River Clyde Abington

I have just returned from a trip to Scotland to see the family. The weather was not the best but this did not stop me from having a look around at the waters available for fishing during the coming season when I am up again visiting family. Hillend was looking good even though the water was very choppy and the sleet and hailstones put me off getting out the car to take a pic.
On the way home down the motorway I decided to make a small diversion and have a look at the Clyde near Abington. The river Clyde was looking god and if the levels are right it should make for some good fishing during the coming season.

Tying Night

I didn’t manage to get to the first tying night run by the Lakeland Fly Dressers due to work commitments. I did get along to the second night on Wednesday 11th Jan. We were tying Loch Style Wets. The actual fly’s we were tying were the Red Ribbed Mayfly and Dark Olive Dabbler.
My attempt at the Red Ribbed Mayfly was going well, I finished the head then the copper wire snapped at the butt and unwound the palmering which until that point was looking good. I had more success with the second fly, the Olive Dabbler. The hardest part of this fly was tying in the wing. I was feeling pleased with the result. On showing this to the instructor he said he was impressed with my wing.
This has spurred me on to get more tying done, especially dabblers and the like as there are many stillwaters around here to give them a swim and hopefully catch a couple of fish.

Trout & Salmon Dec 2012

I have just been re-reading the December issue of this magazine, especially the feature in it called ‘Trout in the Lakes’. The feature is on the River Kent, my local, but about a stretch of the river that I have not visited (for fishing) in the past. The section runs from Burneside to Staveley. This is a beautiful stretch of river and Burneside Anglers have approximately 6 miles of double bank with some very hard fighting wild brownies with a good run of Sea trout and Salmon especially in the autumn.
Having read the feature I went out for a walk along this stretch today to see for myself the pools, glides and riffles as described in it. I must say that the river is as good if not better than the feature suggests. This is definitely on my to do list for next season.

Tying Vice Sightboard

I have been messing around with various connotations of a sight board for the last couple of years, and have now come up with a version that I am pleased with.
The same sort of sightboard from some of the big names in fly tying equipment cost in the region of £20 – £30, mine cost about £3.00 maximum.
The board is the made from Art Board which has a foam centre; the cost was about £1.50 for an A3 sized piece from a local craft shop, the front and back are covered with foam sheet that cost 60 pence per sheet again from the local craft shop. The foam was fastened to the craft board with double sided sticky tape. The support arm is an old wire coat hanger which I acquired from work as it was going to be thrown out. It took about 30 minutes to make and has saved me about £20.

Fly Tying Classes 2012

Last Wednesday I attended the induction evening for the tying classes starting in January 2012, run by the Lakeland Fly Dressers Guild. I have moved up a step to the intermediate classes. This coming tying season we will be tying River & Lake Flies.

Week 1 – Stripped Quill Flies – Quill Dry & Quill Nymph
Week 2 – Loch Style Wets – Red Ribbed Mayfly & Dark Olive Dabbler
Week 3 – Big Dries – Stimulator & Black Klinkhammer
Week 4 – Black CDC Hopper & Cruncher
Week 5 – Terrestrials – Black Gnat & Generic Terrestrial
Week 6 – Teal & Black Palmer & Black Buzzer
Week 7 – Olives – Olive CDC Dun & Un-weighted Olive Nymph

The cost of the course of tying lessons is £15.00 which I think represents good value for money, as some of the materials will be supplied if you cannot procure your own.

Riverside Cycling

On Tuesday I had a day off from work and decided to get the bike out and go for a ride along by the river. It was a cool day but dry (no sign of rain), so got the panniers on the bike as i thought I might as well do a bit of light grocery shopping while out, instead of taking the car later.
I set off about 10am and decided to head to Sedgwick just outside Kendal. I cycled along by the river before picking up the cycle path for about 2 miles and then headed along the road to Natland. This is a quiet country road with very little cars; from there I continued along to Sedgwick then picked up the river for a mile before heading towards Crooklands still sticking to the quiet roads. From Crooklands I picked up the A65 back towards Kendal. I then called into Asda for the shopping that was needed and then back along the cycle path and stopped by the river for a break, whilst sitting on the bench seat I watched a salmon jump the weir heading up river to breed, soon after I set off home. This was a ride of about 14 miles, the longest I have cycled in a long time, so when I got home I put away the shopping and then had a very nice warm relaxing bath to soothe the aches and pains.

Planning Ahead

I have not been on the computer much over the last week due to planning ahead for next year’s cycling, walking and fishing trips. There will be a combination of Walking and Fishing and Cycling and fishing.
I have had the maps and guide books spread out on the floor for the last week when I have not been at work, looking at possible walks and bike rides with some fishing thrown in.
So far I have only come up with a couple of possible walks, the first is a walk up to Alcock Tarn for some brown trout fishing, the second is a trip to Buttermere with a walk up Red Pike to the tarn situated at about 1500ft, which is reputed to be full of small brown trout which take freely and give lively sport.
I will continue to do more planning for next season’s brown trout, I need to find some locations that are within a reasonable cycling distance but which may include an overnight camp.