Tying grayling bugs is easy

Up until a couple of weeks ago I had never--and had no intention-- of tying my own flies.
But things were about to change.
My good friend Buzz said he was too busy.
What with work and family commitments, he just didn't have the time to knock up some grayling bugs for me.
"Why don't you tie your own" he said. "Its not that hard.
I will point you in the right direction".
I think the real reason for his lack of enthusiasm was a tadge of  jealousy on my success with the "ladies" and thought "sod this I ain't spending all my time sitting on my butt tying flies for him while he is out on the river enjoying himself.
 Let him tie his own" ( Only joking Mark--I just made that bit up )

So it was a message to Toby ( Funkyfly)
Then a next day delivery saw me sitting looking at a mass of bits and bobs.
This lot, hopefully, when put together, would result in something resembling a food item and fool my quarry. I felt that it was going to be a daunting task.

Anyway I sat there fiddling around with the stuff, not really excited about it all--it seemed  just like a chore to me, something I could do without.
"I just want to go fishing" I thought to myself
"I spend enough time sitting on my ass at the computer without having to do this"
After looking at a few clips on YouTube I tentatively started my fly tying career.
"Proportion-Proportion" I was told.
I suppose that meant-don't overload the hook with stuff, keep it down to the minimum.
I was soon wrapping some thread round a hook.
On went a bead,a bit more thread wrapped down to the bend,couple of strands of pheasant tale and a wee bit of squirrel dubbing--my first fly was finished.
"That wasn't too bad" I thought--I quite enjoyed that-must tie some more"
Twenty flies later, all of my own invention, I decided that was it for the day.                                      
The weather looked good for tomorrow. "Lets give them a bash down the Clyde."

 

 

                                                   My first efforts at tying grayling bugs.
                                                   No works of art here.

 

A little black fly caught me a wee grayling, first cast and a burnt orange fly accounted for 2 more grayling one of them hitting the scales at 0.875 kg --I,m going to call it a 2lb'er.

 

Best fish of the day.

 

Was my success due to my new fly tying skill ? Who knows

But I must give some of the credit to my fishing pal for pointing me in the right direction

Thanks Buzz-see you down on the river.

First grayling trip

It was the 11th of October and it was grayling time.
The river level was back to normal and with a light breeze, things were looking good for my first go at the "ladies of the stream".
I knew of some nice grayling holding spots at Wolfclyde Bridge that had produced some descent fish in the past. 
All prepared for a bit of hiking along the river, I set off upstream to the first spot.

                                                  A lovely spot on the Clyde

 My tactics for the day was to use my #3--10ft rod with a large klinkhammer as an indicator with 2 bead head flies below, fished well over depth.
I began at the top of the run and started my way down.
Making three fan casts upstream of my position I guiding the flies down at the speed of the current.
A step down-then the same again.
I had travelled down for about ten minutes without a touch, so I increased the distance from the klink to the point fly with the dropper 20"up the line.
I estimated that the water was about 4ft deep so I was now fishing over double the depth.
First cast, instant success, a nice grayling had latched on to my point fly and after a brief struggle it was in the net.

                                                         Safely in the net

My next fish came shortly after, followed by a nice out of season trout of about one and a half pounds.
I continued on going back up and down the run landing 8 nice grayling, all of which were over the pound mark.

                                          
                                                  On her way to fight another day

I had arrived at the river at 1pm and it was now 5pm.
I had fished for 4 hours, delighted with my afternoons fishing, I decided it was time to head home.
I never had time to fish the other spots--going to save them for another day.

Last day of the trout season

That's it, the 6th of October has gone and the trout season has now ended.
It was nice to get out on the last day and I was lucky to catch 3 trout, not big ones, but a pleasure to catch, as the river had been in spate for nearly 2 weeks.
I am now going to tally up my trout catches for the season and send them in to the club
 (Lamington Angling).
The season started with a bang, I caught on the first day, but things quietened down a bit mid season.
However I didn't have many fish blank days, catching a few grayling towards the end of the season.
So I am now going to give it a few days rest and then start again fishing the river for grayling.
Same tactics as for the trout but I will fish the known haunts of the grayling to try and avoid catching out of season trout.
I will also watch were I am wading to make sure I do not disturb the trout Redd's.
You are allowed to use bait while fishing for grayling but I will stick to the fly- ain't going to be tempted to stick a maggot or worm on when things get hard.
My club waters are open from now until the end of January, then there is a month and a bit rest when the new trout season starts on 15th of March.
We have some big grayling in the Clyde and hopefully I can tempt one this year.
As the river temperature drops the grayling start to shoal up, its just a matter of finding them,so I will have to be prepared to cover a few miles along the river bank.
Lets have some good weather before the winter is upon us. " Fish-on."

                    My last trout of the 2012 season, I must try and take some better shots.

Emerald Isle

As my daughter had come over from Canada to England for a couple of weeks and as she had arranged to pay a visit to her mother in Ireland, I thought it would be a shame for me not to make the effort to meet up with her for a couple of days.
So it was off to Dublin I went, by plane from Edinburgh, just a 50 minute flight to the capital of Ireland, then a hop on the train, 3 hours later I was down in Waterford to hug my daughter and grandchildren.
I use to go over there regularly every year bass fishing but not this visit, my stay would be taken up entertaining my daughter and her family.

                                                   Well! someone has to be first in

In between the visits to the local shops, the seaside and eating out, I managed to escape for a few hours to relax and sample the local brew.
One thing about Ireland is there are plenty of good pubs, all selling excellent beer.

                 However, not everyone likes the taste of Ireland's favourite tipple.

It was an enjoyable couple of days, but was soon over, I am now back in Edinburgh getting my fishing gear ready.
I wonder how the Clyde is fishing?

Brownies are feeding again

I went down to the Lamington stretch of the Clyde last Saturday to meet my friend Andrew Lyon who I had commissioned to do a watercolour of me fishing by the bridge.
Ater posing for the camera for about an hour, I selected the shot I liked and told him to go ahead with the painting.

                          Here I am posing,  just downstream of Wolfclyde Bridge.

He said that the painting should be ready in about a months time.
I'm looking forward to seeing it hanging on my wall.
Anyway Andy left and I tackled up to do some proper fishing.
I decided to go a little bit upstream to a spot I had caught some trout last time out.
I opted to go with the "french leader tactics" using a cast of 3 nymphs--- 2 grhs and 1ptn-- all size 12.
There was still a bit of extra flow in the river, so I pinched on some lead shot to get the flies to fish near the bottom.
Things started a bit slow and in the first couple of hours I had only managed 2 wee trout and a couple of bump-offs.
A quick move to another spot proved productive and I managed half a dozen lovely plump brownies two of which must have easily been over the pound mark.

                                               My last fish
                                              A nice end to my day on the Clyde.

Every day is different on the Clyde

The river had been up and over into the field last week but by Saturday it had settled down to a fishable level, so away I went  to my favourite Wolfclyde Bridge.
It wasn't till 2pm that I arrived, I thought that an afternoon early evening session might be productive.
Three or four cars were parked up, but I couldn't see any anglers in the vicinity, so I opted to do my usual and have a go just by the bridge.
As I was tackling up I was delighted to see our local osprey hovering over the water some 200 yards downstream of the bridge. "Cant be anyone down there" I thought, so  I decided to start by the pillars of the old railway bridge and work my way upstream.
Once again it was the 10ft #3 that I opted to fish with. this time with the fly line on the reel,furled leader and then an 8ft  tippet consisting of klinkhammer indicator  and two beaded nymphs.
As the river was running heavy, I decided to stick on a lead shot, this time between the point fly and the dropper.
Moving slowly upstream from the pillars to the the bridge I plucked out 8 lovely wee brownies of no more than 8" long. Not bad for the first hour of fishing.
The other side of the bridge was less productive, another 2 wee fish and at the death,after changing to a dry I caught my last trout-a bit better this time,  a 12"incher.
Funny how it goes isn't it-last week I couldn't catch a trout, it was all grayling, this week no grayling all trout. Although they were all small fish I had an enjoyable afternoon.
I had only fished for 2 hours, my highlight as always was seeing the osprey and with a few fish as well, it all made my day.

Grayling are on the feed

It was back to Wolfclyde today, its been seven days since I was last down there.
The river has been over it's banks last week and not for the first time, its been up and down for the last couple of months.
I hope the weather is going to settle now, we have had enough rain, lets have some nice sunny warm days before winter is on us.
Where is summer? seems to have missed us up here in Scotland.
Anyway back to today and the fishing.
After my success with the french leader set up, I thought that I would give it another go to see if it would works for me again.
I started just by the pillar of the bridge, fan casting upstream as I went.
Within 5 minutes I was into a fish, it wasnt a trout, this fish was staying deep out in the current.
I soon saw the big fin coming out of the water, it was a grayling and a nice one at that.
After a little bit of excitement on my 10ft  #3 rod I soon had it in the net, a quick shot and back in the water it went.

I find that grayling take a bit of time to recover, so its best to hold them upright  in the water facing upstream.
Give it a few minutes and it should swim away on its own accord.
This one was no exception, I had to hold it for a while before it went on its way.
Wild brown trout seem to just dart off as soon as they hit the water.

I was soon into another grayling just a couple of yards further on, not as big, but it was very lively.
"Where were all the trout?" I asked myself. I had caught them last week but today they were missing.
In the first hour I had now caught 3 grayling but no trout.
The water did feel a bit cold, so maybe that was the reason, all that rain must have put the trout off the feed and the grayling must have  thought that it was the Autumn and had started feeding.
A hundred yards up from the bridge the water starts to get shallower and faster, it can be good but today it was just a bit too pacy for my method and after another half hour without a take I decided to move further up stream.
It was nice to have a few anglers around today ( I was on my own last week) and I stopped for a chat a couple of times as I moved on.
I was now some 500 yards upstream of the bridge and had started fishing the same method as earlier but after an hour without a touch I decided to sit back on the bank, have a bite to eat and watch the other anglers fish away. They didn't seem to be doing any better than me.
I spent another hour in the area resulting in one wee brown trout of about 6" but that was it, so I made my way back to the bridge.
It was now time for a change.
I had noticed a couple of rises, so on went a dry fly to see if I could tempt a fish.
Tried that for about an hour and with only one take without a hook up, I gave it up.
It was now 5pm, should I call it a day or give it one last hour ?
The weather had been that bad lately I thought that it would be a shame to go home so soon, especially as it was now turning into a nice evening.
On went a big klinkhammer as indicator, then 7ft to the point fly and 18" back up the line to a dropper.
Buzz had kindly given me half a dozen of his special beaded nymphs, so I thought now would be a good time to give them a try.
On went a heavy yellow bug on the point and a lighter nymph on the dropper.
My last efforts resulted in another nice sized grayling of over a pound followed shortly after by one slightly smaller.

I finished off with 5 nice grayling today and although the trout hadn't shown, I went home happy.

As I was driving back to Edinburgh I thought to myself.
I wonder why there are so many fish around Wolfclyde Bridge?
I seem to catch more fish there than anywhere else on the Clyde, surely they must get caught a few times throughout the year.
You would think they would be hook shy wouldn't you?
I have posted exactly where my fish were caught  I hope no-one objects to this.
I wouldn't normally divulge the spot.
But its hardly a secret place is it?
Most anglers usually have a few casts by the Bridge when they start or when they finish their days fishing.
Its a good place for beginners to start, safe wading, plenty of space and a few fish.
That's where I started some 4 years ago.

Back on my favourite Clyde

I have been back now for two and a bit weeks and my holiday in Canada seems long in the distant past.
Hot weather, nice food, cold beer and of course my lovely daughter and her family.
I miss them and look forward to going back next year.
Anyway, I am now back in Scotland and I don't think it has stopped raining since I have been back, at least it isn't cold, but the river has been up and down like a yo-yo.
I managed to get out last week, getting a couple of trout on the dry, but it was hard work.
The forecast for today is showers, with a light  SE wind, water levels looked good, so I thought I would give it a go.
No point in going out too early I thought so I set off at mid-day, Jeremy Vine on the radio would keep me company for the 40 minute trip.
I arrived at Wolfclyde at about one o,clock where I had a look at the water from the bridge.
There were no fish rising "It must be nymphs today" I thought.
When I was in Canada I took my annual trip across the Detroit River to the Bass Pro Shop and  purchased another battenkill reel, the idea being that this would be designated to french nymphing.
Its loaded with 20lb Amnesia Mono (no fly line) tapering down at the business end to 17lb-14lb-12lb 8lb then a tippet ring.
On the 8lb section I had put on 4 hi-vis float stops to act as my indicator.
 (set up shown on a previous post)
That was going to be my method for today and because the river was flowing a bit fast, I didn't fancy sticking on a big heavy point nymph, I decided to try a new set-up I had been thinking about for some time.
Buzz (Mark) had tied me some lovely wee nymphs and  I hadn't had a chance to use them,being on the light side the problem I had was how to get them down to the fish?
So I came up with this-- from my tippet ring I added 8ft of 1.4kg mono with two 0.3g split shot on the end.
Then up 16" to a dropper, 16" again to my middle, and finally another 16" to the top dropper.
I then tied on a selection of Mark,s nymphs and I was ready to go.
I thought that Wolfclyde would have a few anglers, but not a car in sight.
"They may all be somewhere else or I suppose some people have to work", I didn't mind.
 I had the place to myself. "Lets start just on the upstream side close to the bridge" I thought".
A little flick up stream on a short line and it all looked good, no tangle, everything landing on the water correctly and the split shot soon started tripping along the bottom quite nicely.
Gave out a bit more line on my second cast and I was into a fish right away, followed by another, a couple of on- offs then some more nice wee trout came to hand.
I was chuffed with myself, my new method seemed to work.
In total I had a dozen trout and one plump grayling in 3 hours of fishing all within 100 yards of the bridge.

It just so happens that John the bailiff turned up as I netted my best fish, a lovely hard fighting brownie of about a pound.
It was great to be back on my favourite Clyde.

The end of my holiday in Canada

All good things come to an end.
I have had a great time with my family over here in Canada.
Invaded by Canadian soldiers,caught a few fish, spotted some exotic birds, had some nice food and as it was very hot.95f, drank plenty of ice cold beer. Couldn't have been better so until next time when I "haste me sell back"byee Canada

My wee granson shows off his catch. A silver bass I think.

He wouldnt touch this one "Its too spiky" he said

A group of Canadian Soldiers (Mayflies)

A mass of them

Some nice food

                                                And something to wash it down with.

Phew!!! It's just too hot

It's 95f outside again today,that's just too hot to go fishing.
I have been over here in Canada for two weeks now,one week left and it's back home to Scotland.
I've had a great time with my daughter and her family and I will miss them when I go, hopefully I will return next year.
I haven't really done much fishing,took my grandson out a couple of times but spent most days out shopping and having some nice meals.
The heat is forecast to last until the weekend so I think I will pack away the fishing gear till next year,sit back for the remaining few days and just chill out with some nice cold beer.
I will be back on the Clyde next week and I am looking forward to catching some nice brownies.
It will probably be cold and wet.
It won't take long for me to be wishing I was back here in Canada.

Having a good time in Canada

My little grandson was eager to go fishing again,he enjoyed it that much the last time I was over,there was going to be no rest for me until I took him.
So it was down to the local tackle shop to get some live minnows and worms, then off to the local hot spot at the mouth of the Belle River, Lake St Clair.
It's just like fishing from a sea harbour, only this is a marina and it's hard to believe you are not fishing in the sea with views of miles and miles of fresh water in front of you, with the banks of the USA in the far distance.
First fish came after only 5 minutes and I was surprised that my grandson actually took hold of it for the picture he usually shies away from touching fish, so he must be getting used to it now (a lifelong angler in the making?)
Next thing for him to learn is to be able to bait up the hook and cast it out.
We had an assortment of fish that day including freshwater drum,blue gill, silver bass and plenty of perch.
It kept him active all day,should the fishing have been slow he may have struggled in being attentive.
Going to cast our lines again at the weekend.
His mates want to come but I am not sure I can handle them that is, unless their parents are with them.
Think I will stipulate--no mum or dad,then no fishing.

Last couple of hours before Canada

Got my bags packed early Monday morning and with nothing left to do for the rest of the day I thought I would give the Bridge a go, see if I could tempt a brownie or two on the dry.I just took my 8ft #3 rod and a wee box of flies, getting down there at mid day, I was soon all tackled up and ready to go.Only having a short time to fish I decided to stay near the bridge, besides I fancied having a chat with my fellow fishers and the bridge area is the best spot to bump into people First cast and instant success, in came a small trout of about 10", it was duped in taking my emerger pattern.Wow!! I thought this is going to be good,I had quickly dried off the slimy fly and out it went again with me in full expectation of a further take. Two hours later after covering the hundred yards of water below the bridge I had now progressed under the bridge two some two hundred yards up stream without as much as a look at my fly.I had changed patterns a few times and had covered the odd fish that had shown but, alas, zilch.It's not the first time this has happened and I bet it won't be the last,fishing has a habit of building up your hopes and expectations just to "knee you in the nuts"and put you in your place. "Who cares" I thought, I am off on holiday to Canada tomorrow, there is always another day to figure out what I am doing wrong.By this time I had almost decided to call it a day when I noticed one of the group of anglers that had moved onto the water just below me was bent into what looked like a good fish."Lucky jammy sod" I thought, then five minutes later there he was again into another - then blow me a third fish and then to rub it in one of his mates was playing a fish as well.Down I went to have a chat, see if I could find out what their secret engredients were.Found out they were a group of Dutch anglers, they had come over to Newcastle by ferry and had driven up to the Clyde for a weeks fishing.By the look of their outfits and fishing gear it was obvious they were no mean anglers and had proven their skills by catching fish where I had caught nowt.I had a good old chat with them and I think I have gleamed some tips I can try on my return to the river.They were a really nice bunch, spoke good English and we're free in passing on their information.So I in turn gave them the traditional Scottish greeting, by hoping that they had a "braw"time up here in Scotland and would return in the near future.So Jan-Peter-Reineir and Berd "haste ye back" you are more than welcome.

Lets have some rain

We are getting some fantastic weather up here in Scotland and its nice to have a bit of warmth for a change,rather than the cold damp and windy days we get most of the year.
But the river Clyde is very low and needs a clean out,there is a lot of weed growing in places where it used to be nice and clear,its getting that bad that fishing subsurface is near on impossible.
I fished yesterday with a team of spiders plus a nymph on the point to give my casts a bit of direction.
The nymph was just getting clogged up with weed,even the spiders had to be cleared nearly every cast.
I managed one wee brownie on the point nymph,but no takes on the spiders,so I decided to change to the dry after slogging my way down river for two hours.
Plenty of fish were rising but not for me,in fact I only managed to rise one fish to my fly in the last hour or so fishing,with no hook up.
Anyway lets hope we get some downpours soon.
The other day I went down the Clyde to test out my "new eye" after my cataract operation and so far so good, I can now see my little fly bobbing down at the far bank-great! but had a blank in the 2 hours I was there.
I did wear my shorts and plimsoles,surprisingly I didn't get bitten and it was nice and cool standing in the water but if I should decide to do it again I must sort out some suitable footwear as the plimsoles have no grip. I nearly went "ass over tit" a couple of times.
Going to give it another go tomorrow,I don't think it will be any better, but I will try.
I am missing my daughter and grandchildren,should I go back to Canada?
maybe next week?for a month? decisions-decisions.
Probably come out the pub one night,go on the comp, and book it.
I will come back in a couple of weeks when hopefully we have had some rain.

A change in the weather-Summers here?

The weather has changed somewhat, up here in Scotland,it is now about 10 degrees warmer and the winds have died down to just a little breeze,so its down to Wolfclyde for another go at the trout.
I have changed my attire to my summer wading vest no sleeves just bare arms hoping for a bit of nice sun for a change.
Pity I couldn't wear my short ( I hate chest waders-you get too hot) but I remember last time.
I  nearly got bitten to death-too many flying biting machines up here in Scotland.
Rod wise I had decided to use my 10ft #3,thinking that I would start off nymphing at long range using a klink as indicator and 2 or even maybe 3 small beaded nymphs,ptn,s and grh,s.
The water this time of the year would be low and clear so it would be best to keep my distance.
I did intend to go downstream but as  I couldn't see any anglers fishing the spots by the bridge I thought I would give them a quick once over then get a move on.
Starting off upstream of a run that usually produces the odd fish I progressed down, fan casting to try and winkle out a fish.
After going down some fifty yards I was into a nice trout of about a pound but after doing its usual acrobatics it slipped the hook.
No more takes were forthcoming and I had noticed the odd fish rising so I quickly changed to a single emerger which I hoped would match the flies coming down stream ( I am still raw at fly identification. "some more read ups required" I thought)
Anyway after covering a few rises and straining to see the fly most of the time, I had nearly given up hope, when suddenly out of the blue wham!! a trout nailed the fly and after a short fight I brought a lovely wee browny to hand.
It must have been just under the pound,lovely colours,a strong fish for its size,a swish of its tail and away it went.
Well that was it no more fish,I hadn't moved very far again,next time I must go a bit further than the bridge,but nevertheless I enjoyed the little session.
Some time in the future,when I cant manage to get out fishing I can sit back and think of the days I enjoyed at Wolfclyde Bridge.

Back on the Clyde for a couple of hours.

Although I hadn't fully recovered from my trip back from Canada I decided to give it a go anyway,so it was down to Wolfclyde Bridge for an hour or two.
Didn't get there till two-ish in the afternoon ,it looked like someone had crashed into the wall by the bridge as there were workman replacing some stones just at the crossroads, however I managed to park in my usual spot easily.
There were a half dozen cars parked, but on looking up and down river I couldn't see anyone.
It was a bit cold and miserable so I decided not to go very far and after tackling up I headed just down stream to the pillars to start fishing upstream towards the bridge.
I had decided to fish my 8ft #3 rod set up with the duo (a klinkhammer on a short dropper to act as an indicator and a p.t.n 3ft down on the point).
The idea was to fish a close line upstream,retrieving line back as the flies came towards me and be on the look out for the start of a hatch,making a quick change-over to the dry if fish started rising.
After about half an our fishing I took my first little brown followed straight after by an even smaller grayling.
I continued up and under the bridge stopping a while to watch a fellow angler fishing downstream towards me.
I thought that as he got to me he might stop for a chat but he turned,packed in and went to his car.
Not the talkative one I suppose.
I continued upstream from the bridge,I had now added a g.r.h dropper half way up from the point fly,as I thought that this may increase my chances of a catch,but after another couple of hours fishing I only had one other fish, which felt like a good one,after lot of splashing the hook slipped out.
I did change to the dry a couple of times to try and tempt the odd rise but nothing doing.
It wasn't a very nice day and I wasn't top of form,but at least I went out.
 As I walked back I was rewarded by the sight of a magnificent osprey ( a female I would think, by its large size)coming down stream,stopping and hovering for a while over the water before continuing on its way.
"Hope it has more success than me" I thought, before chucking my gear into the car and going on my way back to Edinburgh.

Back from Canada with a little story

Well I'm back from my 2 weeks holiday in Canada, got a dose of the lurgy
(Ive been coughing and splurting since I got back, too many people packed into a plane and all them germs flying around its no wonder you catch something--and jet lag doesn't help either)
 But I had a great time.
No  river fly fishing where I was,right down South,go across the Detroit river and you are in the USA,
just big lakes filled with perch, pike walleye etc.
I was based on the banks of Lake St Clare at the mouth of Belle River an ideal place for just casting your line sitting back and relaxing in the sun waiting for things to happen.
Its not too hot this time of the year,mid twenties and with a bar just up the track from where I was fishing,nice ice cold beer-what could be better.
I bought a little rod and reel and took my 5 year old grandson fishing for the very first time and he loved it.That got me thinking about the first time I went fishing,my grandad took me-here is my little story.

I think I was still in a pushchair when my grandad first took me down to one of the many small lochs that are dotted around Edinburgh.
We would go there to feed the ducks,I'm not sure how the fishing came about,it must have been by seeing other children doing it I would think.
A bamboo cane with a net on the end and a jam jar to put the fish in, that was the usual method to catch sticklebacks.
Not for me,my grandad showed me the proper way-with a worm and fishing rod.
My set -up consisted of a short section of cane as the rod, a length of thread tied on the end for the line
On the end of the thread he would tie on a little safety pin and then impale a nice juicy worm
(no hooks needed) dangle it in the water to entice the fishies to grab hold of the end of the worm and try and quickly whip them out the water into the jam jar.
Some of the sticklebacks let go and fell back in the water but with a little bit of luck you could get a nice few swimming around in your jar.
I think I wanted to take them home to show my mum but my grandad made me put them back.
He said "they will only die if we keep them in the jam jar for too long and they are to wee to eat,so we will put them back- maybe we can catch them again next time".
That's where it all began for me.

They say that every picture tells a story-well this one certainly does
62 years after my grandad took me fishing. I introduce my grandson-his first ever fishing trip and his first ever fish. A fisher is born? I hope so.

So that's it,end of holiday for this year,back to my favourite Clyde-wonder how it is fishing?

                                           Do you think I enjoyed myself?

Off to Canada

I didn't get as much fishing in as I hoped to before my trip to Canada.
I was going to try and get out today but it would be too much of a rush as I have washing to do bags to pack-that sort of thing.
Also off course, make sure I have everything-passport money etc.
So its off to Canada via Dublin to pick my daughters mum up-hope everything goes well-fingers crossed.
Im hoping to take my grandson out fishing on the banks of the Belle River,so all success or lack of it will be on my next post.
See you in a couple of weeks.

Mid April.

We had a bit of a flush out last week which gave the river a well needed refreshment.
The trout have been very active with hatches of large dark olives and march browns ( been reading up on fly life--very interesting)  around 1-00 to 3-00pm.
Plenty of rising fish but sometimes hard to tempt on the dry fly.
I had a couple the other day-no problem-hooked well in the mouth but yesterday out of the dozen or so I managed to fool into taking my fly, I only hooked one and that caught outside the mouth.
Getting more fish on the nymphs but losing a lot of them-some good ones at that.
 Still, its nice to be active with the river fishing well,I thoroughly enjoy it.
I don't seem to get very far from the bridge,its not down to laziness,I just seem to find the action there and the time soon goes by.
At the start of the season I vowed that I would get a move on up/down the river--try different spots but it never works out that way--what the hell I enjoy it.
Talking about bridges-Wolfclyde--my watercolour is ready to pick up.so I must get it framed and hang it pride of place on my living room wall. When I am too old to get out fishing I can sit back, look at it, and dream.
I am away next week to Canada via Waterford and Dublin. I have to pick up an old acquaintance and  take her over to see our daughter. I hope all goes well.
I will probably have another two or three days fishing, then get ready packing etc.
No fishy pics on this post,but a nice painting of a bridge.

                           Wolfclyde Bridge on a Spring day painted by Andrew Lyon

Last week of March

Well the good weather has continued,we still have blue skies and light winds,unusual for Scotland at this time of the year (any time of the year up here) I am making the best of it while it lasts.
However, the river levels are getting a bit low so some rain is needed to give it a good flush out.
So for the final week of March I ventured out twice and had mixed fortunes. The first day I failed to catch--well I did hook two good fish,one was a grayling  and the other a trout,but they slipped the hook before I could bring them to hand ( catch and release at a distance,they call it)
Both were in shallow fast water,a place that I wouldn't normally cast a line, but thinking about it now the reason why they were there could have been because there is more oxygen in the faster water--
I was saying that the river was running low.
I then missed a day and went out again, this time with better results.
I thought that I would do an afternoon session so arrived at the river about 3pm thinking that there may be some fly life on the water with rising trout here and there, but no-not a thing-the river looked a bit  dead.
Walked up and downstream but couldn't see any rises to cast my dry fly to so opted to fish nymphs again.
Tried the fast water bit again and soon hooked a nice brown trout of about 11", a couple more jabs but nothing else.
After an hour or so I could see the odd fish rising so I quickly changed to the dry and had a take first cast,but no hook up resulted.
Tried chucking the dry fly at other rising fish but that was it,no more offers.
Back on the nymphs and soon had a very nice trout of about 1lb and a bit.
It gave me a good fight for its size-I don't think the photo does it justice-it was far chubbier and more beautifully coloured, not really shown on the picture below.

  The end of an enjoyable afternoon at Wolfclyde Bridge on the last week of March
  2 nice brown trout--I am happy with that.

Good weather-trout feeding the return of our resident osprey? How bad is that.

Got round at last to doing my  blog .
I went out Thursday and what a lovely day it was--too good in fact for fishing, the trout don't like bright weather,they get spooky and hard to catch, but I was in for a pleasant surprise.
First of all,
I heard it before I saw it--right over my head- the returning osprey.
It was being mobbed by crows and gulls with noisy oystercatchers giving their penny worth.
The osprey looked on the small side so I am not sure if it was a juvenile or a male.
Whether it was our local bird or just passing through I don't know,any way I had some fantastic views of it hovering over the water ready to pounce on an unsuspecting trout,unfortunately it moved on down river without diving.
Back to the fishing,
I started off just before the bridge and after 30 minutes I was into a nice grayling,which was duly netted photoed  and released.

I used my new iphone to take the shot dropping it into the water at the same time.
All is well with it however,I was lucky,water and electrical gadgets don't go well together.
I have now bought a waterproof bag(used for water sports,all your gadgets go in it and it hangs around your neck) to keep my phone dry.
I have also purchased a new camera,this time its water proof being able to take shots underwater,that should be good.I am looking forward to using it.
So after catching the grayling I moved further up river but had no further offers.
I then turned round and went the other side of the bridge,there are good spots just downstream,but nothing  doing.
A couple of fish rising but I couldn't tempt them to my fly.
I finally returned to the spot that I had started at,had a chat with a fellow angler and contemplated packing in and heading homeward.
"Sod it" I thought, lets give it another go and to my surprise winkled out 3 nice trout from the same spot as the grayling.
So it all ended up a successful day.
I was happy.

                   A nice view of Wolfclyde Bridge on a sunny day

A good start to the trout season.

I have been out now three times since the beginning of the season and  what joy it has been to get away from the the house.Winters up here in Scotland seem to last ages.
Now there is a bit of spring in the air,mild weather and good river levels have brought the trout out to feed.
I have had a few,good size at around 12oz to a pound and a bit, a couple of nice grayling have come to the net as well.
I will be posting some pictures of my catches as soon as my camera dries out--had a little mishap-it got a bit wet.
The birds on the river have been active-with  pied and grey wagtails flirting about and the odd kingfisher speeding by.
Over head the buzzards have been displaying trying to compete with the crows as to who is the best manoeuvre'r in the sky.
Oyster catchers are in, in numbers, laying out their territory and making a right old racket doing it.
I am sure that the odd swallow and sand martins are about but I haven't seen them yet (too busy casting my  fly.)
And of course the favourite--our local osprey he will be here soon.
(Not finished yet with this blog-be back later.)

Back again.--
Didn't go out today until 12-00, it was a bit windy but I had nothing else to do so off I went.
The idea was to just fish the dry fly but as I walked the river there was nothing rising so I put on the nymphs and soon was into a nice fish a grayling of about a pound.

                                                                        Todays grayling
That was the only fish I had,but I was happy to catch something,see if I can do better tomorrow.

I managed to retrieve some of my shots from my waterlogged phone so here is a tout I caught yesterday.

Eat Sleep&Fish Enzine

 I was asked if I would like to write a short article for a new Enzine about flyfishing the Clyde
 Here is my contribution. Edition #3 published February 2012.
                                              The Upper Clyde
It didn’t take me a lot of thought, it was an easy decision—my business down here in London was on its knees, too much debt, not enough orders, now was a good time for a big change.                              
I sold my house, paid off my debts, loaded my van and headed North.                
Living on her own in Edinburgh, my mother needed me, she was in her eighties and was suffering from dementia.
I had been away from home for forty and a bit years,now I was in the position to look after her,to give her a bit of my time  and of course a chance to  fish the Clyde.
Its only when I am well up the M74 and have crossed the Clyde for the first time that I feel  I am nearly home.
My first glimpse of the river is at Telford Bridge,then running to Crawford and Abington.
This is the upper Clyde, it has a long way to go until it reaches  Glasgow and then into the sea.
I have made this trip many a time and looked  across the fields to the river.
One of these days I am going to be down there”—I say to myself.
Well here I am, it won’t be long now,I am starting to get excited.I turn off the motorway at Abington Service Station on to the A702,I am now heading for Lamington , Biggar then on to Edinburgh and my mum.
What’s all that stuff you are buying she asks me “Em!!  Just a little bit of fishing gear—not a lot just a few bits” is my reply. ”
Hope you are going to have time to look after me and not be out gallivanting “she  retorts.     
“Wont do that mum – I will just  go now and then.
 I will get you  settled first, make sure you have everything -  only be away for a couple of hours.    Not all the time just now and then “ I repeated.“Make sure you bring me back a fish for my tea then” she says and laughs.“ Will do"
I don’t kill fish from the river, just the ones from our local stocked pond.I will get her a rainbow now and then, she won’t know the difference ,it will keep her happy.
The stretch of the Clyde that I fish is from Wolfclyde Bridge
(that’s where the last wolf in Scotland was shot—reportedly)
 up to Telford Bridge just by the motorway.You could not wish for a better brown trout and grayling  water.Miles and miles of crystal clear water that would take you more than a lifetime to explore.
I can go out some days and not see a sole.Plenty of cows and sheep to keep you company and there are always dippers, wagtails chirping away by the river side-kingfishers dashing past-buzzards soaring in the sky.
If you are lucky you may get a glimpse of an otter or watch an osprey plucking fish out of the water.
Well there you are—I’ve told you a little bit about the river  where I spend my time.
And I’ve told you how I come to be there. My mum passed away last April and I miss her.
I won’t be coming back South, I will be staying up here spending my retiring years fishing the Clyde.
So if you are travelling on the M74 and you look over the fields to the river, that lone fisher could be me—why don’t you join me, you would be more than welcome.

A wee Clyde brownie

Just about to start a grayling seasion at Wolfclyde Bridge.

My French Leader set-up

I had tried the so called French Leader Method a couple of years ago without success.
After obtaining as much information as I could from the Internet, down the Clyde I went to give it a go.
Well!! what a mess I got into.
"How are you meant to cast this thing without the need of the fly line" I thought.
I could not get my line out whatsoever, it ended up in a tangled mess around my rod and feet.
After a half hour or so of exasperated and embarrassing effort, not wanting to be noticed by my fellow anglers, I packed it in and went back to more conventional methods.

Then-at the beginning of last year I decided to have another go.
I had come to realize that my lack of success was part due to my rod  and set-up.
This time I had opted for a 10ft #3, this would give me the required length and softness to be able to cast my extra long leader.
With further small modifications and lots of practice, I was finally able to apply this method quite easily with some confidence.
 It is now my main method of nymphing and I am using it on the Clyde with great success.

My rod is a  10ft #3 Marryat Tactical and Orvis Battenkill reel loaded with #3 flyline.
The lightness of this set-up enables me to fish with an outstretched arm for long periods.
Attached to the fly line, loop to loop, is a 9 metre Hends Camou tapered leader.
I cut- off about 2 metres from the small end of this leader and tie on 2 metres of 8lbs bs mono.
The reason for this is that the small float stops need to be a nice tight fit to enable you to adjust the group of stops to the right position for the sighter.(a lighter line would not have the required diameter )
Attached to this (loop to loop)  would then be your tippet section.
The distance from the loop to the first dropper, I set at 1m, which is about the shortest distance from the sighter that I would want to position it.
While fishing, by sliding the stops up the 8lb mono section I can increase this distance to suit the depth and angle of the sighter.
I fish 3 nymphs with the heaviest on the point (the heavier the point fly the easier it is to cast.)
I don't want to go too heavy with the nymphs, as they need to travel down stream naturally and not like a set of anchors.
As I want all my nymphs to be hugging bottom the maximum distance I would set them apart up from the point fly would be 60cm.

So thats the set-up,but you may need to twiddle around with it to meet the conditions of the day.
The whole idea of this method is to be able to present your nymphs to the fish,at distance, at the speed of the current.
I make an upstream cast and while holding the rod up high let them trundle down past me.
The sighter would be held half out of the water, any dip or stop could indicate a take, most cases will be the nymphs snagging  bottom, but after a while you can identify what is a bite or not.
I fish this method on the upper Clyde at Lamington,Abington and Crawford.
Its not a massive water but nor is it a little stream.
Whilst shallow wading, using this method, I can almost present my nymphs near to the far bank.


I would normally enter the water at the tail end of the swim and work my way upstream on a short line
I may only be using  half of the 9 metres of leader (czech nymphing its probably called)
Depending on results at the end of the run, I would then go back down stream maybe on a different line, this time using the full extent of the leader.

I have had a lot of good days using this method and I hope to continue, this coming trout season.
However when the season gets into swing and the water temperature rises, I am going to concentrate on the wee dry fly on a shorter rod to see if I can hook up with our resident monster broonies.

A nice cold winters day for grayling.

The day looked almost perfect,maybe a bit bright, there was a hard frost on the ground,very little wind and the river had dropped to its normal winters level.
A good day to go after the grayling.
As Lamington section had closed I decided to venture to Ucapa water at Crawford.
I have been up to this area a few times without much success,a couple of nice trout at the end of the season but no grayling.
Starting off at Camps Bridge I decided to go upstream having my first few casts at the first run--no luck and then up to the pool by Crawford Castle with the same result.
I moved a bit further upstream, going along a steep bank,I peered  into the water to see if I could spot some fish, but the light wasn't very good, I couldn't spot any
This was a place that I had seen fish before, so I thought that I would give it a go anyway.
My tactics were to fish a couple of weighted nymphs on a long leader and a pimp indicator.
Starting at the bottom of the run I carefully entered the water and gradually, making my way upstream,fan casting as I went.
I knew that I was fishing correctly,there was very little wind, so I was able to cast upstream and bring the flies back trundling them along the bottom at the speed of the current.
After an hour of hard fishing I had reached the top of the long run,without a single take.
Its hard fishing in the winter-the water temperatures are low-the fish semi-hibernate becoming inactive,just hugging the bottom.
To be successful I think you nearly need to plonk the fly right on their nose.
I went back downstream and had a few more casts,sat down had my sandwich and coffee.

Took in the scenery and a shot of the castle.
Had a chat with one of the locals,he had just returned to Crawford after years away in Norway.
A nice lad-- Hi Rider.
Back into my warm van and home.

I think I had a good year

Well! thats it, 31st January and Lamington waters on the Clyde are now closed until the start of the trout season in March.
I think I have had a good year finishing with 80 trout and about the same amount of grayling.
No big trout or monster grayling but good quality fish.(not many sprats)
All released to fight another day.
Probably not a lot compared with the experts but I am happy--I'm still learning.

My most successful method was the trio ---Which consists of:
A big klinkhammer fly on a short dropper to act  as an indicator,then another ptn on a dropper fixed at one and a half times the depth of the swim- then  a heavier ptn 50cm further down on the point.
When I am using this method I don't like the nymphs to be too heavy, as they will only keep dragging the indicator fly under-I want the flies to look like natural food coming down the river- I don't want them to drag like anchors.
This method gives you 3 options to catch fish.
They can take the klink as a surface fly or one of the 2 nymphs.
This method needs a lot of adjustments because one day can be different from the next.

Later on in the year when the surface activity stops I change the klink. for a pimp indicator and add one more dropper below.
When the river is a bit high and I need to fish heavy to get to the bottom I use a drops style indicator as a sighter with three flies below.
Usually its a sighter--then 1.5metre approx. to first dropper then 50cm to the next dropper and 60cm to a heavy point fly.
All the methods above are attached to the end of a 9 metre tapered leader
 (the fly line hasn't been through the first eye of my rod for most of the season.)
For the above methods I use a 10ft #3 Marryat rod.
Its light-its sensitive and that extra length when held high makes it easy to keep the leader off the water = good presentation with very little drag.

When I  get to a section of river I wish to fish I will usually decide to enter the water at the top of the run and work down.
Whether i'm using the indicator fly or the sighter the fishing method would be the same.
I prefer to get into the water where possible (I'm not a deep wader) to cut my silhouette down to a minimum.
I let the required amount of leader out by firstly making a short downstream cast and using the tension of the current on the line,I then make my upstream cast.
I am now fishing.
Keeping my rod up high trying to keep all the line out of the water I let it trundle down past me--hold a few seconds on the swing and then re-cast up stream.
Three fan casts,to cover the water then one step down--and the same again until I have reached the end of the run.
Don't forget there is no fly line out of the reel,I am just using the 9 metres of tapered leader.
On reaching the bottom of the run I then decide whether or not to go back up
(depending of course you are on your own )
However I will usually have a go, moving upstream doing exactly the same.
My opinion is, that a lot of anglers go through a run too fast,they don't cover enough of the swim.
Without hogging one spot, I like to give it a thourough going over before moving on---and especially in the winter months, I may return later in the day-because fish at this time of the year may only feed once a day.

All ready for a winter grayling stint

Well here I am, all togged up for a winter grayling stint,being mid January its a wee bit cold and as I will be standing in the water all day I have made sure that everything is water tight.
I wear thermals under a good quality wading jacket,with a nice woolly hat on my head to keep the heat in and as I will be traveling  light (I'm only bugging for grayling) there is no need to take loads of gear, As a safety issue-- the banks can be wet and icy so I have fitted  studs in my felt soled wading boots to give me a bit more grip
I had a slip and tumble the other day--not a pretty sight--I'm a big old lump to come crashing down.
Had the river been running a bit high I would have worn a safety vest and used a wading staff.
If I look a bit bulky in this shot, I have a small flask of coffee and a sandwich stuck away in my pockets. That's my excuse anyway.
Its nice to have a sit down and have a hot drink and a bite after a couple of hours and as I will be travelling searching for the grayling, it may be too far back to the car.
The weather today is dull,damp and a bit cold with a varying wind of about 15-20 miles per hour.
Ive opted for my 10ft #3 rod,with an 8 metre tapered leader. ( I wont be fishing any fly line off the reel today)
I will start off with a drops style indicator then 6ft of 4lb mono to - 2 size 16 beaded droppers to a  14 tungsten bead point fly.
Pink on the point red on one dropper and plain ptn on the other.
Should I find it difficult to control the set up because of the wind or I have difficulties because of the light ( my eyes are not as good as they were) I can remove the drop ind. and replace with a bright coloured pimp.
So thats my set up and plans for the day.
Its now 12noon and I will be fishing the Clyde at Wolfclyde Bridge ( in the background)
I know a few likely spots that have produced fish in the past.
So away I go.

3 hours later.

Well I gave it a go without much success, I had one decent out of season trout and one tiny grayling, both of which shed the barbless hook just at my feet--therefore no pictures of fish.

So here is another shot of me with the old pillars of the railway bridge that runs next to Wolfclyde.
I enjoyed the day. I have let the grayling off the hook till the next time.