Devon School of Fly Fishing Team blog

It has been an interesting time and I have had to fit work around when the river has been fishable. Although I have lost a bunch of days there have been a few opportunities and the fishing has been good when the windows appeared. The river might be fishable for a bit and then more rain on Dartmoor would see the it rise and colour. It is easy to get sucked into the old wives sort of stuff about things being delayed by a number of weeks but nature marches to its own beat and to those not on the river it might look like things might be late. On Friday I saw a few yellow mays and yesterday the mayfly (danicas) got going. I saw a few sail down the river and they were unmolested but it will only take a couple of the days for the fish to get zeroed in on them. At the very worst these are two days late.

I was guiding John. It was one of the windows I was talking about and the river was just about fishable but we had to venture further upstream. In the truck he asked me about hawthorn fly and I said they don’t really feautre that much as the river I guide on is heavily tree lines which stops a lot of the poor flying terrestrial fly from getting blown on to the water. It was a tough morning and although we’d had a few fish we’d worked really hard for them. I had though, noticed a couple of hawthorn float by. After lunch I took John to a pool I really like. There were a couple of fish rising and after they refused the usual suspects I found a couple of hawthorn patterns lurking in the back of the fly box. John went on to catch 6 fish from the pool and it made what was a good day into a really good one.

I was also guiding Brian and a similar thing happened. This time though they were splashy aggressive rises that left us little doubt they were on hawthorn. I’d tied a few more the night before but when Brian covered the fish there were no takes. The fish were hitting the flies upstream of us before I could see them but we changed a few patterns just in case I’d got suckered in to thinking it was hawthorn. We tried quite a few different flies but nothing. I noticed a mating pair of hawthorns that were on the water. Were the fish getting two flies for the price of one? I don’t know but the rises eased a little which made me think we were in with a chance. I tied the hawthorn back on and we were in business. Perhaps there weren’t as many coming down and the fish decided one fly is better than none.

I also have to admit that I had a slight stumble and shipped a little water. I haven’t done that for a few years and knew I was due one. It was the sort that you tell your guiding pals about as it wasn’t a head first, fully submerged fall but thought I should come clean.

So it looks like things are starting to really get going on the mayfly front and we are exactly on track, hopefully, some great fishing!

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I’m not really one for believing in Acts of God rather than Acts of Nature. We were on the receiving end of one of those on Sunday when the unusual North Easterly wind lifted the roof off of one of next door’s outbuildings and sent it 100m to crash onto the roof of our house.

I can only describe the sound as though a grenade had been lobbed into the house, it went off and then a large chunk of our roof collapsed. The force of the impact forced open two locked doors in the next room.

My fly tying desk bore the brunt of the impact and certainly made it look more messy than it usually does.

A vice that means a lot to me was ruined and a load of material went with it too. Thankfully the flies I had been tying for the last few days (there were plenty) were in a plastic tub and are still usable and as the weather was going to be bad on Sunday I was due to be back up there tying again.

Thankfully I wasn’t when all of this happened and I don’t really believe in “what ifs” but I’m pleased I decided to cook a fisherman’s breakfast of sausages, egg and bacon instead of hitting the vice.

The structual engineer told us that it was about 1 1/2 tons of corrugated iron and timber frame that hit the house and writing this I am still looking at a great big pile of it. Hopefully it will be sorted soon.

What it did do is make me think about how seriously we can take fishing sometimes when all it is about is getting our fly to the fish without it spooking them. Sure, sometimes using 8X instead of 7X might make a difference but essentially we do this for fun and life is too short to worry if the hackle has been wound round the fly 3 times or 4 times I really don’t think it matters; let the trout decide.

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No great exciting news on the weather front other than the Taw shooting up and looking more angry than I have seen it in a while for this time of year.

It has meant I haven’t been able to work which has sucked a little but I have been sitting at the vice tying flies mainly for myself and once again trying to reignite my love affair with CDC flies. I’ve tied a bunch of them from F flies to just about everything inbetween. I have also for a while now been using CDC on nymphs with some pretty good success.

The plan to fish more than usual, although scuppered in the short term, has had me getting my lanyard out as I plan not to use the gear I use when working but have my flies ready on the back seat of the truck poised for action. 2012 I will be travelling light once more!

The bad weather has also meant that Issue 5 of Eat, Sleep, Fish is ahead of schedule and will be ready to go on May 1st. Being so far ahead has also given me a chance to get  Issue 6 under way as May is a manic one for guiding so it has been the one I have worried about little bit but articles are coming in and it is full steam ahead.

Pete,

A sublime way to spend a morning, immensely relaxing, totally absorbing, completely  enthralling and in the company of a great host. Your guidance, knowledge, continued feedback and encouragement was 1^st rate. The results speak for themselves, six fish, plenty that got away (homework for me) and a great photo of my first fly cast, wild trout to remind me.

Thank you.

Pete

 

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The river has been fun, and at times challenging, but I like it that way. I have been amazed by the size of the LDO hatches we have had and am just home from guiding where Peter did a great job of fishing the river for the first time and some more LDOs had the fish rising.

Rods rigged for a corporate day

At the weekend I was over at the excellent Blakewell Fishery at their open day. I did some tuition and explained a bit about casting and fishing and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It is a really nice place and it was nice to help people enjoy their fishing a little bit more.

Glenn and a Taw trout

The highlight for me though was meeting a Dad and his two sons who are fishing mad. The lads were about 7 and 10 but had the fishing bug bad. I had a quiet spell where I was eating a burger and was going to walk over and offer to make a few casts for them to retrieve but there was no need for that at all. As I headed over I saw one of the lads strike and hook a rainbow. Dad stood well back as the youngest son picked up a net and waited to do netting duties. Everything was done perfectly and the fish was dispatched by the lads.

Rebecca gets one under a tree

I spoke to Dad who proudly told me that that week they had done sea fishing, coarse fishing and today they were having a go for trout. What I loved most though was that once he has shown them what to do he then lets them do it for themselves. This is not just down to tying their own rigs, knots etc but everything including gutting their fish at the end of the day. The even nicer thing was that they loved every sec0nd of it and he was telling me that the only time they sit in front of a computer screen is to find out about tide times, a new knot or a fly that is working well. It was an honour to meet them and I am really sad I didn’t get their names as I reckon we’ll be hearing a lot about them in the near future!

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I am pleased and just a little bit proud to say the latest edition of Eat, Sleep, Fish is now out. We have some great articles from the regular contributors but also some great fly fishing adventures from readers too. We really hope you enjoy it and if you do please pass it on to your fly fishing friends.

The season is in full swing now and I have decided the blog this year is going to be more about my fishing adventures rather than work pics but I can assure you that anything special caught will be mentioned. The other reason for this is that it will mean that I will make sure that I stick to my promise (same one for the last few years) to do some more fishing. Tilting the blog that way means I shall hopefully adhere to it.

The fishing has been really interesting. I’ve been mixing the methods I have been fishing and have enjoyed them . There is nothing more fun than working a piece of water with a nymph and the hunch pays off or pitching a dry fly into the right spot. The dry has been working pretty well from the off; this and the warm, settled weather has helped this cause. It might be easy to tie on the good old faithful duo or NZ rig which is great but it is nice to try and be a little more thoughtful about approaches.

Taw trout

I was on the Usk last week doing an article for the ezine and we were discussing changing tactics according to the pool we were going to fish and how this can affect the chances of success. As a guide this is something I think about a lot when working and rather than stringing up what worked the other day I like to constantly tinker with things to make sure they get the most from the pool I am fishing.

Like I said the dry has done pretty well. I have seen Large Darks, March Browns and loads of midges. The fish are starting to be in the sort of places we expect them to be, having spooked some from some really unusual spots last week and I have had just dry fly sessions using attractor dries when things are quiet. It’s been fun.

River Taw

I thoroughly enjoyed the casting day on Sunday for the Crediton Club. I think this is the 7th year I’ve done it and I try and make sure things keep evolving to make it interesting. This year I concentrated more on tackle and fishing techniques along with some casting too.

Plump Taw trout on a dry

Tomorrow will be an interesting one. I am teaching Spey Casting in the morning and in the afternoon we have 20 new fly anglers. The thing that has alarmed me the most about this is that I have plenty enough tackle for them I think I might have a tackle hoarder problem!

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There is nothing like a bunch of friends getting together to see in the new season and 15 of us met up at the Fox and Hounds to mark the ocassion. This is a really neat little event that has continued to grow over the last few years and isn’t about the numbers of fish caught, just a few people meeting up to have a good time and to catch up with friends old and new.

After tea and coffee I sorted out beats so that everyone had plenty of water and off we went. It was a murky morning and it felt as though nymphs would rule so I rigged up my 10ft rod and french leader. First cast and I lifted in to what felt like a jackpot fish but turned out to be a submerged log. A couple of casts later though while working the seam of a riffle I saw the braid just nip back against where I had been leading the flies and I was into my first fish of the season.

I headed up to see Luke and Chris, Luke had got lucky and Chris had a couple of takes. I have to admit the morning shot by and we were soon meeting the other anglers who were drifiting in and hearing tales of fish. Nobody was knocking the cover off of the ball but fish were being caught by everyone which was great news.

After lunch I mixed beats up a little and we were off again. Chris, Mark, Luke and I headed to one of my favourite spots and I managed a couple on the same combo as the morning. I was heading up the river when I saw what looked like a dead sheep hanging head first from a high bank. Getting closer it had gotten stuck in some brambles and even better was still alive. Seeing Luke upstream I gave him a call and after what seemed a long while we managed to get it free and it wandered off quite happily. I can only guess it hadn’t been there too long.

Luke had managed a couple on dries during a brief Large Dark Olive hatch and after messing around for a bit we decided to head back, have a drink and see how the other anglers had got on.

We got back and saw some of the guys taking down their gear too and being the enterprising journo ( I use that term very loosely!) I took a new line out of the back of the truck and got them to help me review it for Eat ,Sleep, Fish. Keep en eye out for it in the next issue on April 1st.

Back in the bar it was abuzz with fishing talk and of one fish in particular. Mike had been fishing one of the higher beats and hit a golden spell where he had an 11″, 13″ and an incredible measured 19″ trout!

Everyone was thrilled for Mike and his achievement. A 19″ wild trout down here is huge and the last two years the biggest of the season have been 16 1/2 and 17 inches putting into context how well he had done.

Well done Mike!

The Taw never ceases to amaze me and I think this is why I love it so much!

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I’m just back from my last chalkstream trip for a bit and we are now under starter’s orders for things to get going down here in Devon. It will be great to see in the new season on Thursday and it is even nicer to share it with a bunch of friends. It has been a little bit of a tradition the last few years at The Fox and Hounds to mark the start of trout fishing here and it has sort of snowballed from there. It looks like there will be a good number of us hitting the Taw and seeing if the trout are biting.

2011 gathering

If you are fishing opening day then the very best of luck and if you have to wait then I hope the weather holds for you and the flies are hatching.

Eat, Sleep, Fish seems to be doing really well and we have again been amazed at the sheer numbers of fly anglers who have read the latest issue and have enjoyed it. The feedback has been really inspiring. We have been working hard on the next issue and Emma and I headed up to Yorkshire last weekend to do a Home Waters which was great fun, despite temps dropping 10 degrees and just a dusting of snow. Thankfully the grayling were still biting!

We are often ask by would-be contributors to ESF how they submit something and as of today Jim has pulled off a real master stroke and made it even easier. It’s back to the last few finishing touches for issue four. Please keep the feedback coming!

How to contribute an article to ESF

Fly Fishing Devon with the Devon School of Fly Fishing

I could write all sorts of stuff about counting down to the start of the trout season here in Devon but if you are reading this you know that already and we have all been peering out of the window each morning thinking to ourselves “nearly there”, right?

I’ve said before that I’ve been tying a few flies and but don’t want to bore you with those pics of flies in vices etc. I’d much rather go out and road test what I’ve been tying so that when I tie one on for a client I know I’ve got it just about right.

I was fishing solo on Tuesday and went looking for some grayling. When I got to the river I rigged up and a lone Large Dark Olive landed on my finger. Now, I take these things as a sign. You can look at it two ways. Firstly, that this is as good as it is going to get today and things could go downhill from here, or secondly that you are hitting the river at just the right time and you might have had a bit of good luck. I prefer the latter and despite the good omen fished the first pool with a nymph as I hadn’t seen anything move. At the tail of the next I hooked into a nice grayling and took a picture of it in the net before releasing it.

Next pool and I saw a rise. I held fire for a bit and the tell tale bubble in the rise told me a grayling was coming on. I tied on a grey klink that I had on my patch from the day before and cast. It was a nice, positive rise and the fish was mine. A smaller one but it was a great start. I added a nymph to the dry and decided I would snip it off if I saw another rise.

Just round the corner I saw one, took the nymph off and covered the fish. Nothing, but I also saw there were a lot of midges about and I tied on a #24 black klink I’d tied recently and the fish thought it was OK and took it.

One more rise and this time the grayling didn’t want the small fly. Perhaps the good number of midges was masking the odd, further, Large Dark. I laughed at myself talking about “masked hatches” several months before I usually do.

The pattern continued and I kept mixing things up and catching some nice fish. I did have a few mishaps. The screw that holds my net handle decided to come loose when I was putting a fish back and at least it was at a time when I knew what had happened. I have had this a few times when you reach for the net and there is nothing there. I’d hate to lose this one as I really like it and it cost way more than any sane person should spend on a net.

I had been thinking about having something to eat and was going to fish one more pool when I noticed that the sole had come off of my wading boot. The fishing was too good to worry about it and as I did a sort of limp into the next pool I was making sure I didn’t loose the whole sole as I wanted to keep the tungsten studs that were in it.

I cast up against a bank and the dry dipped, I hit it and knew it was a good fish. Thump, thump it went and headed upstream. I hadn’t seen it but managed to get it under control and netted. It was a great fish and one I was really pleased with. I took a pic and slipped it back. Time for something to eat.

I limped up the bank and realised that not only the sole had come away from the upper but the whole section had come away meaning that just about everything could get into my boot making it a bit tricky to keep on fishing. It seemed right to stop there anyway and I headed home. So if a LDO lands on your finger first day of the season I hope it brings you some luck but keep an eye on your waders too!

Eat, Sleep, Fish is ready and I will be publishing it on Friday (I think) There is another good mix of fishing and if you like it please let me know.

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With just under a month until the trout season kicks off here the countdown is now underway. I have been out walking the river beats checking out what needs snipping and trimming. I really enjoy this and love getting into the river for the first time in a while and know that when I am working I’ll be pleased that the low hanging branch that I snipped off will make my clients’ casts a little bit easier.

I’m not one of those who goes in with the chainsaw blazing as cutting things back a little keeps everything looking the right side of natural and also means there are some nice spots for the sea trout to hang out during the day. Keeping on top of things on a yearly basis ensures the start of each season is as I described, just a bit of trimming.

As I mentioned in the last blog I have been doing a little tying. I plan the tying around the order of the hatches so when the season ended I tied some grayling flies but also tied up flies for Large Dark Olives, both dry and nymph, and then Grannom. I have been playing with the emerger stage as this is the bit that interests the trout the most. Next up Mayflies. I have plenty of duns and spinners but again have been thinking about what will trigger the fish to hit the emerging dun. Caddis really starts to get going after the Mays so it has been balloon caddis and bullet heads. Then it is the midges. This is where I am up to and have been tying some tiny size 24s that I am really pleased with. I’ve a few terrestrials to do but having sorted the boxes this morn everything looks in good shape.

Fly Fishing in Devon with the Devon School of Fly Fishing Fly Fishing Tuition, Guiding and Fly Fishing Lessons