bela browns

with the weather set to change to wet and windy i had a day on the bela at milnthorpe today (weds),I got there about 2 oclock and on getting to the river it was nice to see lots of rising fish.

I made my way up several pools casting at rising fish and had caught quite a few the best weighing just over 1 1/4 lb . on the way back to the car i spotted a huge trout at the head of a pool i sat down and watched for a good 15 mins i had a couple of casts at it but it wasnt having any of it,but at least it will be there for another day.

bela brown



a 1 lb bela brown

blandswath brace

With  a week off work i had a day on the eden today i decided to fish blanswath and on setting up the farmer in the field next to the river was cutting the grass the result was lots of terrestrials and dung flys were getting blown onto the river i could see lots of fish to go at and you can see by the pictures below i had a few out.

22 1/2

21 inch

on the river

Sunday i had a day on the river with tony riley the river was a bit up and coloured but the wether was overcast and warm.On getting on the river we walked the bank looking for feeding fish and trying to winkle out the odd fish as you can see from the photos we caught a few nice fish.We both hooked and lost a number of fish,poor tony hooked and lost a right lump he was gutted.

my contribution from the day

albert breaks his duck

This sat afternoon i met up with albert pettigrew as he was keen  to have a go at float tubing on knottallow as you can see from the pics it was quite choppy but between us we had several fish out mainly on spider patterns




albert setting sail

the stamp of fish we caught

albert playing a nice trout

carp

after getting my arse into gear i set off for ratherheath tarn this morning to have a go at catching my first ever carp on the fly.Armed with my 9 weight rod a bag of dog biscuits a unhooking mat and a 38 inch landing net i headed for the boat yard.On getting there i could see about 12 carp in the shallows i tossed in a few offerings but nothing took up my offer, i put on a deer hair fly and cast among the carp.After about 5 mins a big pair of lips emerged from under my fly and sucked it down i struck but was too fast and the net result was a fly in the tree oh bother  (or words to that effect).In i went again this time i managed to wait long enough for the carp to suck it down i struck and all hell broke loose i managed to land it, i didnt have my scales with me but as you can see it must be double figures after that i had 2 more half takes but caught nothing more i was talking to dave williams down sandhall ponds and he said that they spawning so that could be the case at ratherheath  but i will be back again as they dont have pull your string !!!!

small and fat just like me

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