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Post by richardw on Apr 7, 2004 11:57:05 GMT -5
I don't care if is wet tomorrow - there is a scive coming on even if it is only for a few hours. Maundy Thursday means I have to be away for Jackson in G and Byrd Ave Verum by 16:00. We have had so much very welcome water these last few days that I can't wait to see what it has been doing. If I'm lucky the sun will come out and we shall have a few terrestrials on the menu. Methinks a Double Badger to begin with, size 12?
Anyone else been fishing in Derbyshire since All Fool's?
richard
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Post by fluffflicker on Apr 8, 2004 5:45:58 GMT -5
Hi Richard,
One reply to both of your last two posts.
I have ventured forth twice, 1st and 7th and what a difference between the two days. Had some superb sport on All Fools with terrestrials and a reasonable hatch of olives around 1pm. The real fools were those who stayed away - I never saw another angler...
Yesterday, having failed to check beforehand with the hotel staff, and (to be completely honest) on a bit of a scive myself, I was disappointed to see the river high and coloured. I hadn't read your post from the 5th (I have only just seen it today), but my reasoning followed your own quite closely.
I began at the very top with a coffee and a few minutes "river watching". The clarity here was not good but it was most certainly better than downstream. It was belting through, but close inspection revealed a quartet of fish moving right in the edges and in the slightly slacker water. No olives visible; only small black beetle-y things (I'm no entomologist). A small black beetle took 3 of these in-the-edges fish, interestingly a Wye MacNab (Rainbow, then grayling, then brown) - always a good way to start.
Down above the sheepwash bridge, tucked up into the bank under the big sycamore, I spied another riser. Tricky presentation here. Not only the sidecast necessary, but also the drag from the slightly quicker water where you need to cast from... Sidecasting? Drag? Old enemies, but overcome once again, and another lovely wild rainbow came skittering to hand.
Time was marching on and the scive was nearing its end, but I noticed a couple of decent looking fish above the weir on the left hand bank. Got the first one, a grayling, on the black, and the second kept rising... Closer inspection showed it to be a biggish rainbow. My cast was perfect, up until the thin unseen twig above it got in the way and snared my fly. You can't, and don't win 'em all.
I saw the good fish below the bridge, but had no time for the Ward-esque "creep and wait" which would have been necessary, so I'll leave them for another day.
Good fishing...
fluff
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Post by HarryOtter on Apr 8, 2004 9:21:39 GMT -5
Great post....."Wye MacNab"...brilliant!
HO
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Post by richardw on Apr 8, 2004 18:22:37 GMT -5
That was nice fluff. Your second trip turned out quite special despite the coloured water...
Today's scive was a delight (with some bizarre moments).
Buzzards wheeling over head, sunshine to get a few duns up, bumblebees working over the Lesser Celandine and also drawing my attention to some tiny purple flowered Dead Nettle that was already in bloom. The stinging nettles are getting going and boy are they painful right now. At this time of year it is as well to watch where you put your hands when you are getting up to move - there are no dock leaves yet!!!
There was a very strong hatch of Large Dark Olives from about 12:45 through to 14:30. The sun definitely had plenty to do with this. No real difference in temperature but plenty to do with light values. Once the clouds came over the LDO stopped hatching. Only to start again as soon as the light improved.
Started with a Double Badger and caught two small rainbows immediately. Decided to go and try in the edges of the violent water near the weirs so put up a Red Hackle. Very effective but changed over to a large Grey Duster to be more in keeping with the LDO. I would have changed to the Grey Duster eventually but was forced to change from my Red Hackle after an experience I have never had with trout before ----
Almost all of us who have fished for roach have occasionally had them stolen by big pike on the retrieve. The poor little fish is just grabbed and that's it! Gone! If a small pike gets hold sometimes you can end up landing them, but a big'un just breaks everything and clears off with your prize. Today I was quickly bringing a 4 or 5 ounce brownie to me for release. It was a couple of yards from me (and safety) when a brown of about 5 lbs just shot forwards, grabbed my little trout and just kept going. It was so violent in the rush that it straightened the hook almost as straight as a needle. There was blood in the water. It was just like a shark attack in miniature. The pool is in the tail of a very powerful weir. I bet these big fish just hang around in wait for any smaller fish that slip over the weir and get knocked about a bit. Roll on mayfly time when I will try to meet up with the whopper on more favourable terms.
Just before packing up I caught a 2lbs plus hen brownie that on the right side was immaculate but on the left had a big wound that must have once been life threatening. She was in great condition for so early in the year and I really think she is going to make it. The wound was from no big fish though. My diagnosis was - heron. Eyes bigger than his belly no doubt.
The recent rain has done wonders. The river is bank high and really flowing quite hard. Every fish was punching above its weight in these great conditions.
Have any of you listened to the song of a wren at this time of year? One was so loud this afternoon during tea break that I had to ask THRK what it was - it was so LOUD!
Another creature punching above his weight, eh?
richard
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Post by ACW on Apr 9, 2004 10:19:49 GMT -5
Richard ,yes we wrens are noisy beggars theres one flits around the local Highbury gardens and out sings many larger birds and at length . Think I,ll hit the garden for a wee while its the nicest day for weeks .
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Post by richardw on Apr 9, 2004 16:52:41 GMT -5
I bet you punch above your weight too! I'm out again tomorrow after completing a few chores. We have had bright weather today so if it is repeated tomorrow I'm expecting more Large Dark Olives... richard
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Post by The Otter Startler on Apr 10, 2004 5:26:15 GMT -5
Think I,ll hit the garden for a wee while its the nicest day for weeks . I think you'll find it scorches the grass, best use the borders. Mind you down in Wales we use "the Water Closet" when at home, the bush when not!
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Post by ACW on Apr 10, 2004 11:42:57 GMT -5
OS Punctuation was never one of my stronger points ,maybe I should edit my daft comment ,but then it would confuse the thread .
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Post by richardw on Apr 11, 2004 8:37:27 GMT -5
Saturday, and to a beat on a favourite tributary of the Wye that is about 2 miles upstream from its confluence with the mother river. Here the fish are just about always in very strong condition. Here a 12 oz fish pulls like one 4 oz over the pound rather than under it. It goes on like that up the range. They are wonderful fish, often tinged in red and they do very well. I imagine the river is a tough place to live. If any creature is the slightest bit out of sorts it is unlikely to survive very long as there is always something bigger and more vigorous to eat it! Why are these famous fish so very, very strong?
I believe it all started when Pangea was the world. A piece of the planet that eventually ended up as a valley and some small hills in Derbyshire was part of a vast freshwater lake, rich in calcium and magnesium salts from the enormous quantity of shelled creatures that lived and died here. A moss lived in the lake and a bacterium lived in this moss. The Earth’s upheavals distributed this piece of Pangea about the globe and the moss with its symbiotic colleague bacterium was distributed to this bit of Derbyshire and about 6 other places on the planet. The moss and the partner took and still take nutrients from the fresh water and produce a gritty by-product that forms clumps of rock called tufa (pronounced ‘tewfha’).
Ice ages came and went. After the last receding of the ice, this tributary’s valley found itself with water flowing as a limestone spring fed river that contained the special moss and its symbiotic bacteria. Brown trout colonised the river. They may have found it easy to make redds in the very beginning but the moss and bacteria were soon to make it harder for them. The tufa formed and still forms a matrix in the gravel, the equivalent to Nature’s own concrete! Gradually, the only female trout left that could successfully spawn in this river were very strong, able to withstand and recover from appalling self-inflicted injuries as they struggled to break the matrix and build redds. Thousands of years later, only strong fish exist in this river. Add in the rich food supply and the recipe for naturally producing a “super” fish strain is complete. So before I even start to fish I feel pretty lucky that I am allowed to be there at all! Saturday was like that with knobs on…<br> The Large Dark Olive made itself very conspicuous by its welcome presence. (THRK even caught me an Iron Blue Dun to show me, but it was the only one I saw all day.) LDO was plenty to be going on with, the fish were very keen. One had the feeling that the year was really getting under way now with fly life in relative abundance (for early April in the North of England anyway) and fish very quickly moving to the upper layers of the water to take advantage of the new bounty.
As the afternoon moved past three o’clock, it became just a bit too easy. So it was with pleasure I stopped fishing and watched the proceedings over the next hour, until the light started to dim, the air turned a little cooler, the fly stopped hatching and all went quiet.
In reflective mood, yours truly tiptoed away – quietly…<br> richard
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Post by richardw on Apr 15, 2004 15:35:49 GMT -5
For some strange reason Easter Monday was actually a little harder than Saturday had been. Fewer flies out and hence fewer fish making themselves available to me. Nevertheless, the Sport was steady enough to satisfy my humble ambitions for this time of the year, I even managed a couple of biggish browns (both hens I'm almost certain).
A feature in this first fortnight has been regular sightings of at least three buzzards who soar over the valley so frequently that it must be worth their while. I stopped fishing at one point so that I could observe a single bird criss crossing the valley in effortless looking glides and drifts until it settled in a tree at the top of a grassy and very steep hillside. Noting its form in the branches I found that I could spot it again at will when I came by this area later. What a healthy place for birds this estate must be: kestrels, sparrow hawks, tawny owls, buzzards and peregrines all seem able to get a living here. What next? Kites moving up from the M40?
I AM worried about the voles though. I haven't seen any at all this season. I will keep a special look out for them tomorrow - yes a scive is definitely in the offing...
Have any of you seen voles this season?
richard
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Post by richardw on Apr 19, 2004 5:03:43 GMT -5
BLANK! Blank? How can a day by the water ever be dismissed in so curt a fashion? It was wet, yes. It was cool in the fairly strong South Westerly. I didn’t catch any fish so it was technically – BLANK! But... The riverside is a great place to be even when catching nowt. Sundays spent fishing are rare for me. However, right now is the short break after Easter and the Choir is “resting” until next week, so out to the water. The day started well enough with a chance at the little fishing house to enjoy a cuppa and light refreshments with the River Keeper (RK), his Better Half (BH) and the New Keeper (NK), who had joined the Estate a whole 24 hours earlier. The early afternoon was spent waiting for the rain to abate and watching Lapwings in the great meadow on the right bank. This year the farmer was good enough to have all his chain harrowing etc. completed well before April so the birds would be undisturbed during nesting time. They seem to be taking the benefit of the peace and the fact that it is a long way for the badgers to go, from their woods to the middle expanses of this big space, if they fancied a few eggs or chicks. Some of the birds are marked in the most exotic fashion and it was particularly noticeable how they varied from each other in colour and degree of lightness or darkness in their plumage. It IS a far cry from the days of my childhood when Lapwing flocks were measured in hundreds. Today one is delighted to see a flock that might just be qualified for counting in dozens. So it was good to see what might be the start of a growth in population in these parts. I will keep an eye on them and report accordingly. Some fly struggled off the water and the first fish I saw made one very splashy attack right next to the fishing house about twelve feet from me whilst I was drinking tea. This (very short) area I leave alone. These fish are for me to watch and for guests and other rods to catch (if they can). Mid-afternoon and the RK and his BH had to leave but the NK was welcome company as we wandered off down river to slowly work our way up and see if there was a chance. One fish rose twice on our way down and I made a note to approach it on the way back up after I crossed the river by the lower footbridge as the right bank would be the better side for its lie. The grass is now peppered liberally with lesser celandine but in the rain the colour was more towards ochre than bright chrome yellow, each flower head being tightly folded closed until the return of the sun. What will the bees do in the meantime? Visit the kingcups no doubt, now that they are fully open and don’t hide themselves as much as the lesser celandine. The water fined off a little and it was possible to see fish in some of the smoother water but they were all firmly ensconced on or very near the riverbed and nothing seemed to be on the fin. Wandering slowly back up stream, now on the right bank, the solitary riser’s lie was approached. Hmm! There was absolutely no sign of it…<br> Never mind. There was much else to see. Blossoms were opening on the Blackthorn and I noticed one or two very straight shoots that will do for rod tips to cut between Michaelmas and Candlemas next. Here and there a token cast was made to likely looking runs but the day was growing a hard shade of grey now and the rain was getting slightly heavier in the chilling wind. Butter burr has gained ascendancy once more over gravel and stone by thrusting its pink flowering spikes skywards. Make a mental note that their rhubarb shaped leaves will make welcome hiding places come high Summer. Meanwhile, it would be nice if Spring would be a little less shy and made an early return to the year’s proceedings…<br> The upper footbridge was eventually reached and after lingering awhile we crossed to the fishing house where the Kelly Kettle was waiting for fresh water and a new fire. Hot tea and a few chocolate digestives (donated earlier by the RK) saved us both from hypothermia. We watched a pair of Lapwings emphatically dismiss a stalking Heron from the centre of the meadow and then restate their marriage vows with a brilliant aerobatic display to each other before settling back down again. Interesting that the Heron was working the ground rather than the river. Are they a threat to Lapwing eggs or chicks? It was well past four so we decided to pack up and go home. Blank? No. I had a lovely time… After all, "The riverside is a great place to be even when catching nowt." But… I really would have liked to catch just one little trout! Blank? Yes. BLANK! richard
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Post by swifty on Apr 19, 2004 6:03:30 GMT -5
The early afternoon was spent waiting for the rain to richard Richard, I take the point about blank days being time well spent in their own way. The river I mostly fish is sometimes coloured by artificial spates from the dams up-river. In these conditions I usually do a bit of recce on stretches I am not familiar with. Also watch for kingfishers and raptors. On the subject of rain, are there tactics that work better when its actually falling? I will usually just fish through showers. Cheers, S
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Post by richardw on Apr 19, 2004 7:18:30 GMT -5
Richard, I take the point about blank days being time well spent in their own way. The river I mostly fish is sometimes coloured by artificial spates from the dams up-river. In these conditions I usually do a bit of recce on stretches I am not familiar with. Also watch for kingfishers and raptors. On the subject of rain, are there tactics that work better when its actually falling? I will usually just fish through showers. Cheers, S If the fly are pushing through regardless then it is certainly worth fishing through. In fact last season I stopped fishing during prolonged rainfall and coloured water, not because of lack of fish, but because the fish were flinging themselves at the fly and I couldn't see them beforehand, a) I was catching too many and b) I was unable to control which fish were presented to. It is easy when you can see the quarry to reduce the numbers being caught simply by being very selective as to which fish will be cast to. My only option on that day was to stop fishing. richard
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Post by richardw on Apr 26, 2004 10:03:48 GMT -5
Saturday, lower beat of a much loved tributary and a very peculiar experience indeed...
Arrived at the water somewhat late. I was looking forward to a pleasant afternoon after all the recent cold and wet. Passed through the gate upstream of the fishing house and entering a tiny streamside copse I became aware of a commotion at the water's edge.
On first examination it appeared that a coot was engaged in a furious battle with a large, overdone, crusty farmhouse loaf! The loaf was certainly doing quite well as it kept climbing up into her nest despite an astonishing onslaught of peckings that would have killed most rats or other pillagers of nests.
I moved in for a better view. Aha! The loaf has legs! It also poked out a head with yellow green stripes over the eyes, under which a mouth with pinkish insides snapped in ostentatious malevolence.
This was a creature of quite different character from my old tortoise that in the '50s crawled around my grandad's lawn dragging his tether that was affixed through a neat hole drilled in the rear of his carapace.
The coot was losing the battle to keep this miniature Abrams away from her eggs and so, as this was no native egg thief, I intervened and went to the rescue.
The terrapin (for such it was) didn't care for my presence one jot, turned and with a strong kick from its hind legs was soon in the water and swimming quite well in urgent evacuation. I pushed forward getting in front of it and when it turned to try another route it swam into my landing net that was waiting for just such evasion. A few minutes later it was locked in the fishing house awaiting later attention.
What clots there are! Clots for bringing in foreign species. Clots for buying them as pets. Clots for disposing of them carelessly when they get big and awkward.
Does anyone on these fora know of any zoos or respectable collectors that might want this particular specimen?
Back to Derbyshire fishing as opposed to Derbyshire "terrapinning", it was a glorous afternoon but the fly was sparse and mixed. There were craneflies, sedges, midges and one or two olives, a very strange mix for the time of year. Sport was to be had though but it demanded a lot of careful observation before casting. Grey Duster worked but I found the bushy Double Badger served better.
The voles were out and busy, which pleased me enormously as I had seen sign but no actual voles until now.
Water Avens are just starting to poke through and the yellow heads of Lesser Celandine have become the main subject matter of the meadows instead of mere punctuation.
On a big island, I sat under a tall beech tree surrounded by cowslips. The fish I was hoping to see near there were hidden by the reflections so I will have to try another time in different light conditions. It was still worth a few minutes, simply to be surrounded by such beauty.
Late on I wandered up the right bank of the upper stretch of this beat. I have always used the left bank here but for a change this year I am trying all the places no one bothers with. I approached a pool under a giant ash tree that on the left bank is noted for its excellent sport. On the right bank the afternoon light proved perfect for observation. A trout rose mid-stream and took a clumsy sedge that had just been involved in what now turned out to be a fatal accident. I cast to where I thought the trout was and got it wrong by about 6 feet too much. The trout, now lined by my incompetence, immediately moved away. I decided to wait and watch awhile. How pleased I am that I waited. I didn't catch any fish but I watched a shoal of decent grayling begin their spawning on the gravel lift at the exit of this pool. Trout are impressive when spawning but grayling are just so very much more graceful and beautiful in their movements together. An hour soon went.
Despite the foreign invader, it was a lovely afternoon.
richard
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Post by WarrenSlaney on May 2, 2004 3:41:58 GMT -5
While I was dealing with a barrow full of knocked up quick drying concrete and pluging leaks in a pipe line to a fish pond, I was unable to attend the usual problems of a bank holiday on the rivers. Thanks for your help Richard. You reprimanded a local gardener for tipping garden waste and grass cuttings into the river (treating it like a drain) and caught two poachers and seized tackle. You were then quite willing to follow it all up with statements and witness accounts.
Thanks
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