busy times new seaon

with the new season starting tuesday i have been out and about catching a few fish sat and sunday i was on high newton, and weds i had my first trip to my local water where i managed to tempt a few brown trout. 




view from high newton looking onto morecombe bay



high newton

high newton from the dam wall





first snowdrops of the year has spring arrived



first brown trout of the seaon from knotthollow

have a look at my local angling clubs website our water is stocked with brown trout only and day tickets can be bought from various outlets in ulverston 

http://www.ulverstonangling.org/home/home.aspx

Same old sat

Sat morning greg and i visited  high newton and getting out of the car there was a touch of spring in the air, Looking over the wall we could see lots of fish topping and decided to fish into the wind and try and snatch one off the top.

It was a tough morning with us both trying various methords with no success,I left greg and headed off down to the dam wall where i opted for a dmsel nymph casting out and letting it sink to the bottom and then a ultra slow figure of eight retrieve i hooked one and lost one.

sat session

After a phone call from greg we decided as high newton was fishing well we would give it a go sat afternoon the weather was similar to friday when i fished overcast with a cold wind.

I didnt touch a thing but greg had a handfull of blue and rainbow trout out using mercury midges and brown buzzers


greg on a warmer day catching a brownie



mercury midge



  

High Newton

With a holiday booked for Friday morning a few hours on high newton was called for the weather was OK overcast but  wind was going to be a problem,pulling into the car park it didn't look like there was many anglers on the water.

A quick walk onto the dam i could see the wind was blowing into the dam so I set up and on went a damsel nymph,casting Into the wind was tricky and after about 20 mins of swapping and changing flys a move was In order.

A leisurely walk round the water looking for fish moving I ended up at the top end of the water with the wind on my back as least if I was going to blank I was going to be warm doing It.

In the shallow bay a few trout were topping I tried  various dry flys but could not get them to rise to my fly so then  I tied on a black cormorant thinking they had to be feeding just under the surface and after a while  i had my first fish.

A few hours later and i came off the water having caught a few more.

http://www.ulverstonangling.org/home/home.aspx

Ghyll Head

Sat morning greg and myself set off for a few hours on Ghyll Head after walking down to the shallow end of the water we took time out and scanned the water looking for moving fish.

With only a couple of other hardy souls on the water we had plenty of water to fish,we tried the usual suspects and started off on small buzzers with nothing doing i put on a damsel nymph and tried my luck.

With nothing doing we moved to the opposite end and fished the dam Greg was the first to catch on a size 18 brown buzzer.a few fish were showing on top but with nothing else to show for our efforts we called it a day.

Not the greatest of days but it was nice to get out in the fresh air for a few hours at a lovely fishery.






Greg



ghyll head looking towards the dam

wych elm

With sat looking like the best day this weekend i once again visited wych elm,the wind had dropped but the rain was set  for the day.

On looking in the catch returns book i could see for the last couple of days it was cats whiskers and bloodworm patterns that were doing the business,so on went a aps bloodworm pattern and using a ultra slow retrieve i had a very enjoyable day catch both rainbows and blues.

Wharfe

Had a day on the wharfe at pool today with Greg river was low and clear i was amazed to see so many pike anglers on the river parked down the lane from the service station (castly i think) and fished and walked up to the petrol station crossed the road and fished up a bit further.Caught nothing did not see a fish move all day,had a chat with a few lads that were long trotting they said that they had caught a few small grayling on maggott.It was a long drive to get there (2 hours with detours) but it was just good to get out for the day and at £4 a ticket it was well worth it

Sunday Blues

 With all the rivers being in flood where I live I decided on a half day session at Wych Elm trout fishery near Milnethorpe I passed over the river Bela on the way to wych and could see it had burst its banks.

On pulling into the car park I could  see 4 other anglers on the bank so there I knew that I would have plenty of space to try and find the fish.I set up with a team of 3 buzzers and fished them round on the wind and switching between them and a olive damsel nymph I caught a number of fish mainly blues but a sprinkling of rainbows as well.

I have fished Wych Elm quite a few times over the years and what a little gem! Ken holds his own fish on site with Rainbows, Blues and Browns stocked. A small fishery with casting platforms spread around the fishery,

weekdays are the best with smaller numbers of  people fishing as opposed to weekends, which tend to be busy.There is a Caravan on site offering brew making facilities and a place to get out of the rain,and with a 5 hour sporting ticket only costing £8 its real value for money especially if you are desperate as me to wet a line. (see below for link to the fishery)




http://www.lakescaravans.co.uk/whych_elm_fly_fishery.php

Sat 20/11/2010

Waking to find frost on my car window this morning i was not in any hurry to get up knott I finally pulled onto the car park about 12.30.


Getting out of the car the first thing to greet me was a Dung Fly as it settled onto my jacket was that a lucky omen,not in any hurrry to fish i looked over the style for any rising fish i could see a few fish topping

On went my trusty Dung Fly and approaching the water I started casting at the odd rising fish, first fish was this 18 1/2 inch (see below) i had another one as well.

In winter its all about picking your day and your time as a rule of thumb i fish the warmest part of the day (10 am to 3 pm) the fish are still rising to dry flys and when i booked out i noticed Dave Helm has been catching on Dung Flys and Beetles

knotthollow sunday

with the weather set  fair I decided to have a few hours on knott on pulling onto the car park i could see a few fish topping.

I set up a long leader and crept over the style and sat and watched the fish for a while,after 10 mins on when a size 16 shipmans buzzer the fish were in the clear shallow water not the easiest place to try and cast a fly too.

Creeping near the water i could just make out 2 fish making there way towards me I put a cast out and it landed  5 foot in front of the fish up came the fish and sucked the fly down I tightened into it and it was soon brought to hand and released.

After a phone call of my mate Greg who came up for a hour i noticed a few dung flys around on went a cdc dung fly, first cast and another brownie had come to hand a frantic 30 mins later and another 4 trout had fallen to the dung fly and as quick as it had started all went quiet,Greg got into the act netting 2 himself.

If you pick your day and the weather then you can have some good sport on the tarn and just remember its open till 30th dec




Greg returns a nice brown trout

 





Another brownie



Bigland tarn

For the first time in a couple of years i had a day out on bigland tarn the weather was warm and a nice gentle wind.

On booking in i noticed that the usual suspects were catching the resident rainbows lures lures and more lures but the most common of fly that has been working for the last couple of weeks was the blob !!!!!!

on getting to the water i could see why there was a fair amount of algea in the water thats why the blobs were scoring. I tackled up with a a team of buzzers and fished them round in the wind, but to no avail i went through my fly box and tried every pattern i had i even found a blob that someone had dropped but still nothing.You cant catch everytime you go fishing and it was good to fish the place again even though i blanked but i will try again another day and this time i will remeber my box of lures and blobs !!!!!!!!

I had plenty of time on my hands so took a few photos of the place its a beautiful place to fish and so quiet and peaceful

big brown

today myself and my mate Greg headed off to the Eden we arrived about 10.30 to be met with a cold wind and overcast Sky's.

After looking at the state of the river Greg tackled up with a team of 3 spiders and headed for the head of a pool it wasn't long before Greg was into the first of a precession of  grayling.

Leaving Greg i moved onto another pool and caught a dozen or so small trout and grayling roving about further up the river we both picked up the odd fish and at the last knockings i contacted with this nice brownie

Chasing Rainbows

After watching the weather forecast for the weekend i woke to see  lots of sunny spells but cold biting winds i did not hold out much hope of catching as i headed off to ghyll head.

On reaching the water the first thing i noticed was the abundance of damsels about (see pics below) , i sat on the bankside for a while watching the attached male and female damsel fly hover over the water and the female dipping her body in the water depositing her eggs. (see pic 1 the male and female together)




 

After a while i decided to get fishing and into my flybox and out came a suspender damsel , i have to admit nicking this pattern off dave helm who showed me how to tie it

and a hour or so later here are the fruits of my labour 

i came off the water having had a brillant day getting into my car i had to take a few shots of the fishery and the surrounding hills

 

eden

had a few hours on the eden today the river was spot on just a pity about the weather a blustery wind and the occasional shower was not ideal.

I caught a few small trout and the smallest grayling i have ever caught/seen, i did manage to see a few bigger fish (but they could also see me and they fanished further up the river.Not the best of days but i caught a few and got out onto a river so all was not lost.

small but perfectly formed

On friday and sat saw myself and my mate greg fishing both the river Ure and the Wharfe, we set off friday afternoon and headed towards Hawes the rain was heavy but nothing could dampen our enthusiasm we pulled into hawes and had a look at the river level knowing it was not going to be ideal this is what we were met with

i think i might have to put another wrap off lead on my czech nymphs to get them down

      the river is carrying a bit of colour and up a wee bit

                                    Greg bloody hell its come up this far and ive only been sitting here 10 mins   

Give it 5 mins and it will stop raining honest !!

we had a look to see if we could find and slack water to fish but after 30 mins walking the bank we went back and dat in the car and decided to give it a hour and see if the rain would stop and see if the river would drop. After 15 mins the river was still rising so we set off to Bainbridge and booked into our B+B.

In the morning before setting off to fish the Wharfe we went back to the water fall and took another picture

The same place a day later !!!

We woke to no rain and bright sunshine so after a hearty breakfast we set of for the Wharfe and arrived to find the river with a bit of colour in it but perfectly fishable.

Greg was the first to catch on spiders we both caught fish on both spiders and dry fly's