How did you get on?

[peter crabtree]

14 codgers fished last Tuesday on the Aylesbury arm near Aylesbury. a lovely day weather wise but the fishing was hard.
Only five had a bite with 9 blanking including myself. One however sat on a shoal of bream and landed 9 of them for 22lb!

On my way home down the A41 dual carriageway a motorcyclist on the opposite side hit the central reservation. He was flung into the air and landed on his back in the fast Lane.. His bike, or the remains of it vaulted over the central reservation and landed right in front of me! Luckily I saw the whole thing happen and managed to brake quickly and avoid the smouldering wreckage in my path.
I didn’t stop as quite a few behind me did. The road was closed for 7 hours as a result and an air ambulance took the bloke to John Radcliff hospital in Oxford. I was relieved to learn he survived but with serious head injuries and a fractured arm.

Wednesday was another nice, sunny day so I fished the town pit trying for a tench or bream but blanked again.

Today we had a knock up match on the GUC near Tring, once again it was a struggle for most, I had one bite in five hours, a small perch taken on waggler and maggot. Despite the frosty morning it turned into another glorious sunny day, just good to be out.

Winner had just one roach/bream hybrid of 3lb+ which fought like a demon!!!

 

[The Sogster]

I ventured out to a local estate lake this afternoon hoping for a tench or two despite the bright sunny weather and blustery cold westerly wind.
The place is quite open so set up with my back to the wind, wish I had taken my brolly to use as a windbreak.

Set up my medium feeder rod and a small banjo feeder with sticky pellets and a medium elipse pellet on the hair.
Started off fishing to the dead lily pads about 25 yards out. The fishing was slow but after 45 minutes I had my first positive bite as the tip sailed round and a few moments later a skimmer of around one and a quarter pounds was in the net.
Bites were infrequent but after six hours (fished 1.30pm to sunset) I finished with six fish, all skimmers with the largest about two and a half pounds. One of them may have been a rudd/ bream hybrid only about 10oz but a really lovely golden colour, should have taken closer inspection.

 

[John Aston]

After a false start on Thursday - freezing wind and a badly ripped wader - I had steady day on the river. A little too clear, too bright and surprisingly low after the winter deluges meant that sport was steady . The anticipated big grannom hatch didn't happen either . (Non fly anglers - the grannom is a small caddis or sedge fly which hatches much earlier than other sedge . Sunny weather can trigger gigantic hatches which switches every fish in the river on ) . So a steady wade upstream with a 14 or 16 gold headed pheasant tail nymph , either by itself or under a Klinkhamer (Klink and Dink- the dry fly is the 'float ' ) and my first wild trout of the year . Six fish between 8oz and maybe a pound, all but one as fit as fiddles and hard fighting . A lost grayling of getting on for 2 lbs was followed by another of c.1-12 - obviously not in prime condition at this time of year .

Some pricked , some missed but with the sound of chiffchaffs and the air full of the smell of wild garlic , as life affirming as(for me )only sporing trout fishing can be .

 

[bullet]

Nice, always find the Grannom can be a tricky hatch on rivers I fish, there can be clouds of them and plenty on the water but little interest from the fish.

 

[theartist]

Was on the club pond again Saturday where It was far from the t-shirt weather of earlier in the week. Had a look up the far end and bumped into Whitty, it was nice to chat to Alan in good spirits although I didn't fancy the end he was fishing as it looked pretty open and cold. A ripple of wind towards my desired spot made my mind up as I just wanted to potter about with a light pole float and single maggot again. After being spoilt the other day I didn't want to revert back to winter mode, battling the elements and all that.

Found some fair weather fishing in a spot I would normally avoid but it made a change and I was tucked nicely out of the wind. It was nearly all roach but of a decent size, the should I lift them or should I net them sort with a few bigger ones but not many little ones. Only a smattering of other species showed as there was so many roach showing so I ended up with more fish than last time although 62 were roach. Had a couple of guys from the cold end commenting on how tropical my spot was so I suppose it was a good decision, I could still hear Alan from down there though

 

[no-one in particular]

After a false start on Thursday - freezing wind and a badly ripped wader - I had steady day on the river. A little too clear, too bright and surprisingly low after the winter deluges meant that sport was steady . The anticipated big grannom hatch didn't happen either . (Non fly anglers - the grannom is a small caddis or sedge fly which hatches much earlier than other sedge . Sunny weather can trigger gigantic hatches which switches every fish in the river on ) . So a steady wade upstream with a 14 or 16 gold headed pheasant tail nymph , either by itself or under a Klinkhamer (Klink and Dink- the dry fly is the 'float ' ) and my first wild trout of the year . Six fish between 8oz and maybe a pound, all but one as fit as fiddles and hard fighting . A lost grayling of getting on for 2 lbs was followed by another of c.1-12 - obviously not in prime condition at this time of year .

Some pricked , some missed but with the sound of chiffchaffs and the air full of the smell of wild garlic , as life affirming as(for me )only sporing trout fishing can be .

Never heard of that and it sounds interesting, Klink and dink, dry fly as a float and a nymph under it. How far under the dry fly is the nymph and how do you tie it. And were all the fish caught on the nymph or are any caught on the dry fly. And what sort of dry flies lend themselves to this method? thanks.

 

[108831]

Well,unlike Rob,I was bloody freezing all day,I didn't take maggot,as the last time I fished the water with it,the small roach were a pest,so fed frugally with 4mm pellet and alternated between meat and expander on the hook,ended up with seven crucians/brown goldfish(hard to tell without a scale count),one crucian(I could be bothered to count on this fish)would have been just under 2lbish,all over a pound,a common carp around 2lb 8ozs and a skimmer around 1lb 12ozs,strangely the bites were fairly regular at the start when it was colder,but tailed of as it warmed,the crucians/goldfish were even more finicky bite wise,buggers...

On the journey home I started hurting,it eased when I got home,but I awoke at 2.30am hurting once more,called an ambulance and was taken to A&E,had three ECG's,numerous b.tests,an x-ray,an ultrasound,everything showed normal,been pretty good since(for me),no idea as to what it was,though it might be my hiatus hernia playing up....

My apologies for being so loud Rob,my years of working as a sheet metal worker have made me partially deaf,so I tend to be loud....

 

[John Aston]

Klink and Dink is now a very popular technique , and is aka the Duo . The dry fly is tied on as normal , with the nylon for the nymph tied on the hook bend. The distance depends on water depth , flow rate and clarity - the nymph doesn't fish underneath the dry fly directly , but at an angle dictated by the speed of flow and weight of nymph. Using a lightly beaded nymph , I use about 18 " as a start point on my river , which typically is 18" to 3' deep where I am fishing . Choice of dry fly is dictated primarily by how visible it is, and how well it floats- hence the popularity of the Klinkhamer (not 'Klinkhammer' , as it is often misspelt ). Its central post is very visible -often flouro orange or pink -hence 'Pinkhamer'

The mistake often made is to think this is best of both worlds fishing , with both sunk and surface fly . It isn't that at all , and the right mindset is to use it as a really effective way to present a nymph . The dry fly is sacrificial , and its only purpose is as an indicator . That said , some fish will take it , and you might even catch some of them as a bonus . But you will miss far more because your reactions need to be in nymph mode - instant strike - rather than dry fly - brisk but not instant. And if you are getting lots of rises it is time to do it properly and fish dry fly per se.

You do get the weird phenomenon sometimes where you get a take to the dry, hit it but when you land the fish find it is hooked on the nymph alone . I assume the fish has taken the nymph , but the take is unseen as it is also rising to get the dry . Only once, in hundreds of trout and grayling caught on Klink and Dink has the fish been hooked on both flies.

It is not the panacea some anglers think - it is terrific in pacey water ,especially with some colour, but spooks fish in shallow , slow and/or clear water - that is when you need to be back on dry, or traditional upstream nymph. One thing I have learned is never to neglect the fast, shallowing tails of pools , often only inches deep but prime territory for feeding fish . Conventional dry fly is near impossible because of drag ,and K 'n D is even worse . I use a lightly leaded nymph on a much longer leader than most use for river fishing - 14- 16 ' on a 8' rod. It sounds really hard , but is easy with practice . A cast which stalls the leader mid air is key , allowing a drag free drift - it often produces scary bow waves from fish chasing the fly before it drifts out of the pool tail into the next stickle .

 

[theartist]

Well,unlike Rob,I was bloody freezing all day,I didn't take maggot,as the last time I fished the water with it,the small roach were a pest,so fed frugally with 4mm pellet and alternated between meat and expander on the hook,ended up with seven crucians/brown goldfish(hard to tell without a scale count),one crucian(I could be bothered to count on this fish)would have been just under 2lbish,all over a pound,a common carp around 2lb 8ozs and a skimmer around 1lb 12ozs,strangely the bites were fairly regular at the start when it was colder,but tailed of as it warmed,the crucians/goldfish were even more finicky bite wise,buggers...

On the journey home I started hurting,it eased when I got home,but I awoke at 2.30am hurting once more,called an ambulance and was taken to A&E,had three ECG's,numerous b.tests,an x-ray,an ultrasound,everything showed normal,been pretty good since(for me),no idea as to what it was,though it might be my hiatus hernia playing up....

My apologies for being so loud Rob,my years of working as a sheet metal worker have made me partially deaf,so I tend to be loud....

Jeez mate, good to see you but sorry you ended up in hospital, maybe shorter sessions in warmer weather will help you, I felt for you guys up that end, I know we've fished in worse but I reckon we are all out of shape at the mo.

Good point about the finicky bites there was a guy opposite me who had two fish all day despite being on maggot, he had a chunky float and must have had a bigger hook. Even on a dotted down float my bites were little dimples and they were barely taking it.

 

[bullet]

Klink and Dink is now a very popular technique , and is aka the Duo . The dry fly is tied on as normal , with the nylon for the nymph tied on the hook bend. The distance depends on water depth , flow rate and clarity - the nymph doesn't fish underneath the dry fly directly , but at an angle dictated by the speed of flow and weight of nymph. Using a lightly beaded nymph , I use about 18 " as a start point on my river , which typically is 18" to 3' deep where I am fishing . Choice of dry fly is dictated primarily by how visible it is, and how well it floats- hence the popularity of the Klinkhamer (not 'Klinkhammer' , as it is often misspelt ). Its central post is very visible -often flouro orange or pink -hence 'Pinkhamer'

The mistake often made is to think this is best of both worlds fishing , with both sunk and surface fly . It isn't that at all , and the right mindset is to use it as a really effective way to present a nymph . The dry fly is sacrificial , and its only purpose is as an indicator . That said , some fish will take it , and you might even catch some of them as a bonus . But you will miss far more because your reactions need to be in nymph mode - instant strike - rather than dry fly - brisk but not instant. And if you are getting lots of rises it is time to do it properly and fish dry fly per se.

You do get the weird phenomenon sometimes where you get a take to the dry, hit it but when you land the fish find it is hooked on the nymph alone . I assume the fish has taken the nymph , but the take is unseen as it is also rising to get the dry . Only once, in hundreds of trout and grayling caught on Klink and Dink has the fish been hooked on both flies.

It is not the panacea some anglers think - it is terrific in pacey water ,especially with some colour, but spooks fish in shallow , slow and/or clear water - that is when you need to be back on dry, or traditional upstream nymph. One thing I have learned is never to neglect the fast, shallowing tails of pools , often only inches deep but prime territory for feeding fish . Conventional dry fly is near impossible because of drag ,and K 'n D is even worse . I use a lightly leaded nymph on a much longer leader than most use for river fishing - 14- 16 ' on a 8' rod. It sounds really hard , but is easy with practice . A cast which stalls the leader mid air is key , allowing a drag free drift - it often produces scary bow waves from fish chasing the fly before it drifts out of the pool tail into the next stickle .

Nicely written and sound advice.
My experience of fishing NZ style is exactly the same as yours.....I've had plenty come for the dry that have been hooked on the nymph, but only 1 that had both flies in it's mouth.

 

[no-one in particular]

Klink and Dink is now a very popular technique , and is aka the Duo . The dry fly is tied on as normal , with the nylon for the nymph tied on the hook bend. The distance depends on water depth , flow rate and clarity - the nymph doesn't fish underneath the dry fly directly , but at an angle dictated by the speed of flow and weight of nymph. Using a lightly beaded nymph , I use about 18 " as a start point on my river , which typically is 18" to 3' deep where I am fishing . Choice of dry fly is dictated primarily by how visible it is, and how well it floats- hence the popularity of the Klinkhamer (not 'Klinkhammer' , as it is often misspelt ). Its central post is very visible -often flouro orange or pink -hence 'Pinkhamer'

The mistake often made is to think this is best of both worlds fishing , with both sunk and surface fly . It isn't that at all , and the right mindset is to use it as a really effective way to present a nymph . The dry fly is sacrificial , and its only purpose is as an indicator . That said , some fish will take it , and you might even catch some of them as a bonus . But you will miss far more because your reactions need to be in nymph mode - instant strike - rather than dry fly - brisk but not instant. And if you are getting lots of rises it is time to do it properly and fish dry fly per se.

Thanks for that, I get the point not to think of it as fishing both styles. Where it interests me this might be useful when I go after Mullet in the summer, they cruise around just under the surface up to about 2ft down. I have attempted to get one on the fly before, next to impossible but been a bit of an ambition to catch one on the fly. I might give this a try come the summer when they move into the river.

 

[peter crabtree]

11 codgers fished today Berkhamsted town centre GUC. Barely 2° at the draw after a frost and a chilly wind rippling the surface, a cormorant scattering the fish, it didn’t bode well... The 5 hour grueller reflected my last 2 outings with 7 blanks including me, 2 caught pike ( which don’t count) and 2 caught a few bits.

 

[theartist]

Brrrr! Now that was cold, come to think of it I can't recall feeling this cold for many a moon.

Wanting a challenge I walked down to the canal this morning, leaving the house when there was still snow on the ground, ok it was rubbish snow, more like icing sugar but you know when people say "I remember it snowing in April" Now I can add " Yeah and I was daft enough to go fishing in it" The morning sun soon melted it all but by the time I got down there the clouds were back and that wind was a beast and blowing straight down the cut.

Despite all this it fished ok with two chub in the 2-3lb bracket and a couple of perch over 1lb, and a few little perch, which was the one species I wasn't expecting today. The only other species showing were bleak, mind you I was fishing shallow, I had no bites at all on the deck and caught everything less than two feet deep. I packed up a little after lunch feeling like the wind has gone completely through me but the fishing was worth it.

The sun is back out now and i'm sitting next to a radiator trying to warm the knees up ?

Edit : Here's one of the perch

 

[mikench]

You are a braver man than I Gunga Din aka Rob . As it happened a task involving France came up and I spent all morning sorting it out. I also had a few admin tasks regarding my late Dad and my mother’s attendance allowance. Having sorted those I’m all set to go when the mood takes me. It’s very cold though and I’m generally fairly immune to the cold. When I do go I can concentrate on the pesky fish and not worry about the pending issues referred to above and now sorted.

 

[108831]

I agree Mike,I looked at the forecast and decided that IF I was going it would be tomorrow when the temperature is going to be double figures,my mate who Rob saw Saturday is there again today,and he really feels the cold,he had a heart attack a couple of years ago and he isn't sixty yet...

 

[theartist]

I know it sounds stupid but I figured it would be too easy later in the week and wanted a challenge, plus the maggots were on their last knockings

 

[108831]

Yeah right,did you hear me laughing there in sunny Watford,lol...

 

[theartist]

It's not sunny now and i'm not in Watford, although I expect I could hear you from the moon

 

[John Aston]

To my club lake , 700 ft up on the North York Moors , and looking like this on a summer day .

Didn't look like that yesterday . 4C , very cold , blustery NW wind and , oddly enough, not much sign of rising fish. Nil desperandum - a wander around the banks , casting here and there , produced not a knock . Make cup of tea, repeat process . Nowt . More tea , and concentrate on fishing off the boat ramp (too bloody cold to be out on the boat ). I changed to a an even heavier beaded nymph on a 19' leader and ten minutes later, the leader straightened and after a helluva scrap an overwintered rainbow of about 4lbs was landed . Having been stocked last July and having also evaded capture by angler , otter or cormorant it deserved its freedom . So no pics ! Two more of 2 lb ish followed - like the first, full tailed , lavender /silver/crimson and fit as fleas.

 

[mikench]

That looks a very picturesque spot Grayson. Mine pales somewhat in comparison but here is my pool offering tench in abundance.

It failed to deliver on the tench front too and I could only muster 5 small roach and a perch of about 6oz. It was cold but not too bad but the wind was perverse all day. One minute it was flat calm and the next strong gusts blew down the lake creating waves. I was pessimistic about how it would fish after the recent arctic conditions and my fears were realised. About 4 of us commiserated together socially distanced in the car park and the other 3 had blanked. Mind you they didn't float fish maggot on a 20 hook. It was good to be out though and I'm tied up now until next Wednesday.