Glory be, the first outing of the new season. The omens were good: the water had come down and there was a break in the grim weather we’d been having lately. The sun was out and the temperature rising – albeit from a brisky 7C, leaving faint steam on the breath. So it was up […]
The rivers were just about receding to fishable levels when the snow came and so that put an end to that. With no fishing for several weeks I was getting cabin fever so decided, without huge enthusiasm, to have a go on one of the club’s ponds. I’m not a massive fan of fishing on […]
The fishing has been pretty hopeless in the past few weeks. The water is up everywhere and the temperatures down. I’d been to the river at the bottom of the field twice in the last few days, legering maggots to no avail. The rain had stayed away for a while and the levels had dropped […]
The crispest of crisp winter mornings, the sky a deep blue and barely a breath of wind: lovely. First off it’s up to Pickering Beck for a periodic sampling of the invertebrates. For anyone who is interested in these things, the three-minute kick sample produced the following: Gammarus: 175; Hepta: 130; Cased caddis: 11; Caseless […]
Bloody Aussies! Not content with humiliating us at cricket, they send over some evil little virus to paralyse half the nation. I got the blummin thing just before New Year (cheers Bruce!) and am only now just about shaking it off. With nice timing my recovery (ish) coincided with a receding of the local waters […]
I woke up on Christmas morning to find that Santa had left a hefty tome in my stocking: The North Country Fly: Yorskhire’s Soft Hackle Tradition by Robert Smith is a lavishly produced history of classic northern flies. It’s a nice addition to my modest collection of books on spiders and their ilk. When I […]
Up to Sandsend again on a crisp, clear, frost-bitten December morning. High tide was due at around 11.30 am and I arrived at about 10 am. Ominously there was no-one else fishing and I was on my lonesome: I suspect the locals know something that I don’t. Maybe the bright conditions keep the fish away. […]
With the river fishing knocked on the head because of all the rain recently I headed up to Sandsend on the North Yorks coast to have a go at the marine life. What a gorgeous day! Turquoise sky, low sun casting long shadows, barely a breath of air. The carpark is not the most glamorous […]
Think that maggot fishing down the bottom of the field is somewhat knocked on the head for a bit. Here is the swim I normally fish, with the chub-holding tree circled: Here’s what it looked like this morning, same tree circled: The path down to the river bank has become something of a canal: So […]
At this time of the year you have to take the opportunities when they arise. A few days without rain meant that the river levels had dropped sufficiently to allow a quick expedition, so I headed up to Pickering Beck to see if I could winkle out a grayling or three. The weather wasn’t up […]