big Bigland Rainbows

With the new brown trout and river season just round the corner i had a trip up to bigland tarn, the weather wasn't that good a cold wind was blowing down the tarn.After signing in i noticed that all the catch returns were lures, lures and more lures.

On wandering down the tarn and looking for a bit of shelter from the bitter wind i passed a few anglers that were catching odd fish, on went a olive nymph with a long maribu  tail and a long leader after a bit of trial and error i was into fish.

With hands numb and freezing cold i returned back to the fishing lodge having winkled 8 fighting fit trout out.

a nice plump bigland trout

hot going

With the weather too hot for the trout I have been concentrating on trying to take carp off the top over the last week or so I have had a few out with me breaking my personal best and it now stands at 17 lb all good fun on 8 or 9 weight rods

my new pb 17 ib

 

 

 

Out and about

With the new season a few weeks old i have been doing a fair bit of fishing both on the rivers and still waters i had my first trip onto he river Bela at milnethorpe, the fishing was hard and both me and Albert didn't see a fish move so i will have to wait a while to break my duck on the rivers

On the still waters i have been all over fishing a few wadda waters catching lots of trout, i have also been on my local tarn and have caught some brown trout.over the next week i will be having my first trip out on my float  tube fishing Simpson's ground (a wadda water) and then fishing bigland tarn again in my float tube.

up and running

With it being the first day of the new season and me having a rare weekend off, it would have been rude not to have a few hours fishing.

My first choice was high newton i wish it was low newton as i wouls have been blown off the place the wind was that bad,So option number two was a short drive too ghyll head where i could at least find some shelter.

On parking up i could see that this must have been the same options as there was a fair number of anglers congrigated around the dam and the bays.

I set up and walked in the oposite direction towards the shallow end of the water,i found a bay that was not being fished and set up with a small olive nymph and fished for about 20 mins without a touch on went a small orange marabou tailed nymph (size 14) and that was obviously to there liking as i had a succesion of fish.

It was a good day shame about the bitib=ng cold wind,hopefully tomorrow will see me out on a river.

you can just see the orange nymph

out and about

Today i had a look up bigland tarn it was a nice day warm and a gentle breeze,On booking in i noticed quite a few fish had been caught in the last week mainly on lures.

On walking around the tarn i noticed a few fish on the surface and while talking  to a fellow angler,i understood why the catch returns had gone up they had just stocked mid week.I walked round and noticed a few fish topping in a small bay,on went a small beetle pattern and i spent a frustrating 20 mins casting at various fish but too no avail.

Moving further down the tarn i slipped a damsel nypth on and took a few fish deep down,i had a walk round casting at a few more rising fish but no more takers.but it all looks good for later on in the year when the weather warms up.

 

 

 

 

one rainbow from today

 

bigland tarn

With the weather being almost spring like today i arranged a few hours up on bigland tarn with Albert Pettigrew,gwill and jimmy,this is a water that WADAA are looking into using to take the strain off there other waters namely high newton and gyll head.

I had a quick look about and could see the odd fish topping just below the lodge so started there it was just a case of walking around and trying to look for moving fish,after a couple of hours i went and had a crack with albert he had caught 2 on nymphs.

Bigland is a superb water full of sheltered bays and plenty of water to go at, its still open too day tickets and with WADAA stocking the lake i cant wait for the weather to warm up and get the fish on the top.

weeks events

Been fishing most days but mostly i have been targeting the carp took my mate greg to try and catch a carp on the fly.He had a real time and caught 2 on his first visit and it was funny to see his face when the carp took off stripping him down to his backing.

He was buzzing and cant wait to get back again and try for a double figure fish

greg with his first every fly caught carp

carp at sandhall

Today i had a few hours down sandhall ponds the carp were up on top and feeding eventually i managed to temp this one out.

just short of 13 lb of sanghall carp

 

 

 

 

sunday

Just the one today it was baking hot and they didn't really want it but a nice fish all in all i could get used to this carp fishing  lark better than sitting behind 3 rods and buzz bars any day of the week.




10lb 5oz

 

New PB

With the weather still red hot and trout fishing best late at night early morning,today i had a go for the carp on the fly on WADAA water ratherheath.

I got there about 8 oclock and had a walk around the water there was a few fish showing on top feeding chum mixer i managed to get the fish taking confidently i cast at a lot of fish and missed loads.

Changing swims i again had the fish on top and taking the mixer and managed to tempt 2 carp the first one was 9.12 and the second was a personal best of 14.4 it led me a merry dance and tested my 7 weight to the limit.

 

14 lb 4oz

9lb 11 oz

 

 

 

 

 

River Bela

Had a day on the river bela at milnethorpe the weather was warm but with a tricky downstream wind.

I walked the river and found odd fish rising in pools and picked them off all on dry's a good day all in all.These fish were not the biggest fish i have caught on the river but on a 3 weight rod they still fought well.

not big fish but nice to catch

 

 

Red Letter Day

After the rain of friday and sat the rivers were a no go so off to pennington ressa a went on parking up i noticed dave knocker nixon in the distance on wandering over he said the fish were hard on the feed and he had already had 7 fish all on drys.

I tackled up and had a hectic 5 hours catching loads of fighting fit rainbows all on drys

 

knocker landing one of many

 

 

 

 

 

you can see the beetle in the trouts mouth

 

High Fairbanks

Last weekend i had a trip up onto High Fairbanks trout fishery its one of the jewel in the crown off WADDA waters with brilliant top of the water fishing with massive olive hatches.

With it being a catch and release water and a good 10 min walk from the car park its not overly fished.The weather was fine with a good ripple on the water.

On getting to the water the fish were on top and feeding well myself and greg were soon into fish and continued to catch most of the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

carp on the fly

With the weather set fine for a few days it was off in search of my first carp of the year on the fly.On getting to the water there were a lot of carp on the surface after feeding dog biscuits and getting the carp feeding it was time to have a cast and as you can see below it worked!!!! A very dogged fight and after a good few minutes a 10lb plus fully scaled mirror carp was landed.

 

 

Making the most of it

 

With the weather a bit better trips up to knott have been on the cards,i have been snatching a few hours after work.

The fishery has been in good form with plenty of fish topping and everyone catching lots of fish,on looking at the signing in book it was clear to see that people are catchng on a variety off methods from lures too dry's and austin has been catching on his secret hot spot spider !!!!!!

Myself i have been using small beetle patterns and on weds night there was a trickle of olives hatching off these had the fish on top and mopping up the olives.

If you have not been up lately i suggest you have a trip up as its fishing its head off

 

All shapes and sizes

With the weather set to break i took a few hours off work and headed to my local club water at knottallow tarn the weather conditions were just about perfect with a light warm wind blowing across the tarn.

The fish were on the top and feeding well on getting to the water i could see lots of black gnats on the water,i caught lots of fish on various size gnats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bank holiday browns

After finishing work it was straight off to knott for a few hours fishing on  the way past knocker nixon he told me had had been catching well and with fish topping  all over the tarn.

I put a size 16 black beetle on and was straight into fish after a hectic 90 mins i had 7 trout to my name.On  his way past knocker said he had well into double figures.

 

 

a small trout from knott

 

Eden

had a day on the eden today at ks fished musgrave bridge stretched,parked up and had a look over the bridge to find a few fish feeding on drys.

It looked like they were feeding on black gnats had 1 in the first pool and then walked for a good hour or so and didnt see another fish all day,the wind was strong/cold not the best conditions but with work sunday monday it was the only time i could get on the river.

 

 

 

High Fairbanks

Today i had a trip up high fairbanks its the  jewel in the crown of the WADDA in my opinion sat on the hill tops above ings.

With it being a catch and release water members only and a good 5 mins walk from the car park its not overly fished and with stunning views of the mountains its the perfect place to spend a few hours and let the stress of the working week melt away.

As usual the resident trout were in obliging mood and could be caught on drys or wets i caught mine on small beetle patterns.

 

stunning views from high fairbanks

 

 

 

 

one that got away

19th april some off the top

 

 

few vids and a casualty of war

 

                                           
                                               Albert catching a brown trout from the bela

                       

                                                                          
                                                 Catching a nice rainbow from high newton

          The casualty of war i hooked and landed a beast of a trout estimated to be
          into double figures  but alas my net came out a poor second and snapped
           clean in half,putting a premature end to  my session.
          
         
                                                    

High Newton

With a day booked from work i planned to fish high newton till dinner time and then head to the bela hopefully just in time for loads of olives coming off and trout sipping them down at there leasure.I arrived at high newton bright and early heading for the top end of the water i opted for a small nymph with a grhe on the point.It wasnt long before i was into my first fish and they kept coming after a hectic 3 hours session i had lost count of the number of rainbows i had caught.I packed up and headed for the bela on getting rigged up and rushed to the water to have a look not a olive to be seen,after a good walk around about 1.45 the first olives started to hatch of it wasnt a massive hatch but just enough but to my dismay i didnt see a trout all afternoon so im still waiting to catch my first bela brown trout

they keep coming

 

 

and coming and getting bigger

 

 

27 inch of angry rainbow

 

                                                             

 

 

a few olives

 

 

 

 

weekend trips

With the weather picking up i managed to get out both days sat i was on high newton,it was cold and with no fish moving on went the intermediate line and 2 PTN  flys.I must have done 2 laps of the fishery keeping on the move and having 10/15 mins at each new place but nothing happened.So sunday with the wind blowing i changed tack and went to wych elm again it was hard work but managed 3 fish.Roll on the new season hopefully it will be a lot warmer and the rivers will be a lot lower and fishable




typical whch elm trout





high newton


 

sat 12th

With the weather going to be dropping to -14 and snow forecast i went for a short session down wych elm again as i dont know when i will be able to get out again.

As with last week the fish were on top but it was a lot windier and it felt like the temp had dropped about 10 degrees,Again i had the fishery to myself i went with the same approach a small beetle (size 18) and was soon into a nice blue trout i had a few more through the day a mixture of blues and rainbows.

wych elm

After yesterdays effort i woke this morning to find another dry day (2 in a row we are geting spoiled now) so after a bit of deliberation i decided to visit ken down at Wych Elm fishery at Holme.

On getting there i was amazed to see trout topping and feeding on the surface i was more than happy after crossing kens palms with some silver i set up and started fishing,At the end of a very enjoyable day i had caught 5 trout all on drys (yes dry fly fishing in january who would have thought it).

It was nice to get out and see ken again and have a crack over a few cups of coffee and to catch as few fish as well was a bonus.

wych elm fishery not the biggest place you will ever fish but well worth a visit




 

high newton or hyperthermia

With lull on the weather i decided to give high newton a go today for a few hours,On getting out of the car i thought was it going to bw worth it.on getting onto thw water i could dee another 2 anglers (i mean nutters) over by fantasy island.

I quickly found a semi sheltered spot and put on a intermediate line on and i small (size 14) black wooly bugger and started to fish,to cut a long story short i picked up a couple of trout one blue the other a rainbow.

I lasted about 2 hours and that was enough but it was good to get out on the water and at leasr i didnt blank.

fantasy island looking from the dam wall

me on warmer day up high newton