Pete's Weighty ( Fly Fishing ) Words

Bob is away from today for a couple of weeks and not withstanding the thought of him sunning himself in his Speedos Mark and I had Sunday off as he did the teaching honours so we could do some fly fishing.

 We are building a few new river venues up as we think it is nice to offer different options rather than the same old same old, its not so much fun when you know the names of the fish! The little gem we have found flows into the Tamar but clears really quickly as it is high and straight off of the Moors and so is handy if we do have a wet one. It is a really pretty little stretch and one for the small stream fan and is just 10mins away from SFFS mission control. I might give it a shot Weds if the weather stays the same as I am out guiding.

Whilst on that it reminds me of a joke about a fishing guide who dies and wakes up on a riverbank with his client waiting to go fishing. He has a perfect day picking the right fly, spotting the fish and the client fishes perfectly and doesn’t miss a fish. The day ends with a very happy guide. Next morning the guide wakes up at the same beat, same client, same conditions. The client starts fishing and everything is exactly the same and at the end of the day everything has happened as the day before, even the conversation. The same happens for the next few days. Frustrated and at the end of the 12th day of exactly the same the guide turns to the client and says “hey, I thought this was supposed to be heaven” the client flashes him an evil smile and said “who said anything about heaven? welcome to eternity!”

When a little bit of sun creeps through and things warm up the Large Dark Olives are looking to hatch and we have also seen the odd hawthorn. If the winds are right look for places like Colliford and Roadford for spectacular brown trout fishing with hawthorn flies. There is nothing like seeing a fit 2lb wild brown hit your offering and head off for deep water!

I have taken the day off today as it is my birthday. On days like these it is a perfect for a little spot of fishing. Emma and Charlie joined me and we headed to the Teign for a couple of hours of fishing and then lunch in the pub by the river. The other reason was that I was lucky enough to recieve a new bamboo rod as a present. This one is made by Luke Bannister down in Cornwall. Luke is a great guy and fellow fishing bum. We met last year and found we both had a love of bamboo rods. The difference is that Luke is pretty dam good at building them! I went for a 7ft 3 wt which fits the bill perfectly for fishing here and the space in the bamboo rod line up. I strung the rod up with a standard SA 3wt WF line and it really sings.

The water was low and clear so I stuck with the usual set up of klinkie and small tungsten bead head and managed a few fish. Nothing of real note but nice all the same. The girls took our dog, Enzo, for a stroll and we met up and had lunch and got back before the weather broke.

The rod is awesome and managed everything with ease even when a downstreamer picked up. I think it will be perfect for up on the Moors too.

 Bob was teaching on the Tamar on Tues and his client did a bit of fishing at the end and had a good pull and they saw a salmon roll. Sounds like there might be a few tourists in town.

I am off for a few days to the U.S on business. Who says fly fishing isn’t glamorous?!!

I was due to teach Luke today but as I have not met him before and he is 11 I agreed with his dad, Simon, that we would play the weather by ear as we were both keen that Luke didn’t get cold. I got to SFFS Mission Control early as I had a load of emails to sift through but the signs were ominous. Driving down the A30 I had seen cars coming up covered in about an inch of snow. I was getting the rods ready to strap to the truck and the phone went. Simon had rightly decided to postpone til midweek. The snow was falling heavily and it was cold so it was the right thing to do. Mark was up at our Yak Shack at Roadford so I decided to pop in and see him have a cuppa. The watersports guys were having a snowball fight and you could barely see the water from the Shack. The snow was starting to settle but the showers were not long enough for it to get a hold. I hung with Mark for a bit and decided to head home. Now as any Trout Bum will tell you what do you do when you suddenly find you have a day off?  Thats right, head for the river!

I had to pop in to pick up waders and said hi to the girls. Emma said she has seen swallows…perhaps they have been a little previous?!

I headed for my beloved Taw. I belong to a couple of clubs that have fishing there and headed for one of my favourite stretches. It was a little chilly but I rigged up my 2wt with the ever present black klinkie that had worked so well for Jim on Friday and I also tied on a green tungsten bead head nymph NZ style about 3 ft from the dry. I am sure heavy stuff hi sticked through the deeper pools might have been an option but the upper reaches of the Taw are pretty small and confined and bar a few holes the water is pretty shallow. Hi sticking is great in a lot of circumstances but when I have a day off I like to cast my flies rather than lob them!

I know it was cold when I started as I lost feeling in my left hand pretty quickly but carried on. I had a few small fish and decided to carry on up the river. There is a really nice bend that for some reason I don’t have the sort of success that such a fishy looking hole should offer but I threw my rig in there and missed a fish, cursed and then stepped up again. Early season is great as the over hanging branches are thin and not as heavy as summer time so its perfect for those tight in, right up against the bank casts. Well, I guess I was lucky this time and my dry dipped under and I felt a nice fish on. It was a good fish, my rod has measuring marks on it (to keep me honest!) and a quick check showed 12 inches. I was really pleased.

 I carried on up and had a few more fish, I had been fishing an hour and a half and the thought of a cup of tea became appealing. I went back to my truck and still in my waders hopped in a headed out the back way. A few minutes later I came out by Taw bridge which has a parking spot for the other club I belong to. I couldn’t see the parking space but decided if it were clear and no one else was fishing there it was a sign and I should have a fish.

It was empty so I parked up and decided to go upstream of the bridge with the same set up (I hadn’t broken my rod down)  I started at a pool that is reasonably deep but nice and slow and I have had some nice fish from in the past. Third cast and a plucky little 7 incher took the nymph. I carried on around the corner and up to the next corner. The weather had got worse and the temperature had dropped a little. The snow had got pretty heavy and I was thinking of what it must be like being a steelhead fisherman. These guys are often out in horrific conditions chasing sea run rainbows. It is often said steelheading is more of a religion than a pastime. It sort of reminds me of sea trout fishing and some of the guys who live nocturnal lives when the fishing is hot.

So, I’m standing there casting and thinking about the weather and something really nice has a go at my dry. I’m not sure who jumped the most but I missed it.I think I was just surprised something came for the dry in such awful conditions. Why is it that as fishermen, I see this a lot when guiding, that when we miss or lose a fish that we straight away fire a cast to the area where we just lost the fish. I did just the same, perhaps it is a vain hope that the escaping fish will give us another chance to catch him?!

The snow eased and although the fishing didn’t improve for a bit things warmed up. There were some small trickle hatches, I saw one LDO and some really small stuff and on the last bend it was a treat to see a few rising fish. I managed one of them and it spooked the other so I cut my flies off and headed home.

I am exepcting a “no photos or autographs” form Mark this morning as he turns up today before he is out teaching. This is because he featured on the local TV news the other night and was shown teaching a lady how to roll cast for the cameras for the very worthy Casting for Recovery weekend that has just taken place.

Mark has written a blog about the day which will go up shortly but I know he and Jax thoroughly enjoyed it. Casting For Recovery is a charity for women recovering from breast cancer where they have the opportunity to meet others who have been through the same as themselves. Part of the weekend, among many other things, is the opportunity to learn to fly fish. The reson for this is that  the gentle excersise of casting is perfect for joint and soft tissue mobility during the recovery process. It sounds as though the weekend was a great success and as ever the ladies showed that you don’t need muscle to propel your fly to the horizon!

It was great to get calls from fellow anglers yesterday saying they were catching off of the top yesterday which hopefully is a good sign but lets hope the weather holds.

I don’t know if you are the same but when the weather has been iffy you sort of sit there and think shall I or shan’t I go, decide not to and then pace around for a bit and think sod it I’ll give it a go. There is no worse a feeling than getting to the river and seeing it worse than you thought but  also no better feeling when you peer over the bridge and it looks much better than you expected. It is often days like that when I fish out of my skin and have one of those real special days.

I am lucky that I have a brook a few minutes away from me that is us that is a really good indicator of the state of the main river and my beloved river Taw is just 5 minutes drive away. I find this the fastest clearing of the nearby rivers so I always head here if the weather has been unsettled. If I am guiding and the weather has been poor I often will drive down for a look the day before just to give me an idea of how things will look.I know everyone doesn’t have a nearby river so if you are heading down here for some fishing and you’re a little unsure of how the rivers are then take a look at this link as it will give you a little clue. It is a webcam on the Exe that gives you clarity and height shots.Enjoy!

An early Easter makes in doubley sure that the weather will be poor. I was checking a weather site and there is apparently a chance of snow on Sunday. Mark is teaching Thursday but he is on the lake so fingers crossed .

I had someone call who wanted some river guiding on Tuesday but felt it was better to advise to postpone a month especially as he was keen to take a fish on a dry. The fish aren’t going to go anywhere and I know when I had a proper job that every moment on the river was a special one and hope we can do the same when we he comes down to see us.

Sounds like a few early season salmon have been caught and so far I have heard of 1 off of the Taw and a couple off of the Torridge.

So open day comes and we have rain, mist and a rather sharp wind. What do you do when it is like this? It’s easy to knock it all on the head but its opening day and we have to mark it in some way. Mark and I decide on Colliford. If you haven’t fished Colliford it is well worth a look. Just off of the A30 it is a 911 acre brown trout fishery on Bodmin Moor. There are no boats so you need to pack light and be prepared to travel. No need for heavy gear, a 9ft 6wt will be fine and for most of the season a floating line is perfect.

We turn up and can’t make out the lake from the car park which isn’t a good sign. We sit in the truck, talk and finish off the road trip munchies we had bought and plan our strategy. So did it work? Well, have a read of Marks blog that will tell all. No mater what though, its always worth a try even when most sane people are probably inside thinking about fishing rather than doing it!

Bob, Mark and I have just had a great time doing a pre season warm up for the Crediton Fly Fishing Club. We had a good turn out and a finished things off with a barbie and then some fishing. I am proud to be a memeber of the club and I have been for a while now. They are a great bunch of people and the fishing to excellent. You are only going to catch wild fish over the 6+ miles of water and there is a mixture of venues to suit all abilities.

It was great to see 3 ladies along too and they all did a great job. I always find ladies are elegant fly casters as they don’t use testosterone to propel the line out to the horizon! Alison was hauling like a star and Helen and Kirsty put quite a dent into our trout population. It was nice to see some pre season tackle purchases getting their first work out.

Having 3 lakes enabled us to cover lots of stuff and it was good to see some double handed rods in attendance that Bob weaved his magic with and passed on lots of tips. We are lucky that the lakes are pretty sheltered so the wind wasn’t as much of a problem as it could be but we covered all casting eventualities for a typical day on the river.

 We are on the final countdown until the river fly fishing season starts and I hope with a few tricks in the armoury that members leave some fish for me!

Graham continues to tell us about his fly fishing lessons and a little bit about when he came down to see us guys at Scott Flyfishing School HQ.

Well my next indoctrination to the world of “tight loops” and awesome
casting prowess was a trip down to Pete’s part of the world to meet up with
him, Bob and Mark to find out how inept I still am. I always thought I was
a bit of a nut when it comes to fishing but these guys are the ultimate
true geeky bums who I believe don’t count sheep to fall asleep but the
number of tight loops they can achieve. Upon arriving and welcoming me,
Pete ushered me in to show off a video he and Mark did on …..guess
what… You got it casting. And where did they film it? In a sport hall!
For some odd reason they were rather proud of it whereas I still get more a
kick out of Bond movies. A quick coffee and a chat and it’s off to the lake
out the back of their premises and some hard core casting. Mark’s
enthusiasm is infectious and I enjoyed the lesson immensely and I certainly
picked up many hints and improvements to my technique and that was despite
it being bitterly cold and blowing a gale. Anyhow just to show how badly
afflicted they are, at the end Mark suggested to Pete “let’s see if we can
get down to the backing and get a loop so tight it makes you eyes water”!
I’m sure there is medicine available to help these guys. Anyhow back to my
practicing in my local canal and next venture will be lesson 2 from Brett
and probably a bundle of criticism. Watch this space.

One of the things I really love is my truck. The only downside is the appalling fuel consumption. Those of you who have sat along side me know that I don’t hang around when driving and I guess this is partly my fault at having a such a heavy right foot but I still have a problem with the amount we pay for petrol and the amount we are taxed.To me, it looks like the UK is in for a tough 2008 with house prices falling, huge consumer credit and other things like huge heating bills and the ever spiralling price of fuel not helping the situation. Looking at the amount I put into the truck I knew I had to make a few decisions. Do I change my car for something a little smaller?…no way. Do I buy an older car and convert it to LPG?…little chance as my mechanical skills are woeful and the chances of me fixing a problem are slightly less than zero.