Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2020 i Trout & Salmon

ONE THING THE PANDEMIC HAS done is make us realise that we shouldn’t take the outdoor activities we love for granted. As I write, it’s Easter weekend. It’s sunny and warm and I’m fortunate to have a garden that needs tending. I’m also lucky that work continues. T&S is being produced on kitchen tables, bedroom drawers and fly-tying benches and will, I hope, continue to bring you a little light relief in these testing times. I’ve been keeping busy, filling the fishing void with things that normally take a back seat. I’ve just shovelled a ton of rubble, the potatoes are in (possibly too early) and I’ve sown Cobra and runner beans, which by the time you read this may be up and climbing. The loss of my reservoir dry-fly…

BEST BEATEN TWICE Denzil Stockton from Wistaston, Crewe caught this 11lb 6oz brown trout from Llandegla Fishery near Wrexham. He was fishing into a cool breeze with a floating line and a Green-and-Black Buzzer, 6ft beneath an indicator. Denzil said, “I’d decided to cast from the downwind bank as fish often follow the wind, but I could only get my fly out 10ft.” Sometimes that’s all it takes, and he caught another brown trout of 5lb-plus and two of 3lb before hooking the big one. Denzil said, “It went on several powerful runs. I was fishing with 8lb leader, so I kept the pressure on and prayed I’d tied my knots well. Thankfully everything held and my friend Rick netted the fish. My previous biggest trout was a 5lb rainbow,…

SHORTLY BEFORE THE OPENING OF the trout season I took a trip to the remote Caribbean island of Los Roques. Once a popular destination for all saltwater fly-fishers, this flats paradise has fallen off the map due to Venezuela’s political crisis. The trip had been organised by Fly Fishing Los Roques, who made sure everything ran smoothly, and as our group of six ventured into the Venezuelan capital of Caracas it was reassuring to be with an agency who’d taken this trip annually for the past ten years. From here we boarded a light aircraft to make the 25-minute flight to the Pancake Flats where we’d be spending our time fishing for bonefish, permit and other saltwater species. As we flew over the flats we were greeted by stunning hues…

My wife and I were walking in Spain when we met a couple from Austria. “Oh, you are from Scotland!” said Joachim, delighted to have an excuse to launch into his hobby-horse. “In my cellar bar we have 160 bottles of malt whisky. I am fond of the Speysides, Glenlivet, of course, and Aberlour. We have a bottle of 100% Aberlour, and we take a dram if either of us feels a cold coming on. Marvellous! Dorothea loves the Islay malts. We go to Islay every year, don’t we, dear? And next month we are planning to visit the new Ben Wyvis Distillery in Dingwall.” Having established at length their outstanding whisky credentials he then asked me what my favourite dram is. I paused, then told him: “I like to…

IN MY EARLY DAYS, THE BIBLE FOR all things trouty was a Collins Naturalist handbook — The Trout — by W. E. Frost and M. E. Brown. “Probably more is known about the life of the brown trout than about any other fish” they write and these two eminent biologists took 20 years compiling all there was to know about the brown trout, from its global distribution and biochemistry down to the strength of its maxillae and number of pyloric caeca. Don’t ask: you don’t want to know. In here you will learn that the trout swims at 0.75[L(f-1.33)] ft/sec when f is tail-beats/ sec and L is its length in feet — a splendid way to measure trout. Here you will also learn that spawning “takes place in running…

Run on the thread and wind it down the shank to the bend. Catch in a slim bunch of brown Z-Lon or poly-yarn to form the tail. Take a pinch of fine, mid-grey fur and dub it on to the thread to form a tapered rope. Wind the fur along the shank in touching turns. Catch in a length of grey or white poly-yarn at the eye. Leave the end of the yarn projecting back over the body. Apply close turns of thread over the yarn to fix it in place and to form a base for the hackle. Trim the yarn to leave a short stub. Select a grizzle cock saddle hackle and colour one side with a brown marker pen. Catch in the hackle by its base, in…

12FT MID TIP (0.5IN-1IN PER/SEC) Airflo. New this year, the mid tip is a 12ft tip with a gradual density increase from floating to mid-intermediate with a sink rate of 1in per second at its tip. It is ideal for when fishing flies slowly at depths of 4ft-8ft without sinking through the zone too quickly. The gradual change in density helps to reduce any pull down of the belly section. I know that the difference between this and the 12ft slow tip seems marginal, but on a slow presentation that takes up to a minute to retrieve it can make a substantial difference to the catch rate, so while not a necessity it will appeal to the competition-minded angler. 3FT ANCHOR TIP Airflo. Another new line, which I’ve been developing…

Fix the hook in the vice and apply a bed of close thread turns just behind the eye. Catch in a bunch of dyed olive deer hair so that the tips project over the eye. Ease the hair around the sides of the hook then trim off the waste ends. Catch in a length of gold wire then secure the hair and wire with close thread turns. Wind the thread well round the curve of the hook, then dub on a pinch of olive seal and hare fur blend. Form a thin rope and apply it in touching turns. Carry the fur along the shank until it reaches the bulge at the rear of the wing. Take hold of the gold wire and wind it over the body in evenly…

Gerald William Forrester Lewis, a life-long River Wye salmon fisherman and a longstanding member of the former Wye Gillies’ Association, died on February 29, aged 88. Born in Bartonsham, Hereford, Gerry attended Hereford High School for Boys and on leaving school was an apprentice on GPO telephones. He was called up for two years’ National Service and was assigned to the Royal Signals. After initial training, he served in Malaya and Singapore and on leaving the Army he spent time in Canada and the USA, working on telephone systems. In his youth Gerry was a member of a local youth club and over the years was keen on amateur boxing, rugby union, table tennis, lawn tennis, and was a member of a swimming team. He had a dinghy, which he…

SENIOR BADGE WINNERS All fish listed were caught between February 21 to March 20, 2020 (before the Government’s stay at home order was issued). England ■ ALBURY ESTATE FISHERIES, Guildford, 07976 810737 1 Phil Gayford, Kingswood, 9lb 8oz rainbow, Blue Flash Damsel. ■ ALDIN GRANGE LAKES, Durham, 07957 831711 1 Malcolm Proudlock, Stanley, 4lb 13oz rainbow, Black Bunny. 2 David Soulsby, Stanley, 4lb 12oz rainbow, Aspersion. ■ AVINGTON TROUT FISHERY, Winchester, 01962 779312 1 Mike Humphrey, Nestley, 10lb 12oz brown, Stonefly. ■ BESSY BECK TROUT FISHERY, Cumbria, 01539 623303 1 Iain Scott, Kendal, 10lb 8oz rainbow, GT Buzzer. 2 Thomas Graham, Cumbria, 9lb rainbow, on fly. 3 Dennis McLoughlin, Wigan, 7lb 8oz rainbow, Red Tag. ■ BRANSFORD GAME FISHERIES, Bransford, 01905 830548 1 Mike Sinclair, Evesham, 5lb rainbow, White Humongous.…

In addition to the monthly Troutmasters badge, anglers can also win Gold, Silver and Bronze badges. Gold is awarded to anglers who win monthly badges from ten different fisheries during the Troutmasters season, Silver to anglers who win badges from five different fisheries, and Bronze for badges from three different venues. Phil Green, from Leadgate, wins a Silver badge this month for catches at Aldin Grange, Knitsley Mill, Thrunton, New Mills and Langley Dam. This month’s Bronze badge winners are: Senior section — Les Plaster, from Chelmsford, for catches at Coltsford Mill, Narborough and Rib Valley; and Michael Ayton, from Cleveland, for catches at Bessy Beck, Leighton and Sharpley Springs; Youth section — Luke Loturco, from Cardiff, for catches at Eisteddfa, Tyn-y-Craig and Ynys-y-Fro; Junior section — Ewan Loturco, from…

Junior ENGLAND ■ BRANSFORD GAME FISHERIES, Bransford, 01905 830548 1 Ewan Loturco, Cardiff, 2lb 11oz rainbow, Clan Chief. ■ COLTSFORD MILL TROUT FISHERY, Surrey, 01883 715666 1 Joshua King, Kent, 3lb 3oz rainbow, on fly. 2 Samuel Kelly, Surrey, 2lb 10oz rainbow, on fly. ■ KNITSLEY MILL, Consett, 07960 747417 1 Max Churchyard, Consett, 2lb 8oz blue, Peach Blob. SCOTLAND ■ ALDERNEUK FISHERY, Dumfries, 07901 602020 1 Alfie McEwan, Dumfries, 5lb 12oz rainbow, Black Bunny. 2 Arthur Josey, Hungerford, 5lb 6oz rainbow, Blob. ■ BORLAND RESERVOIR (BAIT), Cumnock, 01290 420981 1 Josh Gillespie, New Cumnock, 3lb 6oz rainbow, corn. ■ DELGATIE CASTLE TROUT FISHERY, Turriff, 07894 835232 1 Fraser Stewart, Fraserburgh, 8lb 10oz rainbow, Mop Fly. ■ WELLSFIELD TROUT FISHERY, Denny, 01324 822800 1 Ben Thomas, Glasgow, 6lb 2oz rainbow,…

In the event of it being difficult to buy a print copy of Trout & Salmon over the coming weeks, we are doing our best to ensure that your favourite magazine will still be available on digital platforms. So, if you can’t find us in stores, or if you’re stuck inside, please consider: • Downloading our Trout & Salmon app from the iOS or Android app stores. We have some superb one-off subscription offers with discounts of up to 50%. You can also purchase single-copy issues if you wish. If you’re a Kindle Fire user, you can download our magazines from Amazon Newsstand. • If you are a print subscriber and we cannot deliver issues to you owing to the Covid-19 situation, please visit: greatmagazines.co.uk where clear updates will be…

Beni told me that with little fly-life showing above the surface he had a look beneath it. By turning over a few rocks he was pleased to see a mayfly nymph and numerous caseless caddis larvae. That was inspiring to hear. Rock-turning and kick-sampling to identify key invertebrates in their larval form can obviously inform your choice of fly, but it’s surprising how few trout-fishers bother. All you need do is kick up the bed of the river upstream of a fine-mesh sweep net held against the bottom (see picture), which will catch dislodged bugs, and a white tray and water in which to empty the net and identify insects. The Riverfly Partnership’s new website (riverflies.org) offers good advice.…

Simon Cooper’s piece in April’s “Chalk Talk” has confirmed to me that I really am “living the dream”. My chalkstream experiences appear to be the polar opposite of Simon’s in that I’m finding truly exceptional wild fish thriving in rivers where stocking has either been abandoned or, in a few cases, has never been undertaken at all. The facts are that wild trout are not destined to always be tiddlers in a rich chalkstream environment, especially if exposed to good-quality adult habitat and even more so if they are not competing with unsustainable densities of stocked fish. Wild fish are comparatively slow growing when compared to domesticated, pellet-fed stockies but if spared the priest, a wild fish has the capacity to live long and grow large, and on many of…

BOOKING The exclusive salmon and sea-trout rights on Loch Eck are owned by the River Eachaig Fishery Syndicate (REFS). Permits may be obtained from Purdies, 112 Argyll St, Dunoon PA23 7NE. Tel 01369 703232. The syndicate maintains a boat on the loch that can be rented by the day, if available. Enquiries to Colin Scott, REFS superintendent on 07557 128 447. Colin Macdonald is occasionally available for guiding on the loch. Tel: 07526 302971. E-mail: colin.b.macdonald17@ gmail.com WHERE AND WHEN Season: May 1-October 31. The loch fishes best for sea-trout from late June. By September and October there is a good head of fish but sea-trout are starting to colour by October. The top end of the loch fishes best from August to October. Near Bernice and drifts towards Eachaig…

TURN UP AT MOST OF THE COUNTRY’S small stillwater trout fisheries and you usually know the main quarry will be rainbows and browns. But if you’re looking for somewhere that offers more variety, try Hampshire’s Rockbourne Trout Fishery. I first met the owners, Peter and Lynn Spratt, within a few days of them moving to the beautiful countryside near Fordingbridge. Their aim was to revitalise this established fishery and seven years later, Peter is as enthusiastic as he was at that first meeting. “It’s been our dream come true after moving on from the motor trade and we just love it here,” he told me. “So many of the anglers have become firm friends, my brother works with us and we have a marvellous manager, Simeon Osborn, who puts in…

ROB EDMUNDS Highly successful competition angler, reservoir bank and boat specialist. RONNIE GLASS Tweed Commissioner and a Scottish national champion on rivers and stillwaters. STEVE CULLEN Guide, instructor and all-round game angler with a wealth of knowledge. PETER GATHERCOLE Photographer, expert tyer and chairman of the Fly Dressers' Guild. PAUL PROCTER Cumbrian-based AAPGAI instructor. Prefers the imitative approach. GARETH JONES Welsh international and stillwater expert. Has fished all over the world. PETER COCKWILL Small water expert with more than 60 years’ fly-fishing experience.…

Darren Matthews, from Chelmsley Wood, Solihull caught this 15lb 5oz rainbow trout from Loynton fishery using a black lure on an intermediate line. A few days later he landed a 15lb 2oz brown trout. The catch wins him an Airflo Superflo line. WHAT YOU CAN WIN Each month* Trout & Salmon will award an Airflo Superflo floating fly-line worth £69.99 to the captor of the best fish of the month caught from a Troutmasters water. Trout & Salmon will judge the catch based on fish quality and tactics used. The winner will be the pick of those submitted for that month. The Editor’s decision is final. E-mail your catch pictures to troutandsalmon@bauermedia.co.uk or post to Troutmasters Fish of the Month, H Bauer Publishing, Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough PE2 6EA. *Please…

Coombe Mill is a great water for stalking fish and sight nymphing in the style of Sawyer and Kite. Summer evenings and overcast days can see good dry-fly action. The mayfly hatch is often spectacular. A grayling ticket, available after October 15, is excellent value. BOOKING: The beat is for one or two rods. 9.30am to dusk. Bank-fishing only. Catch-and-release with barbless or de-barbed hooks only. Upstream dry-fly only, April 15-June 30. Upstream dry-fly and nymph, July 1-December 31. Contact Fishing Breaks. Tel: 01264 781 988. Web: fishingbreaks.co.uk PRICES: April 15-May 14, £125 per rod. May 15-June 15, £165 per rod. June 16-October 15, £100 per rod. October 16-December 31, £50 per rod. LOCATION: Coombe Mill, Coombe, Endon, Wiltshire SN9 6DE. Details correct at time of press.…

Lost in Kite’s Country I am impressed with the new magazine incorporating my beloved Trout & Salmon and Trout Fisherman. I’ve been a T&S reader for over 50 years and have seen editors and formats come and go. I think you’ve incorporated both magazines seamlessly and added another dimension of interest. Surreal times at the moment. I was hoping to spend some of my furloughed time fishing, but even that avenue of pleasure has been denied me. Let’s hope the restrictions are eased before everyone goes stir crazy. My fishing hero is Oliver Kite. I get lost in watching the few episodes of Kite’s Country still on YouTube. Magical footage of a superb angler and naturalist, fishing wonderful chalkstreams in a time before the rat race. Oh, to be transported…

“It was, in my opinion, a tremendous fish catcher for all the wrong reasons” WHEN MOST AQUATIC INSECTS hatch, trout take advantage. But that’s not necessarily true with sedge. I wish I had 50p for every time I’ve witnessed a water covered in adult sedge and not a fish rising. Why do they pass up this opportunity? There are two popular theories: that some sedge are inedible; and that when adult fly are emerging, fish find it easier to feed on ascending pupae. During my formative years on Orkney, the waters were stuffed with caddis in all stages — larvae, pupae and adults. It became evident the larvae were a staple diet in the first half of the season when pulled wet-flies, looking nothing like larvae, somehow did the job.…

1 THE SPINNING SIXTIES The Mitchell 304 reel and Milbro 7ft rod conjure up fond memories from my early teens of weekend trips with Kinneil Pit Fishing Club to highland lochs. Loch Earn was a favourite destination. The club bus would drop us off and we’d set up camp for the night at the mouth of the burn at Edinample. The Mitchell 304 would be loaded with 5lb Platil line. A Bonnand bubble float, almost full of water, was tied to the end of the line and two flies attached by droppers above the float. Favourites were Greenwell’s Glory, Mallard and Claret, and Butcher. Float and flies were cast as far into the loch as possible against or across the wind and retrieved slowly, feeling for the slightest touch. If…

THE USA HAS PROVIDED US with outstanding double acts in various fields, not least the realm of fly-fishing. Back in the Seventies, Doug Swisher and Carl Richards gave us the No-Hackle Dun, a revolutionary dry-fly style tied to produce a realistic footprint on the water’s surface. Then there was Al Caucci and Bob Nastasi, who created the even more famous Compara Dun, which is as popular today as ever. And now we have Curtis Fry and Clark “Cheech” Pierce. Curtis and Cheech became friends after meeting on online fishing forums and at fly fairs and tying demonstrations. Having started fishing together, eventually they decided to pool their experiences, creating a blog with videos and fly recipes as a way of archiving their burgeoning creations. Between them, they’ve amassed an incredible…

ORANGE LEGGY HALF-HOG Hook Size 10-12 Kamasan B170 Thread 8/0 Uni fire orange Butt Rear third, fine opal Mirage varnished Rib Fine opal Mirage Body Front two-thirds, fluoro orange seal fur Legs Six knotted cock pheasant tail fibres Wing Roe deer hair, stacked and tied in two bunches separated by two turns of orange seal fur Head Fluoro orange seal fur The relatively lightly-dressed leggy Half-hog straddles the line between imitative and attractor and can be fished as a static dry-fly, twitched or slowly retrieved to provoke a response from the fish. Orange variants are a staple in the Orkney Islands and this fluorescent version has travelled well and become a star performer on lochs across the Highlands, Western Isles and southern waters, easily matching the more sombre black and…

MANY YEARS AGO WHEN I STARTED STILLWATER COMPETITION fishing, many experienced anglers used beaten-up floating lines for nymph and buzzer fishing. These old floaters had lost their buoyancy, especially at the thin tip end, which would sink just under the surface, anchoring a team of flies. This proved an advantage and gave birth to a boom in modern commercially produced sink-tip lines, including the ghost tip, midge tip and mini tip. Their use became widespread, especially with the popularity of the washing-line method. This has led to a multitude of lines with sinking tips that vary in length from 3ft-15ft. The most popular tips sink between 0.5in and 1.5in per second, which may not sound a lot, but the fastest tip is sinking three times quicker than the slowest and…

Crucially, has the “green treatment” made the Elevation a wet lettuce or a crispy stalk? Our first impression was that our 9ft 9in, 7wt test model felt very light and lively in the hand, even though it is one of the largest in the range. Overall, the rod had a nice, medium, progressive action, taking on a smooth curve through the blank. Soft enough to protect light tippets, there’s still enough power in the butt when needed. The tip is impressive for a rod in this price bracket. Fast to recover, it’s stable and tracks truly, making it accurate at all distances. The rod was light and responsive and for top-of-the-water fishing we think it would be an absolute delight. We liked the 9ft 9in length, which provided lifting power…

England & Wales BORDER ESK THE Esk and Liddel Angling Club held its AGM on February 29 at the Crosskeys Hotel in Canonbie. Catches reported from the 2019 season were: 62 salmon and 556 sea-trout. The club reported good numbers of visiting anglers and membership remained steady compared with the national decline in angler numbers. There is a resumption of fishing on the waters above Penton Bridge on the River Liddel. Ticket prices remain the same with the All Waters permit £350, Canonbie £300, Langholm £150 and Liddel £150. Day tickets have been reduced to £30 for the All Waters ticket. The 24-hour day/night tickets are no longer available for 2020. The Covid-19 outbreak has put a hold on the new season. Either visit Facebook page Border Esk Fishing or…

ENGLAND AMPORT FISHERY, Andover, 07775 953273 BLITHFIELD ANGLERS, Abbots Bromley, 01283 840284 DRAYCOTE TROUT FISHERY, Rugby, 01788 812018 HOLLIES TROUT FARM & FISHERY, Honiton, 01404 841428 INNIS FLY FISHERY, Nr St Austell, 01726 852382 KILNSEY PARK FLY FISHERY, Skipton, 07765 688780 LAKEDOWN TROUT FISHERY, Burwash, 01435 883449 MOORHEN TROUT FISHERY, Warnford, 01730 829460 NEW MILLS TROUT FISHING PARK, Brampton, 01697 741115 SIBLYBACK LAKE, nr Liskeard, 01579 346522 SYON PARK, Brentford, 07956 378138 THORNWOOD TROUT FISHERY, Epping, 07588 669255 WASHBURN VALLEY FISHERIES, Harrogate, 01943 880658 WITHERN MILL TROUT FARM, Alford, 01507 450356 SCOTLAND DUNLICHITY TROUT FISHERY, Inverness, 01808 521442 FORBES OF KINGENNIE, Dundee, 01382 350777 GLENQUICKEN FARM TROUT FISHERY, Newton Stewart, 01671 820593 JERICHO LOCH, Torthorwald, 01387 750247 MILL OF KELLAS FISHERY, Elgin, 01343 890478 MOFFAT FISHERY/THE GREEN FROG, Moffat, 01683…

WELL, WELL, WELL, WELL, WELL, well, well, we really do seem to be in something of a pickle this time, don’t we? Just when we thought it was safe to go back in the water, as it were. We did the election; we managed Christmas; we survived the Brexit rupture; and then, just as Spring appeared to be coming round the corner and clouts were poised, I dare say, to be cast, the plague arrives. Would you credit it? Lockdowns. Curfews. Panic buying. Of loo-paper and pasta, by all accounts. So how does that work? I see the urgent need for the tissue, in the sense that I can see why people might not want to run out of it. And I can see that perhaps a lot of people…