Fishing The Fly Scotland
Index => Main Discussion Area => Topic started by: Sandy Nelson on 26/11/2006 at 22:02
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Its the new Season
I'm on the banks of the river (any freestone one will do)
What do i look for :z6
Where will I start :z6
What shall i do first :z6
Help!
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Its the new Season
I'm on the banks of the river (any freestone one will do)
What do i look for :z6
All the things you meant to look for (but have forgotten) after reading articles by angling lumanaries in copies of T&S, FF&FT, TF or on various forums....... etc etc :wink:
Where will I start :z6
The river might be a good choice, although that curry and the several thirst quenching lagers that you had last night might make a diversion to the hedgerow a more likely place to start :?: :z4
What shall i do first :z6
Tricky choice........
Help!
Hire a guide for the day :lol:
Sorry folks, I simply couldn't resist :grin:
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I'm on the banks of the river (any freestone one will do)
With a "bamboo" rod? :lol:
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Now i understand. :wink:
If you don't know then you had better hope someone adds something that might help.
:lol:
Sandy
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I would sit and watch, or walk the beat to locate the likely spots.
Which could be where?
I'll show you mine if you show me yours
:lol:
The most important piece of equipment on the river is the MK1 Eyeball.
Sandy
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The most important piece of equipment on the river is the MK1 Eyeball.
Sandy
Plus a good pair of polaroids & a long peaked hat!! :wink:
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April/May
I would wander the beat to seek out a good spot.
In spring this would be done before lunch, and i would find the spot and then sit and await the hatch.
If you are after good trout in the spring i would look for a deepish riffle about 100-200yds downstream of a shallow fast stretch, when the hatch comes on, the March browns especially, start to hatch in the streamy water and get carried downstream, by the time they reach the riffle you are at, they are either drowning,struggling to hatch, cripple or have flown away, this is where the best fish sit and pick off the flies at their leisure, This is where i would fish.
After the march browns stop, then the Large dark olives start, sometimes before, sometimes at the same time. On the Don they are as large as the March Browns and the trout will take them in preference if both are there at the same time.They tend to hatch out of the riffle and drift down into the glides
These glides, below a fast water section are generally the spots i would head for. Feature such as large rocks, trees,eddies will hold the fish although search the water for often the biggies come out into open water at the this time of the year.(they seldom do this in daylight for the rest of the year).During the afternoon you can still pick up fish by searching with a dry in these likely spots.
Occasionally during the afternoon you will see tiny inky flies on the water,
they are Iron Blues and the trout eat them like candy. The glides again are the place to be, as the iron blues hatch out of slightly slower water than the MB's, they are usually the same stretches as the LDO's.If you see a hatch of these the make the most of it, because the trout will.
Much of this can be read in any text book, but after a while you get a feel for the right spots.Running a czech style nymph through some of the streamy and riffle sections can provide entertainment while you wait for the hatch.I tend to walk,watch and wait, then fish from the hatch on through the afternoon, till dark.
So what would you look for in June?
Sandy
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I was hoping a few more people mgiht have chipped in with a few morsels here.
The idea was to compile a few suggestions of how to approach the river.
This seems to be one of the most frequently asked questions, especially by the guys who are used to stillwaters and are unsure of running water (but want to try)
I figured by getting a few opinions from the guys here who are used to the river, then it would be better than one person writing a "how to" article and should be of more use to everyone.
So can anyone help me out or are we going to end up with single biased opinion that might not suit everyone. :z8
Theres a vast depth of knowledge and experience floating around this forum, so any contribution ,no matter how small, is valued and hopefully we might all learn something.
Besides imagining you're by the river and looking for a fish is great therapy now we are in the winter. :z16
Sandy
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hi all
what would I look for?
-- I'd pop a fly into a pocket of calmer/swirly water adjacent to the head of a pool where water is entering over some rocks or other disruptions. 2nd outing on the Don this year at Alford, I spied such a pocket while fishing with Matt, had a look, thought, "mmmm Fishy..." and managed to winkle out a 3/4lb brown first cast... sweet!!
- I'd look for wee pockets just downstream/behind overhanging bush, or just behind a big boulder near the far bank. Winkled a few fish out of such spots this season.
in general, any area that has a "feature" -- be it a rock/pipe/tree/swirl -- would catch my eye.
just my 2ps worth
iain,
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I've spent the day Daydreaming about the summer.
twas bloody cold all day :shock:
So i ended up wandering the river of my mind.
June/July
Daytime i would err towards using the czech nymph style, through riffles and rapids, picking pockets and generally searching out the fish that are lying in small holes of well oxygenated water. Many surprises can be gained trying this.
For a more relaxing time i would wander till i found a nice glide with a steady rise, this goes on all day during the summer if you find the right spots, small buzzers and black midge dries will see you catch fish after fish, but they will mostly be small( not all, but most :wink: )Tiny flies 20-26 make things fun.
Looking for fast water surrounded by trees will bring sport with terrestrials and large black spider type flies. Beetles and inchworms drop off the trees in the heat and if a wind is blowing, Dung flies and grasshoppers can bring a fish to the surface. This can be great fun but is very much search fishing.You have to work the flies on the faster water and keep moving, but its all great fun.Eddies and pools behind rocks will trap these bugs, so are well worth exploring if this is what you are trying
As the evening draws in the river will change, Yellow mays first then later on the Blue winged olives will hatch as evening falls, this will bring the better trout to the surface. I would look too the head of the glides for the Yellow mays, preferably below the faster water a bit like the march brown spots, the nymphs share a similar habitat and hatch off in similar places. On some rivers they are ignored but up here the trout love them
A tree lined stretch is often a good place to find the flies in clouds, later in the night the spinners will fall and the trout may or may not take them, i'm undecided.
The BWO's however are a different kettle of fish, the glides and rifles are the places, much as for the LDO's of april, again the nymphs share similar habits. Look for rising fish (obviously) but also cast around any feature, such as rocks, branches, eddies or creases in the current the trout will often hang here to wait for the flies. Working a small hares ear nymph can be very effective too especially in the riffle water. Again picking pockets can be pretty good too.The little boats will float for quite a while on the water so often the better fish will pick them off from a lie as they float past, watch for tiny rise forms.
A steady riser at this time is often taking BWO (Sherry) spinners, once they start to fall the trout will get quite preoccupied with them, anything orange you can get to sit in the surface film should work. Again the riffles and features are the places to look. Often 2-3 good fish will sit together near a prominent feature (like a couple of rocks) if you can get to them be careful you may only get one chance so choose carefully.
Incedently as far as rocks go remember too that often a bigger fish will sit in front of the rock in the pressure wave, picking of subsurface food as it swirls past.
These are often the fish you pick up on the Czech style nymph.
Czech nymphs is generally regarded as a winter pastime for Grayling but it can a really good way to pick up large trout during the day in the summer.
Once it is dark a large muddler or palmered fly skated across the top, right at the tail of a rapid or riffle will bring big torut up to slash at it.
Seatrout and salmon can be a bonus doing this too.A fairly large streamer type lure worked along the edge can bring out some big fish as well. Wooly buggers or zonkers can be great for this.Its brutal but can be great fun especially in a deeper stretch. Large features such as trees and undercut banks lend themselves to investigation by this method.
Does anyone try anything else?
next up August/September
Sandy
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Being fairly new to the river game I usually show up at the river and have a walk along the banks first before finding a comfortable place to set up. Last year was my first season on the Don and it went well and I learned a lot from just watching what was going on around and talking to people.
I usually set myself some sort of goal. Not talking big fish or numbers but things like achieving a decent drag free drift with a dry or learning to upstream nymph fish.
In the spring, it was a case of tackling up with a single dry and prospecting or failing abysmally using a nymph.
Summer, I set up NZ style and had pretty good success with small fish using a #16 Royal Stimulator and #22 copper john. Some days I just sat and watched the river go by. I also had one good day with an olive shrimp.
For me 2006 was a year of prospecting the river and trying to work out where fish were likely to be and just trying out a few new techniques. Next year it is Czech nymphing to be conquered!
I actually feel a bit more at home on the larger faster rivers of Maine in the US. I guess they hide my clumsiness a bit better. There it is a case of late spring waiting for the BWO hatch or the large caddis hatch and then casting to rising fish. Autumn is nymphing time with tungsten bead flies and fishing the flat water below rocks.
Here's to continually learning and I hope I never crack fishing or I will have to give it up.
Mike L.
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Once I get near the river I approch very slowly and find a place to sit down back away from the edge. I watch the water and what is going on. I'll pull out my fly box and see what I have that matches the hatch.
As I tie on the fly I keep scaning to see where the fish are working and decide how I'm going to get into a spot to cast to them. I never get to close and never hang my rod tip over the water. The first cast and fist fish
alway seem set the tone for the day.
I don't want to spook the big one that always seems to be hanging near the bank. I never rush by try to go slow. Where I fish most of the time you have know where the trees, bushes are befor youu cast. My home waters I've been fishing for over 30 years so I know it well, but it dose change a little each time I go there. So I look ffor what is different from last week. I have been known to get on my knees to stay low.
So thats how I make a start......
Watercolorman
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Now thats GOOD advice :z14
For anywhere at any time, and probably the thing most people never do.
Cheers
Sandy
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I love this thread :cool:
It is just grand to sit at home out of the cold, dreaming of what might be the best tactics for the first day on the river :z3
Best wishes
Mike Barrio
:z2
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love this thread as i just got my ADAA ticket last month so plenty good hints and tips for me keep it going lads.
:z16
Paul
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Well its August now (in my mind anyway especially as the year draws to a close)
Similar spots to before, in fact August/Sept is similar to June /july except for the flies.All the advice leading up to this time is pertinent, especially the watch and wait scenario.
However for some strange reason i have always found the trout to be very fond of duckflys during the day, especially on faster riffles and rapids, pocket picking around the rocks.
the good old mallard and claret is another good fly as is butcher/kingfisher butchers/ hardys gold butchers, proper wet flys fished down and across, or across and down depending how you prefer to do it. I like across and down.
I have found that working the faster water during the day produces quite a good few decent fish, especially just in front of large rocks.
Dung flies can be really effective too. I like to wade up through a long riffle working the areas in front and behind features that affect the current (rock,branches etc).
Some of the smaller tributaries can be best at this time of year, so dont miss them out.Wander the little burns/rivers but its often best to wait till early evening.
Now the evening in August can be truly awesome, especially with small orange spinners and small black dries (18-22) a lot of the time i will wade out into the river and wade up the centre, casting the flies right along the edge of the weedbeds, on both sides of the river.
There are generally a lot of weedbeds formed by now, especially in the slower glides. these beds will contain many good fish and you have to present a small dry or nymph right on the edge of the weedbed to get them interested.Its worth the effort though as you can suddenly rise a fish of significant size that hasn't shown itself at all.Great search fishing and great fun.I prefer to use a size 20 black and grizzle klinkhammer for this type of fishing as it covers fish who are smutting too.
Smuts are tiny black terrestrials that fall out of the weeds and the trout can get preoccupied with them. Griffiths gnats are good for this too.
Summer time is the time for smuts and terrestrials during the day, so remember to carry a few patterns with you.Tiny riseforms and seemingly uniterested fish often hint at smuts, or small midge for that matter, either way tiny black dries or nymphs(20-24) are the way forward.
As the evening falls so do the spinners as mentioned before, small dark olives and BWO's will hatch too, so small hares ear nymphs can be effective too, olive spiders and dries will work well, fished in the surface film to rising fish.A partridge and peacock will work for small sedges and as general flies once dusk falls, its all you need to cover a wide array of flies on an evening, very effective.
But watch ,because if the riseforms are very subtle then they are often taking the spinners trapped and dying, the rises are very small despite the size of fish.The glides and the tails ends of riffles are the places to look, again, rocks, pipes, branches and any other features will hold fish. Always remember that the best fish often hold close to the bank.
And that means the opposite bank as well as the one you are standing on, never forget that fish can be right under your feet, provided you dont wander the river like a baby elephant :lol: Bright orange is best in sizes 14-18, dont be afraid, the fish will respond with aggresion to bright orange dries in the surface film.
Streamers have their place now especially as september comes in as the larger trout get very aggressive and will snap at larger fishlike flies, hence why so many good trout are caught by salmon anglers.That said as in june/july the same type of woolly bugger type fly will provide some interesting sport worked along the edges at dusk.You may always catch a sea-trout or salmon as well, so be prepared :grin:
Once september starts you will finds a reasonable hatch and rise taking place mid afternoon onwards, these are iron blues and small dark olives, smallish (14-16) dark flies will be good, both dry/spider or wet.
The glides will be the places to find this ,as the nymphs hatch out of slower water. the weed beds we talked of earlier will hold fish that will dart out to intercept a small snipe and purple or dry grey duster.
I like to work around weed beds at the end of the season it can provide many surprises, but keep moving, if the fish are there they will show themselves fairly sharpish. Back eddies can be good too (as they always are)you will see a lot of salmon jumping around too, if the mood suits then try for one, they can be quite receptive especially to a small stoat tail or the like, the larger trout will nail these too.
It can all be great fun but keep your eyes peeled.
Of course if you feel like being busy then Czech style through the rapids/pockets and riffles can be rewarding, especially with cream coloured bugs during the day.Personally i tend to get obssesed with dries and subsurface spiders, hence the bent towards grey dusters/klinks/snipe and purples and waterhen bloas in various shades.And of course orange spinners.
I suppose its a similar story for much of the year as to where to look, what changes is what the fish are looking for.Where the specific food hatches can cause localised hot-spots, these are found only by experience, but learning to read the river will give you an advantage on where to start.
There is lots of info out there to point you in the right direction as regards reading the river, but nothing can match watching and learning both on your own and from the experience of others. Old guys have always been my most useful resource (at the risk of being non-PC) and you can learn more in 5 min of friendly chat than from reading umpteem so called expert guides.Nothing beats local information.
All i can suggest is talk to the people you walk past, always keep your eyes open, never rush into the water and never be afraid to try something different if it feels right. :z16
Sandy