BFFI 2010

I will be attending the BFFI this year again at Stoke on 31st October. I went for the first time last year, and can say without doubt that if you can get along to it, it is well worth the time.

There is casting demonstrations and tuition (I could do with a bit of tuition). These are all supervised by AAPGAI instructors who will help you correct any faults that you think you have and some you didn’t know you had.

The In Focus Theatre is well worth a visit. They have luminaries such as Paul Little, Ollie Edwards etc giving tying demonstrations and talks. Also not to be missed is Tyers Row, where you will be given demonstrations by some of the best known Fly Tyers from around the world, you can also ask them about a specific technique that you are having difficulty with and they will happily show you the way they do it. There is also the Fly Dressers Guild workshops where you will get hands-on tuition in all types of tying, and how to select the correct feather for the job.

There is of course plenty of trade stands selling all manner of materials that you need and some you didn’t know you needed. The best of all the trade stands in my opinion is Cookshill Fly Tying Materials. The quality of his materials is second to none. Steve Cooper who owns Cookshill is also the main organiser of the Fair.

I should also mention that there will be a raffle in aid of Casting For Recovery Breast Cancer Charity and Keith Passant will be doing another 24hr tying marathon as per last year.

Hope to see you there.

Salmon on the Kent

I went down the river today for a spot of Salmon fishing. The river was in perfect condition as it had risen about 18 inches in the last couple of days and was slightly coloured.

I set up with my 8# and an intermediate line with a fly I tied myself, especially for the Silver Tourists.


There were plenty of Sea Trout and Salmon moving through the pools that I was fishing. I did hook into a few brown trout around the ½ lb mark. I did have some interest from the Sea Trout but, they were more interested in the real fly life than anything I could throw at them.

I forgot to take the camera with me today, so it is probably just aswell I did not catch any of the Silver Tourists as no one would believe me if I had.

River Kent

I have not been fishing the Kent for a few weeks now so I decided that I needed a day on the river as I have been working long hours recently. I set off at 9am this morning in glorious sunshine and arrived at my chosen area about 15 minutes later (I was walking). The river is only a 5 minute walk to the section that is free to fish, but I decided that I would fish further upstream, where I was reliably informed that the fish were rising freely, and that the Salmon & Sea Trout were running to the spawning beds.

I got tackled up and was fishing by 9.30am. The sun was shining and the trout were rising freely to the fly life. I could not make out what they were feeding on, so I tried my hopper to begin with. There was a little interest but no takes. After about 15 minutes I changed to a small caddis that I had tied up over the winter. I immediately got a take. As I was about to net the fish it got off. I put this down to using barbless hooks and not ensuring I had lifted into the fish enough for the hook to hold.

I continued fishing the caddis pattern and had many more takes but nothing landed. There were a few Sea Trout moving through on the way upstream and giving the occasional jump to let me know that I was not going to get them.

This was still a great day just to be on the river again.

River Wear

Not been on-line recently due to heavy work-load (working 6 days a week and 14 hours per day), also just back from a week’s holiday in Weardale visiting the in-laws. The weather while on holiday was pretty good, but the fishing was poor.
I managed to get a couple of hours fishing in on the River Wear near Stanhope and Frosterley.

Around Stanhope the river was in near perfect condition with fish rising freely to the fly life. I saw a few large brownies about 1 ½ lb jump with lots of smaller ones jumping to let me know they were there. I set up the rod and started to fish the Southern bank for about ½ mile. The wind was blowing from the West, which would be perfect for upstream dry fly. Unfortunately the wind was very strong which made casting very difficult. I did get a few takes on the hopper but nothing hooked.

The following day I was fishing the River Wear near Frosterley, again the wind was blowing from the west. The water again was in near perfect condition. The fish were again rising freely to the fly life. I thought I would try the North bank this time. I managed to raise a few fish again to the hopper but once again no fish were landed.

It was still great to be out again with the rod even though I did not managed to catch a single fish. The scenery around the River Wear is spectacular which more than made up for the lack of fish.

Kent Flood Defence

Following on from the floods we had last year here in Kendal, the Environment Agency in association with The Local Council have agreed that the Islands that have been formed by the stone washed down into the Gooseholme area of the river need to be removed. This is being done sensitively so as not to destroy the environment for the fish and any other river life. I personally think this is a good idea as this will help stop the river flooding and possibly destroying the habitats of all the river life. The work has started and is looking good so far.
Looking at what has been done to date this will aid the Salmon & Sea Trout runs to the weir and further up river.

Windermere Air show

On Sunday I took the kids to the Windermere Air Show. We arrived at about 11.00am and the place was already packed with thousands of people, the airs how didn’t start till 12.30. We walked to the show field where there was exhibitions and info centres for the RAF, Army and Navy. The kids enjoyed going round the displays and getting free stickers and info packs from the armed services. My daughter is interested in joining the Air Training Corps, so she got lots of info about Kendal 1127 Squadron.

The first display was by the Breitling Wing Walkers in their 1940’s biplanes. This was a fantastic display as the girls did their acrobatics on top of the planes, flying at no more than 200feet above the Lake. Next up was the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. This was meant to be a Spitfire, Hurricane and Dakota, unfortunately only the Spitfire managed to do it’s display as the Hurricane and Dakota had broken down at Carlisle Airport. It was still a fantastic display by the Spitfire. The Red Arrows were supposed to do a fly past but did not show before the Grand Finale of the RAF Falcons Parachute display team flying in.

A superb day by the lake watching the air display’s by some of the best in the business.

A Day in the Lakes

I took the Kids for a day out in the Lakes. We started of by heading into Windermere before heading over the Kirkstone Pass. It wasn’t raining at this point and the views back towards Ambleside and the head of Lake Windermere from the Red Screes are fantastic. Continuing on over the pass towards Patterdale and Glenridding you come across the little known tarn Brotherswater which holds a good head of wild brown trout. This water is free to fish all you need is an Environment Agency Rod Licence. As I was with the kids and it was starting to rain, I was unable to get a cast on this lovely looking water. There is a campsite only 100yds from the water, so an overnighter or two is being planned as I write.
We continued on up to Ullswater and then onto the A66 towards Keswick. We were going to go to Castlerigg Stone Circle but the rain was torrential by this point. The stone circle is one of these Pre-historic monuments that were erected thousands of years ago and the meaning of which is long lost. We continued on back down the A591 towards Windermere.
On the way we passed Thirlmere. This water was formed when two smaller lakes were joined and the Old Village of Whytburn was demolished and the valley dammed and flooded, to create a reservoir which to this day still supplies water to Manchester over 80 miles away. The water here was very low, mainly due to the unseasonally long dry spell we have had since April. It was so low you could have walked alont the paths and roads leading to the old village and the islands that were formed at the time of the flooding were no longer islands. The rain had stopped by this point and there was blue sky and sunshine. Continuing on over Dunmail Raise past Grasmere village (Wordsworth’s grave is in the church yard) and then back through Ambleside and onto Windermere and back to Kendal.
A superb day out despite the weather doing it’s best to spoil it.