The JC Mouse pattern and the Commo Shuffle on the banks of the river Wye...

I had seen Commo had been through a rough time on the Dove with some lads pushing him to the floor, well if u know Commo he is just not the sort and this spurred me to invite him to my Wye, proberly the best river in the uk..
The great Johnny Colemans was due on and my best mucker Woody, it was nice for all of us to get together for the crack..
The plan was to meet in the in the Peacock around 12 and fish until the evening, i had been woken up at 4a.m to the sound of my door! it was my old Carp mate Rob Chadwick who was buzzin to have a go on my found carp pool! I decided to have a few hours before Commo arrived...i sat on the lake watching the sun rise in this top spot only a stone throw away from my house... action was slow and no fish were rising so i left my mate and went back in to tie a few flys for the coming day, i looked at m watch, it was 6.00am! yes i am insane, i had been carping and now i was going to the Wye for a full days session..sweet...
Commo arrived and we set off...

commo on the ltd sedge

We were slightly early and we sat down to my usual tea in the lounge at the Peacock, i took my fly tying bag as i am so low on flys and knocked up some ltds and fflys for the day ahead, Commo was buzzin and was right in his element, 'this is rate sound in ear youth' from commo! he has a broader Stoke accent than me and we must sound a right pair of twats!

Sortin the lads out!!

The service i get in the Hotel is superb, a posh hotel like that and they always welcome the fisherman in in all there scuffs ect...tying flys and drinking tea in the lounge just adds to the whole day..

My mucker Woody turned up and joined in the fun, dressed in his posh shirt, he did look the part but is just a nob like me and commo!!

Commo has bought Roger's shades, he was arrested later

JC arrived late as usual and we all had the crack and set off...

I wanted to show Commo the delights of the river so did not bother to put my rod together and show him the crack before i started...
We started on the lightly fished lower beat, i knew it was going to be very hard but the Grayling would be willing in certain spots...
We fished the LTD sedge as there was no hatches going off and this pattern was needed, we were rewarded by a nice wild rainbow on the first casts of the day....

JC working rising trout

Well we were starting t take the piss out of each other already and we were struggling to take some fish when JC decided we should go bigger and pulled out his sedge pattern!! i looked at it and shouted 'fuck me JC is this your mouse pattern' !! we were all pissin ourselves and from there on JC started  to take fish on the mouse pattern...
Woody was in good spirit and looked hungry for fish, i knew we would struggle early and kept telling him and Commo to chill until the evening,,,
We moved into a well know Grayling pool which were rising, great, this is my style, spot the rises and fish them, i have no interest anymore in fishing a searching fly...

My mate Woody missing two fish again!!

Well we were all fishing together and taking it in turns to fish the rises with us all watching, loads better than spreading all up the river, we were all havin the crack and taking the piss out of each other...i was not set up and enjoyed watching the lads, it great that i can do this now and being a member has totally changed me, i can watch and just chill out and have a flick here and there...

Woody was put onto a rising Grayling, i knew this was going to be very hard to get to take, i have fished them lots and u need to get the fly smack on, no drag whatsoever and strike at the right time...

Commo with the only brown of the day, well done son

We all stood back and watched this 5 oz Grayling give Woody a lesson, Woody is no mug and catches fish but i knew it would be right hard so we all watched this fish do his head in...
We were giving him loads and e was taking it very well and eventually hooked and landed it after much frustration, Woody had done well, a rising Grayling to size 30 midges is harder than any trout...
JC had been catching well so it was Commo's turn, well we were all diving all over the place as his back cast was whipping all around us no matter where we stood, i even saw Woody do a SAS roll!! He had the same stick off us all until we decided to go and fish the top beat...
We arrived to my well known spots but it was obvious the fish very totally switched off, we had a walk around and just fished here and there but i could feel the Wye driving us in a false despair, i have seen this river do this to me many a time, u are catching fish then all of a sudden it just bites u and the river turns off, well i have learnt well, this is the time to pack ur rod up, go asleep next to a tree and just leave the fishing....
I decided we should get down to the Peacock for a much needed afternoon brew, i was not going to see Commo let this river frustrate him as it has done me in the past...
Walking back we met up with Jan ( haddon keeper) who come out to see us, a usual he was buzzin
Down at the Peacock we sat down and just had the usual banter in the lounge and had the much needed rest...i knew what was coming and told Commo to get ready for it...
Woody and JC had see this before and knew what a night we could have...
We made our way upto the town and fished around, Commo took his first ever river Wye wild rainbow, his eyes came alive and he was now buzzin, i loved seeing him catch fish more than myself...
Later on i saw something i have never seen, Commo found a pod of rising fish and started to take fish big time, we all walked over to him and cheered as he hooked another fish, he did some kind of dance while into this fish and we all pissed ourselves, it was kind of a walking shuffle while low to the ground!!! i made the name as the new Commo shuffle!!!

I have never laughed so much on the banks of the river...never mind the fishing we had the COMMO SHUFFLE....

Woody with a smacking Male Grayling on the dry

We moved upstream in the town and Woody had a absolute cracking Grayling pushing the 2lb mark on a LTD sedge, now there's me for weeks trying to tempt them on size 22/24 midge patterns and Woody smacks one first cast on a ltd sedge!! well done bro...

As the light faded we all fished the town and had sport that you can only dream of, i did not bother to fish much and got more of a buzz watching the lads fishing it so well.. Woody lost a 7lb plus rainbow and was absolutely gutted, we gave him loads of stick until he nearly started windmilling!! Commo was in a zone and i gazed over from the town seats buzzin off watchin him loving this river...

The biggest of the day

JC is a very good fly man and just oozes quality, we found a small black sedge coming off and JC selected a pattern that just took him fish after fish the biggest around the three pound mark...i have watched his methods for years now and i noticed how we fish very similar, why? we have both been taught by top guide John Tyzack!

Woody made up for his loss and landed a rainbow of 4lb, that gave him the run around, fully deserved from good fishing..

Commo did very well indeed as he is new to the river game, but this did not show, he caught lots of fish in the evening and i ribbed him telling him he was putting too much pressure on the river....he was lovin it..

I sat back on the town benches stuffing a Chinese down me,  today i was not bothered about fishing, i have months of fun coming up soon, i was watching the lads fishing a sedge hatch buzzin there heads off and was just lovin it....shouting the odd bit of abuse to them all.....

Days like this don't come often and one i will never forget for the laugh between 4 real fly men...

Nice one

LTD

Glen