Hot weather fishing
I was fishing last Monday. It was a very hot, sunny day and, I do not like to grumble, but not very good for fly fishing for rainbows in a water where many of the stocked fish over-winter and stocking takes place only in February and September. In other words, it was a grand day to be out of doors but not very favourable for fishing.
This particular club water has one steep bank which gives a little shade from the early sun but is very exposed on all the other banks. There was an occasional ripple, very little cloud and a merciless sun. I stood near the top of the steep bank and surveyed the water. There was very little movement anywhere with an occasional fish just breaking the surface. I guessed that most of the rainbows were skulking on the bottom and that only one or two were bothering to feed. I wished that it was six o’clock in the morning rather than eleven.
Then I noticed several rainbow trout patrolling the edges twenty feet below me. They were about a yard from the bank and kept swooping into the very margins and then out again. This particular bank is about three hundreds yards in length, travelling from the dam wall to an inlet stream. I remembered all the advice about stealth and crept down a little nearer to the edge to observe more closely.
The fish travelled along the bank and, every yard or two, they swept in and gobbled a few of the many tadpoles that hovered around the stones of the bank wall. I tackled up a five weight rod with a floating line and a long tapered leader that finished with about five feet of 4lbs fluorocarbon. I tried several patterns that were mainly black and kept changing after every tenth cast because none of the fish showed any interest. I went up to a size 10 and down to a size 16, fished dry, wet and nymph but the fish demonstrated a studied contempt for any offering regardless.
I was satisfied that I was fishing quietly and light enough for none of the fish showed any signs of nervousness and maintained their patrolling, sometimes within just a few feet of where I was fishing. Then there was a hatch of mayfly but rather sparse and none of the flies that dropped on the water were taken by fish. Shortly after midday a couple of Daddy Longlegs flittered by and the appearance of these ungainly insects changed my plans significantly.
Fishing the ‘Daddy’
I have a full box of Daddy Longlegs in various sizes and patterns including a few weighted and gold head Daddies. They can be one of the very best patterns when they appear and begin to fall on to the water.
I put up a size 12 floating Daddy and sprayed the top half of the fly with floatant, taking care not to get it on the underside and the legs. I wanted the legs to puncture the water film and show themselves to the rainbows. I was happy to continue using the 4lb breaking strain fluorocarbon tippet hoping that the leader would sink and become invisible but the Daddy would appear to the trout to be stuck in the surface film and offer a tempting meal.
I cast almost parallel with the bank, about fifteen yards down and just four or five feet out and the gentle flow and whisper of a breeze slowly took the Daddy towards the bank. I was hoping for a quick result and, my word, I got one. Within two or three seconds of the Daddy landing on the surface I saw an underwater blur as a fish came from the depths, took the fly and rolled down with it. It hooked itself.
The fish was strong and kept diving every time I brought it near the bank. Eventually I managed to get my net under it and landed a beautiful female brown trout of two pounds plus – and there was me expecting rainbows!
Quit when you’re ahead…
I employed the same tactics for the next hour or so and walked my way down the bank looking for the patrolling fish then dropping a Daddy into their beat. Two or three fish took the time to inspect the offering and refused the fly at the last second but four other rainbows repeated the tactics of the brownie and rose from the deep water like torpedoes, snapped the fly and rolled away and down. This was marvellous sport with the fish averaging three pounds each and in excellent condition.
The odd thing was that these fish departed from the common custom of rising next to the fly and splashing it into submission before turning and taking it. All the five fish that took the bait did so at top speed and what a grand spectacle it provided, too. Trout fishing at its best. After the fifth fish and with the temperatures rising by the minute I decided to quit whilst I was winning and called it a day.
I sought shade and refreshment at the Red Rock in nearby Higham and reflected on the efficacy of the floating Daddy. This is only the beginning of the Daddy season and I expect to be using various Daddy patterns through until the Autumn.
Tight Lines!
Eddie Caldwell
