30 am and leaving about 2

Thankfully lots of birds come to my garden which make things Interesting. From the ever present sparrows and starlings, to blackbirds, thrushes,a pied wagtails, all the tits, blue, long tailed, coal and great tits, robins and wrens – all putting in an appearance during the course of a day. Many times my day is brightened up by the visit of a great spotted woodpecker. Fieldfare and redwings feed on the mounds of apples, Blackbirds and thrushes turn over the compost heap. I also get the occasional visit from a sparrow hawk. It’s said this is a sign of a well balanced wildlife garden. 24 species of birds have visited my garden. At the riverside, hawthorns, oaks, beeches and other trees stand stark and bare. Robins and wrens visit me in the hope of finding some food item as I fish my way up and down the river. On these cold winter days I take a few meal worms and get the robins feeding from my hand. I tie hunks of suet in the riverside trees and bushes. Robins, tits and blackbirds love the stuff. When the rivers have been running clear I have been out at the waterside as often as possible, fishing upstream nymphs and dry flies for grayling. Sadly, my fishing has just been average this winter on the rivers Hodder, Ribble, Dove, Ure, Wharfe, Kennet, Dee and other rivers with just the occasional good day. My average size of grayling seems to have decreased slightly and neither I nor my friends have caught any fish over one and a half pounds. Fly fishing for pike on the rivers has been good with several fish around the ten pound mark being taken on surface fished flies. A white Lefty Kreh deceiver has proved the best pattern fished on a floating line and an 8 weight rod. It’s interesting to note that more and more fly fishers are casting big flies for pike after the trout fishing season has ended. . I had hoped to fish the Norfolk Broads this winter but the warmth of the Bahamas and Florida attracted me away from England. At one time I felt that fly fishing for pike was a summer time pursuit but providing the water isn’t too coloured, It’s worth trying for pike all through the season. I’ve been doing it for many years and every visit I learn something new With little boat traffic on the canals at this time of the year, It’s time to fish these waters. All you need is a 7 or 8 weight rod, floating line and a nine foot leader of 15lbs BS. with some flies tied up on size 1 or 1/0 hooks. Make sure you have 12″ of wire tippet of 20lb BS. I also tried some bass fishing in December when the conditions looked reasonable but without success. These days, many still water rainbow trout fisheries open all through the winter months where sport can often be excellent, especially when we get a mild spell of weather. Often you will get a few buzzers hatching, so fishing an imitative pattern can ensure some exciting sport. Remember buzzers are small insects. The imitations are often tied up on size 16 hooks which means fine tippets usually about a pound and a half breaking strain. A tiny 16 buzzer on three pound line doesn’t look natural One rainbow trout fishery that often gets a good buzzer hatch is Barnsfold Water near Preston. It’s two lakes of about twenty two acres where the owner Frank Casson stocks with fresh fish each day, many of these being triploids. The Barnsfold fish are silver bodied scrappy fighters. For further details telephone 01995-61583. Why not take a look at a still water fishery near you, you might be surprised at the quality of sport available and remember it’s not all chucking lures. Try fishing such patterns as Pheasant tail nymphs, Black and peacock spider, Gold Ribbed Hares Ear or a Teal blue and silver tied on a size 14 hook. It’s surprising how often this latter pattern has saved a hard day for me. For most of my still water fly fishing I use floating lines, or the clear slow sink from Masterline International, fishing a slow figure of eight retrieve. When fishing imitative buzzer patterns you cannot retrieve too slowly. Over the past couple of years I have started using lighter lines and rods for my trout fishing both on rivers and still waters. Fishing the smaller rivers I often use 3 or 4 weight rods only going up to five weights on the larger rivers. On still waters such as Rutland and Grafham I find a 9`6″ 6 weight quite suitable except in very strong winds when I might go up to a seven weight. If you’r e new to the sport of fly fishing or perhaps you have problems with some aspect of casting now is the time to visit a fly fishing school for a few lessons or a refresher course. I go off to Pat O’Reilly’s West Wales School of fly fishing for a weekend where they cure all my bad faults and I start off the season a better angler. Telephone Pat or Adrian on – 01239-698678 March 15 is the start of the season on many Northern rivers. April 1st will see trout fishing start on most Midland and Southern Rivers, with just a few waters opening in May. If you’re planning to fish a river where the season starts on March 15th or April 1st, It’s a late breakfast arriving at the water around 11-30 am and leaving about 2-0pm, though as we all know in fishing there are no hard and fast rules. Upstream and Czech nymphing are two successful ways of catching early season brown trout, but keep your eyes open for the odd rising fish. It’s surprising how often there will be a hatch of insects lasting perhaps ten minutes. It’s times like this when you can often catch a brace of trout. The Czech nymphing style is a fairly new method in the UK but it’s a successful one and quite exciting, as you often get fish within a couple of feet from where you’re standing. I have watched the Czech nymphing experts on the rivers of Swedish Lapland catch thirty odd grayling in a session but it also works for trout on the northern rivers of England. You need a rod between nine and a half and ten feet. My point fly is a heavy leaded nymph with a pheasant tail nymph on a dropper or tied in line some 12 inches above the heavy point fly. To fish this style you roll-cast or flick the line upstream then lowering the rod tip you allow the flies to drift downstream, striking at all odd movements. You allow the drift to continue downstream until the nymphs are on the hang, Don’t lift off immediately, wait a second or two, then strike as you lift off. Taking a step upstream, flick or roll-cast and repeat the process. Always try and keep as much line off the water as possible. I am a novice at this style of fishing but have seen the results by the experts who fish the method and realise I must perfect the style for early season trout and for grayling in deep and fast water, where you need heavy nymphs to get down to where the fish are. My other style of fishing for early season trout is upstream fishing a nymph, using a sight bob. I choose the weight of the nymph to match the depth of water and speed of current, then fix a sight bob on the line at a depth which will allow the nymph to bump along the bottom as it drifts downstream. For a strike indicator I use the Loon outdoors Biostrike putty. It’s easy to see, and stays put on the line. I strike at all movements and usually you cannot mistake the takes as the sight bob will disappear in a quick movement, and as quickly reappear if you have missed on the strike. Your eyes should never leave that sight bob and your strike should be quick. Late April and May are the good months in the fly fishers Calendar. It’s that time of the year when we can spend all day at the Waterside. The fish are in good condition, the countryside is looking magnificent. It’s also the time for fishing the dry fly as we experience hatches of various insects during the course of the day. Still water rainbow trout fishing is getting to be at its best. No longer is it a case of casting out a lure. Now is the time for floating lines, long leaders and imitative patterns, especially buzzer patterns. With a slight ripple on the water it’s time to fish along the windward bank of your chosen still water with a team of buzzers. Fishing a 12 to 15 foot leader and a team of three buzzers, you can have some exciting sport. I often start off fishing a suspended black buzzer on the point. About three feet above the point fly, I tie in a grey buzzer and three feet further up the leader, I tie in an orange buzzer. This is for starters. I always kill my first fish, then, using a marrow spoon, I check to see what colour buzzers are hatching off, then tie in the buzzers that match the hatch. You will often get a brace of fish at the same time when the fish are eating everything in sight. As you play one fish another will often grab hold of the other buzzer then you do have some excitement especially at the netting stage. Late May and June should see the first of the sea trout entering the rivers and some of the finest sea trout fishing is on the river Teifi in West Wales. The Association to join has to be the Llandysul Angling Association, with many miles of prime sea trout water, but in the upper reaches they have some delightful brown trout fishing. Also we must not forget the salmon. At this time of the year the bass should be appearing close inshore. One venue I would like to fish is Beachy Head Sussex. I would love to be in a boat at dawn with a flat calm sea on a flooding tide. I feel it could offer some exciting sport to the fly fisher. Hopefully one day I will get my wish. I have studied the area for many hours and every time I look down from the white cliffs it screams bass. The West and North Wales coastline is definitely worth a visit for bass, where several double figure fish have been taken on surface fished lures, so why not a fly? This year I plant to spend a lot of time in the area. If you’re interested in joining me E-mail me martin@flyfish.demon.co.uk June 16th will see the start of a new coarse fishing season when once again we have the chance of casting flies for chub, barbel, pike, perch, carp and rudd. The difficult problem with the latter fish is finding them. I have for several years felt the rudd is becoming an endangered species. If you’re looking for an exciting fish to target this summer, why not the barbel. I feel it’s a perfect fish for the fly fisher and a powerful fighter. For most of its life the barbel is a bottom feeder, where they must eat a lot of nymphs. For several years I have felt barbel would be a good quarry on a fly rod using weighted nymphs. My problem was finding the time to try with all my other commitments. This all changed at one of the Barbel Society Conferences when Mike Burdon the Research and Conservation officer told me about the barbel he had caught on pheasant tail nymphs when fishing the river Windrush for brown trout. My mind was made up, come June 16th I would be targeting river Teme barbel with some weighted Richard Walker mayfly nymphs. It worked. I had 11 barbel that summer, the average was around the four and a half pound mark but I did get one six pound fish. My tackle is a 9` rod matched with a 7 weight floating line and nine foot leader with a tippet point of 6lbs. It’s all sight fishing. You pitch the nymph upstream or cast down to the fish. I do both. I cast the nymph to within a foot or so of a feeding fish or group of fish. I let it sit for a few seconds, then lift so the nymph rises slowly a few inches off the bottom. Most times barbel don’t hesitate, such is their desire to eat, the fish are sometimes hooked in the back of the mouth. Go and give it a try, they are worth the effort. I don’t blind cast for barbel, I feel it’s a waste of time. July, August and September are when we think about fishing holidays. With the salmon fishing at probably an all time low, my advice is forget Scotland. For the price of a salmon fishing holiday you can have an excellent holiday in the warmer climes, chucking flies for bonefish redfish, barracuda, snappers, seatrout , lady fish and tarpon to name a few. Ask the loved one in your life where they would like to spend a two week holiday, Scotland or Florida? I bet most of them would say Florida . Lots of sunshine, warm waters, a tropical paradise with beautiful beaches and lots of entertainment. Or perhaps the Bahamas? There are hundreds of islands to choose from with Andros being the biggest but you have an excellent choice. Exuma, Green Turtle Cay, The Abaco’s, Long Island, Grand Bahama… the list is endless and the fishing excellent. I would suggest you don’t choose the month of September as that’s the hurricane month. October is probably your best chance of a salmon if we get some rain to give a lift to the rivers. Should you be lucky and catch one of these magnificent fish, please think seriously about returning it to the river, especially if it’s not your first fish. The salmon need all the help we can give them. For many of you, your thoughts will now turn to grayling fishing now that the brown trout fishing season has ended. If you’re interested in grayling why not join the Grayling Society E-mail General Secretary Steve Skuce 101504,1312@compuserve.com for further details.

The grayling , rainbow trout and pike are our three main species to take us through to the end of the year. If you’re an all round fly fisher, then you have 12 months of exciting fishing on still waters, rivers and the ocean to look forward to. Finally, when you look outside and find the weather cold and wet, why not think of a cheap fishing break to Florida. It’s the perfect place for all the family with its many attractions. Titusville is an excellent area to stay with some good fly fishing with in yards of the Holiday Inn. As we shiver in the UK you can be casting a fly in temperatures of 75 degrees F. Titusville is a cheap place to visit for accommodation and food – and once you buy your fishing permits for about $30-00, the fishing is free. If you would like to join me on a trip or have any questions, feel free to E-mail me at martin@flyfish.demon.co.uk. Have a good months angling and join me next month when Iook at a fly fishers holiday destination which is for all the family.