River Don 2011

« **Reply #100 on:** 07/05/2011 at 19:44 »

Quote from: Goolager on 30/04/2011 at 00:19

Since Matt ditched me for his Dad I fished on the lower Don today on me own
Although it was quite pleasant while ‘tackling up’ it got quite cold and overcast as I reached the river, even threatened to rain with a few spits here and there.
Fished the nymph and spider, Waterhen Bloa this time as it was LDO’s in prominence on the previous outing. Although there were a reasonable amount of, what I think............... Medium Duns? (Baetis Vernus)

Managed a stocked 1lb fish on the PTN relatively early on but had to work a bit (and sit about a bit) for the next two in what was a dour morning, small fish were rising freely to both emerging and Duns of the LDO persuasion.

Midday and I went for a wander, finding larger fish rising to what turned out to be a trickle, although very prolonged show of upwinged flies. Again both duns and emergers were being taken.
This was more like it, and with a mind on the theory I heard recently that CDC flies may appear to receive more positive takes than say traditional or Klink type dries on slow calm water – on one went. Now I’m not a great believer / user of CDC flies, not due to their effectiveness but due to their lack of industrial strength (always needin’ pampering) but I had in my possession a tube of Veniards CDC oil (as described by Bigtrout in the close season ) and was keen to give it a try...................... 100% impressed. I used three different patterns and their fishability was a revelation, nice one Baz!
I lost count of the fish I caught on these ‘dries’ but it was one of the best days (couple of hours) dry fly fishing I can recall, almost every fish that showed within reach and reason was at least risen. Only 1 wild fish though @ 3/4 lb.

I think the highlight was fishing a lovely pattern which I saw in a T&S article then radically adapted – ‘MB Emerger’ March issue.

More than a little worse for wear

Quite a bit of fly life today with lots of cranes, a few sedges, wee moths, midge, etc on the go along with a fair showing of olives - didn't see a MB though.

Scierra Folding wading staff - £30 or so – absolute 100% hit, had to use it in anger earlier in the day and it saved me a soaking. Ultra light, strong and folds into a pouch which you’ll easily forget you have on.

Iain

Great post Iain and a very intresting read along with some great photos

« **Reply #101 on:** 08/05/2011 at 14:37 »

At last I ditched the paintbrush for the fly rod and got out yesterday. There were a few flurries of grannom in the sunny spells and maybe half a dozen olives drifted by in the course of the afternoon.

No sign of any trout other than tiddlers. The decent fish were all sulking somewhere.

Today's rain might make a difference, 33mm on our guage since Saturday morning.

Irvine

« **Reply #102 on:** 08/05/2011 at 21:22 »

According to FishDon the river is 1'3" at Alford so is 11" up. We have fished it at this level before and whilst it is a bit high, we had some nice Trout. However after such a long dry spell no doubt it is running very dirty so probably not fishable. Would appreciate it if you could let me know when the colour has cleared sufficiently. Itching to get up...this season has been a nightmare so far for our usual Scottish rivers...

Richard

« **Reply #103 on:** 08/05/2011 at 21:52 »

Chocolate brown with me at 18:30, rising fast and still rising at Strathdon at the same time despite having levelled off at Alford. I'll be out later in the week so will give you a shout when it fines down a bit.

Loads of hawthorns, black gnats, yellow sallies and a few grannom kicking about today.

CHeers

Ben

« **Reply #104 on:** 09/05/2011 at 01:02 »

After reading your post again Iain i see you mentioned about the cdc oil being a hit, glad it worked well and i honestly think i would be lost without it

« **Reply #105 on:** 09/05/2011 at 07:00 »

Hi BAz,

About this Veniard CDC oil then...? Do you rub it into the CDC feather itself? I was always told that the CDC feather should be kept dry? Anything that helps having to stop every few casts to bouffant the fly is good in my book...

Ewan

« **Reply #106 on:** 09/05/2011 at 18:50 »

Quote from: Big Daddy on 09/05/2011 at 07:00

Hi BAz,

About this Veniard CDC oil then...? Do you rub it into the CDC feather itself? I was always told that the CDC feather should be kept dry? Anything that helps having to stop every few casts to bouffant the fly is good in my book...

Ewan

Its pretty simple stuff Ewan,
Rub it onto the cdc feathers either once the fly is tied or say 10 mins prior to use, i have even re applied after a few fish then given it a good 10 false casts and it also getts the cdc back to great bouyancy!
It doesnt clog the feathers up and makes the cdc work far beyond what it should, you can basically pull the cdc under the surface and it pops back up through the film straight away!

« **Reply #107 on:** 09/05/2011 at 19:02 »

Cheers Baz,

Sounds like the stuff for me. I'm off to buy some now!

Ewan

« **Reply #108 on:** 09/05/2011 at 21:41 »

hi guys,,been a member on the site for a while but never really posted,,anyway got permission to fish on the woodsons bit of water think its upper parkhill "maybe someone could confirm that"??...fished fri night had 7 small brownies 1lb/2lb,,great sport,,so took the wife with me on sat night now for the embarrasing bit shed 4 brownies id the big zero,,,mega dent to the ego!!! seen a few nice fish rising on sat night just didn seem to take thou,,tried a cascade/allys shrimp,,maybe someone could advise me again here what the best flys for the don,,oh the trouts was all taken on a butchers,,so this morning i had to take my brother in law to the airport at 6.30 so decided to have a go see if that salmon was still kicking about,,water had risen considerably since sat and was a fearsome weed ect coming downriver so knocked it on the head after an hour or so and headed to the deveron (forglen beat) water was up 6 inch water clearish never got a touch and never seen anything,,anyway just thought id let yous know,,, great river and great bit of water ive got access too now maybe see some of yous next time im out,,regards,sandy

« **Reply #109 on:** 10/05/2011 at 17:18 »

Went for a run at lunchtime. The Don was clearing up nicely.

« **Reply #110 on:** 11/05/2011 at 21:57 »

Anyone been out on Don/Deveron since the fresh water went in? Looks like it has dropped back to a low level again (not surprising given how dry the ground must be) but wondered if some life has been kick-started into the hatches/falls and therefore into Mr Trout himself!

Richard

« **Reply #111 on:** 11/05/2011 at 22:48 »

Hi Richard,

Yup.

Out today, somewhere between 20 &30 trout between 1/2 & 1lb. All taken on black gnats, were so thick you could barely see the water in the spots with some shelter from the wind. Spooked a lump walking down the bank, and *$%£ed up a shot at serious fish that was up regular, slapped the fly down right on its bonce and it didn't show again, so pissed I'm considering self harm to teach myself a lesson

. Done some serious wading today, most of the fish were caught in an "unfishable" pool, trees all up the bank and unwadabley deep. Water was lapping at the Orvis logo on my waders

Saw a couple of proper lumps up regular but simply could not get to them from the bank I was fishing, first time this year I have personally seen big fish on regular feed.

A lot of Grannom about today, no fish moving to them, very few upwings, saw single figures of OU's and nothing else. I removed the occasional large stonefly from inside my collar so they are still about and there was also a few aphids kicking around.

Cheers

Ben

« **Reply #112 on:** 13/05/2011 at 07:15 »

folks

Lower river (cruives & netherdon) was still a bit coloured last night, with very little showing at the surface while I was out... however, I did hook & release a 3-4lb grilse on a wee stoat... completing a 2011 trio of Don salmon, sea-trout & browns.

aye, ok, it was a grilse, and the sea-trout were kelts, and the browns were a mix of stocked fish and small wildies to 3/4lb.... so it's not a world-recording breaking catch but apart from the stocked browns, all of these came from the stretch right outside my house, which makes it all the sweeter! Mr Goolager, you're missing out!!!

iain

« **Reply #113 on:** 13/05/2011 at 20:29 »

Nice one Ben & Iain

Finally got a couple of hours on the river this afternoon.

Four seasons in one day again. Wind, Rain, Hail, Bright, Hot & Overcast!

Fish (and flies) on show in the warmer interludes and although there weren't many it was amazing watching the birds picking off the colourful Yella Sallies.

So had to give it a go....

Managed a few stockies,

and a couple of these fellas which, when hooked I thought were Salmon Smolts but I'd say Sea-Trout. Maxila extending behing eye, clumsy rounded (forked) tail, tinge of orange on adipose (not clear at all in this photo)? It had that destinctive smell that you used to get from Finnock....can't describe it I'm afraid.

Saw, or more accurately turned my head as something exploded downstream in a deep slack pool, the silhouette of a 6" - 7" fish could be seen airborne trying to escape whatever it was. More than likely a resident biggy.....smolting?

something nice for the ladies.

Iain

« **Reply #114 on:** 13/05/2011 at 21:06 »

Very nice Iain and I enjoy the last photo as well despite being a testosterone volcano. Haven't been out all week and keep thinking I am missing out on monster fish...
Will give it a good lash tomorrow.

« **Reply #115 on:** 14/05/2011 at 09:22 »

Nice pictures Irene. Nice wee trout too.

Shame about the flowers.

« **Reply #116 on:** 15/05/2011 at 21:37 »

Nice pics Iain but someones put a daft flower in the way of a nice snap of the reel

Glad someone is gettin out fishing!!

Tight lines
Paul

« **Reply #117 on:** 18/05/2011 at 18:50 »

Inverurie beat. A very blustery day today making normal casting almost impossible. Water was quite low and very clear. A lot of seeds and other plant debris were floating on the surface. Plenty of flies around going by the activity of the gulls and house martins, but not a fish to be seen; I started at 12:30 and gave up around 16:30 with not even a single take.

« **Reply #118 on:** 18/05/2011 at 20:04 »

Was out for a few hours last night. Evidence of an earlier hatch of olives tangled up in some spider webs and it must have been a good hatch going by the amount of them. Fish very finicky again and hard to hook.All small.
Just as the sun went down there were a lot of sedges skittering around on the surface. Laying eggs I presume?
A twitched klink got a few responses but again small fish. I didn't see a sign of any of the larger residents...

However I did see 2 guys sitting by a pool with spinning rods in hand. Bait fishing I guess. On my approach they decided to exit stage left but not before I had a wee go.

No bloodshed involved this time...
These feckers do my head in.

Noel.

« **Reply #119 on:** 18/05/2011 at 20:43 »

Quote from: An Chuileog on 18/05/2011 at 20:04

However I did see 2 guys sitting by a pool with spinning rods in hand. Bait fishing I guess. On my approach they decided to exit stage left but not before I had a wee go. No bloodshed involved this time...
These feckers do my head in.

Noel.

Good stuff Noel, I was going to head out last night but the wind got up a bit much, wind speed like that kills what I was looking for dead.

Did you let the bailiffs know and or get a car reg?

Cheers

Ben

« **Reply #120 on:** 18/05/2011 at 21:39 »

Out fishing in kintore pretty much all day in terrible conditions. Didn't land anything had lots of misses and lost a tiny trout on my last cast of the day. Plenty of small olives and wee hawthorns on the water today, also saw a fair amount of what looked like yellow mayflies? (Any idea). Pretty good chuffed as a got my first glimpse of my first big brownie of around 4lbs, which went airbourne. Anyone on the kintore strech tonight with any luck?

« **Reply #121 on:** 18/05/2011 at 21:59 »

Hi YOUNGUN they are yellow mays or a lot of folk call them yellow sally's very pretty and eye catching. The badger and yellow has been suggested to me as a good imitation but I have never actually tried one myself. Were you fishing Kintore last night?
Ben,
No, it was late and they were off home, on foot. An ould boy who couldn't walk very well and a teenager. They walked towards the village. Have never seen them before. Next time I will just phone Martin.
I guess you are talking about a spinners fall, I was hoping for the same...

« **Reply #122 on:** 18/05/2011 at 22:27 »

Never seen flies like those before very interesting the trout seemed to go crazy for them. Will be sure to add some badger and yellow to my fly box. I was fishing kintore last night till about 9 o'clock.

« **Reply #123 on:** 18/05/2011 at 23:51 »

Quote from: TheYoungGun on 18/05/2011 at 22:27

Never seen flies like those before very interesting the trout seemed to go crazy for them. Will be sure to add some badger and yellow to my fly box. I was fishing kintore last night till about 9 o'clock.

What sort of time did you see trout moving yesterday?

I went out tonight for an hour, there was the odd fish moving. ALthough the wind had eased, it was chilly and still a bit blowy. No fly life I could see.

CHeers

Ben

« **Reply #124 on:** 19/05/2011 at 09:20 »

There was a hatch of some sort around 11.30 which seemed to get the fish going for a while. Then it all went a bit quite till around 4ish when they started rising again. A bit sparse but hopefully answers your question.