Lack of Fishing

Lack of fishing = More time tying flies

Firstly I must apologise for lack of posting recently.  However. until the previous weekend where i managed to get on the river (new post to follow) I haven't been able to fish much of late.  With family commitments, the weather being as it was (rain, snow, more rain), I have been turning my attentions to fly tying.  Ever since I got back into my fishing, my goal was to tie my own flies.

When I first looked into tying, I have to say I was a little overwhelmed. Where exactly do you start? Hook size, hook type, tying thread, furs, feathers, beads and so on.  Despite having guidance and help from friends and fellow anglers it took me a while to sit down and start.  Now that I've started, I'm thoroughly enjoying it, even if I do need some more practice!

One of the things I found most difficult was gathering together all the materials I needed to create any one fly.  Not wanting to pay a fortune for a fly tying kit I stated off small.  My friend Lee gave me a vice and I picked up a decent pack of tying tools off eBay.  Having checked out some tying guides and, like most people I have talked too, Dave McPhail's tying videos on YouTube, I set about picking up some materials.  A basic variety of threads, some beads and a pile of pheasant tails from the boss (who is a keen huntsman). Oh and of course some hooks.

Naturally, with the materials I had, my first attempted flies were buzzers and PTNs. All of which were terrible and destined for the bin. Now, people say ‘Practice makes perfect’, I don’t agree! I say ‘Perfect practice makes perfect’, if you teach yourself or others the incorrect technique then they will only continue in the same vain……..incorrectly, not matter how much they practice it!

More visits to YouTube, and more, and more, followed by a snatched lesson here and there and I was finally comfortable enough to sit down and tie a decent selection of flies that I was confident of using on the water.

I tied up some PTNs and Buzzers and took them to the lake in Builth (before the conversion to a coarse fishery).  The result, some lovely little brownies, caught on my very own PTN, fished under a strike indicator.

As my skills developed I tied more flies including Elk Hair Caddis and took these out on the river.  On a day when I fished with 2 Welsh International Anglers, a very quiet day I must say, my Elk Hair Caddis out fished one of them.  I must be doing something right?

I also tried one of my own flies at the Christmas Competition at Garnffrwd and managed to catch – incidentally, that competition back at the end of December was about the last time I fished properly!

One thing that still frustrates me a little is settling down to tie up some flies but when I comes down to the tying there always seems to be one 'ingredient' missing! The result, substituting for something I have – sometimes successful, sometimes not. However, I do feel this is where I can really get some enjoyment from tying. Following a pattern but making subtle changes and creating your own variation. Something I find quite satisfying there, especially if I manage to catch a fish on it.

Having seen my first snowdrop (in my opinion that is the first sign of spring), the weather is warming and the fishing should improve. 

Snow Drops next to the Wye

I'm hopeful of getting down to Garnffrwd soon and have a trip planed to Llyngwyn in April - hopefully these trips will warrant a post or two, fingers crossed. However, before that I intend on spending plenty of time at the tying table and more time in the river (preferably catching fish).  Fingers crossed.

With trout season starting on Sunday (3rd) and summer just around the corner I thought I'd share a couple of pictures from last year - lets hope of more the same, and some bigger!

Tom Mills with a lovely Chub

One of the few Dace I caught on the fly last year

Feisty Brown I caught down the 'Fly Run', Wye, last year

Dan Graham with an awesome Grayling taken above Builth bridge

Until next time…

Guideline Kispiox Jacket Review

Hope everyone has had a very merry Christmas and you've all been spoilt rotten by you loved ones......oh sorry by Santa!

Anyway, Santa was kind enough to bring me a Guideline Kispiox Jacket because I have been a very good boy - however, if I'd have eaten much more Turkey he may have had to come back with a bigger size.

First impressions are excellent.  There are a couple of large pockets as well as having 2 completely waterproof pockets (orange zips in the pic above).  Another feature, which is not present on a lot of the jackets in the same price range (and slightly more expensive) are two retractors for clippers and forceps - little things like this i find quite important.

Tried and Tested

Having had chance to test it at the Christmas Competition down at Garnffrwd on Saturday (29th) I am happy to report that the jacket is excellent in the wind and rain. We had torrential rain in the morning followed by a biting cold wind throughout the day.  However, I remained dry and warm (with only minimal layers on under the jacket.

The only thing I  have to say is that there isn't really enough pockets (fly vests these days have pockets everywhere and I find them all useful).  The large pockets a big enough to house 2 small fly boxes each, which may sound enough but when you factor in all the additional gear that you carry around it isn't nearly enough.  The waterproof pockets are useful yet not big and the absence of pockets at the bottom of the jackets or internally leaves you 'stuffing things where they will go'. 

Overall  I would recommend the jacket and its well worth the price tag of <£150

Until next time...

The Welsh Weather and Animal Rescue

So.....have I intrigued you with that heading?

I met this past weeks freezing temperatures with great anticipation.  The weather was cold, very cold but at the same time dry - something this part of Wales hadn't seen for a while.

Once again, I put plans in place to take Friday off work and try some Czech Nymphing.  Thursday night came and once again so did the rain.  It rained very very heavily and when I woke on Friday morning it was still raining.  A quick walk down the river confirmed my fears, the river was running very high, very faster and had already managed to drag the mud from the upper reaches of the Wye and from the Ithon!  I've certainly had enough of the rain, lets hope 2013 is kinder to us.

Another day spoilt???

When the rivers are out of condition, the next option is generally a stillwater.  Too late to travel to Garnffrwd or Llyngwyn so I thought I go for a drive up to my syndicate lake.  The lake has not seen much fishing over the past six months as we have had a tremendous amount of trouble with Cormorants.  However, having heard from my mate Lee (and Meg the dog) that the week before he had fished it and there were no signs of them pesky birds and even better he had taken a lovely little Wild Brownie on a Cats Whisker.

Wild Brownie - keep an eye on things Meg

Why have the Cormorants gone (not that were complaining)? Could it be that the cold weather has driven them into town? Don't know for sure, but having spoken to the lakes owner, I have been informed that he and his son have been up the regularly shooting the ducks.  Maybe this is what has driven them away - shoot on boys, shoot on!

The rain was still coming down fairly heavy as I made my way to the lake, so parked up on the gravel track and tackled up.   As always, it looked good up there.

Herbie

One thing that caught my eye over in the shallows by the big tree where we've tied up our kayak was a Swan - who I have named Herbie.  He wasn't really doing anything and as I approached he didn't move on, something wasn't right.  As I got closer to the water I could see the problem, he was stuck in ice.

I managed to break some of the ice in the shallow margins and (continuing to break up some of the ice as I went) made my way out to him.  The closer I got, the more he hissed and flapped his wings.  How do you convince a Swan your there to help? Naturally I was weary! I broke up the ice and eventually broke enough for him to free his leg.  On the plus side, wasn't much chance of an attack, especially when you saw him slip sliding across the ice to his mate! Have you ever seen a Swan stuck in the ice? He didnt even say thank you the cheeky frigga!

Checking around the lake I could see the extent of the freeze - the whole lake was frozen solid, a good two and half centimetres thick!
 

The only part that wasn't frozen was above the dam!






 

Once again, a fishing trip without a fish but once again I didn't care.  I did my good deed for the day and managed to get a couple of nice pictures.  Sure beats working!

Herbie there in the background, free to roam

Until next time...

It's Not All About Catching Fish You Know!

As a fisherman, one of the most infuriating questions I'm asked is:

What's the point in fishing if you don't catch any fish?

What follows is a cartoon style cut scene where I remove said offenders tongue and use it as dead bait before snapping back to reality and have to handle the matter in an adult way. It usually involves me getting up and making a cup of tea!

I digress. This blasphemy has got me thinking, or maybe reflecting is the appropriate term, on my fishing exploits.  This past Saturday was a prime example.

Before I start, I must say that I think Twitter is cursed.  All week we have fine weather, which leads my fellow Twitterati to start talking about how and where to fish over the weekend.  Only for it to pour down on Friday and ruin the rivers for the following day.  Lots of color, high, fast flowing water – known to non fishermen and my wife as excuses!

As was the case this past week.  I was chatting via Twitter to Daniel Popp (his blog is Small Stream Addicts and its very good) who had kindly tied me some excellent looking flies.  Said flies were to be my ammunition for fishing the River Wye on Saturday.  With Friday came the rain and within the first 2 hours the Wye had risen by 22cm and continued to do so.

Grayling Bugs tied by Dan

I woke early on Saturday morning, fed the kids and turned my attentions to the fishing.  Having checked the river levels I could see the Wye was up!  As this would be the only opportunity I would get over the weekend I decided to go anyway.

River Wye, Builth Wells

As I had envisaged the fishing being slow given the conditions, I thought I’d try a stretch of river I had not really fished before – The stretch from Builth Bridge, downstream to Church Pool.  I was greeted with a cool crisp morning, the mist was down and the sun was breaking through.  I started with a pool at the top of the run.  This pool starts just above Builth Bridge and a place I caught lots of fish on the dry fly over the summer.

Pool under Builth Bridge

I fished the tail of the pool just under the bridge with a team of nymphs.  No sooner had the flies hit the water were they back along side the bank or caught up in leave (so many leaves!!!).  Despite all my efforts to control the flies the current was just too strong.

I remember thinking as I made my way down the river how nice it was to finally get on the river after weeks of rain.  It occurred to me that I didn’t care I hadn’t caught and didn’t care the conditions were not great I was just happy to be out.  The scenery was gorgeous and my head was clear.

River Wye, Builth Wells

I spent the rest of the morning taking pictures of the scenery and anything that just looked nice.  I strolled down the river, fishing any likely looking spots and exploring the sections of the river I knew little about.  If nothing else, I have found some lovely spots and pools for my next outing.  

Llanelwydd Church

Woodland Walk along side River Wye

I made my way through the woodland path to the final pool I was going to fish, where I eventually managed 3 gorgeous Grayling.  No PB's and no serious rod benders but that didn't matter one bit.

Best of the Grayling

Too often do I go out fishing and immediately head to a place on the river that I know ell and where I’ll catch fish.  If nothing else, this past Saturday has taught me to explore the water and try new things.  It has definitely given me a fresh approach to fishing my home water.  Next time you go out, try somewhere new – what have you got to lose?

To me it’s not just about catching fish but the whole fishing experience.  Maybe if you haven’t fished you won’t understand! This outlook reminded me of a video I recently watched.  Two brothers from Montana (Zack and Travis Broughton - Montana Wild) who take the fishing experience to a new level.  They venture out into the wilds (proper wilds) to camp and fish.  To them it’s not about catching a fish but about the journey they are on, exploring new places in search of some elusive wild trout.  Their videos are certainly worth a watch, this one in particular.

7 Miles Back - Montana Wild

Oh and to answer the question 'what is the point in fishing if you don’t catch fish' - Does it matter?  Not to me, besides, if you caught fish every time it would be called catching and not fishing!

Until next time…

The 2012 International Bank Fly Fishing Championships

October 2012 saw the Bank Championships come to Garnffrwd Fishery.  The championships is now in it's 3rd year and is growing from strength the strength.  This year was no exception and the quality of angling on display was incredible - easy to see why these boys are competing for their respective countries.

Souvenir Match Programme

The teams arrived at the Diplomat Hotel, Llanelli on Sunday before 2 days of practice followed before the International on Wednesday 17th.  Tactics and fly choice were very secretive over the practice sessions in order to gain that all important advantage over the other home nations.

The International

As a good friend of mine, Lee Tatton was competing, I along with another friend Dan Graham (himself a capped Welsh International Angler) was asked to go down and control for the event.  Something I was very much looking forward to. I met with Dan around 6:30 and having stocked up on supplies we set off.  As I'd never controlled for an event I have to admit I was a little nervous but having talked it through with Dan on the journey down the nerves were soon replaced with eager anticipation.  We arrived at Garnffrwd in plenty of time for the Controllers Briefing, which was to take place at 8:15.

When we arrived at the car park, the teams were busy tackling up and preparing themselves for the event.  The mood was relaxed and we chatted away with the Welsh boys and some of the other controllers.  One of the other controllers was Chris Jones, himself desperately unlucky to miss out on the Welsh team.  Having won the Garnffrwd spring league and the Airflo bank masters he suffered a torrid time at the Welsh trials only landing one fish and missed out on the team - having been the most consistent angler this year it would have been great to see him fishing the international.

Making our way down to the venue, Garnffrwd greeted us in its usual immaculate self and even the weather was looking fine, despite some heavy winds.  We gathered for the parade before our Controllers Briefing.

The Home Nations before the International

Welsh Team

We met for the Controllers Briefing where I was allocated peg 23 - one of the pegs on the dam.  As usual hot spot for fish and a place where I'd previously caught my fist (and only to date) Tiger Trout.  With the high winds blowing directly at us, casting would later prove troublesome on occasions.

My Peg for the International

What a coincidence that the first angler on my peg that morning was Lee! Despite a number of follows on a Damsel fly tied with blue rubber legs (a tactic that was working very well during practice), he unfortunately blanked, along with the next angler Michael Drinan from Ireland.  The next angler on my peg was Englishman Phil Dixon.  Having heard many things about Phil I was looking forward seeing him fish.  He didn’t disappoint, landing 2 very nice Rainbows of 44cm and 42cm respectively before missing a take on the last cast of his session.  The first caught tight up against the bank on a lure at the end of the retrieve. A couple of follows lead to nothing before a couple of flicks of the rod tip gave the fly enough movement to entice a take from the patrolling piscine.  The second caught on a rather usual (to me) technique, fishing a lightly weighted cats whisker fished under a strike indicator - a tactic, however, that worked well for the English boys all day.  Last on my peg that morning was Scotsman Steven Corsar, another extremely accomplished angler but once again we saw a blank.  Due to the quiet nature of my peg if found myself helping out on peg 22 where more fish were being taken.

Lee Fishing the International

At lunch we were all very well fed and watered at Christine Cafe.  Having caught up with a few of the anglers, and after that much needed toilet break, we headed out for the afternoon session.

The afternoon session began with Welshman Keith Cadogan, who once again saw a blank.  Irish angler Harry McAteer Jnr also blanked my rather uneventful peg.  Next up was Englishman Jim Tuck, once again 2 more fish were landed for the English team, both again caught under the cats whisker/strike indicator tactic - one that I will certainly try when I fish there next.  The fish were 40cm and 42cm, this time both gorgeous streamline Brownies.  Jim also missed a couple of takes, admitting to me that he was busy watching what one of his fellow countrymen was up to on the peg across from us and not concentrating on the strike indicator dipping under the surface in front of him!

Last up for the day was Scotsman Keith Andrews.  The winner of the Scottish National Stillwater Finals.  It was lovely to see someone other than the English boys hook up on my peg - only problem is that the fish popped the hook.  A wry smile and a chuckle from Keith followed by 'well, there we are then' ended the fishing action for the day.

The day finished at 3:55 and we headed back to the cafe for a chat with Jamie (the owner of the fishery), the anglers and fellow controllers.  Once everyone had packed away, the teams made their way back to the hotel and we headed home.

Throughout the day there was some fantastic angling on display despite the occasional very heavy wind.  I managed to pick up quite a few tips and genuinely feel the experience of being in the presence of these guys will help my fishing.  All the anglers were friendly and many ready for a laugh making the day much more enjoyable as a whole.

As always, Garnffrwd was an excellent place to fish and the work that has been done there is second to none.  One of the best fisheries in the UK (in my opinion), check it out www.garnffrwdflyfishing.co.uk

Team Results - Overall
1st   England - 76 Fish
2nd  Scotland - 51 Fish
3rd   Wales - 50 Fish
4th   Ireland - 41 Fish

Top Rods - Overall
1st   Terry Philips, England - 19 Fish
2nd  Dean Appleby, England - 17 Fish
3rd   Steven Corsar, Scotland - 13 Fish

Top Rod for Wales was Matthew Jones who finished 5th with 13 Fish.

Apologies for the quality but here are the final score sheets from the day: 

Having controlled the event, I'm looking forward to fishing Garnffrwd at the Colin Miller Memorial Cup but following the fishing display I witnessed (some of who will surely be competing), I will find it rather hard to finish in the top few.  However, this is fishing and not catching and whose to say I don’t get a good draw and the fish are turned on to what flies/tactics I use on the day.

Garnffrwd

Until next time...