kenj
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Posts posted by kenj
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I was out for a late evening session, back on my urban mid Thames tributary on Wednesday. I'd missed the main mayfly rise, but still managed to find some more beautifully marked and very fat wild browns, this, the first of the evening, taking a mayfly nymph, fished just below the surface, with a greased leader. The remainder came to an unweighted Hares Ear, rubbed with floatant and fished as an emerger.
This was my blog of the session http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/urban-trout-stream-springs-into-life/
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Hi Steve,
I fished an urban tributary of the Thames yesterday evening, less than a mile up from the main river near Maidenhead and had this fin perfect wild brown among the factories. It took an unweighted gold ribbed hares ear fished just below the surface.
Difficult fishing, but worth the effort, when you get one like this.
This was my blog. http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/evening-trout-rise-on-urban-river/
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Well done Steve! A fat healthy brown from a clean river. My little river rises from chalk, but runs through nitrate rich farmland, the gravel being coated with brown gunge by the time it reaches us ten miles downstream. Great pics.
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I took my first wild trout on the surface this week, having concentrated on the nymph, but a few rising fish made me swap to an emerger, as there were no apparent flies going airborne.
Many of the wild browns in the river have this blue/silver sheen to them.
The following day I had a larger, 13 inch trout also taken on an elk hair emerger.
This was a more traditional coloured brownie and was quite lean, but was just as energetic.
This was my latest blog. http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/small-river-brown-trout-begin-to-take-the-fly/
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The trout seem a bit slow to get going on my little river, the few that have been out, have blanked, or caught dace so far. Beginner's luck for me last week I think. More warm weather this week should improve things. I might give my urban river a try this week, running through a town the water is warmer.
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Beautiful wild fish, a bit on the thin side, but taken on the top I see. With the warmer weather this week, I'd hoped for a few rises yesterday afternoon, but apart from a couple of dace on an emerger, didn't see a trout.
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The Thames at Cricklade has masses of character, I would think that once the weather warms up and the Hawthorns and Mayfly get going, you will be able to cast to individual trout. Twenty years ago my Windsor fishing club fished a knock-out competition against Swindon Talisman and beat them at Cricklade. During practice, I had several on the stick float, while in the match, I fished a waggler with maggots and had half a dozen browns to a pound. We couldn't weigh them in. They fought like the clappers compared to the 8 to 12 oz chub I was catching.
I also drew Lechlade in the Thames Championship, fishing below the Coln confluence, again on the waggler with maggots. More trout among my chub, including a big rainbow, that broke my 1.7lb hook link at the net. As I said, plenty of trout up that far.
My membership of a club on the Kennet allows fly fishing after April 1st and will give that a serious try this year. My last coarse season session put a 12 inch brown and a decent grayling in the net. Maggots again!
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Hi Steve, How far up are you on the Thames? There are a lot of trout in the Thames, but they are outnumbered by chub and dace below Lechlade on the fly. There used to be a few taken each year in the weirs between Windsor and Maidenhead on spinners and live baits, I caught two, a poor result considering the number of chub, pike and perch I also caught on the above methods.
On my trout stream, if you have followed this thread, you'll see a fair few chub and dace. I even caught a roach on the fly.
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The 2015 season on my Hampshire syndicate chalk stream began well this week, with a healthy wild brown trout on my third cast. The previous two seasons have followed flooded winters and a slow start for most members, but no floods, mild weather with lower levels, resulting in a clear river, bode well for the spring.
This perfect brown took a nymph, fished along the edge, the only rising fish being dace.
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I stumbled across Jeff Hatt's blog, Idlers Quest the other day and saw that he contributes to Fallon Angler and was impressed with the quality of his writing, which made me link to the site. A good read on a cold winter's evening, I would think, but a bit steep for this old pensioner.
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They hibernate in the winter, burrowing deep into the banks, which is another reason to get rid of them. I caught several mini lobster sized ones in the Basingstoke Canal this year. On a quarter mile stretch of the Whitewater, six nets trapped over two thousand last year. A pike that had entered a net, was stripped bare in days.
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My method for worms from the lawn is, dig a garden fork into the lawn 6 inches deep, then begin wiggling the fork back and forth an inch each way. Take a hammer and holding the head, tap the shaft of the fork. The worms just fly out of their burrows. Just select the ones you want Sink the fork in further and more will appear within a 3 ft radius of the shaft. Repeat a couple of yards up, until you have enough. The grass has to be short, or you'll miss most of them. If you don't have a lawn, it works well in parks, golf courses and cricket pitches. This is a day light method. I assume the worms think a mole is burrowing down after them.
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When wire stems came out I switched over from cane, cane lying flat, when held back. These days I am an advocate of Middy, or Woody Ali stems in all sizes. They trot and hold back well and give great bite indication. On the Kennet I tend to use a shouldered balsa stick, but for the Thames, Colne and Blackwater it's an Ali stick. I've even started using a Middy 3 No. 4 trotting down the inside with bread punch for roach on the Wey Nav.
My New Year outing on the Woody Stick http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/chub-and-roach-on-bread-flake-welcome-the-new-year/
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Mine was this roach taken on stick float and flake on Jan 2nd.
My blog: http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/chub-and-roach-on-bread-flake-welcome-the-new-year/
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Went out a few days ago for some trotting on the bread, but found the river chocolate and bombing through. I held the float in a slack on the far side with a worm for half an hour, then the line stripped from my fingers and I hooked into a large fish, that took me down into the snags. Lost the lot and went home. A couple of working parties coming up, so I'll leave the river to settle down again.
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Got to be good news. Trouble is, with the building of new housing in the Swindon catchment, how long will it be before Thames Water have to increase the flow from the Kennet again. The rivers Misbourne, Chess and ultimately the Colne in my area have all suffered, despite promises of reduced abstraction.
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Real fishing. Great read and pics. Is it a Yorkshire river Tigger?
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As the song said "Amazing"! No need to go down the gym with that lot.
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Caught this trout on a tributary of the Lodden last month, would you say mink, or otter, judging by the size of the teeth marks?
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The lack of rain and the sight of the river running over the stones, kept my fly rod in the shed, until the pace picked up following a few days of showers. Only days before the end of the trout fishing season, I returned to a previously productive stretch, hoping for some good memories to see me through the winter, but after after a blank half hour, I was dismayed to catch a small wild brown that had been mauled by a mink.
With a set of fresh teeth marks on the other side of this trout, I wondered how it had escaped the mink, also how it continued to feed, while giving a good account of it'self, when hooked. Downstream of this stretch last year, I watched a mink swim downstream past my feet, then go on to chase and catch a pound plus brown trout in the next pool. We have two mink traps and a number of crayfish nets, which have accounted for several mink this season, but it's depressing to release a trout knowing that it may soon be a mink's next meal.
My blog : http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/mink-raid-trout-stocks/
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Now the back end of August, I'd been preoccupied with roach and carp and had neglected my flyrod for a while and a visit to my local trout stream was overdue. The river was running clear with a good flow, but the larger trout were keeping well hidden, or were no longer there. There were plenty of dace about though.
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This plump wild brown gave good account of it'self, having taken a size 18 gold head Hares Ear nymph.
My blog : http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/wild-brown-trout-few-and-far-between-on-the-summer-river/
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There was a free stretch downstream from the old road bridge on the eastern boundary of Colnbrook village. It is only a couple of hundred yards, to where it runs under the M25. Last time I fished it, I had to force my way through 6ft high undergrowth to the bank. On that afternoon I fished maggot on the stick, taking dace and roach to 6 oz, a pound perch, two chub a pound each and a small barbel of 2lb, plus being broken two, or three times, which I also put down to barbel rushing off on the strike. The river curves round with deep water under your rod tip. If you are in the area, you might want to check it out. There was parking on the old road up to the bridge. I moved from the Slough area to Bracknell in 2010 and I've not been back since, so can't say if things have changed.
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They are in there. There is free fishing, Google a map and get you hiking boots on. Some big chub too, also big bream in pockets.
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I kept my hands well clear Phone. This one had a beak on it, but nothing like a snapper. It stayed in my landing net until, I released further round the pond. An Hep-C infection and a turtle bite not recommended!
Wild trout thin this year?
in Fly Fishing
Posted · Edited by kenj
I managed only a brief, late evening visit to my syndicate river this week, hoping for plenty of rising trout to the hatches of mayfly, but was disappointed to find the surface rise free. After covering the likely holding spots, with a variety of dry flies, I changed tactics to a mayfly nymph, on a leader greased to within a foot of the fly. The lightest of takes produced two brown trout, one of 14 inches and the other 16.
This was the larger of the two, finally coming to the net after a prolonged battle on my 7 ft 4 weight rod. Both fish were allowed to fully revive before being released. My Blog :http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/mayfly-bring-out-the-big-brown-trout/