2021 - Hurrah!
Finally, post(ish) Covid-19 and a rotten May, we're back on the river today!
Angling may be said to be so like the mathematics that it can never be fully learned.
Izaac Walton
Probably as a sign of retreating middle-age, age - it certainly feels as if I've long since approached and passed it - I’ve decided to taken up fly fishing again after something like 45 years. I did a half day casting course last year (or was it the year before … can’t remember - another sign of decrepitude) and mucked around a bit, practising on grassy patches since then. Last year, I plucked up the courage to do some actual, genuine, watery fish-hunting. I’ve also got together enough kit to start fly tying – with my increasingly presbyopic eyesight that should be a laugh!
There are some really good day ticket schemes available these days that allow you to fish some really interesting (read small, overgrown and probably difficult) wild streams and rivers - I don’t really want to fish still waters. You buy a book of tickets which gives you access to the water. You pitch up, fill in the required number of tickets, post them in a small box that is positioned at the location and go fish! At the end of the day you fill in a catch return and post that to. The tickets are £2.50 to £3.00 each and a day’s fishing will set you back between two and five tickets.
I've also now joined a couple of clubs: The Rossett and Gresford Flyfishers' Club and the Ceiriog Fly Fishers.
So, this is a section to chat about my learning adventures. Something about kit and something about days out fishing. A sort of diary with tips and tricks.
Fly Fishing | GreyMamba
| Date | River | Fish | Fly(s) | Comments |
| 24/04/2017 | Beck's Brook | Grayling, 8" | Hendrick Spider #12 | Fished as a duo with some sort of Klinkhammer. First fish for 45 years. First Grayling. First on fly. |
| 13/05/2017 | Monnow | 7 Trout, 8-12" | Universal Dry #16, Pale Watery #16 | Great day on this Wye tributary. |
| 20/06/2017 | Alyn | Trout, 8" | White bead-head nymph #16 | Strangely silvey fish with ill defined spots |
| 27/06/2017 | Alyn | Grayling, 8" and 13" ~1lb | Flash back nymph #12 | One lovely 1lb grayling and another not quite as big, both on sunken nymph. First from a deepish bool and the second cast over a rising fish. |
| 03/07/2017 | Alyn | 2 Trout, 8" and 10" | Pearly Grifiths Gnat #14, brown/white Wulff #16 | Bigger trout caught on self-tied pearly griffiths gnat cast to rising fish on far bank below trees and the smaller one a brown/white Wulf fished in a fast riffle. |
'Dab'bling on the Alyn
In which we entertain 4 ladies and have a curious encounter on the lower Alyn.
The Alyn - but lower down
The Alyn again - but this time further down stream. A real Red Letter day in Wales. Four different species in one day on dry fly and nymph.
Another River: Hamps ///encodes.nozzle.cringe
So here we are in 2020 and the dreaded virus has curtailed so many of my pleasures. But slowly we are opening up and some rivers are available again. So time to explore the glorious Derbyshire countryside and its trout filled streams - on a sensible budget.
Fishing the Alyn Video
Last year, due mostly to needing an operation, plus the bad weather, I olny managed to go fishing twice - and caught bugger all (still nice though). This year, we've had COVID-19 which has wrecked my chances of fishing so far. So, in lieu of actually doing anything, I've put together a video, from July 2017, about fishing the Alyn.
Davy Knot
This is a quick HowTo on tying the Davy Knot, a quick, easy to tie and secure knot to attach a fly to the tippet that has far less bulk than the ubiquitous blood knot. Especially useful for small flies
