River Ure and more lessons..

Had a short session on the Ure late afternoon.   Unusually for me didnt fish a dry once.   For two reasons . Firstly nowt was rising and secondly as I had recently invested in a days coaching on nymphing techniques with Stuart Minnekin which was the first proper fishing instruction this old goat has ever had. Furthermore I have to say I enjoyed it immensely .  I decided that I didnt need to try the dry there was another way....

I have always known that my preoccupation with fishing dries was costing me fish but the days coaching changed my mind on one thing , that nymph fishing is more effective and a damn sight more entertaining than I had previously imagined .   Today I caught 7 or 8 brownies all on the upstream nymph . In water that I must confess would have been fished rather badly by me before .  Perhaps I fished it badly today but three and a half hours fishing yielded a decent result when the river was low , clear and with virtually no surface activity. Previously, I could chuck a nymph about and yes I even caught fish on them at times but the whole process didnt have a huge degree of commitment.  Something which is now rectified. 

The day also confirmed that my casting needs a bit of smartening up.   So thats the next thing thats going to get some attention .  

I find my self in the position these days of having access to as much good fishing as I could reasonably ever want .  I have cupboards full of gear ,  So have decided somewhat late in life its time I really go to grip with how to make the most of it all. 

I saw only a couple of rising fish in four hours fishing . and those were only small fish splashing in the shallows.  

Wild fish ,,,,,,

My new playground on foston beck is a source of constant interest and like any new toy I am exploring it, checking out its potential and exploring the stretch of river which runs to several miles with several really distinct types of water..  So far I have mainly found the larger stock fish and the very small wild fish.  I decided to explore and see if I could find areas holding decent sized wild fish.  So heading of down areas which looked like having decent fish holding potential , I explored the best result of the day was below , this lovely wild fish was the best of half a dozen I found.  Just goes to show I havent been looking in the right places...

Its a lovely pretty stream with stunningly clear water and fish that have built in radar.  Especially the wildies seem to be able to see through thick hedges.

Fish spotting at distance is the name of the game the clarity is such that you have a challenge to see them before they see you...

lessons written in chalk...

The last few days have seen a change in the weather the cold northerly winds have eased and swung around more from the south.  The weekend offered me the chance to pay another visit to Foston beck , just about the most northerly chalk stream in the country and somewhere completely new to me this season . Both as a location and as a type of stream to fish.  The river looked pristine today although quite low.  Our north east corner of England has had a very dry winter and the ground water levels are low.  The constant SW weather stream which brought chaos and flooding to much of the UK meant this little corner has ended up with the opposite problem of  little rain.

On arrival  I was pleased to see large numbers of hawthorn flies and good numbers of Olives . Hopefully the fish would be looking up at them, as it was the first rising fish I saw ended up first cast in the net ,  This whilst starting the day on a high probably reduced my overall catch by a good number as the next hour saw a lot of fish swirling at the fly or even just showing no interest at all.  After a while this ageing brain creaked into life  and helped by the extraordinary clarity of the river I could study the trouts reaction and clearly the fish were being spooked by my usual leader setup .  A drop down in size on the tippet and at the same time an extra couple of foot combined with careful degreasing brought better results. Although been able to see a trout lift from the stream bed a metre down and head towards the fly resulted in too many flies been snatched away from the fish.  

Foston Beck

All the fish taken today were taken on a hawthorn pattern as although there was Olives and gnats and even the odd sedge the hawthorns were the fly that was moving the fish. I like to tie my hawthorns on a size 16 emerger hook with a built up body of thread behind the legs and hackles . I think this encourages the fly to sit in the surface film rather than to float on it.  perhaps only a small difference to many patterns you see but I have a lot of faith in tying the fly like this .  Also the size I often see patterns quoted as using sizes 14 and even 12 . The hawthorns must be a hell of a lot bigger in other parts of the country but around here I find a size 16 is about right. It certainly worked today.  Apologies for my scruffy tying . 

Exact counting isnt really something i do but I ended the day with between 12 and 15 fish. The best fish would have been just over 2 lb.  have to confess I put down one that was much bigger and lost a good fish in the weed beds .  But otherwise a brilliant day and a real lesson too. Being able to watch the trouts reaction with such clarity is a real change and so different to the spate streams I have fished for the last 40 years .

A glimpse of summer.

Spring fishing days are usually days charged with mixed fortunes and blessings.   The anticipation born out of long cold winter nights so rarely is fulfilled . Instead those cold rivers and colder winds all to frequently produce a day that just teases our expectations of rising fish and hatching upwings .  Friday was my birthday a day that as well as marking another year older also is a reminder that April is passing and that May that wonderful month of balmy days and warm evenings will soon be here.  

In May the rivers whilst still running cool will be moving with rising fish . Insects will be hatching and the fish will start to remember which way to look.  Friday was a day when for a brief moment the river hinted at those days. One corner of the river protected from the cold wind, for just a brief moment shed its winter coat and came out to play.   I sat on the bank top and watched the trout in the shallows ,   Rising fish were there. One in particular took my eye a good fish more than a pound maybe a pound and a half and from my vantage point clearly a wild fish.  It has found itself a good position below an overhanging tree.  Protected from view and from the anglers cast from below and from upstream.   I will be planning its downfall this summer now I have marked its position.

 Now looking back what I am left with is a bunch of memories , mental snapshots of that spring day laid out in my mind comic strip style like a story board rehearsal for the main feature in May and June.  A kingfisher heading of downstream  the trace of colour leaving an image in your eyes like headlights at night that leave a trace even when they have passed..  The swallows nests under the bridge thinking how soon they will be full again and that perfect image of that big brown trout turning in the clear water heavy shouldered and dark spotted holding station near its shelter and the colours of a perfect tiny brown trout that in the hand seems so vivid yet in the stream so perfectly camouflaged .  Yes its nearly here....

April sunshine

I stole a few hours on Sunday afternoon.   It was one of those days that when looked at through the windows it looks like summer is here ,  but when you step outside you realise that the wind is cold enough to cut you in two. But  It was a beautiful day in a chilly sort of way.  Also the wind that was blowing down the valley was of course always in your face  making casting interesting.

I arrived and put on all available clothing and ventured forth ,  the wind was whipping up a fair wave on the longer pools and spotting rising fish wasnt going to be easy . Assuming of course that any would be looking up.  Anyway I decided that as I hadnt fished this stretch of water for 20 years I decided that a walk along the bank would be a good refresher as well as warming me up. 

The countryside is just starting to really get going now, all the spring flowers are in full bloom.  Trees are all coming into leaf and wildlife seems to be waking up everywhere.

After wandering around for an hour or two with just a couple of fish to show which were gleaned with a nymph from various runs.  I headed back to my car for a drink and the possibility of heading of downstream.

This long pool was the view from the car.  Whilst I was stood watching I thought I saw a solitary rise.  Very tight to the bank , but it could have been a wave hitting bankside vegetation .   I continued to study the area and as the wind rose in strength again there seemed to be another splash tight against the bank.  The area was the small patch of water around the tiny island of debris and leaves on the inside of the bend in the picture above.  At first I dismissed the possibility of rising fish as when the wind dropped for a minute or two there was nothing to see in the calmer water.  But then as the wind picked up I was teased with the same possibility.  Eventually I got in and worked my way upstream to where the shadow on the river is on the opposite bank in the photo. When I was there I realised that the when the wind did pick up it was blowing stonefly of the little island and the fish were mopping them up .   I ended up with four the larger fish with the outsize paddle tail which looked like an overwintered stocky  and several smaller wildies .

By the time  I had caught them four I had put down all further activity so I had a wade upstream to the little exposed bank of debris.  It was as can be seen below, as well as many stoneflies there were a few olives .   How easily  I could have missed this little pocket of hatching bugs. They were the only hatching flies I saw on the day .  It just gos to show how isolated these small pockets of activity can be. 

Clear as Gin and twice the price...

The title is an old analogy but has more than a thread of truth to it.   I have recently joined a club which has water on one of the east Yorkshire chalk streams .  I am sure that the stream like so many  is a shadow of its former self and that predation by otters and the black plague has taken its toll.  This together with water abstraction and climate change has changed a once pristine trout filled stream beyond redemption but.......

 For me it is the realisation of a long held fascination.  I have fly fished for nearly 40 years and have fished a chalk stream on only a tiny number of occasions.  Since I first picked up a fly rod the chalk streams have been hailed as the ultimate and so the opportunity to have a rod on such a  stream was to much to resist. So the opportunity was seized.

Today a dull dank day in early April was my first day on the bank.  Logic told me that I should wait till the month end or even May the hawthorns would be about then and the fish would be looking up.  But like a kid with a shiny present on their birthday I didnt want to hear wait till the summer to open it I wanted it now.  So with an optimistic view of the weather I took to the bank.  Tying  a size 18 cdc f fly to the tippet at the car I was making a statement it was a fish on the dry or no bloody fish at all.

Foston

Today there was a cool breeze in fact I would go as far as saying that even on a stifling august afternoon there is always a cool breeze on the wolds anyone who has fished there will testify. As I walked upstream the first fish I saw was darting upstream spreading panic as it went.  Note to myself.  The water is clear dont let the buggers see you..

After half an hour or so of taking in the scenery  and the signs of summer including the mallards nest  and looking at the circling buzzards and bands of goldfinches I was relaxed and then I saw them . Those distinctive expanding rings of rising fish not just one but a few under an overhanging tree and near to a small inlet they were small but they were rising.  I would like to say the the first cast was a brilliantly executed cast that landed perfectly and was instantly taken because of my perfect presentation .  The truth however is that my first cast hooked a cattle fence on the back cast and ended up having to change the tippet and the fly.  Whilst I was doing that I became aware of another nearer fish rising steadily.

The cast that followed was decent the fly drifted drag free for long enough to deceive the trout that with the enthusiasm of youth fell to my deception.

After that fish a couple more enthusiastic small wild trout followed suit and then optimistic nymphs deceived a couple of stockies in the deeper pools but that little small wildy was the days highlight.   The summer is looking brighter already,,,

First trout of the season

After a seemingly endless winter today was my first opportunity to get to my local beck.  The day was cold the beck was running a little high and well coloured from recent rain but I was determined that the season was starting today.   I would have liked to have started the season with a fish caught on the dry but although a few olives were hatching not one rising fish was seen.   I took to searching the dubs and eddies with a small red bead head PTN.   After 30 minutes prospecting likely lies that first stabbing take started my season.  The fish was small and not the most pristine fish I have ever caught but if ever a fish was welcome then this was it….

I had a couple more but after an hour and a half fishing I decided to call it a day.  I mean to make the most of the summer with lots of new fishing to explore I am hoping it will be a good one..