Big Brown Trout - Attempt No 2 (River Hodder)

Not managed to get out too much over July due to the usual work and family commitments but also because the weather has been truly shocking - rain, rain, rain, cut three foot high grass in the back garden and then run and shelter from more rain....

Anyhow, enough whining, I was fortunately invited to an evenings fly fishing by a mate and client who is lucky enough to be on a syndicate on a beautiful stretch of the River Hodder just upstream of Whitewell.  Russ bagged a couple of salmon and a few sea trout from the stretch last season and although levels have been a nightmare this year because of the rain, it's spot on tonight and with two cars in the car park (Russ has never seen another angler in two years in the syndicate) others seem to agree that chances are good...

After running through three of the main pools with a larger Medicine sea trout single and a Peter Ross double as a dropper I've only a salmon parr to show for my efforts.  Another rod has landed two sea trout of 2-3lbs on by sheer co-incidence the same set up as me so I'm not too far wrong.  The river is not as high as I expected though (the Hodder must run through very quickly following a downpour) and a big Size 4ish Medicine feels a bit clumsy.  I've also been doing really well on the River Dee with teams of spiders and given I'm to fish a slow moving pool with a really long tail glide after a stop for grub (Crisps; nuts and a can of sweetcorn while sitting in the back of the Toyota 4x4) I think about a change of plan while eyeing up a can of Spam (if it's good enough for the chub..) for dessert....

Well, I stayed off the spam but made the change and what a result - 17 fish in 1.5 hours, including two cracking wild brownies of over 2lbs - brilliant!

Probably the best short fishing session I've ever had with the trio of Waterhen Bloah; Stewarts Spider and a Hares Lug and Plover bringing bites every cast for an hour and a half.  7-8 trout were over a pound and the two largest fish fought light tigers on the 7wt outfit.  Unfortunately, just as the sea trout started to move in the pool I had to make tracks back to Chester so didn't really cover them on dusk or in darkness.  I'm convinced that these tactics will work for them though....

Great night and a river brown PB for me of 2lbs.

The Hodder can also be fished on a day ticket by guests of the Inn at Whitewell - definitely worth the effort and the fish pie at the Inn is world renowned.

Cheers

Mr Fish



  

Big Brown Trout - Attempt No 1 (River Dove, Mayfield)

Finally!

I've managed to get some time to get out on the quest again. It's taken two clients to very kindly offer to take me fishing as thanks for completing jobs for them, which means I can't cancel to get more work done and it's an instant green card at home. First up is a trip to a stretch of the River Dove which is held by a very old fishing club populated by the great and the good, with Rt Hons and holders of OBEs on the card. The beats are in the Mayfield area and with a bit of luck it's prime mayfly time....

Quick gammon and chips at the Royal Oak pub on Mayfield bridge (very nice it was too) and we're ready to go. It's not really a big fish target day today because my brown trout PB is about 5.5 lbs so to trouble this by fishing upstream dry fly on a small river would be as shocking as Utd stringing together more than two passes in a Champions League Final. Should be a nice day to blow off the cobwebs though and hopefully get myself ready for a sea trout trip I've got coming up in South Wales in early July.

First glance and the river looks great but a lot wider and deeper than the stretches I've fished previously at Dovedale and Alstonfield where it was shallow clear streamy water with the odd pool and ankle to knee deep wading. This stretch looked 5-6 feet deep in places with steep nettle and cow parsley covered banks.

A light coloured mayfly lands on a shrub on my walk round and after my first catch and release of the day I manage to find a pretty close match in the fly box. Permasink on the 9ft Hardy fluorocarbon leader and then Gink on the mayfly and it's first cast and.....we're off and running with a take straight away followed by a quick strike. It's a nice brown of about a pound but as usual there's a problem - thinking the river was paddle deep I've only brought a bamboo scoop net which is about 4ft short of the fish which is now sucking in air at the surface. There's only one option so down the bank into the river, quick scoop and then grapple with the nettles as I scramble back up the bank. Quick photo on the phone which will never be posted (more of that later) and back in he/she goes. Great start.

Second cast slightly upstream from the berthing commotion and it's another take - am I getting really good at this or am I in the famous "Duffers fortnight". Another lovely brown of about 3/4 pound and it's SAS time again to net it. This time I feel a bit lighter at the top of the bank.....

Fly box still there; fish in net; car keys in pocket; forceps clipped to pocket...., but there's an issue when trying to photograph this one - no phone. Triffic (!), about two pounds of trout on the bank in 5 mins but 200 pounds of iPhone at the bottom of the river. 45 mins of searching but no joy. Lucky it's a work phone so looking on the bright side there's no more calls today and an iPhone 4 on it's way next week.

Two trout follow over the next hour to 1.5 lbs with one falling to the mayfly skimming across the surface before a very cold wind starts to blow and the fish stop as suddenly as they started. A couple more hours produces abortive takes and a lost fish to a Brown Klinkhammer but it's tough going now and time to call it a day. Ignoring my new phone upgrade tactic it's been a fun day and I'm looking forward to next week when I've got three days on a Shropshire Mere with 30 carp over 20 lbs including a 40 lbs common. It's run by a small syndicate so hopefully we'll have the lake to ourselves....

Cheers

Mr Fish