River Bugs Again

I have been tying some more bug type flies for the rivers that I fish. I have been experimenting with different styles some with hackles and tails, some with no hackles and no tails and some with tails and no hackles.
After fishing the River Brathay yesterday, I have decided that the best bet for the moment at least is a bug with gold head, tails and no hackle on the point, and a small black spider on the dropper.
In conclusion I will be tying up lots more of these in various drab/earthy colours, i.e. dark olives, greys and browns.

A Day On The River

I decided that I need a day’s fishing on the River Brathay. I arrived at the car park at about 10am & got tackled up, and was on the river by 10.30. The river is quite low at the moment and you can easily see the bottom in places, this is due mainly to the fact that we have had very little rain for the last couple of weeks. I started near the car park where I had seen a couple of rises about midway across the river, which is quite wide at this point. There wasn’t much fly life about and it had turned very cold with just a little wind.
I fished up the left bank for about ½ mile with a few takes and plenty of rises. I then crossed the bridge and fished down the right bank by this time the fly life had started to appear. Again there were plenty of rises with one take. Another blank day for me, but things are looking up. I just need to be patient and strike at the right time.

My New Tying Desk

I recently acquired an old solid wood bureau from Free Cycle, to use as my new tying desk. This will keep my other half happy as all my tying gear will now be stored in one place instead of scattered all over the computer desk when I am tying. It will also keep me happy that I have a permanent place for tying. The bureau as you can see in the photo above I have started to sand it down and bring it back to the natural wood. When I have finished sanding it I will then get a wood polish/stain to give it the colour I require to match in with the rest of our furniture. This is very much a work in progress as I wish to add a couple of things to make my tying more enjoyable. It has a couple of shelves where I will be able to store my fishing and tying books, where the will be in easy reach when tying or looking for inspiration.

Lakeland Fly Dressers Guild

I attended the latest monthly meeting of the Lakeland Fly Dressers Guild, held at the Club Inn at Endmoor on 21st April 2010. The guest tyer was Steve Wilkinson, a renowned fly tyer who lives in Kendal. He was demonstrating his tying techniques and self designed patterns for sea trout. Most of his patterns are very easy to tie, and he uses some tinsel that he is able to procure from his work, this tinsel is very similar to holographic tinsel the difference being the tinsel he uses comes in large sheets which he cuts to size. The quality of his tyings are excellent although quite simple. The one technique that I found to be very interesting is a dubbing loop using fine wire, which you use to dub and rib the fly at the same time.

A Day in Glorious Sunshine

I took my son who is 8 to Moss Eccles Tarn today. I thought I would start to teach him the art of fly-fishing. We arrived at the car park, which is a good 20-minute walk from the tarn at about 10.30am. We tackled up and headed to the tarn. It is a nice walk along farm tracks, passing by the cow sheds on the way, with great views back towards Hilltop, where Beatrix Potter wrote the majority of the Peter Rabbit storybooks. On reaching the tarn we decided to start fishing at the Southern end as the wind was blowing from that direction, which would help me when teaching my son. I am not an expert fly fisher by any stretch of the imagination, but found I was enjoying teaching my son as you could see he was enjoying the experience due to the large grin on his face. I have to admit that I blanked again. I put this down to various factors including the brilliant sunshine, my lack of concentration on the actual fishing due to teaching my son, and not using the flies that the fish were feeding on. Having said all that there was plenty of rises with a few deciding that a quick jump in the air just to poke fun at me was the order of the day. Still a very enjoyable and rewarding day, despite the lack of fish.

Belfast 2010

Just back from a family trip to Belfast. Unfortunately no fishing. I had a look to the docks and there appears to be good sea fishing to be had if you select the right area. I also enquired at the tourist info office near the City Halls about Trout fishing in and around Belfast. I was informed of a Rainbow fishery, which also has some wild Brownies in Hollywood on the opposite side of the River Lagan near Belfast Airport, and also a few small Loughs nearby. Prices are quite reasonable at £15.00 for a 2 fish limit with catch and release permitted. The kids would love to go back again for a holiday in the near future and when we do I will be taking both Fly and Sea rods and get some fishing done. I know that there is plenty of Loughs within about ½ hour drive so will be able to try some of these as well.
There is plenty to see and do. We visited the Cathedral, where there are some of the most amazing Stained Glass windows. Then there are the Titanic tours where you get to visit all the sites associated with the RMS Titanic, such as The Harland & Wolff Drawing office where the plans for Titanic were drawn and also the slips from where Titanic was launched in 1911.

River Bugs

I need to get some more bug type flies for the river especially early in the season as that is what the trout seem to be feeding on. So I decided to have a play on the vice last night and came up with the fly in the picture above. I don't have any small enough goldheads to use so put down a layer of lead to give it some weight.