Ellastone

Over the weekend we were stopping on Star bank nr Alton so I had a little sortie down to Ellastone for a couple of hours on Sunday morning. My first vist of the year and it is always nice to be back on one of my favourite spots.
Fishing was quite productive with I guess eight or so coming to hand, the water was at a reasonable level and still had a bit of colour in it after the recent rains. All my fish came to a small GRHE nymph, with not a rise to a dry fly. The fish above are now not unusual at Ellastone and there are plenty of theories as to where they come from. Escapes from trout farms or stocking by the Uttoxeter club but that is below Rocester.
Me?? Well I just think that although a good size the fish looked very lean, perhaps still recovering from spawning. But that couldn't be the case could it as it only happens on the Derbyshire Wye.......

Hawthorn Fly

I've had a few trips up to Foremark just lately and also managed a few outings at the back end of last season. I always enjoy a trip up there as I probably fished more with my Dad at this reservoir than everywhere else put together so many memories and also many blanks!! The last bit is still part of the experience for the banks angler, don't let the rod average of 5 fool you as bank fish are hard won here after the initial stockie bashing. On the subject of averages I look at it this way; rod average 5 so way hay fill yer boots time but there has probably been a lucky angler on a boat fallen on a shoal and had 40 fish. If you do the maths that means somewhere 7 other anglers are blanking and I'll wager 5 or 6 of those are on the bank. You can play the percentage game on ther banks also, perhaps with a fast sink line and a booby but that is not my style prefering to earn my fish 'off the top'.
So in preparation last week I'd experimented with a hawthorn pattern, probably another variation on a popular theme.
Hook: Kamasan B400 emerger size 12
Body: black seals fur
Rib: red holo tinsel
Hackle: black
Legs: 4 made from knotted black flexifloss, knotted at mid point.
The legs weren't that long, way shorter than you'd tie for a hopper pattern and didn't extend much beyond the bend of the hook.
Last night I fished the last few hours and after a while fishing various patterns on either floating or intermediate I saw a fish rise off hut point. As there had not been much movement all evening and I'd disturbed a few hawthorns walking the bank I thought I'd give the new fly a swim. Not too bad a cast largely downwind put most of a WF8F out into the region where I'd seen the fish. Well barely had it settled and the trout took it in a lovely roll over the fly, as you can see from the tail on it this rainbow was in good condition and boy did it go before it saw the net. I don't take many these days but this one was destined for my supper so in the bass it went. That was around 7pm, the wind had dropped right down and not 10 minutes later another fish moved in front of me. That one was having it as well so I was well pleased with my new pattern for it's first outing, hopefully it might account for a few more over the next few weeks now the weather is hopefully warming up. The trout I killed went straight on the barbecue when I got in and made a delightful end to the bank holiday weekend washed down with a dram of Jura.

Belated Trout

The season is over now and I've been neglecting updating this blog so will try and do a bit of catch up! This trout was one of the prettiest I've seen and it was taken at Darley Dale in September. I hope to get out for a few grayling sessions now the winter is here and will have to try harder to update here.

Mayfly

 I've had a few trip over the last week or so to the Dove and the Derwent and have been lucky enough to find the conditions OK each time. The fishing has been productive but despite it being the height of the mayfly you've had to work for your fish.

Prospecting has not really raised many fish and it has been important to find fish on the feed and them cover them and a well presented mayfly pattern has usually met with a positive response.

 On my trip to the Dove last Sunday I didn't actually cast for the first hour as there was no sign of rising fish, however as a good hatch developed the fish started to move and the air was soon swarming with drakes as can be seen in one of the pics. Phil joined me on this beat and as he stayed a little later really enjoyed the cream of the fishing.

 The Derwent last Monday afternoon was a similar prospect, with the angler having to first find the fish and then present the fly. This is not the easiest prospect at Darley Dale as the banks are very steep with deep margins so it is extreme wading!! You will also be rewarded for staying low, I took a couple of fish rising close to the bank with a only a few feet of line out of my tip ring but I was nestled nicely into the undergrowth.

 I finised off the week yesterday evening on the middle Dove and despite being in two minds about the river conditions it was spot on, a lovely level and colour with a constant hatch through the two hours or so I was there. This was real duffers fortnight stuff once the sun dropped and in a short period I took high teens of fish on a variety of patterns.

I had a chat with one of the Norbury fly fishers who had celebrated his 40th birthday by taking 40 fish! Not sure how many days we have left of the drake for 2014 as it is now raining heavily and not a brilliant forecast for the rest of the weekend, but I can't complain and have had a good mayfly season this year.

Spring awakens South Derbyshire

 Wow was December really my last update? Not quite sure where the time has gone as it seemed like a busy winter with not much fishing but some good outing with Sam and the air rifles. Spring is now well and truly upon us and I'm just back from the dog walk round the village where we saw the ewes still lambing in one of the paddocks.

Back to fishing last week I managed my first session after tench and even managed to land a few!! The local club pond seems to have given us a surprise of it's own though as it is now full of rudd, I'm not quite sure where they have come from but guess that's nature. Anyway, bread flake is a favourite bait here for the tench but as you can imagine the rudd are all over it.

 

So some tench on bread and a swap to corn also brought a few more to the net as the rudd weren't quite as keen. It certainly expaliained the sail away bite a cast I was getting after the rudd moved in. Hopefully I'll get a few more sessions in now the evenings are drawing out. Tight lines all!!

December Grayling

 

I'd been very aware that the autumn was rapidly slipping away and I hadn't managed to get onto the river for a session after grayling. Now it was December and after a morning spent in Burton buying a Christmas tree and then the dutiful erection I decided to head off to catch the last couple of hours. I was quite optimistic and that only increased as the sky clouded over as I drove up the Dove valley after a bright start.

 Two hours is about right for me when you're in the river at this time of year. Yesterday was actually quite mild but by the end of the session I was glad I had donned my neoprene socks.

I set up with a three fly cast using a hand made French style leader, the flys were two soft touch shrimps and a PTN with a tungsten bead on the top dropper. One of the shrimps was pink the other natural with an orange hotspot which from what I've read is proving a real winner.

So it wasn't long before I was into the lovely 38cm fish below, it felt like I hit the stream just right.

In less than a couple of hours I bought ten fish to hand, and one of the more pleasing aspects was three or four fish that were only a few onces each, that bodes well for the future. There were also another three or four that I practised my long distance C&R on, including a couple of lunkers, doh!

The river is now looking quite desolate but was at a good winter level yesterday at 0.26m on the gauge at Rocester. So Christmas is just round the corner now and many chores beckon over the next few weeks. I can deal with those now though safe in the knowledge that that little window of opportunity was well worth making the effort for, my best grayling session for a while.

Oakamoor & Cotton Dell