Magic Beans

Today I decided to some more exploring and as the small streams are so low decided to try a small river I haven't fished for a few years. This river was the scene of my first river brown trout on the fly.
Arriving at the first deep pool I caught three small trout with my first three casts! However they were all 6-8oz and whilst they were beautiful fish I was hoping to find something a little larger.
Having had a frustrating time fishing with Matt I took my time, wading carefully and trying to put myself in the best position to make a first cast in each likely spot. I still managed to find a few trees but definitely got more in the right place. Fishing with Matt had taught me you often only get one good chance in each swim.
The river was very low and I was having to remove weed from my lures every time the lure nicked the bottom, it was driving me mad! A quick rummage through my box produced one of Mark Houghtons custom made Snap Beans (see 'Links'), the last one of what was a small shoal before a variety of snags claimed them.  They are buoyant and run nice and shallow and it is easy to control the depth they run by varying the speed of retrieve.
I found a long pool with some slightly deeper water, maybe a couple of feet, and ignored the sluggish tail and walked to the head of the pool where the flow was faster and the water more oxygenated.
Luckily the first cast landed in the tongue of faster water and after a couple of turns of the reel handle all hell broke lose! The fish leapt straight out about two feet in the air and my legs went to jelly at the sight of it. This fish was clearly in a different class to most I've seen in rivers locally. It went on a blistering run down the pool, leaping and cartwheeling as it went and I was praying for the hooks to hold. I played it back to my feet and it then tore off to the head of the pool before suddenly turning and swimming straight towards me. Everything went slack and I thought for one horrible moment that I'd blown it and lost the fish. Winding furiously I was suddenly back in touch. I was a few feet up the bank and I grabbed the net which was behind me and threw it into the water and slid down the bank on my backside. Eventually I guided it over the net and breathed a huge sigh of relief. It looked enormous in the net. After such an epic battle I decided to rest the fish in the water while I quickly sorted the scales and camera out. I settled on a weight of 4lb 8oz and took a few quick pictures before returning the fish to the net. I have the camera set up with a short time delay and then it takes three pictures a couple of seconds apart. I quickly carried the fish in the net to the head of the pool so I could cradle it in the faster water to aid its recovery. After a few minutes I felt the strength return and with a kick of its tail it was gone. I was shaking from the excitement and sat down to recover myself! I had to tell someone so rang Matt as I knew he would know what it meant to me.
A four and a half pound wild brown trout is a good fish from any water in the country and I felt very lucky to have found one in a small local river. After contacting Mark and asking him for a few more magic beans the next task is to consult the maps and explore some more of this little gem.

One of Marks Magic Beans!

Field Repairs

Initially I thought I was only going to be able to snatch a few hours fishing on Wednesday morning and went to a lake where the perch often feed early. I had caught a few before receiving a message saying the work I had planned to do in the afternoon had been cancelled. A change of plan was required and I decided to check a new section of a small stream. Water levels are very low and I thought there might be a little more flow further downstream.

I spotted a few nice chub in a deep pool and was about to walk past them as they are out of season when I saw three brownies move from under the shade of an overhanging tree. The biggest of the three I estimated to be 2 or 3lb which is enormous for this stream. Big fish however, rarely get big by being stupid and the largest of the group vanished with the first plop of a lure cast to the head of the pool. I did manage to tempt one of the smaller fish, an absolutely gorgeous fish with textbook trout markings and colouration.

I  then broke the top 2'' of my rod off whilst untangling my line from around a branch stuck out low over the water. I had walked a few miles away from the car and was wading upstream and heading back and didn't want to spend the time needed to go home and collect another rod - field repairs were needed!

I used my scissors to scrape through the epoxy and whipping on top of the tip ring and then peeled the whole lot off. I then pushed the eye over the rod tip - a bit of a squeeze as the tip section is tapered but it went in nice and solidly. I then cut a few inches of braid off and used my fly tying skills to whip the eye on - I'm really glad I learned to do a whip finish by hand rather than using a tool. A dab of superglue and I was ready to go. A little further upstream this spirited fish gave the repair its first workout as it went air-born two or three times before being netted.

This fish is typical of some of the bigger trout in these Northern streams, really long and skinny with an out sized head - the consequence of scratching out a meagre existence in waters without a rich food supply.

Down to its bare bones.

I ended up with a dozen or so and enjoyed strolling through the buttercup meadows in the hot sunshine.

I'm looking forward to a return visit when there is a bit more water in. Weedy streams are fairly rare in my area but this has a healthy growth of Rannunculus in places - not quite chalk stream but very pretty.

The evening saw me chasing perch for a couple of hours and in the first thirty minutes had only managed a couple of small fish on rubber shads. A switch to a spinner (a lure I rarely use) saw a complete transformation as I had a hectic hour and a half where barely a cast went by without some kind of interest. The perch were chasing the spinner down often taking very near the surface. The fish were all of a decent size ranging from 12oz to a pound and a half. I went home and added some more spinners to my lure box!

Esthwaite Pike Cup

Today saw me fishing on Esthwaite in The Lake District. Not much finesse about today's fishing as this was to compete for the Lure Anglers Society 'Pike Cup' - this year sponsored by Fox Tackle. It's a pairs event with the winner being the team with the highest combined weight of the best three fish. Fish have  to weigh 6lb or over to count.
This is primarily a trout fishery but the LAS have held this exclusive lure fishing event here for a number of years.
I set of early off nice and early to make the 7.30 am start and I was lucky enough to see a herd of deer ghosting across the road that skirts lake shore. This is possibly one of the most beautiful lakes in the country.

A breathless dawn and the view across the lake from the boathouse.

Looking South from the same spot..

...and North.

Hazy early morning



20 anglers load a veritable mountain of tackle into ten boats!

Our boat, loaded and ready to go!

I really enjoyed last years event and had a couple of nice fish but hoped today was the day for one of the really big fish resident in this lake!

Last years fish.

Alas it was not to be as, despite fishing hard all day, I only managed this modest specimen.

Other anglers fared much better and there were several big fish caught and some amazing combined weights. Thanks to James Sherrigton, my boat partner for the day, for the excellent company and for spotting the pair of Osprey circling above us, as I was so intent on the fishing, I may have missed them!!

Antony's 19lb fish!

Antony and his boat partner Phil did the North-West Chapter proud by placing third in the competition with a combined total of 28lb. Second were another North-West pair Baz and Alex who had a big haul of fish with their best three totalling over 37lb. A fantastic days fishing..

Baz's 17lb

One from the winning pair - Rons first lure caught 20lb 2oz Pike!

..and his 16lb fish - this has to be the biggest 16lb fish I've ever seen!

..and his boat partner Waynes 13lb fish

Home Grown Trout

I went in search of some Lancastrian tout today after having such fun with Matt in Yorkshire. Matt has found some special places using google. Finding streams and rivers on the map and using the satellite function to have a look. Then putting in the legwork and driving there and having a fish. So I did the same last night and found some different stretches of small steams I have already fished and a couple that are new to me. I didn't find trout of the size I caught in Yorkshire but the streams are very different in nature. What I did find was lots of feisty trout in the 6-8oz range with the odd one an ounce or two larger.

Absolutely fantastic fun, I just love this jungle style fishing, searching new water and forging paths to swims that might never have been fished. What's more a fantastic excuse to buy the perfect little rod. A 5'6'' UL trout rod is now top of the want list!

Yorkshire Magic

Yesterday I was invited by a fellow Lure Anglers Society member to sample some of the amazing trout fishing he has been enjoying lately.

An early start saw me heading East across the Pennines well before the morning rush. We had arranged to meet at a car park which happened to be next to a canal and as I arrived early it seemed rude not to have a few casts while I waited. Working an area of foamy water below a lock outflow my second or third cast met with solid resistance and I found myself attached to this beautiful chub.  The fish was 4lb 12oz and the picture doesn’t really show the girth of this fish – it was built like a breeze block! I love my summer chubbing on the rivers and streams but this was technically my first still water chub. It fell to a small Halco Sorcerer fished on my Ultra-Light Sakura Shinjin. A fantastic start to the day!

Matt arrived soon after and we headed off to a short stretch of local river. Swims were limited and after a fish less half hour we dropped onto a canal basin to see if there were any chub willing to take our lures. They proved elusive but Matt hooked into a feisty pike of around six or seven pounds which managed to shake the hooks as I tried to land it.

We then set off for Matt’s small stream in the hope of some trouty action! I had seen the pictures Matt had posted on the forum and was over excited at the prospect of fishing for them. I’ve caught plenty of trout whilst targeting chub but this was my first days fishing specifically for them.

The fishing was slow for the first hour or so until either we found the fish or they had started to feed. The action was hectic as we started to catch fish in every pool. We were taking turns to fish likely spots and it was an amazing experience to see fish chasing down the lures. My catch rate definitely increased when Matt very generously gave me one of his beautifully crafted snap bean lures. The fish were creating bow waves as they charged after their meal and snapping ferociously, often right to the end of the retrieve. Not all these fish hooked up but it was great fun watching the antics of the ravenous trout. The fish were stunning, ranging from beautifully marked fish with red spots on their flanks highlighted by a white surround to buttery yellow fish lacking the red spots. For most of the day the average size must have been over a pound – incredible for a stream which probably averaged six feet wide. Matt managed to land two bigger fish and I lost one at my feet. The fish charged around our feet and refused to go into the net. Fishing at such close range means the fight is short and they really have to be bullied into the net. Although it would have been nice to get a good look at it, the fishing was so good I was barely disappointed. 

One of Matt's belters

These fish fight so hard they need a moment to recover before being released.

Another fantastic fish for Matt.

Matt's snap bean lures were proving irresistible!

I struggled a bit with the length of the rod; 7’2’’ is too long for this type of fishing. Matt was able to make more overhead casts in the tunnel of trees which meant he was far more accurate. His casting skills also meant he put his lure in the right place more often than I did and I spent half the day chasing tree trout! Needless to say a 5’6’’ UL rod is now top of the want list.

We weren't really counting but we probably had 40 fish of this quality or better. Matt took the lions share as he gave a masterclass in how it's done!

We fished all day and I don’t think we had ten minutes when we didn’t see a fish, a truly magical days fishing. We spent the day with the scent of the wild garlic in our nostrils and in the company of the grey wagtails that were flitting up and down the stream. Twice we saw the electric blue streak as a kingfisher darted past us within a few feet.

Campion amongst the wild garlic.

A day that will live long in the memory!



Lure Anglers Society Get Together

Yesterday saw a few of the members of the L.A.S. from the North-West getting together for an informal fish-in. The bank holiday weekend meant a few of the regulars couldn't make it and they were missed.
We have fished together on venues where we've had to break the ice in order to fish so it was a pleasant change to fish in the warm Spring sunshine!

The lake shore is heavily lined with trees with few obvious swims which made for some jungle style fishing. Here Damo is fish spotting as Al chases a shoal of roach spotted in the margins with a tiny curl tail grub on a 1g jig head.

Al in the jungle!

Graeme at peace with the world!

We all managed to catch a few fish, though with the bright conditions the large perch we were chasing appeared not to be feeding. Al managed a perch around half a pound amongst his catch and Graeme had one around the pound mark. Damo had a a nice mixed bag including perch, a roach and Pike up to 8lb.

The margins were paved with small perch and I had great fun catching them on a 1'' crappie tube on a 1g jig head! We agreed that when we return to this beautiful lake we need to be a bit more organised and arrange tickets the day before so we can make an earlier start and hopefully catch the morning feeding spell.

All in all a very enjoyable day out in great company.

I took a few shots of the bluebells and this afternoon, having been driven off my local lake by the wind and rain, had a play with  a recently acquired photo-shop package. I really like this single colour effect.

Home Made Jig Flies

This morning saw me making the most of the sunshine as I had a few hours to spare. I wanted to try out some jig flies tied up with trout nymph patterns. They are tied on 2g jig heads.

This is a mayfly nymph pattern that has caught some nice trout whilst fly fishing and it appears the perch like it too!

The next is a generalised 'scruffy' pattern that I've used in the past when the there is nothing in particular hatching.

The last one is tied to resemble (very loosely!) a small perch. Made from dyed grizzly cock feathers.

I had great fun and managed to catch on all three. All were small fish around 6-8oz but I'm encouraged to tie a few more of my favourite trout patterns as jig flies.

I spent some time taking photographs for the blog - hence the new title picture and background. It's early days but I'm enjoying building the blog and learning new stuff all the time. I hope to create a resource where anyone interested in finesse techniques will find answers to their questions and the chronicles of my exploits using them.