Moss Eccles Tarn

I managed to get out today before the rain came down. I decided to visit Moss Eccles Tarn on the fells on the West shore of Windermere. After a walk of about 20minutes I reached the Tarn sat in a shallow cauldron of rocks, trees & fellside. The tarn is 5 acres in size and is stocked annually by Windermere, Ambleside & District Angling Association with Brown Trout, it also has a good head of natural wild Brownies. It is also a SSSI.
I decided the best tactics for the day would be a spider on the dropper with a small gold head bug on the point. The casting was hard due to the wind, which would occasionally get very blustery. After about 45 minutes the rain started, with light showers, about ½ hour it came on heavily with very strong winds making it virtually impossible to cast. It was shortly after this I decided to pack up, as there was no sign of improvement in the conditions. Unfortunately no fish were caught, although I had a couple of pulls. I think this was down to the conditions and choice of flies with the fish just checking out what was being offered.
I plan to give this tarn another go in the near future, hopefully with better results and weather.

Rain Stops Play

Well I have been trying to get out to the river over the last couple of days, but rain has stopped play. The heavy rain we have had has brought the river levels up about 3 foot and very coloured. The river is flowing very fast with some debris coming down from the upper reaches right through the sections of the river that I fish. By this Monday the river should be back to more normal levels with less colour, if the rain stays away for the next couple of nights.

Rainy Day’s Fishing

I went out this morning for a couple of hours before the heavy rain started. Although it was drizzly rain the fish were rising steadily in the lower pools of the beat I chose to fish on the River Kent. I decided the best tactics for the day were to get into the water to reach the pools, without having to cast too far enabling me to keep in contact with the fly and hopefully a fish or two.
I put a Partridge & Orange spider and GRHE on the dropper. Within a few minutes I had a couple of takes, this continued for most of the 2 hours that I was there before the heavy rain came on, unfortunately on this occasion I was not able to land any. So my second blank of the season, but at least the outlook is hopeful.

River Kent

Just thought that I would share my recent experiences of the river with you. One of the pictures you will have seen in an earlier post. The reasoning behind this is to show the difference in river levels in recent months. The first is normal river levels, the second is during the floods we had here in Cumbria in November last year. As you can see the river is about 15-20 foot higher during the recent floods.

Kent (Westmorland) Angling Association

I have been thinking about joining the KWAA for a while now. I called into Carlsons Tackle shop today to get day ticket prices for KWAA waters. I found that day tickets are actually quite inexpensive. Day ticket prices are as follows:
Adult Day:
Feb – May 31st £7.00
June – Aug 31st £15.00

Adult Weekly:
Feb – May 31st £20.00
Jun – Aug 31st £40.00
Sep – Oct 31st £60.00

I then enquired about annual subscriptions, these are even better value than the day tickets.
Local Adult £70.00 + £40.00 Joining fee in first year
Visiting Adult £140.00 + £80.00 Joining fee in first year

This gives you access to River Kent and it’s Tributaries, Killington Reservoir and Gurnal Dubbs Tarn.

First Day of The Season for Me

I went out fishing today, for the first time this season. Conditions weren’t perfect, a bit windy and very bright. I was fishing the free section in town. No fish were caught. This was more of a gesture to say that my fishing season has started. The water is possibly too cold keeping the fish down in the deeper pools. The River Kent had quite a bit of rain yesterday so the river is up a bit but falling quickly.

Stuart Crofts

Stuart is a fly fisherman of many years and as such has gained a wide knowledge of fly life and what fly to use and when in different conditions.
His talk at the Lakeland Fly Dressers Guild meeting was about choosing the correct fly for the conditions and also what you observe at the riverside. There is 2 ways of choosing the fly to use. 1st you can use the perceived way which is what you think the fish are feeding on, 2nd there is the Factual way where you observe the fly life at the waterside and see what they are actually feeding on and then match what you actually see. You also have to remember that fish do not feed all the time and when you can’t catch for love nor money there is the possibility that you have not selected the correct fly that the fish are feeding on or they are not feeding. This is due to the food available to them. Fly life available is different from fly life that is vulnerable. This means that although flies may be available they are not necessarily easy or able to be caught by the fish, then there is the vulnerability of fly life, this is usually the fly that are in abundance and easily within reach of the fish.

Tool Caddy

As I mentioned in an earlier post the hotel where I work is being refurbished and we are having oak flooring installed. I have acquired some more off-cuts of flooring and have decided to make a tool caddy for my tying bench. As you will see from the pic it is not quite finished yet, but that should be finished by the end of tomorrow. I only need to drill the holes for the dowel rods in order that I can store my threads on the caddy and varnish it. This will keep everything neat and tidy and stop the wife moaning that I have threads and tools everywhere.

Blae & Black

Last night was the last tying class for this season until November. The fly we were tying last night was the hardest to date, the Blae & Black. My first attempt is the pic above. I found that getting the wing slips together before tying them on was the hardest part. It was another enjoyable evening with plenty of banter and a few curses when the slips fell or when someone failed to tie on the hackle before the wings and whip finish, which I had done with the Peter Ross last week.
Next week is our monthly meeting with a talk and tying display by Stuart Crofts entitled “Putting the fly back into fly fishing” which I am looking forward to and will post a report here next week.

Mallard & Claret

At the latest tying night of Lakeland Fly Dressers Guild we were tying the Mallard & Claret. I have never tried tying wings like this before, I am more used to hairwings. I listened and watched the instruction intently, especially the part about how to fold the bronzed mallard wing. the pic above is my second attempt at the Mallard & claret.

Snowbee Fly Mate

Just thought I would write a small review of my new tying vice, the Snowbee Fly Mate. I have been tying on and off for a few years using a Regent type vice which has served me well.
Following my joining the Lakeland Fly Dressers Guild and attending their tying classes, I have come to realise that I need a true rotary vice. Now I work in hotels and simply cannot afford something like the LAW vice, so I chose a cheaper alternative. When I say cheaper I mean a lot cheaper but, the quality of the Snowbee is up there with the best and at only £42.00 within the reach of just about everybody. I have been able to tie my tails and hairwings much more easily with this vice, also with last weeks class we tied a beard hackle which was so much easier with this vice because of the rotary feature.
All in all a very good quality product that I can highly recommend.