Thursday 24 February 2011

Weekly Round Up (Week Eight)


Week eight and as promised my update is a couple of days early. I went for a walk along an area of the river that I don’t usually frequent. The water is at a good height at the moment and very fishy looking. The area where I was today is south of the town centre heading towards the Sedgewick. The water in this area has some very nice looking pools and riffles where the salmon and trout should be. Un fortunately the litter on the far bank tells me that the ‘neds’ have been around this area in the recent past. This would be a great place for fly fishing if we can persuade the Environment Agency to keep an eye on the area and move the ‘neds’ on when seen.

Sunday 20 February 2011

Weekly Round Up (Week Seven)


Week seven and the weather has been a mixed bag. Not too much rain but cold and dry for the most part. We even had snow on Friday night. The river levels are returning to normal for the time of year and the ducks are starting to appear in greater numbers. the snowdrops are now starting to flower and the crocus shoots are starting to show. It wont be too long until they are in flower.
I am on holiday most of next week. I will be travelling up to Scotland towards the end of the week therefore next weeks update will be a couple of days earlier.

Saturday 19 February 2011

Oak Fly Boxes Update


I have just finished the fly boxes. I rounded the corners and stained the oak with an antique finish. I then gave them a clear coat of varnish just to make sure they were waterproof. I then lined them with ethafoam, which I cut to size and shape. I hope you agree that the finished boxes look good.
They will come in handy during the coming season.

Thursday 17 February 2011

Lakeland Fly Dressers



I attended our prize giving and quiz night on Wednesday 16th at the Club Inn at Endmoor nr Kendal. The evening started with a buffet, which was well received by all attendees. After the buffet we had the raffle in which I won a Hardy Fly line. This was followed by the main event, the prize giving for all the competitions held last year. The winners were announced by our Chairman Paul Little and the trophy’s given out by our Deputy Chairman Ken Harrison. I was surprised when my name was announced for the Cedric Moxon award for the Most Improved tyer in the Beginners section.
I am very pleased with this award and will strive to keep improving on my tying now that I have been given this further incentive to keep tying.

Monday 14 February 2011

Oak Fly Boxes


I have now finally got round to getting the oak cut to size and routed out the centres for the fly boxes that I am making. I just need to round the corners off and than I will wax them before I fit the hinges, lock and then lining them with ethafoam inserts. I will give an update of the finished boxes in a couple of weeks.

Sunday 13 February 2011

Weekly Round Up (Week Six)


Week six and the weather has been awful all week. One day you have a bit of sunshine the next heavy rain. The river levels are up but still along way from bursting the banks.
The Salmon season has started on the Kent, but there is no one on the water as the flow is just too fast to even try and trot a worm.
Here’s hoping for some better weather next week and I may get to do some salmon fishing.

Saturday 12 February 2011

Cats Whisker (Variant)


At out tying night on Wednesday we were tying the Cats Whisker (Variant) and Dawsons Olive (Variant). As I don’t fish lures much, I was intrigued by the tying using lots of Marabou and Chenille, materials I don’t usually use. I quite like the results of my tyings and will definitely give them a swim this coming season.

Sunday 6 February 2011

Weekly Round Up (Week Five)


The end of another week and the rain has returned with a vengeance. The rain started about 6pm on Friday and only stopped at 4pm today (Sunday). As you will see from the picture the river has risen by about 4ft and is only 2-3ft from bursting its banks. There is a lot of tree debris being washed down the river due to the amount of trees/branches blown down on Friday night and Saturday Morning with wind speeds of up to 40/50mph with some gusts of up to 90mph.

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Blue Zulu


Not long back from the Lakeland Fly Dressers Guild tying night. As I said in my previous post I am posting the results of the night. We started the evening tying the Bibio, my efforts were ok but not good enough in my opinion. I much preferred tying the Blue Zulu. As I tend to fish rivers more than lakes it is not a pattern that I would normally tie. Having said that this coming season I might just try some of the lakes and will definitely try some of the tarns of the Lake District and will give the Blue Zulu a swim.

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear


At my Fly Dressers Guild tying night last week we were tying up the GRHE and PTN. My efforts on the night were ok but nothing great.. I have been trying all week to get one that I am happy with and think I have managed this in the pic above.
They are not that difficult to tie but I found on most of my attempts the tail had slipped to the side.

This week we will be tying Bibio’s and Blue Zulu’s. I will post later this week with the results.