Lakeland High Tarns

Since the end of the season I have been thinking about next season’s fishing and where I could go.

I recently visited the local library and picked up this book describing walks to some of the high tarns of Lakeland. I have a list of tarns and what fish if any are in them, and this book has walks to some of the tarns that hold wild brown trout. I have therefore decided that I will make notes of the walks described and plan for next years fishing trips, some of which may involve an overnight camp.

These tarns range in altitude from 200m to about 500m, therefore some of the fishing might be a bit exposed to the strong winds that can come and go without warning. I must also say that although the weather at ground level may be sunny and warm, at the altitudes on some of the walks it can be totally different so appropriate wet/bad weather gear, along with a map and compass and the knowledge of how to use them are as important if not more so, than ensuring that you have packed your rod, reel and flies.

Tying & Dramming

Both these seem to go well together and somehow the dramming gives me inspiration. I decided I had to have a dram or two from the bottle of Highland Park 12yo Malt Whisky, which I had been given at my works Malt Whisky Club on Tuesday night.

It was while drinking this that I came up with the fly pictured. I was looking for something slightly different from the norm for Salmon & Sea Trout. I will be targeting the Salmon early next season and the Sea Trout from June 2011.

The river Kent has a good run of Salmon and Sea Trout. The salmon are more prolific in the spring and late autumn, with the sea trout starting to show from June onwards.

Sea Trout Fly

Following my visit to the British Fly Fair International 2010, and drawing inspiration from Steffan Jones to tie some Sea Trout flies for next season. I have never targeted Sea Trout before but, I will definitely be giving it a go next season. He gave me a fly that he had tied on the day at the In Focus Theatre.

I have made an attempt at tying something similar, with what I consider to be a good effort for the first attempt. I will be trying different recopies over the next few weeks and will give them a swim next season.

Please leave your comments good or bad on the tying pictured.

Hook – Kamasan B800
Thread – UTC 70 Fire Orange
Body – Black Embroidery thread (single strand)
Rib – Narrow Flat Silver Tinsel
Wing – Grey Squirrel
Overwing – Teal Flank
Head Hackle – Blue Hen
Head – UTC 70 Fire Orange

BFFI Sunday 31 October

I am writing live from the BFFI 2010.

Just waiting on Paul Little starting his turn at Fly Tying in Focus theatre.

I have been round some of thetrade stands and got a few bits and pieces. I will be watching Ollie Edwards later.

UPDATE

As promised earlier today here is an update of the BFFI 2010. I have had a very good day. I didn't spend too much. I got a couple of capes from Cookshill Fly Tying, and joined the Fly Dressers Guild and got a few freebies from them for joining.

Paul Little was good explaining how to marry materiels for Classic Salmon Fly Dressing. the results were amazing.

I then wathched a young Welshman by the name of Stephan Jones, who was explaing and demonstrating flies for the Sea Trout. I had a chat with him later on Tyers Row where he gave me one of his Sea Trout Flies that he had tied.

It was now time to go round the trade stands and see what goodies were on offer, when I met Mike Harding at the Lakeland Fly Tying Stand. I had a good chat with him about the River Kent where he does a lot of his fly fishing. He said, the season had been good for him on the Kent.

It was then time for the last of the 'Fly Tying in Focus' Demonstrations by the great man himself 'Ollie Edwards'.

Fly Swap Update

All the flies for the swap are now finished. I really enjoyed tying for this swap. The idea behind the swap was to tie up a fly that you have had success with during the past season.

The fly is an original from me. I have never seen another like it with this colour combination and have a bit of success with it this past season.

The picture above is of the completed set of 14 flies. I hope you will agree that they look pretty good.

Fly Swaps

A forum that I am a member of is doing an ‘End of Season Fly Swap’. I have decided to take part in this one and have decided to tie up a fly that I have a reasonable amount of success with over the last season.

The fly is quite easy to tie. It is a fly of my own design, if it resembles any other fly in production then that is purely coincidental.

The reasoning behind the colours scheme is that I had some success with Orange hackled wet flies and Blue hackled wet flies,

The tying is as follows:

Hook - Kamasan B830 size 12 Long Shank
Thread – Uni Thread 8/0 Orange
Body – Orange Squirrel
Head Hackle1 – Blue Hen
Head Hackle 2 – Orange Hen

Please feel free to leave comments on what you think of this fly.

Salmon Tube Flies

I have been taking a bit of time out since the end of the Brown Trout season, tying up some salmon flies. I thought I would give tube flies a try. As that is what I see a lot of the salmon guys using on the local river.

I have tied up salmon flies in the past with a little success when fishing them. I went to the local tackle shop and bought a tube fly adaptor and some tubes. These are not as expensive as I thought.

Tube flies are a lot harder to tie than tying on a hook, but with a little perseverance I have came up with a couple of flies that I am happy with. I now just need to get some hooks for them and give them a try over the next couple of weeks before the end of the salmon season here on the River Kent.

The dressing for the above fly is as follows:

Tube: Eumer 25mm
Thread: UTC 70 Red
Beard Hackle: Grey Squirrel Tail/Blue Arctic Fox
Over Wing: Orange Arctic Fox
Orange Conehead