DRY FLY IN DECEMBER
I can report success again this year with the dry fly in December. I fished Churn Clough Reservoir at Sabden in east Lancashire on Tuesday 4th December on an almost wind-free, mild day with just a glimmer of sunshine throughout. In fact, I’ve experienced colder days in September and March on this water which lies quite exposed to the prevailing westerlies on the lower end of Pendle Hill.
I arrived at 10.00 am and was surprised to find just how calm it was. The water was like a huge black glass with the occasional fish rippling the surface. I put up a nine foot rod with a WF5 floating line and a 12 foot leader down to a 4lb tippet. I tied on a size 14 dry Black Spider and began to work my way along the east bank searching for fish feeding near the surface, that is, find a fish either dimpling or showing a fin and cast to it.
There was no interest at all demonstrated by the trout at this stage. I must have covered 20 fish but got no response. They seemed to be feeding on buzzer just under the surface and there was a prolonged hatch of small lake olive-type fly for the first two hours or so. I changed flies several times and even went down to a size 16 but to no avail. Whatever I threw at them failed to tempt them.
I stopped for lunch for ten minutes and surveyed the water. Wherever I looked fish were moving just under or at the surface. I had a re-think about my tackle and presentation and decided to make a few changes. Firstly, I cut off the monofilament leader and went for a 4lbs fluorocarbon leader and changed back to a bushier dry fly that was one of a number tied for me about twenty years ago by a ‘poacher’ from Burnley called Dave Reynolds. I did not put any floatant on the fly and hoped that it would be pulled into the surface film by the leader.
Third cast and a rainbow of around 3lbs slurped the fly in leisurely fashion and rolled away until the hook set and his reaction then was a strong and acrobatic run across the water towards the distant dam. I was quite determined to net him and chalk up a trout caught on the dry fly so late in the year. When he came to the net he was a superb silvery fish weighing two ounces over the three pound mark on the scales.
I moved about fifty yards towards the car park where there is a long shallow shelf into deep water and I spotted several fish breaking the surface like a troop of synchronised swimmers. Out went the line as quietly as I could manage and, several seconds later, there was the characteristic tug – tug – tug and then the line was taken off the reel as a much darker fish skimmed along the surface and leapt several times in an effort to shake the hook loose. Another three pound fish in the net and my thanks to ‘Dirty’ Dave, who as a young man ran the legs off local bailiffs and earned a decent living in the wrestling ring!
I changed tactics and put a Muddler on the point and suspended two buzzers, a black and a red about four feet apart, on the line. Out again, I cast to the cruising fish. I managed to drop the flies about three feet in front of one rainbow and he altered direction to come up behind the Muddler. He followed for about ten yards and made two attempts to get his mouth around the fly without success. I slowed the retrieve but kept it moving very slowly and, on the third attempt he succeeded in hooking himself.
Activity eased off as some cloud came across and a breeze put more ripple on the water. I stayed on the shallow shelf which held a fair amount of short vegetation and swapped my flies in favour of a size 12 green and black Montana nymph. The trout were not so evident but had not left the area. I let the fly sink for about fifteen seconds and then retrieved it slowly, hoping it would be just above the weed.
This was evidently a favourable bait and I hooked several more fish on the Montana and netted two of them. Again, good fish in the three pound range and full of fight. The Fulling Mill fluorocarbon in a variety of strengths has not let me down. I like it more and more and it has more or less become my leader material of choice, whether its dry fly, lure or nymph. A word, too, about my WF5 floating line; it’s a line from Hardy’s that only cost half of many of the other leading brands and, on this nine foot 5-weight rod, it performs impeccably. It makes the rod work and flies very smoothly through the air to land quietly whilst turning the leader over perfectly. In really expert hands, I’m sure that this line would be a world-beater. I will certainly buy it again.
What a satisfying day it proved to be. I fished alone all day with good weather, some excellent fishing and with the added bonus of catching fish on a dry fly tied by an old friend. Better still, two prime trout in the freezer for Christmas!
A Festive Trout Recipe
A fly fishing friend from Gloucester, Dave Nicol, passed on this recipe for a really tasty trout dish as an alternative to poultry and pork over the Christmas holidays.
Ingredients:
- 1 cleaned trout between 1- 2lbs
- 1 lb of green beans (French or similar)
- 1lb of small cherry tomatoes
- 4 oz of black olives
- A few anchovy fillets or several squirts of anchovy paste
- A good pinch of dried basil
- Lots of extra virgin (can we use that word Graham? – No, sorry!) olive oil
- Accompaniments: either good quality white wine or a couple of packs of chilled Stella Artois to be consumed while cooking and eating
A big thick cast iron roasting dish or casserole dish. Pour in two tablespoons of olive oil – enough to cover the base of the cooking dish. Top-and-tail the green beans and scatter them in the dish. Leave the tomatoes whole and scatter them in the dish, too. Add the anchovies and lay the trout on top of the lot. Sprinkle with basil and pour a quarter pint of olive oil over everything.
Put it in a pre-heated oven at 150 degrees for 20 minutes per pound of fish. The green beans may crinkle a bit with bigger fish but they still taste good.
Serve hot with fresh bread and either the second bottle of the good cold white wine or the remaining pack of chilled Stella.
Planning for Next Year
I am planning several trips during 2003 (God Willing! Though I have read that God does not count time spent fishing in with our normal span of three score and ten. You get what He allots you plus the time spent fishing). I have collated my Scottish notes and I will pass on details of fishing locations, map references, availability, methods and accommodation concerning trout (and salmon) fishing in the far north-west of Scotland for readers to peruse during the Christmas and New Year holidays. My mouth begins to water at the prospect of revisiting Assynt and Inver, Kirkgaig and Oykell, Glendhu and Dhub again.
Until then, Tight Lines!
Eddie Caldwell
