The evening Rise after the style of the Compleat Angler

After work yesterday I went to a lovely small section of the river Rye , A beautiful river made special for me by the wildlife, the fish and the sense of peace and tranquility.  After an hour or so fishing I was surprised to become aware of a couple of hikers on the bank behind me.  This is an accurate account of the following encounter with the couple of walkers related in an older style.....Why dont people use maps?

Mr and Mrs Perambulator: Sir , Pray tell me does this public footpath extend to Helmsley ( name changed but a place I was unfamiliar with )

Piscator : Good evening Sir, Forsooth I am afraid that you are mislead that footpath is not for public use. You will find the path extends only another half mile. There it stops.

Mrs Perambulator : Sir you are mistaken I know there is a public footpath beside this river and this is clearly a footpath. 

Piscator : Madam in that you are correct, however the path on which you stand is mown by the riverkeeper for the anglers convenience. The public path is on the other bank.

Mrs Perambulator: Sir no you are mistaken we will take your leave and continue.

20 minutes pass , A couple of Grayling are added to the tally….

Mr and Mrs Perambulator: ( now travelling back along the bank from wence they came)

Mrs Perambulator ( Stony face stares at Piscator)

Piscator ( smiles sweetly ) Touches the rim of his hat..

Mr Perambulator: Sir it seems you were correct about this path. It stops some distance hence.

Piscator ( trying to fish) Sir verily it does I did disclose that information to you.

Mr Perambulator: (After a pause ) :So can you tell me where we are

Piscator ( trying to fish) Sir you are currently walking east along the bank of the river Rye

Mr Perambulator: (After a pause ) Sir we are trying to reach Helmsley , Tell me how did you reach the river?

Piscator  ( trying to fish) I travelled here in my horseless carriage

Mr Perambulator; We saw such a device stationary at the old bridge but from wence did you come

Piscator ( trying to fish and losing patience) I journeyed from ancient York

Mr Perambulator: ( now sounding desperate ) But along which route and road ? I fear Sir that you are being less than helpful

Piscator ; ( having been distracted and just missed a rise now irritated) I journeyed along the route I always use, the roads are small and unmarked, merely farm roads the final track to the bridge is a private road across an estate . I always venture along it with windows shut as savage dogs roam freely and the gamekeeper has an itchy trigger finger. I suggest Sir that you venture back along the road you journeyed from. Or cross the bridge to the path on the far bank.

At this point there was added a sound to the babbling of the stream it could have been the harsh screech of a tawny owl from along the bank , but I fear it was the demanding calls of Mrs Perambulator.

Mr Perambulator ( after longer pause and through clenched teeth ) Sir you are most unhelpful we are visitors to these parts and we find your manner wanting.

Piscator ; Sir I have helped to the best of my knowledge of these parts , Such knowledge you chose to not partake of.

Mr Perambulator : Your knowledge is sadly lacking: We will be forced to take the track along which your horseless carriage journeyed:

Piscator : Sir as for Knowledge I at least know where I am and how to travel to and from this point. I also know that the evening rise is waiting , I bid you safe journey. But would suggest that you let Mrs Perambulator lead the way along yonder track. I was not jesting about the dogs.

There followed a longish silence I was dearly tempted to turn and look upon the countenance of Mr perambulator but feared my own countenance could be less than beneficial.  This silence was followed by the sound of fading footfall .

The evening was otherwise very beneficial to my health ,  Although still very high the river was splendid and  I managed to fool half a dozen fish..  I do hope that they got home safely....

Back in the river at last ...

Today was the first time for three weeks I have been able to go fishing.  Rain, high rivers and a foot that has been somewhat burnt..have kept me away from the rivers for what seems an eternity . Today was a day to get stood in a river and wave a stick.  A day to relish being out and enjoy some strangely seasonal sunshine. Although it was pretty breezy it hasnt rained for at least a couple of days.  But to be honest just been able to get some boots on again and chase some rising fish was all the medicine I needed. Jewels like the fish below cure damn near anything.

The Dove has been a saviour for me this season recovering quickly after rain and fishing well every time I visit it a truly  lovely river,  today there was very little hatching but the breeze and surrounding fields inspired me to start with a daddy long legs pattern , it was an inspired choice and successful from the start.  This little run yielded up two fish.

The fish are not large this is fishing in lilliput land,  A 12" Trout is a good one and the grayling are perhaps a little larger.  The fish are all wild and dont give themselves up .  They will take freely but do not tolerate heavy footfalls or a splashy cast.

After years of flirting with the short at 7ft and even ultra short 6ft and even a 5ft , I have decided that 7ft 6" is the shortest rod I ever need to employ,  It is for me the perfect combination of being short enough to get under just about anything whilst being just long enough to be able to combat drag and have some use in holding line of the water.  Its been a long haul getting there and many rods have come and gone but I think I am happy now.  

The Grayling were up for playing today I think they are truly the most beautiful of fish they were certainly in the mood for feeding they to had a taste for the daddies,  I ended the day with six of these all perfect .

 The day has been a real pleasure, no big fish no great challenges probably 20 fish some small and some really small but all welcome.  Furthermore I felt I earned every one and paid them due respect by returning them safely.

Full circle well nearly full circle.

I have been laid up for the last couple of weeks following an accident in the kitchen I am now nursing a badly burnt foot. The rivers will have to wait a little while for me. This has meant I have been pretty much confined to the house. So inspiration for the blog has been somewhat lacking. Work has still been there for me to do during the day thanks to the modern wonders on the interweb. But on an evening I have been taking the opportunity to tidy up my gear and tie a few flies. Raking through the rods I never use and opening boxes of rusty flies from years ago it made me think.













The River Rye... Soon


Its strange how things often go full circle, all sorts of things and its the same with fishing, When I started fly fishing in the early 70s rods had just taken the leap from split cane to fibreglass a material with a moderate price and a slow action that opened up fly fishing to many. I know I couldnt afford a decent cane rod back then but the ABU glass rod got me on the river and fishing, since I have watched as rods moved through the various stages of carbon and boron and now sintrix and the like. Although the perpetual appeal that cane has for some has endured. Things have not ceased to change and not always for the best, Personally I like the slower end of carbon rods I have tried faster stuff but its not for me, I always hankered after a loomis streamdance , I admit the name and the hype had me, when I got one the reality of the rod was a anti climax it was to fast for me I think it wanted to be shooting line whilst I was still composing the back cast. It has now moved on to someone able to keep up with it. I do hope I have now negotiated the minefield of tackle temptation and the rods I have now for me are perfect but I suspect at some point temptation will overcome me.









River Rye waiting


Last year I had a Bruce and Walker 9ft Riverfly rebuilt , it had a brand new handle and reel fitting as I wore the old handle out, I bought the rod new about 20 years ago its a 9ft for a 3 to 6 line rating, and yes that is what it says on the blank. Its definitely a nice slow all through action but will put a long line out, I have used a 3, 4 and 5 rating on it and it handles them all pretty well and is just about perfect for a 4 or 5wt. Anyway last year I was using it for a bit of spider fishing on the Ure when another much younger angler approached me and asked me about the rod ( which looked brand new) I invited him to have a cast with it, he loved it and started to tell me all about how rods like the vision cult had been such a huge development in river rods he wanted to know how much it cost and what model it was as he wasnt familiar with B&W stuff. I informed him that the rod was probably only a few years younger than him. To say he was surprised was an understatement. He also admitted that he was influenced by the apparent newness. But really did like the action. Then this year I met up with someone fishing who was using a new Glass rod , I had a little try of it but must admit whilst it reminded me of the ABU farflyte from years ago it didnt inspire me to rush out and buy one.


So conclusions well i reckon in terms of rod development I reckon It was right for me about 10 or 12 years ago at that time rods and my casting were just about in sync, I have several from that era and they are my favourites. Now I think manufacturers having pursued rods for stillwaters and casting distance and then have made some genuine fishing rods are once again hoping that anglers will all rush out and buy the latest slow action retro tool , Well what they didnt reckon on was that this tight fisted Yorkshireman was happy to wait for the circle to turn...

Relativity and memories

My conversation with the farmer was done in the traditional style , he leant on his shepherds cruck and I leant on my wading staff.  Pleasantries exchanged we went through the price of lamb, his opinions of the EU and my progress in the river. The conversation eventually went on to all things earthly. His knowledge of the river was of course extensive but it came about not from books and an angling perspective but through his and past generations interactions with all the land.  His knowledge was deep and extended to areas that surprised me but it was an interest where the river was a part of the whole, It was viewed as something that intertwined with the meadows, that occasionally flooded them and occasionally damn near disappeared below them but always was at one with them.  In a moment of distraction he told me of the hunting bridge that once stood and how he laid on it and gazed as a child at the fish that, if his memory was accurate far outweighed todays population.  

He talked of the otters that are now so common and where the badgers crossed the river.  We talked of Brown trout and Grayling and how the river had changed .  He told me of the water boards "improvements" half a century ago that raped the river beds and destroyed the banks, something that astonished me as I had considered that this river alone among the ones I fish must surely have remained untouched in all the centuries since the vikings came ashore and gave names to all the local rivers and villages .  I guess it just gives further proof that left alone nature can do pretty well on its own.

My evening fishing was perfection, kingfishers buzzed me and swifts screeched. Columns of mayfly spun their magic. Casts were straight and fish rose.  The evening blessed me with 8 or 9 fish all various sizes of perfection.  Cocooned between the deep banks and wrapped in the clear water for just a short time, like the river. I became a part of the whole.

The Ure, Aphids and a lucky break....

As I wrote last time I have found at this time of year with all the fly life on the wing that it becomes confusing as to what the fish are switched on to.  Well the other evening was exactly like that .  I went to the Ure for an evening ,  the river looked fine, a little on the low side but running clear and clean and there was plenty hatching I always have a wander along the banks to check out what is on the wing and just get a feel for the river and to try and see where the fish are rising .  

The fish were rising, not in huge numbers but when you stood and studied a length of river you started to see rising fish ,  the fish seemed to be in the faster smooth glides the faster riffles seemed to have little surface activity.   but they looked just right for the spider approach and I would give the method a try for a while.  A close examination of a few back eddies revealed little fly debris there was this mayfly and a few olives but little else.

On the wing were a few Mayfly some Yellow mays lots of olives and even the odd sedge , there was also clouds of small stuff midges and the like.

So I started large and floated a mayfly dun over a group of rising fish the lack of response generated a switch to a yellow may , followed by an Olive then progressively smaller through CDC F Fly,  IOBO humpy and small JT Olive .. All met with a singular lack of interest ,  So I enrolled the Americans to help, the Adams is a pattern I have always liked and have found in small sizes 18 and 20 is a superb general imitator of just about everything .  It also a fly which even in small sizes is very visible. This brought my first success of the evening actually the nice trout at the top .

My early success with the Adams probably ended up costing me as I persevered to long and should have realised that fish was just a lucky break.  During the next hour I switched to fishing spiders mainly because I like the method and have not used it much this season,  There are a couple of stretches of the river that I love using the spiders both across and upstream.  Tonight I quickly realised this was not the the approach.  As I changed back to the dries I had to use my reading specs which I have hung round my neck putting them on I was aware of a big speck on them as I examined the speck it turned out to be a green fly, an aphid.   The first I had seen.  Smiling realisation dawned and a switch to a small greenfly imitation in an 18, third cast and a fish.  The next hour or two resulted in about 6 or 7 more ...  Some small wildies up to about 8 oz and a few larger fish like the one above.

I wonder how long I would have persevered with the Adams had I not seen that lone Green fly.  I saw no evidence of any more during the whole evening I reckon they were just coming from the bankside trees...
We all need a lucky break once in a while....

Mayfly Monday

Not one to sit and watch TV,  I decided the only flotilla I wanted to see was a procession of mayflies down a meandering stream.  So with a flask and a pack of butties I left before lunch with the intention of returning when I couldnt see the water any more.  I had three different river beats in mind ,  midday, afternoon and evening.

I prepared myself for a strenuous afternoon and evening.  For those not familiar with the types of stream I fish .  They are hard work, if you arent clambering up steep banks you are sliding on your arse back down one and hoping the pool you are sliding into isnt deeper than you think.   You are either casting bent double or trying some ridiculous improvised weird spey cast.  It always makes me laugh when I read on forums about will the rod cast a full line.  A perfect rod for me is one that will work with virtually no fly line.  I reckon I fished 8 hours yesterday and not once fished more than a third of the line.

The rivers and streams are now in fine form the higher up ones still have a healthy flow and the valley bottom rivers are running full but have now dropped clear.  The recent cold and wet weather seemed to have stopped everything dead in its tracks and now everything seems to be hatching in profusion and trying to out do the mayfly, which in itself is developing into a good hatch with large numbers of cripples and spent flies drifting into the backwaters.

Yesterday there was a ridiculous amount of hatching insects in fact I think it even took the fish by surprise. There was everything on the wing I even saw a cloud of caenis and a few sedges in amongst the clouds of olives and columns of mayfly. There were fish rising everywhere.   One fish came from between the posts and the bank in the pic above , an interesting cast...

I laid on the bank for a while studying one rising fish I watched fascinated as mayfly after mayfly passed above it and it refused every one yet small olives were taken with enthusiasm.  Other fish were obviously taking the mayflies. Whilst laid I became aware of a roe deer she didnt seem to alarmed by my being there  and it was nice to know I was making minimal inpact by being there.

Interestingly virtually all the fish I took in the evening on mayfly were recently stocked fish.  The wildies seemed to be sticking with the other small stuff. Earlier in the day I even took a few out of season Grayling . The river I fished mid day is never stocked and the fish shown here are from there.  I caught decent trout in the evening fish of two pounds plus. They were full finned and looked well. But they somehow lack something its like the difference between a fine tiny original oil painting and a damn great glossy print in a nice gilt frame .   It looks the same but we know it isnt.  and certainly for me its value is diminished.  

It was a cracking day , not huge numbers of fish but the fish came regularly enough.  I guess they were as unsure of what to rise to as I was unsure of what fly to try.  But certainly on days like this its great to see the river in such robust health.  Also Its good to see Grayling numbers seemingly on the rise again.   

The return of the evening rise…

A strange orange disc has appeared in the sky over the last few days . I had almost forgotten its existence. The ever present clouds, cold winds and high waters had become a permanent fixture spreading a gloomy and depressing mood for fly fishermen everywhere. Yesterday the temperature was high the rivers were fining down and I was sure flies would be hatching. I managed to steal away from work bang on time and headed for a favourite beck that is well away from the valley bottom rivers which are still recovering.

I have visited this beck a lot this season as its been just about the only one fishable. Now it was not only fishable it was quite simply wonderful. I could get all poetic when I think about the sparkling water and the columns of spinners dancing in the evening sunshine, but as I can`t write poetry I will simply say that there was loads of fly and there were rising fish, lots of them. Those beautiful swirls, boils and dimples that signal that everything is right with the world again. Slipping down into the water hidden beneath the deep banks and tree canopies a delicate three weight carbon wand in my hand, I am once again in my chosen element. With clear waters, and the gentle warmth of a sinking sun all the frustration and denied opportunities of the previous two months are erased from my memory with just one well placed fly and the swirl of a fish.

So summer is here the Mayfly arrive anytime . The evenings are long and the rivers are running fresh and clean , I can`t understand why I have been so depressed . Life is good .

The mundane facts were fished two and a half hours , caught 8 fish and scared a few more the fish coming to a size 16 natural stripped quill cdc emerger with a small  thorax, but that does not in any way describe what the evening meant…