19/05/2020 - A welcome few hours on the bank

I suspect that many people, myself included, greeted last week's announcement about a phased relaxation of lockdown, particularly with regards to the rules on fishing, with a degree of optimism. However, based on my own lockdown experiences, I am sorry to say that I do not entirely share Mr Johnson's trust that common sense will prevail when it comes to the Great British public. So, whilst I am now keen as anybody to wet a line, I am not going to risk my health, my family's health, or anybody else's health for the sake of my hobby. Canals and stillwaters are therefore off the agenda for me for the time being. Instead, I'm looking at this as an opportunity to get the fly rod out again and explore some of the more remote and neglected waters on my club books - some old, some new, but all with the common denominator that hardly any bugger fishes 'em! 



First on the list was a small, overgrown tributary of the River Derwent near Derby that I'd fished a few times in 2014. My first trip of that year was my most successful with a hatful of wild brownies and an immaculate, overwintered stockie coming to the net, so I was hopeful of a similar result. Got to the venue just after 6 am and made my way across the field to the river, pausing to make an offering to the local totem! Whilst there were plenty of reminders of the February floods in the way of debris festooning the overhanging trees, the river that greeted me was very low and clear. In addition, apart from the shallower, faster runs where the flow was keeping the gravel clean, the bed was already covered with a film of snot-like, brown diatoms. 



Whilst it was still early in the day, I could feel a distinct chill through my chesties as I lowered myself into the river. I therefore opted for a single, generic "tungsten taddy" on a barbless size 14 hook. These had been tied for me by a friend of "Skateboard Dave", Leicestershire-based pioneer of fly-fishing for neglected urban trout and coarse fish. With a bit of sparkle in the dubbing, a sparse hackle and a marabou tail these represent anything from a mayfly nymph or a caddis fly larva to a small fish. Pitched it up into the head of the first fast run with the 7 ft brook rod and thought I felt a little bump as it came back towards me. Second cast, the same. Third cast I had a more positive take and hooked into a fish that shot downstream past me before coming off! 




Cursed myself for botching my first chance, as I suspected that bites would be at a premium given the conditions.However, I wasn't disappointed for long. Moving upstream to the next run I had a chance first cast as my fly drifted under an overhanging willow and this one stuck -  a proper little, wild Derbyshire jewel. The very next cast I had another similar one and I began to think that I was going to catch a few. However, I was a bit premature! Next spot I hooked a much better fish that again did the trick of shooting downstream at warp speed, making the reel fizz briefly before it reached the sanctuary of some tree roots and slipped the hook. Unfortunately, that was to be my last chance for quite a while despite me fishing any likely looking spots hard over the next couple of hours.

It didn't help that my progress upstream was severely hampered by numerous blockages caused by trash dams and fallen trees, some of which looked like a giant game of "pick up sticks"! I had been prepared for a bit of jungle warfare after my previous visits, but I was getting a real workout clambering out of the river and forcing my way through the bankside brambles to find a suitable re-entry point. By the time I reached the upstream limit I was hot and sweaty, but hadn't had another touch.

Slogged it back downstream to my starting point and decided to give a spot that I'd missed the first time 'round a quick go before I headed back to the car. Flicked the fly into the fast water where it was immediately grabbed by a fish that again shot downstream, but straight under a trailing strand of barbed wire and through a tangle of tree roots! Dropping the rod I grabbed the leader and managed to hand-line an angry little trout back through the roots and into my net.  Headed home for lunch at this point and, whilst it had been hard work, I had enjoyed my few hours of normality. As well as winkling out a few fish in difficult conditions (who would have thought that we'd be needing some rain after such a wet start to the year!) I'd shared the morning with a kingfisher that had buzzed me several times on its trips up and down the river, a dipper and a pair of Mandarin ducks. Definitely good for the soul!

19/02/2015 - Grayling and hard graft

Another grayling trip, but this time a much anticipated return to Tim's syndicate section of a "Derbyshire river" where the grayling were fewer, but where there was a chance of a real lunker. As with all pre-arranged sessions the weather doesn't always play ball and unfortunately the bright, sunny conditions of the last two days were due to give way to rain...lots of it. Indeed, it was already black in the west as I headed out on the A52 and, as the first few raindrops hit the windscreen, I was treated to the bizarre sight of a brilliant, golden sunrise in my rear view mirror and the full arc of a rainbow over Derby. Met Tim at the river and we quickly got togged up, trying to avoid getting too wet in the process. Walked up to the first section and Tim did his ghilly bit, pointing out from experience where he thought the fish would be lying and where I should be putting my flies. Lost and then landed a small grayling early on, but had no further joy in that spot so we moved on. Again Tim put me on the money - second cast I had a better fish on, but again it managed to shed the barbless hook. This prompted a few words from Tim about putting and keeping the pressure on, before he moved a bit further downstream and left me to work the rest of the swim. A few casts later I had a nice, definite take from heavy fish. Despite a few hairy moments where I had to give it some stick to keep it out of the fast water at the tail of the pool, I soon had a cracking male grayling safely in the net. 

Beauty! And no comments on the head gear - it was cold!!

Carried on downstream trying a couple of other spots, but it was obvious that it was going to be a bit of a grueller. Weather wasn't helping - cold, wet, windy..........horrible in fact! However, didn't seem bother the dippers - they were too busy noisily resolving boundary issues with their neighbours to notice. Tim eventually managed a couple of grayling and I had a nicely conditioned, acrobatic, out-of-season brownie before we stopped for a bite to eat and a cup of tea, sheltering under the bridge to stay out of the wind and to try and warm up a bit.

I'll be seeing you again soon......

Fished through the next section without a sniff, but was surprised to see a couple of fish rise in the faster water. A closer look revealed a few, brave large dark olives had started to hatch and float down the river despite it being so miserable. Caught up with Tim at the "banker swim". However, despite both of us fishing it hard, nothing was to be had from there either. We then moved down to the "guaranteed 3lber swim" (I think Tim was trying to keep my spirits up at this point!) downstream of a broken weir. Again Tim let me go up the swim first (what a gent!) and a few casts later I finally had another decent fish on. Not the 3lber, but a deep, fat hen fish that looked if it had recently had a run in with a rather ambitious cormorant judging by the multiple beak marks on her flanks.

Battle scars

We were thoroughly wet and cold now, so headed back towards the cars. Had one more small grayling out of the pool near the bridge and then called it a day. Whilst the day had been hard work, it had been good to meet up with Tim and catch a couple of decent fish. However, I've never been so glad of the car heater as I was on the way back home!  

09/07/2014 - Therapy

Had some bad news at the start of last week. Budget cuts in the Environment Agency mean that Environment Officers like myself - the Agency's boots on the ground - have been deemed "unaffordable" (what a delightful way of putting it...), so 5 out of 25 of us have got to go. We now end up being assessed for own own jobs and the unsuccessful ones redeployed or worse. Needless to say the mood at work has been a bit sombre, so today was just about getting away from it for a few hours. My trout gear was to hand, so it was back out to Derbyshire. An early morning mist was rising as I made my way across the maize field, but it was short-lived in the warm, bright sunshine. The lapwings were conspicuous by their absence, so I could only assume that they'd taken the family to pastures new.

Ranks

Once at the river, there was again no sign of any fish movement, so I started working my way upstream, pitching a nymph into any likely looking spots. Had a few rattles and sharp pulls from small fish early on, but it wasn't until the first deep pool that I had a positive take and struck into a decent fish that gave me the run around in the close confines - a nice, fat brownie just shy of 40 cm.

Spotty I

A bit later and a few pools upstream I had what could have been its brother, which again scrapped hard to get into the tree roots.

Spotty II

Having shown some photos to my Fisheries colleagues at work, I've accepted these are stockies now, rather than wild fish. Whilst our club doesn't put any in, fish are stocked periodically by those upstream and downstream of us, so it is inevitable that some of them make their way from their manicured banks onto our wilder section. Apart from the size, a black line near the outer margin of the fins, particularly the tail, is a give away, i.e. evidence of fin re-growth post-stocking. There are valid arguments against stocking (see Wild Trout Trust stocking position summary), notably that it dilutes the genetic variation of wild populations, but that stocked fish also compete with wild fish for lies and food. Not that I'm complaining at the moment. I've seen plenty of evidence of a healthy, natural population in terms of the numbers of smaller fish and a few bigger stockies certainly provide great sport, especially within a pool no bigger than a dining table! Carried on up the section, but just had the one additional fish. By now the sun was really bright, limiting my chances by lighting up the pools and casting some very obvious shadows!

Spot the angler!

On top of being beaten by the conditions, I have to admit to not actually fishing particularly well. However, today was more about just getting out, enjoying the river and trying to forget about recent developments.

26/06/2014 - Bye, bye, Brownies?

Headed out to Derbyshire again first thing for probably my last crack at a few more Brownies. Nobody else in the parking spot meant I had the section to myself again, so it was quickly down to the river through the maize. Have to say that the fishing was a lot harder this time. The river was at its lowest and clearest, so any careless approach, duff cast or snag up was probably an opportunity gone. The flow had also dropped off in the pools and I could now see the bottom in most of them, so the faster, broken water seemed to offer the best chance, at least for the smaller fish.  

Small one on the nymph

Had a better one by jigging (induced take!) the nymph past some tree roots.

Getting jiggy with it

Made a bit of a gruesome discovery on the shallows upstream - a dead hare with a rather surprised expression on its face! Also disturbed a little brown duck with white "spectacles" that I didn't recognise. She had at least one duckling that shot into the bankside vegetation with her, so gave them both a wide berth. Looked it up later to find that it was a female Mandarin, an introduced species, but apparently common in the area, e.g. on the lakes at Markeaton and Allestree.

Hare today.....

Had a couple more little ones from the faster water at the head of a pool. There seems to be a lot of these around, which should bode well for the future.

The next generation

Hooked and lost a couple of bigger fish that would have improved the scorecard no end and was thinking it was all over when I had the best fish of the morning, again by trundling the nymph past his lair in the tree roots.

Last spotty of the year?

Reached the upstream limit without any further action and bid the river goodbye, thrashing my way back up to the road through the Himalyan Balsam. With no (or very few) grayling in the section I suspect it'll be April before I'm back again. However, I've certainly enjoyed having the river to myself over the last few weeks.

The end

What to do next? Choices, choices!

19/06/2014 - Still got my trout head on

Decided I'd have a couple more sessions of trout fishing before tackling anything of the non adipose fin variety, so took the morning off work and headed back to Derbyshire bright and early. Skirting the maize field it looked as if the lapwings had been successful this year, with two adults and four scruffy, brown juveniles circling and calling overhead. Found the river low and clear in contrast to my previous visit. Again, whilst there was the odd sedge and mayfly knocking about, there was no obvious fish movement, so I stuck with the nymph approach. Had plenty of rattles and knocks from the off from small fish and eventually manage to hook one of the little beggars.

Tiddler

Worked slowly upstream and caught a couple more tiddlers in the faster water, but failed to connect with anything more substantial in the deeper pools. There were a lot more prints in the freshly exposed mud at the side of the river, which made me think perhaps that Mr Otter had been active recently and sent everything to ground.

Otter

A bit further on I found a partially eaten (or regurgitated?) crayfish, which seemed to support that idea.

Otter snack!

There was also evidence that somebody else had been fishing the section other than myself - a fly on a length of nylon hanging from a branch over a little pool. Inexcusable not to retrieve it on a river this size unless they were fishing in their slippers! Soldiered on and lost another small one that went absolutely bonkers airborne, throwing the barbless hook, before getting a couple of bigger fish. However, still not the stamp of fish I'd had on previous visits.

Bit better

My one chance of a better one came when I had an immediate take from a fast run alongside a mass of tree roots. Needless to say that's where the fish headed for like a flippin' torpedo as soon as I hooked it and where I had to retrieve my hook, minus trout, about thirty seconds later. Doh! Was well up towards the top of the section by now where natural ochrous springs are in stark contrast with the ferns and mosses on the steep banks.

Ochre

Had one more and the best of the day, casting up into the branches of a fallen tree grounded in the shallows.

Last, but not least

Had a quick look under the bridge at the top of the section and found a mass of prints in the mud - obviously an otter "des res" -  before slogging it back along the road, dodging death by quarry lorry and nutters in 4x4's.

11/06/2014 - Rain doesn't stop play

Had booked some time off a while ago with a view to heading back to Derbyshire. However, heavy, localised rain on Monday had sent the river level shooting up, resulting in an anxious wait to see if it'd be back down in time.  A quick check of the graph last thing on Tuesday revealed that it was still up a bit, but the trend was downwards, so I headed off as planned this morning. Got to the venue to find that the river was indeed carrying a bit of extra water, but also a bit of colour. The combination of conditions was just enough to cast doubt in my mind, but I carried on and just the second cast up the first run resulted in a fish.

Quick off the mark

Was not so easy after this though as the extra water had changed the character of a lot of the swims I had fished before, so it was a question of working out where the fish were lying up now and a change to a black goldhead nymph in the coloured water resulted in a two takes in quick succession from a couple of smaller fish.

Pretty

The effects of the high water were much in evidence with channels carved through the bank side stands of Himalyan Balsam. For a small river there was also a lot of wood debris, including whole tree trunks, that had appeared from nowhere. 

Dam!

Carried on up the river to find that most of the colour was coming in from one tributary in particular. Upstream of this point the clarity was much better, so I fished on with renewed enthusiasm, bumping a couple and losing one to a hook pull, before landing a better fish that had strange blue highlights on its cheeks. 

Fat

Dropped my net in some mud at the side of the river and when I came to snap the magnet release back together I found it covered little grains of apparently metallic sediment. Something I've seen pictures of in urban rivers where there used to be heavy industry. Can only assume in this case that it's due to the natural mineral veins in the catchment.

Sticky

Had ventured into unknown territory by now, almost reaching the upstream limit of the fishery, when I came to the largest pool on the section. Spent quite a bit of time working the  crease along the far bank and eventually had a take from a fish that just plodded around a bit before giving up. Turned out to be the best fish of the morning.

More like it

Lost another to a hook pull (aargh!) in a fast run before reaching the road bridge and the boundary with the next club's water. Had learned a bit more about the river whilst sharing it with the dippers, kingfishers, wagtails and possibly an otter judging by the footprints in the mud under the bridge. Also decided after this session that a collapsible wading stick would be a good investment after a) falling on my arse tripping over hidden debris and b) stepping off a ledge into a coloured pool and finding the water a bit too close to the top of my chesties for comfort. Oh yeah, and a hook sharpener! Will have to get my order in quick for Fathers' Day......

21/05/2014 - Trophy trout from neglected streams

If you're familiar with Glen Pointon's blog (see my blog list) you'll have seen that he has been catching some massive trout from a relatively small and underfished river. It's certainly encouraging in this day and age that these waters and, more importantly, these fish still exist. That, along with Theo Pike's enthusiasm about urban trout rivers (see my links), has really inspired me to pick up the fly rod again and get out and explore. My latest trip was over to Derbyshire to fish a club water on a small tributary of the River Derwent. Took the morning off work when, with hindsight, I should have had the whole day. Had never been before but knew that a bit of jungle warfare was going to be involved, so took the 7 ft #4 outfit and the chest waders thinking I'd be spending more time in the river than on the bank.

Gateway to the unknown!

Dropped into the river and waded up underneath the railway bridge at the lower boundary. There were blizzards of gnats hovering above the water in places, but no visual signs of any fish, so opted for the upstream nymph approach with a size 14 goldhead GRHE. Had a couple casts into some likely looking spots with no interest from the fish before coming to the first proper run into a little pool. First cast - bump! Second cast - fish on! A decent one to start with as well. 

Beauty!

Carried on wading slowly upstream, picking off fish here and there, with the deeper runs next to submerged tree roots almost guaranteeing a take, along with the odd obvious "suicide swim"!

  

 Hit and hold!

The fish were quite variable in terms of colouration, but were all fin perfect and the ones from the more inaccessible spots from the bank probably had never seen a hook before. 

Perfect

Some of the pools were suprisingly deep. I was stood up to the front pocket of my chesties in one of them, casting up along some more tree roots, when I had a thump on the rod tip. Knew it was a good fish, but was conscious of snags, so really gave it some welly, pulling it by the nose into the main body of the pool. Let it charge around until it was ready for the net. Have to admit letting out a shout of "Yessss!" as I lifted it clear of the water. At about 41 cm this was easily my biggest, wild  brownie and a fantastic surprise.

Bruiser

Took a couple of photos and slipped him back into his tree root-lined hole to recover while I had 5 minutes myself!

Look at the paddle on that!

Could have quite happily finished and gone home at that point, but I still had a bit of time before I had to go to work and I hadn't reached the upstream limit of the fishery, so carried on. There were a few visual indications by now, with the odd fish rising and bulging under the surface. I'd spotted just one "proper" mayfly resting on the bankside vegetation earlier, but I couldn't really see what they were after apart from the millions of gnats, so carried on with the nymph. Had a few more fish including a couple of "fingerlings", a sign of a healthy population hopefully, and a really pretty, heavily spotted fish.

Derbyshire leopard

My time was really up at this point, so regretfully had to leave, having to ignore several more juicy spots to try another time. However, slogged it back to the car along the road well pleased with a dozen fish in about three hours of fishing, including my own trophy trout! 

07/03/2014 - Back to deepest Derbyshire

Was itching to have another go for a big grayling before the end of the season so, after making the necessary arrangements with my friend Tim, I was off up the A52 towards Ashbourne again. Was wet, cold and windy on the way up, but thankfully it had started to clear up by the time we came to head upstream from the car park to the first section and eventually it turned into a nice Spring day. Once again Tim pointed out the likely lies as we went and I have to say now that throughout the day his advice was bang on the money, with every spot indicated yielding a take, if not a fish in the net. 

Had a few casts in the first spot we came to, then switched to a heavier team of flies to cope with the flow. Next cast in, literally where I'd been wading around a few minutes earlier, a small male duly obliged and got me off the mark.

Just a little 'un

Had an out of season spotty from the same swim before we moved down to the next section. Tim was then quick off the mark with two grayling, including a 43 cm male that really got my interest going. However, it was just another small male and an oos brownie to me before we were off again downstream. Started at the top of a long glide and, under Tim's instructions, dropped the flies into a small pocket behind a mid-stream boulder. Unfortunately, I lost the resulting fish after giving it a bit too much line to play with in the flow. Tim then left me to work down the rest of glide myself and I had nearly reached the bottom when I had a good clonk on the tip. Saw the fish twist in the clear water and knew immediately that it was a good one. Gestured the fact to to Tim who was also occupied downstream (in fact he hooked and landed two female grayling in the time it took me to get mine in!). Played it with my heart in my mouth and sank down on my knees in the shallows when I finally got it in the net - a 45 cm male fish of 2lb 9oz and a personal best.

Clonker!

Took a quick snap before holding him in the shallows to recover, but to be honest I think he was in better shape than me after our joint ordeal!

 Back he goes

Once I'd got my breath back, Tim suggested I moved down and try just upstream of where he'd just been as he suspected that the males would be hanging in the shallower water above the females in preparation for spawning. Again, he left me to it and headed off to try elsewhere. Second cast I lifted into a fish that again twisted under the surface, giving me a glance of a long silver flank. Had a hairy moment when my landing net fell to bits and I had to scoop the fish up minus the handle, but was soon looking at another clonking male of 44 cm.

  

And another!

Got even better as next cast saw another take and another 40 cm+ fish, a male of 42cm with a dorsal fin like a sailfish, which was then followed by a small female. Caught up with Tim shortly after this and we carried on downstream, taking a few more fish between us as we did so. Having reached the bottom of the beat we walked all the way back upstream to try another glide where Tim suspected a few fish might be gathering pre-spawning. Second cast in the line hesitated, literally where my head was casting a shadow on the water, and I bent into what turned out to be a fat, deep-bodied female of 41 cm.

   

My fat hen

The sun had disappeared behind the hills at this stage and it started getting distinctly chilly so, after one more oos brownie to me and with aching backs and joints from being in the river all day we headed back to the car. A great day all 'round and the perfect antidote to what's been a pretty dire winter. Thanks mate!

22/11/2013 - Somewhere in Derbyshire

Finally managed a break from work, decorating and building kitchen cabinets! Arranged with my friend Tim to go for a "grayling masterclass" on his syndicate water in Derbyshire. The landowner had imposed a fly only rule since the last time I went with him, so it was going to be a day of Czech nymphing, a method I'd never tried before, instead of the float and maggot. Got to the venue to find that the river was dropping nicely after the rain in midweek. At the first swim Tim got me set up, explained where the fish were likely to be lying and then gave a quick demo of the technique before I had a go myself. Soon got used to pitching the two weighted flies upstream then watching the line for any unnatural movements as they bumped back along the bottom towards me. The first spot proved fishless, so it was off downstream to try the next one. Tim pointed out where there was a hole scoured out in the bed, which was likely to hold a fish or two. More by luck than judgement I managed to drop the flies right on the spot first time, the line twitched and I lifted into fish, not huge, but my first grayling on the fly.

Hello Lady!

Moved down to the next swim and again Tim's local knowledge was spot on as he pointed me towards a flat spot in an otherwise pacey section of water. A couple of trots through and everything went solid. Thought I'd hooked bottom, but then felt the throb of a better fish on the end of the line. Played it into the side under Tim's instructions, keeping the rod tip low until it was time to net it. Turned out to be a nice male around the 2 lb mark.

   And the lady's other half!

After a quick coffee it was down to the next spot, a deeper glide at the tail end of a pool. Had been chatting away with Tim, fully into the rhythm of casting when I had another take in front of me. Lifted into a fish that shot downstream towards against a fully bent rod and then just hung on the end of a taut line in the faster water. Knew it was big fish as I could do nothing with it other than just keep the rod tip low, keep the pressure on and pray that the hook didn't pull out. Eventually I started to make headway, the pressure of the rod and some scare tactics by Tim, wading into the river downstream,  forcing the fish back up towards me. However, it soon became apparent there was a problem as the angle of the line into the water was all wrong. Lifted the rod tip to find the line festooned with leaves, there was a judder and the fish was gone. Tim's expression said it all,  I'd lost a very big fish.........Oh well, onwards and upwards! Carried on for the rest of the afternoon, trying a variety of spots, picking up a few more grayling between us and three out of season brownies to me before the light faded and we made out way back to the cars.

Thoroughly enjoyed the day despite losing that fish and the fact my right shoulder was in agony by the  time I got home (Czech nymphing is hard work!). Will certainly be a method I'll be using again and hopefully I'll be back after the "one that got away".