Wednesday 31 December 2008

It was that cold my ring froze

I had arranged to fish over the Christmas break
with Phil , I have fished in extreme weather but
today was as cold as I can remember .
It was that cold my ring froze on the rod every
second cast even a couple of times on the retrieve
I even struck once !!
We decided to visit Mere Beck a mixed fly fishery , by
mixed it's a still water with flowing sections and I was
quite impressed even the odd nip from the hip flask that
melanie got me for Christmas could not keep JackFrost at bay .
Even tying on the flies was a task , hands numb
eyes watering making the simplest task hard.

I had sort info from a fellow blogger and got to
meet him and his Grandad on the bank.
Phil struck first , we started off with small natural
presentation a move to a big pink lure did the trick
for Phil ,he the went on to tell me how only skilled
anglers could catch on such a hard day.
I switched to a lure, a ''Cat's whiskery thingy''
and was soon into a nice Blue Trout I lost it under
the rod tip but it warmed me a little .
A little Brownie followed before I finished the day
with two Rudd .
The Cats thingymebobs can be seen on the
second one , quite a mouthful for a small fish.
The two Rudd got me thinking on Friday I'm
off to the upper Ribble , I have said for a while
I may fish a team of nymphs on the pin below
a stick float so thats my aim , hope to post
a good result if I survive the Arctic like
conditions .

5 comments:

kcon93 said...

Didn't realise rudd would take cats whiskers, last time I was at Mere Beck another angler had a massive rudd on a bloodworm, must have been just under 2lb

Tony said...

I got them with an old trick .. basically you cast down the side about parallel to your rods length retrieve slow then when you have around 3ft of line out lift the rod ,this causes the fly to lift the secret is to watch the fly leader as it drops you will see a twitch or if it's a Trout a snatch I walk back along the bank doing this and you will find it very exciting when the line shoots just a sharp lift and your away . These takes are small and quick if you are on a slow retrieve the fish will only get tail feathers you may feel a small pluck fast and they wont go near it . You can target them with little flies in the warmer water the fish are often under your feet .

Matthew Eastham said...

Good luck on the Ribble Tony! I'm off to the middle Ure myself tomorrow - 1c maximum forecast and freezing fog - nice!

Happy new year.

M

thebigandyt said...

Good on you. I managed to get myself out in the cold also, it was the last day of the season and i felt it had to be spent with at least a couple of hours freezing my ass of.

Happy new year

Tony said...

All the very best to you fellas may the fishing gods smile on you this coming year .

search

"Life is but a dream?"

"... on a good day of fishing, the job, the noise and clutter ... fade away until there is only water and the rhythm of the rod and, now and then, a fish."

-Random Phrump

''A Thought''

A simple philosophy I have adopted over the years has been tested and re-enforced in the past few weeks. It is to celebrate those good and pleasing things encountered in daily life, no matter how small, with at least the same vigour as I bemoan the bad or merely vexing.
-Steve Dobson


The Fly Fishing Loop Sponsored By flydepot.com
The Fly Fishing Loop is sponsored by flydepot.com
[ Home Waters | Next | Random | List | Search ]