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Post by custheyder on May 21, 2012 14:02:16 GMT
lol... I'm only joking about the "teapot".... I'm guilty of "My ol' man's a dustman!" from Pygmalion or My Fair Lady. Looping a thumb into one of the straps of my chest pack. Fabulous fishing and wildlife is what we live for. It's all good.
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Post by orangeotter on May 21, 2012 15:50:19 GMT
That looks a great beat Simon and Sonia, where is it ?
Well done...and great pics.
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Post by Simon on May 30, 2012 18:04:54 GMT
Sonia decided that another trip to the upper Dee was in order again today. In this weather we really should not be going fishing, red hot; sunny; no wind and early afternoon. Any way, after stopping off again for breakfast we arrived at the parking, no one else here, looking good! Again we took both rods, the river here calls for both disciplines due to the width and wind. A lower section not yet fished by us was the target today, as we came over the hill the view was outstanding, we stopped to take it in. As we approached the river fish could been seen in the shadows of the trees taking sub surface nymphs. Sonia tried to tempt these but with no luck, matching the hatch today was going to be very hard, not like last week. I fished a couple of hundred feet below her taking a few trout on partridge and orange. I then jumped ahead fishing a copper john through a deep steady run. as the nymph swung and lifted a big Grayling hit bending the rod in half. unfortunately after a steady fight the fish parted company with the fly! As the hours passed the fishing became harder and harder, and the heat became overwhelming, theres the saying "Mad dogs and English men go out in the midday Sun" well today it was Welsh man and woman! before we melted we packed in and headed for home. I hope the photos give you some idea how beautiful and stunning our fishing location was today. Simon & Sonia.
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Post by custheyder on May 30, 2012 18:53:38 GMT
Fabulous pictures of some stunning water. It looks very deep indeed. I think we're all ad to be out in the noon day sun.
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Post by leckie on May 30, 2012 21:16:42 GMT
Simon, Excellent report and what fabulous photographs....it's a real pleasure fishing in places like that...thanks for sharing tight lines Alex
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2012 9:12:55 GMT
As the weather forecast was promising to be far better than last week when we had heavy rain, downpours with hail in the mix and thunder and lightening, it was finally time to go fishing further afield. We planned to go to a part of the Dee I haven't fished before near Bala, so with the car packed we headed to Rhug for a breakfast roll. With the stomach satisfied we were now looking forward to getting on the river for a much needed fish. We parked up, put on our gear and headed towards the river bank. The water was looking excellent but as nothing was rising we both started with a variety of nymphs which were put into all the likely runs eagerly anticipating a bite. Nothing, not even an nibble so flies were changed and we tried every way of fishing the water; Simon went onto the opposite bank so we were covering the whole river but still nothing. Now we headed downstream with spiders and while Simon had a nibble no fish were actually hooked. Towards the end of the run Simon put on a large dark olive as there were plenty of flies on the surface even if the fish weren't taking them. Finally he hooked and landed a feisty little brownie which fought above it's weight as Simon thought he had a better fish on the end of his leader. We both got excited at the thought of catching more fish but that was not the be; he must have hit that one on the head and annoyed it. Moving onto a completely different part of the river we went for a walk looking at the likely runs before sitting down for a bite to eat, two fish rose while we were eating which was more than I could take, I decided to finish my roll later so it was wrapped up and shoved into my wader pocket, the fish were calling. Simon went downstream where he caught a couple of fish while I started the run where the fish rose and moved slowly towards them; a beautiful run was covered but no fish were caught. Finishing my roll I decided to play in Simons run and see if any other fish could be tempted to take my fly. Getting into position I let the water settle before casting, after ten minutes I missed a fish through loss of concentration, then I hooked a fish only for it to get off the hook. Upstream I noticed a small rise so I worked my way towards the fish covering it with my dry. The fish splashed at the fly and was hooked, it then headed straight towards me and as it passed by my legs I could see it was without doubt the biggest grayling I had ever hooked. Simon saw the commotion as the grayling went aerial trying to get rid of the pest on the other end of the line and as the battle continued my muscles were feeling the fight. Again the fish went into the air and I could see the stunning colours in his rather large fin, I was desperate to stay in contact with it, Simon said for goodness sake try not the loose the fish it is a good sized grayling, a fact I was aware of as I was trying to bring the fish in. Finally I got his head up but he still managed to leap out of the water. As Simon made his way towards me the fish made one last leap and finally he managed to free himself from the troublesome annoyance at the end of the rod; it took five leaps and swimming in all directions to get rid of me. Even though I had lost a stunning fish I couldn't get the smile off my face as he was amazing. My body was feeling the fight and my mouth was dry so a drink was needed, as we walked up river my mind was exploding with thoughts of what if, what did I do wrong, if only!! but it was not to be. I will have to be content with at least having a stunning, hard fighting fish on the end of my leader and the excitement it gave me. Time was getting on and we had to start heading towards the car as the dog needed to be walked and charcoal needed buying for tonights meal. Looking upstream the fish were rising and it would have been rude not to at least try to catch them, Simon saw the look on my face and agreed I could have ten minutes. I walked down the bank and into the water carefully, the fish hadn't noticed I was there as they were still rising so I started casting. First cast and a small trout came to hand, followed my his bigger brother, I moved upstream but missed the next fish. Looking at my watch I had taken fifteen minutes so reluctantly I had to leave the run and catch up with Simon. He said he had missed a large grayling twice and as the fish grabbed his next meal I could see what he meant it was another great grayling and it was still taking confidently. Simon was eager to catch the fish but after another ten minutes it was definitely time to go home. He wanted to keep trying and I can't blame him so we agreed he could have a few more casts, then a few more casts were begged for and given as the fish was still rising. Finally I had to prise him away form the riverbank as we had to go home. We made our way to the car both happy anglers with a promise to return as there was plenty of river we still had to try and looking around the scenery was beautiful.
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Post by leckie on Aug 12, 2012 19:41:23 GMT
grayling, Excellent report and photos of course...you guys like your fishing down there The river doesn't look nearly as wide as your previous report so I'm guessing you headed upstream? The river looks made for the T rod....I must admit I was surprised that grayling leap out of the water I always pictured them as boring deep but then again I've only caught around 6 in my life...You certainly have world class grayling fishing on your doorstep....magic. tight lines Alex
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conor
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Post by conor on Aug 12, 2012 22:50:02 GMT
great reports, never had a grayling jump yet, that would be an amazing experience!
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Post by custheyder on Aug 13, 2012 8:03:22 GMT
I've fished the waters up near Bala and you'd think there should be fish everywhere, but they are sometimes hard to find. Once you do find the grayling there doesn't seem to be a small one! Certainly when I was there they were all over 25cm.
Great report and a jumping grayling! I've had this happen before and I was told by one of the internationals to play the fish with the rod closer to the water then they stay in the water rather than going aerial. It's worked for me since then. Sorry you lost a good'un, I'm sure it got the heart pumping like a Texas oil well!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2012 16:47:09 GMT
Thanks for the advice I'll give it a go next time I catch a decent grayling, hopefully that will be tomorrow as we are hoping to go to the Dee again. Yes, the heart quickened and it was a pain loosing the fish, I just put it down to experience and a lesson learnt the hard way.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2012 16:16:49 GMT
Thank you Custheyder for the very good advice which I put to good use when we returned to Bala on Sunday 12th August. Having felt a nice fish I played him close to the water as suggested and was extremely happy to have a stunning grayling of 18.5 ins to hand and safely released.
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Post by custheyder on Aug 18, 2012 17:42:56 GMT
Fantastic news and a fine fish. It's tricky to play them with the rod close to the water. For anyone trying it remember to keep the rod and right angles to the run of the fish so the rod can do the work. Flipping the rod from side to side to keep the fish off balance and bring it to the net quickly.
Well done Grayling!
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Post by Simon on Aug 31, 2012 16:50:11 GMT
Mini Tenkara meet, tomorrow at Bala. Four rods will be after the Grayling, film; photos and write up sometime this weekend!
Simon.
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Post by Simon on Sept 2, 2012 16:29:29 GMT
Saturday 1st September, and another mini Tenkara meet on the upper Dee at Bala. Although the weather looked good strong winds were forecast in the afternoon, not ideal for Tenkara, also they had been letting water out of Bala to feed the river improving the conditions for the canoeists, with four members going a call had to be made on should we go or not? we decided to give it a go! the team included Grayling"Sonia", Empee "Martin" and Peter "Pedros" with me as team lead. Martins family came along as well to take advantage of the location and to have a riverside picnic. Arriving at the river things did not look promising! the river was clear but running fast and high. Should we fish or not? we decided to give it a go so I was sent off to get the 4 day tickets form the Pub while the others got ready. This was going to be Martins first taste of Tenkara with his new rod. By the time I returned Peter could not be restrained suited and booted he headed off to the river bank with Sonia following close behind. I waited for Martin to help out the beginner. Camp was set up for the family so we set off downstream to start fishing. As the time passed the wind became stronger and stronger making it nearly impossible to cast or fish. Sonia, myself and Martin stayed together while Peter fished alone, only later did we learn that he had had a dip in the river, lost his footing in the strong current. For the first time I did not even have a bite! The weather and the conditions were now getting really dangerous so I decided that enough was enough! Someone was going to get hurt or something was going to break. Me trying to catch. Heading back to the Camp a small area was just about wadeable so Peter had a go with my rod and level leader to see how it handled? Peter fishing the nymph. Sonia started to fish but I said why not go on back as we would only be a few minutes! off she went, this would come back and bite me later! Peter was now casting a Nymph upstream with no reaction from any fish. so I said why not try casting a dry fly? Good idea, a small KH was tied on and again cast upstream. No fish were seen rising all day until!! my fly went over this Grayling! Peter was now into a nice 2lb Grayling. A bit of acting for the camera, the fish was landed and returned. On arriving at the camp site and explaining why we were late I had a icy stare from Sonia as I had stopped her fishing the same spot! Martin carried on with his new rod catching the smallest fish of the day! Martin in the sun but with a strong wind. Martin fishing across and down. A cup of hot tea and cakes helped smooth over the the lack of fish. Sonia and Peter talking Tenkara. Two new Tenkara fishers for the future. Lessons to learn from today. Check the river conditions before you make a decision to go! Check the wind, Call things off before they get dangerous. Don't stop the wife fishing!! Simon.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2012 21:47:19 GMT
Smallest fish of the day (2") - and foul hooked at that! I think I'll hang on to my 'duck' status for the time being! It didn't rain, the family had fun, I tried my new rod, great setting and pleasant company - the day wasn't wasted! Martin
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