Devon School of Fly Fishing Team blog

Richard from Hampshire, or Richard The Trout Slayer as I like to call him, made his first trip down to Devon to cast a fly at a few fish. As I have written in previous posts the season has been a little more testing than the previous few but I have, in a perverse sort of way, enjoyed it.

It has made me really have to think about fly selections and tactics to maximise success for my guests. I guess it might be an easy job when you suggest a cast to a likely spot and a fish takes, which is always nice, but I think a fly fishing guide earns his fee when he can pull a few fish out of the bag on a tough day. I know it isn’t all about numbers but when it’s tough it’s nice for an angler to see that it isn’t them that is doing something wrong,  the fish just sometimes aren’t on. I hope I can help in some small way to  put the odds in their favour a bit more.

The trout slayer!

Having said all this, Richard had plenty of fish and a number coming to the dry too. Generally we are still finding them in slacker, slower stretches of water and just about on the edges of the seams of faster water. It was really nice seeing Richard catching fish on flies he had learnt to tie over the winter and even on a spider pattern from a bird he had shot himself. Excellent work fella!

I met up with Chris who had received a gift voucher from his parents for Christmas. He had not held a fly rod before but took to it with amazing ease. We covered so much in the day and for the second time in the week a novice was double hauling by the end of the day. We also did plenty of fishing and used techniques for approaching a small still water which all worked really well. It was hugely exciting to see one of our rainbows hit a twitched hopper pattern.

First trout for Chris!

Julian has been fishing for a number of years and is an expert sea trout fisherman but wanted to learn to spey cast with a single handed rod. We were happy to help and he now has a number of tricks in his bag. It also gave me a chance to quiz him on a few approaches that he uses. One of the great things about fly fishing is that you never stop learning!

Julian nails another spey!

Josh wanted to catch a trout on a fly so we taught him to cast and he did the rest!

Josh and his first trout

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We’re through the Grannom and most of the Large Dark Olives for the time being but other hatches are starting to occur now but these are just getting going and are more of a trickle right now. From day one of the season there have been plenty of midges on the water but I have not seen signs of fish showing interest in them right now. Last year the fish only seemed to care for them once mayfly were out of the way. It will be interesting to see if this is the case again this season.

Talking of mayfly I was on the river on Sunday and thought I saw a lone one come off. I mentioned this to Dave who was guiding further upstream and he’d seen one too. Looks like these boys are bit early and given that everything seems to be a couple of weeks behind schedule they were jumping the gun by a long way.

We ran our first course of the season over the weekend which, I think, went really well. Having two days meant that we were able to cover everything in depth, from the set ups, casting and approaches to moving water. It was great fun with everyone catching fish in what were  tricky conditions. Hopefully it showed the topics we covered in the course worked in some small way!

The team!

Ira was new to fly fishing and her friends thought she wasn’t going to catch anything. A day and a half with us proved them wrong on both our lake and on the river too!!

First fish for Ira!

I had the pleasure of teaching David and Rachel for the day. They had never held a fly rod before but I was amazed and during the day we covered all aspects of fishing and casting. They were even double hauling at the end of the day which is highly unusual for two novices on a day course. Well done guys!!

Superstars in the making- Rachel and David

If you would like guided fly fishing on private beats or fly fishing tuition on a private trout lake feel free to contact us, we’d be happy to help!

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We’re just over a month into the fly fishing season in Devon now and it feels as though after the long hard winter the fish are really starting to wake up a bit. I had a great day guiding James yesterday who was a newcomer to fishing our rivers and after going through a few casts on our lake we hopped down to the river to try things out.

James into the first of the day

We’d had a heavy frost and I had worked on the basis it would take a bit of time to warm up and so we did a bit of walking to a few of my favourite spots a little further downstream.  He’d fished the famous chalkstreams a couple of times and I think he liked the more rough and ready look of our wild streams especially when I had him limboing under barbed wire to get to a pool I liked the look of!

The hatches are getting more steady and the river is fishing through to about 4.30pm or so but there just isn’t quite enough warmth later in the day yet. One highlight yesterday was seeing fish rise a little more consistently than the one off affairs of late and seeing fish take an aggressive swipe at a dry is always a great sight.

I had the pleasure of guiding Paul on Monday. It is always a great time we have on the water and after a long lay up and shoulder operation he was rearing to go. We started with a casting tune up and worked on fine tuning hauling and then some single handed spey casting. He wanted to fish some new water so I obliged. As he has a insatiable thirst for knowledge I showed him how to fish spider patterns down and across which was great fun.

Paul strikes!

Our first real big hatch has been grannom and although popular theory is that the fish prefer the ascending pupae than the adult I was fishing the Wye in Wales for a couple of days last week with Ray (The Dude) courtesy of my wonderful wife (thanks Em! X). Anyway, he shouted form the other side of the river that they were taking grannom off the top. There were a few Large Dark Olives around too but not in the same numbers but I thought it might have been these they were taking but trusting his judgement I tied on a balloon caddis and picked up fish. It is funny when you see this but you get back and think about it for a bit and ask yourself a few questions (well, I do!)  The main one was the fish were in or on the edge of pretty fast water making the detection time pretty short for them and so would they have hit a Parachute Adams anyway?. You can sort of go round in circles and end up over analysing and at the end of the day the fish needs to eat and if you can get the fly to him effectively and efficiently then you are in with a chance but most of all it is about enjoying the time on the water!

I get lucky every now and again!

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I’m sitting here writing this having been washed off of the river. It is a shame as it felt as though things were just starting to get going in a very modest way. I was at last starting to see a few more large dark olives and a few more march browns that got me thinking that there might just be enough to get the fish into feeding positions and a little more on the look out.

The weekend was best on Saturday and thankfully the weather held for Sunday. Saturday was a morning casting session with Andy who is really starting to throw some micro loops and put his new rod through it’s paces.

I met up with Ed after lunch and we headed a little further up the river in search of fish. We found some too and even had one take a dry which was a pleasant shock. We focused on the edges or seams of faster water and slacker areas in general. It seemed to work pretty well.

Ed puts a cast into just the right spot

Sunday and we met with the Crediton Fly Fishing Club for our 4th annual casting morning. We held it at the hotel and rather than just rehashing what we did the years before we have tried to constantly evolve things so that it is hopefully interesting and with plenty of content for the members.  On the food front we did the same as last year and included a carvery in the price which is a great time for members to get to know each other and to swap fishing stories over some excellent food.

I went fishing myself in the afternoon with Ray (The Dude) as he was down to have a quick fish on Sunday and Monday. He is moving abroad in the summer and so we have a sort of a leaving the UK tour which means we have to fish as many venues as we can in the UK before he goes and we are just putting the finishing touches to the overseas one too which I am hugely excited about. Anyway, this is the first leg of the tour and to be honest it wasn’t the easiest of conditions but Ray had a few fish including a small sea trout which was great fun. Next leg is Wales in a months time!

One for the Dude!

Before we left to pick up the Chinese I took Ray to one of our new beats as I wanted him to fish a couple of pools that I thought might hold a fish or two. As it is a new beat I have learnt it over the winter but only from walking from the bottom to the top and only in the water. The two pools I wanted to take him to were at the very top and so it involved some off road walking to the pools. Having got to the right spot I led the way and sort of slid down a high bank where I was hoping to land on a large log that was poking out of the water. The only downside of this was the part I wanted to land on was a bit rotten and gave way as I landed on it. I lost balance and it felt like I was going to go head first into the river. I had sort of resigned myself to the fact of a soaking but grabbed hold of a branch of the log that was actually not rotten and stayed dry. I heard shouts from Ray who I think was probably a little saddened I didn’t immerse myself but having not taken a dunking for 3 years I am just about due one!

I had a long chat with my good pal Jim Williams yesterday which I always enjoy. He is a great guy and an excellent instructor and guide and the other string to his bow is web design. He has just completed our new AAPGAI website which is most excellent. Good work fella!

New water....

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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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Fly fishing in Devon is not far off from the start now. Salmon starts on 1st March with trout fishing not far behind on the 15th. I always like to keep opening and closing days to myself to have a fish and mark the occassion by just being in the water casting at a few fish. Sometimes it might feel like you are going through the motions but after a long miserable winter I don’t care. I can’t wait and we are on the final leg of the countdown!

After writing this blog I plan to try and trim a few trees and start getting ready for the season. I was on the river yesterday with a great fishing club I belong to. As always there was a good turnout and a chance to catch up with, or meet, members you might not get to see through the season. It is also a good to re-aquaint yourself with the river and see a spot you might have struggled with during the previous season become just that bit more accessible after some careful pruning.

Saturday was a case of from the fire straight to the freezer. I’d left behind tailing permit (photos to follow) and 92 degree heat for snow and low lying rainbows. Not that I am complaining, I’d enjoyed both immensely and it was great to help a newcomer, Kevin, on the road to becoming a trout fisher. He had done plenty of sea fishing and wanted to try his hand with a fly rod. Once he had mastered the idea of a climbing backcast the world was his oyster and he was up and running.

We are lucky being located with a lake and river so that we could cover all aspects of approaches to both still and moving water but I have a sneaking suspicion that he’ll be heading to a river some time soon. The trout better watch out!

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I was going to write this and suggest a list of things that would be cool to accomplish in 2010. There are certainly lots of things I really would like to do and to experience and will hopefully get the chance in some cases but is it always good to set yourself targets? I guess sometimes this is the case and can be rewarding to tick things off as they happen but I want to enjoy the ride and whatever is thrown at me. It can sometimes be the little things like that drag free drift to THAT trout that you would never have thought of listing but all the little things add up along with the big things too.

Sometimes it all comes together, a UK fish to remember….

I think that is why I like being a fly fishing guide. No two days are ever the same and all the fun and challenges that go with it are always different.

I think someone once said that “it’s an adventure” and I’m going to make sure I enjoy every moment I get on the water be it working, fishing alone or in the company of good friends.

Have a great festive period and I hope a fish filled 2010!

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There is that funny feeling you get when you get a report of the river you are about to fish that says “it’s sort of fishable”  The next question is “what do you mean by sort of fishable?” the answer was along the lines that the the clarity was good but the height was bad. Not so bad that the river was over the banks but bad that most would probably give it a miss. I’m not one of those who won’t and nor are my fishing buddies.

When you picture a chalkstream you see an image picture of crystal clear water and a nice even flow with a rising fish every now and again to make it perfect.

When I got there this wasn’t exactly the case. After all the rain we have had there were still flooded fields and the springs had been filled to the maximum and were pumping water back out into the river as quick as they could. The river was up and really pushing. That having been said it was a day’s fishing and nothing was going to get in the way.

Four of us had arranged to fish and special guest was Jim. Jim lives and guides on The Coln in Wiltshire and I wanted to show him the bit of chalkstream I fish.  We jumped in and water that is usually shin deep that was now thigh deep. I hung with Jim for a bit and watched the maestro in action but decided, with some prompting, to grab my rod and have a go myself.  I worked the slacker margins with a couple of heavy bugs and managed to pick up a grayling as The Dude joined me in the river. He’d spotted a slack line the other side of the river and manfully waded across to try his luck. The water got too deep and strong for us to continue so I jumped out and Ray did some pretty cool climbing up a dead tree his side.

Lunch and a chance to warm up!

The fishing was pretty tough but we all did ourselves justice. I had a spell where I thought I was going to get into a sensible pod of fish but after a couple in as many casts and one off and then one landed that was it. The rest of the day I picked up odd one and twos but that was about it and think that was the story for everyone.

 I was hoping for a few more for Jim as he has been slamming them on The Coln this year and I really wanted to show him fishing  as good. The light was starting to go and we ‘d decided to end the day in the pub but Jim and I headed in search of just one more. Needless to say he came up trumps.

A bright pink bug in size 8 worked best for me and I think Toby too but Jim fished a more subtle pheasant tail in a 14 and I would have guessed The Dude did the same. It sort of reminded me of a time I was fishing there once and there was a nice lunchtime hatch and the guy I was fishing with and I had a long debate about whether to fish a 16 or 18 Para Adams  to the rising grayling. We bumped into another fisherman at the end of the day and told him how we found the fish didn’t want the 16 but hit the 18 happily. We asked him if he had found the same but he said the big shrimp pattern he’d used had worked just fine.

Darkness but time for just one more!

I’d tried a different brand of burger for lunch and although tasty I thought the meat to roll ratio was just slightly the wrong way round but they were pretty good. All in all it was good fishing, great food and excellent company.

Winter Beard Watch- Gave it a trim on Sunday and took a bit too much off although it is still hanging in there.

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I had hoped for an outside chance of some grayling fishing today. Alas the river is in the same state as last week but I am told that the weather might be calming down just a little bit from Thursday onwards.I met up with Andy on Saturday and we did some casting which was great fun. I can wait and the fish are going to keep.

  I popped out this morning to see how The Taw looked slightly higher up from where I work and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. The photo is from a stretch of water belonging to The Crediton Fly Fishing Club. I have been a member for years and this is one of my favourite places to fish. I didn’t get much of a chance to fish it last year but I have made a deal with myself that I will try and put it right next season. It is a great club and I guess this is down to the members who are a welcoming bunch with some pretty nifty fishers in their ranks too. It is probably a bit weird but I really enjoy the bank clearing sessions that they have before the season. It is a nice way to burn off some of the excesses of Christmas and to catch up and talk fishing.

I have probably mentioned it but my 17 year old daughter Charlie has a boyfriend. I have dreading this for a while and had planned how I was going to “interview” him. I have always felt that I would need a pipe for this. I don’t smoke but thought it would make me look a bit more menacing. I sort of planned how I would lean on an imaginary mantlepiece with my pipe and ask him his prospects but would only really need to know the answer to one simple question. “do you fish lad?”. I thought adding lad would also make me sound a little bit more frightening. There would have been a sharp intake of breath and a draw on the empty pipe if the answer was no but I am sure Charlie would have prepped him and said that if the answer was infact no that he had always wanted to learn. It turn out that she has known him for a number of years and so have we and it is the case he is a really good guy. I guess it saves me a trip to the tobacconist.

Lack of fishing has meant if I can’t do it then I am going to read about it. I have just finished The Earth is Enough which is a really sweet book and makes just enough of a pull on the sentimental heart strings.

Winter Beard Update- Used trimmers and feeling more comfortable. Toyed with amputation Sunday but will stick with it for the time being.

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I recently thought of a good question to ask a buddy when heading off on a fishing trip or having a coffee by the river which was sort of along the lines of where would you fish if you were allowed to go one more time. On giving an answer myself I thought about this and then changed the rules a bit so that I could fish once more on my beloved Taw and then one other place world wide.

This is one of those questions that you probably need to fire the answer from the gut as the more you think about it the more variables come in. Should it be somewhere I have fished or should it be somewhere I would like to fish? Would it be fresh or salt water? There are some places I have fished in the salt and would like to go back to and there are some I would like to visit and fly fish for bonefish, tarpon and perhaps, if I am lucky, a permit. So does this mean we should have a fresh and salt water section?

I think probably not and if pressed I would opt for freshwater as first choice but if I had a saltwater section it would be one right out from left field. Tobago. It will never rank up there with the great destinations but I don’t mind too much. I liked it for what it was and it wasn’t trying to be something it wasn’t. The guide knew what he was doing (he was excellent) and he knew his stuff. The fishing wasn’t pressured and there were plenty of fish. Within a few hundred yards I was fishing a small flat for bones and permit and then hopped into the boat for 2 minutes and we were casting to tarpon. If I only had 1 day this would be ideal as there is a 5 minute trip to the flats and all the fishing I would need for that one last day and I wouldn’t need to waste valuable time travelling…looks like I have spent too much time thinking this through!

So, I have decided my last day will be casting flies to brown trout. There are so many places in the UK I would love to revist like the Wye, Usk, Irfon or the Derbyshire Wye. I haven’t even scratched the chalkstreams but I know the Wylye would come top for me in that category without any serious competition. Then there was a “secret river” I fished in April where I caught 5 fish from 14 to 20 1/2 inches. That is certainly a contender!

Looking further afield I love Colorado and just about every stream I have fished there. Favourites are probably The Frying Pan and The South Platte but The St Vrain just edges it for me. It was a special stream with some of the most beautiful trout I have and will probably ever catch.

It looks like I am coming to the conclusion that the last place I fish will be somewhere I have been before. It might sound boring but what if I choose somewhere that when I get there I don’t like it?

New Zealand has to feature too and casting dry flies at huge rising trout is something I will never forget and a magical day The Dude and I had on The Mataura where we caught our fill of trout and then some more.  I also liked the small streams and just loved the idea that we would drive along a road and see a river come into view and if it looked nice we’d park up and have a cast.

It probably sounds like these are dream destinations but most of these trips are put together by my good friend Ray (The Dude) and we have a simple brief. Maximum fishing time, minimum cost.  He excelled himself on our NZ trip.

Looks like I have wondered off topic a bit but when writing the last paragraph I have come to a final conclusion.  I don’t think I would want to fish anywhere but The Taw for my last day. I love it.

I think I mentioned Gierach the other day and apologies if I did but he talks about fishing anyone’s St Vrain (his home water) and say that when he fishes somewhere new he compares it to The St Vrain. I know what he means and always make a comparison to The Taw in many ways wherever I am fishing. So I guess I’d fish anyone’s Taw.

Taw Salmon