fly fishing takes less time to learn than most other sports, Trout

The trout has an IQ of around six. It’s not an intelligent animal. What we must do is treat it as a wild animal. In the introduction to his book ‘Fishing the Dry Fly’, that great angler and gentleman Dermot Wilson writes:”Dry-fly fishing takes less time to learn than most other sports, Trout – let us whisper it softly – are very foolish creatures. After all, what do you actually do when you catch a trout on a dry fly from a chalk stream? First you find a feeding fish – who gives away his presence by making rings on the surface of the water as he takes floating flies. Then, taking care not to frighten your trout you throw over him a bunch of feathers tied onto a hook, which he engulfs in mistake for another fly. He does this with complete innocent although sometimes your bunch of feathers looks very little like a fly at all. Finally you drag a protesting trout into the net and feel very proud of him. Over- simplification? Perhaps it is. But a good many trout are caught almost as simply as this. Where, then, is all the mystery? And where all the art?” This just about sums up river trouting with dry flies and it’s a very true statement. One of the most honest bits of writing on dry flies and trout I have ever had the pleasure to read. It’s a book that all dry fly fishers on rivers and still waters should read. The other book is written by Malcolm Greenhalgh entitled ‘Trout Fishing in Rivers’. Trout fishing is cheap in the North The river fly fisher in the north of England and Wales has some of the finest brown trout fly fishing in the country. In fact, it’s also probably the best value trout fishing, with the cost of a season permit in many cases just £30-00 or £40-00. Bradford City AA and Bradford Number 1 AA have some excellent river trout fishing open to everyone. Prince Albert AA probably have the best value membership card in the Country, for less than £70-00, where you have many miles of delightful river and stream fishing in the North of England and in the North and West Wales. Your club card will also give you the chance to fish for salmon and sea trout. Another excellent value for money card is the Llandysul Angling Association. Take a look at www.fishing-in-wales.com The secretary is Artie Jones Glas-y-Dorlan, Llyn-y-Fran Road, Llandysul, Wales SA 44 4JW. There are many miles of fishing on the river Teifi and you have a realistic chance of catching a double figure sea trout. I feel the month of May is the most delightful time to be out and about on the river. Drop everything, get out and fish a dry fly. Providing you keep quiet and act like a hunter, you will see so much as you move slowly up the river bank or stream side. Recently, as I made my way up one of my favourite rivers, a Green woodpecker flew overhead with it’s laughing call ‘Kew-Kew-Kew-Kew’. Now that’s quite a rare bird in my part of the world but there are lots of Great spotted woodpeckers, in fact they often visit my garden. A few yards further on two mallard ducks jumped from a clump of riverside reeds, I then spotted a Grey wagtail scooting here and there, looking for insects. No doubt its mate was sitting on eggs in its nest alongside the small stone bridge. Greys wagtails have that delightful yellow breast like the yellow wagtail but it’s easily identified by the black throat. Dippers seemed to be about in profusion. You have probably gathered when I mentioned Dippers that I am on a north country river. Pushing through the waist-high grass, I made my way slowly upstream to a bend in the river where a good size trout was taking hawthorn flies with regularity. It was a delightful day to be at the waters edge. A warm breeze ruffled the water which also helped deposit the hawthorn flies from the bank side bushes into the river. I stopped to watch a dipper grab a mouthful of flies, then heard the loud shrill whistle as a kingfisher in a blur of blue zipped upstream close to the water, quickly followed by another one. What magnificent birds they are. Moving on upstream I came across a small water filled pool full of tadpoles and frogs. Moving slowly around the edge of the pond on the field side so as not to spook the feeding trout, I came out onto a gravel promontory some ten yards downstream of where the trout was feeding. I couldn’t be in a better position to cast my Hawthorn fly to it. In the next ten minutes or so, I watched three or four flies get taken from the surface and watched the ever increasing circles drift out over the river. I could clearly see my quarry, a nice fish of about two pounds. I Watched, it occasionally moved an inch or so across the current then would rise up and suck down another hawthorn fly. It was time to make my cast, Conditions were perfect with a light wind off my right shoulder. I checked my hook point then pulled off some line. With one false cast I dropped the fly some two feet ahead of the trout, made a small upstream mend, then watched the fly drift downstream as I picked up a few inches of slack line. The trout spotted its next food item, moved slightly to the left and up to the surface where it sucked in my fly. I lifted the rod tip and set the hook. Saying to no one in particular “Got Yer”. For half a second the fish didn’t move, it seemed surprised that someone had fed him an artificial fly with a hook. In a swirl the fish dived and headed downstream, pulling the rod tip downwards to the water surface. A good fish was on and I was in seventh heaven. No doubt you’re like me. Every time you hook a fish you get that great feeling of happiness as the adrenaline courses through the body. Young or old, it’s a feeling that only an angler can understand. A few yards downstream the fish buried its head in some ranunculus weed. Treading carefully, I waded out and downstream. Once I was below the fish I applied side strain and bullied the fish into open water. After a brief struggle I was able to pull it over the waiting net. “Yes” I said to no one in particular, then bending down, I extracted the size 14 hawthorn fly and released the fish, untouched by hand. Making my way back to the bank I spooked a good sea trout which shot off downstream. I studied the river bed where the fish had been, then noticed a quite a deep channel so I made a mental note for future reference. I continued on my way, back to the river bank to dry off the fly and have a drink, then continued slowly upstream looking for another feeding fish. As I sat on the bank in the warm sunshine feeling at peace with the world. A soft spoken voice spoke.”Hello Martin that was a nice fish you just had, well done.” Looking up I could see it was Roger the local Environment Agency fishery officer and said “Yes I enjoyed deceiving that fish, a good brown trout in excellent condition about one and half pounds, that’s a big fish for this water” Roger then asked “Can I see your rod licence” and he proffered his warrant card . “Yes, No problem. Its nice to see you about, have you seen anything of interest?” “Yes, upstream of the feeder beck there’s a good trout. In that deep pool by the big oak there are half a dozen good sea trout laying up in the shadows. which is a good sight this early in the season”. We shared a coffee, chatted for twenty minutes or so, then Roger went off downstream while I continued up towards the beck where he had seen the trout feeding.When I am on the river bank or at the stream side, I always feel very contented. The naturalist in me takes over. River trouting isn’t all about catching lots of big fish. It just doesn’t happen. Unless you fish some of these southern chalk streams that have been artificially stocked with rainbow trout. How hideous. I feel it’s completely wrong to stock rainbows in our rivers. Let’s leave them to the artificial man-made still waters. The average river brown trout I catch is probably 12 or 13 inches. On the streams, its probably eight inches, sometimes even smaller. Though I do occasionally catch a big one. I remember fishing the river Cyche in West Wales. The Cyche in most places is just a few feet wide. I had decided on an early morning before breakfast session. Making my way upstream, I came across a big bit of river probably six foot wide and two feet deep. I pitched a pheasant tail nymph upstream under the bankside bushes then watched the line, hawk-like. Wishing it to move. Three casts later it did. I struck, a good fish was hooked and soon I had a good trout in my hand. Realising it was a big fish, I made a mark of its length on the rod then quickly unhooked the fish then released it back to the water. It was a jubilant Martin who made his way back to Pat O’Reilly’s house whose fishing it was. I measured the length of the fish at 13 inches. A magnificent wild brown trout. River trouting with a dry fly is all about slowly making ones way Upstream, often creeping and crawling into position. It’s all about watching for rising fish and identifying the insects which are hatching off in the river or being blown onto the river from the fields or bank side trees, bushes and other vegetation. This is where you need a good book. I recommend ‘Matching the Hatch’ written by Pat O’Reilly, published by Swan Hill Press. The photographs by Melvin Grey are quite stunning. I have this book with me on most of my river trouting trips. It’s an excellent book for the newcomer or more experienced angler.Some tackle ideas for river trouting with dry flies. Rods used on most still water trout fisheries are usually too big and powerful for most of our river fishing conditions. When fishing the rivers or streams you want a light, seven foot to eight foot six rod that has a nice progressive action. In my opinion, cane fly rods are excellent for river trouting. Unlike still water trouting where you’re often making dozens and dozens of casts in a day, its a different story on the river, where you might only make seven or eight casts to rising fish during a session. The weight of a 7 foot 4 weight bamboo rod wouldn’t cause any problems. In the States many of my trout fishing friends are using four and five weight rods with great success. I plan to follow their example in the near future. Most of our river trout are weighing around the pound mark so there is no sense these days in using heavy rods and lines that have been designed, in most cases, for still-water rainbow trout fishing. Having tried out these light line rods I must say I was most impressed with the delicate presentation of the fly upon the water. If you keep your eyes open and look around some of the better class second hand shops, you should be able to pick up a nice seven to eight foot bamboo rod for about seventy pounds. I wouldn’t be prepared to pay much more, unless it was made in the past few years by a reputable rod builder. You’re not looking for a rod to hang on the wall, but one to be used as a fishing tool, built to cast a fly line and play your quarry to the net. Make sure the ferrules are tight fitting, the cane isn’t soft, droopy or bent like the hind leg of a donkey. Make sure the rod guides are not grooved as they will quickly damage your fly line. I cannot repeat it often enough, be careful because there is a lot of rubbish about when it comes to bamboo fly fishing rods. Some people, when trying to sell such an item, talk a lot of rubbish when trying to offload such a rod. If you have no experience of bamboo rods take someone with you who does have that knowledge.Choosing a fly line these days is very easy, Forget weight forward fly lines for river and stream fishing. Pick a double taper floating fly line which will also help greatly with roll casting which is often needed on heavily wooded rivers and streams. Also pay top money for it. Don’t be penny pinching when choosing this most important item of tackle because you will regret it. If you choose a Masterline or Cortland manufactured fly line you shouldn’t experience any problems. If you do return it, I am sure it will be exchanged straight away without question. Recently I was chatting with Leon Chandler who was at one time head of the Cortland line Corporation. His knowledge of fishing tackle, especially fly lines, was immense and has given me a lot of confidence in the companies products when I know people like Leon Chandler have been involved. When it come to river trouting with dry flies there is only one leader in my book, That’s a knotless tapered leader between nine and twelve feet in length, often tapered down to a one pound breaking strain tippet when using size 20 hooks and smaller. Many anglers in the States use size 30 hooks when dry fly fishing. Andy Renzetti from Titusville Florida designed his rotary fly tying vice because he was having problems tying in the hackles on size 30 and 32 Royal Coachman The reason for not using knotted tapered leaders when fishing with very small flies is you will often get fish hitting the knots in mistake for a tiny insect. Having written I don’t use knotted tapered leaders, there are occasions when I do sometimes tie in a tippet using some two of feet of fluorocarbon line. But should I find fish hitting the knot, then it’s off with that leader and on with a knotless leader. These days I wouldn’t fish without using fluorocarbon material, it’s certainly worth the extra cost. For bonefishing in very clear water don’t try fishing without this material for leaders. Trying to give you a selection of flies to cover all the country is virtually impossible, I can only give you some ideas of fly patterns to have in your fly box. The following are a general selection of flies that will work on most waters at one time or another. One fly pattern I would always want wherever I am fishing is the Black & Peacock spider in sizes 14’s and 16’s. There have been many times when this pattern has helped me catch a fish when nothing else does the trick. It’s a perfect pattern to try when nothing is hatching. How many times have you arrived at the river to find conditions looking good but no sign of insects coming off the water? Occasionally a good fish will swirl on the surface. But ‘what has it taken?’ you ask yourself. That’s the time to try the Black & Peacock spider pattern. Be warned, you might get some funny looks from your mates as it’s not a fashionable fly pattern. I feel it imitates any type of insect falling on the water. Another pattern in your fly box should be a Greenwell’s Glory in sizes 14’s 18’s. This fly is designed to imitate the olives. The Blue Winged Olive Dun in sizes 14’s to 20’s is a pattern of fly that also imitates the olives and is often used when fish are not taking Greenwell’s Glory – that’s what I have been told by those who feel they are more experienced. I have my doubts. Other patterns are the Black Gnat in sizes 12’s to 20’s and Elk Hair Caddis in sizes 12 through to 18’s This latter pattern is a most useful one to have during the months of June, July and August especially when fishing at dusk. I have caught all through the day with this pattern on occasions. When the Hawthorn fly are hatching then you need this pattern in sizes 12’s and 14’s, fish will often ignore anything else you chuck at them and your only hope if you don’t have any hawthorns is the old fashioned B & P spider. Finally, a fly that I used all last season under all conditions whatever was hatching was the Paythorn Nymph in various sizes. It’s designed by Alan Bithell. Give him a call on 0161-652-7605. This fly caught me a lot of fish, it seemed all the trout wanted to eat it. Apart from these few flies you will no doubt have a selection of known fly patterns for your chosen water. When you’re on holiday in a new place, visit the local tackle shop. If you’re going to some out of the way place, post a message on the www.fishing.co.uk chatroom notice board, asking for information on types of fly patterns needed. You will be surprised at the number of people who will come back with information. Bits and Pieces I believe that was the title of a song by the Dave Clark Five many years ago. Our bits and pieces are those small items we should have when we are at the waterside. Probably the most important is some floatant to make the flies float. There are many brands on the market. I have found Masterline dry fly gel or Gink to be as good as any. When using this or any other floatant, Don’t put it directly on the fly or your fingers. Put a dab of it on the back of your hand then gently rub your fly into the stuff. Do it this way and you won’t get any floatant on your leader. It was an idea I got from Alan Bithell when fishing with him on a northern river.

You will want some leader sink to ensure the first few inches of the leader will sink. Again the Masterline leader-sink will do the job. Polaroid glasses are a must. I am using a pair with my reading lenses fitted from Optilabs Ltd (E-mail Tony Kerr – sales@optilabs.com) You will see so much more in the water. You will be able to watch trout as they come to the surface to take your fly. Without a good pair of Polaroid sunglasses you will miss a lot of fish and the enjoyment at the waterside. Don’t pay £10 to £20-00. You need to pay £50-00 or more. You might think that’s a lot of money but it’s money well spent. A small landing net is an item of equipment you should have. Finally, remember trout are not intelligent creatures. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist or brain surgeon to catch them. Just make sure you don’t spook them. Present a fly that looks like the ones they are eating and you should have some fun.