Devon School of Fly Fishing Team blog

We’re on the final stages of the count down to the start of the trout season in Devon. One more week and I’ll be hitting the water and trying my luck. The salmon season started March 1st and it was good to hear of a fresh fish being caught down the bottom of the Taw.

The more settled weather has meant fly fishers are getting ready for the season and are looking for some casting tips to get their flies just a little further or to get them to land a little more gently and with no drag.

I met with Chris on Friday who wanted to add some distance and learn to spey cast. We had a 1/2 day to do this and we started with the basic overhead cast and then worked up to the double haul from there. If the basics are right (which they were!) then it is simply a case of adding elements to this. As it was a full on casting session I made sure there were plenty of breaks and a chance for us to peak an eye at the river. It is looking really, really sweet. I am off today to try and trim a few more branches to make it look even better still!

Once Chris had mastered the rhythm of the double haul it all slotted into place and after a quick break we headed to the casting pond for some single handed spey work. We looked at the basic roll cast and from there introduced the Forward Spey and worked on a consistant anchor placement. Chris picked this up really quickly and from there went naturally into the Single Spey. We also worked on the Circle Spey too which is a really useful addition.

He is back in a few weeks time and I reckon he will have mastered what we covered and we’ll add the Snake Roll and Double Spey too.

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March 1st marks the start of salmon fishing on the river Taw. I plan to have a couple of casts and to also prune a few branches as well. Mo gave me a hand last week on one of my favourite trout beats and we were really pleased with the progress. There were a few branches that had more than their fair share of flies in them and so the path to a likely looking spot is now a little clearer. I am one who believes in making it a little easier but not too easy!

I met with Andy on Saturday for some fly casting tuition. We covered plenty and he was throwing a really, really nice line by the time we had finished. As he is a reservoir angler he was looking to add a few yards to his cast which he was doing with ease. The fish better watch out!

The weather has started fine here this morning and my hope is that we have some settled weather, it has been a long winter and I can’t wait to be out on the river again.

I got a nice message from Kevin who I had taught last week…he was slammed by a fish first cast he made with a fly on and I am not sure who was more surprised!

Kevin

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I don’t know if you are the same but, for me, getting ready for a fishing trip works in 2 stages. I like to know I have everything that I am going to need and then I get excited in the last few days before I go and then pack everything at the last minute and spend the trip to the airport worrying I haven’t got everything I need or perhaps, if I do, is it enough?

I am pretty sure I have everything and am generally pretty well prepared. I have decided I don’t need too many clothes which means I have more room for gear…just in case!

The really funny thing is flies. This is especially the case with bonefish. I have hundreds that I will be taking but all I actually use is 6 or so that sit in my shirt pocket along with some nippers and spare tippet but its a good feeling to have the others with you just in case , right?

I was told that a particular pattern is working really well on permit right now but you can’t buy it in the UK at all. I’ve looked and it isn’t available but you can bet I’d have had a dozen of them just to be on the safe side. I wonder if the fish know?

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It is that time of the year. I’m not a bah humbug sort of person and certainly get in the Christmas spirit but sometimes it takes just a little bit longer for me to get there.  I don’t get what all the fuss is about when it comes to Christmas shopping. As I see it you either do it in Feb which is a no no in my case as when it comes to December I will have forgotten where I had hidden them so as a result it is a last minute seat of the pants affair. I assume this is how all men shop as it leaves little time for dithering about what to buy as if you have done this properly then you have no time to go home and think about what you should have bought. As I see it Christmas shopping should take no more than 1 hour and should include a coffee stop of some sort.

I’m told I am a nightmare to buy for but as long as it is fly fishing related it will be a good choice. There are some really good DVD’s around this year and my fingers are crossed that they might feature. There is nothing better than sitting down with a mince pie  (told you I was getting in the spirit of things) and watching some fishing.

I have already treated myself to a little present and bought a new Hydros fly rod. It is a pretty sweet piece of kit and I am looking to try and catch a grayling or two with it soon.

I was talking to Alan today and we both admitted that we really like sorting out flies and getting them organised for the coming season or sometimes even just a fishing trip. After all of the unfishable weather we have had I can’t say how many flies I have tied but it is a lot. I have thought about and refined a few things and churned out the ever faithfuls. There is something for everyone in there and I hope the fish feel the same. This means the fly boxes are pretty well replenished already and are primed, ready for action. I am just about to commence on some bonefish patterns.

The weather has settled now but I was down casting where I work and the river was still carrying some colour but the height is dropping right out. A few pics of the “office” below.

Winter beard watch- We seem to have bonded and got used to living together. Not sure this will be a long term relationship though.

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I quite like surprises, the nice kind that is. We had one about a month or so ago when my fishing buddy Ray (The Dude) and his long time girlfriend Christina came to stay. Ray and I tried bassing but we both knew in our heart of hearts that the howling wind we had at home was going to be amplified when we got to the coast. It was indeed the case and we made a few casts, pulled a few flies but decided 60mph winds were just a bit much.

I had told Ray about the excellent steak sandwiches that The Hotel had made me during the season were something he should try along with a cup of their coffee. Steak sandwiches weren’t strictly on the menu it was a peri peri version (also excellent) that you would find but poking my head in the kitchen and asking head chef Al nicely has often worked. It did and we both enjoyed them. The chips were pretty good too and it is nice to see that they are not the oven variety.

So we enjoyed those and headed back where the guys told us that they were getting married in a couple of weeks time and wondered if we would be the witnesses. We were so pleased and also touched and there were a couple of thoughts that immediately leapt into my mind. Firstly it would mean that I would need to dress up and I don’t really do smart these days and those last remnants of my smart wardrobe would be more fitting for a Dynasty/ Miami Vice themed party but secondly and more importantly we needed to celebrate this momentous occassion with some fishing. We quickly arranged a date and before we knew we were meeting to wet a line.

As ever I was early and was already fishing when Ray pulled up. “Fish biting?”  The answer was a resounding yes. We were fishing on a chalkstream and the lack of water meant the fish were bunched. A buddy and I had hit one pod and thought it best that we left them after taking what felt just about the right side of being greedy.

The fishing continued on a similar vein throughout the day and a light hatch at lunch gave me a chance to throw on some 24’s that I had tied up that even caught a few fish. We had decided to fish for as long as possible so it meant that we had barbecued burgers for lunch and a tailgate chinese for dinner. I called the Chinese through and picked it up. I have passed any sort of worry of people seeing me wander down a high street in waders ( a favourite pastime of Ray and I) and this was no exception as I couldn’t get parked anywhere near the Take Away. I was really impressed though when I walked into a supermarket and asked for some paper plates and the girl serving pointed me to where they might be without even blinking. We don’t usually go for plates but I though as there were 3 of us and it were a special occassion that we should at least try and do things properly. I think part of this is that I am still shamed by Champo who pulled out a stove and cooked vension steaks at exactly the same spot when we fished a year ago. I’ll always remember that for the food but also as we fished the biggest BWO hatch either of us had ever seen.

We had the chinese lined up on the tailgate of my pickup and it was a vaguely civilised free for all. We talked about the day and fishing in general. The light was going and any warmth had gone. The guys thought about quitting but it was 2 days before Ray got married and I thought it might be cool for him to catch one last fish as a single man. It was a nice landmark. I even bought some new clothes for the wedding.

I was up in Bristol a week or so ago for my fix of sushi. We popped into the Asda ( it might even be called WalMart). It is worth a visit for the price of the petrol but also that you have to go through a drive through to pay. We don’t have one of these in Devon and I still haven’t figured out if it is good idea or not, or what the thinking behind it is but it is amusing to use anyway and I wonder if it is a little touch of America.

The reason I mention this is that when we were in the store I looked at the magazine section there which was pretty extensive and had just about base covered.This included fishing but there wasn’t any fly fishing mags there. Now I know we don’t have many but I thought there might be a chance of one but sadly not. Fly fishing is the centre of my world and a lot of my friends but I guess it just doesn’t register in the minds of Asda. I have been keeping an eye out recently to see if this is the case in other shops too and thankfully there are the odd one poking out but not the “full house” of all 4. I’m hoping that a lot of them are ordered on subsciption and that is the reason. I haven’t paid much attention to this sort of thing in the past and guess it has always been the way but it did strike a chord with me. I wonder what circulation numbers are like these days?…My hope is that they are on the up….

Hopefully fishing with pals on Tues…I’ve been tying like a madman!

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I have been busy tying flies for next season already. It has been a case of retying proved patterns or just tweaking a few just in the interest of research but also that the theory behind them might work. I tie flies that I want to be functional, catch fish and are something I am not going to worry about if they get lost in a tree. I so admire the work of the great fly tyers but it would break my heart to see one of their creations lost, whereas mine I don’t give a second thought to if they go. I always say to guests I am guiding that I would much prefer they lost a fly going for a tough cast rather than playing safe. We all know the big boy, or girl for that matter, will be in the hardest to reach spot!

I don’t think anything would get between Paul and his fishing and this was certainly the case when I met up with him the other day. I picked him up from his house and as we were on our way to the A303 we, as usual, swapped fishy stories and he happened to mention that he had taken a nasty fall during the trout season and his shoulder was playing him up a bit. I asked him if he were OK and he had fished Kennick a week before and it hadn’t been too bad.

We got to our venue, set up and headed down to the river where I realised I was standing the wrong side of Paul as he was casting left handed. Now, I know which hand Paul casts with as I had taught him as a beginner and I could only stand back in admiration and watch him cast his fly out to a spot we thought might hold a grayling.

It turned out that the shoulder was more sore than he had let on and so he had spent the last week teaching himself to cast left handed. You know what? It worked and really well at that. He was soon into the fish and I don’t think you would have known the fact that left hand wasn’t his dominant one.

Paul thinks about his fishing agreat deal and is like a sponge. After a couple of casts I asked him to lift his rod as the flies drifted over a likely spot. He was straight on to the plan and said ” Ahh, so you want me to induce them”  I can’t remember if it was the case or not but I think it did catch a fish on the first attempt. As soon as Paul had seen it happen he was on to it straight away as he picked off a pod of grayling.

We even had a surpise visitor…

All in all it was a great day and I have massive respect for Paul and I hope the shoulder is sorted soon!

Taw Salmon

I love being a fly fishing guide on my beloved Taw but it is always good to spread your wings from time to time and seek out some new and exciting fishing.Not only for yourself but also for your guests, so that you can always offer them a new fly fishing adventure. I call the trips I make fact finding missions just to make sure everything is as I hope it will be if I take my guests there!

I was lucky enough to have Alan and Pam back with me for 3 days of guided fishing and they were keen to take another look at some chalkstream fishing . We had met up in June to do something similar and I decided to show them some other venues. I think they worked out pretty well and we were lucky enough to hit some really, really good fishing. There were even a few Mayfly making a late appearance that the fish took advantage of along with some Blue Winged Olives and more Caddis than you could shake a stick at. With low water levels we were able to bring fish up to have a look at dries and depending on tempratures and the amount of bugs hatching we varied sizes of flies from 24 up to 12.

The thing I really like about guiding on the chalkstreams is that you can spot the fish and we had great fun stalking our targeting fish and landing a fly in just the right spot to see if we got the desired response. Pam is an amazing spotter of fish and it was great seeing her spot a pod of grayling and expertly pick them off one by one!

We had a great 3 days with lots of laughs (usually at my expense!) and caught a few fish along the way. Alan has a great target in that he likes to try and learn something new each day he is on the water and I think we managed to make that happen.

We have had plenty of visitors of late and we are always touched when we recieve a mail back from guests telling us that they have had a good time with us. It is things like this that spur us on even more to provide the best fly fishing experience we can . On that front keep an eye out for what we have planned for the 2010 season as we have some really exciting things already arranged, but never wanting to rest on our laurels we are just tying up the last few extra things to ensure you have great, new and interesting options available to you for fly fishing tuition and guiding in Devon. We will unveil everything in due course but needless to say we are hugely excited!

A few comments from our guests

Pete,
wanted to say thank you for the time that you spent with us on Tuesday and for your

continued help thru the rest of this week. Whilst we tried our best to prize a salmon

out of the Taw without any success, I know that everyone had a cracking time.

Thanks again for everything.
All the best
Mike

Pete
A note to thank you for Sunday. I had an excellent day and look forward to
our next meeting.
Nick

Pete,

Just to thank you again for all you did for me and Roger in introducing us to both the Taw and to night fishing for sea trout.
You could not have been more helpful, informative or enthusiastic and it was all most enjoyable and greatly appreciated.

Very best wishes,

Guy

As a fly fishing guide the most important thing for me is that my guests have a great day and that they learn something along the way. Even if it is the tiniest thing it might just be something that helps get a great drag-free drift over a fish and is the thing that makes the fish decide to take. I also feel very strongly that I rarely touch my guest’s rod and if I do it might only be to illustrate a point and you can be sure it won’t be cast into the fishing area! I remember I showed Pam a cast when we were on The Test and a fish took. I was mortified and had the fish in and released before it even knew it was hooked!

Anyway, the other thing I try and be as honest as possible with is size of trout. As a guide it is easy to say the fish is bigger than it actually is but what’s the point? It is much better to be realistic and if it were a 12 incher and I said it were a 14 incher it is not doing the 12 incher the justice it deserves and lets face it, for our rivers a 12 incher is still a great fish.

Our guests have been catching a few nice fish of late. Ian has been a great supporter of our fly fishing school and this time he came back with his fishing buddy Phil. I had seen signs of salmon on one of the beats a few days before with Faure and so decided to have a quick look for them. The guys were doing a great job and throwing their flies expertly into position and it felt a really fishy morning! Phil had a grilse follow the fly right the way in and despite me quickly changing patterns this didn’t bring him out again but he later had a sea trout have a go at the fly. Ian fired off a cast at an 8lb salmon we saw too but it wasn’t to be. We decided to hit the trout as it felt as though the barometric pressure had dropped and it worked out a good plan. Below is a really nice fish Ian caught.

As you can see this was a fine fish, Ian and Phil were excellent anglers and no doubt will be terrorising trout in Devon again next year.

Sadly I didn’t get some photos of Guy and Roger who came down from Hertfordshire to fish with us. They were great and the saying I will remember from Guy was ” I am only 73″ it was agreat attitude and despite them both fishing some pretty nice chalkstreams and doing really well they wanted to leave their comfort zone and try something different so we went trouting and even went out for some sea trout. They were great company and really good fishermen!

I have just got in from a great day with Richard who is another great supporter of our school and has visited many times this year from Hampshire. He has just moved home and as soon as the dust settled he shot off down to us for a spot of fly fishing!

He had fished solo on Saturday and done really well catching plenty of trout and even skated a caddis pattern down stream and got bust by a great big sea trout. Today I wanted to show him some new water so headed up to the Top of Beat 5 and picked up a few fish there and then before we had lunch we headed to Beat 2 as he is fishing alone on Tuesday so I thought it would be good to show him. We headed down and came across a pool with a few fish rising, we couldn’t leave it…would you?! Richard fired out a shot and the dry dipped. I thought it was a peal but saw it was a really nice brown as it took to the air. Despite it knowing all the dirty tricks, Richard expertly got the fish to the net. We covered lots on the day as we decided it would be great to  analyse each fishing situation and how we would approach it to maximise the potential. It worked pretty well!

Faure came back to spend a couple of days of guided fly fishing with us last weekend and we had a ball! The fishing was pretty good and the company was a blast. This time Faure made sure he didn’t get the sleeper train and had a more relaxing journey down and was ready to hit the river bright and early. We headed down to beat 7 and tried our luck and managed a few. The fish were on caddis and the hatches were coming in trickles rather than pouring. It was a case of 10 minutes of activity and then it would go quiet and then it would start again. We worked through one pool and saw a grilse of about 5lbs take to the air and then a larger slightly more coloured salmon of 9 to 10lb also go airborne.  We also couldn’t believe the amount of kingfishers we saw and this also added to the otter Dave from Portland and I saw the day before. These are some of the little things that add to a special day on the water.

Faure had got into the groove really well and was keen that he used my Helios fly rod again and I was happy to oblige as he casts a really nice loop with it!

We ended the day with a nice tally of fish but more importantly Faure had a good time and fished like a demon.

We’d planned some small stream fishing for the next day and although the fish weren’t as cooperative (we still had plenty) Faure coped fantastically with the challenges of threading his loop through the various obstacles to get to the fish. I love the appetite for knowledge that he has as it spurs me on even further. One of the highlights was showing him how to fish a small non descript spot and seeing his face as he became attached to a rather good fish!

As I think I have mentioned before I am no photography expert but I always try and get a photo of the day  for my guests and the couple below show that sometimes it doesn’t always go to plan!

Easy come….easy go….I’d got the shot lined up but the fish had other ideas and Faure made a desperate lunge to try and catch the fast escaping trout!

Here’s what Faure made of his time with us

Hi Pete,

I thought this week was going to be a slightly quieter one than of late. I sort of put it down to family holidays that meant aspiring trout bums have had to pop the rods away for a week or two and do some non fishing related stuff. Well, this is what I thought but it has turned out not to be the case and we have been hitting some great caddis hatches and getting guests into a fish or two.

Lyndsey had popped down with her Dad who is an excellent fisherman for a few days fishing and asked if I were able to help with some casting and fishing tips. Lyndsey was an excellent learner and I gave her a few secret tips that had her giving her dad a run for his money on the catching stakes. He has taken some photos which I hope to pop up shortly.

Lewis had only had a brief session of casting two years ago and wanted to try again so we spent some time on the casting lake where we covered the essential casts needed for fishing the river and then went down to the river and discussed watercraft and how to read a river. We put all of this into action and it all happened pretty quickly and effectively. There is nothing nicer than seeing someone catch their first fish and even better when it is one of our wild brown trout from the River Taw!

Bob was celebrating a major birthday and despite fishing the reservoirs of the Midlands he was keen to catch a bass. We were happy to oblige and I still smile when Bob and I spotted bass busting and ran like a couple of children so that he could cover them with a clouser. Pic below shows he did a great job and I quickly snapped the fish before he carefully released his first bass. I’m pleased to say it was the first of many!

I’ve just changed my wading boots as the last pair managed to last just over a season which I am pretty pleased with. I do abuse my gear a bit but at the end of each day I throw my stuff into the back of the truck so that I know I have it ready for the next day. This does mean it doesn’t get much of a chance to dry out. The new boots come with studs built in where as the old ones I had to screw in. Towards the end of their life the old boots wouldn’t hold studs which meant I was doing some pretty impressive down hill sking on the wet banks of the river. I am still proud to announce I haven’t fallen in yet but now that I’ve said this I have a bad feeling coming!