tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26327525441749737532024-03-12T19:52:23.279-07:00Small Stream Addictsdaniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-13359778447640472992015-03-22T11:55:00.002-07:002015-03-22T11:55:25.194-07:00Red Letter Day<div id="post_message_1945100" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13.33px/normal verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">It was Friday. I had a day off, my partner was in work and the kids were in school. After watching the partial eclipse I threw all my fishing gear into the back of the car and half way to my destination I phoned my partner to say where I was going(She was not too happy). On arrival the river was gin clear and low with not a cloud in the sky. started off in some fast deep/ish water so kitted up klink and dink and I found it too low for a team of nymphs on a </span><a href="https://www.cliff-harvey-angling.co.uk/prod_show.asp?id=1588"><span style="color: black;">French Leader</span></a><span style="color: black;">. there was no fly life at this stage around 09:30 in the morning but managed a good couple off fish to the nymph/Dink before a good hatch of LDO's came off at around 11:00. I then switched over to my favored LDO/Large Dark Olive pattern as the fish were looking up and taking the flies off the surface quite confidently.</span><br /><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF0312_zpsj9xiczx1.jpg.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0312_zpsj9xiczx1.jpg" rel="gallery.posts" style="color: #003366;"><img alt="Click the image to open in full size." border="0" class="tcattdimgresizer" height="300" id="ncode_imageresizer_container_1" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0312_zpsj9xiczx1.jpg" title="Click the image to open in full size." width="400" /></a><br />Hook - Hayabusa 383 size 16<br />Tail - brown hen hackle<br />body - olive superfine dubbing<br />thorax - hares ear<br />wing - 4/5 cdc feathers.<br /><br />I managed to hook and quick release a few opportunists charging out of the fast water to attack the fly but moved into some slower pools where there were also fish rising. I had to slow my pace down in the water, make sure I didn't stumble/splash the water and keep low to try and not spook the fish. I noticed one fish just picking his nose out of the water in a feeding frenzy. I cast to it but nothing. I thought that I had spooked it as my cast splashed a little on the water. I waited a minute and he was back again rising. So I cast my line just above the rising fish and as it passed a head came up and slurped my fly down. I was in for a shock to the size of the fish as it leaped out into the air and tail walked half a dozen times in the next couple of minutes. It gave an extraordinary fight (One I will not forget) before sliding into my net. this fish was huge, I would not like to say as to how big in weight but i would imagine over 3lb and the head on this fish was huge. The fish also had some fin damage i would presume from spawning season whilst competing for a hen fish or mink.<br /><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF0303_zpswgz5hzqk.jpg.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0303_zpswgz5hzqk.jpg" rel="gallery.posts" style="color: #003366;"><img alt="Click the image to open in full size." border="0" class="tcattdimgresizer" height="300" id="ncode_imageresizer_container_2" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0303_zpswgz5hzqk.jpg" title="Click the image to open in full size." width="400" /></a><br /><br />In total I managed to catch half a dozen fish well into the 2lb bracket and 3 fish well into the 3lb bracket and smaller fish too. I call it a red letter day<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyfishing.co.uk/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="vertical-align: middle;" title="Smile" /><br /><br /><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/WP_20150320_13_38_51_Pro_zpsimndmksp.jpg.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/WP_20150320_13_38_51_Pro_zpsimndmksp.jpg" rel="gallery.posts" style="color: #003366;"><img alt="Click the image to open in full size." border="0" class="tcattdimgresizer" height="224" id="ncode_imageresizer_container_3" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/WP_20150320_13_38_51_Pro_zpsimndmksp.jpg" title="Click the image to open in full size." width="400" /></a><br /><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF0306_zps2wqg9fpk.jpg.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0306_zps2wqg9fpk.jpg" rel="gallery.posts" style="color: #003366;"><img alt="Click the image to open in full size." border="0" class="tcattdimgresizer" height="300" id="ncode_imageresizer_container_4" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0306_zps2wqg9fpk.jpg" title="Click the image to open in full size." width="400" /></a></div>
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daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-38944537381075049692015-03-08T03:46:00.000-07:002015-03-08T03:46:53.910-07:00opening day 2015First day of the season. Started off slow with snow melt from the night before and carrying a bit of extra water. Started off with a team of nymphs in some fast deepish water and managed to pick off the odd few fish up to around 1 1/2lb. By mid day there was a prolific hatch of ldo's and brook dunns/March browns. At first there was nothing rising to them but as I sat down for ten minutes and just watched eventually the fish started looking up. I switched from a team of nymphs with a french leader and replaced them with a 15ft leader one of my variations of a brook dunn/march brown. <br />
<img height="300" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10930173_403275046500962_9176122322800532479_n.jpg?oh=a2dc5e37e66ac1ad5531e2d2f7fbecc6&oe=5581AD62&__gda__=1433597630_2f63c36acdb6d5f8a273825803ef9487" width="400" /><br />
As I put my first cast across a rising fish the fish rose and I set the hook. As I was playing the fish the heaven's opened with hail, snow and rain all at the same time so after quickly releasing the fish of around 1lb I scarpered and run for cover. After it stopped hailing, snowing and raining I carried on with my fishing. The rises had stopped but the flies were still on top of the water so I knew that it was only a matter time. As I made my way up through the runs I could spot out some dimple rises up against the bushes. In the past I have caught some really good fish there so I was pretty confident of a good fish and I was not disappointed. I managed to catch 2 monster fish and it was only the first day of the season. I managed to loose another really good fish before heading off home to pick the kids up from school butbi will be back tommorrow<br />
<img height="223" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11008410_403214496507017_7797890382744996081_n.jpg?oh=8da8038df8939e4b5484c91a28c3b33e&oe=557C5A0B&__gda__=1434614402_4a05910ef2a7e1b6cd367d9ca8e1b7dd" width="400" /><br />
<br />
<img height="224" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11025805_403214506507016_9176901065238377999_n.jpg?oh=ad9a357c3a370d2689086ad0150293e1&oe=5585D64E&__gda__=1435343350_1ea811b024c8a14cefe9021fa0ef4fd2" width="400" />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-79696436694054687652014-12-19T15:24:00.002-08:002014-12-19T15:24:21.337-08:00Double Ribbed Nymph<br /><br />
<img alt=" photo c97bb945-67b7-4858-9dd0-f784aadbca43_zpsd566fc24.jpg" class="placeHold" data-link="id{:placeHolderId}" id="placeHolder_0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/c97bb945-67b7-4858-9dd0-f784aadbca43_zpsd566fc24.jpg?t=1418944874" style="height: 337px; margin-top: 121.5px; width: 450px;" /><br />
Tail=Brown hen hackle<br />Body=Hares ear<br />Rib=Copper & red
copper<br />Thorax=floresant red thread<br />
5ml Tungsten Bead.daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-58176510372310453292014-12-15T12:55:00.001-08:002014-12-15T13:08:26.268-08:00A Couple of Heavy Bugs For The LadiesAsyou can tell by the lack of posts this year I have not been out much. Between juggling work and moving homes I have had no time to myself. Which means my fishing and fly Tying has been effected (BADLY). This week i saw myself having some spare time (At last) and managed a couple of hours fly tying and decided on some big heavy nymphs for the ladies. Here are a couple which I managed to tie up. <br />
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A variation of Hares ear and Ptn's with a copper and red copper ribbing, 5ml, 3.5ml and 3ml tungsten beads and tied on a <a href="http://www.cliff-harvey-angling.co.uk/prod_show.asp?id=4269">Hends BL120</a><br />
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<img alt=" photo DSCF0296_zps3295be61.jpg" data-link="src{:fullsizeUrl} width{:rsWidth} height{:rsHeight}" height="183" id="fullsizeMedia" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0296_zps3295be61.jpg?t=1418676269" style="height: 183px; margin-top: 198.5px; width: 450px;" width="450" /><br />
<img alt=" photo DSCF0295_zpsd5fc7b63.jpg" data-link="src{:fullsizeUrl} width{:rsWidth} height{:rsHeight}" height="337" id="fullsizeMedia" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0295_zpsd5fc7b63.jpg?t=1418676523" style="height: 337px; margin-top: 121.5px; width: 450px;" width="450" /><br />
<img alt=" photo DSCF0294_zps083afb6b.jpg" data-link="src{:fullsizeUrl} width{:rsWidth} height{:rsHeight}" height="337" id="fullsizeMedia" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0294_zps083afb6b.jpg?t=1418676582" style="height: 337px; margin-top: 121.5px; width: 450px;" width="450" /><br />
<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-76257873653147498212013-12-22T04:50:00.000-08:002013-12-22T04:51:46.089-08:00Fed Up Of Tying Bugs & Dries For Next SeasonOver the past couple of weeks i have been non stop tying up nymphs and Czech nymphs and am getting a little fed up with it all. So have decided to start on the dries for the up and coming season when there will be March Browns, large Olives Massive brook Dunns on the water for trout of all sizes to feed on.<br />
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Below are a couple of my go to dry flies from last season and what i have been tying up lately.<br />
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Olives in Sizes 18 & 12<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF0158_zps67c1190f.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF0158_zps67c1190f.jpg" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0158_zps67c1190f.jpg" /></a><br />
Size 16 Olive Paradun<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF0162_zpse2a402dd.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF0162_zpse2a402dd.jpg" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0162_zpse2a402dd.jpg" /></a><br />
Size 14 Quilled emerger & various sized quilled up rite dries ranging from 14-18<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF0161_zps72edd3e6.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF0161_zps72edd3e6.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0161_zps72edd3e6.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF0159_zps6e53dc20.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF0159_zps6e53dc20.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0159_zps6e53dc20.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
Various Coloured Klinkhammers in size 14<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF0163_zps3b377dad.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF0163_zps3b377dad.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0163_zps3b377dad.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF0166_zps1f30ba4b.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF0166_zps1f30ba4b.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0166_zps1f30ba4b.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF0167_zpsbf13673e.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF0167_zpsbf13673e.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0167_zpsbf13673e.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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If you had to choose any of the above for your stream or river which would you favour??<br />
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<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-76209492275499350462013-11-04T14:38:00.000-08:002013-11-05T00:52:41.793-08:00Grayling BugsWith the heavy rains and blustering winds no one has been able wet a line in a couple of weeks unless you are fishing the chalk streams which rarely ever flood. So a lot of us have had to settle for second best and tie up a load of flies ready for when the river levels drop and are able to safely fish he rivers. Here is a short video of a few flies which I hope to give a go when the time is rite.<br />
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<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/nHU2fTc61rc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-36468339622997972552013-08-18T02:09:00.000-07:002013-08-18T02:24:22.022-07:00Finally Some Rain...... And FishingI have not been out a great deal this year down to two reasons. One down to work commitments and the the second that the rivers here in South Wales have not had a great deal of water making the river's and streams desperately low with hardly any fish feeding untill later on in the evenings when the spinner falls are hatching their eggs on the water and dying which at this time i am in work :(<br />
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However after the recent rains i gave the stream a couple of days to run off and get back to normal level. The stream now is crystal clear and not a sign of alga or weed on the rocks with plenty of fly hatching in the fast ripply waters. I was using my 7ft 3# Hardy Featherweight as i always do on my stream outings which is perfect for casting under over hanging tree's and branches on the small streams here in South Wales. My fly of choice as always on the stream is an Olive Klinkhammer tied on a size 14 <a href="http://www.cliff-harvey-angling.co.uk/prod_show.asp?id=312">Kamasan B100</a> grub hook as i find that the fish are able to take the hook more easier than the conventional klinkhammer hook aswell as the hook is not as heavy.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/560504_144561582372311_1940864374_n_zpsc3ff2d5f.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 560504_144561582372311_1940864374_n_zpsc3ff2d5f.jpg" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/560504_144561582372311_1940864374_n_zpsc3ff2d5f.jpg" /></a><br />
Any ways back to the fishing :) I started off a little early in the day around 10:00am and the water was still a little cool from the night but i could see the odd rise or two in the pocket waters. I fish a fairly short line around 10 yards at the maximum as i have found that on small streams if you have too much line out and you strike at a rise more than most of the time that fish will get free of the hook due to slack line. I managed to fish and catch fish behind big boulders and over hanging tree's But then spooked all the fish in the long calm pools (As i always do). As you can see in the image i was at the end of the run and i managed to spook the entire run with a bow wave.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/1150910_200928440068958_721337987_n_zpsd75dd59f.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 1150910_200928440068958_721337987_n_zpsd75dd59f.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/1150910_200928440068958_721337987_n_zpsd75dd59f.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
Aafter catching a good number of fish i decided to have a look around a couple of runs and underneath rocks in the spots which have already fished. I noticed a good number of stone loaches and an abundunce of small fry which i s a good sign of how healthy the stream is becoming after it got polluted by Welsh Water a number of years ago and the hard work done by <a href="http://www.southeastwalesriverstrust.org.uk/">South East Wales River Trust</a> . I am for sure going to fish the stream a lot more before the season is out when i get the time off (even for an hour or two).<br />
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Here are a couple of pictures of the day. I hope you enjoy them.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/1170927_200928376735631_1289432159_n_zps9440909b.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 1170927_200928376735631_1289432159_n_zps9440909b.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/1170927_200928376735631_1289432159_n_zps9440909b.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/1148762_200928490068953_1584794175_n_zpsf00519c4.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 1148762_200928490068953_1584794175_n_zpsf00519c4.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/1148762_200928490068953_1584794175_n_zpsf00519c4.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/945430_200928523402283_2113893229_n_zpsa180898a.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 945430_200928523402283_2113893229_n_zpsa180898a.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/945430_200928523402283_2113893229_n_zpsa180898a.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/1170799_200928403402295_403008358_n_zps87872095.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 1170799_200928403402295_403008358_n_zps87872095.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/1170799_200928403402295_403008358_n_zps87872095.jpg" width="400" /></a>daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-48336912927764101222013-05-16T09:18:00.001-07:002013-05-16T09:38:40.931-07:00well where do i start. with work, family and other commitments i Havant really been able to get many fishing days on the calender so share with everyone. but i have managed to do some sort of fishing on the local stream, river Taff and River Usk. I have fished the Main river on the upper reaches of theTaff mostly but not to much success with the low conditions of late and clear water the fish are just not responding very well and are spooked very easily. However on the lower reaches with there has been some rather large brown trout being caught by <a href="http://taffdiaries.wordpress.com/">Terry Bromwell</a> , <a href="http://tightlineswithsion.wordpress.com/">Sion Lewis</a> and <a href="http://ronsfishing.wordpress.com/">Kieron Jenkins</a><br />
Terry's monster trout from the beginning of the season<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/526757_443697642376210_1239946769_n_zpsb4ea0e66.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 526757_443697642376210_1239946769_n_zpsb4ea0e66.jpg" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/526757_443697642376210_1239946769_n_zpsb4ea0e66.jpg" /></a><br />
One of Kierons monster early season fish from the River Taff<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/5355_496741447049088_2044219405_n_zpsd66c1739.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 5355_496741447049088_2044219405_n_zpsd66c1739.jpg" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/5355_496741447049088_2044219405_n_zpsd66c1739.jpg" /></a><br />
On the River Usk i fished it when the river had a little of water on it. There was plenty of fly life about but hardly anything rising or interested in our dries or nymphs in the main runs. Myself and <a href="http://www.caughtbytheriverflyfishing.blogspot.co.uk/">Lee Evans</a> fished mostly all the main pools on the Mardy but it wasn't until we started nymphing some pocked water we started to nail into some really good fish (5 fish in one pocket) which saved the day from a blank for both of us. My biggest fish from the day was a very nice 16 inch Trout caught on a 3ml with a silver tungsten bead PTN jig :)<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/60c991fb-3e93-4ce7-a135-ee12c0f28a20_zps6b2931f2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 60c991fb-3e93-4ce7-a135-ee12c0f28a20_zps6b2931f2.jpg" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/60c991fb-3e93-4ce7-a135-ee12c0f28a20_zps6b2931f2.jpg" /></a><br />
As to the stream it hasn't been fishing very well this year so far with the harsh spring/summer which we has been having with very little or nothing caught at all at times. There has been plenty of fly life such as brook dunns, pale wateries, large dark olives, cainis etc etc mostly if not all fish have been having a free passage down stream. But i suppose if there is that much activity above the water you can just imagine how much is going on under the water so why would a trout want to rise to a fly. However things have been looking up in the past week or two with a few being caught on the dry and a few yellow may dunns and may flies coming off the water so hopefully it will bring the fish up feeding more prolific even though it is still pretty cold even now in May with snow on the hill tops.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/SAM_0002-1_zps09c7bc9a.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo SAM_0002-1_zps09c7bc9a.jpg" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/SAM_0002-1_zps09c7bc9a.jpg" /></a><br />
Also in my spare time i have been experimenting with cdc flies and have tied up a small collection which have caught me a few nice trout so far this season as i am experimenting with different variations and styles of dry flies :)<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF8065_zps60759330.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF8065_zps60759330.jpg" border="0" height="640" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF8065_zps60759330.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF8061_zpsfe5bbdc7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF8061_zpsfe5bbdc7.jpg" border="0" height="480" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF8061_zpsfe5bbdc7.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF8019_zpsf9b3d810.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF8019_zpsf9b3d810.jpg" border="0" height="480" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF8019_zpsf9b3d810.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
The rivers have now had a good bit of rain and are running off a spate as i write this post so hopefully the fishing trout & salmon will pick up a little :)<br />
<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-49663741209361031962013-03-06T15:13:00.000-08:002013-03-06T15:14:54.494-08:00Good Start To The New Season :)Well the new 2013 trout season is here at last. The long cold morning, frosty mornings Chasing winter Grayling are gone and rising golden trout are on every ones minds. After spending many hours in my little claustrophobic cubourd tying many flies for the new season I ended up spending my first day of the 2013 trout season on my usual haunt on the upper river. My Pal Mostyn was accompanying me on the river and we were both fishing klink & dink. It was all a little slow, no fly life on the wing and no trout rising. We both fished a couple of pools and fast runs but not a sausage. By this time it was later on in the day and i had to go to work soon so i just sat back and told Mostyn that i would just watch him for a little and let him have the last couple of pools. He was fishing at the bottom of a pool which was dead calm but had enough pace on it to make his flies go down river at a nice pace without any drag. His second cast and his klinkhammer slowly slid under the surface. Thinking he was just snagged on the bottom he didn't strike as if he was into a fish he just lifted his rod slightly. Next thing he knew his rod was bending and a massive fish leaped into the air and trying its best to head off down river. At first i thought that he had hooked into a small salmon kelt but after watching him fight the fish and it coming to the surface a few times you could see that it was a huge trout. After a few minutes battle the trout was safely in the landing net unhooked and a quick picture taken. I wouldn't like to give an accurate weight of the fish as it was very very long and slim. However my biggest fish in the 2012 trout season was 23 inches and this fish was much bigger so id give it 3 1/2lb and possible 4lb+ when it reforms condition. After seeing that massive trout i had to leave the river for the day to go to work but i managed to see a beauty of the river aswel as catching a small trout myself :) (Much smaller)<br />
Mostyns MASSIVE trout<br />
<a href="http://s1031.beta.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF8011-2_zps486db97f.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF8011-2_zps486db97f.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF8011-2_zps486db97f.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.beta.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF8010_zps8e002a47.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF8010_zps8e002a47.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF8010_zps8e002a47.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
Later that day i had a phone call off a mate <a href="http://tightlineswithsion.wordpress.com/">Sion Lewis/Lewy</a> which had just recently joined the club water which i fish asking me to show him around. Obviously I couldn't say no as i had booked the day off work. We started off a bit later in the around 9:30am. We were again fishing klink & Dink as the water levels are painfully low and clear so we wouldn't be able to fish nymphs very well in them conditions. I took him to the same runs which i fished the day before as i knew that there was more fish there just we didn't catch them the day before. There was still frost on the ground when we hit the river so i knew that it wasn't going to be easy fishing even thought there was quite a few LDO's on the wing so we were a bit confident we were going to hit into something. We fished every single pool, pocket and crease and the trout were just not interested. All them LDO'S floated down river were getting a free pass as the trout were just not switched on. I was getting a little worried thinking that <a href="http://tightlineswithsion.wordpress.com/">Sion</a> was thinking that there was no fish in the river as this went on for a couple of hours until it warmed up at around 11:30. There was a clear sign that there was a a lot more LDO'S coming onto the wing and the trout were taking notice as you could make out the odd sip and splashy rise. Where we were fishing it was wide enough for both of us to fish with a big island in the middle of the river so i took one side and Sion took the other. A couple of casts in on the klink & dink and i was into a nice looking trout which took my dry fly :)<br />
<a href="http://s1031.beta.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/dsc07814_zps27740234.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo dsc07814_zps27740234.jpg" border="0" height="225" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/dsc07814_zps27740234.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
And a couple of casts late a little further up river in the oxygenated water behind boulders i was straight into another and on the dry too :)<br />
<a href="http://s1031.beta.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/dsc07819_zpse1fd8a8a.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo dsc07819_zpse1fd8a8a.jpg" border="0" height="150" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/dsc07819_zpse1fd8a8a.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
With Sion seeing me catch these two fantastic fish he asked me kindly (haha) if he could fish the rest of the run which i was fishing so i let him carry on. He spotted a nice fish rise a little further up river. He placed his flies a little further than where the fish had rose first. The fish rose to his fly but when he struck there was nothing on the end. Luckily the fish didn't feel the hook as the next cast he nailed it on the dry too<br />
<a href="http://s1031.beta.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/dsc07822_zpsced9cec0.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo dsc07822_zpsced9cec0.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/dsc07822_zpsced9cec0.jpg" width="373" /></a><br />
Sion had his first fish on his new water and he soon got into the swing of things as he caught another fish afterwards on his LDO quill pattern Which i will be copying by the way ;) and as soon as you knew it was time to go home. However a great day fishing in great surrounding, company and fish. Not a lot more you can need.<br />
<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-90840565007869967262013-02-18T04:23:00.000-08:002013-02-18T04:24:35.663-08:00New Season, New fliesWith the new trout season fast approaching and everyone itching to get out onto the rivers and small streams after blue and red spotted beauties. My old box at the moment is full of big heavy flies ranging from 3ml up to 5.5ml nymphs for the grayling in winter and some are either too heavy for the water which i fish for trout or too over dressed and flashy. so i had decided to do myself a new fly box so that when the time comes (March 3rd) i know that ill be ready so for the past couple of weeks i have been slowly making this new box. One side with nymphs from 2ml up to 3ml for the main upper river and on the opposite side dry flies for the small streams which i use single dry fly or maybe early in the season a duo/klink & dink.<br />
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I hope your boxes are ready and i hope you enjoy :)<br />
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A few 2ml & 2.5ml nymphs<br />
<a href="http://s1031.beta.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF8005-1_zps34c37012.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF8005-1_zps34c37012.jpg" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF8005-1_zps34c37012.jpg" /></a><br />
A few bigger 2.8ml & 3ml nymphs<br />
<a href="http://s1031.beta.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF8006-1_zpsadaa4f65.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF8006-1_zpsadaa4f65.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF8006-1_zpsadaa4f65.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
Still not finished on the dries yet but here are a few Olive, Black and Tan klinkhammers aswell as a couple of cdc & elks.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.beta.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF8008-2_zps582dd711.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCF8008-2_zps582dd711.jpg" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF8008-2_zps582dd711.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-63644670318096682472012-12-22T07:21:00.000-08:002012-12-22T07:21:35.683-08:00Fly Fishing On A budget<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-9590318002326710392012-12-14T03:53:00.000-08:002012-12-14T04:25:08.282-08:00Grayling On The Rhym<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">With the heavy rain and high river levels lately it</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">’</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">s been a struggle to get out on the river and do some fishing </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">h</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">ere in South Wales. So when we had a forecast </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">of</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> no rain for the whole week</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">I</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> made some arrangements with </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">my</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> friends </span><a href="http://tightlineswithsion.wordpress.com/" style="cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;" target="_blank">Sion Lewis</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> and Neil Ashman </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">both Welsh river international fishermen</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> to have a day out on the </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">R</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">iver Rhymney. This was my first time on the Rhymney so Sion and Neil were to show me around. All three of us were using 10ft 3# </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">rods set up </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">with </span><a href="http://www.cliff-harvey-angling.co.uk/prod_show.asp?id=1588" style="cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;" target="_blank">French leader</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">s</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> and team</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">s</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> of weighted nymphs. We arrived </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">at</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">10:00am and made our way down river to our starting point</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">Th</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">ere was</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> still a</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">hard</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> frost on the river banks and surrounding fields. We decided to go fish for fish and Sion was first up to have a go. Sion fished heavy bugs in the first run and covered every single part of the pool but not a single touch so onwards and upwards</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">, we went,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> into the next pool. Again</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> Sion fished every part of the pool </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">with</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> not a single touch so we all decided to fish close together </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">around 20 or so yards apart</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> giving each other room to cast and if one of us miss</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">ed</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> fish the person below fishing has the opportunity to catch </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">them</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> when moving up river. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">We</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> fished four different pools hard, deep and covered every square inch but not a single thing, not </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">a single</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> attempt at our flies</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">.</span> <img alt=":o" src="http://www.mtaa.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/icon_e_surprised.gif" /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">After that we had a break and had a chat </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">as </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">to where we thought the fish may </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">lie</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">. We </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">concluded</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> that</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> even though we were fishing deep runs, the</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">y</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> were not deep enough and </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">were </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">too fast for the grayling to shoal up in</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">W</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">e decided to move up river a little where there </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">we</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">re some </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">very</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> deep </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">slower </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">pools. As we headed on </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">to</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> the pool </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">that</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> we were to fish</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> at the back of </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">a</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> run we noticed some </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">very</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">large</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">shapes</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> in the water. At first we thought they were small salmon but </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">upon</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">closer inspection we </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">realised</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> that they were barbell. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">A</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">ll three of </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">us one by one</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">optimistically</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> had a go at them</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> as none of us had ever caught one on the fly before</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">S</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">adly </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">we still</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> have</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">n’t</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">and, </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">as they were not interested</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> we carried on up the pool in search </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">of</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> grayling</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b><u>Neil trying to get the barbell to bite</u></b> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><a href="http://s1031.beta.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF8005-1_zps8296a14d.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF8005-1_zps8296a14d" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF8005-1_zps8296a14d.jpg" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">This time </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">I</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> was</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> the</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> first to wet a line in the deep</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">er</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> water. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">Upon my</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> first cast </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">-</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">with a 4.5ml tungsten nymph to help me get </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">right </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">quickly</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">-</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> my indicator shot under and </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">I had a</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><a href="http://www.fishonproductions.co.uk/" style="cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;" target="_blank">fish on</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">. A</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">nother cast into the pool and another fish, and another, and anoth</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">er,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> which was very nice after a </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">slow </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">couple hours</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">.</span> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">This carried on for a good hour </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">for</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> the three of us as there was so many grayling in the pool</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span> <img alt=":D" src="http://www.mtaa.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif" /></span><br />
<u><b><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">One of my decent grayling 1 1/4 lb</span></b></u><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><a href="http://s1031.beta.photobucket.com/user/daniel-fly-fisherman/media/DSCF8002-1_zps152cbd70.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF8002-1_zps152cbd70" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF8002-1_zps152cbd70.jpg" width="400" /></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">After fishing out that pool we knew where to go to catch more fish </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">in </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">the next pool</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> After a </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">short</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> walk up river we spotted a deep pool near to where we parked the cars</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">which was ideal</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">!).</span><img alt=";)" src="http://www.mtaa.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">The pool had two big boulders placed in it to create slack water in high water and create holding spots for fish so we had an idea where to put our flies. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">It</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> was big enough for the three of us to fish so </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">it was every man for himself</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">. On our first cast all three of us </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">were</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> into fish</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> all around</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> the</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> 1 lb </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">mark.</span> <img alt=":o" src="http://www.mtaa.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/icon_e_surprised.gif" /> W<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">e all knew we were into </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">a</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">nother</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">big shoal of grayling and thought we were going to catch </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">some larger specimens</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">, so we carried on fishing and catching nice grayling up to 1 1/2lb</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span> <img alt=":D" src="http://www.mtaa.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif" /> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">In the end i had to stop fishing as it was so cold ( </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">-5 degrees to be exact</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> and after putting </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">my</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> hands in the water numerous times </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">to </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">return</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> fish</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">) I was in </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">pain</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">.</span> <img alt=":(" src="http://www.mtaa.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif" /> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">S</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">o </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">I</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> just sat tight holding my hands tight together blowing into them whist watching Sion and Neil carry on catching</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 23px;">before heading home.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">It was a great days fishing on a new river and will definatly be back some time soon to fish it again.</span><br />
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Sion trying a new method of fishing <br />
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Sion and Neil fishing a pool full of fish whilst i keep my hands warm<br />
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Average fish of the day around 3/4lb<br />
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One of Neils catches<br />
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a short video of Sion and Neil having fun<br />
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<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-47398681546998001952012-12-03T12:29:00.001-08:002012-12-03T12:40:44.864-08:00Split Cane/Bamboo care<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Looking after a cane rod is a simple affair of common sense and an awareness of what is going on around you. The best way to look after your cane rod is to fish with it, and fish with it a lot. It does them no good to be left in a cupboard. Here a few simple suggestion in the care of cane.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">1: The time that requires the most attention is when playing and landing heavy fish. When the fish is mid current let the rod tip come down to about 45 degrees and play the fish with the middle and butt of the rod, cane is such a forgiving material there is little danger to the tippet.<br />It is as the fish comes to the net that greatest care is needed.<br />Having the fish at your feet and the rod pointed straight upwards puts tremendous strain on the tip and it is then that damage can be done.<br />A long handled landing net is ideal, putting the rod hand behind you and reaching forward with the net also helps to reduce the angle of the rod tip.<br />The critical thing is to never point the butt of the rod at the fish.<br />2: When putting rod section together and taking them apart there is a simple saying “Putting together, hands together (5” or 6”). Taking apart, hands apart (about 2 feet). Always slide the ferrule together and apart never twist. Ferrules should go in at least ¾ of their length if they do become tight get in contact with the maker and he’ll offer advice.<br />3: Don't put rods away when wet. If it's chucking it down when you finish fishing put the rod away and make sure you dry it all out when you get home.<br />4: Avoid bending the tip at severe angles, be it pulling line off the reel or landing fish.<br />5: Use common sense. It’s a valuable piece of equipment, look after it and it will keep it's value and last many years.<br />If you ever have any questions or problems with a rod get in touch with the maker and have a chat.<br />The rod maker will know the rod intimately, He will have spent at least a month of his life with it probably longer and he will be keen to see it looked after and used.<br />There is plenty of advice on the forums so if you are looking at trying cane for the first time either have a look on them or get in contact with a rod maker they will have plenty of suggestions.<br />Alternatively have a day with a guide who is experienced with cane. <a href="http://www.garethlewisflyfishing.com/">Guide</a> <a href="http://www.splitcane.co.uk/index.html">Split Cane Rod Maker</a></span></div>
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daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-70772201550556679822012-09-24T09:24:00.002-07:002012-09-24T09:35:28.005-07:00Grayling, grayling and some trout With the river levels in the upper reaches of the river being so,low due to lack of rain in the past few weeks myself and a friend Lee decided to get an exchange ticket which our club has with the <a href="http://www.glamorgananglersclub.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1">Glamorgan Anglers </a> on the lower reaches of the river Taff. We were both using our 10ft 3# rods with <a href="http://www.cliff-harvey-angling.co.uk/search_prod_list.asp?search=french+leader&category=all&Submit1.x=0&Submit1.y=0">French leaders</a> fishing a team of nymphs as the water on the lower reaches are very deep, slow and fast. After a 1 mile walk down river we came to where we were going to start off fishing. A large bridge with a deep, long and fast run underneath it. I started fishing at the bottom of the run whist Lee fished the top half as there was plenty of room for the two of us. I knew the run was pretty deep so opted for a 3ml ptn with a silver tungsten head for the point fly and a 2ml ptn on the dropper so that the nymphs were fishing two different depths. I started fishing the slack water just in case there were any fish lying off the main current and within 3 casts my indicator shot under and i was into my first fish. A quick thump and bump shaking its head and it was off down river. However i could handle the fish and not let it take too much line as it wasn't too big a fish. I quickly eased it out of the faster water it had run into to tire the fish out and within a minute the fish was safely in the net. A nice 1 1/4lb trout to start the day off nicely <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/thumbs.gif" /><br />
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After the commotion which that little trout made i didn't get one knock in the slack water afterwards except for the bottom <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/tongue.gif" /> So i decided to switch directly into the main current itself and work my way a little bit up river. My first cast into the main current and my indicator shot under however nothing on the end of the line. Now that i know that there was fish there i placed my flies there a few more times before my indicator shot under. However this time i could feel something on the end of the line and it wasn't the bottom. I was into a fish and it was fighting quite hard. A nice 1 1/2lb grayling.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF00013.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF00013" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF00013.jpg" /></a><br />
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Around 10 casts later i was into another 4 grayling around 1 lb. After catching these fish i called Lee down to where i was as he wasn't having much luck in the upper part of the pool and he was more than happy to have a go. However as Lee was making his way down the pool quietly so that he didn't spook off any fish in the process another angler walked from one side of the river to the other splashing and making a commotion in the pool which we are fishing and spooked the whole pool and we didn't have another knock or fish in the pool. As myself and Le made our way into the next runs the first thing we noticed was canoeists in the next two runs so we skipped them two and marched on up river (but not before Lee had a few words with them first <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/whistle.gif" />) and came to a deep , long and fast pool which just screamed out big trout and grayling so we both stuck to our heavy nymphs. Myself and Lee placed our flies in every square in of the run and not a single nudge or even an attempt for any fish to attack our flies until i came to the top of the run with a tree over hanging the main flow. I placed my flies above the tree in the main flow and let the nymphs work the depths underneath and my indicator shot under but as i struck i could see the fish turn on its side and shot away <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/frown.gif" /> So i stood back and stayed still for a few minutes just in case i spooked any more fish whilst striking into the previous fish. After a few minutes of standing still bord senseless i noticed a little rise in the fast water which i missed the fish in next to the tree. However i only seen it rise once even though there were quite a few BWO's and brook dunns coming down river. I placed my flies back up above the tree in the main current and let them come down river working different depths of the water. As my flies came to the point where i seen the fish rise my indicator slid under slowly so i struck. At first I knew that i was into a fish as i could feel it moving and thought that it was another nice grayling as i hadn't seen the fish. So i put a little more pressure on the fish and all of a sudden as i put pressure on the fish it started shaking its head very violently and sped off down river with nothing that i could do but hold on. At this stage the fish had still stayed down deep and hadn't shown itself so my automatic thought was that it was a small salmon/grilse as all it wanted to do is go down river shaking its head. However Lee helped me land the fish and whilst playing the fish in calm water it rolled on its side and Lee said its a big trout I was gob smacked<img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/eek.gif" /> Not long later it was safely in the net and weighted in at 2 1/2lb. But we had a theory to why it fought so hard and that is that it had a tail like a shovel <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" /><br />
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After catching that fish myself and Lee worked our way through some more runs shallow and deep with just the one decent fish which Lee caught weighing 2lb aswel as some small grayling and salmon parr until we came to yet another very long, deep run around 200 yards long which was wade able out to around half way. We both knew that there was enough room for the both of us so Lee decided to change from heavy nymphs to klink&dink and fish the bottom half of the run whilst i stuck to my nymphs except for the exception of me changing my nymph size from a 3ml to a 3.3ml to get down a little deeper. I knew that it was going to be a good run as when i was switching to my heavier nymph Lee had already caught two grayling <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" /> My first few casts were in the slack water just off the main current but not a touch so opted straight for the faster water. My first cast in the main current and i was straight into a fish but it sadly came off. Another cast and another fish. A 1 lb grayling <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" /> This carried for 2 hours whilst working up and down the run twice catching grayling up to 1 3/4lb <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" /> Before we knew it it was time to pack up as the light was starting to fade slowly over the mountains. However i will definatly be heading down there in the winter season looking for shoaled up grayling and trying out some more new water <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" /><br />
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Lee fighting a 2lb trout<br />
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<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0028_zps27900c69.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0028_zps27900c69" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0028_zps27900c69.jpg" /></a><br />
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Some of the pools <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/thumbs.gif" /><br />
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<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0013_zps52272685.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0013_zps52272685" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0013_zps52272685.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0031_zps58fe3837.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0031_zps58fe3837" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0031_zps58fe3837.jpg" /></a><br />
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Some more fish <img src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/smile.gif" /><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0029_zps561b8920.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0029_zps561b8920" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0029_zps561b8920.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0030_zpsbc9674c5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0030_zpsbc9674c5" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0030_zpsbc9674c5.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF00033.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF00033" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF00033.jpg" /></a><br />
Video of canoeists ruining some very good runs and disturbing the bottom of the river.<br />
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<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-51522554542194189282012-07-27T07:54:00.000-07:002012-07-28T11:16:37.757-07:00A new stream<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I have had my eye on a little stream in a little sleepy village for quite some time now and last week I had the opportunity to fish it for two days straight. The main river which it runs into has hardly any wild trout population mainly salmon and sea trout. I have seen one or two wbt in this little stream whilst on looking off the road bridge once before. Anyway my better half was going to take the car for an MOT test and it was on the way so asked her to drop me off and pick me back up later in the day. The stream is very urbanised with stone cages at the side of it to prevent flooding but i thought i would give it a go anyway. I was using my little 7ft 3# hardy featherweight with a size 10 olive extream klinkahmmer to start off with. </span><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0007-5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0007-5" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0007-5.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I placed my fly in the slow water at the side of the fast water as straight away a little fish rose to my fly but did not hook up. So i ut it past the fish a few times and a few times it rose but did not hook so i moved on. Working through the runs and little pocket water the same was happening. Fish rising but no hook ups so i tore off the size 10 extream klinkhammer hook and put on one of my size 14 klinkhammer/emerger patterns to see if they would be able to take the smaller fly a little better but stuck to the same colour (olive) as they obviously liked it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7187.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7187" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7187.jpg" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Within a few casts i was into a little fish but sadly came off. So i moved onto the next runs. I don't know why but for some reason due to the floods which we have had lately i have been sticking to the side of the fast water. Forgetting that after floods the fish like to stay in the fast/pocket water for more oxygen so gave it a go instead. In one pool alone i managed to catch 5 fish in the fast water and it was the same all the way through the stream aswell as missing a lot of strikes too </span><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/thumbs.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Thumbs" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But i will definatly be fishing it a lot more (now that i know there are fish there to catch) and as far as i am aware i am the only one to fish it for a long time as a lady said to me that i am the person she had ever seen fishing it and she thought there was no fish in it. Then i catch a fish in front of her </span><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/cool.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Cool" /><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">the urbanised part of the stream </span><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/omg.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Omg" /><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0006-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0006-3" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0006-3.jpg" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0007-6.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0007-6" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0007-6.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0008-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0008-3" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0008-3.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Then after half a mile or so its goes high up into the mountains and as wild as you get get </span><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Big Grin" /><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0010-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0010-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0010-1.jpg" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0012.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0012" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0012.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0011.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0011" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0011.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF00022-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF00022-2" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF00022-2.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF00032-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF00032-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF00032-1.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF00062.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF00062" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF00062.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF00072.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF00072" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF00072.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The thriving fish </span><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Big Grin" /><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Big Grin" /><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0004-5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0004-5" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0004-5.jpg" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0005-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0005-3" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0005-3.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0002-5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0002-5" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0002-5.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0013-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0013-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0013-1.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0009-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0009-2" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0009-2.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0001-4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0001-4" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0001-4.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF00052.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF00052" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF00052.jpg" /></a></span></span><br />
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<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-87301678881281699342012-07-22T16:09:00.000-07:002012-07-22T16:09:32.737-07:00Good day on the stream<span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As the sun was shining and the river/stream levels had dropped in the past few days i thought i would give my hardy featherweight 7ft 3# a walk on the local stream today. I started off a little late in the day at 12:30pm. As i got to the water i could see that the water was Gin clear and not a lot of fly on the water or in the air too so I knew it was going to be hard fishing. I opted for a size olive 14 Klinkhammer tied on a partridge extreme klinkhammer hook. in the first few pools I didn't rise a single fish in the fast of flat calm at the side of the fast water in the runs and got a little frustrated. So i carried on fishing through the day on the same fly picking off the odd fish or two aswell as the odd splashy rise as I plodded along but it didn't matter as i was out in the county side with a clear mind and not a care in the world </span><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Big Grin" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> After working through the pools i came to a pool called the crossing pool (for obvious reasons) there is a lot of pocket water above which i have only fished once before in my life and normally walk straight past it up into the mountains but not today. As I didn't have much time on my hands i fished all the pockets and fast water and it payed off beautifully with lots of wilder than wild brown trout as every time i placed my fly at the side or in the fast water there was a trout there to have a taste of what i had to offer </span><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Big Grin" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> (as you can imagine I wasn't complaining) but then i had the dreaded phone call with what signal i had on my mobile phone due to being so high up in the mountains to say that i had to go from my beloved stream and wild brown trout to go to a bbq </span><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/mad.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Mad" /><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">How i wished i had stayed on my beloved stream and carried on fishing until the light faded but it wasnt to be. But like the great Arnold said. I WILL BE BACK </span><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/thumbs.gif" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Thumbs" />
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Plenty of these about <img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Big Grin" /><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0003-5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0003-5" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0003-5.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0008-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0008-2" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0008-2.jpg" /></a><br />
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My fly went from this at the start of the day<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0007-5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0007-5" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0007-5.jpg" /></a><br />
To this at the end of the day<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0005-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0005-2" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0005-2.jpg" /></a><br />
Some mouth watering pocket/boulder water full of wild brown trout<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0009-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0009-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0009-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0004-4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0004-4" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0004-4.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0002-4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0002-4" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0002-4.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0001-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0001-3" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0001-3.jpg" /></a><br />
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<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-24314494542349023722012-07-17T04:58:00.000-07:002012-07-17T10:45:25.403-07:00The improved PTNWith the rain making the rivers and streams swollen in the past few months I have had time to catch up on my reading of the book <span style="color: red;">fly fishing and fly tying part 2 </span>by hends products.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0022.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0022" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0022.jpg" /></a><br />
I noticed a few nice nymph patterns in the book which I thought might do the trick with the high and coloured river levels so I game them a go. To no surprise they done the job pretty well by catching me a good number of trout.<br />
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Here is a <span style="color: red;">Step By Step</span> of a nymph which i like to call the<span style="color: red;"> improved PTN</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span><br />
A size 14 jig hook from <a href="http://www.flytyingboutique.com/shop/product.cfm?product=477">Fly Tying Boutique</a> with a 3ml silver slotted tungsten bead. You can tie it with any bead from 2ml to 4ml depending on what water you are fishing<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0003-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0003-3" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0003-3.jpg" /></a><br />
tie a few fibres from a cock hack or a Chinese hen hackle and then work the thread back to the bead forming a taper.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0004-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0004-3" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0004-3.jpg" /></a><br />
pinch down some copper wier<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0005-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0005-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0005-1.jpg" /></a><br />
then attach some pheasant tail and wrap both together down to the tail of the fly<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0006-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0006-2" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0006-2.jpg" /></a><br />
wrap the pheasant tail around the hook up to the bead and tie down with a few wraps of the thread<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0007-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0007-3" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0007-3.jpg" /></a><br />
Make a few turns of the cooper wire to the bead, tie down hard and twist the excess copper wire.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0008.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0008" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0008.jpg" /></a><br />
Dub on some crystal flash ice dubbing and wrap around as a thorax.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0009.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0009" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0009.jpg" /></a><br />
Then dub on some hares ear over the ice dubbing but not covering it completely<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0010.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0010" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0010.jpg" /></a><br />
Then whip finish around the bead, put some varnish on the thread to hold in place and use a dubbing teaser to pull out some fibres to make the fly more life like.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0013.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0013" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0013.jpg" /></a><br />
You can also use pink for the summer/winter grayling<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0019.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0019" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0019.jpg" /></a>daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-8484142373953641702012-07-14T15:18:00.001-07:002012-07-14T15:18:23.755-07:00Finally some decent fishing :D<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After the heavy rain here in South Wales for a a good couple of months and jumping in and out of the rivers and streams when the levels drops a little bit myself and a friend Lee fished the river Taff today after it hadn't rained all night and the river level had dropped quite substantially. I was using my 10ft 3# with a French leader with a team of nymphs and Lee was using a 11 ft 3# with a presentation leader on a klink&dink. To start off with there wasn't a lot of fly life about only the odd olive but nothing rising freely but we managed a few to the dry and nymphs before we made our way up river as there was people practising for the internationals at the end of the month. As we got to back onto the river the heavens opened and we were stuck under a tree for a while until it died down a little but the heavy rain had done the damage and brought the river up slightly and very coloured too which we were not very happy about and nearly called it a day. Luckily we didn't as after half hour or so after the rain had stopped the river cleared up a little and a massive hatch of pale wateries and bwo's came off the water and the fish were feeding heavily on them from the start of the hatch so we both opted to the dry fly a size 14 olive klinkhammer. We managed to pick off a few nice ones averaging at around 14 inch fish with very very light rises which is a bit odd i thought as they normally tend to rise very splashy/violently most of the time.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Working through the runs picking up the odd trout or two we spotted a really nice fish rising up against a banking and Lee had first digs at the fish to see if he could catch it but it wasn't too interested for some reason but still it kept on rising. So we both let it be for 10/15 minutes before i had a go myself. By this time it was rising every couple of seconds and i just knew it was going to take the fly when it passes him if I present it correctly. Within 3 casts it supped the fly softly under the surface and it was hooked. To start off with i didn't think it was as big as i thought it was but then it started taking line and quickly too down river whilst jumping in the air. I think i done my best to keep it out of the fast water so that the fish couldn't keep its strength up while in the oxygenated water so i put a lot of side strain on it whilst it tried making runs for the fast water. After a good old scrap Lee kindly netted the fish for me as the fish was down river from me <img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="vertical-align: middle;" title="Smile" /> A really nicely spotted 21 inch WBT <img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align: middle;" title="Big Grin" />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After that fish we made our way through some more runs picking off the odd fish or two with Lee catching some really nice fish around 15 inches as it was getting late and the hatch was quieting down a little. But a really good days fishing and i hope and pray that it is the last of the heavy rain <img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.flyforums.co.uk/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="vertical-align: middle;" title="Smile" /></span><br />
<br />
<br />
The fly which done most of the damage through the day<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7187.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7187" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7187.jpg" /></a><br />
A really late in the season brook dunn<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0006-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0006-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0006-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Lee fishing a double run<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0002-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0002-3" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0002-3.jpg" /></a><br />
one of Lee very nice catches<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=AxyvUoACQAIHaT6.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="AxyvUoACQAIHaT6" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/AxyvUoACQAIHaT6.jpg" /></a><br />
21 inch WBT :)<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0004-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0004-2" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0004-2.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
A few other trout pics<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF00022.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF00022" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF00022.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF0003.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF0003" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF0003.jpg" /></a>daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-45855452052411883082012-06-23T15:09:00.001-07:002012-06-23T15:09:44.121-07:00A few fliesDue to the heavy rain and winds lately myself (id image yourself's too) have been stuck in doors itching to wet a line every time the river levels drop only to be accompanied by even more rain to prevent you from fishing. So i decided to fill some empty spaces where the dry fly section ( aswell as a few little nymphs ) in my box is ready for when the river level drops enough for me to get out on the upland streams here in South Wales.<br />
<br />
Hope you enjoy.<br />
X-Caddis<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7178-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7178-2" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7178-2.jpg" /></a><br />
CDC & ELK<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7181-4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7181-4" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7181-4.jpg" /></a><br />
My personal favourites Klinkammer / Emergers. Olive, Tan & Black<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7187.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7187" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7187.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7186-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7186-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7186-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7188.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7188" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7188.jpg" /></a><br />
PTN &Hares Ear nymphs.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7189.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7189" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7189.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7191.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7191" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7191.jpg" /></a><br />
Last but not least. I don't know what these two are called but they look like as if they will catch fish ;)<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7183.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7183" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7183.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7185-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7185-2" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7185-2.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-77718515697742158022012-05-28T11:06:00.001-07:002012-05-28T11:06:51.435-07:00Just a quick one<br />
After finishing my chors around the house today my better half kindly agreed that i could get out for a few hours on the river. I ventured off with my 7ft 3# as i was heading for a little stream. When i got onto the water the river level was really low and clear. Whilst working up through the runs i only managed to pick off 2 fish but was very hard work, so i decided to fish the main river instead and marched down towards the main stem abround a 3 mile march down river. I fished my way up river with klink&dink and Managed to pick off a few nice fish around 3/4lb as i fished through the runs. By this time it was getting pretty late so fished a few more runs before i set off for home. I put my fly line in a shallow but very fast bit of was. As my flies were coming down river not a single nudge but i just knew that there had to be a fish there. I placed it back up river one more time and my klinkhammer shot under and i struck........... My line shot off down river and i thought to myself oh SH## what am i going to do as i didn't take my landing net with me AAHHHHHHH. So i let it run..............and run..................and run down into the next pool with me falling all over the place running trying to catch up with the fish ( quite funny actually even i was laughing at myself hahahaha ) and eventually the fish stayed in the 1 pool shaking its head prefusivly and taking sharp fast runs but it was getting tired. After a good 10 minute battle i managed to bring the fish into the shallows and pick him out of the water :D<br />
<br />
20 inch + 3lb fish<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7179-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7179-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7179-1.jpg" /></a><br />
next to my hardy featherweight 7ft 3#<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7181-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7181-2" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7181-2.jpg" /></a><br />
safe returns and you can see how big it it as i am holding its tail whilst trying to revive the fish<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7184-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7184-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7184-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
And a few other fish ;)<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7181-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7181-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7181-1.jpg" /></a><br />
smallest fish of the day<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7174-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7174-1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7174-1.jpg" /></a><br />daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-87256508366744986062012-05-07T14:39:00.000-07:002012-05-07T14:39:03.207-07:00A Day Of Two Halfs<span style="color: red;"><u><b>First Half.</b></u></span><br />
Friday night saw me messaging a friend/Lee and he asked me how was the river and is it fish able after the recent rains which we have had over the past month. It hadn't rained hard for a few days now so the river was dropping slowly so it shouldn't be a problem on the winter level. I met up with Lee at around 09:30am, Lee had already been there for about 30 minutes before me and had managed to pick off a few small fish ( a good sign. ) We were both fishing with 10ft 3# rods and a team of nymphs. I started by fishing the run which Lee had already fished as he wondered off down to the run below. I fished the fast and slack water where you would expect the fish to be with heavy nymphs but not a single touch. After Lee had finished fishing his run with just as much success as myself we headed off up river to venture for <span style="color: red;">WBT</span>. The next run was a long fast run with a big boulder causing some breaks in the water at the top of the run which i knew hold fish so i gave the run to Lee. Same as the run before he fished the fast and slack water at the sides with heavy nymphs but not a single touch, so I suggested that he switches from a 3ml tungsten to a lighter 2.5ml to see if the change in presentation will entice the fish to taking the nymph. Within a few casts his sight indicator shot under the water like lightning but didn't hook up into the fish :-/ But unfortunately a few casts later he had his nymphs stuck in a tree hehehe :-p Lee then insisted that I carry on fishing the run while his line is in the tree just in case he spooks the fish whilst getting his nymphs ( I was more than happy to oblige :) ) After a few casts and not taking much attention to my indicator whilst talking to Lee and onlookers I failed to notice my indicator slip away and only noticed i had a fish on when I felt the tip of my rod bounce. I struck and the fish was on luckily, however a few head shakes and a leap later it soon set itself free ( DOH ) After hooking into that fish id thought id give Lee a hand in retrieving his flies. What a mistake as after I did so and made my way back across river I stood on a loose rock and I was about to float down river but luckily Lee was there to grab my bag. As you can imagine Lee was in stitches :-/ We then fished a few more runs but not a single fish to our names. We were starting to wonder if all the fish had been taken down river from the recent flood :(<br />
<br />
<b><u><span style="color: red;">Second Half</span></u></b><br />
After the disastrous mornings fishing i decided to take Lee to a spot which the fish <span style="color: red;">usually</span> tend to stay after a good flood. It was 12:00pm and we could see a good hatch of large dark olive and large brook dunns and the fish, sand martins and swifts were taking full advantage of them. The fish were coming up to rise exposing their whole back fins and head slurping away at anything which passed them in the fast water. We both approached the water carefully not to spook any rising fish. In my section of the run I could see some really nice rising so I cast my team of nymphs around 5ft above the rising fish. First cast and I was straight into a fish leaping and trying to run off but it was only a little fish around 1/2lb but done some damage as all the other fish which were rising were now not >:( So i stood still and didn't make and casts at fish for around 5 minutes and it payed off as the fish were rising again :) I noticed a really nice fish rising around 10ft which looked to be around 3lb and gave it a go ;) A few casts later and the fish just wasn't interested so I placed my fly a little further up river than i normally would and as the nymphs came down river my indicator softly slipped away and I struck. The fish just shot off down river straight away as I held on for dear life as it stripped more and more line from my reel. The fish finally slowed down so that i could put a little bit of pressure on it. It leaped god knows how many times and gave some ferocious head shakes which I thought was going to snap me off for sure :-/ However around 5 minutes later the fish was safely in the net :)<br />
A nice 2lb WBT.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=photo3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="photo3" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/photo3.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
After myself catching that fish id thought id sit back and watch Lee fish for 5 minutes. I asked him to fish the fast water at the top of the run as previous visits to this spot has proven to me that the bigger fish hold up there. He fished the run thourally for about 10 minutes without a nudge until he fished his nymphs tight up against a wall and he hooked up into a really good fish and when he hooked up into his fish he spooked a fish and it lept out of the water and must have been at least 4lb easily :-o and Lee's fish didn't hang around long after the big trout hit the water and sped off down river. It was a repeat of me earlier when i hooked into my fish. all you can do is hold on and let the fish take line ;) It was giving Lee massive head shakes and when it couldn't get its own way it gave us some awesome aerobatic shows. Lee done really well with the fish as he was using really light leader. After a good fight an exhausted fish ( and angler hehe ) it was safely in the landing net and after a nice picture it was sent back to where it belongs in the wild :)<br />
Lee with his 2lb+ fish<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=photo.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="photo" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/photo.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
We carried on fishing then run out and a few above too for the next hour or so picking off another 3 2lb+ fish aswell as some smaller ones in between before we had to leave for the day. However a really good days fishing and great company also :) <br />
<br />
Here are a few more pics of the fish which we caught ;)<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7152.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="DSCF7152" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7152.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=photo5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="photo5" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/photo5.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=photo4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="photo4" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/photo4.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=photo2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="photo2" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/photo2.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=photo1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="photo1" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/photo1.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=photo6.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="photo6" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/photo6.jpg" /></a>daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-36890183843056000282012-04-23T14:14:00.001-07:002012-04-23T14:20:06.109-07:00What I have been up to ???Hi guys sorry that I haven't posted for a while but it has been a bit hectic here at <span style="color: red;">SSA </span>in the past few weeks. However I have managed to get out on the odd occasion on various rivers with friends. Aswell as taking my little boy out to catch his first ever trout/fish which was a special moment :) But here are a few pics<span style="color: red;"> </span>to show you what myself and angling friends have been up to in the mean while ;)<br />
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<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7104.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7104.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7105.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7105.jpg" /></a>daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-36532408028560282472012-03-28T12:13:00.000-07:002012-03-28T12:13:04.882-07:00Another Good Days Fishing :DI fished the local river today just to give me new hardy featherweight 7ft 3# a good going over :) & fished with a klink & dink. Started at around 11:00am and it was boiling hot. There was a good hatch of flies on the water and even noticed a few fish rising next to some fast water and i thought to myself mmmm this could be a very good day :) I flicked my flies very gently above the fish trying my best not to spook the fish away and first time around the fish attacked my klinkhammer but i didnt hook the fish :( So i placed it above and past the fish several more times before the fish lunged at my klinkhammer once more time and i was determind not to miss the strike this time and i didnt :) A nice little WBT <br />
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As i moved up in the pool which i was fishing i managed to pick off a few more smaller fish but nothing to really test my new rod so i decided to move up river a little to a spot which normally produces a good number of decent fish. I had to be quite with my footing as the bottom of the pool was slow calm water and i didnt want to spook any resedents away ;) I placed my fly all over the calmer water but not a single touch so decided to move a bit higher in the pool to more faster water where i had seen a few fish attacking flies on the surface. I flicked my flies up river and watched carefully incase a fish attacked my klinkhammer or takes my nymph underneath which then my klinkhammer would dissapear under water but not a single touch. So i place it up river a few more times and eventually my klinkhammer slips under water and i strike into a nice WBT just under 1lb and my new rod was bent in two :) and this fish was giving me one hell of a scrap shaking its head in the fast water and jumping several times giving onlookers one hell of a display.<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7043-5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7043-5.jpg" /></a> <br />
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Eventually the fish was landed for a quick pic and returned safely. Afterwards i managed to pick off a few more fish on the dry and nymph in several different pools and i didnt want to go home but the better half give me orders so i had to march off home :( But i cant wait to get back on the rivers and streams close to me to snatch up some WBT in the next month or two :D<br />
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Here are a few more pictures of the day.<br />
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<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7044-4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7044-4.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7048-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7048-1.jpg" /></a>daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-58039140524441677532012-03-25T12:46:00.001-07:002012-03-25T13:03:10.895-07:00A Good Days FishingI got invited by a friend ( Terry Bromwell/ Taff diaries ) to fish the lower River Taff and i was more than happy to say yes as i havnt been out in a while :) we arrived on the water at around 08:00 am and the weather was very hot and the river was low as we havnt had any rain since the first week of March. There was large dark olives, brook dunns and a few grannom flying about but nothing rising. I was armoured with my 10ft 3# fishing a team of nymphs as was Terry but he also had his 8ft 3# just incase the fish started rising. We started on a nice run underneath a fly over which usually holds some nice fish in the shallow fast water. Terry started off whilst i just hanged back and watched to see if he could pick anything off but not a single nudge/touch. As he was a little further up the run i decided to sneak in where he had fished and make my way up to see if i could intice any fish from thier hidding spots. I placed my team on nymphs all over the end of the run but to no prevale so decided to move up a nudge to a bit more faster water. As the water was very low and clear we had to tred carefully and try not to make any disturbance on the water so most of the time we were crawling on our knees trying not to spook any fish infront of us. I placed my flies at the edge of the fast water waiting for my indicator to slip under the water but nothing. I was determind that there must be a fish there or if not at least one so i placed my flies past it a few more times and eventually my indicator slipped away into the fast water and i was into a very nice WBT around one llb which fought really hard fighting me in the fast water and giving me and Terry a very good ariel display :) After that wonderfull WBT myself and terry picked off a few smaller WBT and small grayling too.<br />
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we decided to move up river a little bit as it was obvious that the fish were in the really bouldery fast water with the river being so low. We picked off more and more small grayling and Terry loosing a monsterous trout about 2lb. All of a sudden trout started looking up to see what was on the water and they were feeding on the surface so Terry pulled his dry fly out :p Near enough straight away he was into fish and another and another to his little olive patterns ( it was if they were only taking Terry's fly :p )<br />
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Terry then noticed some nice fish rising at the end of the next run. He stalked the fish taking very slow steps stopping for a minute at tiems and even crawling on his knees so that he wouldnt spook the fish and it worked a treat as they were still rising above him :) Terry then said to me that one of them was a monster. He placed his small olive patterns above the fish and let the fly pass them a few times but they were not interested. He stopped casting for a few minutes to leave the fish settle whilst staying still in the same spott untill they started rising again. He placed his fly above the rising fish again and whilst the fly was coming down river the fish went to go for his fly but turned away at the last minute. He places it past the fish again and one of the fish sipped at the fly and he was hooked. But one head shake and a run down river and he was off. Terry was gutted HAHAHAHA.<br />
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Anyways it was starting to get colder and later in the day so we both decided to to fish one last run but there wasnt a lot happening and we could only pick off one fish between us so we decided to call it a day from there which i caught :)<br />
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A brilliant days fishing and great company. Shall derfinatly fish the lower river again soon ;)<br />
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me nymphing some fast water.<br />
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One of the nicer trout.which i caught<br />
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Terry with one of his catches<br />
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Terry in stalk mode <br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=538720_324938304229404_100001397113552_920445_804112045_n.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/538720_324938304229404_100001397113552_920445_804112045_n.jpg" /></a>daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632752544174973753.post-44982340130493384002012-02-27T05:04:00.000-08:002012-02-27T05:04:10.993-08:00last weekend of the grayling seasonYesterday saw myself and my friend wayne adventuring out for the last time of the grayling season before March 3rd when the trout season begins. We headed out early around 08:00am and it was a wonderfull morning with the sun shining for once and all the birds in the area and on the river singing at the top of thier voices. I was set up with the usuall 10ft 3# with a team of nymphs and wayne with a 8ft 3# on the klink and dink. At first it was a little slow and no fly life on the water except for the odd gnat or two. I placed my flies in a very juicey looking run with a few big bolder in it and a few loose pockets at the sides but not a single sniff and wayne wasnt having too much luck either with 1 hook up on the klink & dink but eventually loosing the fish at his hand :(<br />
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We decided to hang about and have breakfast for a short while as the sun was coming from the shadows of the big tall trees next to the river side to see if it would spark and equatic life forms to life and see if any hath would come on. We guessed rite and within half an hour there was a good number of little olives and a few brook dunns coming off the water and a few fish were rising freely taking advantage of the hatch while they could. Wayne placed his flies up river in the runs waiting for either his klinkhammer to go under or a fish to rise and a greedy little grayling came up for the klinkhammer and fish on :D a nice little fat grayling to hand. After the first fish caught there was no stopping Wayne catching more and more little grayling up to around 3/4lb to the klink & dink and he was really enjoying himself so i ventured up river to the next runs.<br />
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I spotted a flat run with a little bit of fast water at the head of the pool but what took to my attention was that there was a big boulder sticking out of the water in the middle of the run which had my name all over it :) I place my team of nymphs about 10 feet below the boulder first just incase there was any fish hanging around but nothing for the first few casts and then all of a sudden my strike indactor shoots under but i was too late to strike it. But now i knew that there was fish there to be caught :D<br />
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I started placing my flies a bit further up towards the big boulder waiting for my indicator to under and first cast it shot under like a bullet. Fish on but eventually came off :'( so placed my flies in the same sport and waited for the strike as it flowed down nicely theough the run and AGAIN it shot under like a bulet but this time i was determind to keep the fish on which felt like a really nice fish. At first i thought it was a trout but then i saw the tell taled signs of it being a graying with the fin sticking out of the water :) It took me a while to bring it in as it fought really well and i eventually got it into the net ( YAY ) a nice grayling around the 1 1/2 lb mark. Sadly after that spectacular catch i hooked into a nice trout about the same size but snapped me off and myself and wayne decided to call it a day and go home to watch the rest of the football and stories of what we caught on the way home.<br />
Stroll on March 3rd :D<br />
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Here are a few pictures of the flies which worked well for me and a few pictures of fish ;)<br />
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red tag jig & hares ear jig<br />
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hares ear jig<br />
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One of the smaller grayling<br />
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one of the bigger ladies :)<br />
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safe returns<br />
<a href="http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/?action=view&current=DSCF7041.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y373/daniel-fly-fisherman/DSCF7041.jpg" /></a>daniel popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14213960781482876860noreply@blogger.com0