Yorkshire Calder

[mspaddler]

Finally the river level dropped enough for comfortable wading and the Calder was no longer coloured.   A few hours on the River today with my good friend Gary Hyde.   Almost all the grayling caught and landed today were less than 8 inches although I did hook a really nice sized Grayling but it darted off down stream and even though I was moving pretty quickly it came off before I could bring it to hand.  Gary fished western style while I fished with my Nissin.  The score on the board was GH 13 BS 6 but then he is a much better fisherman than me!  My little fish were all caught on a orange beadhead nymp on the dropper.
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[mspaddler]

It had been 10 days since I fished with Gary Hyde due to the Rivers being too high for my liking.  However, I was getting anxious to fish and even though the Calder was 10 cm higher than previously I slipped out of York and hit the M62.   Windy & cold I had to resort to gloves and search out a run which looked fishable.   Although the river was high (ish) and fast it was also clearing so I took off the S J worm and put a bright pink shrimp on the point.   Within 10 minutes I had landed a very nice Grayling.  The fish took the shrimp and interestingly never broke the surface, staying low until I was able to scoop it up with my net.  I fished a couple of other likely spots but to no avail.  After a hour and a half I called it a day.
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[daves]

Glad you've managed to get some river fishing in. January has been a bit of a wash out & I've had to resort to Wansford Lake.

[mspaddler]

Hi Dave, do you fish Wansford Tenkara? I fished it once about 15 months ago. I liked it as at least there is a little detectable flow. Maybe I'll give it another try.

[daves]

Yes I fish it with Tenkara & 5x tippet since there are some fish over 2lb. When I need to fish flies smaller than 24 I use conventional gear & 6x or 7x tippet to avoid breakages.

The fishing there has been slow recently but I usually get a fish or two an hour. Recent fish have fallen to size 20 red & black buzzers, size 16 sparkle braid San Juan Worms & size 16 orange shrimps.

Drag-free drifts are essential & I've been using 18' lines plus 3' of tippet so I can cover a reasonable area.

[mspaddler]

No rain yesterday or today meant the rivers are finally going down. A cloudy but pleasant day found me on the river for a splendid few hours of chasing the ladies. I ended up with 7 Grayling all good size, no sign at all of young fish so maybe not a good thing for next year. I also landed 6 OOSBT they on the other hand were all less than 10 inches in length. All fish caught on the same pink shrimp on the point. There was some invertebrate activity, a few upwings and a bunch of gnat size bugs. In fact I did see a couple of rises towards the end of my session so changed to a size 22 dry and although something had a go at it twice the fish did not oblige. As can be seen from the photo below something had been chewing on one of the Grayling. Rod of the day was the Nissin pro spec two way, though if truth be know I rarely use it at the short length it just seems to me to be a much more solid rod when fully extended.

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[johnclyde]

You did well. Every time I've readied myself to hit the calder a new deluge of rain arrives.

We shall have to have a Calder tenkara get-together at some point and drag Phil over from Keighley.

[johnclyde]

Finally the Calder levels have made it fishable. One of the things I love about northern freestone rivers like the Calder is that each season I have to start from scratch and re-learn some of the pools. When the big floods come they can reshape the river bed. The most dramatic example happened two years ago and had the effect of flattening out of one of the most productive pools. This was one in which I hooked the biggest grayling I've ever caught over the years on the river - a very long, tall, thick set 2lb+ fish that went screaming down the length of the pool. With the deeper channel gone, the fish seem to have moved elsewhere.

I've been out the last two days with the Iwana and its been very interesting. It struck me how lazy I've become over the last two years using the french leader set up. With the latter there is so much feel through the line when nymphing that its pretty much touch-legering. I wouldn't have to pay much attention to the movement of the line. Not so with tenkara! I enjoy the need to hone that sixth sense and watch the line very attentively. A few smaller grayling were rising too so I switched to sakasa kebari, casting upstream over fish bulging in the top layer. Very effective they were too. The only issue I found was that when I lifted the fly into the top layer (I tied them on wet fly hooks) a little bit of breeze caused a lot of drag. Perhaps I should have fished downstream so as to control the drift better.

[phil]

Super description John. Glad you finally have had the chance to get out and cast a line. I think we would all reiterate just how engaged an angler you must become in order to really get the joy of tenkara fly fishing. Simple but with lots of depth of technique to get stuck into.

Did you fish with furled line or level line? The great advantage of level line over furled lines is weight (mass). The lighter level line, even a #4 level line is significantly lighter than a light furled line, enables one of the prime advantages of tenkara, namely the ability to keep line off the water yet maintain subtle but tactile contact with the kebari. Once you move into #3 weight or lighter level lines then the ability to keep line off the water becomes even more pronounced and at greater distance.

Wind can and will affect your cast and ability to maintain a natural drift even with level lines. One of the ways to assist in line control in windy conditions involves a light anchor provided by a short section of your line on the water will add sufficient stablisation to enable you to keep in control yet not create a large disturbance on the surface. Sometimes you just need to work with the wind if its blowing a houli and use it to your advantage.

Tight lines and happy tenkara.

Phil

[johnclyde]

Thanks for the advice Phil. Yes I've gone for delicacy, so a #3 level line rather than a furled one. I tried leaving a section of the leader on the surface only to see the fly sink lower. I'll remember to bring my mucilin next time!

As you say, lots to learn and lots for me to sharpen up. Great fun!

[daves]

That's the great thing about this game; there is always more to learn. I had a great day yesterday on the Yorks Derwent watching & videoing Stu Crofts demonstrating some very subtle 'cross current control' & fine manipulation techniques that tempted several grayling & OOS trout.

[mspaddler]

Yesterday the Yorkshire Dales today back to what seems to be where I feel most at home/ease. Urban fishing.

Very slow start and low water levels but the occasional fish rising. I tried various sizes and varieties of dry fly to no avail.   I moved on. Eventually, the fish started to take an interest in my offerings and I tempted my first fish to the net with a size 18 double badger. I swapped between the badger and a size 22 IOTBB, one on the Sato and one on the Nissin, both were attacked and both produced a few trout to the net. However, it was getting windier and windier and those small flies wouldn't stay on the water even with a length of line as an anchor, so out with the big guns. I swapped to Klink and dink, the nymph's role to keep the klinkhammer on the water. I only picked up 1 small trout on the Klink but 2 good size Grayling on the nymph (silver bead head) so I thought it best to call it a day. I have never blanked on this stretch of river so next time I will watch the DVD again, try Kebari and see if I can still catch fish.


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[daves]

You did well considering the conditions. I've resorted to the Italian setup Western rod recently due to the incredibly low water (low summer levels) & the wind on several days. In East Yorks we really need a lot of rain; Driffield Beck is already dropping fast & could be even lower than last year when it was lower than I'd seen it for 30 years. I love Tenkara but if there's no flow & gin clear water (even with a long line) it can be nearly impossible to get near enough to the fish.

[mspaddler]

Rain was forecast for today but mostly for later in the Afternoon and Saturday so, as I generally don't fish over the weekend I thought I better hit the road. Three days on my new club water only produced 3 fish, one of which was a chub, learning curve I expect. I needed to hit the M62 to West Yorks. Traffic was surprisingly bad and I was beginning to regret travelling so far but what can you do, but gear up and hit the water with hope in your heart!

This water is not urban fishing, far from it and I had forgotten how beautiful it can be with the fresh green of the trees on the hills. Got there sometime after 11 and it took over an hour before I had my first hooked and lost fish. The trees were much easier to hook! I soldiered on and moved downstream looking for pools where I had caught fish in the past but the water was low and clear and faster than I expected.  I eventually found a sweet spot which produced 2 nice WBT and then a short while later a perfect pool and 5 beauties came to hand.  I revisited earlier spots on the way back and ended up well into double figures, mostly on a silver head nymph but also a couple to the Klink.  Definitely worth the drive!

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[daves]

Sounds like a good day!