Me and the Lad

It was a nice day today , me and Logan found we had some
free time after we had done the weekly shop. It was also
a great feeling when his Nan rang to ask if he wanted to go
to Blackpool for the day but he wanted to stay with me.
We were wandering how to spend the time . I suggested
that taking a small net and the camera out for a few hours,
His sister went to the seaside and we set off for countryside.
He took a few shots of the thistle and one was in focus.
Of coarse I packed the fly rod and some flies just in case .
Logan loves the camera and taking pictures he is quite good
he just keeps snapping . Looking at the pictures after he's
had the camera a while gives me a glimpse of the world
through his eyes and today it appeared most beautiful
After spotting the Foxglove above he ran to take a photo
what made it better a Bumble Bee was busy ,he loved it
and took a quick snap it came out well I was most impressed.
We wandered down to the river I have seen a few Bullheads
in the shallows but they are very hard to catch even after
you find one which is not easy either . While we sat and
watched a Kingfisher a Trout sipped a fly from the surface
I set up the rod Logan urged me to hurry up I told him
to have a little patience it only took one careful cast and the
fish came calmly to the fly I watched it drift a little before
nipping it from the surface , A very special fish as it was the
first on the reel of Uncle Johns that I refurbished a few months
back.

We had several more takes and we had a few fish and lost
as many , mainly because I was showing Logan how to play
them on the rod , casting is still a little hard for him , he had
a good go though and he loved seeing the fish take the fly .
We moved to a streamier section and this brought out a new
fly, now the Trout are more settled after spawning ,more life
abounds on the river and the water is so clear I thought a more
realistic imitation would do the business, at the start of the
season the Peeping Caddis was a killer with most fish falling to
it if it was on point or dropper . I was interested to see how the
new version being more realistic worked and it did a treat , we
continued to catch some great fish we only had one that I would
class as small . After a few I gave Logan the rod he landed one
even though he thought it would break the line .
A nice photo a look of satisfaction and happiness .
The crawling Caddis(above) this fly or more accurately
Larvae is again a Oliver Edwards designed Pattern, after
Mike lent me the DVD of him tying I was inspired , I will
be whipping up my version which I have changed a little .
Today I fished it up stream on it's own , the takes were
very confident ,my hopes are high for this fly and method
it just needs a little tweaking and I have already a few ideas
for making the job easier .
Another nice fish Logan obliged with the Photo (below),
again I was impressed , he is very good at this and enjoys it
maybe a 7 year old with a camera near water seems a
a little stupid but what the ''Eck'' the smile on his face
when we looked back at the day was something you could
not put a price on.


The last fish slipped back and we made our return home.
I have looked back over old posts recently and have
enjoyed reading them I'm sure this one will bring a smile
on a winters day in the future .

A Quick Dip

Found myself with a couple of spare hours so I nipped down
to the river for a quick dip of the fly.
It has been quite dry lately and the water was low and clear.
A few fish rose to flies but I started in fast water
on nymphs . After a few casts the first fish was on, it gave a good
account of itself and it was around a pound in top nick .

Fished through the fast pools with little else to show for my
efforts. As the Sun set a few fish rose and one took my connector
so a quick change to a dry brought a few more takes and another
Brownie slightly smaller but in top nick .
The last fish was only half a pound and the light had all but
gone . It was a quiet night not one sound of a voice and I
fished without a jacket until after 10pm the weather is
good at the moment ,although the rivers need a flush
of fresh water .
The other thing is I need a tripod for the camera it's hard
taking a shot with it balancing on a rock ! !

A Return to Happiness

Phil mid river
A young lad in 1977 sits by the side of his Dads fishing rod ,
his Dad has wandered back down river to get his lads net
which was a way of keeping the boy happy while he fished .
While he was away the rod fell to the water off it's rest ,the
young lad puts it back only for it to fall off again. Under instruction
to leave the rod and not retrieve the line the boy thinks as a
quick look for his Dad and against his better judgement decides
to look what is causing the rod to fall . Moments later the biggest
fish the lad could imagine lays next to him on the bank .
That day was so magical for the boy that the river is a very
special place some 30 years later .
I know this as you probably guess the boy was me .
So to return to her banks is special every time the same feeling
returns also every time the line tightens into a fish a gentle reminder
of that day.
The chance of another magical moment seems to be a reality
every time I visit .To share this with others who feel the same is
a gift I wish everyone could share ,so it was with great anticipation
that I set off with Phil and Mike .

Hydropsyche

I had been busy at the vice and fished the first few runs with
a Oliver Edwards inspired pattern . The result half a dozen
lost fish most small and one half pound Brownie. Looking at
the picture above maybe the fly is dressed a little to far round
the bend , something I will have to sort out on my next tying
session.

Mike's Trout I fished the first part of the day with Mike , he is becoming
more and more competent with the fly and is a pleasure to
spend time with , especially like me by the side of water .
We moved downstream Phil was in is favourite spot though
the going was tough in the low water . I noticed a few rises so
popped on a dry a few casts later I hit into a Brownie again
only half a pound or so but it ran at me and I could not strip
line quick enough ,it found enough slack to shed the hook.
I left Phil with a few fish rising fish and moved further
downstream with Mike .
Love it! After another fish less hour (and a quick dip I fell in)
we moved and found a few fish Phil wandered down he had
took a Brownie and his first fly caught Grayling ,a sign
of how quick he as improved as it was not easy fishing.
Mike fished the inside crease of the big pool and was quickly
into a good fish we did not get to see it and he was gutted,
after losing it I think and he later admitted he that it may
of been his only chance . I had decided to fish the outer crease
and wade mid river but before I got to the river Mike was
tightening into another good Brownie he landed this one and
also another later, both fish around the pound.

A few fish took flies and after a small trout I hit into one
of the better fish a nice Grayling fin perfect a typical Ribble
fish.


A lady swims away A couple of snaps and a satisfied feeling as the fish made it's
way gently up stream . Moveing a little downstream again I
had another couple of Brownies the last around the pound mark


A good day
The day ended as the fish swam away another memorable
day spent by the river for this not so young lad .

A River or Two

The week was coming to an end , I was dreaming of a few
casts and so it was with great despair that I awoke Thursday
with a bad back . So bad that I was house bound and miserable.
This was made worse because I had been invited to
fish some great water with my mate Rob and his dad Len on
the Sunday .
Saturday afternoon Mike called round with Lucia and she gave
me a little advice , this was greatly accepted as two visits to the
Doctor's had brought little res bite from the pain .
Rob called round Saturday afternoon, just as Mike was leaving
I had promised him a few flies and I had given up all but the
slightest of hopes of any fishing .


Sunday morning and almost by divine intervention I had
improved , at last the fishing gods had blessed me so the
trip was back on(thanks Lucia) .
The river had changed since my last visit
''quite a few years too many ago''
even so certain features filled my mind with good days
past many of them with Len it's many years since I fished
with him and it will be a bit longer as he was not feeling to well,
when I think back a lot of my learning was done by watching
him cast a fly , he was patient and thats one of the top qualitys
you need by the side of running water Rob at that time was a lad
just learning to cast but now he is more than capable of showing
the way and is a plesure to spend time with .
( still not as good as me Rob)

I followed him down the first few pools and we both took little
Trout and Parr . The third pool down and the peeping caddis
struck into a decent fish it was around the pound mark but
she saved me the job of unhooking by slipping the hook at the
net .
A couple of hours on the dry brought me the best fish of the
evening over a pound it was spot ,on we had a few more small ones
before Rob's last fish just under a pound finished a nice few hours
Monday came and I managed to snatch the last couple of
hours with Phil and Mike they had been fishing in the middle
of town ,the rivers being so much cleaner all now seem to
hold a healthy stock of fish .
We dropped down to an area that Phil new and as we
approached the first fishable pool small trout darted about
Mike ran a worm down , first cast and moments later
a trout resided in the palm of his hand .Phil followed with a
small fish before a half pound perfectly spotted Brownie came
to the net.

I now made my first few casts with the little rod I made
a few casts upstream with a little black tinhead and I had
two small fish both escaped the net before my luck cahanged
and a nice Brownie lay in the net , the little fish Mike caught
shows the stream is healthy .

My weekend turned out better than I expected two rivers
one in the middle of a forrest and costing a small fortune the
other in the heart of town and free , both full of Trout the best
of both worlds .

Birthday (feeling young)

It was my Birthday Friday so after losing a few fish and
sorting out a old reel a few weeks back I got myself a new
line and also treated myself to a little reel .
Hoping to get a #4 rod the idea is it will cushion the little fish
and help me bump less off the hook .
Must be catching fish that makes me feel young , every time
I hook something all the little pains and problems disappear
This brings me to the conclusion a life fishing is never long
enough .

I spent some time coarse fishing with Phil , we must have
had a hundred of these little Rudd like the one above.
Phil had the best fish around 6lb on what was a hard day's
fishing following a clear cold night .
I now can't wait to return to my running water
Time By The River is well spent !

Elston

Having purchased my Card for the Elston stretch of the
River Ribble I decided on a couple of hours .
The day had been warm so I made my way more to see
the river than with high hopes f catching .
I stopped at a shallow streamy section and turned a few
stones over , I was glad to find an abundance of Larva and
Nymphs ,like the Rhyacophila above (Rock Worm)
The warm weather and flowering plants gave the day a real
summery feel .
On a fishing front I hooked quite a few small ones but
managed somehow to lose every one .
I enjoyed my couple of hours and was glad to see the river
looking so good .

A Day On The Ribble

Time on the river is always special , even more so for me
when the river is the Ribble . I have spent so much of my
time from being a young lad both fishing and learning by
her side .
Even though I'm a little older every time a trip is planed
I'm filled with a child like excitement , I find it hard to
sleep the night before an early start , unlike a work day
getting out of bed is so easy.
Mike was picking me up at 8am I was up and ready by
7am and found my self watching ''Essential skills'' with
Oliver Edwards .
Mike arrived with Adam , who is a member of the Hungarian
Fly Fishing Team so I was looking forward to the day .


I have been having a lot of fish on Caddis , so I decided to
fish this from the start , the river was up and tinged with
colour so this was ideal , I put a Sparkle Bug on the dropper
and was quite confident .
After watching Adam and Mike fish the first glide I walked
a little downstream , a bolder 8m from the bank caught my
eye and I dropped into the water and fished down past it .
First run and a fish hit without me making contact , this
continued very annoying but at the same time encouraging .
Mike and Adam had little luck and moved on down stream,
I stuck to fishing down river as far as I could on the same glide.
Finally my persistence payed off a little hand sized Brownie ,
these were probably responsible for all the small pulls and
bumps I was missing , although I had bumped a decent fish
which tore off before the hook pulled.
Another small Brownie followed before the line tightened
into a better fish a nice buttery Brown trout around 11in

While fishing I had noticed a few flies of several kinds one
or two fish spasmodically rose but one fish seemed to be
rising regularly enough to target I tied on a small F-fly
and was soon playing a nice fish , it turned out to be a
Grayling .

After a brief walk I found Adam he had now caught a couple
of Brownies and was enjoying the day . A little further down
steam Mike was getting a few takes and as I had a drink he
took his first fish only small but he was pleased.

I then had another little Grayling and a similar sized Trout
before a return to frustration !
The next fish was a good one only problem the hook pulled
after a minute , this was followed by a few more good bangs
but no hook ups .
Adam and I walked back we had both had a few fish we found
Mike who pointed out a rising fish, on went the F-fly and
moments later I was into a good Grayling , it was on a while
but my skill and the angling gods let me down with another
hook pull .
We had a good day on a river I love , a lost fish is not the end
of the world if you are losing the odd one you are doing
something rite and if anything it makes you want more.