Wye 'Trugg is the bollocks as he lands a massive wild brown'

This was a much anticipated trip, i have been looking forward to going all week, i last fished here in mayfly time and had 35 fish which even got in the trout and salmon magazine which was nice, so was very exited about my return but knowing it would not fish the same..
I picked my mucker Dave up from Leek around half nine in the morning and we set off buzzing all the way there just hoping that the river would be i fine condition..
We met up with Mick (trugg) and Johnny Colemans on the grouse and made our way to the fisherman's car park, we all jumped in the trugg machine and parked in Bakwell and had a slap up breakfast with a stoke oatcake which was not upto the real stoke standard but did a job.
We were all in our element and had good tactic swaps about how our approach would be. Johnny has been quite a few times and give us valuable knowledge of runs ect...
These times do not happen often where good lads meet up for a fishing day on a dream river.






We then made our way back to the car park and tackled up and made our way to the river, Mick had a operation (the snip) on Friday and was in a bit of a state, which made him walk like he had sh*t himself....

The river was in great condition and was running quite clear and slightly raised, weather was overcast and the rain was holding out, i was first to wet a line and spotted a rise instantly which got my heart pumping.. I had a go and got nothing until i tied on a a jt olive which gave a rise to a nice brown which slowly came up and sipped my fly only for me to strike too early and not set the hook... you only get one chance with these wild fish so i moved on..
The wind was strong and i went over to Mick as he was trying to hit some rises on the neck of a rifle, he took a couple of small rainbows and lost a pounder.

Woody and Colemans arrived back from further downstream and Johnny had taken a small grayling in a shallow run..
We had the first Kelly brew of the day and a sip of Woodys class whisky which evaporated in my mouth before i could swallow it!!!
We then made our way upstream, all of us drifting into our own little runs to fish, i picked up my first small brown in a fast run on the olive pattern which got me wanting more, fishing was not easy and rises were few but there was enough to cause a interest..

I saw a nice fish of around 3lb rising steady to bwo duns in a slow section on a bend, this is the type of fishing i enjoy at the moment, i have done the fast rifles but love a challenge of a slow section where fish can inspect your fly, i put on a jt olive only for it to ignore it until i got my pres right, the fish came up sucked my fly in and i missed it again!!!

I changed to a paradun and the same happened again, missed it, then another fly...missed.. these fish are so wise, if i got a take on a fly and missed it, the fish would totally ignore it until i changed my fly.. they were spitting the fly out before you could make any contact.. clever!

I then fished a long shallow rifle and took 3 small wild rainbows which fight there heads off and give my 7ft 3# some fun..

Johnny give a guiding lesson to Dave and he then hooked a lovely grayling, his face lit up and now he started to catch fish, confidence is everything..

Mick was catching on a small fly of his own and johnny was taking fish on my ltd pattern he had tied with a yellow coloured cdc wing under the deer hair-very nice..

Johnny is one of the coolest fly men i have met, he is very laid back and a joy to fish with, his approach to every fish with stealth, a very good tip for anyone..
We fished together in a pool known to him as heartbreak corner where you can good size fish rising but not showing much interest in your fly..
There was a pod of nice fish rising to blue wing olive duns, these were being sipped down regularly, the run is smooth with a faster feeding lane in the middle which makes presentation hard, we put every fly going on top of these fish but only got fish coming right to the fly and turning away, this drove me and johnny mad and we stuck with these fish for a good hour but never got a full take, i put it down too micro drag on the fly but thats just fly fishing, you never really know when this happens...
Johnny and myself had a crafty kelly brew while Mick and woody were further upstream, we needed this after the fish had taken the pi*s out of us..
We made our way over the first road bridge around 4 o'clock and the rain started to fall, it was really thrashing down so we found a marque which we took cover, hear i filled the kelly up with the water coming off the roof!! Well the lads were a bit shocked but this nice hot drink did the job for me but johnny and Woody were a bit cautious when drinking, JC said it was 'special' i could see the lads heads going down with the rain so assured them it would stop and we would get a huge sedge hatch!! they all laughed at me but this river is a bit special and i new non of this rain would take the river up or colour it while we were there, we had some good crack for a hour then headed off to the cricket stretch.
This is a very good spot and Mick and JC were fighting to get in there, we all spread out along this stretch and started to take fish from most runs, the rain was consistent but so were rises and my ltd sedge was doing wonders for me, there were small black sedge swarms under the trees and fish were rising to these, i drifted my fly on a medium flowing run and a small rise produced a huge run from a mad rainbow, this fish was fighting its head off and give me the run around, Woody and JC came to help me land the fish and it was a nice fit rainbow of around 4lb, my new pb!! i was on top of the world now and the rain did not put us off at all, if you were on your own you would have gone home but all of us were having a great time and having a right laugh..For some reason when i fish the wye and see a rise my heart starts to pump faster, i get a real buzz as i know that i could be hooking into a fish of a lifetime, i am sure that most fly men get the same feeling when fishing somewhere a bit special..
We all decided to go to the a Chinese in the town and had a full take away which really did the trick, we sat on the bench near the bridge and tucked into our snappin, these are great times and only fisherman would sit in the pissin down rain eating a chinky, i love my fishing but i also love the crack between fly men of the same passion..Woody is a very good mate of mine and we get on very well, he just laughs at me all the time and he sometimes looks at me as though i am mad, he is very true.. JC is a cool chap who is just a down to earth lad with a degree!! who you could just fish with all day long, as for Mick he is very much like me, loud and never stops talking, and laughs his head off all day long, a top bloke who goes out of his way to help you..
We then made our way over to Scotts Garden....
To be cont.....

Dovedale 'Wood gets his smile back'

Met Dave tonight at dovedale around seven, we had heard reports that the river was getting back to normal so decided to give it a go, arriving on the car park i took a glance at the river showing it losing its colour and dropping but still raised.

We had not fished since last week and this had done my head in so was pleased to get out even if fishing was poor...

We started at the bridge and i took a few fish in the first section to a klink, not a favorite fly of mine, but great in the river conditions..

Half way up the fast section i noticed a nice hatch of bwo with fish taking them with a confident splashy rise, i switched to a olive pattern which took a small fish but missed a good fish that i watched sipp my fly in only for me to strike too early a pull the hook! with the river flowing quite strong i was getting lots of drag which was putting fish off and they were having a good look then turning away with any sort of drag..

Looking above me i saw huge clouds of bwo spinners around the trees which lifted my hopes of a good spinner fall.

Dave hooked a nice fish up in the fast section only for the hook to pull after a good scrap, this got Daves back up, he has had some bad luck on our last outing and i could see his confidence dropping, we all have that in fishing, it drives me mad, confidence is massive in everything we do, if a top class footballer cant hit the net and he loses confidence things get worse, but soon as he scores he is at it again, the same goes for fishing, if you have no confidence you will not catch fish, you start to try too hard, strike too soon, not consentrate.. At these times we need to just knuckle down and go back to basics..

We sat down in the nursery section for a kelly brew and usual pork pies, was so great to be out fishing after a week break..

Dave started to fish while i watched him, fish were quite finicky in the nursery, the odd rise here and there, he turned around to me with a sad face and said 'i think im in for a blank youth' that second a fish hammered his olive pattern and gave him a right good run around.. Dave was into a nice fish, he then landed a wild trout of around a pound and a half, he was buzzing his head off, a quick picture and off she went, A cracking trout and a massive boost for my mate...

His eyes lit up and he was now back to normal, he said 'i am not bothered if i dont fish all night after that' We all know how he feels, we have all been there!

Dave actually ended up catching more fish and that was all to do with him being relaxed again, well done Dave you are back to normal...

As the light faded i worked my way down the stones section towards the bridge, hear i have spotted a very good fish all year and it always laughs at what i put past it.. I have hook it once and it blew 20 yards off my line and pulled the hook,

I tied on my 'living the dream sedge' and hooked a nice fish on first cast! getting on for the pound mark, a truley full wild brownie

(into a sedge smasher at dusk)

I then took another small fish but noticed the big fish rising again, i covered the fish with my sedge and on the third cast it smashed my ltd and hooked itself, my 3# looped clean over, i was in for seconds until a weak point in my tippet to fly line snapped, i was gutted, this fish has yet again turned me over! hopefully it will lose the barbless size 17 soon. I was more gutted to have left it trailing the hook than not catching it, goes to show why barbless must always be used..

A great night again with Dave and thank God he is smiling again!!!

Going the Wye on Sunday with Trugg, Dave Wood and Colemans, should be in for some fun, watch this space...................

Glen

LTD Sedge pattern (how to tie)

I am bored out my head at home with the state of the rivers so i am going to post one of my sedge patterns that has caught me some good fish this season when fishing into the dark with the trout hitting the small black sedge. It is not a new pattern but a slight variation of a sedge pattern that was gave to me by Alex Swann from the Ladffa, it was the only fly that would raise a good fish on a certain occasion fishing with Alex..This fly is not a attractor pattern but will pull a fish when nothing is hatching but is a absolute killer when the fish are hitting sedge, usually when the light starts to fade..John Tyzack uses a fly similar to this..I am not a great fly tyer but my flys catch fish and when do you see a natural that is perfect?Materials required
Tiemco size 17 hook (tmc103bl)
Masterclass #27 Brown caddis
Olive/brown thread 8/0
Natural CDC
Deer Hair natural fine
Cock de leon feathers


Run the thread down just a wee bit past the hook point, not too far as the fly can become too bulky and longer than the natural....l Pinch on your Masterclass #28 brown caddis dubbing, not too much but make it nice and fluffy to give some buzz to the body...

Run the dubbing upto the eye making sure nice and light or the fly will sink when wet..

Take two small feathers of cdc and tie in at the hook with a couple of turns, make sure the end of feathers do not pass the full length of hook, some of the cdc should come around the eye, you want this to give the fly a life like buzz around it, some of the cdc should be under the hook, do not snip this away..

Snip off and trip neatly

Put a small dot of cement(glue) to secure the cdc, this tends to fall out if not glued as i hammer my flys in all sorts of trees ect!! Try to keep the turns on the eye to a minimum as you dont want to get a big thick head, this will ruin the fly, try a smaller thread if you get a problem..

Pinch in a small amount of deer hair at the eye, i usually use a hair stacker to get the end of the hairs straight but my 4 year old has jumped on it so had to do it by hand! dont use too much as this is where i used to ruin the fly, it can become like a big moth if your not careful, the mix of cdc and deer hair is so natural like and makes a great combination...

Tie in with 3 turns as tight as possible, dont worry about the flair of the deer hair as it can be worked back down....

This is my variation, tie in two strands of cock de leon, this is a major trigger point for me and i have proved this to work better than not using them on ellastone, the cock de leon is very expensive but lasts for many flies and it has a superb look and texture to it.. do not tie in too long, keep them shortish like the natural, dont forget this fly is not a attractor...

Snip off ends and add cement then tie off..notice the down eyed hook will sit in the film and help the front tippets to sit on the surface giving a great view to the trout and a strong trigger, i believe some fish look for these when watching them from below, fish this fly in slow to medium paced rivers, in fast rifles its hard to see so could be beefed up slightly..

The finished fly, keep it very sparce and dont bush it up and you will hammer fish in a sedge hatch late on, the fly looks very rough but thats how it should be, it has got a buzz about it..Always use the tiemco hook, they are very sharp and strong, black, and great shape for this pattern..Whats it called 'LTD Sedge' If you follow my blog u will know what it means!!Hear them slurps, bang it on, and get stuck in to em!!!Hope it helps you and its well worth ago....ThanksGlen

Dovedale 'living the wet dream'

Wood and myself decided on dovedale tonight for a evening session, driving up the rain started to hammer down, i had spoke to Kev in the day and he had told me conditions were ok,
As we tackled up we met Kev and orvisfan (guy), Guy looked buzzing and had caught some nice dovedale wild fish with kev guiding him for the day, well done Guy, you will be ok as long as you dont become as addicted as me.. At mayfly time Roger Bryant moved into the caves for a few weeks
Kev told us the fish were still rising even though the rain was heavy, that was enough for me to get the feather chucker out..
Well we fished the fast section and took 6 trout on the way up the fast section to the stones, most coming to a DHE, this was hard to believe as i have never seen trout rise so much with heavy rain..
We decided to do our usual kelly kettle and daves baps and pork pies by the nursery pool, we were now already soaked and the rain never stoped, We lit the Kelly and warmed around the fire after which was 'good for the soul' as Dave puts it...
We then fished the nursery pool but struggled as fish were rising in the fast section..
We made our way back to the car park around half nine, as the dark was setting in and the rain getting harder with strong wind,
Even though it was bad weather Dave and myself made a good night of it and were defo hardcore tonight as Guy said in his post..
Dont think any of the rivers are going to be fishing for a while if this rain keeps up, bad times for me, i will just keep tying and dreaming of living the dream

Thanks

Glen

Dovedale 'back on the bwo Duns'

Ellastone 'A sherry spinner night'

Met Brian around 6.30 at the bridge at Ellastone, we were contemplating on going to Dovedale if the river looked unfishable, peering over the bridge the river looked up and coloured which made my heart sink as i was really looking forward to the fishing, we noticed fish were still rising and decided to have a go.
We tackled up and Brian fished the bridge while i fished the middle section, fish were rising and were hard to take until we got on the emerging sedge tyed by Brian.
This took some fish and Brian picked off quite a few fish to his fly.
Around half eight the fishing started to pick up and more fish were starting to rise, I switched to a sparcely tyed size 16 klink, a pattern tyed by myself with a masterclass BWO dubbing, i started to wade up the river and take fish on this pattern which worked very well.
At 9.30 the fish went beserk and were hovering flys all over the river, even the ducks were lined up across the river dapping flys as they pasted, the trout siping around them, i stooped down in the river and saw literalyy thousands of bwo spinners dead drifting down the river, Great i was in my first proper spinner fall and new exactly what was going on, the 3 tails said it all...
I pulled out the one sherry spinner i had in my box and started to hammer the fish up the river, it was great to see and the light was going so i enjoyed the action while it lasted, the fall lasted for around half hour which was magic, something i have always looked forward to..
We took around twenty fish in the short session with lots coming in the spinner fall.
A great night out with Brian and one to remember.

Thanks
Glen

Fly Tying (the next best thing)

With the rain we have had my local rivers will be up and coloured, these are times when i am so frustrated..
The good side of fly fishing gives you plenty to do when the rivers are not fishable like tying your flys, i have only been tying flys for around 9 months but i am getting better, there are lots of advise on the net of how to tie your favorite flys.
After fishing ith John Tyzack i noticed that he only uses around 4/5 different flys 90% of the time, this has made me get rid of all the flys i never use in my box, all i need is a small box with my favorites..
This will contain Klinkhammers,olive duns, olive emergers, F flys and sedge paterns..I might just have a few adams and grey dusters tucked away for certian times.
I will be posting a few pictures of my flys and how to tie them just to help new fly tyers as this helped me when i started out, i am no expert by any means but i am catching fish on all these so must be doing something right!
There is no better feeling than catching a trout on a pattern tyed by yourself.
Nice one

Glen

Ellastone 'guide John Tyzack cracks the code'

As you know from my recent blog reports i have been struggling on my favorite Elastone stretch, I have been catching fish but
have struggled to match the hatch ect and should be catching alot more fish due to the huge hatches going on, i had decided to
contact England Fly fisher and guide John Tyzack, after a long chat we decided that a evening session would be a good idea for
him to come and see what was going on..
We met around 6 o'clock on the bridge, greeted John and we had a walk along the norbury stretch to have a look, there had been
a heavy rain pour earlier in the day and the river was slightly up but very coloured which deflated me as i needed to show john
what had been happening on here, we saw a few rises here and there and john was giving me tips of flys ect all the way up the
river, John spotted a huge spinner fall going on in the hedges, this was a joy to watch, this being very late..There were lots
of fly life about which was promising, i sat next to the river and we started to see pod of trout rising, this was agood time
for JT to show me rise forms ect, i was learning already.
We peared between two trees and saw a nice brown two inches from the bank heavily feeding, Jt said there is one for later!
We went back to the cars and tackled up,Met Brian who i had fished with in Spring, he decided to go up the top section.
We started to fish the lower section just up from the bridge where we had seen rises, Jt saw a BWO get nailed on entering the
water so we started with a Jt olive which took a small wild brownie after a few casts, the fish were rising in a small pod but
nothing like i have seen in the past few weeks, we continued with the olive but fish were refusing all natural olives and ours.
This is what usually happens to me on this section and the main reason why i asked Jt to come.
Jt got his invertebrate net out and started to take fly life drifting in the top section of the river, a method i have never
seen, after five minuites over catching the flys he told me all the different species that were coming down the river, i could not
believe how much was in the net, he suggested that by the rise form and flys caught they were taking a emerging BWo and leaving
the dun,
We had taken one fish to the olive and Jt told me that the one fish we caught was the only one in the pod taking the dun,
This learnt me a good lesson here, and it was all about to happen later on in the night.
Jt passed me the rod to have a go and i had a few mins casting where he told me about my presentation, he showed me a style
to approach these fish which i struggled with the casting, i did get start to get the hang of this cast and can say when i
have more practise at it i will be hitting lots more fish,
I decided i was learning more by watching Jt fish with my rod, i felt i did not need him to watch me as i could pick up much
more by watching his every move, It was strange but i was getting more a buzz watching him catch fish than me, i watched him
like a halk and his approach, presentation was like nothing i have seen.
Jt selected a emerging olive pattern of his a took 4 fish out of the pod which i must say 'matched the munch'
The river was very coloured and we had done well to find these rising fish as Brian come back down saying there was nothing
happening in the top section with no rises.
We decided to get my Kelly Kettle on the go on have a break while the rises went down, we sat and i fired questions of all
i wanted to know.
After half a hour i took a wander to the section where i always see the rises and struggle, the fish had come alive and were
rising all over the place, i walked back to Jt and said that they were on big time like previous occasions when i had struggled
This was great as why had asked him to come in the first place.
We studied the rises and John said he had rarely seen anything like it, the fish were holding high in the river with the
same fish rising every couple of seconds, Jt said that they were on the emerging olive still but there was so many of them they
were gulping them down high in the water.
We got in the river and this is where he come into his own, he selected the emerging olive and started to work his way through all
the rising fish, picking them out so not to disturb others, what a joy to watch, he hooked every single fish that went for his fly
The casting was superb, totally drag free, At one point a fish rose 2 inches from the bank under some over hanging branches with
a some dodgy currents, i told Jt and with one cast he put the fly right on the button and got into a good fish, he cockily said
'that one Glen' lol, i had earlier said that they are taking the piss out of you Jt and i think he was getting his own back...
He hooked and landed a rainbow of a pound and a half that gave a nice fight, He offered me the rod lots of time but i was
enjoying and learning more watching him..
Jt went back to the car for a jacket while i fished on, when he came back the fish the large brown we had seen rising when
walking the banks earlier on was feeding again, i tried a few casts and JT shouted down that this fish was not taking olive
emergers! This was the best moment for me, i handed him the rod, he selected a sedge pattern and placed his cast spot on, the
second run through he hooked a gorgeous full wild brown pushing the 1lb mark. He spotted all the other fish were on the
emerger BWO and this larger one was sipping sedge two inches from a snag, top class fishing..
We fished right into the dark and Hooked quite a few more fish smashing sedges, it went very cold and we decided to call it a
night, Jt was fishing blind and hooking fish right close to the opposite bank in the dark..
A great night of learning for me and i need to put it into practise, i will be looking forward to getting back to Elly to
see if i can do the same, i am a keen learner and do not forget what i am told so will see next time out,
I might seem as though i have talked about how good John is and he might be a bit embarrassed but when you see him fish you
will know what i mean, i used to play semi pro football and when i played against a pro you realise how good these players are,
this is exactly the same...Some anglers might think they don't need a guide because they have been fishing years, i say this
bloke will learn even the most experienced fly man more than he thought....John is not toft type fly man who ponces around
the river, he is a true fisherman who catches lots of fish..

Nice one JT

'living the dream'

Glen

Dovedale social

Well what a great nights fishing down at dovedale with some of the lads off the forum, well the fishing was quite poor to be honest but i dont think anyone really cared as we just sat at the nursery pool and had a good natter with lots of pi*ss take, Me and Mick bought the famous Kelly Kettles and made endless brews while Gary bought some home made biscuits which were top draw, Kev bought a hip flask of whisky for us all to share, and Alex bought some Jaffa cakes,
We all sat down at seven and did not start fishing until around nine with just general fishing talk and good crack.
When i got up to fish i felt a bit dizzy and realised i had too many sips of Kevs fine whisky, We all caught fish but this slow stretch has got quite hard as the fish seem to have got clued up and were taking something very small and out of our sizes,
As the light started to fade we fished the fast runs casually and Kev hit a coulple of nice wild fish on the way down, To be fair i dont think anyone was that bothered about the fishing that much, it was just great to be out with a right good set of lads who all love fly fishing, we got back to the car park and said our goodbyes and Kev pasted the whisky around one more time to just give you a nice smile on your face while driving home!!
These nights are what its all about, i love a good social with good company and this is just what tonight was, we will be doing another shortly for the lads who could not come tonight, Trugg will let us know on here.

Nice one Glen