Fishing The Fly Scotland
Index => Rivers & Lochs => Topic started by: Ben Dixon on 10/02/2014 at 23:14
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New season starts tomorrow......
Anyone else going to be out?
Cheers
Ben
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Happy fishing guys.
Good luck to those chasing silver today :z16
Tight lines
Liam
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Definitely the 11th, 'kin snowing :z6
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Definitely the 11th, 'kin snowing :z6
Yep, snowing in Inverurie :z4
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Not a touch, didn't even see a kelt. Spoke to another guys fishing above Inverurie and same story from him. Nice day to be out though.
Ben
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I went up to Kemnay ADAA water.
I had 2 Kelts on the Willie Gunn, so well pleased with opening day :z12
My fishing buddy had a small fish about 3 1/2lb which looked just like a grilse, perfect colour, small kype, tight clean vent and the scales were coming off on my hands as it went back but it was slim.
It has been recorded as a Kelt but i reckon it was fresh, we got some photos, so when he sends them to me i'll post it and we can discuss.
Nearly everyone was fly fishing that i met today, and most had had a couple of kelts, so plenty fish to pull your line up river :z16 and the river is clear but high, great fly water.
Cheers
Sandy
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Great stuff :z16
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Cool, I heard it was busy up above today hence I stayed down the bottom end :z4 I don't suppose you kept any scales did you Sandy?
Water was really a bit big for where I was didn't hook bottom once despite having a 15' T20 tip on the end of the Skagit.
Cheers
Ben
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I never thought about keeping the scales, you're not the first person to ask :oops
Was busy getting a couple of photos and then putting him back, then i washed my hands and net :roll
never considered keeping any of them, wish i had now :z6
Sandy
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No worries, please try to get scales from anything you catch if possible. Always useful :wink
Cheers
Ben
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Was out my back door yesterday (Kemnay).
Water wise, could not have asked for better conditions. Plenty Kelts around, I had five all on the flee and my friend had 3 as well as a Rawner.
I fully expected to hear of at least one fresh fish coming off the system yesterday, but have heard of nothing as yet. I'm sure though it won't be long till the first of the Spring fish are caught.
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Have a great 2014 season folks!
My first trip out will be in about an hour...no idea what the water will be like but just looking forward to getting tackled up and on the the bank. Its been too long...
Tight lines
Jonathan
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Enjoy :z16
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Managed a few hours on Friday after work so headed to a certain pool that treated me well last year. It was pushing through at some pace so I ended up fishing an S2/S3 shooting head and a 7" per second leader with a 1 3/4" copper tube.
The wind was howling across from the airport which made casting very unpleasant indeed. After two runs through the top of the pool I packed up and headed to Kemnay to try and avoid the wind.
Not a touch on either session, but my DH casting is slowly comming on, although I still hate fishing off the right bank!
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Fished Friday again, waste of time once more. River high and pushing through. 4 chaps just coming off the pool when I arrived, they had seen one kelt briefly and that was it for their morning.
Horrible wind, and lumpy water.
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New switch rod christened :cool:
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/993_10_03_14_10_10_43.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1829)
Ben
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New switch rod christened :cool:
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/993_10_03_14_10_10_43.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1829)
Ben
HUZZAH!!!! :z14 :z14
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congrats Ben ! what happened to its belly ?
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congrats Ben ! what happened to its belly ?
Not sure Marc, had a few grazes on it.
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:z16 :z16 Nice looking rod too ;)
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Well done Ben,
1 more than I have seen so far this season.
Eddie. :z16
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Nice one Ben, but you will have to dye that line to match the colour of the new rod :wink
I was wondering if the tourists will have reached as far as Alford yet. What do you recon?
Irvine
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Good shit Dude :z16
Deep?
Sandy
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:z18
W.
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Nice one Ben, but you will have to dye that line to match the colour of the new rod :wink
I was wondering if the tourists will have reached as far as Alford yet. What do you recon?
Irvine
The line the new Skagit Max Short and is the best Skagit head I have used!! The back end is hi vis orange but the rest is hard to see on the water. Orange also hard to see now Rio have decided to make all the hendling secions on this year running line hi vis orange too, diffifult to judge overhang.
Fish could be that far up, water not at all cold for time of year and there has been enough of it.
Good shit Dude :z16
Deep?
Sandy
Skagit with 10' T14 tip. 4' leader and tube with 1.5" Cu tube dressed to 2". I'd estimate to have been fishing about 4' down.
Cheers
Ben
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A great start to the season Ben.
Sounds like there's a good spring run on at the moment.
Duncan
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Nice fish Ben :z16
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Nice one Ben, so far I've lost 2 and landed one off the Don, unfortunately the one was brown and spotty so not exactly what I was aiming for but swam away happily in readiness for 1st April :wink. If the weather carries on like this I'm looking forward to the start of the proper fishing season next month :z4.
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Andy,
There was the odd trout rising yesterday and I had two on the salmon gear. Both were about 1lb, plump and in excellent condition.
Saw a good number of stoneflies about 2PM and a few different types of midge although no upwings.
Cheers
Ben
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Hey Ben,
If you were on your home stretch I was probably at the top end but earlier in the morning. Out again this afternoon from lunch till about 2ish. Not seen any rises yet but weathers looking good and hopefully will stay warm for a few weeks. Changed from the shire ticket to the ADAA one this year so looking forward to some serious walking and checking out of the river I've not had access to before.
Cheers
Andy
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There was the odd trout rising yesterday ...
Now you're talking!
Nice fish there too
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Now you're talking!
Nice fish there too
Good to hear, nice fish as well Ben :z16
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Anyone out today see any flies about?
Cheers
Ben
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I was out today Ben for the first time, from about 11 - 2. Nowt happening, I only seen one upright on the water. Hey it's a start
Geoff
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Thanks Geoff, I'm expecting them any day now.
Cheers
Ben
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Nope. Nae flees yesterday and nae fish either :z8
Irvine
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Cracking weather/conditions yesterday - overcast/not windy/ fairly mild. Hit a couple of spots on the middle don after work around 3.30 for an hour or so.
That's five (albeit fairly brief) trips to the river and literally not seen a sausage. Well actually, I did get a small trout a bit further up stream last week but that's it. Not even seen a kelt where I've been fishing. Not to worried, but hoping that its not an indicator of how my season will go!
I did see one guy fishing a single hander yesterday which to me looked awfully like he was dry fly fishing. :z8 Perhaps I was mistaken though. Maybe he was fishing small salmon flies. He was a bit further down the river on the opposite bank (association water too) so I didn't bother to investigate further.
J
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I am off in exactly 1 hr and 51 minutes to give the Don a go. 12 footer in the car and lots of nice flies in the box. Just hope the wind is not an issue, blowing a gale at home apparantly :(
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Out on lower river today, saw two LDO's and one sprat move. Suspected it would be a waste of time before I left the house due to the wind, hoping for a better day tomorrow. Some LDO's seen at Parkhill last week so they have started, anyone clocked any MB's yet?
Cheers
Ben
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Friday was a wash out for me on the Don. Stood on the bridge and struggles to stand upright in the wind. Walked down to the rivers edge and the wind was howling so went home and did an oil change on the car instead :(
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MB's & LDO's on the go today although numbers were not great. Arrived at the river at about 11 and there were flies on the water when I got there. Saw nothing move that was worth casting at all day. Windy again, from every direction.
Cheers
Ben
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Has anyone seen much fish moving up the don recently?! Planning a couple hours on the river later today. Hoping I see at least one salmon before the ADAA trout season begins!!
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Anyone heading out on the 1st? Weather is looking promising. :z16
Liam
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Absolutely , has to be done, day off booked, so let's hope your weather predictions are as good as your fly tying 😃😃
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Another day mid river with no signs of fish, be they silver or brown! Coooold wind was keeping everything down except a very sporadic hatch of LDO's.
Will try again tomorrow :(
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Anyone heading out on the 1st? Weather is looking promising.
the weather promises, but then lies... but I'll be out on the river anyway, why not
i,
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To right Iain. Good luck to you! :z18
Liam
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I had a walk down to my local stretch of Don today, it was a lovely day to be out. I arrived at 11am and had a little walk along the beat. The sun made an appearance at 11.30 which saw things get going. A wee trickle of LDOs with the occasional MB to start followed by a few more and a few more... By 12pm things were in full swing, the birds were feeding and best of all the Trout were rising! This lasted right until 3 pm, most of the activity took place within the first hour and a bit. I took note of a few of the bigger fish which will be getting a visit come Tuesday. 4 days to go!! :z16
Liam
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Fished another Friday afternoon on the middle Don. Went to a pool I have trout fished but never Salmon fished, so it was a guessing game. However, as guessing games go, it was easy because as I approached the top of the pool, a bar of silver, about 8-9 lbs arched out of the water, giving me a good idea that my hunch was right.
Out with a s2/3 tip on my DCC line and a Cascade pot belly pig thing tied on a 1" cu tube and off I went. just as I passed the spot the fish had jumped I got a pull, lifted and the rod went over....for about 10 seconds! After a couple of head shakes and a bit of a run the fish was gone.
Carried on until I could wade no more and came out the river, walking back to where I had had the fish on. I sat there watching the water and right on the far bank 2 fish were rising steady. Both about 2 pounds, but not Brownies...Sea Trout! I watched them for a good 40 minutes, silver as silver could be.
Through the pool again and this time a pull a bit closer to the neck, but the fish was on and gone in seconds...time to change hooks!
I moved down to the bottom of the pool and again, a fish arched out. This time smaller, maybe 5lbs, but silver none the less. This was impossible to cover from the water so I tried to cast off the high bank, but with the short shooting head it was hard work being a good 4 feet above the water.
Walking back upstream a few flies were coming off and the odd trout was moving.
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Good luck fellas :z16
Liam
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First of the season :z14
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_01_04_14_4_42_39.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1886)
Had another couple around the same size along with a sea trout (kelt) and lost a cracker of 2-3lbs. Good hatches but a horrible wind, a fairly nice first day out though. :z16
Liam
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Off to a good start Liam, Well done, :z16
I only managed the one, and would have been his smaller cousin to yours, Much smaller cousin,
Still its a start, roll on the week-end,
Col
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Liam, you were on the opposite side to me :wink
It was quite cold out there, i had a few but nothing over 11" and didn't see anything of any real size moving apart from quite a lot of tourists (some looked rather fresh)
I did think i had opted for the wrong bank or the wrong rod :z6 as i saw a couple of good fish come out from the other side.
Going to try again tomorrow, maybe further upstream.
There was a steady trickle of LDO's from 1130 through to about 1330 and then it changed to March Browns, seemed to dry up about 1500 so i went home.
Still think it was little cold and the easterly wind definatley didn't help
Sandy
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Sandy I didn't realise or else I would have shouted over. :X1
Your bank was the bank to be on, that wind was a right twat! The older chap that was fishing above me said he had one of around 2lb.
If you are out tomorrow try round the corner :wink
Yeah a fairly sustained hatch today and lots of interest in the sheltered spots.
It was cold though!
Liam
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Your bank was the bank to be on, that wind was a right twat! The older chap that was fishing above me said he had one of around 2lb.
I saw him get that one. it gave a good account of itself. A guy on my side took an 8lb salmon on the dry, quite a hoot :z7
But i just didn't see anything in RB size at all on that side, they all seemed to be across with you :z7 :z7
I might recognise you next time :wink Did you find they liked em big :z7
Sandy
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It's funny that I was sure they were all on your side :z4
Likewise Sandy and yes I was fishing a size 12 Olive variant :lol. I'll post a fly pic later.
:z18
Liam
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Likewise Sandy and yes I was fishing a size 12 Olive variant :lol. I'll post a fly pic later.
Size 10 DHE's for me as i had more better fish after the olives finished and the March Browns Started :z16
Sandy
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Nice start Liam, shame you lost the bigger one!
I thought a blank was on the cards today - I spent too much time stalking a trophy that came up 3-4 times but he wasn't playing ball. Caught one late afternoon @3lbs, kindly netted by Iain Cameron.
Cheers
Scott C
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/april_1st-2014-3lb.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/april_1st-2014-3lb.jpg.html)
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I bloody knew it! :z4 Well done Scott, the first of many trophies for you I'm sure :z16
Liam
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Nice one Scott :z18
Bonny fish, in great condition
Sandy
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Bonny fish, in great condition
Scott's fish was a belter, absolutely lovely, and well deserved after he had stalked another fish for a good couple of hours.
I had a cracking day out - as well as catching up with Scott and Richard, I had browns of 2lb 4oz, 1lb, and 1lb 12oz. And a sneaky sea trout kelt also 2lb 4oz. The two big browns were lovely. All came to a simple cdc f-fly/emerger thing.
First fish of the Don season - 2lb 4oz. nice.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/3_01_04_14_8_18_41.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1887)
If you love em, let em go:
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/3_01_04_14_8_19_57.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1888)
And a nice bonus, late rising fish, around 4pm. 1lb 12oz, solid fish
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/3_01_04_14_8_20_59.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1889)
we were possibly lucky with wind, wasn't too bad. A sparse hatch, kicked off maybe around 12 ish with some LDOs. I didn't see MBs until much later. Rises were few and far between, but apart from one lunker that Scott stalked, we had a good crack at those rising fish we did see. Great day, cracking way to kick off 2014
i,
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Nice one Iain. Looks like ....... was the place to be today :z16
Liam
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Great start to the season Iain, well done again!
Cheers for the pic, nice one!
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/april1st20142.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/april1st20142.jpg.html)
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Cracking fish guys, good start to the season.
Eddie. :z16
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Well done gentlemen some great trout there! Roll on the wend when us working class types can have a shot.
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:z16 :z16
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Well done gentlemen.
No so good further up the river. A thin hatch of LDOs from about 13:00 to 14:30 but no rising fish anywhere I could find. No takers on the spiders either so my first blank of the year. :z8
Irvine
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:z16
cracking start to the season it looks. great to see some pics too.
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Well done gentlemen some great trout there! Roll on the wend when us working class types can have a shot.
I'm with you on that, stuck offshore for the start of the season but will hopefully get a shot at the trout this weekend.
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I was out again today. Caught some nice brownies.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_02_04_14_4_09_30.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1891)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_02_04_14_4_10_23.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1892)
I also netted a fairly nice Sea Trout, a bit on the thin side but perfect fins and tail.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_02_04_14_4_12_01.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1893)
A good hatch again today although a little later than expected with the most activity between 1- 2.30pm. My best fly today was an old favourite of mine, the CDC n Elk.
:z18
Liam
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Great stuff Liam, nice fish :z16
I had a similar experience this afternoon, hatch was later but better :z3
I finally managed to find a small pod of decent sized fish feeding today :z12, awkward to get to and a bit precarious standing on rock pocket picking at distance, however i managed to get a few good drifts :z3
The nearest fish to me turned out to be a Sea-trout kelt of about 1.75lbs, put up a good scrap and i released it mid river, somewhat difficult to photo, but i tried
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/seatroutkelt.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/seatroutkelt.jpg.html)
The next one out never moved station and continued to feed, so i kept at him and eventually got a drag free drift, up he came and all hell broke loose :shock
After a major scrap through the rapids and around quite a few rocks i netted my best Brownie for a while :z16
4lb8oz on the weigh net and in fantastic condition :z12
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/lunker.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/lunker.jpg.html)
He swam off strong when returned, but not before giving me a wink
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/lunkerhead.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/lunkerhead.jpg.html)
I sat for a while after this one, as the shaking took a while to slow down, awesome fun :z7
I rested the pod for about an hour and had a few smaller fish around the 10-12" mark from further upstream, no babies today :z12 But a much better rise than yesterday.
When i returned the remaining 2 fish were still sipping the odd fly, the forward one i spooked by striking to quick :z6 but looked like another sea-trout kelt.
The last one was the hardest to reach and i eventually got a full length cast and a drag free drift to get him to come up, again all hell broke loose and fish was jumping all over the place, looked to be about 2.5-3lb, when he took off down the rapids i lost my balance and thought i was going after him, but i dropped the rod tip and regained my balance, unfortunatley the hook fell out :cry
Anyway I can't complain, i didn't fall in and i had a great afternoon :z12
Size 12 DHE did the business today
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/lunkerdhe1.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/lunkerdhe1.jpg.html)
Cheers
Sandy
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Sandy you lucky so and so! :z4
Awesome fish and great pictures. You heading out tomorrow?
Liam
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Nice plump trout Liam, well done. Thats a cracker Sandy, in great condition too :z16
My day was similar, Hatch was a good bit later than yesterday. I caught one thin sea trout kelt, one brown at 1lb, lost a lump of a brown shortly after - it was a belter :mad Finished off the day with a fairly lean brown of 2lb 8oz.
cheers
Scott
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/april2nd20142.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/april2nd20142.jpg.html)
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Liam, Sandy, Scott
Superb fishes and reports!
A nice brace for Liam, and a belter for Sandy - that's some lump you tempted!
Scott - shame about the belter you lost - wonder if it was the one you waited for yesterday. At least you tempted him up to take...
Cracking starts to the season, brilliant!
cheers
iain
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Guys,
hats off to all of you those are great troots well done.
Eddie. :z16 :z16
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The best of today :z16
Can anyone put a weight on him? I'm crap at estimates! :oops
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_03_04_14_4_42_15.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1894)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_03_04_14_4_42_59.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1895)
A good hatch again today from 12-3pm. I'm starting to think all the bigger trout are in the upper beats as all the good rises I covered today turned out to be Sea Trout :X1
Liam
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Another really nice trout Liam well done :z16 You should put a tape measure next to the rod, you could even whip some thread on in a few places to mark 15 inches, 20 inches etc. would give you a good idea of length and there's length to weight charts online.
I'd guess that one is about 14 or 15 inches and nice and fat so 1.5lbs :z16
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Cheers Noel :z16
I'll maybe do that with the thread. My net is 24 inches in length with a hoop size of 16 inches so 14 inches seems about right. It was very well conditioned!
:z18
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Wow!!! Think I need to beg someone to get me off of trout ponds & rainbows & how to get onto "wild water" !!!!!
Would still be smiling if I caught that !
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Difficult to say Liam but looks about 1.5lb to 2lb. I weigh a lot of my bigger fish i think are over 2lb, can be surprising how wrong you can be.
That said it's a crackin troot, would be a happy chappy catching that one. :z16
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Another really nice trout Liam well done :z16 You should put a tape measure next to the rod, you could even whip some thread on in a few places to mark 15 inches, 20 inches etc. would give you a good idea of length and there's length to weight charts online.
I'd guess that one is about 14 or 15 inches and nice and fat so 1.5lbs :z16
:z16
I'd agree with that. I reckoned it about 14" from the picture and probs about 1.5lb
It's hard to average but for guessing weights I'd go for
12" = 1lb
14" = 1.5lb
16" = 2lb
19" =3lb
22" = 4lb
24" = 5lb
assuming in good condition.
Or buy a weigh net :z7
Keep it up :z18
Sandy
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Thanks guys
:z18
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Thanks guys
:z18
Nice fat spotty Liam! Good one!
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Same place again today. I was plagued by silver! :X1
I think this was fresh from the sea as it left a few lice in my net.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_04_04_14_4_20_43.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1896)
I had two more kelts at 2-2.5lbs and 15 brownies to 13-14 inches.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_04_04_14_4_27_52.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1898)
One bigger Brownie of 2lbs threw the hook after a good scrap. Hatches were good in between showers and carried on until 3pm. Successful flies today the DHE and CDC n Elk.
Back to work tomorrow.
:z18
Liam
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Had a wee wander oot today (unexpectedly) but welcome.
All the good fish i managed to spot and temp seemed to be sea trout kelts, the water seems to be holding a lot of them, yet i don't remember last year having any decent sea-trout fishing on the Don
This one took the net to 2.5lbs and was in good nick if a bit slim.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/seatroutkelt4th.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/seatroutkelt4th.jpg.html)
This one however was in superb condition and if it hadn't been for the red vent, i'd have easily thought it was a clean fish.
Put up a great scrap as well and i released it mid river again, so sorry for the dodgy photo's, but it shows the condition really well
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/seatrout1.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/seatrout1.jpg.html)
Otherwise it was a tale of too quick a strike on the 2 decent brownies i found and a handful of nice fish up to about a 1lb and i'm sure that there are some good finnock about :wink
Still a nice steady hatch from 12 through till 3.30 (poss 4) with fish feeding on station if you go and look for them :z16
Cheers
Sandy
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Hah :z4 Snap :z4
Looks like we had a similar day Liam :z18
Sandy
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Hah :z4 Snap :z4
Looks like we had a similar day Liam :z18
Sandy
Looks like we did Sandy, pretty cool :z16
Liam
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Great stuff guys :z16
Cheers
Mike
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Well, a very soggy day today. Dreich, even. MattO and I ventured somewhere upstream of Alford. A couple of miles of water to play with - some of it stunningly pretty, with some very inviting runs and pools. A fair bit of scrambling around on uneven banks and soggy hill sides too - but all good fun. No one fell in. Except for Matt, he fall halfway in. Ach, it was raining, he was wet anyways.
Very very very few Olives or MBs though :-(
I think I saw 5 or 6 MBs all day, all around 3pm. Olives, a few here and there, but really nothing to get the trouts up.
We leapfrogged up the pools - Matto spidering and nymphing, and getting a couple to 1lb.
I waited for rising fish. First rise spotted was at 1pm ish, but never came back up. Next rise was in some soft water downstream of a riffle. Nice spot. Waited. Hung about for a bit. Drank some coffee. Ah, he rose again. then again, a little later. Covered him a couple of times before he took and skedaddled off downstream. Came back, screamed off again, sounded, and generally led me an exciting dance for close on 10 mins before I could slide the net under him.
Clocked in at just over 3lb - 3lb 2ish, i'd say. Still lean, but you wouldn't have known it from the tussle:
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/3_04_04_14_8_46_30.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1899)
slipped back to grow fat and lazy:
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/3_04_04_14_8_49_12.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1900)
Fantastic, and the 3rd 3lber in last 3 trips. Had one smaller trout of a 1lb later, but that was it for rising fish. Cracking day out, lovely water, a couple of great trout, happy days.
tight lines everyone for the weekend!
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Nice one Iain :z16
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Iain,
well done on more nice fish.
One question, does everyone who fishes on rivers with you have to fall in?
seems to be a common theme.
Eddie. :X2
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Hi all,
First day out for the season today with the trout rod, thought I'd give a report and join in the discussion here.
Had a great day, there was a minor hatch quite early and picked up a couple of fish before midday, and then the real action between 1-4pm.
Finished with 9 fish but broke off the two best for the day. One of which was BIG and I am still devastated to have lost it right at my feet when it took one last run and jump and I was too slow in lowering the rod tip. In hindsight I'm pretty sure it was a sea trout and possibly a kelt because it didn't fight that hard considering it's size.
Best flies were a size 14 DHE and size 14 Quill Gordon.
Also, I have a question.. The photos below are typical of all the fish I got today and I can't tell if they are sea trout or 'real' Brownies? I know it's not the best to lay the fish out on the ground but I didn't carry my net today (If I had I wouldn't have lost that big fish! :X1 )
They are quite silver and were schooled up quite a bit, all fish coming from one short stretch of river. They were very aggressive and fought hard, lots of aerobatics, all of which I thought might point to sea-trout?. There were a few scars on some which I assume are from spawning?
Anyway interesting to hear what you all think. I'm relatively new to the Don (first year as an ADAA member), so I'm still learning a lot of these things!
Cheers
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11065_05_04_14_5_54_07.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1901)
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Typical Don brownie, Nice fish Dorlo :z16
They like to jump :z7 and almost always have a blueish silvery sheen. You'll get them in all sorts of shades which seems to depend on the beat, sometimes even the pool. From quite dark, like Scotts fish, to almost bars of silver like your one above.
You'll see the difference in a sea-trout, the kelts we have been catching this week are very much in their normal colours, very obviously different from the Brownies, the fins are best indicator, the brownies have yellowish/brown fins and the sea-trout white/grey fins
Cheers
Sandy
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Great info thanks.
I've seen plenty of Brownies in various colours but haven't caught a sea trout before so wasn't really sure, especially since there have been reports of a lot of them around lately.
The sad part is that I am now thinking that the good fish I lost today was a big brownie after all. I got a close look at it and looked exactly like the photo I posted, only MUCH bigger :z10
I'll get him next time...
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Well done Dorlo, sounds like you had a fun day :z16 It was hard going for me today, fly life was sparse with just the odd trout moving. Managed to get 2 of the better ones pictured below best @2lbs.
Cheers
Scott
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/a92085aa-4441-4dd1-80b3-a6481a51bd1d.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/a92085aa-4441-4dd1-80b3-a6481a51bd1d.jpg.html)
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/6c9b42d0-5efa-4311-a070-e3ba85aa4c6b.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/6c9b42d0-5efa-4311-a070-e3ba85aa4c6b.jpg.html)
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Today was very poor. Not much fly life and next to no fish moving. A real shame as the conditions were almost perfect... Except for that bloody wind. Did anyone have any luck?
Cheers
Liam
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Hey Liam,
Nice to put a face to a name today, had to leave early as kids to look after but sounds like I didn't miss out too much.
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Likewise Andy. Nothing at all, see you again :z16
Liam
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I went out again, it was shaping up well but then the wind killed it just as the hatch was starting. The fish were still pretty active but I wasn't skilled enough to get at them in the howling gale.
I managed one on a downstream spider but it threw the hook. That fish didn't much like being hooked, spent more time in the air than in the water!
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Bloody hell yesterday was busy :shock
Fished with a friend and fish were rising between 1 & 3pm. Ldo's coming off from around 12.30. Had a good spell and we got 3 good trout all fell to a MBE (?) before there was a hatch of March Browns....
(http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/rabbitangler/BairdTrout05_4_14_zps80ef8db4.jpg) (http://s590.photobucket.com/user/rabbitangler/media/BairdTrout05_4_14_zps80ef8db4.jpg.html)
(http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/rabbitangler/DonTrout105_4_14_zpse4aa013d.jpg) (http://s590.photobucket.com/user/rabbitangler/media/DonTrout105_4_14_zpse4aa013d.jpg.html)
(http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/rabbitangler/DonTrout205_4_14_zps7fdb034a.jpg) (http://s590.photobucket.com/user/rabbitangler/media/DonTrout205_4_14_zps7fdb034a.jpg.html)
when they appeared not a fish rose to them ???
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cracking fishes there Peter - Does the E mean emerger? maybe they were keener on that than the final product!
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Had a couple of hours on ADAA waters this afternoon. One very localised and quite intense, but intensely brief, hatch of MBs at 2.30pm for about 5 mins. Fish were snapping and rising just before the MBs appeared. Winkled out two of the risers to around a 1lb, which was nice on a horrible windy day.
C&R
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/3_06_04_14_8_35_46.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1905)
Amazing number of swans on the go today:
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/3_06_04_14_8_37_05.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1906)
As another angler said, twas still better than watching the telly. And no one fell in today, hurrah!
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Peter
I was watching a fish munching down march browns yesterday which is something I haven't often seen. I covered him with a dhe, nope a cdc&elk nope, and your mbe, bang! It's a cracker! :z16
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Friday for salmon, nothing, saturday for trout, nothing. In 2 days I saw 4 fish move, all salmon. Think I will takne up cod fishing :(
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I just came off a famous beat on the Dee. 3 days never saw or touched a fish and that was to all 4 rods! Disheartening
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Just back from offshore, was out from 12 - 2. Sporadic march brown hatches throughout the day with not much to be seen. First rise seen and I covered it followed by a gentle take, it felt like a fish of a lb, then it leaped out and was about 4 lb. I was not really in control thinking it was small and after about 2 mins it came off 😡.
Annoyed but well happy to be out again 👍. Well done everyone else so far.
Geoff
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One from Lower River today, still covered in lice. Had a few trout too but nothing worth getting the camera out for.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/993_07_04_14_7_40_11.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1908)
Cheers
Ben
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That's a great Fish Ben!! :z16
Liam
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Awesome :z16
H :cool:
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Nice one Ben :z16
Cheers
Mike
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Awesome :z16
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Sweet :z16
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:z16
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Nice fish 😃
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Thats a belter Ben, well done😊
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Just back from offshore, was out from 12 - 2. Sporadic march brown hatches throughout the day with not much to be seen. First rise seen and I covered it followed by a gentle take, it felt like a fish of a lb, then it leaped out and was about 4 lb. I was not really in control thinking it was small and after about 2 mins it came off 😡.
Annoyed but well happy to be out again 👍. Well done everyone else so far.
Geoff
Hey Geoff, had a brief chat with yourself today as you were heading downstream. Had a wander up to one of the spots you mentioned and had a few casts, had a brief encounter with a good fish but broke me. Need to look at my knots with fluorocarbon or go back to ultragreen. Didn't stay out much longer as the rain got the better of me but did see a few fish feeding on march browns but no more takes.
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Andy,
Unfortunate about the fish. What tippet are you using?
Liam
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Liam, it's climax fluorocarbon. TBH think it was a bit on the light side for wets but was in a bit of a rush and should have set up a proper cast. Saying that not had much luck with light fluro in the past so could easily be my knot choice.
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Officially hello Andy.
If your knots seem good check your tippet as last season I had a few breaks and tippet was rotted I think as it broke in hand really easy.
Geoff
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Noice one Ben :z16
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Ahh, that's what they look like.
What a stunning looking fish, nice size to play on the short rod, that must have put a decent bend in it.
Kev.
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Belter!
Switch rod again Ben?
W.
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Nice one Ben.
I had a good afternoon on the upper river. Nae photos from me as the battery on the phone was flat. The hatch lasted from from about 12:30 to14:00 but the wind made things tricky. You could only cast in the lulls between the gusts. Anyway I got two nice brown trout at around 3lb each, both on the DHE. I missed a third fish and didn't see any more rises. Anyway a nice change after last week's blank.
Irvine
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Excellent Irvine :z16
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Gassed off the river this afternoon :z10
Took Daniel down for a few casts and hopefully to get amongst some of the fish, but for some reason the only stretch we could find without the wind causing us issues had some sort of development work going on, this site apparently used to be a land fill.
All i know is the stink was horrendous, smelled like proper gas and gave us both a headache inside an hour, not very nice at all.
Very little fly life seen and only a couple of risers, nothing of any size, not sure if this was down to the wind direction or the gas.
didn't venture too far so not sure what the rest of the river was like.
Bit of a shame as He doesn't come out that much and had been looking forward to it.
Sandy
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That's a bit of a bummer ... felt like it was shaping up to be a great afternoon for it :z6
Cheers
Mike
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Like Sandy I experienced a poor day. Everything was looking perfect but very little fly life and only a handful of fish rising... Fingers crossed things pick up again :z16
One of the few flies I saw today.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_09_04_14_6_33_29.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1934)
Liam
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and here's his brother liam..perhaps the only two that rose on the don today! :z7
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2116_09_04_14_6_47_23.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1936)
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Nice pic Jonathan :z16
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Hey all, had another day out on the river today and got my first 'proper' Don Brownie. Great feeling after losing a good one last week!
It wasn't a great day overall with hardly any fly or fish showing, but I was lucky enough to spot this fish feeding steadily on some tiny olives, and he took my size 16 pheasant tail CDC job.
I'll post two photos as the first one has a bit of that 'fish held too close to the camera' look about it :z4
The second shot gives a better idea of size probably.
This is my best brown trout ever so I was pretty chuffed!
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11065_11_04_14_9_02_28.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1947)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11065_11_04_14_9_03_02.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1948)
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Cracking trout and good pics . Cheers .
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Excellent stuff Dorlo ....... :z16
Best wishes
Mike
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And forgot to mention, the fish was returned after the photo of course.
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And forgot to mention, the fish was returned after the photo of course.
:z16
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Arrrrrrrrrghhhhhh! I really do give in!
So, as per every friday, I got to the river at 2pm, but this time, only with a ZG 4 weight and one of Mikes olive SLX's and a size 14 DHE.
Went for a walk but the wind was cool and keeping the fish down, I walked to the bottom of the beat and back and only saw one sprat rise.
So, off with the dry and on with a team of spiders. Partridge and Orange, Waterhen Bloa and a made up thing with an olive body and brown partridge hackle, all size 16.
Off I went down the pool and after 10 yards I get a pull and hook a good fish, for all of 10 seconds! Slightly pee'd off, I carried on. Just as the flies swung over a buldge caused by a rock, the line plucked and went tight.
Next thing I know I am connected to a very silver Salmon of about 7-8 pounds. It stayed deep and came close to me before suddenly deciding to run 15 yards down stream before turning and coming back past me at speed. This went on for a couple of minutes before the line parted at the fly. Looking at the line, it was a clean cut so I wonder if it was a well mended kelt and one of its teeth had caught the line. It had taken the Waterhen Bloa.
I am ditching all my salmon flies and now going to "spider" for them!!! My luck has to change soon!
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Cracking fish Dorlo :z16
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Hey all, had another day out on the river today and got my first 'proper' Don Brownie. Great feeling after losing a good one last week!
It wasn't a great day overall with hardly any fly or fish showing, but I was lucky enough to spot this fish feeding steadily on some tiny olives, and he took my size 16 pheasant tail CDC job.
I'll post two photos as the first one has a bit of that 'fish held too close to the camera' look about it :z4
The second shot gives a better idea of size probably.
This is my best brown trout ever so I was pretty chuffed!
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11065_11_04_14_9_02_28.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1947)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11065_11_04_14_9_03_02.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1948)
Awesome :z16 a personal best is an occasion worth celebrating! Super trout very well done did you weigh or measure it?
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Awesome fish :z16
I saw quite a few rises today but got nothing over a pound. That's quite a few cracking fish been caught this season by other people so far. Me next please ;)
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:z16
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Thanks all for the encouragement.
Unfortunately I wasn't quick-thinking enough to measure the fish, and dont carry a scale.
But here is a photo of the fish in my net, and the mesh-part is 15" at it's longest point. Based on how much the fish had to curl up to fit in the net, I think around 18-19" is a reasonable estimate. As fisherman we all know it's hard not to exaggerate these things :wink
Ask me again in a few years and it will be a lot bigger
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11065_12_04_14_8_09_42.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1949)
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Unfortunately I wasn't quick-thinking enough to measure the fish, and dont carry a scale.
Lovely fish Dorlo, and the photos are as important as having an exact measurement. Great spots on that trout, good job!
Rob... unlucky with hooking the tourist on the spiders. Did you not catch some trout when fishing for salmon?
cheers
iain
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(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11065_12_04_14_8_09_42.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1949)
Nice :z16
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Hi all,
I was out fishing the lower Don today, between Persley and Seaton Park and had the misfortune to lose a Hardy reel pouch with my rod bag and ferrules stuffaed inside. I did meet a couple of fellow anglers and saw a few more if anyone did happen across them I would be willing to offer a realistic reward. Many thanks.
Cheers Ross
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Was out on the lower Don yesterday (Sorry Ross didn't see your gear),
Got this one on a pheasant tail, I am guessing it's a sea trout kelt? Any other opinions? Still put up a good fight but very skinny.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11065_13_04_14_8_52_30.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1952)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11065_13_04_14_8_52_47.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1953)
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Dorlo that's a Kelt :z16
Liam
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Yep that's what I thought, cheers.
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Hi Dorlo, that looks like a sea trout kelt to me. I'm just back from retracing my steps from yesterday and I'm happy to say I found them. Many thanks cheers Ross
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Just back from a blustery day at the river. Picked up the usual <12 inch fish and a sea trout kelt. Hatches came off in wee bursts in between gusts and lasted right through till 5pm! I met Iain C and had a wander with him which was cool. We arrived at a pool where I've seen big fish before and there was some small dimples here and there. Iain got into position and covered one a few times. Up it came to the fly and it was BIG 3-3.5lbs. A nice scrap and a few jumps, it was a cracker. We got it almost within netting distance and off it popped... Gutted to say the least.
Here is a pic of the fight.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_13_04_14_5_43_48.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1954)
Unlucky Dude!
I'm off to tie some of Iain's flies :z16
Liam
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...We got it almost within netting distance and off it popped... Gutted to say the least.
Sob. Yes, right to our feet, more or less, before shaking its head in that gut-wrenching way. Tippet gave way, clean looking break, probably at the knot. Some sweary words were aired; some of them aired at the alternative choice of tippet. Oh well, chalk it up to bad luck. :z19
I'd give it a good 3lb, and it fairly cleared the water a few times. Exciting stuff. Bit of a sickener at the end, especially when we could see it sitting on the bottom a few feet away before it skedaddled.
The wind has been pretty awful the last couple of days. I've lost two other good fish from tails; both had been feeding regularly and were 2lb+ class. Up, hooked, jumped, slack. Sweary upwards and curses.
Good to see Liam today though, and he neatly picked up a few rising trouts, so at least I saw how it should be done!
cheers
iain
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Couple of trout yesterday, poor hatch and little showing.
Virtually no flies about today at all where I was and hardly anything moving but I nailed three on an olive Klink, biggest would have been about 1lb. That's the 3wt TXL christened :cool:
Switched over to salmon fishing as the trout fishing simply was not going to happen
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/993_14_04_14_8_22_13.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1956)
That'll be the third one on the Sunray and the third on the Method switch this year.
Cheers
Ben
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Well done Ben, nice one :z16
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Bonny fish Ben, excellent stuff :z14
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Another nice fresh fish Ben, at this rate you will wear than nice rod out in no time.
Nice deep bellied fish too, I bet that put up a scrap.
Kev.
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Solid looking fish Ben!
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Bonny fish Ben, I had forgotten what they looked like, well done.
Eddie. :z16
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excellent fish, Ben. thanks for sharing. :z16
Mark
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Nice fish Ben. :z16
Pity about the big troot Liam.
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Anyone see a hatch today? I was out from lunchtime until about 6PM and saw next to nothing for the third day in a row. 4 trout between 1/2 & 1 1/4ish lb is the total for the day, these were caught fishing blind with a large Klink. Saw next to no trout move all day.
Cheers
Ben
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Weather is changing too much .... we need it to settle again :wink
Cheers
Mike
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Not much of a hatch. One upwing, one stonefly and a few flying beetles. I was on the upper Ury and only saw one rising fish all afternoon. Not sure what he as taking but he liked my dirty duster. I was expecting a nice little 8-10" brownie but it turned out to be an 18" brownie and we had a long battle on the 3 weight till I got it in the net. Tried searching with a Kilnk but no further joy.
Irvine
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/5_15_04_14_8_42_24.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1959)
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Cracker :shock :z14
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Nice one Irvine :z16
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Was on there on Sunday and saw nothing , glad you had better luck
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Nice fish! I fished the Ury a lot last year and NEVER saw anything like that!
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:z16 superb stuff irvine
That's a real prize against the odds :z18
Sandy
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Cracker that Irvine, superb :cool:
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Cracker :z16
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Thought i was on for the 3rd blank in a row :cry
But managed to find a small stretch with a few rising fish this afternoon, nothing special but managed a few up to about a 12".
The hatch trickled off for about an hour and half from 1330.
DHE soundly ignored but the Waterhen Bloa was taken first time every time.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5384.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5384.jpg.html)
Been a real challenge the last few days, i've noticed the fish don't seem to be holding station, they will rise but then move, make targeting them quite hard. It wasn't until today i found some regular feeders. The wind has been different each day and i reckon this has not helped, at least today there was a proper hatch :z16
I was making the best of my new wading staff and have found a few places where i can get across the river, during one of my experiments i found myself standing 20ft behind a trout that was 3lb+ i could see it really clearly when the sun shone and it had dry's, spiders and nymphs drifted past its nose and it never even flickered a fin, most annoying. However I watched it for about 10mins and it seemingly did nothing, then it moved a few feet and did exactly the same. All this while Olives drifted over its head. It did this twice more before moving off to where i couldn't see it anymore. I never saw it rise at all during the whole hatch.
Anyway back to work for a few days now, so hopefully the weather can settle down and stop changing, a bit of rain might help as well :z7
Sandy
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I've experienced the same for the past few outings Sandy. Respectable hatches but very little interest and the fish are tricky to fool. Hopefully things get back to normal soon. Bloody wind is back though!
Liam
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Well the river was kind to me on the last day of my holiday. No big fish to report but there was a good hatch of what looked like olives around 12 today. Lasted about an hour and I had some great sport on the dhe and then CDC n elk. The fish didn't seem too fussy, I landed 7 often very acrobatic trout up to 1.5lb and lost a good few more. Got fairly tricky when the wind picked up but still had some great fun.Took a quick pic of one just for memory sake, 1.25lb using the net scales. A plump wee fella.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2116_18_04_14_4_28_16.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1961)
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Another on the Sunray
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/993_18_04_14_11_12_50.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1962)
Going to hit a decent trout river on Sunday and hopefully get something with red spots :cool:
Ben
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Nice one Ben ..... keep this up and Rich is gonna hop on a plane :cool:
Cheers
Mike
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:z16
Do proper brownies have red spots??..... Think we have been there before :lol
Sandy
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Hey guys,
I've just been sent this picture by a Romanian friend. From the middle Don, I can just make out a wee PTN in its jaws. :z16
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_20_04_14_10_29_30.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1965)
A fantastic fish as you can see!
Liam
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Nice trout :z16
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A handful of photos from the past couple of days. Some very good hatches and I have found some nice fish steadily feeding. :z16
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_23_04_14_6_43_02.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1968)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_23_04_14_6_43_49.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1969)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_23_04_14_6_44_37.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1970)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_23_04_14_6_45_43.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1971)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_23_04_14_6_47_09.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1972)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_23_04_14_6_48_49.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1973)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2193_23_04_14_6_49_45.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1974)
Liam
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Nice one Liam, your having a cracking season
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About time you got a job Liam :z4
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I am working Mike honest :z16
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Today was to be an Epic day out for Me and Mr B
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/epicdayout3.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/epicdayout3.jpg.html)
Lovely conditions and good company. Took us a wee while to find some feeders, but we did find a small pod of fish.
Similar to the way things have been the last few weeks.
You need a stretch where the wind and current are correct and then you find the flies and fish.
Anyway we had a few nice fish all around the pound mark, a couple above and one below, all on olive spiders.
Anyway after having spent some time trying to nail what appeared to be the good fish in the stretch, it went quiet so i stopped to wait, downstream a small rise happened twice, so a quick downstream puddle cast with the spider floating, drifted nicely over the wee one and up he came.
Woohoo :shock a bit bigger than we thought and fabulous fun on the glass rod.
Another truly Epic Don fish for an epic day out
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/epicdayout4.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/epicdayout4.jpg.html)
Beautiful colours and in amazing condition, big and fat :z12 with a throat full of olive nymphs and duns, he swam away nice and strong too
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/epicdayout2.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/epicdayout2.jpg.html)
Great day with great company :z18
Sandy
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Holy shit Sandy he is big. Nice one :z16
Liam
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Certainly was a great few hours on the water Sandy :z16
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_24_04_14_7_26_35.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1977)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_24_04_14_7_27_14.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1978)
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That's a sturdy looking trout Sandy, well done :z16
Scott
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Sandy,
that is a belter.
Eddie. :z16
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There were a few nice fish about once we found them, you just had to walk and explore the day's conditions :cool:
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_24_04_14_9_13_57.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1979)
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Cheers :z18
I'm still buzzing, Its taken me 28 years to catch a Don 4lbr on the fly and now i've had 2 in the last 3 weeks :z3
All the hints and tips are paying off, now i've found the discipline and patience to use them :z7
Sandy
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Superb Sandy! Cracking trout, and loving the underwater pictures
cheers
iain
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fantastic fish and pics! :z16
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Cheers :z18
I'm still buzzing, Its taken me 28 years to catch a Don 4lbr on the fly and now i've had 2 in the last 3 weeks :z3
All the hints and tips are paying off, now i've found the discipline and patience to use them :z7
Sandy
Awesome dude :z16
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:cry blanked today! :cry
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Ha Welcome to my Club, bring the cookies and put the Kettle on, :z16
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Sooperb stuff Sandy :z16
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Great fish Sandy! Really looking forward to next week on the upper river now. Very interested in the glass rods, who makes those? I'll be fishing a mixture of cane (the new - that's new to me- 8' spliced Sharpes), my old (very) trusty Sage carbon and a small Hardy glass.
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Hi Colin
They are Epic Blanks from New Zealand, i love them :z12 To see what we have been doing with them look at this one.
http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6027.0
We don't have any in stock at the moment, but i may be building them in small numbers in the future, so will probably have some at some point :z16
You should have a good week on the river, if you actively take the time to seek out the fish, they are proving elusive, but where you find one, there seem to be a few :z18
Tight lines
Sandy
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They sound very interesting - please let me know when there is a new batch
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Nice trip out this afternoon :z16
Not often i go out on a sunday, but it looked perfect and i have some brownie points i can use :z12
bumped into quite a few mates, great to see people :z18
The river was bubbling with fish on arrival around lunchtime, lots of grannoms and Olive uprights hatching, trout seemed to like the olives :z3
Had a few nice fish, nothing massive but good fun
Some of them even had big red spots :X2
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5433.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5433.jpg.html)
Seemed to die off about 2pm so did quite a bit of sitting and talking, then there was a quick flurry of something smallish and Dark, looked like LDO's and the trout switched back on for about 30mins, dead again by 4.30. Had to go home then so not sure if there was more to come, but it had that feeling that it might continue with some short bursts.
Lovely afternoon to be on the river :z12
Sandy
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Great stuff Sandy, nice pic too :z16
Fairly heavy rain in Inverurie this afternoon.
Cheers
Mike
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... not sure if there was more to come, but it had that feeling that it might continue with some short bursts.
hi Sandy - good to see you this afternoon. You timed your departure well enough. Nothing much stirred after you left; I didn't have another cast. Called it a close at 5pm. Yup, a good hatch up 12-2ish, looking forward to tomorrow now!
cheers
iain
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmqsuMjzpjQ
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Mike,
great video, Sandy, stonking troot. Well done.
Eddie. :z16
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Had a wee foray out this afternoon
Water was slightly coloured and i had to endure Hail stones and some cracking downpours, but when the rain stopped the fish would start.
Had quite a few nice fish all around this kind of size, this one had fantastic big spots
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5436.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5436.jpg.html)
Didn't see any monsters, but lots of salmon parr to try and dodge and some nice steady feeders when the rain stopped.
Cracking hatch of Yellow Mays this afternoon but the fish only seemed interested in the Olive uprights. Clouds of black midge and grannoms all over the water and a hatch of LDO's as well, So flies everywhere, and fish feeding in between rain showers.
Worth speculating as well, my CDC spider was well received in quite a bit of the pocket water i explored, so worth a punt if it looks fishy :z16
Sandy
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I had about 4 hours on the river the day, the top stretch above the Ardtannes mill. Had a few takes and landed two trout. Weather was fine, big hatch of flies.
-
Had a couple of hours on my favorite stretch of the upper river today. Weather wasn't the best rain and a upstream wind was making the fishing hard but kept at it. Seen a couple of rises from a pool that i know holds some good fish, so on went the dry 3 cast in and all hell broke loose 20 mins later landed my best ever brownie.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/1507_10_05_14_5_53_28.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=1993)
Absolutely chuffed to bits. Just wished i had my scales with me to get the weight of the fish. :z4
Simon
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Now that is a belting trout - well done :z16
H :cool:
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Stonker...well done Simon :z16
Looks like 3.3 times the length of the cork on your rod, So approx 24"? full bodied, if so i'd would reckon its about 5lb+. It certainly looks it from the photo, awesome stuff.
Sandy
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Absolute belter, fish of a lifetime.
Well done.
Eddie. :z16
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Cracking Brownie :z16
Cheers
Mike
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Wow that's a beauty! :z16
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:z16
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Headed down to the river for a cheeky couple of hours this afternoon. Nothing much happened until 12:50 when there was a burst of sunshine followed by a decent hatch of caddis, managed to tempt some nice browns on an emerging sedge pattern, good fun for a 15-20 minute spell then all went quiet again.
Scott C
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/11514_1b.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/11514_1b.jpg.html)
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/11514_1.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/11514_1.jpg.html)
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/11514_2.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/11514_2.jpg.html)
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Nice Scott! :z16
Who takes your fish in hand photos lol?
Liam
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Who takes your fish in hand photos lol?
He's got long arms, Liam :X2 it helps to reach these beasts as well :z4
Cracking fish Scott :z16
Sandy
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A bonnie fish indeed. Well done
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Nice one Scott :z16
Cheers
Mike
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Cracking troot, well done.
Eddie :z16
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Cracking fishes Scott. After leaving you, I was tempted to stay on til 5 ish. A good flurry of late afternoon sedges brought a few trout up; best wasn't huge at 1lb 4, but was satisfying because of tricky tail of pool position.
Got some video of an otter too, was able to get really close, wi thin 20 feet
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Just spent 3 days on the upper Don - wanted to say a public thank you to Sandy Nelson for supplying me with some excellent flies (that both catch fish and get lost in equal proportions!) and to Mike B for his superb Smalllstream line...
More details of the trip and a couple of photos can be found here:
http://feathersfliesandphantoms.co.uk/ (http://feathersfliesandphantoms.co.uk/)
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Looks like you enjoyed a good trip, I'm really pleased that you liked your line :z16
Best wishes
Mike
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(that both catch fish and get lost in equal proportions!)
You too, thought it was me.... must be the flies :z4 :z4
Anyway today i had a cracking afternoon on the middle river, plenty fish out to play in between the rain storms, sometimes even this.......WTF.... :shock
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5462.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5462.jpg.html)
Anyway found a nice pod of fish occupying a pool who were steadily feeding on either hatching caddis or olives, not sure which but they didn't mind the DHE in a 14 (most things liked it today :z3) They were all good fish, interesting to find them grouped together, might have to rename it though a pod seems a bit tame, i think a gang suited them better.
I managed to eek out the smallest two from the edges and was then thwarted by the showers which put them down.
Still cracking fish though, but his bigger brothers would have been nice.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5450.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5450.jpg.html)
Lots of food for them and there was a steady rise from 1130 right through till 6 when i forced myself to leave before i got soaked again.
So it seems we are still on daytime hatches with lots of feeding fish, presentation was the trick today with the wind being a nuisance, but i found even if i dropped the fly right on the fishes head they would still rise for it. The water is slightly coloured and this might be helping not to spook them :z16
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5458.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5458.jpg.html)
More red spots, average size at the moment is impressive, What a river.... :z16
Sandy
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Cracking photos Sandy :z16
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I know I am only getting out for an hour or so, but I am seeing "nuffin"!!! I could cry!
Friday morning I will be out early (have to take Cass to the airport for 5am so hoping for a warm day to get the trout moving early. Then hope to be on the Dee in the afternoon, hoping for a cooler day for the Salmon..lol
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Hey all,
Had my first trip back to the Don last weekend, almost a year since my first trip during the 2013 'loops gathering. Saying the river was very kind would be an understatement. Even though the forecast was not great all week, and there had been rain, the weather gods and fish gods were generous enough to allow some excellent fishing. WE had amazing OU hatches almost all afternoon on Saturday and the same again Sunday but with a few Grannom thrown in for good measure. Lots of fish were landed, best was around 2lb or so. Good times! Campbell
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/haggisboy/IMG_0099_zpsfae7d38f.jpg) (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/haggisboy/media/IMG_0099_zpsfae7d38f.jpg.html)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/haggisboy/IMG_0093_zpsaaa70066.jpg) (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/haggisboy/media/IMG_0093_zpsaaa70066.jpg.html)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/haggisboy/IMG_0080_zps03db2af1.jpg) (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/haggisboy/media/IMG_0080_zps03db2af1.jpg.html)
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Excellent .... and cracking photos too Campbell :z16
Cheers
Mike
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noices !!! :z16 good to see you here C :z12
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Cracking pic :z16
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/haggisboy/IMG_0099_zpsfae7d38f.jpg)
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:z16
Great photos.
Sandy
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Hi All,
Been ages since I fished Don, for one reason or another. Any reports on Monymusk and upstream on hatches etc?
Richard
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Hi richard
Not been that far upriver yet this year, but from what I hear its a similar story to the middle bits.
Lots of olive uprights and grannoms hatching during the day and the fish are feeding on them .
Plenty black gnats and brook duns too. Some folk have had fish with black gnat imitations so plenty to choose from.
Still some smaller olives coming off too and the lower river is seeing an afternoon hatch of yellow mays.
Have yet to venture out after teatime :roll so not sure about evening time but some if the risers I've seen have still been going at 6 unless I've managed to spook them one way or another :z7
Most fish seem to be nymphing on emergers.
You should have a good trip :z16
Sandy
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Today was perfect and a lovely day to be on the river.
Much the same as my last report, except i found a few that were feeding on Hawthorns falling out of a tree as well as the nympher's who liked the DHE.
Got snapped today on 6lb tippet, first time this year :shock may have been a nice a fish :wink
Otherwise more good average fish, the water is clearer today and it seemed to make them a bit more fussy
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5479.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5479.jpg.html)
Looking forward to the evenings beginning, but the daytime hatches are ace :z12
Sandy
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Had a look down at the river late afternoon. Plenty of fly life and a few trout moving but they were playing hard to get... eventually got hold of a decent trout which fell to an emerging caddis.
Scott C
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/15514.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/15514.jpg.html)
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/15-5-14b.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/15-5-14b.jpg.html)
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Nice troot, well done.
Eddie. :z16
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Great stuff .... and cracking photos :z16
Cheers
Mike
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Nice fish Scott :z16
Your going to need to tell me where the big are... :wink
Liam
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you guys are killing me here!
I've just sat down in the office to work and seeing all these quality photos and good fish is extremely distracting!!!
loving the photos just now, nice angles and heads etc.
keep it up!
:z16
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:z16
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Cracking day to be on the water :cool:
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Thanks for the welcome Marc, glad the pics were well received. Seriously memorable trip, I have plans to come back later in the season. Just need to get on the Clyde and see how she's doing now.
Cheers,
Campbell
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Managed out at 5.30am on friday morning after an airport run. The river looked stunning with a plume of mist rising off the surface.
Once the sun had warmed the air the river was alive with tiny, 2-3mm long (body) black things, with the odd Grannom hatching, but very few fish moving.
Of the fish I did see, most were tiny, so i put on a couple of heavy nymphs and went searching. 3 lost fish later I was back on the bank swearing! i have lost so many fish this season!
Anyway, with the time now about 6.30 I headed down stream to an area that was a little more sheltered from the wind that had picked up. Here I found two fish feeding sporadically.
On with a size 14 DHE and at last i was rewarded woth 2 fish. Nothing big, but welcome none the less. After that, the wind got stronger so i moved onto Czech Nymphing but with no luck, so headed home for a sleep.
(https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1.0-9/10290610_10152016791670806_5174300079681514385_n.jpg)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/10334459_10152016791505806_5002568179679880263_n.jpg)
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Oh, ps, when I walked back to the car is was covered in Hawthorn flies. Worth tying up a few i think.
pps. The #4 olive SLX was a dream to use again, allowing me to cover the two fish in a way I could not have with a DT.
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The #4 olive SLX was a dream to use again, allowing me to cover the two fish in a way I could not have with a DT.
Great stuff :z16
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:z16
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I walked back along the river at around 6.30am today (don't ask) and was surprised to see fish rising, some good fish at that. Some sort of small spinners were in the air along with clouds of tiny black stuff. I may head out early tomorrow for a go at them. It must be getting close to evening fishing time?? :z16
Liam
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Stole a couple of sneaky hours down the river on my way home from work.
Beautiful night :z12, not much happening BUT.............
Woohoo, got my 3rd, 4lbr of the season :z16 However..............
It was a grilse, 4.5lbs and a bar of silver, i had thought it was a big brownie as it was in my favourite spot and was picking off flies quite steadily, took a few attempts but eventually he came up for a size 14 DHE. Quite a surprise when he went airborn and was sparkling in the sunlight :z12 Great fight on the Epic, unfortunatley i have no photo's :cry Thats a whole other story :X1
So does it still count as a springer :z8 either way its my first fresh fish of the season, very welcome on an afternoon where very little was happening, maybe we are in transition to evenings, will have to go out tomorrow to prove the theory :z4
Sandy
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Well done Sandy!
Salmon on a dry is the way forward :)
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Was out on middle Don today from midday till 1600hrs. A good hatch of small olives underway when I got there and managed several 1/2 to 3/4 lbs-ers but nothing significant. Water was clear and weather very pleasant but nothing, other than a couple of oncers, decent moving. Lots of daddy long legs about too and a hatch of hawthorns at 1500hrs. Left too try and "beat" the traffic back into ABZ at 1600 (Failed miserably!) as all fish went down.
Being a fan of the chalk streams I can say there were no Mayflies this afternoon...! :z7
Ewan
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Yea there was wee Blue Wing Olives... :z4
No Danica were spotted you mean :wink :z4 :z4
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'Twas a Danica-free zone... :z4
Ewan
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After a week of penance :cry I Stole a sneaky few hours after work today.
twas quite chilly, but there was a healthy hatch of what i believe are Small dark olives.
I caught a few, this is a male and a female, not a great photo, but the light wasn't good and my wee camera likes light for close ups.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5509.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5509.jpg.html)
Its quite confusing because the males eyes are the colour of a pale watery, as are the wing colour on both, the hind wings look more like pale wateries too, in terms of shape
A closer look at the female shows the hindwing, but it has the eye colour of the small dark olive as well as the body colour.
The tails are indicitive of the small dark as well.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5516.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5516.jpg.html)
What i can tell you, is the Sand martins were feeding on them and i found a nice group of trout feeding on them too, some nice ones in amongst them as well. I spent 2 hours trying to fool one that looked rather special, but i got fed up chasing it as it came up to look at a 14 DHE but then declined to play.
I eventually ended up on a pale coloured size 16 SHE and picked up a couple of the risers, one of them pushed 16" so about
1.75lb, bonny fish, i even managed to unhook it without dropping the net this time :roll
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5508.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5508.jpg.html)
Hard work, but nicely rewarded even though i did get side tracked chasing the bigger one. I didn't see any fish rising anywhere else apart from one short stretch and as i say there were loads of Small dark olives hatching and they were very pale as they emerged.
Sandy
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Lovely evening to be on the river tonight and with Colin and Sandy for good company too :z16
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_01_06_14_12_49_43.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2038)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_01_06_14_12_50_17.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2039)
and I caught some of these :z4
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_01_06_14_12_51_32.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2040)
Cheers
Mike
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It was a lovely evening to spend on the water with good company.
Good idea Colin :z18
Still looks a little early for evenings yet, we hung around in perfect condition right into dark and didn't really see any of the bigger boys moving.
Lots of smaller stuff rising all evening, but nothing more than 1/2-3/4lbs.
Plenty Sedges of all sizes, some small dark olives a sparse hatch of yellow mays and much later some bigger olives, but i couldn't see what they were (other than being about a size12).
No obvious BWO hatch yet, so probably why there wasn't much activity from the bigger ones.
the water was very warm as well, almost like a tepid bath, would have been very nice for wet wading :z16
I see the forecast is for a few days of showers, a bit of fresh water might make a big difference :z3
Sandy
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Great stuff guys. :z16
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Had some success on the Don last week with several good trout, the bigger fish fell to a cdc sedge pattern. Things were a bit dour last night, with only a few yellow mays and sedge to be be seen, managed a few up to 1lb8oz....roll on Balmy Summer Nights!
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/troutmay3lb4oz.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/troutmay3lb4oz.jpg.html)
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/troutmay3lb8oz.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/troutmay3lb8oz.jpg.html)
cheers
Scott C
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Holy shit Scott that's a shiny reel!! :z4
Nice fish mate :z16
Liam
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Aye, I read somewhere that reel flash entices the bigger ones!!!! :wink
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Aye, I read somewhere that reel flash entices the bigger ones!!!! :wink
Its been orange rods for me :z7
Nice fish scott :z16 Daytime or evening?
Sandy
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Daytime or evening?
Sandy
You'd not make a great detective then :z4
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:z7
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Nice LDO hatch this afternoon :wink
Slurp Slurp.......................................
:z18
Sandy
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Didn't manage to get down to the river today. What has that rain done, was the river high and brown, or did those showers just run off quickly?
Cheers
Mike
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Didn't manage to get down to the river today. What has that rain done, was the river high and brown, or did those showers just run off quickly?
The river was a very dark export colour this evening, managed a cheeky 4lber on the dry so a pretty good night considering...
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/9614_4lba.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/9614_4lba.jpg.html)
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/9614_4lbb.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/9614_4lbb.jpg.html)
Cheers
Scott C
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Great stuff :cool:
Cheers
Mike
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another great fish :cool: :z16
I had a wee go on the lower river last night. A lovely evening but the water was pretty coloured where I was so just fished a few streamers for half hour then went home to chill on the couch (and i wonder why i dont catch enough fish! :X1)
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Yeh, when I arrived at the river I was in 2 minds, the water was borderline fishable, I’m glad I persevered now... well chuffed!
Cheers
Scott C
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I’m glad I persevered now... well chuffed!
so you should be :z18
Cracking fish
Sandy
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Fantastic BWO hatch last night.
Quite a few of these boys feeding hard
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5526.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5526.jpg.html)
Well worth a look out especially at the death, pick yourself a good spot and wait for them to start moving :z16
Sandy
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Just been and sorted out my waistcoat for tonight.
And found this attached to the flypatch.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5542.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5542.jpg.html)
Needless to say i went home a tad disappointed last night, been sulking around all morning wondering what if :X1.
Now i'm ready for round 31 :z4 :z4 might use a fresh fly though :wink
Sandy
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:z13 ! what hook is that ?
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Marc
It's a size 14 B100 and they are pretty strong.
Never had one bend on me like that but then it was stuck in a submarine with an attitude problem
Last night for about 5 or 6 minutes. Guess the fish won :cry
Sandy
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damn, those are strong ! must have been a UBoat or something... :z4 :z4 :z4
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I feel your pain sandy ::)
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Anyone else out last night?
River was dead except for a brief hatch of bwo's about 1030, very different to friday :z8
Would be interested to know if anyone else experienced this, or whether it was just the beat?
I was on the upper, lower river, same beat as friday, was hoping to chase some of the fish i saw friday, but they never appeared.
I know the river throws days like these. I did wonder if the water was colouring up while i was there, but i couldn't really tell in the low light.
Sandy
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Hi sandy yes I was out from 10 til midnight just down river from you and it was as you describe one 3/4 lbr to avoid the blank and that was about it.
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I didn’t miss much last night then...strange ??? There’s certainly a cooler breeze today, dont know if I’ll bother tonight :z8
Had some action on Friday night, this trout was caught on a sedge pattern at 11pm (thanks for the pic Lewis :z16)
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/13-6-14_4lbb.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/13-6-14_4lbb.jpg.html)
ps Shame about that biggie you lost Sandy, I use B100s a lot and never had a fish mangle one like that before :shock
Cheers
Scott C
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Nice fish Scott, huge spots!
ps Shame about that biggie you lost Sandy, I use B100s a lot and never had a fish mangle one like that before :shock
First time I've had one do that too, I've just about convinced myself it was a tourist, so I'm much happier about it now :z16
Although I should still have got out of the water,or not bent the rod so hard, or tried to bring it back across the river so soon, or set the reel friction a little tighter, or jumped in after it, or gone fishing on Friday the 13th at all :X1
:z4 :z4
Roll on friday :z3
Sandy
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Popped down for a chill out after work this afternoon.
After much sleepy ponderings on the river bank in the humidity, i decided to have a chuck at some of the fish that were sporadically feeding on Small dark olives.
So don't give up on afternoons yet :z16
These guys came off between 1530 and 1800 this afternoon on the DHE
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5556.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5556.jpg.html)
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5562.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5562.jpg.html)
A few smaller ones rising too, but the bigger guys were feeding pretty steady, if sporadic, just a matter of watching and waiting, which is sooooooo much nicer when its not raining :z7
Sandy
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Going through the rest of the photo's on the camera from the last few days.
here is a newly hatched BWO from Friday night, if you look carefully you can see it actually has an orangey coloured thorax, might be a good trigger for a fly? Fly is about size 14 and on the water it looks really dark in the gloom of evening.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5543.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5543.jpg.html)
:z18
Sandy
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Great stuff Sandy :z16
Cheers
Mike
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nice out-of-focus bug, Sandy ! :z4
LOVE the tapered wrapping on the tip ring. nice touch :z16 :z16 :z16
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nice out-of-focus bug, Sandy ! :z4
I thought it might help with tying a more suggestive fly :X2
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Hi guys, i am new to the forum and the fly fishing game, having read all preceding pages im wondering if any of you could advise an inexperienced loon please - would i be correct in saying when oot fishing keep an eye oot for "hatching" - and cast in that spot ? :shock
all my experience before has been with spinning for pike & perch or float for carp, so this is all new to me
perhaps someone could also chip in regarding goodliness ( or not )of councils Don beats at inverurie and alford ?
many thanks Julius
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Hi julius and welcome.
Hatching flies is good and where you need to be focusing but what you really need is to see trout feeding on them. Then tie on a suitable dry fly or emerger imitation and try to put it in a position where the flow will carry it to the feeding fish. Sometimes that can work out to be quiet easy and more times, for me at least it can be a bit more difficult....
Inverurie is highly rated, as is kintore I don't know much about Alford.
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thanks very much An, ill give it a shot this weekend , going to go past Ythan at ellon just now for a lookie, been told banks have just been cut there
Guys might be a silly question but ive noticed the two fly reels i have tend to make an awfa racket reeling, at the back of my mind i was thinking would it not be scaring the fish away ?
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of course they do, specially at close range but... rackety reels attract anglers... :X1
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The river sure was moody tonight, but as always, it was nice to get out for a few hours :cool:
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_21_06_14_12_52_14.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2063)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_21_06_14_12_52_41.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2064)
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nice, Mike ! :z16
second one's really special :z3
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It was a pleasant evening.
Quiet though, more fish feeding when we arrived at 7.30 than when we left at 11.30
A very short burst of activity around 10.15 saw a few fish caught but nothing of any real note.
They were quite spooky early on, but the water is very clear and quite low.
Still a good trip out nonetheless :z18
Sandy
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The river sure was moody tonight, but as always, it was nice to get out for a few hours
Thats a nice stretch of water Mike, pity it didnt produce yesterday. :z8
I headed down to the river @9pm. After walking the banks for an hour I came across a nice looking pool which I thought might hold a decent trout. Nothing was moving but I chose to wade out to knee height and wait. At around 10:30 a few BWO's came off followed by a few sedge, not many, but enough to interest a bigger fish which surfaced no further than a rods length away from me. I flicked my sedge pattern out and the trout took it on the first pass, fish on!.... after a good strong battle I managed to steer the fish into a shallow glide where it was easier to land...bang on 6lb in the weigh net. My biggest trout in two years........Well Chuffed!
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/6lber_b.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/6lber_b.jpg.html)
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/6lberreturned.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/6lberreturned.jpg.html)
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/6lber_ccopy.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/6lber_ccopy.jpg.html)
:z18
Cheers
Scott C
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Awesome Fish :z14
Fantastic stuff Scott :z16
Sandy
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Cracking trout Scott ....... great stuff :z16
Cheers
Mike
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congrats ! :z16
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An absolute beast :z14 :z14
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Holy shit ! Well done again Scott 👍
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goodness me! :z16
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After a few days respite i ventured down this afternoon after work.
Very quiet with the odd fish rising but from about 5.30 onwards there was a steady trickle of BWO's hatching off.
Got some better photo's this time and you can see the reddish/orange thorax :z16
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5568.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5568.jpg.html)
I found a few fish on my side of the river and with some time spent sitting very low to the bank and watching i was able to get a few casts at feeding fish. albeit only a few casts before they spooked each time, but quite good fun doing a combat style approach.
This one had some bonny colours, but i thought the photo came out really nice so heres me (if you look :wink) and a fish about a pound and a half :z16
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/b16ba9f7-5098-4bd6-8040-962ddb400aca.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/b16ba9f7-5098-4bd6-8040-962ddb400aca.jpg.html)
CDC spiders seemed to be the way this afternoon.
Sandy
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Great stuff Sandy, cracking fish eye :z12
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Am sure you have a garden pond with these fish in them :z4
Nice Fish :z16
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Am sure you have a garden pond with these fish in them :z4
:wink I don't feed mine as much as Scott does his :z4 :z4
Sandy
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Sit, watch, wait and spot ........................
Hares Ear DHE and a favourite Sedge pattern failed :z6
But managed to tempt one or two on a yellow bodied DHE in the end :cool:
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_28_06_14_10_38_00.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2067)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_28_06_14_10_38_28.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2068)
I've just been taking the GoPro to the river this year, it fits in my pocket and seems to take quite reasonable photos.
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Another nice night on the river, bit cooler last night, but lots of fly life.
BWO's yellow mays, small dark olives, sedges, midge, micro caddis etc. It was still the plain grey SHE that was the flavour :z16
We spotted a few good fish early on that would not entertain anything over the nose, but waiting until later on and having a good idea where they were, worked a charm, after 10 when they started to show again they didn't ignore much.
I still fail to understand why people spend so much time hunting silver or chasing rainbows when on the river you can strike gold and sometimes with rubies.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5575.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5575.jpg.html)
Not a monster but fantastic colours, who needs the rockies for cutthroats when the Don can produce fish with such beautiful colours, funny shaped spots too.
We also saw a pair of otters, a doe and two fawns and various raptors and one or two nice spotties
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5580.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5580.jpg.html)
Sandy
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Nice close up of another BWO. this one is darker than the last few and might point to why the grey DHE is so good :z16 and why the flies often look really dark on the water. the last couple were freshly hatched, i think this one has been about for a few hours as i found it in the garden
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/DSC00821.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/DSC00821.jpg.html)
:z18
Sandy
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Running with the BWO theme, this little fella was a dun when he stowed away in the car on friday night.
When we went out this afternoon he had become a lovely spinner. So i set it free to go and procreate
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/DSC00857.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/DSC00857.jpg.html)
Sandy
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Headed down to the river last night for a couple of hours, still a cold nip in the air but nice to be out all the same.
Not much to aim at until 10:40 when a few fish started to move, the trout were very picky often ignoring what I had to offer. On my third change of fly I struck lucky and tempted a cracking trout with an old favourite pattern….
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/29614_2.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/29614_2.jpg.html)
A sturdy Don trout in prime condition… a strong fish that wasn’t willing to give up easily!
(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu233/klinkhammer/29614_1.jpg) (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/klinkhammer/media/29614_1.jpg.html)
:z18
Cheers
Scott C
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Cracker Scott :z16
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That's a cracking fish Scott. What weight?
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Scott,
I am so jealous, having recently relocated to Dubai. That is a belter of a trout.
Eddie :z18
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Lovely stuff :z16
Red spots on a big fish too, unusual :wink
Sandy
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How many is that now Scott!? :z4
Nice one, that old favourite fly - is that your split wing emerger?
Liam
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Red spots on a big fish too, unusual :wink
Yep, was surprised to see such red spots on a fish that size, the photo didn’t do it justice.
How many is that now Scott!? :z4
Yeh, it’s been an excellent season for me so far but have also put in the hours, I’ve had my fair share of dour nights on the don. The fish was caught on a simple rusty spinner pattern, an old fav!
Scott
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Took one pic on my phone before the battery died last night. What an evening to be on the river. I'm no ashamed to say my goal at the river is to catch fish, preferably bigger ones. But every now and then you get caught out by a night when you are quite happy just to sit and watch the sunset. The red sky was almost gone by the time I took this but it was fairly busy so I'm sure plenty others enjoyed the evening. Was freezing by the time I left! Stupid haar ;)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2116_01_07_14_9_45_59.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2069)
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Nice :z16
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June's been a fairly good month for me on the river when the high angling hours and late nights have occasionally paid off.
Here's two I'm rather proud of from recent weeks.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/24_01_07_14_5_28_08.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2070)
Sea trout 3.25lbs
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/24_01_07_14_5_29_43.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2071)
Brown trout 5.25lbs
:z18
Noel.
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About time we saw those :z16
Beauties :z14, Orange lines Rock :z12
Sandy
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Great stuff Noel :z16
You've certainly had a cracking month!
Cheers
Mike
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Awesome :z16
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Awesome trout :z14
Brilliant stuff Noel :z16
Scott
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Noel,
cracking troots, well done.
Eddie. :z14 :z16
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On a sour note :z10
Someone murdered a 4lbr on monday night :mad :mad It seems some people still can't read their permit, if they have one. :mad :mad
Theres a good reason all trout over 18" are supposed to go back.
So people, please remember to return the spotties and if you see someone who doesn't, make a judgement call on whether or not to speak to them and let the Proprietors know, it is our resposibility to report the actions, but the authorities need to enforce the rules.
Cheers
Sandy
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Crackin stuff and cracking troots Noel / Scott.
Lovin the colours on the first one Sandy, you couldn't paint them on as red as that.
Yup hate to hear of big troots getting chapped, working on somehting with the MFTI group regarding wether these big fish breed big fish (certainly a lot of evidence to support this) or if it's a simple case of exploiting an abundant food source.
If they can prove the big fish breed big fish bit then it makes the safe return even more important as removal could have a direct impact on these fish.
Need to get out fishing more, heading over to Don on Sunday but sadly i'm acting as a controller for the SNFFL and not fishing.
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Hi Guys
I saw around 8 people fishing around 7 this morning in a line down the inverurie beat.
I am 99% sure thay were travelers :(
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Crackin stuff and cracking troots Noel / Scott.
Lovin the colours on the first one Sandy, you couldn't paint them on as red as that.
Yup hate to hear of big troots getting chapped, working on somehting with the MFTI group regarding wether these big fish breed big fish (certainly a lot of evidence to support this) or if it's a simple case of exploiting an abundant food source.
If they can prove the big fish breed big fish bit then it makes the safe return even more important as removal could have a direct impact on these fish.
Need to get out fishing more, heading over to Don on Sunday but sadly i'm acting as a controller for the SNFFL and not fishing.
Mind and bring some killing patterns Allan !, it was hard going for me the last time I was there , 🎣
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Well, Last night continued the theme for the week of a difficult and seemingly barren river where the fish only rise once. :z6
we hoped the rain might liven things up a bit so we headed back to a couple of favourite spots and settled in under the trees to watch in a small degree of shelter.
3hrs spent watching this small stretch, but then why wouldn't you :cool:
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5591.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5591.jpg.html)
Only the occasional rise for most of the evening, until the rain eased off, then as it settled down there was a nice hatch of Blue winged Olives and yellow mays. A few steady risers started to feed although none seemed to be of any great size. Eventually a couple of better fish showed themselves, so it was time to get the feet wet.
One went straight down on being covered and the other came straight up and snaffled the CDC spider (which was very hard to keep dry in the damp air :roll)
So it took 3 hours of patient waiting in a spot i know holds good fish, to get this decent acrobat who was bang on the 2lb mark in the net.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5594.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5594.jpg.html)
Well pleased after a hard week, hopefully we'll get a bit more rain to freshen things up and then back into more regular sport as things settle back down.
Cheers
Sandy
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Great pics Sandy :z16
Yes it was an enjoyable evening, about as enjoyable as rain that puts your smokes out and waters down your coffee type of evenings can be.
My waistcoat is now drying out nicely and only weighs about 25% more than it should do :z4
The water was colouring up as the evening went on and I guess this played a part in the sporadic rises, but there was certainly plenty of insect life on the go.
I only spotted one fish that rose more than once, a tricky kind of cast from the tree lined bank and my first two efforts were quite rightly refused, but I managed to get a bit of a wiggle into the third cast and the improved presentation was sipped down nicely.
A bonnie wee trout :cool: pity about the photography :z4
Cheers
Mike
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/2_05_07_14_8_34_15.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2086)
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" So it took 3 hours of patient waiting in a spot i know holds good fish, to get this decent acrobat who was bang on the 2lb mark in the net. "
Sandy
So are you saying its pointless to cast the fly round the river unless you spot a fish ?
would be hard to believe you better off standing about having a tea but i am still new to fly ???, thought i'll ask can yo expand on it please ?
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So are you saying its pointless to cast the fly round the river unless you spot a fish ?
better off standing about having a tea
Not pointless Julius, just not my thing. I'd rather wait and drink tea than cast onto water blind and potentially spook the good fish before i even know where they are.
Over the years i have learned that i prefer to fish with dry-fly and spiders, for them to be more effective i need a feeding target. So its a confidence thing more than anything. Some people have more confidence in fishing wet flies and are happy to swing the flies with the current in the manner of salmon and sea-trout fishers. They catch plenty fish although personally i find i catch a lot of smaller fish doing this and not many decent (12"+) fish. I'm much happier being able to see where my fly is and knowing i am covering a feeding fish, it becomes a personal challenge to present the fly in a way that the fish will take it and thats what gives me the buzz :z12 I know a few of us are very much the same in this, but everyone is different in what makes fly fishing their passion.
I Prefer to catch bigger fish so i spend time watching the river looking for those fish i regard as decent size. It takes time to recognise them from their rise-forms, but once you have seen a few it gets a bit easier, if you tie that knowledge with learning how to read the river and get familiar with the kinds of places that good fish like to live then you have the beginnings of an addictive future chasing big trout. We had a wee post on the main forum a while ago that had some pointers to help get started with this. http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6239.0
Another good reason for waiting and watching is that as many large fish will often be close to my bank as there are close to the other side, this makes them much easier to reach and present too, if you start fishing straight away you will never see them as they spook and often swim across river to continue feeding, one of the main reasons a lot of people often believe that all the fish are over the other side. The fish don't know sides they just know a good lie that brings them food.
I had this one last month from a spot that was only 15ft out from my bank, I only had to wait about 10 min before i recognised that it was good fish feeding steadily, i was lucky that day as no-one had fished the pool for at least 2-3 hrs before i saw the fish, so he was rising quite confidently, he was approached on hands and knees and it took 3 cast to get the drift right. It was dryfly (DHE again) sized to match the olives that were hatching.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh7/skuesapprentice/IMG_5560.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/skuesapprentice/media/IMG_5560.jpg.html)
Spending time watching will also help you figure out what the fish are feeding on, i find once i spot a feeding fish i then try to spot the flies that are drifting towards it, as i spot them i will track them down over the spot and see which ones the fish will rise for. This years observations so far have me believing that the fish only really choose to eat Olives (of all sizes and shades) they will take other flies opportunistically but only seem to actively wait and feed on olives. (this so far only applies to the first 3 months)
Hopefully that helps answer your question. The way i fish is a choice and it represents the way that brings me the most pleasure, however it has taken 30+ years to reach the stage where i have the patience to realise that is the case. I know some of my fishing mates have more patience than i have and consequently have a better catch rate of even bigger fish.
So there is nothing wrong or ineffective about casting around the river, but if you want to catch better fish more regularly then taking the time to wait and watch as well as learning the habitats and food that the fish partake of all combine to improve your chances.
Cheers :z18
Sandy
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Excellent post sandy :z16
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Good question Julius ....... and an excellent reply Sandy :z16
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That works to point, but if you splash your cast and spook the fish your not going to sit for another 3 hours your going to default and adopt a cast and pray method like most of my fishing trips & hopping that my next trip ill have a better cast
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That works to point, but if you splash your cast
Stick to your 5wt, fit a tapered leader and remember to add that 2 seconds we talked about. :z16
Sandy
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Sandy thanks very much for taking the time with reply :z16
well its my first trout right here, and yes i noticed it was feeding on the other side, and as you say right enough i was too loud so ive had to cast it really far to the other side to reach him,but im trying to be stealthy and working on it, I caught it at ury / don bit @ Inverurie, march brown 16
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11123_08_07_14_6_43_48.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2094)
what about the bubbles coming out of water you notice almost every time out fishing, would that be trout too or perhaps just a buildup of oxygen underneath ?
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what about the bubbles coming out of water you notice almost every time out fishing, would that be trout too or perhaps just a buildup of oxygen underneath ?
Two options, bubbles caused by water running over rocks/rapids and floating off downstream, or, on slower bits of river, escaping gas from silt build up on the bottom.
It is fair to say that on a still water containing fish such as Tench, Bream and Carp, there is a distinct possibility that bubbles are caused by the fish rooting about in silt. Eels will also cause the same, but normally as a sudden large, long patch of small bubbles as they roll in the silt, kicking up food items.
I have yet to see a river trout rooting about in the bottom, but I guess it is possible.
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Hi when out fishing today (with zero luck) I was watching the parr at the side of the river and then I spotted a fish I am unfamiliar with and hope someone can tell me what it was. It was about 3 inches long, appeared to be white/clear with red/pink gills; it was not like any of the others around and stood out clearly in the water. We were at the Manse pool.
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Hi when out fishing today (with zero luck) I was watching the parr at the side of the river and then I spotted a fish I am unfamiliar with and hope someone can tell me what it was. It was about 3 inches long, appeared to be white/clear with red/pink gills; it was not like any of the others around and stood out clearly in the water. We were at the Manse pool.
Looking at the River Don Fishery Management Plan to see what fish have been recorded, the two that jump out which it may have been are an immature Shad or a Roach. Both are light in colour when viewed from above, possibly with the gills showing pink.
Having said that, when I first fished the Don some 25 years ago, the chap that took me onto the beat spoke of Dace being present around Kemnay. At 3 inches long they would also look almost clear with a beige/dirty white appearance from above.
An outside contender might have been a Gudgeon, although they would normally be hugging the bottom and you "normally" see a barred pattern down their sides.
http://www.rafts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DON-FMP-final.pdf Page 10
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Thanks for the info I have looked on Google at pictures of them and the closest is actually the young Dace but it's not something I can be sure of. The Don is never dull is it! Cheers Shona
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Been out and about on the Don recently and its fished pretty good for me, mostly dries.
No rodbenders landed (lost one broke off on its teeth on the take :X1) but plenty of fish and a good few pound plus.
Change as good as a rest, back to Deveron soon.
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Strange evening with hardly a trout rising, caught nowt and got soaked by the rain .............. but it was great to be on the river, as always! :cool:
Cheers
Mike
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Eek it was a bit wet last night surprised anyone ventured out
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Hi everyone,
I'm fancying an evening on the Don tonight, and wondered if anyone has any advice on good beats? - Not looking for anyone's favorite spot, just a decent beat to get started on the Don - hopefully for some evening dry fly action!
I've just moved up to Stonehaven fairly recently, and fancy catching some of these moster trout I've been hearing about.
I tried Monymusk a few weeks ago, but I fancy something a bit closer to Aberdeen.
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Cheers
-
Don water level highest I've seen it in a while, about 12" in visibility very dark
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yeh its up a lot, you guys caught anything with water level up so high ? i think there was a website for monitoring water levels ?
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Was out tonight and water highest I've seen all summer. Landed a brownie just under 1lb, but nothing else, not even a nibble. Tough fishing, but still fun!
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I recently fished the Kintore and Alford council waters without much success. They both look like nice stretches. What are the best trout tactics for this time of year?
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I was out on the Don yesterday evening for a little while. It was a bit chilly! I did get a few fish on wet flies, but nothing notable. I hope the weather gets a bit more seasonable before the end of the season. It's a long winter. :cry
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I was out on the river yesterday afternoon. Not a sausage! :z6 Can anyone recommend a good book or dvd on river fly fishing?
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I was out on the river yesterday afternoon. Not a sausage! :z6 Can anyone recommend a good book or dvd on river fly fishing?
With water levels up and down, it's not felt quite so fishy on the river recently; I prefer more settled levels.
Anyway, one book I'd recommend is Rosenbauer's 'Guide to Prospecting for Trout" - US-focused (so you'll need to 'translate' headwaters and spring creeks), but covers ground on wets, streamers, nymphs and dries, as well as some good reading on habitat & behaviour:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Orvis-Guide-Prospecting-Trout-Theres/dp/1599211475/ref=la_B001JP1YCI_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410239122&sr=1-2
cheers
iain
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Another troot season drawing to a close. any one know what like Moonhaugh and Bandley is like for parking the motor at the roadside and access to the river bank etc thanks. and is it any good for troot :z8
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11134_28_09_14_11_49_50.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2210)
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That's a colourful fish! Better than any I have caught there so far anyhow :z4
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Bonnie trout :cool:
Haven't fished Moonhaugh yet I'm afraid.
Cheers
Mike
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Well i just booked it. like a lot of don beats £15 for a days troot fishing is great value specially now the weather has cooled down and the troot are feeding during the day time.
it also lets you check the beat out before forking out 50quid on a Salmon permit.
I just read the permit and it has clear parking instructions so that is handy. :z16
So i guess that will be it for this year with the trout.
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Enjoy :z16
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Thanks.
I will see how it goes and hopefully post something positive.
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Cracking day at Moonhaugh and Bandley, i will try and do a decent post on it at a later date when i have time as it is a fine wee stretch of water and the banks are well maintained.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11134_01_10_14_11_42_25.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2224)
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So last day of the troot season ended up really interesting trying to figure out if i had 1,2,or 3 brownies . it turns out to be just the one and 2 stale Sea trout. Still a great day tho :z16 and all fish quickly back in the water and released.
I also lost a really good one on a czech nymph which i tend to flatten the barbs on.
moonhaugh and bandley is a really good small beat with easy parking and a wee stroll to the bank if you have a 4x4 you could park next to the water depending what the farmer has in the fields.
Any way i guess that is the trouting over for this season ??? ???.
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11134_01_10_14_9_36_35.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2226)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11134_01_10_14_9_37_50.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2227)
(http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/gallery/11134_01_10_14_9_39_00.jpeg) (http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=2228)
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Well i came up for my annual back end 3 day stint and in summary was difficult and disappointing.
Day 1 at Bandley which in the past has been very good to me. There are some super holding pools and generally one sees quite a few fish moving in these. On Monday i never saw a fish all day but i did eke out a small coloured grilse on a size 12 red allys and had another knock. Lots of trout rising and some good ones at that. The water was extremely low and crystal clear and what with wall to wall sunshine getting anything has to be viewed as something of a bonus. However, it was very apparent the stock of fish was extremely low.
Day 2 was Monymusk beat 3 and again conditions were as at Bandley and thus hard work from the start. However, the lower part of the beat is shade by trees and a hill and thus by lunch time with a low sun a few of the runs were in the shade an lo and behold a few fish moved and i caught another small grilse on a size 12 red francis from the lowest pool slatestone. Highlight of the day though was watching an otter appear in front of me of which i think i may have successfully photographed (need to blow picture up to check!). Lovely beat but again feeling is sock of fish were way below normal for this time of year.
Day 3 yesterday was Kildrummy and the morning had some cloud cover which helped but absolutely nothing to show for my efforts. I am sure that if i had been prepared to fish spot i just may have been able to sight some fish in the lower pools for every stone was visible and as there was no ripple on the surface nymphing may have been the answer.
Thus in total 2 small fish in 3 days is so so but as generally i tend to be more fortunate i put part of it down to conditions and poor stocks. What did surprise me was that i didn't aggravate any fish as i went through the pools where in the past i would have seen fish splash and even chase my flies.
I can only hope next year sees an improvement in fish levels.
Tight lines all
G
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Aye it is a gamble booking a fishing trip in advance and getting low water and tricky conditions.
I was surprised at the sea trout I would have expected them to ignore any flies passing there nose. But I also so fished monymusk last week on beat 7 for trout and hooked and landed a salmon on a wee silver butcher with 4lb line.
And I see in the trout and salmon a fella got one on a dry fly lol weird or what. I also got all that fish on the silver butcher so I guess I will have to reconsider my low water salmon tactic
I also like Kildrummy and it has some great pools as dose semeil fishing further up.
Hopefully you will get better conditions next time ST