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Post by Pond321 on Apr 15, 2005 6:22:43 GMT -5
Ah - afraid not - the other half has invited loads of her friend round for dinner and I am cooking Great Bass fishing in Weymouth - caught my first Bass on the fly there last year........ Perhaps we can catch up in a couple of weeks - I am in maderia for the next week or so. Cheers Jon
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Post by Pond321 on Apr 17, 2005 11:41:12 GMT -5
Went for a few hours on saturday. Lots more fish rising - confirms my suspicions that the river fishes best in the middle of the day this time of year.
Only managed one though. It was a nice fish, my biggest yet at 13 inches. Caught it on a grey paradum a couple of pools up from the hatchgate bridge. Managed to miss loads more - although some were small I think (dace??)
Walked up to the top weir. Met another chap on the stretch above the top bridge. We had a chat but I did not ask him his name. He had managed 5 (!!!) that morning. He showed me one of the nymphs he uses - not what I expected, a size 12 bright green thing with a gold bead and a soft hackle like a spider.
How did you get on on friday Bri?? Looked like grim weather........
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Post by FlyBri on Apr 18, 2005 3:21:12 GMT -5
The weather was grim but I had a grin! A fantastic afternoon / evening on the river. I had a nice take on a paradun which only stayed on for a few seconds due to my sloppy reactions in setting the hook. This was in the same deep pool at the dog leg just above the back stream. I then wandered down to the first right set of pools above the overhead powerlines bridge (what's that bridge called?). Here, on a wee gold head green tailed nymph with a white hackle, I took a fantastic long brownie. A few photos were taken on the old mobile and if I ever figure out how to get them onto my laptop I'll post them here. The fish was somewhere in the region of 1 and 3/4 the length of the cork handle on my rod looking at the photos now, so a very good size indeed - and with a huge spade like tail. I then fished up the river with no success until I again reached the pool I'd had the paradun take on earlier. Here, offering the same GH nymph, I had success and another good sized brownie came to hand. I then proceeded (to plagiarize PB) to decorate the English countryside with my flies. I sense a trip to Orvis coming on again (don’t tell the wife!).
Here's a question - does anyone know what the strip of single wire signifies along the bank at certain stretches? It seems to cross over the river a few hundred yards above the overhead powerlines...
Bri
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Post by FlyBri on Apr 18, 2005 5:46:21 GMT -5
This from Ken's website:
"11th April 2005
Wanted to redeem my efforts from the past week so took a day off and headed out on Monday to avoid the crowds. Fished from about 1130 until 1600 starting down in the jungle. Air temperature 17C with mostly sunshine and a few cloudy patches. A small amount of sedge coming off the water with a few rises - mostly very subtle rises which look like small fish but there were some surprises in store. Had a nice wild brownie down in the jungle then went through a lot of missed takes and fish that came off. It was a lean patch until I took two nice dace at the cattle crossing on the double bend.
Up at the backstream I noticed the water flow had changed with the bubble line way over to the left (it used to come down the middle). I searched the first bay then noticed a slight rise just at the top of it and took another wild brownie. The day was looking up. I continued around the corner - for no reason other than that I had not fished that stretch for a long time. Came across a few rising fish which I thought were just dace or small brownies. Missed the first one then after a few more casts got another small take which turned out to be a two pounder! He was a bit lethargic at first and had some cormorant damage but after a little while he put up a fight. Too big to be a recent stockie so I guess he must have overwintered at least once. Just for luck I cast to the same area and right away had a wild brownie. Noticed another slight rise so once again cast in the same spot and this time hooked into a very strong fish which turned out to be a one pounder. Didn't look like a stockie (had the silver colour of a wild fish and fought like one too) so I'll put him down as a wild brownie. Fished on for a bit longer up to the Hart spotting the odd rise and had a few misses. Interesting day."
I've emailed Ken to point him in our direction.
Bri
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Post by FlyBri on Apr 22, 2005 3:21:38 GMT -5
Will be making my outing on Saturday morning this week - intent on landing my first river trout on a dry fly of the season. Anyone going to be out at that time?
Bri
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Post by JayP on Apr 22, 2005 4:06:06 GMT -5
Bri, looking at the weather for tomorrow i think your dryfly could reverse in to a buzzer with the downpour forecast! ;D. I will be on the lower FAS stretch sunday so let me know how you get on. Good luck and avoid the lightning strikes.......
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TBird
New Member
Posts: 29
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Post by TBird on Apr 23, 2005 3:17:57 GMT -5
What flies, generally, appear to be most successful at the moment? - GH nymphs of various types? I've just joined FDAS on the Thurs/Fri/Sat rota and am itching to get on the water - doubt, however that it will be before next weekend as SWMBO has other plans for me today
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Post by DragginFly on Apr 24, 2005 7:09:28 GMT -5
Hi there guys I don't often come on to this forum so its great to see so many forum members fishing the Whitewater. I'll try to get here more often. Last year I did drown but it was in work rather than the river. Fortunately I kept up an email trail with TvD (Torsten) so I was able to reproduce my diary. Hope to keep it more up to date this year. I've shifted to the Sun-Tue slot as it fits my work patterns better. Both Torsten and I each picked up a Vision Midge rod 5'9" for a #3 and it's magic but takes a bit of getting used to. Its fibreglass so I don't get that little tingle from the overhead power lines. I mainly fish dry fly so things are a bit slow so far this year. The best time of day is without doubt between 2.30 and 4.30 at the moment. They are not fussy so a paradun or elk hair rcaddis around #14 or #16 usually does the trick. Bri - sorry for the name mistake which I will fix. Also - I didn't get your email so it might have been eaten by the spam checker. Watch out for those wires across the river. They are electric fencing. Another reason for the glass rod. Not sure how often the electricity is on/off but you are welcome to test it out Keep those reports coming in Added: Don't forget to check the FDAS web site for the latest newsletter
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Post by FlyBri on Apr 25, 2005 4:21:34 GMT -5
Good to see Dragginfly on the forum again!
Well I went out from 10 till 2 on Saturday and have to say I found it much more difficult than previous outings. I saw 2 fish rising in the whole time I was on the river and not much movement below the surface either. I landed one of the rising fish on the old faithful GH nymph (a fish of around 8 inches) which was on a pool on a bend just down stream of the powerlines but failed to get a touch otherwise.
In terms of flies, at the moment I've caught fish on GH nymphs, heavily weighted czech nymphs and had a take on a paradun. Soon I'd think we'll be getting out of having to use the gold heads and more into drys and lighter nymphs.
Bri
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TBird
New Member
Posts: 29
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Post by TBird on May 1, 2005 0:09:43 GMT -5
Great site Dragginfly Does your map show the main pools? Anyone fishing yesterday? I had my first day out on the river yesterday - more of a recon, really - at least, that's my excuse for not catching! In truth, saw very little except for a very good fish (which I managed to spook) 100 yards above the bottom (Ford) bridge. TBird
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Post by Pond321 on May 2, 2005 7:15:08 GMT -5
Went up on Friday and saturday.
Did not fish well on Friday - I had fly turnover issues and managed to spook several fish. I took a couple of small (6-8 inch) fish on the straight above the hecklefield bridge.
Went back on saturday, had an amazing day!! Took seven fish (5 trout, 2 dace). Two of the fish were well over 1 LB. Caught them all between the concrete bridge under the pylons and the hecklefield bridge. All were rising fish that I cast to. Really exciting fishing, some fish were literally 4 yards away from me, tucked right into the bank. You had to land a dry fly right under the opposite bank - they would not touch a fly that was even 6 inches away from the bank. Amazingly, I only lost two flies all day which is a record for me.......All fish taken on the usual size 14 grey paradun.
Met several members, Paul the river keeper, a new member called Chris and another chap who I met last week but whom I have not actually exchanged names with.
All in all, a fantastic weekend!!!!
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Post by ben wynde on May 3, 2005 3:36:43 GMT -5
Fished on Sunday which was my first opportunity to fish the ‘middle of the day’ from 13:00 to 16:00. Weather was pleasant with reasonable cloud cover and gusting downstream wind. Must admit that the water was a bit more coloured than I had anticipated. Walking down to the bottom of the copse from Holdshott Farm there wasn’t too much doubt in my head as to what fly was going to be my first choice – Hawthorns were everywhere and the fish were moving. Hopes were high!
I got in at the bottom of the copse and just waited rather than blundering on as I usually do. A couple of fish were working the seam at the top of the pool where the flow is deflected by the tree roots. On went a small black number and the fishing began. With the correct drift in the correct channel interest was guaranteed. Anything marginally offline was treated with contempt. Managed to catch two fish, both of 10 – 12 inches and wild, and moved on with the fish still rising.
Fished the long lazy stretch up to the farm, a piece of the river I haven’t paid too much attention to in the past. On the way a quick look in the backstream showed the tremendous potential for this river. It was full of fry. Coupled with this the new plant growth that has been encouraged by the winter cutting looks really promising. On this stretch a few fish were rising to the trapped Hawthorns. Again line and length was imperative and I dropped a couple of fish and landed one more – again a wild looking fish. I will keep an eye on this stretch; as it is relatively wide and slow here the bottom has become quite silty – I think that this will be a prime emergence zone come mayfly time.
Last spot was the run that flows just alongside the cattle barn. There wasn’t much movement but there was one spot where a fish was rising each time something went over. It was tight into the opposite bank just alongside some tree roots. Bolstered by my earlier success I had a crack at the fish. On a couple of occasions I thought that I must have put him down. But with a rest he was still there. Got one cast absolutely spot on, couldn’t miss, rise, strike, missed. Pants! Another rest and tried again – same cast, same drift, same rise – bingo. One very angry trout was quickly bought to the net and released.
Went home quite happy.
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TBird
New Member
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Post by TBird on May 6, 2005 10:53:02 GMT -5
Had to work on the Bank Holiday monday so took a day in lieu today and went down to the river for my first proper session on it.
Christened my new 7'6"rod by taking a nice 1lb brown and two others of 10" and 8" - all from the same pool just upstream of the concrete bridge, plus 3 much smaller fish. Hawthorns everywhere but trout didn't seem that interested in my imitation. All fell to a 14 paradun. Lovely warm breeze. Days don't get much better than this.
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Post by ben wynde on May 10, 2005 3:43:11 GMT -5
On a bright and blustery evening I popped down to the Whitewater for a brief session, starting at the bottom of the copse. I had half expected to see some Mayfly but none were in evidence. The last of the Hawthorns were being mopped up and there was a sporadic hatch of Olives.
I started with a CDC Olive and after a f*g break I was casting at rising fish. I found it difficult to get the correct drift and the fly was studiously ignored despite it being in the ‘right’ place. Changing to a Hawthorn imitation I immediately began to secure interest. Tight into the bank a trout took the fly and I only had time to register the power of the fish as it dove deep before the hook hold failed. Changing again, to a Hares Ear Klinkhammer, I concentrated on the same drift. Soon I was into another fish and an 8” brown was quickly returned. Moving slightly further upstream just downstream of the creaky footbridge the same fly accounted for a similar sized trout that I had spotted rising and worked my way up to.
My session was coming to a close and for the last 15 minutes I concentrated on the pool just upstream of the footbridge were the main current comes across the backstream and the main flow swings around. Standing downstream of this point I was casting almost perpendicular to the flow which made it easier to present the fly tight into the marginal vegetation where I had spotted a trout ‘porpoising’. First cast was in the zone and a splashy rise met the fly. Again I lost this fish which felt like it was of a reasonable size. I rested the drift for another minute or so and attempted the same cast. This time the connection was solid and a powerful fish was boring into the marginal vegetation. For the first time this year the line was back on the reel and the drag being used. After a brief tussle and some fun with the rushes the fish was in the net. A handsome fish, that I feel was probably stocked, of 12 – 14”. It was returned without delay. With a few minutes left I tried the same cast and drift, more in hope than expectation. As a result I was shocked as the fly was again taken. Another good sized fish, again stocked, was soon to hand. On inspection the trout had a big flesh wound, may be two inches long, along its flank and joining the vent. However the wound appeared to be healing and the fish was clearly able to hold station in the main flow of the river and feed. I cradled the fish in the river until its body began to pulse and it was able to shoot off again, back upstream.
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Post by FlyBri on May 12, 2005 4:04:59 GMT -5
Anyone out there later today? I'll be there from 2 till around 6 I think... Tough thing this working from home!
Bri
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