Trout fishing is patchy on some still waters and very exciting on others depending upon wind strength and direction and brightness of sunlight. Rivers in the Pennines are currently in full flow and we need a couple of days without rain for fishing to become more fruitful and comfortable.
Raygill Fisheries
The blue trout at Raygill Fisheries in West Yorkshire have settled in very well and give excellent sport when hooked. They jump and tail-walk and fight very vigorously before coming to the net. I had a couple last week despite an evil east wind that saw several other anglers come and go during the time I spent on the bank. It made fishing very difficult. The Quarry Lake was much more sheltered and rods were taking six or seven fish per hour.
Bank Holiday Advice
Talking to ever-present boss, Bernard, I gleaned an interesting bit of information: he tells me that Bank Holidays are usually very quiet at the fishery and that on one of these days last year only one fisherman turned up all day. So it looks as if Bank Holiday is a good time to go fishing; everyone else must be stuck in the traffic to the coastal towns.
Churn Clough
Talking about lack of anglers, I had Churn Clough to myself last Tuesday. There was a moderate westerly wind, the odd shower and the occasional period of cloudy sunshine. The comfortable spot was the deep water on the near side of the dam where the wind was coming in to my face but not as strongly as in other locations around the water.
I always find this spot rewarding whatever the weather and whatever the time of year. There is always some fish on the move and, once you find the feeding depth, fish will take a Montana nymph or a GRHE or some similar fished deep.
The first contact was quite high in the water with a Montana on a twelve foot mono leader and a very fit rainbow of just over three pounds gave me a few anxious moments before being landed. I decided to change to a more surface orientated rig and changed rods from an eight weight to a smaller five weight rod with a WF5 Hardy floating line. The leader was eight feet of eight pound ‘mono’ to a leader ring. The tippet was six pound fluorocarbon. I greased the monofilament and tied a dropper to the ring with a small Muddler pattern. To the tippet I tied a size sixteen green nymph purchased from Sportflies.com a few weeks ago.
On the day this proved a good combination and both flies caught fish. I was a little surprised to see the rainbows chasing the Muddler so determinedly at this time of the year but they did and fish were active in the top two or three feet of the water without showing very much on the surface.
A Disaster
Perhaps the smallest fish of the day was a pound sized male rainbow that gobbled the Muddler and then acrobatically surged and jumped several times. I had the fish safely in the net when the top section of the rod snapped clean through. Because of the low water the banking was quite steep and I had the rod more or less vertical at the moment of disaster when actually netting him.. The rod was a fairly new Fulling Mill Gold #5 rod purchased last year. Fortunately, it has a “No fault, No fib” Warranty so it will be going back this week. I’ll keep you posted about progress.
I like this rod and, even on windy days, it will take a fly well out. It works nicely with the Hardy line and turns the fly over smoothly. I hope that this is a random faulty length of material and there will be no future breakages.
Do Fish Feel Pain?
All anglers should read Jeff Woodhouse’s article on this website (and the others posted since). It is an expert discussion on this subject, a subject that will be used to ‘clobber’ all forms of angling by the ‘antis’. I recommend that not only do all anglers read the article but that they commit to memory the main points and use them whenever the subject comes up in conversation with members of the non-fishing public and, of course, with the ‘antis’.
One of these possibly well-meaning but barmy individuals accosted me some weeks ago. I was fishing a water that has public access for walkers and hikers and he came across to stand next to me as I was casting. I urgently told him to move because of the danger of being hit by the rod or line. His reply was “It’s no use talking to the likes of you. Your kind never listen!” Thankfully he quickly scampered having delivered his slogan.
I fear the ‘antis’ will increasingly turn their attention on to us and we must all be prepared to answer their accusations logically, scientifically and clearly. Read Jeff’s article and be prepared to defend angling. Let’s see if they listen to us.
Tight Lines!
Eddie Caldwell
