20lb Carp 'on the fly'

Had a few hour session on my local carp lake tonight and landed this wacker on my 9ft 4# streamflex!! Taken on the JT elk hair chum mixer fly..
Earlier on I had foolishly pulled the fly out of a carps mouth by being too sharp..
Later on I was patent and let the fish turn its head and then set the hook home to a huge eruption.. the fish was given full power and landed after a mental fight to produce my biggest fish on this lake yet, I have seen a big common that will be my next target..
Not every fly mans dream to fish like this but can be some right fun if the rivers are not fishing well..
Nice one
Glen
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Who the **** is Terry Hearn

Well I have had one of the most mad weekends ever!!!

It was all set up for a mellow weekend fishing the odd spinner fall on my locals until I saw John Tyzack on my Blackberry ringing....
Jt was around for the weekend with his lad and and wanted a nights kip at my cottage...well from there it turned into three days of ...........

Jt arrived, we cracked a few cans open and I told him of my found carp lake a stones throw away from me, he said that he had landed his first ever carp at the CLA on a fly and he liked it!!

Well I was expecting him to be not interested but his eyes lit up and I then knew my little treasure would be in for some fishing...

We took a stroll across with some dog biscuits and flicked a few out... The light was turning and the fish were not willing so we opted for a few beers at mine which ended up with full on guitar strummin session... JT giving his 'Animals' version of house of the rising son!!!

Well I had to go to work on Friday and woke up to see JT at the vice at 7 in the mornin tying a splayed deer hair pattern matching a pedigree dog biscuit!!!

I went to work telling Jt that these fish do not come on the feed until late afternoon....

I was fitting a light and my phone beeped... 10.30am and my email downloaded a picture of a common carp looking around the 14 pound mark!!

Well I should have known better, JT is a master fly man and this will make him good in all fishing, I then had messages banging through of beautiful double figure carp... all taken on his new patented pedigree chum elk hair dry fly!!!...

Tools were soon downed and I raced back to see Jt with a huge grin on his face....he had matched the hatch!!

Friday morning I had to go to work but was woken up by john to breakfast in bed wearing my daughters blonde wig!! Had to look twice as he did look quite sexy..he should watch out or he will have a sore ring after too many beers!!!

John had been up early and was tying his flys, a joy to watch as he banged out fly after fly to a pace that was untrue, each one bang on the same!

Sat mornin I arrived back from a night on the lash with the lads in Manchester... Stil hungover i arrived to see Jt with a huge smile on his face, he had been on the lake again and landed some more clunking carp, one upper double that took him 40mins to land!! Taken on his chum fly....

I had spoken to Woody who was doing a whisky event at the leek show in his marque..we decided to pay him a visit and taste some of the piss he sells..well jt was in his element, we were tasting ever wine on offer, jt taking a liking to many different wines!Woody was well stressed with how busy they were so we took the piss out of him for a bit and bought two of his best known piss and headed off back to my cottage for some duck eggs on toast..

In the evening I wanted to show Jt my rarely fished stretch of river and we both decided on fishing for Grayling...

I do love Grayling as they seem to have more a wild feel than trout, and I have seen some right lunkers while perched in my sighting tree..

Well we decided to opt for 1 rod between us, something I have began to enjoy doing, I first did it with top lad Chris Prior from Cress and Litton, its a good way of taking in turns to fish while one can focus on the rises ect, you get more a feel as your fishing together..and the craic is even better...

Tree boy!!

Well we walked through a favourite pool of mine with nothing showing in the way of rises... I decided to climb my tree which looks all over the pool..I sat for a while just studying the river, something that has come from my carp and barbel days, you learn so much more from looking rather than just hard fishing..I know this long pool very well now and might seem sad but I know where most of the fish are here, I know where they hold up and also know where each fish feeds, I have not caught them all as they can be very selective and the pool is a medium paced flow so presentation is critical..the Grayling have changed there style in the last 4 weeks, they have stopped shoaling up in pairs and are now in there own chosen food lanes and spread out over the pool..these Grayling are huge and are no mugs, get it wrong and you will go home gutted as I have done many a time.. Firstly we saw bwo fluttering off and a small trout just smuttering under the surface taking emerging duns, out came the faultless JT olive and third cast produced a stunning wild brown, only around half a pound but one of the finest around, the same strain as the one I had in May fly, there are not loads of trout here, but its not stocked and very lightly fished and it does pay off from what I have seen..

I looked over the pool and found a good grayling nymphing its head off, moving around the pool very smoothly taking the ascending nymphs, I was high in the tree and directed Jt to the fish.. A single size 20 nymph was casted upstream of the fish and within 3 or four casts Jt landed a 2lb 2oz Grayling in superb condition...Jt asked me if I wanted next go but it was superb method guiding the England man onto all these fish, I could see everything from the nymph to the fish taking it..

I spotted a bigger fish down stream, this was going to be hard as the cast was a difficult one but if jt could not do it then I could not.. The fish did not look on the feed, I directed jt with the position as he could see nothing from his ground position, his first cast. Plopped 5ft above the fish, my heart pounding in anticipation.. The fish just drifted towards the fly and the fly disappeared, STRiKE! I shouted, JT calmly struck down to the side and the huge fish just rolled and held itself side on in the flow.. As the fish came along side us we new it was a special fish, its dorsal upright and a deep blue tint..

We landed the fish, weighed in my mcleans net and off she swam no worse for wear.. 2lb 6 oz and the scales and a excellent fish for the time of year..

We had done enough to the pool, other fish were there but any more would have spoilt the fun, we moved to another pool where I took another Grayling and a trout that pulled the hook.. We had only been there two hours and we were both on the way back my house buzzin our heads off!! Top draw fishing in a class way of doing it...

Back home it was time for a curry and to test some of woodys wine (piss), the guitar came out again and our new vocals were made to the Artic monkeys tune 'scummy man' please watch out for the upcoming video!!! Jt did not dare put the blonde wig on again as I was gettin horny late on so it was time for bed..

Sunday morn was a good one for me, Jt showed me how to tie some of his best patterns and best of all gave me a few hours casting in the garden, u think u are quite good until you see Jt work the line, his skills are somewhere else and and to watch his technique you can see why he is on top.. Its something i need to get bang on, yes I catch fish but there are times when a magic cast can land me a special fish..its something I will be putting right soon..

JT's breakfast

Well jt made his way off home midday and what a great weekend it was... Carp on the fly, big grayling, Woody marque, curry, wine beer, guitars and most of all JT in his wig!!!

Does it get much better... Not much...'Living the Dream'

Nice one

Glen

JT chilin in the cottage of dreams

'Dry Fly Expert'

Regular rod
A famous angler who lives on the banks of the river Wye, a man full of tradition and who is known by many a angler...
I have had the chance to meet the man in question who has taught me some of techniques, he often wonders out of his house to greet me with a huge smile and talks of the wonders of the river..my Sunday evenings are just that bit more special when he has his tackle with him...
Well he has started a blog and its a cracking read, full of information from a man who has seen it all...reading it i do get the feel i am getting top draw info for free...which is very rare in the fly fishing world...
Take a look on the link below...
http://www.dryflyexpert.blogspot.com/

Nice one
Glen

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

Rolling back twenty years, Carp on the dry is just heart pounding stuff...

Went on a local lake this evening and invited Wess down for a evening ... the rivers are fooked and the only one worth fishing is my Wye on Sundays...

Well i have moved in my little cottage in the sticks and its taken me a while to get used to after living in the bustle of Stoke, i am now a bit of a country bum with a loud Stoke accent!

I decided to move this way as to be closer to the river Dove and Wye, and its just been perfect, i can be make the Wye in 35 mins and the Dove at Elly in 10...so yeah fishing has put me here and i am loving it...

I wandered out of my house a few weeks back and stumbled across a good sized lake that looked totally overgrown and out of sorts, well lake fishing has been something that takes me back twenty plus years, and yes Carp fishing was my life as flyfishing is now.....were there any in hear were my first thoughts and would i still get the same feeling that left me years ago when i moved onto the barbel...
I was with my two little girls and had no time to study the lake so it was just left at the back of mymind..

Last week i asked my two little girls if they wanted to go fishing with Daddy? well they are 5 and 2 years old and there faces lit up! yes Daddy take me fishing! i want a fish!!

Well i have taken them twice before on the Wye and on the Dove hoping for them to see me catch a fish, and both times i have failed due to stones being thrown at my fly!!

I planned to take them to my found gem and take a picnic to keep them calm, well this again lasted 30 mins, we ate the picnic and i picked up the rod to get in the water and  Poppy was crying she wanted to hold the rod and Annie wanted a poo!! Well that was it get the stuff and go home....i had lofted some bread across the pool to see for any signs of action, i looked as i walked away to see huge open lips calmly sipping the bread down... a sight a Carp man thrives on and a sight that made my old feeling come sailing back...get on the dry!!!
Well i had spoken to some of my old carp mates and told them of my find, yes i was going to target these but with my fly rod, yes a bit mad but i hear its something getting quite big..
I got home one night and had that urge, get out of my game fishing head and go and catch these carp Chris Yates style, nothing fancy, just fly line, mono and a loaf of bread....far from my days of delkims and rod pods....
Wess was late so i opted to stroll across to the lake and get a early look in...

On arriving there was a slight ripple across the lake, i wandered across to the back end and stubbled across a shoal of 5 carp all sitting in inches of water, there shear size was untrue, some over twenty pounds and some upper teans, creeping near them like stalking a sipping brown i tossed a handful of bread crust in the area around them, they totally ignored them at first and after 5 mins they started to swirl at them but not taking, then the lips of a huge common carp came out and slurped down a piece of bread, my heart was in my mouth, this carp was a very big fish and totally out sized all the others, they all had started to switch on to the bread and i just sat and thought out my move, i was going to target the big gun..
The common would circle around hit a piece of bread then sink to the depths, again it would just appear from nowhere and take the bread...i selected a size 10 grub hook and a looped a big crust on, a roll cast did the job and i sat and waited.... nothing for a few mins, had the rod spooked them... the huge common came straight up and supped the bread, my heart in my mouth i waited and it sunk its head down and i watched it twitch its head as it felt the line.....wack!! i hit it so hard to set the hook, the fish bolted and made a run straight into my backing!! i was hammered right over with the rod and holding this fish but it was not stopping, i soon realized i had stupidly choose my 9ft 4# fly rod, i had forgot the power of these fish and had no control, i held hard as i could and the fish headed straight for the island and i give it full power.... snap! the line bust at the hook link.... fuck me, i had just hooked a twenty pound common and made a right fook up, i needed a big powerful fly rod and felt a let down to such a quality fish, the hook was left in the fish but wisely i had crimped the barb and that made me feel better...
i sat there with my heart pounding at what had just happened....

Wess came along and i told him the story and he was also mad for some action... the fish went spooky for a good hour and came back to show interest...
I hooked a fish 3ft from the bank and this time i made sure i had beefed up and got into a twenty minuite scrap with a double figure mirror...
this was very good fun on the fly rod and wess slipped the net under a fish of top draw onditon, a fully scaled linear in superb condition...i sent memories back to my old carp days of which i loved with a shear passion..

Wess hooked another fish that give him the right run around and soon we slipped the net again under a superb double linear...

Well the night was drawing in and i sat with Wess in a superb location and we just chatted into last light, it was a joy to be out wit a mate bashing carp on the fly rod, many years ago i made huge amounts of friends in this carp game, yes i loved it but i have moved on and will have the odd go but game fishing is in my blood and always will be, it did made me realise that i am not a fly man purist and i might have slipped into a fly fishing cliche, but i see myself as a angler who has been into most types of fishing and boy have i lived the dream over the years and will never ditch a course fisherman as they are much better anglers than most fly men i see prancing around the river.....
Another bonus on the pool i noticed a sedge hatch and a buzzer hatch, small fish were rising the take these, and some looked a quite a decent size(9oz) i tried to hook them on a size 22 midge pattern, i was getting rises but could not connect, i think they could be rudd but not sure, my question is to ask if anyone knows how to connect with these fish and what they might be? i would love to catch a rudd on a dry fly..please leave a comment if u could help as it will drive me mad until i catch one...
Well was nice to be drifting back to memories of carp fishing but my heart is with my sipping Wye brown and i am loving it at the min...
Nice one
Ltd
Glen