Up to Pickering Beck for a quick session. The main object of the exercise was to try, for the first time, a furled leader. I’ve read a lot about these and some class anglers swear by them, so thought I’d better give it a go. I was a little apprehensive on two counts. First whether […]
For the past year or so I’ve been seeing a lot about so-called French nymphing, a mysterious Tenkara-ish system where you use a long, light rod, long leader with no need for fly line, and a heavy nymph with a dropper. You don’t cast the fly in the conventional way – you can’t because you […]
Have had a couple of short evening sessions down the river at the bottom of the field with a maggot. The few fish came from three or four feet from the bank. The first fish of the year bent my rod double and took ten minutes to bring in. Not: A couple of little chub […]
Day Zero Up early for the 10 hour drive to the wild moonscape of north-west Sutherland for four days of intensive fishing. For several months I’ve been rehearsing in my mind exactly how I’ll go about nailing a number of large trout. Now to put the plans into action. My weapon of attack will be […]
Up to the Spaunton Moor beat of the Seven on a muggy late morning of broken cloud and intermittent sunshine. The last time I was here she spurned me with blank, so today I was going to have to lay on the charm to get her back on side. As I tackled up the Burns […]
Up to the Duchy beat of Pickering Beck, first to do the invertebrate sampling then for a quick go with the rod. The British weather eh? We’re well into June and still the temperature lurks sullenly at 14C, there’s a fine drizzle coming down and steam on the breath. Also, for the first time I […]
Up to the topmost, wild stretch of the Seven on the North York Moors. The river looked as pretty as ever, although the weather wasn’t up to much: 14C, overcast and a bothersome brisk northerly breeze blowing directly into my face. As I tackled up on the bankside I spotted a few nice rises in […]
Up to the lower beat of the Seven on a hot, clear late May early afternoon. The bankside was in its full glory: who needs the Chelsea Flower Show when you’ve got this: As I tackled up with the Burns seven-and-a-half footer I could see fish rising sporadically and therefore, perfectly reasonably (ha!), thought I […]
To Thornton Beck for the first time this season. A lovely little stream close to the Dalby Forest and chock-full of tiny wild brown trout. The portents were good: gorgeous bit of mid-May sunshine, 20C on the dial and not much breeze. I was looking forward to filling my boots. It’s a tight water with […]
With the sun still shining I headed across to a small, lightly fished chalkstream that wends its way through some serious jungle. This is strangulated fishing at its most challenging but there are some big beasts in the water so I had to be prepared – hefty tippet and a landing net are crucial. Clear […]