Taking opportunities

You know those times when your out fishing for certain species yet you see other fish that is always nice to see and you start to think it would be good to be able to catch them. For me that's what fly fishing offers, it gives me all the things i enjoy from lure fishing but I'm able to target and catch any fish that swims. So when i see fish that i fancy catching its a case of making the most of the opportunity. That's another reason why i like to change what I'm doing as it keeps my fishing fresh and I'm always out catching something, rather than the conditions not being right for certain species and just letting my fishing go stale. For me I'll catch any fish, i get more enjoyment from certain species but its all about the enjoyment of the approach than just sticking with the same species all the time. I always say to people, 'im not one for sitting on a box all day waiting for the fish to come to me' and that's true, i don't like to knock those that do enjoy that, it must be relaxing. I'm just not a person that can sit for any length of time i like to be active, fly fishing has really changed my enjoyment of fishing as a whole because of its versatility and as mentioned it gives me all the same things i enjoy from lure fishing, the freedom to move, the fact that I'm busy casting and working my lure/fly and the flies themselves, don't get me started on them, if lures in a box is'nt enough to excite you then a box full of neat little rows of flies tips me over the edge! Even the casting alone, i find it very therapeutic.

I'd been frustrated with trying to catch the carp so mid week i had a few hours doing something different just so i didn't get too frustrated with the carp, I'd spotted a load of roach and dace the week before in one area but i only had flies for perch so thought I'd go back with dry flies and small nymphs.

I had a fantastic couple of hours catching roach and the odd bleak, most were caught on nymphs and one in particular which the roach seem to really like, its my go to nymph now for roach.
I caught a few hybrids too which fight really well for there size, the disappointing moment though was when i had a decent roach of maybe about a pound, id gone to lift it just out the water to hand. In hindsight i shouldn't have been so lazy and netted it because I'd underestimated its weight and it kicked and snapped me off.

When i was out fishing for the carp, I've been using an #8 fly rod as this also gives me the option to quickly change my leader if i fancy saving a blank with a pike or even just switching and fishing for the pike. I'd spotted a jack in the margin and did just that, a quick change of leader and fly and i tempted the bonus fish.

An enjoyable change.

I dropped on a spot the other day to have a look how things were getting on this time of year, while i was there i saw some monster bleak cruising about and sipping tiny flies off the surface. Its things like this that get me going and i love a change of tactic and approach when ever i see an opportunity.

So today after work i went to have another look and took the #3 fly rod in search of some Lunker Bleak! I've caught them before on fly and despite the very small size i find it as thrilling as chucking plastic frogs at pike. Its the anticipation of casting the fly in front of the fish and watching it come up for it really slowly, fantastic.

On the bank i instantly saw the bleak again but these were just small ones, not the lunker ones i had seen the other day, i wasted no time at all catching a few on a hawthorn fly imitation as I'd seen a few about and is one of my favourites for coarse fish as a small black fly often doesn't fail to catch.

 

I saw a few other fish cruising about just under the surface that looked like roach, then i saw another quite decent one of about a pound which looked like a chub, in fact at this point i was already thinking I'm not sure which they are. It was difficult to get a fly in front of one as there was only a couple and there was allot of cut grass and bits on the water surface that made it a nightmare where these particular fish were. Then i noticed one in clear water so cast over it, in a panic i rushed it and the fly landed about a foot and a half behind the fish, surprisingly it turned at speed and absolutely hammered the fly, i was not thinking it was going to be a chublet by that reaction to the fly. It wasn't a roach or a chub, but a new species for me on any method, an Ide. I was chuffed to bits with that and from what Ive read about them the fact that it turned and hammered the fly seemed about right as there supposed to be quite aggressive. They can grow to over 7lb but at this size it was a stunning little fish.

 

The fish then seemed to disappear for a while before i found a small shoal rising, i had a really frustrating little spell trying to hook them and had to scale right down to a size 22 klinkhammer, i thought this would be a good choice as there was midge shucks all over the water surface, probably from a hatch the evening before. i thought the klinkhammer would represent an emerging midge perfectly here. It did the trick and i caught a few more smaller bleak, sadly still no sign of the lunkers I'd gone for.

 

Again things dried up so i thought I'd have a go for perch with a weighted minkie, I found a shoal and had a really good half hours fun catching them on the little fly rod, i really should do more of this because perch go really well on fly gear and dare I say it, its even more fun than on an ultralight lure rod!

 

The perch started to dry up and i was running out of time having to be back for the school run. i kept noticing small fish having a go at my minkies on the way down so thought I'd have a quick change to a bead head nymph to see if i could catch one and see what they were. The idea didn't work, and i didn't get a take, it was not time to go and I'd let my nymph sink right down in hope of a last ditched attempt at catching something else. I jigged the little nymph back with a very jerky motion just stripping a few inches of line at a time to keep it down. I thought I'd pushed my luck as everything went solid and thought I'd snagged the bottom but i realised it was in fact a fish. The fish tore off and was putting that much strain on the rod and line i thought it best to get the fish on the reel as it was a barbless hook and the jerk motion of the line stripping through my hands as the fish kept boring made me feel like the hook was going to pull. It was awhile before i saw the fish and was panicking now as i had to be on the road to pick the kids up ten minutes ago! Finally i got a glimpse of a decent perch. This was by far the best fight Ive ever had from a perch, absolutely exciting stuff. Finally got it in the net and i had to take a few snaps before dashing off for the kids.

 

Its a great time of year to be targeting coarse fish on the fly and I'm guilty of not doing enough of it as a few years ago i had a real good effort at it catching lots of species and if you get days like i had today with the variety its really good fun and make small fish exciting.

A lure and fly day..

Yesterday saw me mixing it up with lures and flies again looking for a multi species day.

 I started on a canal with bother the ultralight lure gear and a fly rod to cover any bait fish i might find. It started off well picking up lots of small perch, I thought about just enjoying a bag up day and seeing what kind of tally I could get too. The trouble was i kept seeing fish rising and switching between the fly rod and lure gear. This started to get abit frustrating if I'm honest.
It was nice to mix it up though and pick up a few roach on the dry fly to add to the perch on kopyto's

 

A bit later on I managed a bleak, they are quite sizable bleak at this venue and Ive had some really big ones in the past.... big for bleak anyway! there actually a nice little fish and take flies really well, last year as i was walking the towpath i could spot them swimming and rising in front of me and put a dry fly about 2 foot in front of the direction they were swimming, it was great to watch when they responded and came up for the well placed fly.

 

I'd started fishing after work at about 1:30 and knew i still had into the evening to fish, so had planned to move on from my first venue at some point. My phone went and it was the Mr's saying she was going out so if i wanted, i could stop out as long as i wanted. As if i needed permission! With a couple of drinks and a pile of crackers with me to keep me going I headed off for a small river to try and add some different species to my tally. I was thinking about starting on small cranks for the trout, chub and pike, then in the evening i would switch to dry fly and enjoy some proper trout fishing.

 

Its amazing sometimes how venues change so much in so little time, last time i was here, which would have been a matter of weeks not months, there was none of this weed growth. Some sections were really thick with it.

 

I had some good days on this stream in late spring and its slowly got quieter and quieter, I was primarily catching trout but did see quite a few chub. My only thoughts are that the trout were more hungry and aggressive earlier in the year, feeding up after the winter. It could be that they have just moved up river as i didn't see a great deal either, the thing with wading small streams is that even if your not catching your getting a sense of what is about as your right there in the water with the fish. The stream was crystal clear today and really low which also didn't help. As it turned out i fished quite allot of the river before i finally got a fish, a smaller one than i am used to here but they are all welcome and each one is individually marked and has its own character.

 

After missing a few bigger fish when they just snapped at my bean lures and then were never seen again, I made the choice to move further upstream to see if there was more fishing located there. By now it was getting into the evening and the whole place took on a totally different atmosphere in the bright lowering sunlight. In places it was nearly pitch black under the tree canopy.

 

As it turned out my last fish of the session was to be my biggest, still only average for the venue but after a lot of disappointing hours wading I was pleased with that fish. A shame i didn't get some of the big fish i saw along with a pike that i landed but dropped back in while getting my camera out.