R. Welland Tributary- of coarse!

[Deleted]

Myself and Peter managed a few hours out on a very coloured, cold and flowing little trib. of the R.Welland today.
It was all a bit "last minute" as I only got the all clear at 11am and it is over an hour away for myself but much more local to Pete.

Soon enough we were both there and setting up "T" rods...my choice, again, my 11.5-13ft sagiri and Pete a Nissin 2 way zoom rod which is fishable at 9.5 or 11ft, or something close to that.
Pete's rod being a fair bit stiffer than my Sagiri which is ultra soft/light actioned.
His was probably the more sensible choice of tools as the brook was pretty much bombing through with only 6 or 8 inch of visibility. That would mean the use of some serious tungsten sacrificial flies in order to dangle the point flies close to the bottom in the expected taking zone.
My rod just isn't made for weighty flies but I was determined to fish it anyway...just so nice.

This brook is a similar size to venue where I had success last week (10-14ft wide & averaging 18-24 inch deep but with some unexpected holes up to 5/6 foot deep). It tends to flow more though and is far more overgrown and has a few more silty areas but is also mostly stone, sand & gravel bedded.
We've also both fished it 6 or 7 times over the last couple of seasons so know some of the winter holding zones.

My rod was still rigged from last week so while Pete was deciding flies, spacings, etc. I just dropped in some near and far bank very slight slacks. The 3.5mm tungy top dropper was just swept away though...far too light for the conditions.
I scrounged a 5mm tungy bug from Pete ;D and tried this instead.
Better but still not great and my rod tip was seriously undergunned, bending round about 10 inches just to hold the flies in the flow!

By the time Pete was ready I'd already decided to either retreat back to the car for one of my stiffer Kiyose rods or seach out some very slack zones and fish just those areas on lighter flies.
I chose the latter option...I do love the Sagiri.
I knew just the swim to try, with a waist deep mid to far side slack so slipped into the water on the near side whilst Pete went walk about.


Lowking slightly downstream.
The reflected glare of the low sun in this shot shows the take zone.
Fish were down as far as the trailing branch mid stream and from the middle to close to the far bank.


Straight over...mini ditch entering the water.


...and just upstream.


1st cast I was in but whatever it was came adrift after 20 seconds of just holding deep with the odd thump, very strange fight?
After a couple more casts the 5mm tungy was binned-far too heavy!
On went a 3.5mm tungy #14 HE bug up the top, a #18 orange shrimp with a 2mm fluo orange bead on the middle and a #16 2mm fluo yellow beaded pheasant tail on the point (Pete does well with this one for roach).

That was far better. Now every cast the tip was twitching, dancing or just sweeping round. The slack must have been solid!


1st one landed, a small chub to the top dropper.


2nd a welcome little perch, though it had been too cold for these with the recent frosts...top dropper again.


another little chub...feel huge on the T with the flow.

I added fish every few minutes after this (all chub), missing lots of takes with everything to the top fly until this double chub haul!
One on the top and one on the yellow head.




That there fly.

Takes were slowing and my feet were numbing fast so i was thinging about a walk.
The last 2 fish from there were 2 small roach again to the top fly!



I'd had 13 fish plus missed loads; 9 chub, 2 roach and 2 perch but strangely not a single dace? (lots in there)
Time to find Pete and warm up!

He was upstream in a too fast zone, IMO and had had nothing!

Up there we saw this "health and safety gone mad sign"...



...neither of us had drowned, been crushed by falling trees or burst into flames...guess we were just lucky! ;D

Pete relocated down below where I'd been in a swim I know holds fish but is deep. He soon landed a couple of roach and a dace...we don't do "dry nets" and I added another chub from the "slack".


Pete in the undergrowth.

Heading back to the car in near darkness I had a half hearted "catapult" into a slack glide just below a cattle drink. I'd seen good roach here last year but could barely see my green line so wasn't confident. Lifting up slowly I felt a gentle twitch-tap...fish on.


Best fish of the day which fought really well in the faster water and it had taken the orange mini shrimp.
Roach of that size are rare in there and also very hard to take on fly in winter...I was chuffed.
The next 3 casts also resulted in hook-ups...2 more smaller roach(still palm sized ones) landed and another fish lost.
All three roach from here took the orange shrimp a fly that has never worked for me before...don't know why I fished it today?

total for me - 17 fish; 10 chub, 5 roach and 2 perch.

Hope reading this helps while away some of the cold, dark winter nights for you. If you can get out and be brave there are fish to be caught even if, like us, you're miles from the nearest grayling.

Enjoy (I did
Dee

[leckie]

skateboarddave,

I really enjoyed reading that report...great sport...the hours drive was certainly worth it...lots of nice photos...I guess I'll be re-reading this quite a few times over the winter months.

I tried for a few hours myself this morning for grayling...not even a touch...just one of these days I guess...I'll need to try these coloured tungsten beads...I'm thinking yellow at this moment in time.

Keep fishing and the reports coming...there great.

tight lines

alex

[Deleted]

Many thanks for an excellent report & photos. I don't have many trout rivers in my neck of the woods so coarse fishing could be the alternative. You've whet my appetite!

[Deleted]

Love the photo`s and reading the report, many thanks

[gary]

Great sport had there guys!

I was seconded to a weekend of room painting (again!)...

Right up for a cast or two this weekend coming though! Will give you a shout nearer the end of the week.

Tight lines

Gary

[Deleted]

After my flu and the subsequent bronchitis, still slightly under the weather I decided to nip out to to me local stream (same water that Dee posted about above) as I had not fished since mid December. One can catch the piscators itch if not done any angling for some period..but you should know that.
Anyway, at the business end I had around 3-4 hours daylight so I quickly settled on the venue. As usually my little tenkara rucksack had two rods as it has been proven that a pre-rigged rod is ready for action much sooner than if we were to build a rig from scratch.
When I got to the water even the sun came out, although the temperature was only just above zero. The stream looked perfect, and that is what mattered. A touch of colour and not too high to access most swims comfortably.

As I did not have my fishing buddy with me I quickly headed to the ever productive swim.

As you may be able to see the water changes direction and the far size - just where my rod is pointing - there is a deep pocket. The rig was fairly simple, a lightly weighted pink shrimp on the point, a micro nymph jig with 3mm head on the first dropper, and a 3.5 mm head hare's ear grub on the top. They were all well spaced out mainly because of the clarity but also to have that point fly enticingly dangling. So the recipe was some 2.5-3 feet between the first and the second fly and about 2 foot between the last two.
I did not have to wait too long before the first dace arrived. It took just on the boundary between slack and the faster water. As I have learned over the years holding the flies steadily downstream, letting them move about with the water is essentially what needs doing. The rod needs to be stationary as one should be able to spot the tiniest twitch on the line. Once the flies hang about in the same place for a while I tend to move them up against the current a bit then pause and I repeat it until the swim is fished out, and I do the above ever so slowly.

Pink shrimp scored this one. A quick catch always boosts the confidence, especially in the colder months.
The second one also took the point fly.

I knew I was at the bottom as every now and then a small twig or some debris had felt attracted by my nymphs. Altogether I managed 7 from this swim. Two came to the first dropper everything else found the pink shrimp tastier.

Just to show you how much distance there was between point and first dropper.
.
Eventually I snagged something substantial which left me know option but to wade close and dislodge the nymphs by pulling a big branch. I had done with this swim. It was time to move downstream to the next holding zone.

As the water turns again, just at the far side the bottom shelves up where there is also a bit of slack. First cast, I missed a good bump but then my trusty point fly managed to keep the two followers on. Thinking of scanning through the deeper pocket just in front of me I pulled out the other rod and uncoiled a taddy rig, meanwhile my Nissin was resting on the nearby branches.

I simply had not fancied retying 3 nymphs just for the sake of one or two casts with a depth charger. My perseverance with the HE taddy had been rewarded in shape of a perch. Good sign, so water temperature is still not uber cold, when perch stop completely.

I am pleased I took my better camera as it focuses much quicker and more accurately than my little Canon. Despite the cold all fish had been rather lively, not something you would call co-operative when photographed. I was desperate to try some other spots before the light would force me to go. Quickly movig on I got to the third swim, which was just a tiny pocket I had spooked fish from before.

This is it, not much you agree for sure. But enough to hold some fish.
This time I felt the positive vibe. I tucked away my Daiwa that had caught the perch a minute ago and slipped in the water some 6-7 yards upstream of the above pocket. The original trio on the Nissin felt too heavy for the swim. They landed on the deck way too quickly. Nevertheless I was still pushing it. I flicked the flies downstream and was trying to guide them to drop out at the far end of the slack. As the flies span out of the fast flow an obvious jerk on the line signaled the presence of some fish. Long story short, applying the same technique I ended up with two dace, one of them was a fatty one.
. Then the takes stopped. I might have gone too close in my excitement.
The last spot was a seemingly boring one, a long straight stretch with some depressions and some undercuts in the banks. I had changed my flies as the water demanded it. It was semi deep and the top layer was much faster than in the previous zones. I had been in the zone for a few minutes, very slowly marching up thinking I might have been wrong this time as I had not triggered a single bite. Then out of the blue came an aggressive yank that I felt even on the rod just as the flies reached a seemingly shallow water at the bottom end of a slack. Slow motion lift and I could not believe when I felt a fish kicking. It was a dace. Did not take any photo as my fingers were freezing up. I just simply lobbed the flies back in the same spot and held them dangling above the bottom. After a few seconds as I moved them just a touch another tug on the line and the second dace was fighting on the line. The third one came from the exact spot and then it went quiet. Oh, I had nearly forgotten to say which fly the dace took. You can guess.
The bottom of the above swim has got a rather deep hole on one side and the other shelves up.I went for the shallow first. Not a single take. I would have expected a dace or a roach. As I was hesitating between going on continuing a suicidal roach hammered the top fly that was meant for chub.

I properly went for the size 14 HE bug. Even on the stiffish Nissin (it is a Keiryu rod after all) I could feel the roach very well and it managed to give great account for itself. One those famous last casts and I hooked the bottom. The evil snag invited all three of my flies so I ended up with a black ultra heavy tadpole as a no brainer fish finder before I could call it a day. Few cast in the above mentioned deep hole produced another perch, a bit deeper marked than the one I took picture of.
On my way back there were few semi deepish calmer waters which I had never fished before so just to try I kept on randomly dropping in with the taddy. The very first cast resulted a hand size chub.

Then the second slack some 50 yards away threw up another one.

I ended the day with a dace which was not much bigger than the size 12 black streamer it took.

All in all it was a great session and I was well pleased with the 10+ fish in about 3 hours.

Good luck for the brave who go out in hope for a fish or two!

Pete

[Deleted]

Lovely pictures and a nice read
great stuff :-)

[gary]

Great to see you're finding time to have a cast Pete - fab photos ;D

I've changed jobs a few weeks ago, so time is pretty much all used up working (how dull!).

Have spotted a fair few new likely spots when out and about though, so keen to check them out properly when the water goes back down.

Hope your knee's back in top condition!

Tight lines

Gary