GreyMamba

Thinking Allowed … (under construction)

Thinking Allowed … (under construction)

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
Click here for a summary of catches
DateRiverFishFly(s)Comments
24/04/2017Beck's BrookGrayling, 8"Hendrick Spider #12Fished as a duo with some sort of Klinkhammer. First fish for 45 years. First Grayling. First on fly.
13/05/2017Monnow7 Trout, 8-12"Universal Dry #16, Pale Watery #16Great day on this Wye tributary.
20/06/2017AlynTrout, 8"White bead-head nymph #16Strangely silvey fish with ill defined spots
27/06/2017AlynGrayling, 8" and 13" ~1lbFlash back nymph #12One 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.
03/07/2017Alyn2 Trout, 8" and 10"Pearly Grifiths Gnat #14, brown/white Wulff #16Bigger 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.

2021 - Hurrah!

Filed in: River

Woke up early today, 5ish and decided that, rather than roll over and snooze, it was an ideal opportunity to get back on the horse - well back into the river. Quick banana (and that's not a euphemism) and coffee and away. To the Alyn again, The Warrington Anglers beat - don't know why, just fancied it.

Sometime this year I'm gong to use my new bike (Triumph Tiger 850 Sport - see 'Bikes n Drones n Vids ) to go camping near some fishable rivers. This will need some thought and packing ingenuity - particularly when it comes to rods. Casting around (ha, ha) I came across a Maxcatch Cruiser Travel Rod on eBay. I chose the 2wt 7ft rod, which breaks down into 6 sections giving a ridiculously short rod tube (430mm, 16.9") and this will easily fit in my bike panniers. Came all the way from China with no fuss and only took a couple of weeks. I may not like the Chinese political system much, but they sure seem to have got global trade working for them. Anyway, matching this with a 3# line on my really small Wychwood 'River and Stream' reel produces a beautifully balanced and light rig - perfect for tackling a small, wildish stream like the Alyn. I've also got a new set of boot-foot waders from Snowbee (Ranger2, breathable), my old waist boot-foots from Scierra having finally given up the struggle with my expanding waistline.

So, how did it go? Well pretty well actually, Fished either a flashback tungsten bead PTNalike (16, using a New Zealand strike indicator system) or a 16 Iron Blue Dun dry fly. Final tally was 3 small trout (2 on the dry), 3 smallish chub (all on the PTN) and 3 grayling (1 dry 2 PTN) - one of the grayling on the nymph was a beauty around 1.5lb.

How did the gear work out? The waders were fine, if a little snug (must lose some blubber) and the rod was fantastic, quite quick in action (I think, but maybe I'm just guessing). The only issue is that the top section fell of a couple of times - but I'm sure I can fix that easily enough.

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Tags: Alyn,Trout,Grayling,Chub

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