Devon School of Fly Fishing Team blog

I was off this week for my yearly fish on the Deveron. I have been going there for 5 years or so now and I really like it.

Running at about 60 miles in length it isn’t one of the big name rivers like the Spey, Tweed etc but it is only just below and has a very healthy run of salmon, sea trout and also some really nice brown trout too.

We fish at the very bottom of the river which means it is great fishing if the water is low as we get the fresh fish that will hold until the water levels rise again. If there is some rain the fish tend to head onwards and are usually picked up on the higher reaches of the beats we fish. When we arrived on the Sunday there had been plenty of rain and when we scanned the catch book everything was confirmed that the upper beats of the fishing were the place to be.

We were lucky to be on the higher beats and it was great to see plenty of fish showing. It didn’t take long for a good fishing buddy to see his line tighten and he lifted in to a fish. I did the netting duties and then had three really gentle takes in almost as many casts and then something a little bit more committed and I was attached to a Deveron salmon.  I offered the spot to my buddy and he had another good take.

Next day we were on the lower beats but I fished with Paul who has been a great supporter of our fly fishing school and was on his first ever salmon trip. He was casting beautifully and I stayed with him as I felt there was a chance that he would connect. He didn’t on his first trip down the pool but on the second all hell broke loose as his rod bucked as he was attached to a very angry salmon. He did everything by the book and after a spirited fight the fish was in the net. It was a great moment and even nicer for me as I have been with Paul when he has caught his first rainbow trout, wild brown trout, grayling, sea trout, bonefish and now salmon.

Paul and his first salmon

Next day, (Weds) the water had continued to drop and it felt like there was more chance of fish having to hold and make a bit more of an effort to navigate the pools. That meant that there was a chance of them stopping to have a breather and give us a shot at a few more. It worked really well for my buddy who landed two really nice fish and had some real fun stripping a really big fly across the tail of the pool. It was a sort of mutant Collie Dog fly but the salmon didn’t care and threw themselves at it.

The interesting thing was that I have worn a barometer watch for the last 5 years and it has been spot on when barometric pressure has been steady or rising and the corelation between this and taking fish. This time though we did catch them on a falling barometer which is a first.

Sadly the weather was against us and we got up on Thursday to torrential rain and a river that wasn’t going to fish. It was coming up at around six inches every twenty minutes and apparently ended up 13 feet above normal levels so we decided to head home. It is easy to cuss things and moan but that is just the way things go when you are fishing late in the season. Life is too short to get stressed about it and there will be other times and other trips…..

For the second year I fished a switch rod. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Orvis Helios 11ft switch rod this time and paired up with a Skagit line it did everything I wanted it to and the 14 footer didn’t even get wet.

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We’re now into the last month of the season and I have to say it is a time I really love. The weather might not always be with us but if we do get rain then there is a chance of a salmon taking a look at our fly. On that matter we had some rain at last but the Taw seemed to take it in its stride and came up a little and coloured a bit and by last Friday afternoon was back to normal. This meant the window for salmon was a small one but it sounds like the Exe had a lot more rain to bring both the levels and the fish up to anglers which is great news.

Chris working down a pool

I managed to get out for a quick fish and managed to have a salmon pluck at the nasty big fly I had cast at it and then took to the air to show me just what might have been. I went back and Charlie joined me in the afternoon and the river was a different place and a lot lower. I cast through the pool hoping the fish was still obliging and felt the line go tight and lifted into a fish. It wasn’t the salmon but a sea trout was just as welcome!

I lost a couple of trout days due to the weather but did some casting with Carolynne and Patrick who are off to Montana today and yesterday I was guiding Chris. He was keen to learn everything he possibly could about fishing streams and everything that goes with it. We even had a go at a likely looking salmon pool and despite hooking a nice trout we didn’t get lucky….this time!

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I was lucky enough to be on the water with Mike Weaver recently. For me, he is Mr Devon when it comes to fly fishing. He wrote the book that I just keep coming back to and it is the book that has inspired so many of my fishing adventures. It is a little hard to come by these days but if you ever get a chance to buy it don’t miss it as it is a great read!

The Pursuit of Wild Trout

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pursuit-Wild-Trout-Mike-Weaver/dp/1873674007/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282823359&sr=8-1

It seems that fishing is in two halves at the moment. Black gnats are the main item on the menu in the morning and caddis in the afternoon. We have had great fun on the river skating caddis at both trout and sea trout and I was on the water with Peter the other day where we saw a nice sea trout move. I really like to get the fly moving to provoke an aggressive response and we managed to get one but not the hook up. We stuck with the large G & H sedge and cast it upstream and worked it back with short sharp strips. It was great to see that we managed to get responses for even the smallest of fish and if you are on the water give the stripped fly a go. It might just bring something up!

Peter had fished stillwaters here and further afield he had searched for salmon in Alaska and Canada but was a newcomer to small stream fishing for trout. He soon picked up that you don’t need to throw a long line and was catching fish on both dries and nymphs.

Peter and a Taw trout

It was great to have Mike back down again this year. Although it was a whistlestop visit with the family he managed to get out on to the water. As time was short we managed to hit a few pools and catch some fish too. I am ashamed of some of the things we threw into the deeper pools and I hope you’ll keep it our secret Mike!

Mike having cast one of my nasty flies!

Ian and his wife Mandy wanted to learn how to fish a river and so we were happy to oblige! Ian was a former Pro Golfer and it came as little surprise how quickly he picked up casting a fly rod.

Ian ready to strike

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It has been great to have Emma along on my last couple of sea trout forays. The last was on Thursday as I had got in from guiding Trefor and we had seen a really nice sea trout take to the air towards the end of the day. It was one of those fish that gets under your skin a bit and eating dinner I was still sort of thinking about it when Emma asked if I fancied popping out for a few hours. That clinched it and I knew exactly where we were heading!

Trefor ready to strike!

We sat by one of my favourite pools chatting whilst scanning the water as darkness fell. There wasn’t much going on despite it being a time when fish often show themselves on the Taw. We headed upstream a bit and I popped a few casts into another pool called Junction. It felt like I’d had a small pull but I wasn’t sure if it was from a trout or not.

Having fished it out we walked back down to my favourite pool and I popped a few casts out. There is a nice spot where a non fisher can watch everything happen and that is where Emma perched. I fished the pool and we saw a really good fish move and despite covering it I didn’t get a pull. Just as I was considering changing flies I heard a yell from Emma. I wasn’t sure what it was about but she’d seen one of the early meteors that the news said would be happening. It was almost perfect timing as the  clouds had lifted giving us a perfect view of the night sky.

I thought this is one of those chances not to miss, so with both of us laying on our backs watching what was just an amazing sight as we saw our first meteor shower. It was just one of those rare times where fish had to take a back seat but being next to the river with a rod strung up and ready I was well placed just in case anything did happen in my favourite pool!

Derrick on a 1/2 day casting course

The fish are still biting but the cooler temps have meant that early fishing has been not as productive. But as the sun climbs then it just switches on. The set up has generally been a small black klink early on and then caddis patterns as the afternoon gets under way. As we move into late afternoon and early evening time I have been switching to bigger stimulator patterms to try and tempt and early sea trout to slash at the fly!

Fly Fishing in Devon Fly Fishing tuition, guiding and fly fishing lessons with The Devon School of Fly Fishing

I was guiding Richard the troutslayer a few days this week. As ever it has been a pleasure to watch him come on huge leaps and bounds from when I first met him last year. For me a lot of the deal of river fishing is being able to effectively read the water and then being able to get your fly to the spot you think is your best shot as efficiently as possible. This is second nature to Richard now and it is a real pleasure to be on the water with him. He, as ever, got amongst some nice fish and we thought at one stage that he was attached to his first sea trout which sadly came adrift but we didn’t really get a look but it is one of those moments when you both think he might be attached to something special by looking at how the tip of the rod behaves when you first strike.

RFH and a nice Taw brown

As an aside, I often mention Richard as the troutslayer but I think we are changing the name as he fears that some might feel he may actually be slaying the trout and not putting them back. He loves them as much as me and each one is carefully returned to fight another day and so from this day on he will be known as Richard From Hampshire or RFH as Emma calls him.

A blowy day on Dartmoor with Mike

I had a day up on Dartmoor with Mike. Mike was down in March to try river fishing for the first time and loved every second of it. He likes to fish bamboo and it was good to christen his rod back then but this time we went for a slightly longer rod to make fishing the pools a little easier and to keep as much line as possible off of the water. Once more he did a great job in testing conditions and as ever the ride over there was great fun as Mike has a great view on life and a wit to match his fishing!

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It feels and looks like we are just about through the best of the mayfly hatch now. That having been said they are still trickling off and the great thing is that the fish are used to seeing a big fly on the water and even better still aren’t afraid to have a go at it too!

Most of the people I have had out recently have been happy to sacrifice numbers of fish for the chance of bringing a big one up from the depths but I have been trying my best to assess each pool as we approach it and hit it with the appropriate fly which in some cases has been a size 24 midge pattern. It is fun tying on a big fly and seeing it work but it is equally as rewarding showing my guests that just because it is a small fly it doesn’t mean that it won’t work.

I had met Wilfred and Anne-Ruth a few years back and they had managed to track me down to show how they had progressed as fly fishers. They live in Holland which might not be thought about as a fly fishing hot spot but there is a large and loyal bunch who will cast a fly at just about anything and these two guys are in that category.

They had booked a days guiding and we headed off to a small stream. Anne-Ruth was soon catching fish and I took Wilfred upstream to try his luck.

Low, slow water was working but you needed nerves of steel to not strike when you saw a fish come for the dry so after a few we headed up to some faster water where the fish would have less time to inspect the fly and would make a more positive take.

Anne-Ruth works up a pool

I dropped Anne-Ruth off and wanted to take Wilfred up at least 4 pools to try his luck. On the way up though I saw a few fish rising and as ever I find it too hard to leave them so despite a tricky climb into the pool we were in a great position to target the fish.

It looked to us as though the fish were taking ascending nymphs just subsurface so I quickly tied on a pheasant tailed nymph and we were in business.

Wilfred with a beautiful Taw brown

It was a great day and the guys did a great job, Wilfred ended the day with 2 13inch trout which was some achievement!

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It seems like the weather is starting to settle with warmer temps and more stable conditions. I am never one to moan BUT it would cool if things were like the Caribbean and we had a bit of rain overnight just to freshen things up and keep the river at a nice level. That having been said the low water has concentrated fish into areas where you would more expect to find them. The places that have worked best for us have still been tails and bellies of pools rather than faster runs and the weapon of choice has been the dry fly. It has been great to see the larger fish make an appearance at the surface and yesterday was a small landmark as I was guiding Anne who managed to hook and land our first fish of the season on a mayfly pattern.

Mayfly have been coming off for just over a week but the fish are only just starting to take notice of them and seeing and hearing fish taking to the air or making an angry slash at a newly emerged dun is pretty exciting stuff. The other good thing is that fish are starting to feed later into the day now rather than a swift 5 o’clock finish.

There is just a sniff of a few of the larger sea trout on the hotel water which is great news and now the evenings are warmer it is a great time to be on the water!

A well earned Hob Nob break during a casting session for Chris

Mikes first ever fish

Pauls first Taw brownie!

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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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Well, fishing has had to take a back seat again after all the snow. I was due to go Tuesday and glad I didn’t as getting home would have been a bit hairy.

As a result I have been casting and playing with a few things. It is great to go out and throw a few loops and can be good fun to do so with a buddy too. The only downside of this is that all the good intentions tend to go out of the window and the tape measure comes out and and bit of good banter as you take it in turns to see what you are made of!

The tape measure can be sobering for the first-time distance caster as throwing a full line and a 10ft leader doesn’t actually equate to 100ft. It is quite a long way from it. I don’t tend to do this much of late as I find the body doesn’t enjoy it as much as it used to and lets face it there are few, if any, situations you are going to want to see the backing flying out of the tip ring.

I always thought this would be the case when it came to bonefishing but I have been amazed over the last few years how short a distance a bone can be caught. If anything I’d say a well presented 40 to 50ft cast will always put you in with a shout.

Up against the tape- photo by Lee Cummings

This is where the practice comes in, not just for winter trips somewhere exotic but getting you ready for the new season whatever you like chasing with a fly rod.

For me 15 to 20 minutes of good casts pays better dividends than going out for 2 hours and trying too hard to get it right. When I practice I’ll tilt my casting plane over to the side and have a look at my timing and loop control both hauled and unhauled. By throwing everything over to the side it becomes much more visual and allows you to see everything that is going on. I’ll then make a basic overhead cast in the normal casting plane. It is the foundations of all overhead casts and is easily overlooked. It is then I’ll play with a few Roll Casts and Speys. There are now loads of Spey Casts to play with but I’ll work on the ones that are most practical for fishing situations we encounter on the streams in Devon and the ones I teach most. I’ll then add a few mends, hooks and curves and see how it looks and see how it feels from there. If there has been something that has niggled then I’ll go back and give it a bit of work.

At our fly fishing school I’ll teach repetition (with plenty of breaks) as this helps to encourage muscle memory and when my student tries it out for the first time alone their body says “Hey, I remember this”

At the end of the day though the fish decide whether it was a good cast or not and this is what it is all about. It is nice to throw a nice loop in the field but throw in a rising fish in a tricky spot and try telling me that isn’t more exciting.

I’m not advocating to go out for everyday in the months before the seasons start. Life is just too short, but try it now again and you might be surprised the difference it makes and it is really, really good fun!

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I wanted to sneak a fish in before the new year to sort of see out 2009 and to try out, or do I mean christen, a new rod?

The weather was against us, turning cold and wet and the splashes of water on the truck as I headed off to meet a buddy told me there been a fair bit of rain overnight. I never have a doubt in my mind though, if I’m going fishing, I’m going fishing no matter what.

I really enjoy the company on the way up there, it is a couple of hours but I always enjoy chewing the fat and talking fishing. It sort of stops me from having the loud music and my appalling singing that accompanies it. It is lucky I am not self conscious as it probably looks a little strange to other drivers seeing me singing and drumming on the steering wheel although I suspect a fair few of them probably do the same.

We had a unanimous vote not to pull over for a bacon sandwich and coffee in favour of fishing. The thought had crossed my mind as traffic was light and we had made good time.

When we got there we peered over the bridge and the water was a bit lower from the last visit but still pushing. Looked like it was still a case for the heavy stuff.

We fished hard and long and there were times when I couldn’t feel a thing in my hands but didn’t care. As long as I could cast and tie a fly on I was happy!

Darkness came and we left wet and cold but contented and we had a few too.

A very happy new year to everyone and the very best of fishing in 2010 to everyone.

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