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Post by richardw on May 29, 2004 19:10:58 GMT -5
Although the drake are not yet at snow storm level the fish are getting better at eating them. This evening the spinner return was quite special. Some big fish around and they ate my PPSG (Poly Prop Spent Gnat) with confidence. Has anyone else tried it yet?
Out again next Tuesday and Wednesday on the Peacock water so expect gushing feedback around Thursday.
richard
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Post by pbannis on Jun 1, 2004 6:00:33 GMT -5
I fished the Derbyshire Derwent @ Darley Dale bank holiday monday from 1200-1800. Down to summer levels. A steady trickle of mayflies from 1300 until I had to return to family duties and left the river. A steady number of rising trout, some taking the mayflies but some locked onto small black things.
Reasonable success with size 12 CDC Mayfly Dun.
Treating myself (and really looking forward to) a day on the Peacock water this Sunday. No family duties so I'll be there until sunset
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Post by richardw on Jun 3, 2004 10:01:27 GMT -5
I fished the Derbyshire Derwent @ Darley Dale bank holiday monday from 1200-1800. Down to summer levels. A steady trickle of mayflies from 1300 until I had to return to family duties and left the river. A steady number of rising trout, some taking the mayflies but some locked onto small black things. Reasonable success with size 12 CDC Mayfly Dun. Treating myself (and really looking forward to) a day on the Peacock water this Sunday. No family duties so I'll be there until sunset If things stay as they have been you are in for a treat. Tie some of these: flyforums.proboards53.com/index.cgi?board=flytying&action=display&thread=1085580497 richard
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Post by richardw on Jun 3, 2004 10:11:43 GMT -5
Those of you getting to the Wye in the next few days have a good chance of being very pleased with your choice for a day of good dry fly fishing. Tuesday weather was mainly wet with a drier, but humid, few moments between showers. Drake were all over throughout the day up to 20:00. Spinner came in ones and twos and the fish were happy to eat them. BUT there was no spinner fall proper that evening. My guess was that it had turned just a bit too cold and wet for them so they waited under the countless leaves of the nearby trees…<br> Wednesday was a marked contrast, starting and staying blazing hot all day long. It was a good old-fashioned mayfly day with the duns coming off at all times but not in a frenzied blizzard. However, throughout the whole of the day there were male spinners dancing in the lee of everything… bushes, trees, walls, gate posts even the angler as he wandered in delight through the meadows along the banks. To reduce the catch to reasonable proportions, I rationed myself to selected fish (no not just whoppers but fish in tricky spots and so on) and spent a lot of time sitting hidden so that I could see what was going on. One such going on was the diligent activity of the voles upstream of Wye Farm that, if they were human workers, would have been assumed to be on piecework rates! Proceedings were halted for an interlude after I had slipped trying to get out on an old fallen tree trunk to cast to some otherwise impregnable fish. I landed ASTRIDE the log with the inevitable results. Fortunately I didn’t break my 35-year-old rod but my 56-year-old rod and attachments did give me cause for concern in the few minutes before breathing was again possible! As the sun narrowed its angle the female spinners began their return. This actually interfered with Sport at first as the fish chose not to wait for their second remove. Instead they leapt rather impolitely into the air to seize what spinners they could. Soon, enough of the spinners had completed their mission and began to drift, spread-eagled, into the feed lane currents. Aha! Now the aerobatics were over and steady, placid sippings replaced violent crashes. It was time for this year’s attempt at the spent gnat (see PPSG) flyforums.proboards53.com/index.cgi?board=flytying&action=display&thread=1085580497in the fly tying section. I had made an attempt last year but was as unconvinced as some of the trout had been. Things were not quite right with it. Whilst I was tying a few at Chatsworth Angling Fair this year, I mentioned this to Gareth (the new keeper on the Wye with Warren). He suggested that instead of trying to get the shade of grey/blue “right” that I instead mixed pure white and pure black polyprop. fibres to make the “grey/blue” effect for the spent wings. The difference is quite amazing. When a fly representing a spinner is near but not totally convincing the fish seem cautious. Even if they take it, they do so with an alarmed splash and are quick to let go. When an artificial spinner is right the fish are totally convinced and take the fly in exactly the same way that they take the real flies. Thus it was last night. Sport became so brisk that my greed alarm went off and I decided to stop fishing and did so gladly. I had seen and done enough. “Seen” that all is well with the river that taught me nearly everything. “Done” in that I was so very happy it would have been impossible to add to my delight. Back at the Peacock I read the logbook entries for the two days from other rods. These showed I was not alone in having a great time. Twelve rods of various abilities and all of them delighted, what a wonderful river. (What wonderful keepering…) I have already booked my days for next year. I still think the BWO is king but it is just great to have a really good day with the mayfly. richard
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Post by IanH on Jun 3, 2004 14:30:51 GMT -5
I was out on Tuesday. Got absolutely soaked walking through the wet grass - had to wring my socks out twice! But none of that mattered after the first fish – the fishing was and always is superb it always amazes me that you can get such fishing on such a lovely stretch of river in such a beautiful part of the country on a day ticket.
There seemed to be a large number of very large browns about - fish of 20”, two of 18” as well as quite a few others. Nothing quite like seeing a 3lb Brown leap clear of the water to grab a mayfly from the air before the duck gets it! I seemed to be preceded everywhere by ducklings hurtling from one side of the river to the other grabbing mayflies before they flew off – had to lift mine off more than once to stop a duckling taking it.
All credit to Warren and the Peacock for keeping the river in such fantastic condition and making it available to all. Warren got a special mention from one of the hotel guests I met; he’d spent the morning with him showing him the river and how to get the best out of it.
Can’t wait for the summer when the sunlight and clear water will make spotting and stalking with tiny flies possible; can’t beat it in my book.
Got my next two day’s booked and expecting it to get better and better all the way through the season.
Ian
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Post by Ifor on Jun 3, 2004 14:49:52 GMT -5
RichardW & IanH agree with everything you say regarding Warren and the river, great value day ticket.
Pity the same cant be said about the booking system at the hotel, they promise to ring back, Im still waiting, and its not as if its happened once.
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Post by WarrenSlaney on Jun 3, 2004 16:13:59 GMT -5
"It'll want concreting tommorra"
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Post by richardw on Jun 3, 2004 16:45:29 GMT -5
"It'll want concreting tommorra" Aye annit all bi thy fault an'all!!! I can hear it now... "Where are all the fish?" (You have everyone's permission to feel a little bit smug if you want to...) Tip for regulars: Keep an eye out for some more in-stream features Warren and Gareth have created. Some very clever tricks with logs and willow posts and whips to make feed lanes and clean gravel scours. They are hardly noticeable as you go by but are already having a positive effect. richard
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Post by WarrenSlaney on Jun 3, 2004 17:11:16 GMT -5
"it always amazes me that you can get such fishing on such a lovely stretch of river in such a beautiful part of the country on a day ticket."
Most rivers in the same position would, of course be syndicated. The Wye is day ticket because the lease used to belong to the Peacock even though Haddon own the river. The arrangement in those days used to be Day Ticket because it was fine that way for the residents. When Haddon bought the Peacock Hotel back(although not the 125k pot bird) and took over the lease, we looked at turning into a syndicate like our neighbours at Chatsworth. It is surely twice as much money for half as much pressure. Fortunately it remains DT because the voice who called for day tickets for the public...to help fishing remain less exclusive and gain more friends, won through.
Thanks for your support.
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Post by IanH on Jun 3, 2004 17:33:57 GMT -5
Fortunately it remains DT because the voice who called for day tickets for the public...to help fishing remain less exclusive and gain more friends, won through. Thanks for your support. Very grateful to those individuals. Ian
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Post by pbannis on Jun 4, 2004 7:12:56 GMT -5
I'd echo the feelings about keeping the Peacock Water as a day ticket enterprise. I try to fish it 3-6 times per year and find it superb.
I'm at the stage of my life when if it was syndicated I'd be first on the waiting list but this was not always the case.
I returned to fishing about 5 years ago having been immersed in climbing & mountaineering, a fairly frequent transition from the vertical to the horizontal with advancing years ( with such famous climbers as Joe Brown Yvonne Chouinard leading the way). A new obsession was born ,thank god.
My exposure to the Wye has been a delight and without I just feel I would have missed out on a real component of the Britsh fishing experience. The altruistic part of myself wishes it to be available to as many people as possible. The other, smaller, part of me wants to e-mail Warren Slaney to put my name down just in case it was syndicated.
In reply to Richardw: I've tied some spinners up but only with white wings. They worked on the Derwent on Wednesday but it will be back to the vice tonight for a few with black/white wings.
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Post by lancelot on Jun 4, 2004 7:41:19 GMT -5
Is it correct that there is some sort of syndicate Grayling fishing later in the year? And how does one apply to join?
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PSB
Junior Member
Posts: 64
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Post by PSB on Jun 4, 2004 7:42:56 GMT -5
Like Richard I was fortunate to be on the Wye on Wednesday and it was a day to remember, the river is in top condition, the fly life was more than enough to satisfy even the old timers and the fish, well heres the catch 22 tag, the fish are the best educated in the UK.
There are plenty of fish to see especially if you deploy a degree of stealth, however to river novice (15 yrs fly fishing, last two on the rivers) like me it was a day to remind me of how much further I have to go to become useful in catching terms. I tried loads of different patterns, size 10 mayflies down 16 PPSG and 18 tups in the evening.
Even though I say it myself my casting was at time dam near perfect and heres the real catch 22, to buy a few seconds more drag free drift you have build extra slack into your cast, the fish takes the fly and before you can tighten its spit the whole thing out in a blink of an eye.
At one point I had a one to one challenge with a 20" rainbow I had located tucked away in a little back water current on the far bank, I spent a full hour absorbed trying to get this canny fish to take however it reacted with a mixture of disdain and fishy laughter at my various attempts to fool him/her ?
The fish I caught were gratefully returned a little wiser than before and I hope the same can be said of me.
The Wye at this time of year is the complete package, great river, wonderful surroundings, beautiful fish and a challenge to exercise your mind and skills. Everything needs to come together to fool the bigger fish and one day I hope it will, until then I will "make do" having fun.
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Post by richardw on Jun 4, 2004 12:34:59 GMT -5
The Wye at this time of year is the complete package, great river, wonderful surroundings, beautiful fish and a challenge to exercise your mind and skills. Everything needs to come together to fool the bigger fish and one day I hope it will, until then I will "make do" having fun. It will come together. The more you do the more together it will become. Focus on your ability to "make do" and have fun because that is what really matters. Something beautiful just happens to you and success (if measured in fish caught) becomes the norm for you and guess what? It doesn't matter anymore. The joy is more important to you. Folks around you will gasp at your success but you won't care. You will struggle to explain to those you think might listen but you feel that you cannot get your message through. That's the price you pay for entering this special state of mind and ability. It's worth paying... richard
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Post by lancelot on Jun 4, 2004 16:43:24 GMT -5
Is it correct that there is some sort of syndicate Grayling fishing later in the year? And how does one apply to join? Hello, Can any of you please answer my queerie? I may take this as a Southerners question but please dont ignore me
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