Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Sandy Nelson

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #60 on: 21/04/2018 at 08:18 »
What's the reel that you use on it? Thought you had a Perfect? Lovely wide spool.
Euan it's a Hardy MLA 350, i picked one up with 2 spare spools for a steal over the winter, lovely piece of kit, just the right weight for the rod :z16

Sandy

Sandy Nelson

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #61 on: 21/04/2018 at 13:58 »
Finally after 3 days of trying i got it right this morning.
Turns out the hatch was from 11 to 1145 and not much after, although i had to go home to do some stuff and not burn up too many brownie points in one go.
Lots of March browns and LDO's coming off in 2 bursts, fish lined up picking them off in a few areas, just had to walk a bit to find them.



Sunlight on gold



Dryfly rules again...... :z3



So all is right with the world again  :z12 although a few of the fish this morning had Bird damage, you can see it in some of the pictures.



Sandy

Mike Barrio

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #62 on: 21/04/2018 at 14:17 »
Great stuff ........... backs up our thoughts from the other day Sandy :z16

Nicolas Carles

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #63 on: 21/04/2018 at 15:28 »
Well done! Great stuff.  Action on the dry seems picking up !
We were a bit too early 😩
We noted also the same type of what we supposed to be bird injuries on many of our trouts. Does someone know something about this ?
Thanks
Cheers
Nicolas

Ashley Thomas

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #64 on: 21/04/2018 at 19:21 »
Woke up thinking will I or won’t I, I’m glad I decided to venture out in the end.

Fished a beat I’ve only had one other crack at so far since starting on the rivers - I turned up a little late than I would have liked as the water was already alive with a prolific hatch of  MB’s and LDO’s, with a surprising flurry of OU’s.

Fish were already showing, feeding in pod-like formations and I set myself the challenge of trying to wiggle out the better ones of the bunch.

After a single cast, and my first on the Don with the 476, this beauty eventually sailed into the net !!

A move of position and a few more casts later saw another cracking fish get itself landed.. not the biggest but the markings on this fish were pristine.


No points for guessing what this one took either...  :z4


Nice to be out after finally getting some free space from work.. and for the season to have finally begun  :wink

Ash :z16




Scott Cumming

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #65 on: 21/04/2018 at 20:20 »
Good fun on the dry for me too :z16



 :z18
Scott

Allan Liddle

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #66 on: 22/04/2018 at 07:41 »
Excellent stuff guys  :z16

Sandy Nelson

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #67 on: 22/04/2018 at 15:35 »
Sneaked out this morning.
Same deal as yesterday, 2 breif flurries of flies between 11 and 12 and the fish fed hard for the 10mins that the flies were hatching.
Then very little afterwards.
Still it was a fun 20mins. :z12



Accidental photo, but i thought it was cool. :z16

Sandy

Rob Brownfield

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #68 on: 23/04/2018 at 08:03 »
AT LAST....I finally broke in the glass rod and caught my first fish of the season.

Hatches were almost non existent with literally 3 or 4 splashy rises followed by hours of watching!

Managed to get a slash at a Klink, missed it, followed by a hit on the PT underneath it on the next cast. That fish was 2.5lbs :) Lost another similar sized fish that thought it was a dolphin and shed the fly on a jump.

Went dead so I went for a walk. Saw a very small dimple on a section I would normally walk straight past, so on with a small olive DHE, second cast, fish of about 1.5lb.

Dead again for another few hours. Back to where I got my first fish, saw a rise...same place as before, and the PT did it again, but this time fished on a yarn indicator.  Another fish, this time about 2lb.

And then it really went dead. Tried fishing through a couple of runs but only picked up tiny fish.

So nice to break my duck with the glass rod. Happy days.

Iain Cameron

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #69 on: 23/04/2018 at 13:50 »
Sloooow going so far. Had four Don sessions; two blanks, with nary a rising trout to be seen nor targeted.


Two sessions with brief spurts of MBs and some LDO spinners that flitted about when the wind dropped. Had a few fish - best went 2 1/4lb. Did have 3lb+ trout, but as it was a silvery sea version, and clearly a kelt, it disnae count.


Still, been enjoyable getting out, chatting to folks, and topping up the sun tan too.

Allan Liddle

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #70 on: 24/04/2018 at 07:16 »
still a troot Ian so does count  :z6

Great stuff guys, interesting the hatches are so early with very little after, Deveron very similiar

Rob Brownfield

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #71 on: 24/04/2018 at 08:50 »
Took the boss out for a fish last night, he still has not had a Don trout...and did not manage last night either :(

No flies, no rising fish, and a cold wind AGAIN!

Fished a bit where I would normally not spend much time on and hooked but lost a really good fish. It hit a klink just as I was lifting off, stayed on for 3 or 4 jumps before popping off.

Still, I learned that the fish lay in that section so I will try again as it was a fairly easy wade and drift to fish.

I just want to see a proper hatch!!

Rob Brownfield

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #72 on: 26/04/2018 at 15:56 »
Eleven troots last night and 5 or 6 dropped.

Nothing huge, most around the pound mark, but interesting sport from a stretch that does not look as if it would contain fish.

All fell to PTNs with a wee touch of a special colour beneath the tail...and its staying a secret as it really does seemed to have "lifted" the humble PTN to another level (for now).

Very few rises again, but one hooked and lost on a olive DHE when it ran towards me and the barbless hook fell out on a jump.

River dropping and extremely clear! Always amazes me that if you are stealthy you can catch trout a rod length from you.

Liking the glass, missing the extra reach of a 10 foot carbon.

Scott Cumming

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #73 on: 28/04/2018 at 08:21 »
[/quote
Eleven troots last night and 5 or 6 dropped.

What time have you been fishing Rob? Unusual for trout to take the nymph in evenings at this time of year?

Well done
 :z18
Scott

Rob Brownfield

Re: River Don 2018
« Reply #74 on: 30/04/2018 at 07:52 »
[/quote
What time have you been fishing Rob? Unusual for trout to take the nymph in evenings at this time of year?

Well done
 :z18
Scott

Hitting the river about 5, fishing until about half seven, roughly.

 




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