Tuesday - A Warm Balmy Evening Down by Mary's Bower

Met up with Tim, Derek and John last evening at 1930. It was lovely and warm with the sun still shining, plenty of fly about, rusty spinners, B caenis and the odd sedge. Started off at the bend by Mary's Bower with Tim, we both started connecting with fish straight away but as usual it was 50-50 to fish risen and properly hooked to fish lost. Landed a couple of good browns which had risen consistently, then noticed a sipping rise on the far side and I cast to it with Tim watching we were both anticipating a take and it happened, a fish sipped my caenis spinner and was on. A lovely rainbow which looked like a wild one was duly landed. at 2100 we started to make our way back upstream both of us taking fish on the way. On the pool below the cricket pitch I started at the bottom and Tim went to the head. Again I was catching to caenis spinner then the temperature dropped and all the spinners disappeared however the sedge were still about. I changed fly to one of my new sedge patterns with the special film type wings and again was into the fish by just twitching it slightly which resulted in a splashy take. By 2215 I was by the island and started fishing the fast water where there were numerous rises, I landed a nice grayling and then noticed a small sipping rise on the far side which I cast to. An almighty splash took the sedge and after striking the fish headed back to the sea! I couldn't do anything with it and I immediately suspected it was foul hooked. After giving it some stick I noticed it wasn't and that it was a massive rainbow. I eventually landed it, just, as it just fitted into my net and there was a rainbow pushing 4lbs and fin perfect! An absolute specimen of a fish to finish with and I hadn't taken my camera as the battery was flat! I ended up with 2 rainbows, 2 grayling and over 10 browns, evenings don't come any better than that.

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Went again last evening and this time down to the cricket pitch as there were lots of fish rising there last night. Started about 2015 but today the temperature was decidedly chillier and there was a downstream breeze which was probably putting the fish down as only the odd fish was rising here and there, nothing positive. I reached the top of the pool by 2115 and had had nothing, I was becoming more frustrated and my casting was suffering, tailing loops galore! I gave myself 15 minutes and if I still had zero on the card then I was going to call it a day. I had started with a sedge, nothing, switched to a mayfly spinner, only a few splashy rises, nothing definite. Even my size 22 yellow parachute could not raise anything until into the pool above where I took a small grayling (4") and a small wild brown (fluke). I decided to go down to the pool below the pitch where I did well last night and there were quite a few fish rising.

On the way 3 deer crossed the river and started munching the cricket pitch, a lovely sight.

Again there was very little in the air so I persevered with the parachute and took a few more fish which were head and tailing and sipping . Its great when you cover a fish which has been rising constantly and it takes your fly.

Ended the evening at 2215 with 2 grayling and 5 browns, its amazing how 2 days can be so different. I know 7 fish for a few hours is a result but perhaps we need these "knock backs" after a good day to bring us back to reality and focus more, my casting definitley deteriorated the more fish I covered without so much as a sniff!

Still better than working.

Tuesday Evening

Went last evening, decided to start off at Mary's Bower in the park at about 1930. Lots of caenis about again, had my grey/olive parachute on as a general pattern but covered a lot of rising fish but nothing interested. Changed to my new sedge pattern with the special wings as a few had started to make an appearance and immediately started to connect to covered fish, a couple of wild browns followed by a small grayling. There were only a few mayfly spinners about and soon followed by loads of rusty spinners. Ended up taking 5 fish from there then moved up towards the stump but nothing rising there.  By now there was a real heavy spinner fall and the fish were going mad further up towards the cricket pitch. I immediately switched to my trusty rusty and started connecting with nearly every fish covered, it was B fantastic! I ended up the evening with landing 1 rainbow, 2 grayling and over 12  browns. Finished at 2215 but could have carried on as there was still loads of light in the sky.

2 Visits in a Day!

Finished work at 1230 so I could go fishing however the wind was up and so I decided to leave it a bit and went down to above the 1 arch bridge at 1400. Mayfly were hatching and the fish were on to those that lingered. I had a mayfly nymph on but that soon came off and the 1-up 1-down went on and straight away contacted with a decent brown. I started wading up the pool and there were sedge about as well as olives too. There was a brisk up stream wind but the temperature was not too chilly which kept the mayfly hatching but not as prolific as previously. By 1600 the fish had stopped rising probably due to the wind so I decided to go down to the lunch hit and try and find some shelter there but again the wind had put down the fish as there were very few rises. I called it off at about 1700 after taking 7 browns and went home for tea.
I went out again at 2030 to fish the last hour so went down the pool above the sycamore pool. There were loads of spinners about with some sedge and thousands of caenis. The fish were head and tailing and were obviously on the caenis. Even with my size 22 yellow parachute couldn';t tempt them to take. I managed 4 browns on various flies including rusty spinner, pale olive klink and F-Fly! The wind was gusting all evening and at 2145 ish the wind got stronger and it was like a switch and the fly disappearred along with the fish. I managed to trap 1 of the sedge which had a dark olive body and brown/khaki wings. The olive spinners had a grey/olive colour to the under body with pale wings. Some may have been BWOs but not sure as they were definitely not reddish brown/rusty so ???

Weekend Fishing

Saturday 5th June

Roger (Derwentflyfisher) invited me and Louis onto Derwent Flyfishers stretch, we fished just above Hathersage. Met Louis at 1030 and went down to the river, after a chat we started fishing about 11, I went downstream of the stepping stones, some fish were rising but nothing constantly. On my second cast I caught this lovely wild brown on a general olive imitation as I could not make out what the fish were rising too.

This was followed by a decent grayling of about 1.5lbs. I worked my way back up to the hut and on the way took another brown. I noticed a small rise on the far bank, a fish rising about 6" from a log. I changed flies a few times before it took a size 22 yellow parachute. It resulted in another grayling this time pushing 1.5-2lbs.

After a superb lunch provided by Mrs S, Roger and I moved upstream to leave Louis chasing the rises by the hut. The odd mayfly put in an appearance but only the odd fish took them. I covered 1 with a mayfly emerger from the  Staziker stable and immediatley hooked up with another wild brownie. I notice Roger, a devout dry fly man, being seduced by the nymphette known as olive. Here is living proof!

After a long walk upstream Roger landed a good rainbow about 2lbs, it would be interesting to know where it had come from, down from Ladybower or up from the hatchery in Hathersage. We ended up about 1700 back at the hut and following a refreshement fished the last 30 mins by the hut. A truly enjoyable day!

Sunday 6th June

Follwoing torrential rain overnight and on through the morning I had decided not to bother today however Mrs P decided she wanted some holiday gear so after lunch with the rain stopped and some sunny spells I didn't need to think twice so headed for the sycamore pool and the run above. The river had risen a couple of inches and was slightly coloured at 1330. Mayfly were hatching with some olives and fish were taking both. I started with a 1-up 1-down mayfly and immediately took a good rainbow. This was followed by a couple of misses. I moved upstream and again took another good rainbow to a mayfly emerger. I tried some of my own pattern mayflies, a couple on a size 12 klinkhammer hook tied emerger style which 1 took a brown and some missed the 2nd one a failure! By now 1500 ish the river was colouring up and the bottom was on;ly visibly from just below knee depth. I was working my way upstream and took another brown on a size 12 prarchute mayfly emerger, another of my own patterns with flavours of several other persons patterns thrown in.

Matthew the keeper came down and we were chatting in general, I told him I had had a few wild browns on Friday between the bridges and he remarked that another member had taken what they thought was a salmon parr. I also said that one of the "browns" I caught on Friday looked suspiciously like a salmon parr too. It had the tell-tale barring down its flanks, spots were few and far between. At first I couldn't decide what it was. Could salmon get this far up the Derwent, who knows?

Friday Evening

Decided to have the last hour over the road as it had become overcast following a scorching day which put a halt to any daytime fishing. Initially only the odd fish rising to something very small but soon for a 15 minute duration the mayfly spinners descended. Fish started to make splashy rises to them and covering them with a 1-up 1-down mayfly pattern soon accounted for 4 browns and a grayling. Needless to say after this period, the mayfly disappeared and there were still a lot of large olive spinners but very few rises. It started to rain lightly about 2130 so I called it off and by the time I got home it was raining quite heavy.
Going out onto Derwent Fly stretch above Hathersage on Saturday with Roger (Derwentflyfisher) and another guest, looking forward to it as its always a test to fish another beat. Will post Saturday/Sunday.
Saturday morning has dawned a bit overcast and the rain from last night has hardly dampened the ground even though at times it was quite heavy.

Yesterday - A Funny Old Day!

Had a few hours off work in the afternoon so decided to re-visit the pool I fished on Monday. Needless to say you would not think that the 2 days were in same month never mind the same week! There were only a few mayfly hatching with the odd fish splashing at them, not the same by any means as Monday. Worked my way up the pool only casting to rising fish and ended up taking 4 browns. Called it off at around 5 then went home for tea.
Went out again about 8 to the willow pool but then again not much rising, there was the odd chilly downstream breeze which may have put off the fish as there were loads of fly about. I think they were some kind of large olive spinner with the odd sedge thrown in. Only managed to land a brown and a grayling before getting paged at 2100 which put an abrupt end to the evenings proceedings.

Mayfly Are Up!

Saw Derek earlier up in the village and inevitably the fishing was the topic of conversation, he had been on Sunday and the mayflies were hatching. That did it for me I was definitely going today, Monday.

Arranged to meet later down by the lunch hut at Beeley but I was early so walked downriver to one of my favourite pools. The mayfly were hatching intermittently at first but soon in earnest! I started with a mayfly emerger but only had 1 brown and obviously had covered fish who were not interested. I changed to a Phil White 1-up 1-down dun and first cast produced another brown. I was covering lots of rises and most fish took a swipe at this fly. A good rainbow pushing 2lbs was next. By the time I had got to the top of the pool I had taken and released 14 browns and a single rainbow. What a fine pool, its not possible to wade the whole length of this pool but the head can be fished comfortably from the bank. I took a few more browns finishing off with the biggest rainbow I have ever "connected" with on the Derwent, it was pushing 5lbs, so big I could not get it in my net. The only down side was I had foul hooked it in the tail no wonder it took me down to the backing, hey ho! There were lots of other flies hatching as well small yellow sallies, yellow may duns, large olives, some pale sedges. I am sure amongst them were iron blue duns as I had spotted something like them on Sunday by the river. A true smorgasboard.