Winter Wonderland

I went out for a walk yesterday in the Grasmere area as part of my research for the fishing booklet that I am going to produce for the hotel where I work.
I decided to walk around the area up to Alcock Tarn is located about half way up Heron Pike. The temperature was below freezing all day. The walk to Alcock Tarn is not very difficult normally but the footpaths all around the area were very icy, so great care had to be taken. The tarn was dammed in the early 1900’s by the then owner of the land a Mr Alcock,. The tarn was formerly know as Buttercraggs Tarn. After it was enlarged Mr Alcock stocked it with brown trout whose descendent are still resident in the water today. The fish are not large but they are plentiful There is plenty of space for fly fishing even in the summer when there are plenty of tourists in the area. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area even if you are only here for a couple of days.

Cookshill Fly Tying

I attended the latest monthly meeting of the Lakeland Fly Dressers Guild on Wednesday, where the guest speaker was Steve Cooper of Cookshill Fly Tying.

The evening began with a talk and slideshow by Steve on fishing in Iceland. The potential of thins untapped area is amazing. The fish that you can catch there are Brown Trout, Sea Trout, Salmon and Arctic Char. The Icelandic’s think that anyone who fishes for Brown Trout and Arctic Char are mad, especially if you catch and release. They treat these as food only and net them by the ton.
The Salmon and Sea Trout are the main reason most people visit Iceland and the cost of a day’s fishing is quite reasonable as you can expect to catch at least a dozen fish per day.
Brown Trout and Char fishing is even more reasonable and at about £5.00 per day with no restrictions on the amount of fish you catch and keep, you can see that it is good value for money.

The second part of the evening was a demonstration by Steve on skinning and preserving birds for fly tying. The whole process is actually quite easy and if you can get hold of a couple of birds it is a most cost effective way of getting the feathers that you will need in your tying.

Above is a picture of some capes that I got from Steve at the BFFI and also one I got on the night. As you can see the quality of his capes are second to none. I would highly recommend him for any tying materials that you need. There is a link on my side bar to his website where you will find all the materials that you will need.

Fly Tying Induction Night

I attended the Lakeland Fly Dressers Guilds fly tying induction night yesterday. The tying classes start on the 5th January for 8 weeks.
This was a chance to register for the tying classes and find out what flies and techniques we will be learning. I have signed up to the beginners class again as this will give me more training on the basics, which will enable me to start producing flies of the quality that I would like to tie.
Some of the flies we will be tying are Peter Ross, Mallard & Claret, Blae & Black and the Greenwells Glory.
We have signed up at least 3 new members for the tying class and for the Guild. All newcomers have been invited along to next weeks monthly Guild meeting where the guest speaker is Steve Cooper, owner of Cookshill Fly Tying.. his talk is on fishing in Iceland where he has been recently and he will also be giving a skinning demonstration and showing how to preserve the skins when done.

South Lakes Fishing Guide

My manager has asked me if I could put together a booklet on fishing in the South Lakeland area. This is for the guests of the hotel where I work. The booklet will be put into production and sold in the hotel, and if popular it will be sold in the other hotels in our group.

I am currently researching all the Tarns and Lakes in the area, finding out whom if anyone owns the fishing rights etc. and whether a permit is required or not.

I am finding this a fascinating project, as it allows me to research places to fish for myself aswell. There will be one or two omissions from the finished booklet. This is intentional as some of the Tarns are in locations that I know to be too far for the guests to walk and return on the same day, I also need to keep a few places secret for myself and trusted friends when they visit.

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