Peacock Wye and RW shows his true sherry spinner class

I went for my usual session on Sunday on the Wye and  contacted  Haddon river keeper Jan H early doors to ask him about the river conditions, he gave me the full low down on what was going down on the river, heavy rain!! much needed, well what other club can you join that look after you like that! Jan will always give members full info and is always on hand to help you where needed, i regularly ring him and he always shows willing to give info..top bloke

Well the heavy rain made my eyes light up, i knew this would spark the river into a feeding heaven so i made my way up there and arrived at 10.30...I parked in my usual spot and got warmed up on a stretch i always fish to see what they might be taking, it can be one of many bugs and hopefully not too small...
I took the gamble of a new stretch that i am green too, i have 7 miles of fishing which will take me years to get to know properly..
Early doors was quite, there were no Mayfly around, but there was they were rising to the small stuff which can be very testing indeed but i started to take fish where possible, the river was slightly coloured from the rain so it was hard to get my usual approach of stalking out bigger fish, i had to go for my old method of just fishing the rises, before long i went onto my new Ltd Mayfly pattern, the same as my spinner on the previous post but with a green/yellow colour, i have noticed that the wings of a dun and a spinner Drake are very much the same due to watching this last week, they do not flatten out on the water like a BWO spinner...(i could be wrong here as they might eventually flatten) but this is what i have seen...
They were not taking the Mayfly as there was only the odd ones coming off due to weather conditions, them Mayfly are not stupid!! But i knew that the trout had seen them coming off for weeks now and were happy to take them...

A wild brown 2lb 2oz, 1 hour it took me to hook this!

This did just change the slow start, i was catching hook virgin trout at a unbelievable rate, on one section i had all brown trout, every fish over the pound mark and the biggest just over the2pound mark, they were in top draw condition, the best one came with me leaning through a overhanging tree and winding my line to 12 inches from the rod tip and dapping it onto a pounder brown that was feeding head and tailing to the aphids...this brown must have never seen a fly as it went berserk when i hooked it, probably the angriest brown i have caught, i even kept my finger away while unhooking it!!
The action i was getting was just untrue, there was no big hatch going off but they were well hungry and in the mood, i had to calm down, i opted for a kelly brew and had a nap to soak in this wonderful spot..
Later on i had a visit off Jan and the fishing had slowed, at one time i would be flogging the river but now i just chill out and pack the rod away for a bit, why flogg the river if they are not on it..
I went down the Peacock where i had a brew with Jan and we knocked up a few patterns, my box is getting so low on flys i take my tying kit with me now and knock some up for the day, i need to sit down and do a load because i am still bad for hitting all trees around me!! Basically i use 5 patterns in different sizes for all my fishing, nothing else....

My LTD Mayfly spinner is doin the buis for me

Today was one of those days when it was all happening for me, you probably get one or two a year, but everything was sweet and i sat in the Peacock knowing what would come on later....'The Mayfly Spinner fall' now this i was looking forward to....






I decided to fish the middle section, it was now around 6.30pm and i decided to work my LTD spinner through the likely pools, most fish were willing to sip the fly down but a dead drift was the key to a rise..
I hooked into a fish that give me a fight that opened my eyes, a slight dimple as the LTD Mayfly was sipped down, you hear people saying the run peeled the line off but this fish took me down to my backing with the braid just coming through my rod tip!!! I have never had a fish with so much power, it was jumping out the river and hitting branches a foot above the water, landing the fish weighed 2lb 2oz rainbow, these fish are  complete joy to hook and i have never seen power quite like it, the big guns in the town can be fun but a wild 2/3lb fish tests ur skills to the max..

top class wild rainbow

The evening started to come in and i moved upstream and met up with Derbyshires most famous angler, Richard W, i have seen him posting on the forum for years and its always nice to see a angler who is known for his skills, i am the type who learns off other anglers, i have fished with some real top anglers who all have there different approach, when i fish with other anglers they don't probably realize but i watch every single move they make, sounds a bit mad, but if i put all these together its can only help me to become better, J Tyzack has been my mentor and watching him is untrue,i have studied him very well and his skills are maxed out but his concentration is something else...

I walked over to see Richard, sitting there with a sweet old fishing hat full of flys and a battered old hardy bag, holding a cane rod.

We chatted for a while and i was interested in the methods he uses fishing the rusty spinner(bwo spinner), its something i have heard him talk about and others, he once caught a 13lb fish using his method, now to me this sounds some feat but when i saw him fishing it i could see why, these fish lock onto the naturals in the evening when all the bread feeders have gone home, but they are no mugs and you will not catch fish unless you are fishing right, looking across the river you could see huge browns and rainbows head and tailing, a sure sign of taking dead drifters..Bakewell town was something else tonight, the crowds had not come and we had the beat to ourselves, the light was fading and the river as alive with slow sipps from the hungry trout...
Richard was very willing to give me all his advice and his cool methods and i stood and watched this veteran at the top of his game dead drifting the spinner....Top draw stuff...
I moved slightly upstream now and changed my pattern to a sherry spinner, i was going to try and hit these clunks on at size 18 sherry!!

Jan was out with his dogs keeping his eye on the river, we stood there chatting with a local chap who lives on the town, the first five mins saw me with no action, i soon got my head on and improved my dead drift, Jan shouted me and i looked around at him and he returned with, 'its just been taken' i looked around to a boil and i was in!! a good scrap produced a wicked 2lb 15oz rainbow on a sherry..i was buzzin...

I soon started to take fish on this method and it was a complete joy to use, the fish steadily rise and sip down as cool as anything, a complete change to the slashy rise most are used to, i did often look around to see the RW with rod bent action as he was taking them too..the method was not easy, a drag free drift was the key, anything else and the fish would not even look..
I stood with Jan and we watched Richard fishing away, Gaffer Warren turned up in his usual buzzin style, we all stood there havin the crack, it was a great time to be out on a warm evening fishing the spinner, i even managed to get Warren land a fish for me!
Richard has a style about him that most try and pull off, the hardy bag and the cane rod ect, its not my style, i see myself more of the modern fly man but this bloke is the real deal, he is the old school fly man and you can see that the hardy bag is battered from years of being on the river, a true flyman without any attitude, there are not many of his style around now, just the wannabes that just dont cut it...
Richard kindly gave me one of his famous sherry spinners, this will go along with my collection with a Oliver Edwards dun i managed to get from him..
A days fishing to remember and the evening was just that bit special, i had been fishing the sherry with the RW!!
This picture shows Richard Ward at last light, its one of my favorites and just shows Wardy 'Living the Dream' on a spinner fall, but i fear he has lived the dream far more times than myself....
LTD

Richard Ward fishing the sherry......

Nice one
Glen