first ever

today i had a day on the eden after walking the bank i opted for nymphing tactics i had a nice 2lb grayling and my first ever bullfish !!!

river bela milnthorpe

After getting hold of a guest ticket for the bela i had a day fishing with albert pettigrew,we arrived just after 10 o'clock to be met by a horrible downstream cold wind we had a think and headed off trying to find a bit of shelter from the wind.

Albert opted for a pheasent tail and a spider on the dropper and was the first one into a fish a small salmon parr i found a few feeding and tied on a f fly and started working my way up a pool but blanked,so i went sub surface and put on a nymph and spider and started to catch by the end of the session i had loads of fish mainly salmon parr with a few brownies thrown in.

this week

With the weather either blowing a gale or throwing to down with rain so it was just a case of getting out for a few hours when i could.I weds night i have a few hours up at knottallow the wind was blowing right down the tarn and with no fish showing i just headed for some shelter i had one fish out on a beetle pattern.

On sunday i had a half day up at high newton the sky looked threatening with rain as i parked up i had a look on the dam and noticed a few fish topping so i set up with a dry set up and managed to pick a few fish off here and there.The weather closed in and the heavens opened so i admitted defeat and headed home.

Next week i have got a ticket for BAA waters so im looking forward to that and hopefully i will share my days fishing on here




my i and only trout from knott

a blue trout from high newton

a rainbow from high newton

River Eden

Sat morning albert and myself had a day on the eden i dropped albert off as musgrave the river had a fair bit of water in it and it was quite coloured and i  headed for warcop, on parking in the layby i headed up stream looking for rising fish walking to the top of the beat i never saw a fish move i had a few casts in likely looking runs but nothing was doing.

About 2 oclock i noticed a trickle of olives steadily coming off i walked back down to the bridge and had a few casts in the pool and managed to catch  a small trout,and in no time at all it was time to go back to musgrave and pick albert up on getting in the car his tale was the same nothing moving till 2 ish and a steady rise took place and he got 3 out on olive drys.

my only trout of the day small but fin perfect

ghyll head

Friday i had a short session at ghyll head the prospects looked pretty good as there were plenty of fish rising all over the fishery,i had a walk down to the dam wall and fished various dry fly patterns and caught a few fish tomorrow sees me and albert petigrew on the eden at ks report to follow.

stunning scenery

looking from the car part

a typical waada rainbow

http://www.lakedistrictfishing.net/home/welcomewadaa.html

high newton

had a few hours on high newton cold wind blowing across the water but had a go on fantasy island and had a few out on beetles.

on a seperate note how about this for a river caught  brown trout sadly i didnt catch it, stuff of dreams banged the scales roung too 4 lb 10 oz !!!!!!! just makes you want to get out on the river again.

Tuesday in the tube

With a couple of days booked off i had a few hours on knottallow tarn the conditions were not ideal blue sky and for the most parts flat calm.

I set up and was on the water by 4.30 with a few fish topping i put on a small beetle and had a few fish out but it was slow,so i switched to a spider pattern and was into fish straight away.They wanted the fly a few inch's under the surface i lost count of the number of fish i caught,and to cap it all i caught the biggest trout i have ever caught  a stunning 36 inch and fin perfect  (see pic)

p.s.  thanks to Austin for taking the photo
p.p.s sorry for my mugshot spoiling the photo

my biggest brown trout

very long over wintered fish in cracking condition

high newton sunday

Had a few hours on high newton fishery sunday morning on getting there it was still quite cold and there was a nice gentle breeze, i set up a tam of three buzzers and cast out and let them drift round with the breeze on about the 4 cast out the line went tight anf after a brief but hard fought battle a nice bluevtrout was nestling in my landing net.

After a good hour i never had another knock so i decided to try another part of the fishery on walking down the dam wall i could see a few fish rising so i put on a small f fly and cast a a pod of about 3 trout a fish came up and sucked down my fly but when i landed it i couldnt believe what was on the end of the line.

sat afternoon

Sat i took a trip up to knottallow looking in the catch returns book i could see the rod average is nice and high, i had a quick walk round the water and could see a few fish topping.

I opted for a f fly and by casting to rising fish i manged to winkle out 5 trout,Dave helm was on the opposite bank and he was into fish straight away on his way past he said he had hem all on a beetle pattern.

if you fancy a day fishing for just brown trout then give the place a try you wont be dissapointed, see below for UAA website

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

first visit of the season to knottallow

After 2 days on the river i didnt fancy another 2 1/2 hour round trip,so it was a 2 minute drive up to my local club water knottallow.

On parking up the water looked in good nick a nice breeze and slightly overcast i noticed Dave (aka knocker) Nixon was fishing the point and working his way down the bank.

I set up my float tube and started to fish there were a few fish rising here and there so on went a small beetle pattern,to cut a long story short i had 3 trout and hooked and lost the same number again in a short 2 hour session,on talking to Dave he had had several fish out on dry's

Sorry no pics as i like tony Riley i dropped my camera into the Eden yesterday

check out ulverston angling website

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

Dave Anderson float tubes knottallow

Dave knocker Nixon

Sat on the Eden

Sat i was up bright and early and off up for a session on the eden, the weather was ok lots of cloud cover and not a great deal of wind.I parked up and had a wander down the bank with the extra water from last nights rain the water was still as cold as i remember.

After a good walk i got to the section of river i wanted to fish the first pool i fished nothing caught and nothing moving,after sitting on the bank and scanning the water a move was on the cards,after fishing a few more pools i was rewarded with this 17 inch eden brown trout.

This was the only fish i caught but it was well worth the trip up. another first today as well was my first sight of several march browns comig off the water.

Season starts with a whimper not a bang

The first day of the season saw me on the Eden on getting to the river as i thought it was going to be like combat fishing judging on all the cars parked in the lay byes along the river.With my first choice stretch out of the question i headed for another stretch i have fished before.

The weather was cold and tricky downstream wind greeted me as i walked the river as i thought it was gin clear and low,I wandered down looking in the usual haunts but could see nothing moving after a while i decided to hedge my bets and go for the clink and dink method.

I picked up 2 small grayling and as you can see by my gloves it wasn't exactly t shirt weather but at least i caught it was good to get out on the river again and although it was cold i witnessed a steady stream of olives coming off.

a few flys

with the season just about with us i decided to tie a few small woolly buggers, i like these flys as with the marabou tail and a palmered  cock hackle the fly may look a bit big but when it is sub surface the fly pulses and the fly takes on a whole new look.

As you can see i have tied various colours and used different coloured tungsten beads but my favourite is the orange in size 14 or 16

Snow nearly stopped play

Sunday  i ventured out onto ghyll head on walking down to the water it started snowing i was in two minds as to turning around and getting back into my car and setting off home,but i decided as i was there i might as well give it a go.
Thank fully the snow stopped and i set off down towards the shallow end of the water,on getting there i was a case of giving it 10 Min's or so and keeping on the move i managed to catch 5 trout and had the first 2 blue trout of the season as well all in all a good day!!! 

One thing i have noticed that i need to go and see my good mate tony Riley for a casting lesson as in the close season mine has gone to pot.See Tony's link below Tony's a AAPGAI casting coach Tony provides a qualified and professional fly fishing skills, fly fishing casting tuition and guiding service.

http://www.flyfishinginstruction.co.uk/

P.S on a lighter note if anyone hooks and lands a double figure fish  (it was that big across its back i could have put a saddle on its back and rode it !!!! )  with a size 14 orange woolly bugger in its jaws can i have it back please  ha ha.

Most of the  waters i fish all come under the WADDA fishing club see link below for website and waters that can be fished.

http://www.lakedistrictfishing.net/home/welcomewadaa.html

I'm also a member and on the committee off ulverston angling association a brown trout only water situated just outside the picturesque village of ulverston in cumbria.We offer day tickets and also season tickets (no waiting list)

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

first trip to high newton this year

My first trip to high newton was not as straight forward as i thought, with high winds blowing straight down the water it was more like fishing in the sea at some points of the day.

As chirstie and phil always say its location,location,location and i was constantly on the move giving it 1-15 mins in each place and hopefully dropping onto the fish if i was lucky.

Well after doing more laps of high newton than i care to mention i finally stopped at a little basin at the bottom end of the water changing from my floating line to a clear intermediate 5 weight line and various nymphs/small lures i hit onto the fish and a very enjoyable 1 hour later i had lost count of the number of rainbows i caught and returned.

Ii was good to get out and catch a few fish but i cant wait till it warms up and i can get away with wearing one layer of clothing instead of the 4 layers i had on today.

Here are a few pics i took today both of the fish i caught but also the scenery and the other few brave souls that fished today as well.

Eden

After watching the EA website all week i decided to try the eden,this is the first time in a month or so i have been on a river.

On parking up the river was in a nice low level and it was a mild warm day,fish were conspicuous by there absence but on walking up the river i witnessed a number of large fish jumping clean out of the water,after watching one particular fish jump i thought could it be a salmon?

After quite a few miles under my belt i had managed to catch 4 grayling the biggest being a 17 inch fish (see below) on walking back to my car i bumped into john gardiner on asking him about the jumping fish he indeed told me that they would be salmon and right on cue one jumped right where we were.

My best fish of 2011

With the year just about to end i have been looking through my pics and thought i would post a few pics



river bela trout




river bela trout