Salmon Pastures

A quick trip out to suss out the fishing further down the Don. Parking near one of the entrances to the five weirs walk, I wandered down to check out the river and have a quick cast.



Just through the entrance is this wood carving of a salmon, once prolific here. Whilst there were fish rising, and I had a number of takes, I failed to land anything! I think I was rushed, knowing I only had limited time here today so I wasn't fishing well.
However, there is certainly potential here for some more trips- I'll keep you posted!

- Posted from my iPhone

Home Waters...

A pre-night shift fishing session beckoned, and I fancied fishing a little closer to home, rather than driving across town to the Don. Within half a mile of my house is the Sheaf, which is home to many small brown trout. Millhouses park was busy, with school holidays and kids everywhere enjoying the park, so I wandered to my hidden gem of a stretch - the ultimate in small stream technical trouting!
Prepare to do battle with the undergrowth - my flies spent more time in the trees that the water.
I started near the bottom of the "tescos" beat, and worked my way upstream.

I started on a duo setup, fishing a small goldhead PTN underneath a Para-Adams. This accounted for my first trout, a tiny specimen taken in about 6 inches of water!

Not even a handful!

I then fished up to the first pool, which there were fish rising in.

If you enlarge the above photo by clicking on it, then clicking on it again, you'll see a rise just right of centre.
Still using a duo rig, I had a few casts. I had a take on the para-Adams, but didn't connect to the fish. A bit more inexpert casting and the fish were not playing any more. These small stream trout are super wary - every cast has to count. I changed to a F-fly, but by now the fish were hidden away.

I moved on, and fished up to the next big pool (with the "interesting" mud feature).

The big pool, covered with falling blossom

There was nothing at all rising here, so a few tentative cast covering likely lies with a klinkhammer with a hares ear nymph underneath produced very little, until I fished the inflow of the pool. Here I had a trout dart up from the bottom, and have a go at the klinkhammer - however, it was gone before I even had chance to strike.

Next section is the walled river which is tight and shallow - I had not previously fished this, having been drawn to the pools before. I used a Klink and hares ear nymph, casting to rises that were happening in every little glide and run.

Looking back down the walled section

I was soon into another fish, again taking the nymph.

I fished on a little further, enjoying the challenge of tight technical casting to super wary fish. Waders are pretty much essential here, but mainly to protect your knees when kneeling to keep a low profile, and get low to the water to side-cast effectively.

A couple of hours spent on a sunny morning, fishing for wild brown trout for free half a mile from my doorstep - can't complain about that!

Casting round trees - an essential skill!

Before leaving I had a look at the next section of stream, which I haven't yet fished. There looks to be a couple of likely looking runs.......

On another note, I must try and organise a day on the Wye - I have not yet fished the Wye, and keep meaning to book a day on the Peacock stretch. It's only 20 minutes drive away so I really should make the effort!

Bailey bridge up to Norfolk bridge Weir

A warm and overcast day today, so reasonable conditions for a spot of fishing. I went down to Attercliffe again, parking on Effingham street and crossing the bailey bridge to access the river.

The river here is slow and wide, with lots of weed on the bottom. I quickly moved further upstream, and fished the faster waters down from the weir.

I was soon into some lively brown trout, all taking a gold head hares ear nymph below a klinkhammer - my standard duo type setup.

I worked on up to the weir, having 3 takes on dry flies right under the wall beneath the weir - 2 on a klinkhammer, and I then changed to a sedge, which also produced a rise. I failed to land any of these fish - probably still in winter nymphing mode rather than summer dry fly mode!

After a pleasant couple of hours, I headed back home - another urban fly fishing destination to add to the list!

The glide along the wall that produced some rises to dry flies

Looking upstream from the weir.

Trout!

Trout season is now well upon us - a quick visit to the Don after work with some tricky fishing put me into 2 trout today.

I fished an area I had not fished before, nearer the middle of town than previously. I had scoped it out a couple of days ago, when the pictures below were taken - lovely and warm, and not too breezy. That was not the case today however! A strong gusty wind was blowing downriver, making upstream casting very difficult.

I had on my usual set up of a copper john beneath a klinkhammer, and after a few missed takes I was surprised when a reasonable sized trout (for the Don!) shot up and took the Klinkhammer. That certainly woke me up, as did the next minute or two of good fight in a strong current.

After that, I had a smaller trout on the copper john, before heading home before the rush hour traffic got too bad.

Don't know the fisherman in the pictures below - he seemed to be having a nice afternoon!

On the way home from work

I stopped on the way home from work for a quick hours fishing - it was overcast and cool, and nothing was rising. I went initially for a duo set up, with no results. I fished all the way up to the weir, and then swapped to a single nymph and fished back down to the area where I started, above the bridge. I then changed to a Czech nymph set up, and fished the slower waters below the sunken weir. I was quickly into a decent fish, and brought a nice grayling to the net. This was probably the biggest grayling this year!







- Posted from my iPhone

Oughtibridge again, and again....

Some weekdays off allowed me to get out a couple of times last week - Wednesday and Friday. Despite cold-ish weather and recent rains, the river was low and clear.

Wednesday I fished with Matt, and Friday with my brother.
Both times we started down in Beeley Woods, and worked our way back up to the slower glide just below the bridge.

On Wednesday it was bitterly cold, so we only managed to fish and hour or so.
I managed one grayling, taken on the usual Copper John beneath a Klinkhammer indicator.

On the Friday, we started a bit lower into the woods, and had little success, a couple of knocks and I lost one fish. After a coffee stop (lesson learned from last cold wading session - flask packed this time!) we fished the glide downstream from the bridge at Oughtibridge.
I used a czech nymph set up this time, despite using my 7ft #2 rod (not ideal for this technique!).
I was using a Sawyers killer bug, on a 6 ft leader beneath a 4" braided indicator, with another 4ft of mono to the fly line.
This was clearly THE technique for the situation - I had 4 fish within 15 minutes, all reasonable size and a great fight on the 2 Wt rod.
2 Grayling and 2 brown trout later, we packed up and headed home.
My Brother also had a couple of Grayling, on a duo rig a little downstream from where I was fishing.

A great end to a few hours fishing.

Oughtibridge

A bleary eyed couple of hours spent fishing for grayling downstream from the bridge in Oughtibridge this morning - the forecast was was rain later, so I went out this morning straight from work. It was overcast but warm-ish, so I tackled up and headed down to the river. There were already a couple of guys fishing just below the bridge, I think a guide with his client. They were Czech nymphing for grayling, and I didn't hang around to see if they were successful.

I walked down river into beeley woods, until I couldn't be bothered to walk any more!

Using a Klinkhammer as an indicator with a copper john  underneath, I started searching out a likely looking glide.

The glide

After 20 minutes, I hooked a nice grayling, of about a pound or so I guess.

It took the copper john, which is my "go-to" nymph on the Don.

After an unproductive half hour I went back up to below the bridge at Oughtibridge, where there was another chap fishing, nymphing.

I had a quick 20 minutes with a sawyers nymph below an indicator here, hooking one nice fish but losing it, mainly because I didn't realise I'd hooked it - I was just about to re-cast after a drift and as I retrieved the line the fish had a quick struggle and splash and was gone!

Today was the busiest I've ever seen it on the Don!

Looking at the river here it looks like it will be fun to fish in the warmer months in trout season....

Two fat ladies

So a quick jaunt out for an hour of nymphing for grayling, just near the Wednesday stadium. The river was up, not unfishable but flowing enough that I didn't bother putting my waders on- I didn't fancy wading in the high water, and the fishing I was doing could be done from the bank quite satisfactorily.

I was using a sawyers killer nymph below a indicator, instead of my usual wulff or klinkhammer. After 5 minutes I was into a reasonable fat grayling, which after a quick struggle, came to the net. As is so often the case, as I lifted the net i noticed the fly had already dropped out!



Having only my phone on me, I took a quick snap and returned the fish to the water.

By this time a couple of lads fishing above the bridge came down to see what I was up to. Thy made it clear they wanted to fish where I was, especially after I landed another fat grayling!

With the peace disturbed, and a couple of grayling landed, I packed up and headed for home...

A good little session, a couple of pound + grayling, and my first fish of 2011.

The temperature today was 14 degrees! Spring looks like it's on the way, and the trout season is just around the corner.

- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Hillsborough

My local river

With fishing pretty much out of the question today due to high winds and recent high waters, I had a wander along my local stretch of "urban" river, to see what last years improvement work looked like.

The old paddling pools have been replaced by a landscaped rocky brook.




Not big enough to fish in (and no fishing allowed on this stretch) but probably a good place for juvenile fish to hide. The run exits just below a weir and some large boulders have been placed into the river here, further enhancing the habitat.




The river sheaf here is small, but does hold a decent head of wild brown trout, and if you wander along here on a quiet summers evening, trout can be seen rising throughout the river. Indeed, it was here on a quiet summer evening 2 years ago I caught my first trout on the fly.

The park is enjoyed by dog walkers, sports clubs and people out walking and enjoying the surroundings. This does mean you have to be sensitive to others when fishing here, but choose your time and place and you can enjoy fishing a small stream for some wiley brown trout.







- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Fraser Rd,,United Kingdom

Tangling times...

So, first trip out in 2011, and I blanked. Not even a convincing take. I was fishing a bit of river I've not fished before, and the temperature had dropped overnight, giving a hard frost this morning (is that enough excuses??!?).


My plan was to try czech nymphing and go after grayling. I know the Don has a reasonable head of grayling, so thought it was reasonable to give it a go today. I tied a 2 fly rig, with a heavy czech nymph on a 10 inch dropper above a beadhead pheasant tail nymph. Searching out the water systematically produced nothing, except tangles!

The water on the cold cold day

I Switched back onto the Duo rig for a while as I worked upstream, until the varying depths of water meant switching back to a single czech nymph, with a well greased/flotant'ed fly line. Nothing was interested today - I suspect temperature and the bright sunshine had a part to play in this.

Usually I would have persisted for longer, but after an hour or so thigh deep in freezing water, I gave up and headed for a home and a nice hot cup of tea!

Now I'm waiting for the warmer weather and the start of the trout season to get back fishing the dry.....

Holidays!

Well, back from the USA, and what a fantastic place to fish! sadly, didn't have quite enough time, or catch many fish, but really enjoyed it.

I was based in the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee, near Gatlinburg. The 3 day licence for the Smokey Mountains national park cost 30 dollars, and for it I needed to state my hair and eye colour, weight and height!

I dropped in at the Smokey Mountain Angler in Gatlinburg to get my licence and some flies, both of which were forthcoming, along with plenty of advice - really genuine friendly set up here. If you are ever visiting - drop in! www.smokymountainangler.com

The first trip out I went to the greenbriar part of the park, and the middle prong of the little pigeon river. I was after a brook trout. I didn't catch one. I did get a small rainbow, caught on a PTN. The setting and the water was fantastic - I didn't have my waders so my access was limited.

Balancing on rocks - didn't have my waders!

Throwing the 4wt

Hmm - not sure where or what I was casting to here!

Lovely clear water

Beautiful autumnal colours and lovely "pocket water"

I fished for an hour or so and had a number of takes, but only landed one small wild rainbow.

After fishing here for a while, we moved slightly downriver to a slower run and pool, where we could see fish rising and taking from the surface - what they were taking, don't know - there was no hatch to see so it must have been insects in the surface film.

I fished a duo for a while, missed a few takes then switched to a yellow bodied attractor floating fly, which produced a few more takes, but I didn't connect with any of them. Mrs S-O-T-F was having a go a fishing too, and her casting was more based on the western whip-crack technique - not the best for spooky wild mountain trout!

Perfect fly fishing (and imperfect casting!)

Again, beautifully clear water

The following day I managed to sneak an hours fishing in on the way back from a day trip out, and caught 1 small minnow like fish. I would love to spend a week here in fine weather fishing, it really is a beautiful place and there is soo much fishing to be had, for really reasonable prices.

This is roadside fishing at its best - and there are 10s of miles of it!

So, whilst not a productive trip fish-wise, was fantastic fishing in a fantastic place - can't recommend it highly enough!

The rest of the holiday was engaged with a family wedding and a bit of a road trip to Nashville - I won't bore you with all the pictures on here, but boy, do they like their country music!!

Back to the don this week I think.....

Getting Colder...

A definitely autumnal feel today - cool and overcast. The river was very clear, and we decided to fish up from the new middlewood road section for a couple of hours, sharing one rod.

As we tackled up, a large fish was jumping across the river, which despite our casts, was not interested in the Copper john on a duo rig.

Moving up to the faster section, we each had a few casts and handed the rod on. As Matt handed the rod to me, the indicator fly disappeared, and I was immediately into a fish - a small brown trout came to hand and was immediately returned - trout season now being closed. His cast got me my first fish!

We carried on up the fast water, and quickly got a couple of small grayling. REALLY small! At least it shows there are young fish, so the head of grayling is breeding and expanding successfully.

Nothing more from the faster section, so up to the pool.

Matt was soon into a reasonable Don grayling, which took the copper john beneath a white wulff.

Lunchtime was upon us, another fun but chilly trip. We packed up and walked back....