A First

Last evening I went down to one of my favourite pools, the willow pool. It was not as warm as it has been but there was still lots of fly about mainly gnats and a large olive spinner. I decided on a size 18 griffiths gnat as I have had success with this fly recently. After dropping a couple of browns I landed 1 by hand but dropped it and pinged off the fly so on went its duplicate. I noticed a head and tail rise quite a good cast away so covered it and blow me the fish took. Well then I knew it would be a tussle as a large rainbow leapt out of the water and made off up the pool. I was fishing fairly light and the first run I just let it go were the fish took me down to my backing, a first for me! The fish led me a merry dance all over the pool and I struggled to get line back on the reel. Another couple of shorter bursts and I could tell it was tiring. Eventually I managed to get it into my net after a few abortive attempts and there lay 5lbs of fit conditioned rainbow, brilliant. These fish are in tip-top condition.

I continued fishing up the pool as far as you can go as it does get rather deep so you can probably only cover about 75% of it before having to retrace your steps and get in at the top, needless to say I stayed towards the middle. I landed 3 more browns all to the griffiths gnat again, why haven't I made more use of this fly in the past. I noticed that the fish were also taking some duns and used my net to trap a few, some were small probably size 18 with a grey-olive body. Others the same size but a black body possibly iron blues? The larger olives were also still about these had olive-brown bodies but I am not sure what they could be possibly the spinners of olive uprights, large brook duns or what? I must try and find out from my books. I finished about 2145 as the temperature dropped at about 2115 and more or less put paid to the rises. Another enjoyable evening.

Thursday & Friday

I had booked a couple of afternoons off on Thursday and Friday to hopefully take in the mayfly however things don't always go according to plan especially this year the season is behind schedule. I went down to the hut by Beeley and was hoping that the mayfly may be up. I must admit that Derek had been previously during the week and told me that there were not many about. True enough there were the odd ones around but the fish were not on to them. I started off at the pool by the hit and winkled out a couple of browns to my usual grey-olive parachute. There were loads of fly about swarms of black gnats, yellow mays, some olives,  unbelievable. Derek turned up so we went down to one of our favourite pools, I worked my way up but even though there was tons of fly about there were not many rises possibly due to the blazing sun. I changed fly to a griffiths gnat and then took another couple of browns. At the head of the pool there were several fish head and tailing but couldn't see to what. On went the gnat again and I hit 1 brown  but it soon became detached so moral victory! I persevered and did land a last brown before heading home.

I went out again in the evening down to the works again but how 2 nights can be so different. I really struggled to land anything, I changed fly too many times to count but could not get the fish to take. It was those head and tail rises again! I eventually went down to a size 22 or 24 small black para and landed a brown. I called it a day by 2100 as the damp seeping through my waders got to me!

On Friday again I went down to the hut but it was even hotter today. I was met by hordes of gnats again but today the fish were definitely taking shelter from the sun. It was just too hot for fish and fishing. Mayfly were appearing very intermittently but still not enough to encourage the fish into taking mood. I did manage to get a couple of browns before calling time around 4.

In the evening I went down to the cricket pitch hoping to find an evening rise to something. I walked all the way down to Mary's Bower were several fish were rising. Again loads of gnat about so on went the griffiths gnat. I covered several fish before attaching to a decent brown. I noticed some spinners about so switched to my rusty spinner and landed a couple more browns. I went back up to the cricket pitch and now it was past 2130 and only a few fish were showing but to what? I covered several with the rusty but nothing so as the gnat were still about I went back to the GG and rose a couple of the head and tailers which soon let go, maybe that's what they have been taking all along. Before calling time I did land a last brown to the gnat.

Interesting to note that over this week so far I have only landed 1 rainbow, strange.

2 Lovely Evenings

Monday 3rd June
As it had been a lovely warm day I arranged to meet Derek down by the works. When I got there at 1900 Derek had already started so I snook in just below at the sycamore pool. There was plenty of flylife about olives, gnats, sedge and smuts a whole smorgasbord! I started off with my usual grey-olive parachute and immediately got a reasonable rainbow knocking 3lb. Lots of fish were head and tailing all in a row so I started to try and pick them off but nothing else stirred to my fly. I switched to a black parachute and got a brown in lovely condition. I was still not convinced I had the fly right. I tried to get as close as possible to the rising fish to use my seine net but then noticed lots of small black gnats and I mean small size 22 or smaller and I had left my box of tiny flies in the car! I had some smallish black parachutes so persevered and started taking the odd brown. The temperature was now dropping and waders leaking into the bargain! I finished the evening at 2130 with 6 fish in total but lost easily as many more. It was a really good evening and hopefully more to come, its been a long time coming.

Tuesday 4th June
Another lovely evening and had arranged to meet Derek again at our usual spot at the sycamore pool. Again lots of flylife about and tonight I was armed with my tiny flies. Derek had started when I got there at 1900 but had not managed anything yet. I started with a size 22 black parachute and hit a couple of browns landing a good example of derwent brown trout. I followed Derek up the pool and was dropping and taking several browns before Derek landed his first, now that doesn't happen often! I continued with the black gnat parachute until a monster tree devoured it! Another gnat was quickly attached to my leader and I continued up the pool taking browns ending up at 2100 with 9 fish. I finished early as the temperature dropped and most of the fish stopped rising plus 2 damp legs again. Note to self :- get waders repaired.

Last Week

I'm a bit late filing this but last week was a disaster fishing wise. I had booked the week off as went to France with some friends for a long weekend and had planned to fish on Wed-Fri. Unfortunately the rain came on Tuesday night and the river came up about 18" and was the colour of bad coffee hence no fishing. I did attempt a few hours on Friday arranging to meet Derek at the cricket pitch, the river looked fishable in Baslow earlier in the morning but really down in the park the river was definitely so-so. So much so Derek didn't even tackle up which is saying something. I went up through the cricket pitch pool with a dry LDO and snaffled a brown of 10" but nothing else. There was a good hatch too of LDOs and also some paler olives of the same size. I also trapped a larger fly and went through my reference books on return home and reckon it's a large brook dun. The photo doesn't do it justice as the wings were more mottled than here.

 

 

 

I then went up to the deer boom which is above where Bar Brook enters the river and it was definitely clearer above as the brook was pouring out a real chocolaty mess, no wonder it was coloured further down. It also transpired that Derek had gone above the works and the river was clearer again as there is another brook below the works which was also feeding in some mucky water too.

 

I winkled out another brown from the deer boom area to a dark olive fsn as there was nothing rising and the hatch had more or less petered out. I went down to bar brook and fished the edge where the mucky water met the clearer water again with the fsn and got another 2 small browns. Not bad I suppose but not the afternoon I was expecting as the coloured water definitely put the fish down as the hatch around the cricket pitch was certainly tempting for the fish but not enough!

 



On the Thursday it was the anniversary of the Dambusters raids and I was pottering about in my garage when I heard a rumbling in the distance then realised it was a Lancaster. I dashed outside to see the plane above the house towards Baslow Edge a fantastic sight! It was followed closely by a Spitfire or Hurricane. I watched as it circled Chatsworth and came over my house again, I dashed to get the camera and it then circled for a 2nd time and these are a few shots I got. Unfortunately the best shot was before I got my camera as it banked right overhead however these aren't too bad!

The First Evening Rise?

NOT!!!!!
I decided to have an hour after work as it had been a glorious day on Tuesday with the temperature in the low 20's so I eagerly made my way down to the willow pool. Unfortunately the fish were not coming out to play. No rises and not much buzzing about, the odd midge, olive and sedge only. I had started with a LDO just to try and tempt something but nothing then a grey-olive parachute but still nothing came to investigate. I briefly went downstream to the next pool but only a few small grayling or trout showed a lacklustre interest in my fly but nothing connected. I went back up to the willow pool and tried a fox squirrel nymph and landed a decent rainbor around 2.5lbs. I called it a day at 7 after just over an hour, the temperature had dropped too much. Still it was good to get out and wet a line. Looking forward to a week off next week so should get some visits in! Lovely.

At Last a New Season Starts

I decided to go on my first outing even though the weather was a bit on the cool and wet side. I went down to the willow pool, nobody else was about maybe due to the weather conditions. The Derwent was looking good with a hint of colour and maybe up an inch or two. The upstream wind was blowing quite hard which made casting tricky as I was a bit rusty due to not being out since February. I started with a dark olive fsn with a big bead to get down to the bottom as there was definitley no surface activity. After a couple of upstream casts the fly line stopped and I struck into a good sized rainbow which decided that he didn't want to play much and after a few jumps gave up the ghost! The river keeper came down and we spent half an hour chatting. A fish rose during this time as the odd olive fluttered about but not what you could call a hatch. I persevered for another half an hour for nothing so went up to the run in to the pool and made a few half hearted downstream casts getting another rainbow, this time an over wintered one. The wind now had changed to downstream and the showers were a bit heavier so another couple of casts and a reasonable brown I called it a day. It was good to be out again and a decent start to the season but hopefully warmer times ahead.

Saturday 9th February

Well I finally managed to get onto the river for hour, we were due to have visitors but due to the impending snow which was forecast they cancelled. As the snow hadn't materialised this afternoon and it wasn't that chilly, the river was fishable albeit a bit high I decided to go over the road.Even with only a couple of inches above normal it was deceiving the added pressure the river put on you. I couldn't make it across to my favouritr grayling run via my normal route so started in the run on the near side where I picked up 5 grayling, 1 coming adrift as I touched it but I still call that counting towards the total. All came to a combination of fox squirrel nymph and black spider with a tiny pink bead to get it down. The run on the far side was still calling as I usually pick-up something. I crossed lower down but still the push of the current was deceptive. I worked my way up but unfortunately no further grayling came to hand, only a couple of out of season browns which looked very healthy. So looking good for the coming season.
A good hour which was just manageable before the cold got to my feet. My hands were fine thanks to an old sailors trick, rubbing vaseline into them before starting to fish. This really does work and recommended!
Only a couple of weeks left now before the season closes here on the Chatsworth syndicate for the month of March before opening again on the 1st April. The season is now only round the corner which has become more apparent now as I have just received the bill for renewal for next season. Happy times ahead!

Sunny Climes

I went to the Grayling Society meeting in Bakewell on Tuesday to listen to Jonathon Tomlinson give a talk on saltwater flyfishing. This was very varied in the destinations from around the UK to Mexico, Christmas Island and more. It was a really interesting and enjoyable presentation he gave which included lots of lovely photos of the various destinations he has fished around the world. You could almost feel the heat on cold evening, it certainly got the flyfishing juices going! Most of his trips are organised through Fishing Oddysey which has a website worth taking a look at even if it is just to dream about when winning the lottery.

The next meeting is on Tusday 8th January when Mike Green wil be giving a talk on pike flyfishing. another one not to be missed. Anybody out there who is not a member of the Grayling Society can attend, membership is not compulsory. It's at the Rutland Hotel in Bakewell @ 1930.

Finally thank you to everyone who has taken a look at my blog this year. It has not been as comprehensive as I would have liked due to crazy river conditions!

Wishing all my viewers a Happy Christmas and New Year and let's hope 2013 brings lots of good fishing to all.

Cheers!

Burton Flyfair and Grayling Society

Went to the Burton Flyfair on Sunday with Derek. Not a large event but well organised and all the usual suspects there! Spent some dosh, got some of those new Tiemco jig hooks which look interesting for my mayfly nymph, I'm sure they will have extra wiggle. Watched some good tiers including Paul Proctor, Malcolm Greenhalgh and Co. It seemed to be well attended and it is in aid of charity so well done Ray for organising it, I am sure the charities will be pleased with the result.

Its the Grayling Society meeting on Tuesday evening at the Rutland Hotel in Bakewell with Stuart Crofts giving a talk. These evenings are always entertaining. You don't have to be a member so come along for 1930 and have a chat with like minded fisherfolk.

Autumnal Signs

This morning I went up ta get a paper and quite honestly it was definitely Autumn! Heavy dew and chilly.
It's a few weeks since my last blog and since then I had a week down in Somerset/Devon where I managed to get a couple of trips in.
First I had a half day on the Barle on the old Carnarvon Arms stretch I think, this was through Lance Nicholson in Dulverton and was the strecth above the weir which is in the field below the old hotel. I was a bit disappointed by the stretch as it was difficult to get into the river, access was limited. The day was fine and warm however flylife was absent and after struggling with various dries and nymphs I noticed a small rise but could not make out to what. I reverted to a small black parachute and eventually winkled out a half pound brown. I made my way upstream and picked up 2 more very small browns before heading back to the car where Mrs Baslowfisher was.
The following day on Bank Holiday Monday we visited Lynton and Lynmouth and bought a ticket for the Watersmeet stretch of the Lyn river, a true bargain at £3 even for salmon it was only £10 or £15 for the day. It developed into an awful day absolutely chucking it down. We parked at the car park at Watersmeet and made our way down to the river. I was advised by a guide out of the Exmoor White Horse Inn to go downstream for about 300-400 yds and fish back. This is all pocket water and I had on a duo of grey-olive klink and a small ptn. After a few half hearted rises to the dry I decided to take off the ptn as casting in close quarters was difficult. I managed to land 4 small browns as I stumbled and struggled up the valley. I called it day after a couple of hours but I think the stretch has potential.

Last weekend I went fishing down to Beeley, home turf again. It was a warm and sunny day but hatching flies were absent! I went right down to the bottom limit of the Chatsworth beat and fished up. As nothing much was happening up top I had on a small black para to try and get something to come up. At the bottom you can usually guarantee some grayling and sure enough I landed a nice one after a few long range releases. I slowly worked my way upstream but only managed to land a brown before I had to retreat to the bank due to a rather deep hole beneath a willow. I continued in Max's bench pool where I landed another brown followed finally by a rainbow. Derek was in the pool above this and he had been struggling all afternoon too so I was pleased by my 4 fish. We went back to the hut for a cuppa but by the time we had had a chat and finished our tea the temperature had dropped so we called it a day and it was only 1730. Evening sessions are finished now I think?