arbocop

What a lump!

I have experienced this whilst fly fishing - small waters particularly. A trout is caught and then nothing, or the success rate reduces, until you change fly and then you catch again. It's as if all the fish get the message somehow. Perhaps an icthyologist can explain their ability to 'decide to ignore' what would seem to be an irresistable urge to follow their physiological evolution. It's instinct combined with an adaptation to learn.

Difficult..... is it Dylan Thomas - To begin at the beginning: it is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobble streets silent and the hunched, courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloe black, slow, black, crow black fishing boat-bobbing sea.... And all the people of the lulled and dumbfounded town are sleeping now. or William Blake The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself. Then there's Wordsworth - I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. I think on balance, although I really like Under Milk Wood, I think William Blake gets the vote overall.

A long planned trip to the Kennet at Barton Court with a fellow professional. We had been watching the weather forecasts eagerly as it was approaching peak mayfly time and a dull day would keep them down. I had scant time enough to commit to my fishing these days, Patrick - my trout hunting colleague - was a consultant and had even less. I only ever see Patrick at Conferences and this was to be our first day out fly fishing. We both wanted a good day out. True to form for many of my early season trips out, the day didn't deliver on the weather front, dawning blustery with drizzle - the maximum temperature was going to be 14 degrees. We had arranged to team up at the car park as he had not been there before. Arriving first, I wandered the water searching for signs of life - there was nothing other than a few sedges, and no signs of rising trout. When he arrived I took him on a tour of the water and he started to get excited. We set up in the car park and I mocked his old rod which he said he got when he was 11 - I can't recall the manufacturer, but he claimed to have caught a 13lber on it. Comparing flies, I set up on the nymph with a PTN, he tied on a grey wulff. We set off down a feeder and started to fish ata couple of likely looking holes, but the wind was terrible, and after an hour we had nothing to show for our efforts, but at least two fish had started to rise. Moving in different directions I found a small pipe feeder on the opposite bank which had scoured out a swirl. Casting the ptn near it I followed the current back towards me, but on the third attempt I dropped the ptn right on the sweetspot and it was taken immediately. A hard fighting but stocked brownie was landed. At around 2.5lb it was a good start. After a tot of tea (we had nothing stronger!) we started again moving up the feeder stream, this time in the same direction. I had another offer but was too busy watching a water vole and pulled out of it. Patrick had still had nothing but the mayfly were starting to move even though the wind was blowing them along the water like racing yachts. We listened to yellowhammers, reed and willow warblers, and suddenly spooked a hare which promptly took off upon seeing us. This and a few splashy rises warmed us up and we chatted while we fished. We cast to a few fish, and they were not really intersted, by now I had tried the gold head grhe, mayfly nymph, olive nymph, ptn, coves ptn, but there had been little interest. We walked to the end of the fishery and spotted a huge fish cruising the edge of weed. But it was in the fast water and we had to cast over the lillies in the slow silty water for 10 metres before we could reach it. We agreed that I would cover it as I spotted it first. Two casts and I got the fly in front of where I thought it was - the surface was riffled and I couldn't see it. Pulling for a second cast I snagged the weed and had to pull for a break. Watching it again Patrick decided that he woluld have a go. Changing the dry fly for a killer bug he covered it first cast with his crap rod, he saw the white mouth open and bingo it was on! He kept it's head up and somehow managed to get it over the weed without it struggling and it then fought it in the shallow water above the weeds close to the bank. We landed what was a near 4lb brownie. Maybe the rod was OK after all. We went to the pub for lunch, after a hearty steak and kidney pie and some fat, pub chips and a pint of West Berkshire ale, we felt ready for the rest of the afternoon. We covered more water as the weather got better and were joined by more anglers, reducing our available water. By now there were more mayfly showing and we were both on the dry fly. We discussed over lunch the need to let the trout take the mayfly before striking, I rose at least three over the next hour and lifted, or struck too early each time! I watched Patrick walking down a dead end feeder which went into the woods - what's he doing I thought? he crouched and I watched him cast - then lift and a fish was on. How did he get one there I thought, but it was so overgrown he was going to struggle to land it. I went towards him and he lowered the rod and nearly poked my eye out (had I not been wearling sunglasses). I said 'You stay there and I'll go down here - when its tired, pull it this way and I'll net it' He hadn't heard me, and followed me to try and play it from my end of the feeder. The feeder had a pipe which fed the main river. You guessed it - he hadn't noticed it - as he played the fish past it the fish went down the pipe! He was still attached to it, but the fish was swimming in the pipe! Now we had a sitation! I was laughing and went down to the other side of the pipe, with the net covering the exit. Two water voles scarpered as got down into the water. I hoped that the fish would go down the pipe as Patrick let line out, giving me the opportunity to cover the flow with the net, but the flow just pulled the net away. Before we could do anything else the hook pulled, and we both let out a sigh of relieved laughter. The rest of the day was spent chasing rising fish, they were very tetchy. Some would come up and nose the fly before turning away. For duffers fortnight these fish were challenging. We managed four each all on the dry mayfly before finally calling it a day at 6pm. We checked the book - we had done well many had blanked. It was alovely day of widllife too, the rare but increasingly frequent cetti's warblers were banging out their loud song. The ubiquitous (in these parts) buzzard and red kite were soaring above. Brimstones butterflieses, speckled woods, small copper, loads of orange tip, small tortoishell and speckled wood.

It will be my first new season day for about 15 years - with the exception of this winter I've been spending most of my time fly fishing. I've rediscovered coarse fishing so for me it will be trotting - using a 'pin with a balsa or avon. I've got the day off so will be there at 4ish. Corn, maggot, bread and lob most likely baits. Target species, not fussy really - chub, roach and barbel and perch. Might try a bit of freelined paste or meat if I spot some deep River Kennet shadows.... I hope the river doesn't flood!

17th May. Fly Fishing, Bushyleaze, Lechlade. Weather was breezy and wet. In fact, to quote Black Adder it was 'wetter than a haddocks cod piece'. I had the opportunity to go out fishing but due to the weather forecast I had nothing planned. What to do with my time? Watched the weather and then decided at midday to have ago for some trout with my new Greys rod. I decided to go to a commercial fishery - not normally my thing, but I fancied getting my line pulled, and having been to this place before, I knew it would be a good option at short notice. It's also not a bad fishery, the trout go like the clappers and the fly hatch is good too. I had two 2lb perch on a previous visit on coves pheasant tail - one was a surprise, two was almost unbelievable. Arrived at 2pm, it was still wet, but was now windy in strong gusts. Several anglers were already into a few fish so I was hopeful of not being in the wind and rain too long. Swallows, swifts, sand martins and house martins were whizzing over the water and taking hatching insects. On closer examination it appeared that there were both sedges and olives hatching but I got the distinct impression that mayflies were hatching as well - the splashy rises were giving it away. It was very choppy so I decided to fish the surface layers, and include a bushy fly that I could use to create a wake if I wished. I like fishing the wet fly in these conditions. I duly set up with WF#6 and a two fly set up, a bushy invicta on the dropper and a diawl bach on the point - just in case . Walking to the bank I heard my first cuckoo of 2009! Surely a good omen? Casting was difficult, but I was managing to get a decent line out and from the position I selected, on a point with the wind from left to right, it was perfect for letting the wind do the work and move the flies round for me. It wasn't long before I got my first take, an easy steady draw which I tightened into then almost immediately lost. Around 30 minutes later the same happened again. This was getting annoying. The rain then turned into a really heavy squall with very strong wind so I took shelter for around 30 minutes and drank my tea. I pondered my new rod, and decided the action was very similar to the broken GRX and overall - for the money - the Accuflex was well worth it. When the rain and wind died down the cloud broke, and it very quickly brightened up, and although the wind was still gusty, it was quite pleasant. By now there were very clear indications of mayflies hatching so I decided to have ago for them with the dry fly. I retied a leader with a single grey wulff. I partly treated it with Gink, but didn't make to much effort, it was so choppy I would simply fish it drowned if it sank. I wasted a bit of time chasing rising fish but they were moving fast, by the time the fly had been lifted off and recast they had moved on, and not always in the obvious direction. I therefore fished it along a crease of choppy water with a slick along the edge. I always find that when fishing with a mayfly pattern, you need to allow the fish extra time before tightening or striking and this proved correct. The first two rises I had I tightened far too early in eagerness, but finally connected with one - then lost it! What was going on here? I was starting to get desperate and panic a little! I changed to the previous set up and decided I would move around for the last couple of hours, seeking out fish. I changed to a mayfly nymph on the point, and then changed the dropper fly to an Irish style drowned mayfly. As I went round the lake I got chatting to various anglers, wasting my fishing time, but that's all part of it I suppose. When I was fishing, I was still not having to much success and the mayfly nymph was bumping bottom and continually being festooned in weed so I changed again. This time from nymph to a thunder and lightning wet fly and back to an invicta on the dropper. Finally, I managed to connect with a fish and land it, then another in fairly quick succession both on the invicta. It was now nearly 7pm and I promised that I would have a short session and be back home for my sons bed time. I therefore duly left pondering what should have been a bagful, but was in fact only a brace of 2.5 lb rainbows. I decided that the fish were probably chasing the sedges rather than the mayflies and I got obsessed with the mayfly. It didn’t account for the missed opportunities and my overall poor result from a relatively well stocked lake. As well as the cuckoo, nothing more was notable in terms of wildlife, apart from the continuously calling willow warblers and chiff-chaffs. Plenty of wagtails as well. I spotted several carp in the shallows, and a largish perch - was it one of the fish I caught last year?

Yes - now a Peugeot 406 owner and have been out trouting a few times. The fly gear looks lost in the boot - its' huge. Even managed a few trouty sessions to Shaw and Speen Moor. I'm off to Barton Court nest week - should be a blinder - right in the middle of duffers fortnight!

I had both those bikes, crackling through power bands so narrow you couldn't keep the front wheel down in first and second gear. I've now got a single pot ducati and an old kawasaki z650 - both in bits! The reel looks great - where do I get a a lathe from! I want a go at making one too - mind you if it's like most of my other projects it would only get as far as the casing before I moved on to the next thing. Apart from fishing I am prone to short bouts of enthusiasm, hence the old Ducati in bits - close to 15 years now!

Which lake was that Steve?

River Lambourn, Shaw. 2nd May. Weather promising. Had been clearing out tackle and reloaded another line on my Scierra reel leaving dragonfly ready for selling on e-bay. Everything was ready for another early onslaught on the Lambourn trout followed by an early afternoon trip out with the family. Arrived at the river at 4.30am, tackled up by the car and went to the bank. First cast snagged and had to pull for a break. Damn it - last size 16 GRHE. Never mind, a new tippet and off again with another fly. Just after pulling for a break I saw a fish rise. Quickly grabbing the leader, I pulled line off the reel - except I didn't. I snapped the tip off the rod! Normally, the drag is set loose, but last night I had of course been loading it with line and for some reason tightened up the drag. My #5 rated GRX was busted and I had no spare rod. I was back home at 5am! I spent the rest of the time scouring t'interweb for a bargain. Found an Accuflex which fitted the bill at a bargain £50. Not the best rod in the world but a good replacement for my GRX. Duly ordered. Had a few beers in the afternoon!

Hi, I need a spool for my 120m - anyone got one lying around? I might even make a donation to your beer fund if you have one!

Did you sell this? Might be interested if not. Mike

River Lambourn, Shaw. 25th April. The weather forecast the night previous was promising so I planned an early assault on the trout of the Lambourn. I had to go out with the family at 11am so this was to be an early and short session. Checked the fly box and made up some leaders with new tippets so that I would be able to fish the dry and the nymph. The fish are spooky in the clear water, and this is a public stretch so there waryness in clear shallow water means that a careful approach is essential. Arrived at 4am, it was misty and the water looked fantastic. Apart from a reveller from the night before staggering down the path towards the bridge I was the only person around. Carefully stalking the banks, several fish were visible on the church stretch but the fish were all located in positions that made it impossible to cover them with a fly. The water was too deep to wade so I had to leave them to it. A couple of glides where the water was too deep, and surface glare too intense to see to the bottom, looked like they might hold fish. A few speculative casts with a ptn were unproductive. Changed to a goldhead grhe and tried again, this time lifting at what seemed to be the right point I saw movement at the bottom and the slack leader tightened briefly - probably a grayling. Tried again, and this time the leader tightened while the fly was on the drop and I connected with a lively brownie of around 20cm which promptly shed the hook! The sudden movement spooked a coot, which set off upstream running and flapping on the surface making that loud panicked call. The commotion would have scattered everything fishy so I moved downstream to try again. Ignoring a fish rising in another impossible position I tried a wide smooth glide before the water disappeared into the next section. This time I could see fish, so got myself into a reasonably unrestricted position where my backcast was at least respectable and got the fly in the correct position on the third attempt. The line was held up in it's downstream movement and I tightened into another small brownie aroound 15cm. Working upstream I was casting into likely looking holes and glides but the water is only around 3ft and the sun was rising fast, glinting off the line and spooking the fish. The bank is also high and my shadow was therefore long in the early sun. Several times I saw fish dashing upstream or downstream past me. Fished the second section upstream which is deeper and waded in, so that I could get the fly upstream in the reedy section where bank fishing is impossible with the fly rod. After about an hour of casting around I noticed a fish around 20cm holding in the current, not far in front of me. Lifting the rod as the fly came back towards me I saw it move sideways, I tightened speculaltively and it was on. I was very close to the top of my waders when I hooked it and nearly breached them a couple of times. I fished the last 50m of the section without any offers and it had started to drizzle. No fish were rising and the park was filling up with early morning dog walkers. I fished the last pool which was very fast with a heavier GRHE and got a 20cm grayling first cast which I very carefully unhooked. It gave a notably poor account of itself as it was obviously spawning. I held it in the current before it swam off so it was not unduly harmed by it's experience. Two more small grayling and a trout, the biggest 10cm, added to my final tally. A large trout around 3lb swirled at one of the small 5cm grayling I was bringing in and it gave me quite a surprise. I would never land it on the light gear I had so I decided to try for it another time with a heavier outfit and a fry imitation. Wildlife was not too notable today - buzzards, a pair of foxes, and a kingfisher. Something was bashing around in some reeds but it never showed itself - fox?

Mine is also over three weeks and still waiting...

Kennet Mixed Fishery, Speen, Newbury. The weather had been good for a couple of days now, the cloud was breaking again and another good day was forecast. I decided to have another go for the trout at a mixed fishery I had access to. I had not been to this stretch before so it would be an opportunity to fish for the trout while also checking out the potential for the coming coarse fishing season. I got to the water at 7am, it was brightening up and all sign pointed towards a hatch. Unfortunately the water was stained, presumably run off from the motorway. It was odd that I didn't notice it on Saturday while fishing further downstream - it must have been just the same, if not worse. I put it down to excitement at being near the river with a rod in my hand.... The fishing here was dry fly only. I checked around and there were a few olives floating down as well as some grannoms. Duly selected an olive klinkhamer, tied it to a 3lb tippet and off I went. I set off down a feeder which looked like it had quite fast water interspersed with fallen trees and areas of glides. I quickly got to dense woodland with fallen trees accross the path and into the water - having not been here before was clearly a hindrance! However, I persevered and hacked through the dead hogweed and bramble, snagging my line several times as I went. I found a bend which looked interesting and at least permitted a cast. I watched for a while before a delicate rise attracted my attention - a trout? It rose again but in a different place. I decided it was a trout although it wouldn't be very large. Five casts later I decided I had either spooked it or it wasn't interested. Further round I discovered the main stream. This looked more likely although I had to admit it was much more chubby than anything. I spotted some very large shapes at the bottom of a lovely glide which I assumed were barbel. Noted their position for June! Found a weirpool and a very fast bit of water draining it with ranunculus - this looked more likely. The fast water looked lke a River Test feeder but no trout showed. A few exploratory casts revealed nothing. Moved up to the weirpool, this looked inviting although the ubiquitous dog splash area hinted that the fish might get disturbed regularly. Had several casts and then sat and watched for a few minutes, nothing much moved. Explored every bend and glide on the rest of the fishery but no more fish showed on the surface. One of the other feeders that went beneath the A34 hinted that it might produce a trout and I went t the very end of the stretch. I could see a fish beneath a patch of streamer weed at the end of the stretch, but it showed no interest in the dry fly. Therefore - caught nothing - not even an offer! Oh well, never mind. The fishery is lovely - surrounding a woodland nature reserve it is alive with butterflies and wildlife. I saw a nuthatch and several woodpeckers were drumming in the background. Lots of butterflies -notably brimstones, speckled wood and peacocks. The sight of a water vole made me recall that as a kid they were everywhere - not an infrequent sight at all. The increasingly common buzzards were whirling overhead and a red kite - known as Oxfordshire sparrows these days due to their booming populations - made an appearance as well.

Trout Fishing - Fly - River Kennet mixed fishery, Newbury Spells of rain or showers but much of the rain was light with some drier interludes. The air temperature had dropped markedly over the lasttwo nights and went milder during the day. A stiff breeze had transferred the warmer air into the water -I hoped. The weather might hold into Sunday, although rain was on its way in, sweeping across from the west. I decided to take a chance. I decided that I would go to the Kennet. A new stretch for me, my new club membership. A renewed interest in fishing had devleoped in the last year and although I had never given it up, I had just gone from day tickets to club membership for the first time in 15 years. Cash flow prevented a major trout syndicate so mixed fishing seemed the best option. Intended on getting up early and going to the river. Beer the previous night put paid to that, and instead I got to the river at about 10am. Still, it had been cold overnight and there would be no fly life about - at least that's what I told myself. Met another soul at the car park who was doing the same as me. I questioned him about the river - yes there were trout, he had caught them legering the year before. He also confirmed that it had been stocked with the annual top up of brownies. Being primarily a coarse fishery, the overhanging vegetation was encouraged, but this was a major hindrance to the fluff chucker. Walked the whole stretch twice before seeing a fish that I could cast at. I spotted it but then it went. A blip on the surface. Watched for a few minutes - there it was again. Looked at my box of flies - I woud change the nymph to a dry and decided that a black ethafoam beetle was suitably generic and would be tempting at this early time of year. Worked out where I would get the line in and cast upstream beyond the position of the rise. Eight casts were made before I looked away, and just as I looked back the trout rose and engulfed it. After a short but spirited battle a 15cm brown was landed. The only fish of the day. Spotted some very large barbel. VERY LARGE! Later on while wading on the gravel riffle at the end of the stretch I watched a hobby (Falco subbuteo) chasing swallows. At least two kingfishers patrolled the stretch. Brilliant! Also spotted small tortoiseshell, brimstone and speckled wood butterflies. A few small olives were floating down the river like tiny yachts.

I know whats wrong with him, I can clearly see this dog's nuts! Yet again, the Taxidermist had ripped off the Vet! Finally, the dog was ready for the spit roast. Sorry, that was the best I could do...

I'd like to give it a go, haven't caught a crucian for about 15 years!

Spraints, not poo!

I refer the right honourable Gentelman to my previous response!! In the London area the mouth of the River Wandle is probably the best place to try, but sea trout are apparently a viable option in the tidal reaches in places, though where they go to spawn is anyones guess.

It most certainly is. The trout are very localised though - fishing in most places you wouldn't have a hope. In most cases I think it is just a loophole to catch chub, perch and pike using minnows. In the London area the mouth of the River Wandle is probably the best place to try, but sea trout are apparently a viable option in the tidal reaches in places, though where they go to spawn is anyones guess. Maybe they go all the way up to the Kennet, or go beyond Reading and even Oxford, there is cdertainly a few viable rivers flowing in to the Thames up towards Cricklade. About 8 years ago I did once witness at least three Salmon leaping (well swimming over really) the County Lock on the River Kennet in Reading. One came to the surface and was around 10 -15lb - but very brown in colour, not the male colouring but what I assumed was camouflage to match the water. I couldn't believe it, I was fishing for chub with breadflake and just kept staring at this salmon in disbelief. When I saw the other two I was looking around for someone to tell, but there was no-one around! I phoned the EA Salmon Project Officer and he thanked me for the report and told me that they had trapped them in the Salmon ladder downstream a few days earlier. There were apparently 8 that made it as far up as Reading that year out of a total of around 30,000 parr that were stocked in the Kennet upstream of Newbury. I think it has been abandoned as a project now, but all the fish in the Thames benefit from the fish ladders.

Ithink it's a great plan. The European beavers are quite secretive and as there won't be a lot of habitat for them they are likely to stay localised. There are very few rivers/forests suitable for them any more. The areas will be selected carefully, so no harm likely. The main reason for their extinction was hunting for their fur - we're not likely to do that again.

I think that the registration of boats does make it somewhat easier to get a prosecution - not saying it's right. It's akin to having a bicycle and going through red lights and doing it on a motorcycle with a regsistration plate. OK bad analogy, but you get what I mean. Steve Burke said 'Additionally on rivers the fishing rights on adjacent stretches, or even opposite banks, may be owned by a multitude of different people/organisations, and what one does will effect his neighbour. It's therefore impractical to have different closed seasons imposed by different owners. Thus there's an argument for a national closed season with fixed dates on our rivers'. I completely agree. This is why I would go further and suggest that it should also be a close season for canals. I won't bang drums for it or anything, it's just my view. However, in discussing the season, I think we can be too specific. It's true that there are fat spawn laden tench in early season, and also carp, but for many dace the close season may be too late even though many may only just be getting ready. Barbel and chub won't be getting too excited yet but chub may spawn more than once. The season is a 'best fit' and wouldn't work on a roling basis as it would still be wrong for codler areas compared with warmer ones. We could use statistics and have mass surveys, but how would we know that a survey would find the results conclusive? Bad spawning years, late springs, early Autumn all have an effect. It would take years of surveys of fisheries that were open and closed to get anywhere near a result. It's a close season that we've had for years. In order to remove it we would need to convince all anglers that it is a worthwhile operation for well considered reasons. Science and statistics would have to be used. Anyway, as I said these are my views and I am prepapred to discuss them and be proven wrong. However, I am somewhat disappointed by some of the arguments being put forward, 'may flay', etc. Remember that we are all Anglers. This sort of thing doesn't help us as a sport and would certainly go against us if we were to be subjected to an 'anti' lobby. Remember this is a public website - we can be viewed by anyone who Googles 'close season'.

I would go as far as suggesting that it returns on canals as well.