A First Caught More than Derek!

Now, when  I go fishing with Derek I know that he is going to catch fish no question. Me its not always the case. Last evening we arranged to meet above the works around 7. I was late so Derek had already started. I got in by the sycamore as Derek was further upstream working his way up so I was picking up any strays he hadn't got, or so I thought. Anyway there were loads of fly about which surprised me as the evening was not even remotely balmy. I had a long sleeve shirt, a fleece and my waterproof jacket on just in case but yes there were flies aplenty. Small olives about, some sedges and tiny caenis types. Fish were moving and so you could pick which to cast to, brilliant. I cast a small size 16 olive to a few and had a couple of takes which did not materialise before landing a lovely 9" wild as they come brownie. This was quickly followed by another brown of about 1.5lbs. The olives were perhaps a tad smaller than the 16 I had on. Some of the fish could be seen chasing the sedge and I managed to trap a few in my net (sedge that is) and they were dark grey to black bodies with black wings so on went a black sedge I had with the pre-formed wings which I have blogged about last year and was soon into another good brown. At this point Derek had taken 1 but was having one of those sessions when nearly every take comes adrift. I was now showing him how to catch! The sun had now dropped over the hills and the temperature was also dropping all the time but still the fish rose. It was difficult to see what to now as olives were sailing past them but were being ignored. The only thing could be the caenis so I put on small 22 all white parachute a few fish had a swirl and then I covered a fish which had been showing quite a few times and bang he had it, another lovely wild brown with big black and red spots, lovely. It was just after 9 now and I was starting to shiver so I quickly worked my up to Derek taking another good brown on the way to the caenis. Derek was continuing to drop the fish off, just one of those evenings. I called it a day by 9.15 and left Derek to them as once you get chilled then thats it as far as I'm concerned. 5 loveley browns and a lesson for D, hee hee!

P.S. Rang Derek this morning and he stayed till nearly 10 but only managed 2 or 3 fish in total. He said it was only 7 degrees when he left, some winter day's being warmer! It is now nearly 7 in the evening and it has been pouring with rain all day here in the Peak District so with a bit of luck it may send a bit of a flush into the river. Don't think I'll bother going out this evening will tie some 18 pale olives.

A Full Day with 3 Friends

Today I had taken the whole day off as I was meeting 3 guests. A couple are only novices to this game so I was eager for them to feel the pull of a fly caught trout. We met up around 11 and went down to the hut at Beeley. I showed them the couple of pools by the hut as these are good for beginners to cover fish. The odd fish was showing and as I had done so well on the mayfly nymph the previous day I advised the same. Before we had all tackled up Mark took his first river brownie, result number 1! Tony, the experience fly man was off upstream and Leon came down to the pool where Mark had taken his trout. There wasn't much rising, I was very disappointed as I really wanted to show them how good the Derwent is. We met up for lunch and Tony had taken a few trout and a stonking chub.

After lunch we walked downstream to Max's bench but there was somebody already in the pool so I took Mark and Leon to the pool below. I was showing Mark the various lies and then some fish started moving in a back eddy taking duns off the top so I switched his fly to a dry mayfly. It wasn't long before he had a take and landed a lovely wild brownie.





I could see Mark was really in the zone and so left him to see how Leon was doing. Unfortunately Leon hadn't managed a fish yet. There was just so little moving. We noticed Mark take another couple of fish, there was no stopping him now! We tried several different flies but blank. I went up into the next pool up and saw Mark take another to the mayfly, a nice rainbow. We met up for a bite to eat and then decided to go down to the cricket pitch afterwards. Tony went down to the stump pool where he took another fish. Mark worked his way up towards Bar Brook and I took Leon up to where I was yesterday. I was determined he was going to catch. We started off with a mayfly dry and a few fish had a slash at it but nothing developed. I switched to a small olive fsn and within a couple of casts he was into his first fish, result 2! You can see by the grin that he was buzzing! Another convert to the 'gentle art'. We continued at the confluence and within a short time he was into his 2nd fish, this time one of the blue strain of rainbows which have been put in.

We finished about 2030 as the temperature had certainly dropped by now and what few fish were moving had more or less ceased. I am glad the guys caught and I am sure now that we have a couple more converts to river fly fishing. A great day.

Thursday 9th June

I decided to take a half days hol so Icould fish the afternoon when hopefully the maylfy would be about. I arranged for Derek to pick me up around 1330  and we went down to the cricket pitch car park. We decided to fish up towards Bar Brook. Derek got in at the bottom and I made my way up to where the brook runs in. I had on a myfly nymph as there was the odd 1 about but not the clouds we are so accustomed to seeing this time of the year. Straignt away I had a take but the fish didn't stay on and then again on my following couple of casts all not developing into positive hook-ups. I checked my fly but the hook was ok so I changed the nymph for one tied on a standard hook. The previous had been on 1 of these patridge flat nymph hooks. Again I started getting knocks and was soon into a decent brownie. I quickly took another brown closely followed by a rainbow all in the 1.5 - 2lb class. My next take was not quite a 'aggressive' as usual and when there was very little fight I thought I may have hooked up on a piece of dead wood but no it was a small chub about 10". My first chub for a while and a tiddler as there are some really good chub in the Derwent. At about 1500 the breeze dropped and you would think there were not fish in the river as rises had certainly been conspicuous by their abscence. It was like a mill pond so the nymph stayed on but I switched to a small dark olive fox squirrel as a few small olive were about but not enticing the fish to rise. Derek came up from the bottom end to fish up towards the deer boom as there is a deep hole there, but surprise surprise I had taken more fish at this point as Derek had persisted with the dry. Derek soon was into fish using a mayfly nymph and took a really good rainbow pushing 4-5 lbs. This is it putting a bend in his rod.

I got into the river to take a photo but Derek had netted it head first and the hook had dropped and then the fish squirmed out of the net and was gone. I went down to fish the cricket pitch and took a couple more browns and a rainbow making 5 browns 1 rainbows and a baby chub. We called it a day just after 5.



 

A Difficult Day and nearly a duck!

I invited my friend Roger (aka Derwentflyfisher) for a day on my stretch of the Derwent yesterday. We got down to Beeley about 1130 and the temperature was decidedly on the chilly side with a downstream breeze. There were a couple of guys having lunch and they said there wasn't much moving about. The riverkeeper was also there and he commented that he mayfly had been disappointing so far this season. We tackled up with mayfly nymphs and went in the pool above the hut. I pointed out the runs and holding spots for Roger as he hasn't fished this pool before.

On the left had side of the pool there is a small run in where there are usually some fish holding and after a few casts Roger connected with his first brown of the day. There was a distinct lack of surface activity in this pool with only the odd fish showing here and there. Probably due to the lack of hatching flies, none!

We went further downstream to another good pool where I showed the likely holding places and I continued downstream to fish the next pool down. I took 2 browns and a rainbow in the fast water at the head of the pool but again still nothing hatching to speak of. By now it was getting cold and I bid a hasty retreat to the car to pickup my fleece. On returning Roger had moved up to the next pool, He had taken another brown. I then got in where Roger had been and picked up another rainbow and a brown. The mayfly were still absent in any numbers only the odd one. I continued up the pool switching between nymph and dry whenever a fish showed but nothing more until I reached the next pool where I picked up another brown. By now its was time for a warm, Roger had gone to put the kettle on so I followed back to the hut. We had a final 30 minutes in the pool where we started but nothing. A real struggle of a day and all fish taken on either mayfly nymph or dark olive fox squirrel nymph. Roger seemed to enjoy it but I was disappointed that it had not been the day I expected. Maybe next time.

Went out Monday Evening for the last hour or so. Down to the Stump pool where there were a few fish moving. Plenty of LDOs and sedge about. Missed a few. Went up to the cricket pitch and fished up. Plenty of fish moving then a good hatch of BWOs came down like sailing ships and the fish attacked! I missed several and couldn't get to take properly, well thats my excuse. Tried varioius patterns then thought JT olive and 1st cast bang and stayed connected, a nice brown. Needless to say that was my only fish of the evening. It was still a chilly evening although there was plenty of fly about however about 2130 the usual thermometer was turned right down and the flies disappeared together with the fish. I called it a day retreating with my tail between my legs. You can't win em all!

Wednesday and the First Evening session of the Season

As I was working from home today I finished at 1630 so by 1635 I was on my way to the river as it had been a rather warm day with some sun. I walked down to the sycamore pool where there was an incumbent already there, an elderly guy who was not akin to wading so I ok'd it with him if he minded me getting in just above him to work my way upstream. A few mayflies were about together with numerous yellow sallies, CAENIS, and just a general fishes buffet to delight! I trapped a yellow sally and confirmed it on my return home (obvious really). However there were the odd yellow olive type flies about much smaller than yellow may duns and on investigation they could have been yellow evening duns. I started off with my usual 1up 1down mayfly as they were about and took a couple of decent browns. Fish were head and tailing taking stuff but nothing obvious on the surface, maybe taking nymphs on hatching but the only thing they could have been were CAENIS! Worked my way up stream switching dries to try and get the risers to take but only really fluked a couple more on a rusty klink and a grey olive parachute. Very frustrating when I could see constant risers but couldn't get them to take. Took a small grayling from the fast water at the run-in to the top of the pool but that was it until I moved above Baslow new bridge. I got to the pool just below the old bridge and again there were numerous fish rising but to what? I got down practically in the water and could make out that maybe these fish were taking the caenis spinners. Several were poking their "nebs" up to take the flies. I put on my trusty size 22 yellow parachute and covered the fish in the fast run and immediately hooked and landed a decent grayling around 1lb. Still there were fish pushing their heads out and I covered the nearest and connected with a decent rainbow around 2lb in pristine condition, RESULT! Don't you just love it when a plan comes together...........eventually. Considering I hadn't planned on going I finished around 2100 after the last fish, hopefully more warm evenings on the way.

Willow Pool Yesterday

After lunch at the Bull in Ashford-in-the-Water (recommended) and completing a few chores got down to the willow pool at about 1530. It was rather dull and quite breezy so wasn't expecting too much. Tackled up with a small olive  nymph (D-Rib) which had a bit of lead underneath to get it down a bit. I started at the bottom of the pool and on about the second cast connected with a good brown which was soon landed, it was perfect with large red and black spots, about 1.5 lb. There were some mayflies about so I changed tack and put on a mayfly nymph and immediately took another brown followed closely by a rainbow, both in the 1.5 to 2lb class. I worked my way up the pool and took 3 more browns, that was 6 fish in 60 minutes. There was only the odd fish rising and I noticed that some appeared to be rising in the same position,hmmmm. So on went a grey-olive paradun as there were some small olives about, couldn't identify them at the time but on investigation later I think they may have been medium olives or small dark olives. I covered a few of the rising fish but nothing. Then a few mayflies got hammered by the risers so I had to switch to a 1 up 1 down mayfly (Phil Whites - my most successful mayfly) I covered a couple of the risers and took a couple more good browns before heading to the hut for a warming coffee. The water is still quite cold and I had my neoprenes on too. Anyway after a coffee I decided to have a last couple of casts with a mayfly nymph. There were some sedge about and loads of LDOs and the small olive mentioned previously.  As I was moving up the pool I spotted a very large fish right on the bottom only 8-9 feet away, I dropped my nymph to try and elicit a response but nothing, I tried a couple of times then I had a follow from a monster so much so that my first thought and I may have said it out loud was, "Oh god please DON'T take!".  I couldn't believe what I had seen and said but it gave me such a shock to see it that it was my first reaction, I had a little chuckle to myself! It was obviously one of Matthews pets from the children's farm up at Chatsworth that had outgrown the ponds up there. Anyway called it a day at 1800 after that as had a really good session.

Didn't take any photos as camera is in dock at Nikon, I seem to be having a few problems with gear at the moment! Nikon though won't be as forthcoming with the customer service as Orvis or Sage, quoted £161 to fix it!

Sage Come Good

Receive a replacement tip for my Sage SLT on Friday. Yet another example of excellent customer service. Many thanks to Gary Coxon for sorting it out in super quick time. Sage rods may be towards the top end of the spectrum but when customer service is this good the extra expeanse is worth it.

Orvis Come Good

Took my leaking waders back to Orvis in Bakewell last Saturday and the ladies immediately checked their stock to replace them without question. A pair was located in Banchory and a phone call resulted in them being sent to me which I will receive on Thursday. It would have been Tuesday but I was at work when the the carrier tried to deliver. Exceptional customer service and experience, thank you Orvis.

I am now in the market for a replacement pair of wading boots with rubber soles as have to try and stop the spread of disease and any invasive species, No question where I will be going!

Sage rod repair next.....watch this space.......

The Perils of Not Taking a Spare Rod With You

I went fishing on Saturday with my son Adam. The prospects were not looking good as it was very windy and lots of showers so I was not confident. We went down to the works as I expected it would be out of the wind a bit but unfortunatley as it was gusting there was nowhere to get out of it. On the way down I caught my rod in a tree branch and before I knew it I now had a 5 piece rod, brilliant! I had not taken a spare with me so persevered with an 8' 6" instead. Anyway Adam started at the sycamore pool and I started a bit below we were both using fox squirrel nymphs in olive and natural. It wasn't long before I could see Adam into a fish, result! I was soon into a nice brown too. Adam worked his way up the pool but I was stuck as were I got in it was very limiting due to the depth. I could see he was soon into other fish so I was at least glad he was making progress as he doesn't come with me regularly so its good to see him connect. He was working his way up so I moved and followed him up before I had taken a few more. There was only the odd fish rising and nothing regularly so switching to a dry was not worth it until I got to reach the trees were I decided to try a foam beetle. I covered the odd fish and hey-presto up they came a took the beetle. I ended up with 7 fish by lunchtime and Adam ended with 6 so a good few hours to start.

After lunch we went doen to the Willow pool and Adam immediately started hitting the fish, he had changed to a myfly nymph as I had spotted a couple of mayflies and John the bailiff had said earlier that there was a good amount of mayfly nymphs been seen moving about recently. I had also switched to a maylfy nymph and started to pick up the odd brown and rainbow, some up to 3lbs. I could see Adam had hit a few good fish but they came unstuck until he eventually landed a real cracker knocking on 4lb. We continued up the pool and back down into the pool below. Adam was picking up fish here and there, a good mix of browns, rainbows and grayling. By 4pm the weather was decidedly inclement and so we slunck off to the hut for a quick cuppa before the heavens opened. We stayed there until it stopped raining and I could see he was eager to have a last 30 mins. He picked up a few more including this cracker which went to 4-14.





 We ended the day at 5 both getting well into double figures, I was glad that he had had a really good day. Me well I now had a 5 piece rod and to cap it all my new waders had started leaking!

A Dour Afternoon

This is my first outing for a week or two due to hurting my back doing some gardening. After getting a report from Derek about his and Don's session on the Derwent yesterday above the works I made plans to meet Derek around 2 at the same venue. It had started sunny in the morning and after a hasty lunch I got down to the car park about 1.30. It was still sunny and I tackled up with a hawthorn fly as Derek had reported quite a few about yesterday. I decided to go down to the sycamore pool and got in just below. On my 2nd or 3rd cast I watched a brown swim up to my fly and engulf it. I resisted a quick strike and gave it a second or two then struck and he was on! Unfortunately not for long. I persisted with the hawthorn and 2 more fish rose to it and again they came unstuck! I thought it was going to be one of those days. Derek appeared and got in above me and immediately took a few to a large black klink. I spent quite sometime covering fish chopping and changing flies but could not get them to take anything so moved above Derek into the faster water where I broke my duck and took a grayling to a black klink. I then moved back below Derek and by now the temperature was dropping and had clouded over, only the occasional fish rose so I changed to an olive d-rib nymph and took a rainbow. Fish suddenly started rising again so a quick change to a grey olive parachute, then a yellow parachute but nothing, zero, nowt, zilch! Not to be thwarted I decide to break out the micro's and went for  size 32 black parachute and on the second cast a rather large rainbow took and was all over the place before straightening the tiny hook and was gone. That was my cue to call it a day as I was beginning to feel the cold. Just after I got home there was a much needed shower but hardly enough to wet the ground, hopefully more will be on the way as the river is showing its bones now.

As there wasn't much to photograph I thought I would add a couple of shots of the bluebell walk from a week or two back.