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 .  

More on North Country spiders or soft hackled flies

As readers to this blog will have read last season saw my introduction to fishing spiders or soft hackled flies as they say in the USA a term that I think is more apt than spiders but more of that later . Last season my first fishing spiders, I tied and fished the Partridge and Orange the Snipe and Purple and the Waterhen Bloa. These were my team of three.  The flies are a cinch to tie and of those I tried the Waterhen Bloa proved to be the most successful.

This winter I have obtained and read the works of  T E Pritt, Edmonds and Lee and Stewart.  Also the more recent Roger Fogg which I found excellent . All in order to better understand the method and to a lesser extent expand the patterns at my disposal.  I have also explored the internet for resources.  I can also recomend watching the the Oliver Edwards series of DVDs . I found them excellent and I am sure helped me to early success. I think when you can appreciate the difference between across and down and down and across and you realise an escalator isnt something you find in Marks and Spencers then you are well on the way..

So what have I learnt so far?, well like all branches and styles of  the sport there is as in most forms of fly fishing a fair amount of dogma. I have read interminable internet discussons regarding the correct thread for a partridge and Orange, and the correct number of turns of thread on the body and turns of hackle for that perfect style. the choice of hook alone seems to cause more discussion than I could have thought possible.  I am sure that such worries werent on the mind of the likes of Stewart and Pritt. I am also pretty sure the fish couldnt give a fig.

 Although there are some anglers who have stuck with the style for years it is now to some extent enjoying  a renaissance .  As for literature the old works can still teach us a great deal and are still a major source of knowledge ,   Stewart in particular is excellent, his approach is very different to what I imagined.  He talks of stealth and natural presentation and has tactical understanding that would not be out of place in todays publications. There is an article in the current FFand FT that talks in the same terms it just gos to show that in the fundamentals theres nowt new in the world.

To many readers who may be proficient with spiders this is an obvious comment but one of the keys to the success of these spider patterns is the mobility of the hackle materials. The feathers of the game birds used have a softness and open structure not found in cock and even hen hackles. Hence my reference in the first few lines to soft hackle flies been a more apt description . The waterhen and partridge hackles  have a mobility and translucency that beautifully mimics the drowned or crippled delicate dun wings .  The more robust hackles of the woodcock and grouse are perfect for sedges and stoneflies.  Combine this with the bodies of silk with sometimes the meanest of dubbing which have a lovely translucency when wet, dress this on a light hook and you have a very effective combination.

When you combine this with a high level of control in the presentation which the close range and  dead drift gives it makes for a very effective technique.  This is not the cast at 45% downstream and let the flies whizz round approach that so often is thought of as downstream wet fly .  I think that this is every bit as immitative as the upstream dry.  Incidentally fishing spiders upstream is a variation I am yet to try but I can imagine it to be extremely effective. So we are presenting an accurate imitation of the drowned or emerging fly at the speed of the current in or beneath the surface what could be better?, I for one am a convert and spiders will now have a permanent place in my kit.  I just have to learn more and get better at using them.

My selection of spiders so far is the Greenwells , Partridge and Orange , Waterhen Bloa, Grouse and Green and Grouse and Red ,  Woodcock and red , Snipe and Purple , Black Spider , March brown and some copper bead  Endricks.  Still room for a couple more patterns so any suggestions welcome...Only another month or so to wait now and I will be able to try them in the river....

In the ring of the rise

This time of year is when I tend to do a bit more reading.  Vincent Marinaro   "In the ring of the rise" is my current interest  its a title I have meant to read for a considerable period.  I apologise in advance to those of you that have already absorbed the book and are aware of its contents.

What fish actually see is of supreme importance to the fly angler,  the book explores brilliantly what the fish see and the effect it has on their feeding behaviour and how the evidence of such behaviour can be seen in the resultant rise form the fish leaves.  It also explores how fish see and react to the fly in, on or below the surface film.

When you consider how important the understanding of what fish see is its surprising that so little is written in the angling books, magazines and these days online.  I guess the easier approach is to concentrate on fly dressings , patterns and presentation.   I am not suggesting that people have not discussed the issue. Over the years many a diagram has been drawn .  Skues and Halford both discussed rise forms and spoke on the subject in loose terms.  Mottram in Fly Fishing some new arts and mysteries explores the problem draws diagrams and endeavours to reach some conclusions.  But I cant recall the last time I read a magazine article discussing the ideas the book contains.  

During my reading of In the ring of the rise,  one light switched on my brain which to me which partially explains the startling effectiveness of the klinkhammer to bring up Grayling from depth.  Again many of you may have already made this link and although I guess it should be obvious its still worth stating .  Fish are limited to a very small advance vision window as the surface film acts as a mirror from below until the fly is quite near, the emerger style of fly surely will be visible for a much longer period as it approaches a fish.  To those of us that have fished a klink style fly it is astonishing the way a grayling can intercept a fly.  

Also I listened to a talk recently by a fly fishing guide who stated that he liked to cut a V in the underside of a dry fly hackle , he beleives that the balanced footprint of the fly in the surface film gives the trout better advance warning of a fly approaching its feeding window.  The indentations of the trimmed hackle acting as a triggor point,  Same principle ? yes and something I will be trying in the forthcoming season.  If you havent read the book then get hold of a copy It may just open your eyes a little, it has mine.

North Country Spiders soft hackled flies

Firstly apologies for the lack of posts of late.  I have been concentrating on fishing and havent had the time to write about it.  As you may know this year has seen me fishing the Ure, a river that has required me to try spider fishing for the first time in earnest.  Although I have fly fished Northern rivers for 40 years the rivers and becks I have fished require dry fly and the upstream nymph.  The tumbling runs that make the soft hackled flies come to life barely exist in the becks and rivers of the vale of York.

I have read and read again Stewarts Practical angler and Edmonds and Lee.  Patterns have been tied and Sunday saw my first excursion to the river.  In addition to the above books I have watched the DVDs by Ollie Edwards and John Tyzack,  My first team of three was top dropper the Partridge and orange dressed with a the tinsel rib then a waterhen bloa and on the point an Endrick spider tied with a bead head as per John Tyzack.  Now I had watched the DVDs and had seen the Escalator and the downstream and down and across methods watched the reach catch and the wet reach , using the upstream mend or not, surely fishing the spider is simple?.

My first approach in to the shallow water as I waded towards the deeper run.  As I drew back the slack line in preparation for the first cast in earnest a take!.  The tiniest of trout it must have been at least two ounces it had taken n water less than 12 inches deep.   In the first run  down the stream.  I had another three browns and 2 grayling all taking the waterhen bloa,  It is a lovely visual method watching the minicon at the end of the fly line.  It is not at all as I had once imagined a dreary cast and retrieve style.  Takes showed clearly in the tea stained water.

I shall now add to my armoury of patterns there seems to be an almost limitless number of patterns. I have supplemented my favourite book of fly dressing " River Trout flies" by John Roberts with a copy of " A guide to North Country flies" by the Rochadale cowboy himself Mike Harding and after a few suitable purchases of bits of snipe , partridge and woodcock I am suitably prepared and will give you updates on how I get on ......

The Compleat Angler , More than just a book?

I love old Angling books , I have several bookcases devoted to them with some wonderful titles by distinguished authors, but one title stands above them all though.  The compleat angler is a wonderful title its a book that is surely unique among angling titles in the style of its writing and the historical period in which it is placed


The Compleat Angler

There cant be many people , anglers and non anglers alike who haven’t heard of the title . It’s an incredible book a title that’s many 100s of years old and known about by millions, and yet I would suggest very few people have actually read the book fully. Also It’s a title that all non anglers assume every angler owns and has read. It has almost become a book symbolic to the sport and with over 500 separate editions its one that can not be considered rare.

When you read the book it becomes apparent that the author was a real angler the descriptions of the fish and their habits is accurate and in some ways differs little from the standard stuff regurgitated time and time again in modern magazines and books. You cant help thinking that if you brought old Izaac here he would soon be catching with the best of them.

I have several copies of the work, some fine and collectable some that were given as gifts and yet one alone draws me back to it time and time again. It’s a very average copy but what makes it stand out for me is the connection that exists within it to the owners in the past . This book was given as a gift back in the 1920s to a man of the cloth no less and over the following few years the owner appears to have collected contemporary newspaper cuttings and articles regarding Walton and the compleat angler.

Izaak Waltons Cottage
The book seems to have notes and marks on every page, numbers refer to lines and paragraphs almost as if the owner is cross referencing the complete works.  I have been unable to conclude what the numeric references were or their purpose but the owner has obviousley expended much effort on noting the references. I hope that one day I will understand the notes .

The inscription inside the cover demonstrates a few things to me , namely people 90 years ago wrote with a finer hand  than they can today and also that books were valued more highly then than now. 

Throughout the book there are countless notes and references and  dates on specific pages which would suggest that the book was also used as a reference by the owner to revisit the places that are described in the title. I read these notes and I feel that there is a connection not only between me the reader and the author but also with the previous owner. Now I wonder how many contemporary titles will have the same effect on those that own the book.  How many modern titles will inspire owners and readers to follow the owners footsteps after many hundred years?.

His love of the title was obviousley no secret as the card below appears to have been sent to him by a nephew , that is judging by the cards inscription.

As for Izaak himself I wonder what thought went through his head when he decided to write the book there was no format to be followed , few other titles to compare or mimic just a a wish to set down the knowledge that was there.  personally I love the style of the book, The journey that the author takes you on and the discussion between the two main characters .  Perhaps it is that journey that inspired the former owner to retrace some of his steps.

I feel that as the custodian of this title I should add to its history. So this year I shall be hunting out a couple of the places referred to and illustrated in the book and adding a new note to that effect. Sadly my writing will not be as good as the inscription and modern day newspaper cuttings in the Times regarding the state of Waltons cottage are rare now but I feel that as long as my additions are in the spirit of the previous owners the the additions will be worthwhile…