Tag Archives: dries

Fly fishing my old home Stream

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I found myself going back home today to fish the stream that i havent fished in a good while and where i was first shown the noble art of the drowning a worm  by my older brother. Much has changed since then and its all fly for me these days.

The weather was not up to much being over cast most of the day with little odd glimpses of the sun breaking through the cloud cover, but what made things a little tricky was the down stream wind that i had to put up with throughout the day.

It’s not the largest of streams, it’s around 6 to 8ft wide at the most but as wild as you can get it. Most of the stream is covered over by bushes and trees but there are a few places that open out in to open fields so the casting becomes much more easy and instead of being on your knees you can straighten the  back and cast from the bank in confute.

Before i even set my greys 8ft up on the dry i sat back and just watched the water for a bit just taking in my surroundings and watching the water for any movement. I started watching one part of the stream where there were a few rocks that had slipped in the water from the bank forming a small eddy just off the fast water in a small run.  Just after a few minutes i seen a small splashy rise so that was my q to get moving so on with a size 16 hairs ear klink with a white post so i could pick it up on the dark water surface because of the cloud cover and away i went stalking the rise. I got on my knee and made a short cast  above where the fish moved and as soon as the fly hit the water a fish took the fly. Grease lightning had nothing on this little fella. The take was just savage and after a few jumps he was in hand and a quick photo and away to sulk. This was the first fish of the day but many followed after. I  just love the colours on these little wild trout, just beautiful.

After catching that fish i started to work my way upstream fishing behind every stone i could find, anything which give an eddy, slack spot or bulge of water flicking the fly into every likely looking spot with a few missed takes and a few to hand. I come to a corner that looked a little deeper so i set the klink and dink up with a small 2m gold P.T.N on the point and set the video cam up and shot this short video below

After the short video i managed to catch anther lovely wild brown trout on the nymphs in the same run but after a few more cast i knew that the pool was spooked, so i moved on out looking for the next  likely spot to hold anther jem of the stream.

As i made my way up river i come to this spot above in the photo and thought there just has to be something hiding in there 🙂 After a few  cast with a few really fast takes from the very small fish, i managed to land anther little Jem. The trout in the stream are not big but that means nothing to me. They hold everything in their beauty. The red spots and little marking and the white tips are just perfect. Its funny when i was young all i wanted to do is catch big fish but the older im getting the more i like to catch the smaller ones 🙂 Funny how things turn around in time.

At this point in the day i was very happy on how it all went and decided to make a move home and see the family before they had to send a search party out.

I hope you all enjoy the post as much as i enjoyed being back there 🙂

Rhondda outing after the recent flood

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Im so glad that the weather made  improvement from raining hard most of the weekend and giving me the chance to wet a fly before I had to back to work on Monday.

Waking up this morning and seeing the weather had broken I was  relieved to say the least. It felt like the rain was never going to stop and i was thinking no fishing this weekend for me..  After a quick coffee and  putting the gear on i was on my way to the Rhondda around 7 am. Before i entered the Rhondda i give the Taff a quick look to see how the old girl was running. She was still pushing a fair bit of flood water and a fair bit of colour also. Unfishable really. The Rhondda was in much better shape but still running with a good force but clear. I know after a good flood and dropping water it can be unbelievable fishing on times. As usual i had my both rods with me, My greys 10ft 3wt and the greys 8ft 4wt. Im known as two rod Terry around these parts:) I feel naked with only one so even if i don’t use its always with me. French leader set on the 10ft and the dry on the other.  With so much water i put a 3.5m gold head hairs ear on the point and on the dropper a 2.8m P.TN vereant  

Starting off with the french leader i picked my way up river very gingerly fishing all the slack water i could find and placing my feet as careful as i could, i didn’t want a wetting and didn’t fancy taking a swim either.  I come to a very fast deep run and made my way across the river so i could fish the slack part behind a few submerged boulders where if i was a trout ide be hiding. I set my video cam on and thought ide show you  a few videos using the french leader with good success.

After making these short videos i made my way up river a little further to the slower water hoping that there might be a fish or two on the fin, at this time there were a few B.W.O on the water so i was betting there was. But before i got to the slower waters i see a lovely rise on the far side of a fast run, just beside a huge rock.  I had a size 14 olive pattern on well  hackled for the fast water so you can pick it out easily. Getting myself into a good position i mad a few  casts to judge the distance and flow. Atter getting it right after a few casts,well more than a few cast i managed to fool him.  Here he is below

Well the way it was going i thought it just couldnt get better. (WELL THATS WHAT I THOUGHT) Trout started to rise in good numbers all down to the better hatch of olives on the water and i was steadily making good numbers. This is why i like to use two rods because you can change over with no bother at all. As i was making my way just watching the bank for the really slow and small rises, hoping for a better size trout to be feeding i seen a small little splash under a tree branch just touching the water, well not a splash it was more like a little jet of water, nothing really i just thought minnows, but something just told me to check it out.  I made my way to a spot over looking the water and to my SURPRISE!!! i seen this large trout just mopping up the olives just under an over hanging bush. I got the camera out and shot this video 🙂 I was just  fascinated watching him taking the flies. I think im really lucky to see this and catch this on camera on are river.

 The adrenaline started to pump and i knew that i had to go into stalker mode as i call it:). To get to the spot where he was feeding i had to walk about 100 yards back up river and make my ways down to where he was feeding.. As i as walking back down i was wishing he was still there and still feeding. As i got closer i could see him just coming up under the bush. I moved down past him trying not to make much noise in the water and not to send any ripples across the water.  I greased the fly up and put mud on the tippet and dipped both in the water before casting. I knew that i had one chance and one chance only. I made the cast and the fly just drifted bang on-line where he was feeding and the drift was perfect but he didn’t even move. So i sat back and watched for a few moment and i seen that he was started to take one out of every few olives that pasts. He rose and i left it for a moment and i made the cast. It all kind of went in slow motion and he just sucked it in and i made the strike . He just sat there for a second and then he started to shake his head and straight away he was fully out of the water tail waking down river. There was no way i was going to stop him so off i went. After a wild few runs and jumps i managed to get him to hand. Cracking fish and im still smiling writing this 🙂 after a few quick photos i slipped him back to fight anther day. Here he is

What more can i say after catching this fine trout. After releasing him i just sat there just taking everything in and after that i headed off home with a hell of a smile on my face just thinking it just don’t get better than that…