Pete's Weighty ( Fly Fishing ) Words

I got up to Aberdeen on Sunday lunchtime and Michael and I met up with my good pal Stuart for a bit of stillwater trout fishing . Stuart had sniffed out Dalgety trout fishery and we had a great time catching some really nice rainbows on dries and I was lucky enough to seem him christen his new rod!

Monday saw us on the river chasing salmon. There wasn’t a great deal going on as we started but as ever I take my barometer watch on this annual trip and it is really nice when you see it tick up while you are sitting watching one of the others fishing and shout out it has popped up a bit and lo and behold Gilbert hooked something. I was taking a breather so popped down to offer Gilbert a helping hand should he need it and just shout a bit of encouragement. He doesn’t really need it as he has caught more salmon on this fishery than most of us have had hot dinners but it is always nice to see the first fish of the trip come in. It fought hard and deep and it was a case of sitting out to a degree which is what he did and it swam off strongly when we popped it back. Michael also had a 6lber so things are starting to happen. As for me, I had a pull and a fish roll at a fly but that was it. I felt like I had covered the water and had mixed my flies so feel I couldn’t have done much more so I am pretty happy. I have a shortish beat to myself tomorrow so will give it a good go….we’ll see. Gilberts fish below…

We are just back from Amsterdam and I have a confession. We sold out, well, for the first day anyway. Doing a show we are strictly jeans and T shirt guys and if the weather is good enough it will be shorts. On this occassion we had the president of Abel coming over and we thought it best to smarten up a little bit for him. It was one of those classic moments where we met up and Don had assumed we’d be in our normal attire and so dressed in jeans and T shirt himself and came over to say “hi” Thankfully we reverted pretty quickly and the normal balance was restored!

Amsterdam is an interesting city and I think Mark would have passed out with excitement at all the canals and the pike that must live in them. We had a good time there and met up with some instructors from Europe and had a cast with a few even some from Russia. We met up with some really good contacts and generally had a blast.

We at least have some sun today which is encouraging and I hope we have more as my daughter Charlie is off to the V festival this weekend. Apparently the look is dresses and wellies if you are interested! I think Muse are headlining but it is clearly way too cool for me. Apparently anyone over 30 is too old for this sort of thing….there still life in this old dog though!

I was talking to Alison this morning and said that I had been in the office yesterday and today instead of guiding Brian on Tues and Dave today. She said that I must be sitting there with a big sullen bottom lip. She’s about right.

It seems we have really been hit hard the last few days even compared to just a bit up the line. I was hoping both days to be on the lower Tamar doing some river guiding for trout and grayling but it is still flushing through and being a bigger river will be just a bit too lively. I spoke to Dave last night and he knew it was coming and we are going to try something next week (weather permitting!) he wasn’t keen on lake fishing. I have guided him a few months back and know he is a hard core river fly fisher.

Mark takes up the tuition with Ollie on Thurs, a group on Fri and Richard and Kate on Saturday while Bob and I are away in Amsterdam at a show. It should be real fun and it is a big moment for our little company and if it comes off will be really exciting!

I had a fish with Toby on the Taw Monday night and it wasn’t as good as the weekend but he managed an 11inch brown which gave him a really good pull. We shared a rod and took it in turns while we chewed the fat and talked about everything and nothing. Thats what it is all about!

We had a nice message from David and Caroline who spent a day with Bob and I.

Dear Bob,

 we both wanted to let you and Pete know how much we enjoyed our time on the Tamar with you. Thankyou both very much for your time and patience with two novice salmon fishermen. We really loved it. We are both very keen to come back again and would like to try and book a day with you again this season if possible and to also do some river trout fishing with Pete.

With all very best wishes to you and Pete

 David and Caroline

I can’t believe where this week has gone, it seems to have gone in a flash much like this year!

Sunday I was fishing with my good friend and fellow instructor at SFFS Gary Champion. He was up doing some stuff on a very exclusive beat of the Test and we had arranged a days fishing on the chalkstream I fish the day before. We hit the river like excited school boys and were soon into some fish. It was a really nice way to fish as we pretty much shared a rod and took it in turns to have a go at the trout and also a few grayling. There were still quite a few mayfly about but not enough to interest the fish. It amazes me that they get so locked on to a food item but then lose interest as the hatches lessen despite the food source still being available in plentiful numbers. I have been there in the past and seen the odd mayfly around in November!

We really covered some water and did a pretty good job. We managed lunch at 2.30 and then fished until 7.30 where Champo got out his stove, put it on the tailgate of my truck and cooked some venison steak rolls. This set us up really well for the evening and what an evening it was! About 8 we saw the start of what turned out to be the mother of all Blue Winged Olive hatches. Champo said he had never seen anything like it and compared it to a swarm of midges. It didn’t take long for the fish to zero in on the flies and the river came alive. I wish I had a photo but the fishing was just too good! The interesting thing was that Champo is an amazing fly tyer and had what looked like a perfect copy of a BWO. We saw a few refusals to it but nothing hit. As we were taking it in turns Champo offered me a chance to have a throw. I had a fly on that I have used a fair bit this year. It is basically a really roughed up klinkhammer and the name we gave it I can’t print but the name fits the way it looks! I cast my fly and it was hit straight off. I quickly had another and gave Champo one. We didn’t look back and lasted until 10.30 where we pretty much had to feel our way back to my truck. It was awesome!

Next day I was out with Graham and again the fishing was good but not quite as spectacular. He managed some really nice fish and although we had an alfresco Chinese on the riverbank the evening didn’t really come to anything. I think the evening before the sun had just broken through and kept the evening just that little bit warmer.

Wednesday I was doing some casting with Mary from Bristol. She pops over to Ireland for some fishing and is really into her Speycasting. She is the queen of the snap T! In the evening I met up with Alison and we went onto the Taw. I have to be honest and say the fishing sucked but the company more than made up for it. We had a real laugh and she is a real star. When we got there, there were a few sedge on the water but it never really got going. The breeze cooled things off just a bit too much. It did stop us finishing at 10 though…I don’t ever want to hear anyone say women aren’t as hard core as men when it comes to fly fishing!

Today I have been doing some casting with Paul. He is making his first bone fishing trip this year and wanted to throw some 8 and 9 wt rods. He had bought a 9wt from Howard and we strung it up. The thing just flew and we were trying various combinations of rods and lines. It was the best I have ever seen Paul cast and the bones better watch out! He was hitting some nice distance but in a controlled and smooth fashion. I really liked the way he was using drift to cushion the tip on his back cast and to lengthen his stroke. This was with him nursing a nasty cold and a bad back I hate to think how well he’ll do when he is feeling 100%.

On Friday Bob and I are guiding for salmon. Given the conditions and a bit of luck you never know! I love it when I get to work with Bob. I learn so much from him. He has been guiding and teaching here for 18 years and knows just about every spot and habit of the river and the fish in there. Its worth it just to watch him casting! 

I am out on Saturday with Greg to fishing who sounds like he is keen to learn as much as possible about stillwater fly fishing so I am really looking forward to it. I am going to head for somewhere he will learn lots and enjoy the scenery. I’ll get some pics and put them up on Monday.

We have had some nice comments from happy customers…

Bob, you gave me a top lesson a few weeks ago. The phrase “old dog, new tricks” was never far from my mind. However, having just returned from the Spey I’m delighted to tell you that I managed to get the line to sing out rather nicely. The score was 2 sea trout and 1 salmon (8 1/2 lbs) so I must have been doing something right- testament to your excellent tuition.

M Cooper

Pete, I’d just like to say what a magnificent day I had in the company of Mark. He obviously has the patience of a saint. I certainly gained so much in confidence that I am out every other night practicing the various casts on the lawn.

A fabulous day, good weather, good company and good fishing.

D Coeshall

The snap T queen in action!

As I think I mentioned the other day we have a busy week with fly fishing tuition and Mark and I were just putting some finishing touches to our lake yesterday. We cut a little of the banks and took some weed out. Its funny though as we were chatting away like a pair of old women about fishing. I happened to mention that I had my rod in the back of the truck and I hadn’t tried the new line I had for it. That was like red rag to a bull to Mark. We had worked hard for a couple of hours and he was itching for a cast. We quickly finished up and got the rod out of my truck. Just as we were setting up Bob pulled up. It must have been one of the priceless moments as it must have looked as if we had been there “playing” for ages instead of toiling!

Bob hopped out of his truck and walked over “is that the new line?” he asks “yup” “lets have a cast then” and off we went. It was supposed to be a quick throw before we went home but we ended up casting and catching a few fish too. I was amazed to see how well some of the browns are doing. There is a real healthy larder for them and it looks like they are taking advantage of it.

 Its still a bit over cast and we had some heavy showers last night but the weather isn’t as omminous as it has looked of late so fingers crossed. The Tamar is still nasty height wise but is starting to lose some of its colour. We could be game on next week for some migratory fishing. I spoke to Karl last night and he is itching to come down and catch a few.

I have tomorrow off and I am heading up to fish some chalk with Champo. The river we are fishing does tend to rise and get some colour but appears to be in good shape so we have decided to start with a dry fly only and see how it goes. I’m told there are some odd mays around so I have tied some up to see if I can drag a few up to have a look. I’m really looking forward to it and will post some photos if we are lucky. We plan to fish hard and late and we’ll have the ever popular tailgate chinese afterwards.

I’m back from a couple of weeks in Tanzania. Now, I love my fishing holidays (I have a few booked for later in the year to offset the lack of fishing on this one!) but this was truely amazing.

Being just 6 feet away from a pride of lions is something I will never forget or seeing a pack of hyenas leaving for an evenings hunt was a magical sight. The tents we stayed in were not fenced off so it was not unusual to be awoken by a munching sound just outside . We would creep out of bed and see a huge eye of an elephant, hipo or giraffe just a few feet away from where we stood. The highlight for me was the walking drive where we saw plenty of animals but also the tracks  of animals and signs of a hunt. This was the only time our guide carried a gun and I assumed it was incase of an angry lion, leopard or hipo but it was in fact for water buffalo. Apparently they are the most unpredictable of anything you are likely to encounter. I have some photos and will pop them up shortly but some of the things we saw I will never forget.

So what does this have to do with fly fishing in Devon? I guess not a lot but I have to say how impressed I was with the guides and how they worked as a team. Although there were not many lodges near us when someone had spotted something they would pass on the information and I thought this was pretty neat. They also had a few tricks up their sleeves that made the day even more special and I have to admit I nicked a couple!

There was some beach holiday too and luckily I packed an 8wt and some clousers and spent some fun time catching jacks and small cuda. It was fun figuring out the fish and where they were and I was a little surprised to see that they didn’t want a frantic retrieve but a nice steady pull. Like everyone in Tanzania they seem to be pretty relaxed!

When I was writing yesterdays blog we had pretty good cloud cover and it wasn’t too cool. As the sun went down and we got ready to fish the clouds had lifted revealing the full moon and a nice little bit of mist to go with it. It didn’t bother us too much and we carried on despite the odds being against us.I only get to fish this stretch of the Taw on a Monday so we thought to hell with it and cracked on. It was a really fun evening and despite not catching any sea trout. Toby had a few nice browns but the most important thing was that we had a good time and had quite a few laughs as well. As ever it isn’t always about the fish but just being out there with buddies enjoying the experience.

We had some nice comments come in from happy clients yesterday which is always a nice start to the week.

Bob was a great guide. He’s an easy going guy and he taught me the rudiments of double handed casting very effectively.

Stuart

Pete-great day on the river you’re a top river guide.

Cheers

David

CLICK HERE to see Bob in action

CLICK HERE to see Pete in action

Bob was out yesterday with Mike who was brushing up his spey casting before going on a fishing trip!

Dear Peter,
Just wanted to thank you for a very enjoyable and instructive day last Saturday. I had a lovely time on the river a lot of which was due to your advice, great enthusiasm and patience!! Definitely want to do it again!
best wishes
Gavin

I had the pleasure of guiding Gavin on Saturday on the Bray. He has done a fair bit on the chalkstreams but only a little bit down here and so with a river in good shape and pretty good weather we set off. We started at the bottom of the beat and although we rose a few fish we noticed a lot were refusing or following the fly without taking. We decided to hop out and move upstream a bit where the water moves through a little quicker and the fish didn’t have so long to think about whether to hit the fly or not. This seemed to work pretty well and Gavin was soon getting into fish. He realised that the fish take a whole lot quicker down here than those on the chalkstreams but as is often the case once you have hooked and landed one you never look back!

Gavin was also keen to learn some watercraft and where and how to locate likely areas. After talking him through a few pools I asked him to talk me through how he would fish the next pool and he did so and it was an A* moment! We also looked at rise forms and how to interpret them and select your fly accordingly.

He fished like a star and had some nice fish in the 10,11 and 12 inch range and even hooked and played a sea trout for a few moments but sadly came off. It was really exciting to see it leave its hidey hole and come out and hit us!

The downside is that I had some nice photos of Gavin but sadly I seem to have lost or misplaced my camera that was given to me as a birthday present just a few weeks ago. Jax thinks I have had a senior moment for which I have thanked her greatly! I only realised when Bob took Tony and his 3 friends for some two handed casting yesterday and I asked him to take some photos…nightmare!

I was teaching Colin and David today and managed to dig out an old camera so normal service is resumed.

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.