May Madness...

Well its June tomorrow and I'm long overdue an update on here!

Business wise thanks to all the customers we have had in the last 8 weeks. Plenty of rods made, some of which have already caught their first fish. Rob Mungovan sent us these photos of a nice 14" wild fish he caught whilst using his new 'small stream special' for the first time. Nice one Rob!

We're hoping to start offering some 'traditional style' fly reels in the coming months so watch this space for updates - the lathe will be busy!

Personally, I love this time of year. Everything is becoming greener by the day, temperatures are rising and Mayflies begin to flood off the streams, sending the trout into an absolute frenzy! So called 'duffers fortnight' and you can sometimes see why. The trout seem to forget every bit of nerves they have and just risk it all for a juicy mayfly. Luckily, I've had a couple of experiences like this recently.

There's a small overgrown stream that I've been dreaming of since last may. In the middle of nowhere, rarely fished, plenty of fly life and some of the most beautiful wild trout you'll see. I hadn't been yet this year and with the temperatures hotting up I had a feeling the mayflies may have started hatching - I HAD to go. 

As I stepped onto the small footbridge near the start of the stretch everything just felt 'right'. A few mayflies could be seen dancing on the banks, things were looking up! As I made my way upstream prospecting the likely looking places with my new mayfly pattern it wasn't long before I rose a fish - I missed it - I wasnt used to the ferocity of takes at this time of year and I jumped out of my skin! "I'll be ready for the next one" I murmured, and I was! A beautiful little fish, perfectly marked and I was happy as could be.

The fish are notoriously skittish in this small stream and returning from a few hours having caught a couple is usually a great feeling. I carried on fished up the stretch and ended up with 8, all on the mayfly!

I'd barely reached the halfway point in the stretch and it was already 8.15PM and the wife was texting me, we still hadn't had our evening meal... Needless to say I had to head home.

The next couple of days weret easy. I found myself constantly thinking about the joys I was missing on this particular stream! I HAD to go back! Tuesday evening I arrived at the stream just before 5PM - this time armed with the same 4'8" cane rod and with my camera and tripod slung over my shoulder! The plan was to catch a few and hopefully get them on film. I ended up with a dozen or more - possibly my favourite and most rewarding evening of fishing ever!

It wasn't easy on my own with the camera and the sun made things tough but I've put a film together of my evening spent on the stream. Here it is...

VIMEO:

YOUTUBE:

The mayfly will be tailing off now I'd imagine but I'm still itching to go back!

AR...

North Devon

Had a long weekend away with the wife and of course the rod had to come to too!

Only managed to sneak out a couple of times for short sessions and not at the best of tide states but it was great to be out next to the salt again.

It was a new area to me and so it was nice to explore the rocks, reefs and gulleys for the first time.

No catches to report but a few near misses. A couple of schoolies hit my patchinko but failed to hook up and then a monster hit it too late yesterday evening, again failing to hook up, would have easily been my PB (I wouldnt like to guess the weight!). Water clarity wasn't great but in a more sheltered spot I saw a nice schoal of fish swim past as well as a couple of mullet cruising. Also saw fish jumping way out as the light faded.

Hopefully this may give anyone heading that way in the coming weeks hope, the fish are definitely there! Was a great sunset last night which part made up for the missed biggie.

Now, where are those mayflies?...
AR...

Too nice not to post....

Just a quick post...

Graham and I had a trip to the local this afternoon and whulst the river was a bit chilly (we both had numb toes by the time we got back to the car) we both enjoyed good sport.

The highlight was definately a great fish that Graham landed. A real spotty monster for this stretch!!! A few pics....

We had a few smaller ones too. The early trips to the stream has provided us with some nice fish so far. Bodes well for the rest of the year!

Cheers
AR...
Twitter: @adsrawson

First Day...

Well it finally arrived! The longely anticipated April 1st came along and Graham and I made our way to a favourite little stream. 

The air was much cooler than the previous week and it took a while for fish to begin to rise. We started nymphing the likely looking spots and it wasn't long until Graham christened his new R&P rod with a lovely wild looking trout.

I followed up with a few more fish on the nymph. As the afternoon progressed we got to a group of fish that were happy to rise to olive emergers and midge patterns. We both filled our boots and ended up with around a dozen between us. A superb opening to the season!

 

With our appetites severely wetted, we head to a local stream yesterday evening hoping the Grannom had started to hatch. We arrived to see plumes of grannom fizzing up and down the stream and every now and then a fish would hit into them. 

Unfortunately the fish didnt seem to like our offerings too much and as the temperature dropped the fish did too. We ended up with a fish each. I took a trout on a CDC midge pattern and Graham had a lovely out of season Grayling on a flashback baetis pattern, a shame we couldnt find that one in the winter months!

 

All in all, a lovely first couple of trips. Here's to the next one!

AR...

Predators on the fly...

With the end of the coarse season nearing I fear I've had my last throw of the fly at the Pike, Perch and Chub until June 16th arrives. Each of the last two Saturdays I have been on the river with the fly rod.

The weekend before last I was hoping for some Pike action, whilst I was joined by Graham from Wildflies who took his 5wt in the hope that the milder weather had woken up the chub and perch. It was a lovely sunny spring day and whilst this isnt ideal for Pike, it wasnt long until I had a bend in the rod. A lean fish around 5lb taken from a large slack in the middle of a weirpool. We moved further downstream and I worked the fly back towards me, I was hit by a decent fish but it didnt stick. Luckliy next cast he came back for more. A lovely fish with plenty of weight to him!

As I recovered from the fight, Graham put his smaller fly through hoping a Perch might be lurking on the drop off. He was hit straight away and with the bend in the rod we were both hoping it was a stripey! It soon became clear it wasnt! Luckily the 8lb tippet held and he landed a nice Pike for the 5wt!

As the sun got brighter and brighter we struggled to catch much else. Graham was messing around with some bleak and minnows who were happy to attack small dry flies - a sure sign of spring! I had one other small fish, not much bigger than the fly but in mint condition!

Last Saturday Graham and I headed out again, this time both armed with 5wts. With the lack of Perch last time out we solely focused on them. We travelled to a small river not known for its Perch but we had seen them in the past. Again it was a gorgeous bright sunny day but we were hopeful!

Graham had the luck first of all with two lovely perch in quick succession.

A little further downstream I had a lovely fish, fat as they come and a true scrapper that really bent my cane!

Further on down I had two smaller fish on consectutive casts after seeing them swarming around my fly on the previous retrieve. A great day out but the venue must have been tough on our wading boots as both pairs fell apart, perhaps cutting the day a little short!

I can look forward to the trout and some trips to the coast in the coming months. Spring is definitley here!

AR...