Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2012 14:19:26 GMT
After a kind invitation by Chriscreeler we decide to fish this section of the River Clyde.
Its a part of the Clyde i have past over a few times on my travels but have never fished.
I meet Chris on the bridge around 9am. We shake hands and have a natter about all things fishy & Tenkara. I then notice the old whicker creel and figure where the "Creeler" part of his forum name comes from. I admire it & Chris tells me he makes them himself. We talk more & i find out like myself hes an all round fisherman & enjoys course & game alike.
We get our gear on a set up our Tenkara rods.
I watch as chris ties on a team of 4 wet flies, each dropper is perfectly spaced & all are the same length, i look at my team in comparison & it looks like a 2 year old tied them on with its toes!
We both make our way down to the water.
It was raining hard the night before & the river is up a touch but clear & fishable.
With nothing showing on the surface we both start across & down with the wets & spiders.
Chris has a take but misses it. I fish for around an hour with no takes & decide to change over to a 3 fly cast of gold heads.
Almost straight away i get a take & miss it, at least im getting somewhere now.
A couple of chucks later & im in, a lovely half pound fish.
A nice light coloured fish that contrasts wonderfully with the buttercups, dont you think?
I put the fish back & return to the swim and continue running the goldheads through the river.
I see Chris walking back up the bank & walk across to join him.
I enqiure if his caught anything, No he tells me.
We have lunch on the bank & talk more Tenkara.
Chris shows me a level line. I have never fish with a level line so i ask various questions & Chris explains the pros & cons.
Then very generously gives me a no3 & no5 line.
Its obvious to me that its not this mans first day on the river with a T rod, Far from it!!
Mr "Creeler" plying the art.
After lunch i decide to try the same piece of water that produced the fish earlier.
I tie on a team of heavier goldheads & start at the tail of the pool.
Im maybe half way up the pool bringing the flies out of the faster water into a slack when "whack" what a take.
A brownie around 11/2 lbs jumps free of the slack water & makes for the fast stuff. Up comes my free arm to hold the now bending rod blank. Any normal person at this point would have followed the fish down stream, not this idiot. I stand firm & bully the fish, Big mistake, fish & idiot part company. I shake my head & look to the sky.
I work up the pool & after around half an hour i get a very steady pull, almost like weed. I lift, more curious than anything else & the rod bends again. this time the fights different, very deep almost grayling like. Large grayling like!
This time i follow downstream, but its not enough and the rod tip goes slack, Its off. Just to see it would of been enough.
I can do no more than lift my hat to this fish. It felt a large fish.
I'll never know.
We both fish on into the early evening, through rain, sunshine & a rising river.
Chris appears down stream & tells me he's had a nice fish of around a pound on one of his self tied wets. He shows me the photo.
We both have had a really good day & make our way back to the cars, we tackle down & stand looking over the bridge into the river having a chat. We decide to meet again on the Tees in a few weeks.
It was a pleasure to spend the day with a true fishing gentleman.
Chriscreeler 1. Stevie 1.
Its a part of the Clyde i have past over a few times on my travels but have never fished.
I meet Chris on the bridge around 9am. We shake hands and have a natter about all things fishy & Tenkara. I then notice the old whicker creel and figure where the "Creeler" part of his forum name comes from. I admire it & Chris tells me he makes them himself. We talk more & i find out like myself hes an all round fisherman & enjoys course & game alike.
We get our gear on a set up our Tenkara rods.
I watch as chris ties on a team of 4 wet flies, each dropper is perfectly spaced & all are the same length, i look at my team in comparison & it looks like a 2 year old tied them on with its toes!
We both make our way down to the water.
It was raining hard the night before & the river is up a touch but clear & fishable.
With nothing showing on the surface we both start across & down with the wets & spiders.
Chris has a take but misses it. I fish for around an hour with no takes & decide to change over to a 3 fly cast of gold heads.
Almost straight away i get a take & miss it, at least im getting somewhere now.
A couple of chucks later & im in, a lovely half pound fish.
A nice light coloured fish that contrasts wonderfully with the buttercups, dont you think?
I put the fish back & return to the swim and continue running the goldheads through the river.
I see Chris walking back up the bank & walk across to join him.
I enqiure if his caught anything, No he tells me.
We have lunch on the bank & talk more Tenkara.
Chris shows me a level line. I have never fish with a level line so i ask various questions & Chris explains the pros & cons.
Then very generously gives me a no3 & no5 line.
Its obvious to me that its not this mans first day on the river with a T rod, Far from it!!
Mr "Creeler" plying the art.
After lunch i decide to try the same piece of water that produced the fish earlier.
I tie on a team of heavier goldheads & start at the tail of the pool.
Im maybe half way up the pool bringing the flies out of the faster water into a slack when "whack" what a take.
A brownie around 11/2 lbs jumps free of the slack water & makes for the fast stuff. Up comes my free arm to hold the now bending rod blank. Any normal person at this point would have followed the fish down stream, not this idiot. I stand firm & bully the fish, Big mistake, fish & idiot part company. I shake my head & look to the sky.
I work up the pool & after around half an hour i get a very steady pull, almost like weed. I lift, more curious than anything else & the rod bends again. this time the fights different, very deep almost grayling like. Large grayling like!
This time i follow downstream, but its not enough and the rod tip goes slack, Its off. Just to see it would of been enough.
I can do no more than lift my hat to this fish. It felt a large fish.
I'll never know.
We both fish on into the early evening, through rain, sunshine & a rising river.
Chris appears down stream & tells me he's had a nice fish of around a pound on one of his self tied wets. He shows me the photo.
We both have had a really good day & make our way back to the cars, we tackle down & stand looking over the bridge into the river having a chat. We decide to meet again on the Tees in a few weeks.
It was a pleasure to spend the day with a true fishing gentleman.
Chriscreeler 1. Stevie 1.
