phil dean

Another acomplished writer then, what I was wanting to know was the name you write under? We have a number of excellent writer who post regularly, you may remember Dennis Darkin from from AT days, though working out his current "online" name could keep you guessing for a while. Tight lines and I look forward to finding out who you are? regards phil

that's an appalling tees fly boy, where are these articles then, i'm always keen to read knew writers, particularly those who've fished waters that I've seen but never yet had a chance to fish the upper reaches of, particularly the swale which is quite close to me.

They'll have to enjoy a 3 mile hike to find me on the river, it's a hiking boot job this year if i'm going to finally catch a certain elusive beast.........i hope he's still waiting for me where I spotted him last year............it's a 4 mile drive on single track road, a long walk through woods, finished by a crawl on my belly for the last few yards. I missed the last bit last season, thinking a crouch would do, but you don't grow that big ignoring a crouching angler!!! i have a sneeking feeling that if he is caught, he might even be returned. Tight lines to all of you, even the red rose bloke, i'm starting to get excited now.

i learnt about chubbing with bread mash between TV and here..........but it's fair to say that I've picked more up on here than any other single place.

Having spent the week before hearing a number of stories about large cats taking deer in the area, i was slightly concerned when I heard some scuffling in the undergrowth. I convinced myself that it was nothing. Then the moon popped out for a few seconds and I saw a huge shape on 4 legs, before it disappeared again. I started talking to myself, but the snuffling got closer. A deer had been found dead only 2 miles from mine, i was banging cans and grabbed my pen knife, though much use that would do me with the giant creature I was now imagining outside. The thing was moving towards me, I turned my torch to it, two large eyes shone back at me, then blinked out. My heart was racing, I grabbed a stick, I had a weapon in both hands, ................. and then the lurcher came into the full beam, what an idiot I felt, it was my neighbours dog, sam, who must have jumped the wall. He'd seen my light and come to investigate. my heart hadn't stopped racing by the time he'd drooled over my leg and had a few pats before heading back home.............. i packed up, i needed the bathroom.

I know I do this every year, but I've just seen the first one of the year jumping outside my office window, i may have to dust down my rod this weekend.

you can keep to that side too mr roe, though to be honest I may be wetting a line on the cumbria side on the morning of the 15th.... it just strikes me as bizarre that it was never standardised...ah well, in the words of the french, vive la difference, it gives me a reason to travel to different places.

Hi happy, we also have some new dwarves including, hilarious, wise, miserable, winey, micky (taker), devious and geek, it makes for exciting times.

I'm not being awkward, but there seem to be different times for different areas? I assume that this is historic but it can be confusing. When the NRA came in I thought this would be standardised, but it wasn't depsite the standard situation for coarse fishing. Has anyone any thoughts on this?

bait and groundbaiting is allowed on some of our waters, but not all of them, i should know, I wrote the rule book :-)

They've just stopped the stocking of smolts on the tyne, which did work very well. We had a better than average year this year, no salmon can be taken until the 16th June, though for the rest of the season we don't excercise catch and release by rule, a lot of the anglers do adhere to it. The numbers are so high, thankfully, (due to the fish rearing program which used to work on the tyne, that the numbers of fish running the tyne every year, are in the 10s of thousands) that even with the fish that are taken, many many more are able to spawn. I was priveged to watch about a hundred spawning a couple of years ago. The main problem we have are the loss of suitable redds due to the high spates taking the gravel away. If that continues the introduction of smolts may have to start again. If you do try the maggot do ensure that you get them down to the bottom of the water, if you are travelling light and want to feed maggots, roll them into a ball of river mud and throow that in. That will sink and as the maggots work their way out gradually it can get the fish searching for them. Baits are banned on some of our waters so this year I will be trying artifcial prawns and worms if the conditions are right. I usually use small cooked praws which are died red or purple, i've never used raw ones, though I rig the cooked ones via a pin to hold them straight, so as to resemble a live prawn.

i find prawn gets more salmon than worm Moggy, and maggots can be killers for sea trout and trout when other baits fail. A swimfeeder full of maggots has delivered a numbr of good salmon in the past. I don't know about you, but for me the joy of fly fishing comes from catching something with as little paraphanalia as possible, i get a similar pleasure from a freelined worm fished as you described. there's also a certain joy from catching something with a fly you've tied yourself or was a gift from someone.

yes, waders also leek, but are cheeper to patch than a dry suite, and many assume that they're similar to a wet suite, when actually they're opposits, wet suits use your body temp to warm up water that soaks in, hence a rip doesn't mean you have to bin it., dry suits do the opposite

the problem with dry suites are that you get very wet and cold if they do spring a leek. when I was looking for waders I did come across some industrial ones for non-fishing uses, I'll have a google about again when I get a chance.

Real bread was better but not appropriate for the fly, and it really is great fun taking them on the surface. Buzzers also worked well.

I bought some wychwood (i think) from ebay last season, still going strong, the water proof pocket is detachable which has been useful a couple of times. hope you're well steve and the business is keeping you happy.

trout will eat anything, but to give your worm a bit more interest jerk it back once cast out, the rising up of the bait when pulled often buys a bite from a fish which was otherwise ignoring your bait. On the other hand, borrow a mate's rod and have a go on the fly, it can be great fun and an ability to cast a long distance is not essential, use your fish finding skills (cast under overhangs, near snags etc) and you will probably have luck. I often watch in amazment at anglers casting lines long distances out with no idea what they're casting to, my best rainbow was hooked 2ft from the bank.

I have to agree, a lovely fish, well done. I must agree, trout can be suicidal, at the end of the day this makes them ideal targets for catching with artificials, but also as mentioned, well done for landing such a large fighting fish on delicate tackle. Just to give a factual statement to the comments made re handling of coarse fish, I am the secretary of one of the largest salmon clubs in the North of England. Though I cannot comment on recent anglers, traditionally all coarse fish were thrown up the bank when caught, or if they were lucky, were banged on the head. This still happens to (very rare) pike judging by the ones I've found. I was made aware, on this site, of a match held annually on the river wansbeck, where all grayling are killed for the weigh in. This has subsequently been verified to me. No-one is perfect, but please don't throw mud. Budgie I'm sure you recall when coarse anglers used to hold bream by the eyes when unhooking them and many a match angler has returned more dead fish than live ones on a hot summers day. No branch of the sport is whiter than white.

your battery is screwed, though something must be causing it, so you're right to look for a cause.

I have very little knowledge about fishing in poland but have previousley been told that the stocks can be very low in more easy to access areas, you may be best looking at a guiding service if you want to catch, sorry.

Welcome to both of you, watch out for the sheep. Gavin I wouldn't advertise your email address on a public board, it's slightly safer to just suggest people "pm" you (personal mail). There are plenty of yakers so tight lines and have fun.

No catfish then? thanks for the tip on the flies budgie, i'll try that set up once I've developed the anti midgi skin i need.

I think my success was due to the skill of the angler ;-D

i must have the same type of quaybord as u

thanks Ian, that's a useful link and does highlight the need to pick up permits to fish the loch, £60 a year seems pretty good however.