Some Sea Trout Beats Open On River Teifi
Disinfectants Can Kill As I look back over the past few months, my thoughts go back to previous seasons when I would have had three or four sessions a week on the rivers and streams casting a fly or nymph to a brown trout, especially during May and June. This year it didn’t happen. I well remember towards the end of May when Alan Roe and myself were on a bass fishing trip to the Fylde coast. As we made our way to a rocky part of the foreshore we had to walk through swarms of hawthorn flies. I said to Alan “Look at all those hawthorn flies and we can’t get on the river because of H&M” At least we anglers have been seen to be VERY responsible in the eyes of the farmers and landowners, who we rely on for a lot of our fishing. Then of course, in late May and June, we had dozens of hoof and mouth cases in the river Ribble and Aire valleys. What makes me so angry is that everyone seems to forget about the amount of disinfectant being used. It’s been reported that more disinfectant has been used since the epidemic started than has been manufactured in the previous forty years. Where does it go? Into the rivers and streams. I have written dozens of letter to MAFF, the EA., Government Ministers, MP’s, Newspaper Editors and the letter pages of national and local newspapers. The wildlife organisations and others are pointing out the problems of disinfectant which will have a bigger bearing on the countryside than hoof and mouth in the years to come. But does anyone care? I don’t think so. Let’s be honest, only we anglers and naturalists care. No one else bothers! If you’re lucky enough to live in the north west of England, especially the counties of Cheshire, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, South Cumbria, North Wales, Manchester, Merseyside parts of Derbyshire and Shropshire, why not join me At The Waters Edge every Thursday evening at 7-30pm only on BBC Radio Lancashire 95.5, 103.9, or 104.5FM. For the best in angling from around the world. During August there will be a series of half programmes recorded some years ago with world-famous angling artist Bernard Venables in which he discusses his life from the early 1900’s through to the 1980’s. It’s a fascinating series and one not to be missed. Further details on www.martinjamesfishing.co.uk It’s hoped to produce a cassette tape of these programmes later in the year.
Some Sea Trout Beats Open On River Teifi
August is often a quiet month in the fly fishers calendar. Unless we have rain to bring some life into our rivers. If the rain falls and the rivers are flowing nicely we can expect to catch a few sea trout; if we are really lucky, perhaps a salmon. If you do get lucky and catch a salmon think seriously about returning the fish to the water so the children not yet born have a chance of seeing and perhaps catching an Atlantic salmon. Our fish are too valuable to catch just once. If we do get some good rainfalls then anglers fishing that magnificent Welsh river The Teifi can expect some good sport with sea trout. Probably the top club in the area is, The Llandysul Angling Club who have opened several stretches of their water in conjunction with MAFF officials and farmers. If you plan to fish the Teifi, Please carefully read and observe the Code of Practice and the precautions detailed below. In particular: a No member living or working on farmland within an Infected Area may visit Llandysul A A fisheries until his or her local area is officially declared disease free. Members must observe the Code of Practice on cleaning and disinfecting footwear etc before entering onto farmland. If approached by farm livestock, members must not touch the animals but must move away from them, if necessary leaving the fishery. d A few beats are remaining closed because of farmers’ special concerns. Please contact a Committee member if you are in any doubt as to which fisheries are closed. Closure signs are being put up, but it is not unknown for signs to ‘disappear’; that is not sufficient to justify visiting beats where restrictions are not yet lifted. If you are not sure stay away. 19 of the 22 association beats have been open since the morning of Friday 1st June. Several Beats Still Closed One of the beats that partially opened was the middle section of Beat 11 (Porth Waters, Dolgrogws) that includes Horse Pool. Wall pool and Church pool will not be opening until further notice. Other beats that didn’t open on 1st June 2001 were Dol Watts. The beat directly above Alltcafan Bridge at Pentrecwrt will remain closed until further notice; this is at the request of the landowner. Porth Waters, Dolgrogws – (part of this beat remains closed Access via the suspension bridge at Cerdin Flats (1/2 mile upstream of Llandysul) is open as far as Wyckhams; a closure sign forbids access above this point; this is at the request of the tenant farmer. The access via Dolgrogws Farm (beside the ‘Nursery’) will remain closed, as will the fishing above Wykhams as far as the stile just below the bottom of Wire Flats. The upper section of Porth Waters will be accessible only via Cwmmackwith (Beat 10). Signs will ensure that those unfamiliar with this section of the river can see immediately when they reach the new temporary limits. Pantllaethdy Maesisaf These beats, near Llanybydder, will remain closed until further notice; this is at the request of the landowners. For further details telephone Pat O’Reilly 01239-698678
World Fly Fishing Championships
This month sees the World Fly Fishing Championships taking place in Swedish Lapland from Wednesday 15th until Monday 20th August 2001. Anglers are coming from France, England, Belgium, Ireland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Norway, USA, Austria, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Romania, Sweden, Italy, Wales and Spain. The event is being sponsored by Chrysler and Thomas & Thomas, the American rod builders. The organisers for this event are the Swedish National Sport fishing Federation. Lycksele in Swedish Lapland has been chosen as the headquarters for this very prestigious event. It’s a delightful town for all the family. It can best be described as clean green and beautiful. Without doubt it’s a fine meeting point for the world’s elite among championship fly fishers from around the world who will compete for the title ‘World champion fly fishers’ and also the individual world fly fishing crown. The fishing takes place in the countryside of Swedish Lapland where competitors will try all kinds of different waters. From the vast, wild and untamed river Vindelälven, which I have fished on several occasions, long declared as a national river of beauty. It’s well known as a great river for both fishing and rafting. I was one of the invited guests who took part along with Margo Walstrom of Swedish Lapland, the current EU Environment Minister, to celebrate the 40th birthday of this magnificent river being declared a national river. Other venues will be the smaller rivers and lakes often situated deep in the forests where anglers can expect to catch grayling, brown trout and arctic char. They will also get the chance to see the rare black woodpecker. The competition will be held in an environmentally friendly way. All fishing is catch and release with barbless hooks. All fish will be measured then released. You still have time to visit Swedish Lapland for these championships and watch the world’s best fly fishers in action. After each days event you can put into practise what you have learnt from these International anglers by doing some fishing. You will have a great opportunity to learn some new tricks and chat with these world championship fly fishers in the local pub. You will find the competitors most helpful and friendly. I will be there hoping to pick up a few new ideas, then after the championships, I will be staying on for a week to put into practise what I have learnt. I will also be chasing the pike which grow big here. The area is famed for the size of its pike and the incredible sport these fish can offer to a fly fisher. If you need more information how to be a part of this great event and you wish to combine a trip to the world championships with some fly fishing in the heart of Lapland, please contact the international organiser Greger Jonsson, who knows the area well and is happy to give You information regarding the competition and the fishing in the area E- mail: greger.jonsson@lycksele.se Fax 0046-950-378 30 Phone 0046-90-166 36
Fly Fishers Head For The Coast
On the coast you saltwater fly fishers can expect to catch bass, mullet, garfish, flounders and mackerel. What a super fly fishing target is the mackerel, I cannot think of a better fish in UK coastal waters, except perhaps the bass. When you’re fishing the estuaries you might hook sea trout and salmon. If you do, bend down and unhook the fish in the water, don’t squeeze the fish.Sadly the numbers of mackerel are not as high as they were in the past. Anglers have to take some of the blame through their mass killing of the mackerel in the past. It wasn’t only the mackerel anglers killed in their thousands. They also killed and, I believe, caused the loss of the black bream fishery off the Sussex coast at Littlehampton. In the 1960s I watched boat loads of anglers coming ashore with bags and bags of mackerel and black bream then dumping many of these fish in the garden or on the beach. Commercial fishing, especially by the Russian fleet with their huge factory ships, certainly helped the demise of the mackerel. We are certainly a soft touch in this country when it comes to protecting our fish stocks. The Icelanders didn’t allow the demise of their fish stocks by foreigners, witness the cod war when they kicked us out of their waters. I supported their action. It’s a pity we don’t have a Fisheries Minister who has the guts to puts our fish stocks before the foreign commercial fishing fleets. You might ask what has this to do with sports fishing? The answer is quite simple; If the commercial fishing fleets sweep our oceans clean of fish, we can’t catch them on rod and line! It’s been proved time and time again that the sport-fishers quarry is worth far more alive than dead on the fish mongers slab. Our bass stocks are at a dangerous level, but only a handful of people care. The ones that care are the sport-fishers and that’s why I think we should support the Bass Anglers Sportsfishing Society that has been dedicated to the conservation of our bass. For further details of B.A.S.S. E-mail Steve Pitts steve@pitts18.freeserve.co.uk
Nets Of Death And More Crazy Things From PETA
All around the UK at the coastal power stations we have designated bass nurserys. But we have a crazy situation in this country where we allow nets to operate in these nursery areas. Not only are bass taken in these nets but also sea birds and crustaceans which die a very slow and no doubt painful death. Let’s get this practised banned. Television presenter Ms Turner of Pet Rescue is trying to stop Boy Scouts from killing fish and wants to take away their fishing badge. As per usual she has it all wrong. Boy scouts don’t kill fish. This misguided person is a mouth piece for PETA, an organisation dedicated to stopping you from keeping a pet dog, cat or budgerigar, or even from drinking milk. They say that’s for cow babies. I think a pint glass of ice cold milk can’t be beaten on a warm summers day. Turner and her ilk would be better off stopping the bass nets of death and the barbaric practise of bow hunting for spawning carp, and the practice of cutting off sharks dorsal fins and letting the poor creatures die a slow death. Instead, all we get are lies, lies, more lies and propaganda. Much of the funding for this organisation comes from Hollywood actors and actresses. PETA, an American based organisation, are in the United Kingdom because they don’t have a cat in hell’s chance of getting away with their propaganda and lies in the United States. PETA would have put Josef Goebbels to shame with their propaganda and lies.
Chucking Flies For Television
My river fishing has been stopped completely. I did manage a couple of late evening sessions on a stillwater where no restrictions were in force. I fished black buzzers for rainbows. Nothing energetic, I just cast out and let the buzzer slowly move across the ripple until a fish wanted to eat. It was quite restful; that is, except for a slob in a red shirt or jumper who caught a very nice rudd then threw it down the bank into the grass and bushes. I let him know in no uncertain terms, that I thought his behaviour was a disgrace and his treatment of the fish was barbaric. Thankfully June and part of July were spent in the United States with 421 Film productions Ltd. I was taking part in a new TV and video series ‘Out and About With Martin James’ It covered, among other things, Fly fishing for trout and smallmouth bass in which I chatted with professional guides and fly fishers, including some excellent lady fly fishers. It wasn’t all fishing. I also took time out to work with a blacksmith and boat builder. I did some cooking at the bowling alley restaurant Waddington, where I joined up with a few of the local girls for ten pin bowling session. The best bit of fun was trying to drive a team of oxen. It was certainly a great time, despite the many thunder-storms which stopped a lot of my fishing. As we all know, we don’t stay on the water when there is thunder and lightning around. When I wasn’t fishing, I visited some of the tourist attractions in and around the St Lawrence county including the Frederic Reamington museum in Ogdensburg. The Reamington museum should be on every visitors ‘must do’ lists. During my stay in St Lawrence county in upstate New York I fished the St Lawrence and Grass rivers for small-mouth bass, pike and muskies. On the St Regis and the Cold Brook in the county I fished dry flies and nymphs for brown, brook and rainbow trout. Tim Damon of Damon guiding service in Potsdam was my guide for the fly fishing on the trout streams and the rivers, including the Grass river where I had some great sport with small-mouth bass, fishing poppers and Clousers minnows. Joe Babbit of the St Lawrence Experience was the man who told me the areas to fish on this huge river. You need this experience, otherwise you will have a lot of fishless days. If you’re planning to visit the area for a fly fishing holiday, book a guide for a couple of days. The rods you should take are a five weight for the trout fishing, a six or seven weight rod is ideal for bass. If your target fish are pike and muskies then go for a ten weight. It was a great trip with our hosts Joe and Tim. Tim is an exceptional fly fisher and guide. He also builds some excellent fly fishing rods at 19 Market Street Potsdam upstate New York 13676 USA Tel 001-315-265-0174. You can E-mail Tim at flyfshr@northweb.com or call Joe’s agent in the UK, Graeme Lawrence on 01268-520342
Fly fish the Seychelles
A friend of mine, Brandon White, has just been fishing in the Seychelles and writes; “Martin, the fishing was amazing, bones averaged 6-7 pounds, 8-9 pounders very common and would catch 1-5 10-11 pounders a day, I lost track of how many I caught each day. Basically you could catch as many as you wanted in a day. I also caught trevally (giants and blues) on the fly and a bunch of other species including queenfish and others which I can’t name. I also did some light tackle casting some days while I waited for the tide and caught yellow fin, grouper, snapper, barracuda, needle fish, and had a big Wahoo which came off. Also giant and blue trevally. One day I had a minor run in with a 12 foot tiger shark which at one point was about 25 yards away but I didn’t realise what it was. I was told they rarely come in where we were fishing. We were in about chest deep water fishing a school of bones. Once the guides realised what it was, they yelled. We got out of that water about as fast as we could. That was one of the scarcest things I have experienced. I was told they are more dangerous than The Great Whites, especially in that situation. But we survived. Best fishing I have ever had with big bones”.
Still Water Trout and Pike
Still water trout fishing has been excellent on most trout fisheries with Rutland probably being one of the top venues. Barnsfold water in Lancashire is another water that has provided excellent fishing for the punters. Now is the time to be fishing sedges but expect savage takes. If you’re fishing some choppy water why not try a muddler minnow across the surface. Late evening is probably the best time for sedge fishing. Its not only trout you can catch from still waters. Many of them, including Rutland Water, hold some big pike and fishery owners are realising that many of us want to fish for the other fish species, especially the pike. At Rutland you might get a thirty pounder. Choose sensible tackle. A nine foot ten weight rod, weight forward floating line, tapered leader with a 20lb tippet and a foot of twenty pound wire. I don’t go along with some of the thinking that we shouldn’t fly fish for pike in the summer. I have fly fished for pike over many years and by using strong tackle and fighting the fish hard I have them to the net quite quickly on most occasions. To the best of my knowledge I have never had a fish die on me because I caught the fish in the summer months. I have been very busy over the past few days tying some popping frogs. These frogs certainly push out a lot of water and make a considerable amount of noise under water. Who knows, I might just nail a big thirty using this frog pattern. Have a good months fishing. If you’re fishing abroad, don’t forget to purchase a fishing permit before fishing. Take plenty of sunscreen, drink plenty of liquids and if you’re fishing a new area, hire a licensed guide for a day. It certainly improves ones knowledge of the fishing in the area. If you’re wading the flats, shuffle your feet – then if any rays are around they will pick up the vibrations and move away.
If you need any help please E-mail me martin@flyfish.demon.co.uk or take a look at my website www.martinjamesfishing.co.uk