christmas ..

Happy Christmas Everybody 

I am wishing you all tight lines , big fish , pristine waters , serenity ,and the magic of the season .

 "May your lines be tight, your flies be magic, 

End of a weird but actually ok season .

I know I am letting the blog drift but i thought an end of season update was in order. Also to show that I do also listen to those kind readers who emailed me and said don`t give up writing the blog .  So the plan is I will do that but I plan along the way to change what I put up .  I hope I can convey and  reflect more on why I fish , especially why I visit the places I do.  Also as I am now semi retired and soon to be fully retired I will be including some of the other things I waste my time doing . 

On the face of it it’s been an awful season ,  the mid season few months have seen desperately low levels due to the lack of rain following a almost dry winter of 24/25 .  The chalk stream is the lowest it’s been for 60 years the first few months of the season fished well until the aquifers finally emptied .  The rain fed streams that run of the North York moors have been pitifully low all season they barely got going at the season start and then quickly ran almost dry.  So by all practical measures it’s been a miserable season .  But in terms of catches it has had some real highlights,   Early season I managed a new personal best fly rod caught chub .  At just over 5lb it was a real highlight ,  but in the few weeks before that I had managed several nice chub and a couple of notable grayling , I have always enjoyed chub on the fly .  They take dries and on their day they rise  as well as trout .  I have always been fond of them, a chub was the first fish I saw caught on a dry fly , I watched a teacher at my first boarding school catch some chub in the Whiske a little tributary of the Swale a river which then was the perfect image of a small stream clear water , full of streamer weed and shoals of fish, Sadly years later I foolishly re visited and found it destroyed and polluted . 

Driffield Beck Chub 

A few weeks later I very nearly didn’t bother going on a planned trip ,  I had a bad back and really wasn’t feeling like it but after giving myself a virtual slap I took an old Sharpe’s featherweight bamboo and ended up with two cracking fish , one over 4lb and the other 3 1/2 lb .  The bigger fish I had targeted before but that day approached its regular holding spot red  Indian style on all fours which for a gentleman of my years with buggered knees is not something to be done on a whim .  Spotting it just up stream of where I was expecting it to be and after watching it through the bankside grasses and stuff and seeing it was feeding, the nymph was cast upstream and second drift down the fish moved to the side and took it comfortably.  The river was carrying heavy weed growth and I am convinced  the bamboo rod and silk line made a difference to holding it as it clearly wasn`t impressed by the idea that an overweight old bloke on all fours had managed to deceive it .  The silk line has zero stretch but the bamboo absorbs the sudden lunges of a big fish well that’s my thoughts .  I certainly seem to be able to apply a lot of pressure.

Driffield Beck Brown trout 

An hour later and nearly back to the hut I noticed a large shape drop down in the water at the base of a large willow .  I decided it was worth a speculative cast .  Almost as soon as the nymph hit the water the tippet darted away .  Another dogged fight meant fish two in the net .  

That really was the end of the good fishing for the season . there was a few early trips after grayling but between catching a few decent fish and a lot of not so decent fish the one real highlight was seeing the big numbers of tiny grayling which meant that this years spawning had yielded good success .  After catching a few on tiny dries I had to leave several stretches to avoid catching the little darlings . I hope they they will be about in a year or two when they are bigger. 

Later in the year we had a cottage booked in Northumberland .  The cottage came with fishing on the Coquet well as you might expect the river was on its bones and unfishable .  I did manage a couple of tiny browns on dry flies early morning.  it’s a pretty river though and have it marked down as a future destination.  

The Bamboo obsession still rumbles on .  The little Garrison that Luke Bannister built for me was given its first outing of the year small trout were out in numbers and it proved to be as delightful to fish with as I had hoped.

I also picked up an unusual action rod it was a somewhat impulsive bid on that auction site . Well when I say unusual it is truly a faster action rod than my other bamboo. It is built on a Dickerson 7612 taper , By Rick Cunningham an American builder. When it arrived I discovered that it had a few defects that weren`t described at all. But after negotiating a very handsome deal with the seller I retained the rod and have returned it to 100 percent  .  It has recently been christened and it is indeed a very nice rod ,  just a bit quicker than most of my other bamboo.

As for the the rest of the season it was really a no show ,  As I type it is on the back of a week or two of nice wet weather even a few inches of early snow  ,The rivers were and still are in need of a good period of rain to flush them out . Also it will replenish the groundwater .  So for now the fishing is buggered but if it replenishes the groundwater and aquifers under the chalk stream then I aren`t going to complain .  So i will leave this here and say have a happy Christmas and lets hope for a prosperous new year , Which given the current state of the world seems highly unlikely . 

Gone Fishing

Over the last couple of years the whole social media thing Has lost its shine for me so apart from the odd grip and grin on FB and the silly sense of humour posts that`s it .  I might in the future shake of the cobwebs of the blog ,  but somehow doubt it .  So for now the post title says it all. 

Tight Lines everyone.

First signs of summer and first on a dry

Last season this upland stream was new to me ,  it was great to fish during those first few weeks when the high waters everywhere meant that this little stream was still fishable due to its pocket water nature and you could always find fish ,  moving on twelve months we have the opposite ,  following the driest march for 60 years the rivers are low , the ground is dry but the pocket water nature of the stream keeps things interesting 

It was a frustrating day to start with its a fair trek down to the river. deep valley through a couple of fields and conifer plantation .   which is not a problem normally and indeed is part of the charm but when you start fishing and realise that the very old silk line that you have used for years and passed the out of season checks is actually past it best and passed failed the giving it a tug test which meant a trek back to the car for a spare reel.  Which is even more frustrating given that usually I have a spare line and reel in the backpack but due to closed season cleaning I had taken the spares out.

Anyway here is my first brown trout of the season ,  small I grant you but very very welcome especially as it took a dry fly . There is no better way to start a season 

There were some clear signs from the huge winter floods the rock below that has been broken in half has the area of a ford focus and the slab is about 450 mm thick , had to imagine just done by water it isn`t me in the picture above. it is an older friend . I was having a breather and watching and learning , 

A couple of days after this I had my first trip of the year to my local chalk stream.  The river was as low as I have seen it and considering it should be bank high from the winter rains it is a worrying state. The stream is of course spring fed and even very heavy rain now would be lost in the ground and not make it into the aquifer.

On the day I took two rods , not something I normally do but the bamboo rod is a winter build on a set of blanks that were made by Barry Grantham and I wanted to try a line on it, Barry said it was based upon the Hardy CC d France taper  , I got it from him some time ago. It was nice to christen it in style .  I didn`t get the line choice quite right so after that fish I put it away and went back to my old faithful Streamflex plus ,

The fish were very fit wildies and this one tail walked up the river like a rainbow . I have had this rod for many years and I still think it is one of the finest longer river rods out there.

The fish  were in beautiful condition 

I couldn`t help taking this picture seemed like spring encapsulated 

Then on Saturday we had a work party on another local stream and afterwards myself and a friend walked the river to discover that the hawthorn flies have decided to show their face early this year. 

Its a pretty little stream and it has become an old friend ,  on the day i would have caught many more on a nymph but while there was a chance of a fish on a dry I was going to persevere , 

I think you can see the fly stuck in his jaw and that by the time I caught this fella the fly had already lost his legs ,  The first few I caught were , well lets just say well smaller ,,,,I don`t like fishing the hawthorn on very fine tippets so never go below 5 x ,  The wing and the legs make it a bugger for twisting the tippet. 

That day I used a new rod and for me a new material .  its glass. well S glass which i think is just glass but a bit faster.  When I was fishing the upland stream I was stumbling about due to me not being very fit after hardly fishing since before Christmas also my balance seems to be not getting any better due to a duff knee and ears that have being in the wars and have affected my balance ,  so I reflected that wafting a four figure value bamboo rod about isn`t the best idea on rough upland streams , Also  I here much chatter these days about the new glass rods so have got this one to try.  its a 7ft 3 wt and has an action very much like cane and not unlike the old Hardy featherweight carbon ,  Watch this space to see it it grown on me , but first impressions are good . 

Arthur Ransome had it right...Opening day

. . "Perhaps the greatest satisfaction on the first day of the season is the knowledge in the evening that the whole of the rest of the season is to come."

The above quote by Arthur Ransome sums it up very nicely .  Even as a boy I can remember the same excitement .  I mean Christmas is just a day that ends all to soon.  Whereas the first day of the season opens the window to a whole new year . with fresh hopes and ambitions , new places to visit or even better visiting those places that have become home to see what changes the winter floods have brought about . Or more simply just to enjoy the fact that summer is starting.  I still have the same sense of excitement that I had as a kid .  Despite the fact that at my age I should know better ,  but actually at my age I should be more excited as now semi retired and free to come and go .  Sons and Daughter grown up and after many years of trial the rivers I fish have matured nicely down to a select group. I have all the rods and reels I need , which is not to say I could always want something new and shiny ,  

So on opening day I have already decided where I will fish.  Its a favourite small stream . One that appears on the blog and I am particularly fond of .  There is something particularly satisfying about familiar surroundings . 

On the subject of Ransome it reminds me that Swallows and Amazons was one of my favourite reads as a child. Books that I suspect have past by modern youngsters and are probably deemed inappropriate as they freely use jolly nicknames like fatty and Skinny and girls are not expected to act like boys . The books did portray a very wholesome worldly innocence that I suspect is pretty unfashionable now ,   

As for books generally I enjoy and  tend to read Angling literature rather more than how too books.  The modern how too books are interesting and they there have been some very good ones published in the last few years.  But I feel however good they are to dip into, they are not what I would call a good read ,  They are inevitably more like text books,  something that I have always been somewhat averse too. Where as the classic authors books are much more readable.  My leavers report of the Boarding school I attended had the heads comment I would have been a admirable student if I had put as much effort into my Scholastic studies as trying to catch the trout in the river leven,  To this day I am very proud of that report.  and particularly of that comment .  

New Season anticipation . Rod Action bollocks and marketing

As is usual in the darkest bit of winter one spends more time on t inter web  , In  this last few weeks of winter  shitty wet days and dark nights I have spent many an hour mindlessly scrolling through various forums and I marvel at the nonsense spouted by the add men selling stuff  and folks on forums . There are a couple of words and phrases  that seem to be in vogue at the moment .  I always thought that I knew what they meant but it would appear I don’t .  Either that or the ad men are making stuff up to get us ordinary folk to part with our hard earned cash .  

The first word to grumble about is medium as part of the phrase medium action fly rod .  Now for  most of this century and the last 20 years of the last one . Yes I am old and remember the 60s and 70s it seems to me that all the big guns in the carbon rods game have been making things faster and faster .  Most rods are still pretty fast but they have cottoned on to the fact that actually for rivers that really can be the wrong approach and  are now  trying to sell the idea that for rivers medium action is best ,  Well I for one know it is but what they appear to sell as medium action , well really just isn`t . Bamboo rods are slow / medium action ,  Fibreglass rods are often medium action and a few carbon rods are IMO medium action .  Things like the the Hardy Classic series , The Orvis Superfine series ,  The vision Cult . The Sage Circa.  Rod that are actually more a medium action . The rest well just aren`t .  But apparently and according to one online article I read .  "A medium action rod is what is needed for technical small stream fishing" well no shit sherlock which brings me on to my next marketing word grumble..

The second marketing bollox word that makes me giggle is technical . A quick google on line found the following examples as well as the classic technical fly fishing... I have found Technical fly line.  Technical fly fishing Socks and my favourite , "technical undercrackers" underwear to you and me,  I wish someone could explain to me how socks and underwear can be technical . I find the only technical thing about them is these days  keeping my balance whilst putting them on.

As for the new season well club AGMs are happening , Events that always remind me that the season is nearly upon us .  It is good to catch up with friends and its very good to see the days lengthening and the rivers waking up. In my own mind I know which rivers I will be concentrating on fishing first and which I will be waiting a little for them to wake up.  The current spell of settled weather could mean a nice early start to the trout season .  Or as is often the case will opening day follow two weeks of perfect weather and on the day be gale force winds and torrential rain.  That is the joy of English weather ,  I say weather because referring to it as a climate hints at predictability ,  Whereas we all know  March and April in particular are months when all four seasons can occur on the same day .  

Oh and one final gripe I was away for a few days recently and picked up a Trout and Salmon at the newspaper stand in WH Smith .  I had a quick flick through it and glanced at the price and replaced it rapidly ,  Fearing store security would come over and catch me stealing a read. Are they having a laugh  , How fecking much ????.  Same with fly fishing and fly Tying . for years I bought it when it was less than half current prices , then I bought the version for my ipad .  read it for a while I even had a few things published in it.  Then binned it Really though when will they wake up and actually do something decent online . I cant understand why they aren`t embracing the internet,  There have been some excellent fishing books published this last couple of years,  Peter Hayes Fly fishing outside the box. Dave Southall Long Rods Light lines John Roberts new book Grayling on the fly .  You look at those and think cost / content and compare to about Four months trout and salmon . I mean really ? Someone is technically taking the proverbial . 

Anyway that`s it for now ,  I feel better for getting that of my chest...