|
Post by phil on Feb 12, 2015 17:40:19 GMT
Nice fish Brian - on the tenkara continuum Happy tenkara Phil
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on May 4, 2015 11:34:15 GMT
Had an interesting couple of days last week on a tributary of the Calder. A game of two halves as they say. In the upper reaches I had 20 fish all brown trout including the nice one in the photo. The fish were mostly taken on nymphs but a couple fell to a sedge dry. Lower down the next day it was completely different story I caught and landed 17 fish but 15 were Grayling including some over 15 inches, the 2 brown trout were about 9 inches and were the last 2 fish caught before I called it a day. All the fish caught on the second day were caught on various small dry flies. It was fun to see the fish take the naturals (LDO I suspect) as they came sailing down the river. I used my Sato on the upper reaches and my Try 360 on the lower and as might be expected I managed to get the first 2 sections of the Sato stuck hard. I tried the usual methods to release them including the 'never fail' elastic band method all to no avail. So I emailed John at TUSA on Saturday expecting to have to buy new sections but within the hour he came up with a great if scary way of getting them unstuck, so back in business. Attachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on May 8, 2015 21:05:06 GMT
On Calder Tribs yesterday and today. Yesterday was another bumper day in the Yorkshire Pennines, well over 20 WBT to hand and lots that didn't quite make it to the hand! It started with a few fish rising and the first 3 fish were caught on the dry. However, the dry action didn't last and I went well over an hour without tempting another fish so back to K & D and the fish responded well to an orange beadhead flashback from my Gary Hyde collection. The final fish of the day as I worked up stream were two very sizeable Grayling, the first Grayling I have landed on this stretch of the river. The rod today was a blast from the past, a TUSA 12 foot Iwana. Attachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on May 8, 2015 21:08:19 GMT
Today I was on one of my favourite streams with 3 small rods, (see under ESO zoom rod review) Not quite as many fish to hand today partly because I was swapping rods and switching from dry to K & D, but ten wbt in 4 hours on the river would be a good haul on other waters and I was happy with that total. Attachment DeletedAttachment DeletedAttachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on Sept 30, 2015 21:39:08 GMT
Got back from Summer in the US just in time for the last day of the trout season. I decided to fish one of my favourite of the Calder tributaries as there are no Grayling present in the upper reaches of this water. In the 3 1/2 months since I fished it previously I had forgotten how intimate (read overhanging trees ready to grab a fly from a careless cast, of which there were many!) a stream it is. I usually get into double figures on this water but the double figures today were the number of hook ups lost. However, a good session was had with the last WBT falling to a tatty Kebari I tied back in the US. I definitely need more practice on the tying front so we will see if I catch the fly tying disease. That hobby isn't likely to start anytime soon as an old shoulder injury now requires surgery, I can barely tie flies with two hands let alone with one arm in a sling! Good to be back in beautiful Yorkshire. Attachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on Nov 7, 2015 11:15:50 GMT
Had a good couple of days Tuesday and Thursday this week, Urban and semi country fishing (one of the Calder tributaries and the main river). I usually start off Klink and Dink on these bigger rivers (although I use a Elk Hair Caddis as the 'klink') and both sessions I ended up on dries. The first river was a good mix of Grayling and WBT but no Grayling less than 9 inches. The second river was almost exclusively Grayling and has been the 3 times I have fished it since returning from the USA. Thursday's adventure produced Grayling from 5 inches to 15 inches and a good spread in between so the future looks good for Grayling but not so sure about the future of trout fishing. There was only a very sporadic hatch on both days but apart from the first 2 Grayling on Tuesday all fish fell to small dries. Griffiths Gnats for the most part but the 15 incher was tempted by a size 18 Elk Hair Caddis which I changed to as I could no longer keep track of the small Griffiths in the poor light conditions. Choice of weapon: Tenkara USA Sato with a 15 foot tapered line for the dry fly fishing and a Nissin Pro Spec 2 way with a 10 foot level line for the K&D. Over 30 Grayling and less than 10 WBT caught and released. Attachment DeletedAttachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by flatsghost on Nov 7, 2015 11:41:59 GMT
Sounds as if you had a blast! Looking forward to getting out myself if the rivers use ten down. Glyn
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on Nov 24, 2015 22:50:35 GMT
Tricky trying to find places to fish with the ground so saturated, now as soon as it rains the rivers are quickly on the rise. On Monday I knew that the day was going to be cold but at least the shouldn't be any more rain. I eventually settled on the upper reaches of a Calder Tributary even though I suspected there may be more trout action than grayling. And that is the way it turned out, over 20 trout to just 3 grayling to hand. Most of the fish fell to small nymphs but towards the end of the session without any sign of surface action I tried 20 minutes on the dry, 2 trout took the dry and I'm pretty certain a good size grayling also had a go but didn't stay for a photo opportunity! Finally I found the first Kebari I had tied, a sorry looking thing, and thought why not. Two trout were happy to take the Kebari, but no more grayling so I called it a day and headed for the M62. I don't normally snap photos of trout in the off season but I couldn't resist as it posed with my Kebari. Attachment DeletedAttachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on Nov 29, 2015 13:19:51 GMT
Well I had fairly disastrous day on the Don on Wednesday, I broke the tip of my Try 360 while trying to get the line out of a tree and then stumbled and broke a mid section of my Nissin. Fortunately I also had my Sato so a few grayling were caught. I had a spare tip section of the Try 360 so no problem there, however, the Nissin will take a while to replace. Having been stung by the Post Office for fees and duties when buying from Japan previously I ordered from Chris at Tenkarabum and had it sent it to my kid in the US for me to pick it up in February. But I digress this is the Calder thread. Thursday morning I hit the M62 and a Calder Trib. I was anxious to shake off the depression of the previous day and hit the River with a blast from the past, my very first T Rod a 12 foot TUSA Iwana with the Sato as backup. The river was dropping but considerably higher than when I had fished it the previous week. Nothing rising. Klink & Dink to start with one of Gary Hyde's orange bead head nymphs on the point. A few trout and then I lost the nymph. I put on my version of the Utah Killer Bug (see Simple Flies 52 easy to tie patterns that catch fish) but I struggled to get the tippet through the eye of the size 14 hook. I realized 2 things the fibres from the yarn interfered with the tippet and more importantly I had got too close to the eye with the yarn, hopefully lessons learnt. I went on to land close to double figures of Grayling and probably 5 wbt which I wasn't able to shake off. First Grayling of the day took my Utah Killer Bug and the last took a Copper John as I was 3/4 the way through winding the line on the easy keepers. I guess they all count! Attachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on Jan 16, 2016 12:29:50 GMT
First successful fishing trip of the new year. Amazing, it is exactly a month since I caught my last Grayling. Hopefully the rivers will recover quickly from the deluge of December 2015. I had a chilly 2 1/2 hours on one of the Calder Tribs. The river looked good, a little high but clear and dropping slightly. I went to a section where I have always caught both Grayling and WBT but it was a tough session. I ended up with a couple of WBT and the same number of Grayling. The water and the wind were cold, but it was good to get out and enjoy some fresh air. This is my first Grayling of 2016.
|
|
|
Post by adric on Jan 17, 2016 20:36:45 GMT
Great you can get out. Not a chance down here as they are high and coloured.
Richard
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on Jan 20, 2016 17:30:35 GMT
Went to the upper reaches of a Calder Trib today, a river I have avoided since October due to prevalence of WBT vs Grayling. Last time I was there I had over 20 WBT to 2 Grayling, today at least the ratio was more Grayling to Trout although not great numbers. It was also encouraging to land a 4 inch 'lady'. I was concerned that with all the flooding the little ones might have been washed away. A beautiful day in Yorkshire and a nice chat with another angler who was just starting to fish as I was making my way back to battle the M62.
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on Jan 27, 2016 10:16:16 GMT
Two days on the main River. Clean Up Copley on Sunday when a bunch of locals got together to clean the riverbank between the weir and the end of the rugby pitch. I went along as a member of Ryburn & Halifax Angling Society, I thought as I occasionally fish the Copley stretch I ought pluck some plastic out of the trees. About 30 volunteers turned out including quite a few young people. Probably a couple of tons of rubbish picked up and piled ready for the council to take away. As well as 3 bags of rubbish I managed to find and move a car bumper, a bonnet from a ATV, a carpet and a chunk of aluminium siding. It was hard work but worth it, although there is still plastic in the trees the area is much improved. Having worked Sunday I decided to fish the area on Monday as it looked like the best day of the week considering the forecast for rain and wind was likely to blow out the river from Tuesday onwards. The area around the weir has completely changed, initially from the construction company's taking out an island on the left bank and the flood blocking off a channel with gravel on the right bank. I fished areas where I usually do well and though slow to start I did manage to catch a few grayling and one WBT. Also of interest I saw I trout rise to an upright of some sort the trout missed and the bug flew off. It got very windy by 2 pm and although I had a T Rod with a Titanium line which cut through the wind nicely, even with a indicator at the end I struggled to see where I was casting so I hit the M62 back home. This Grayling looked like it had been in the wars possibly as a result of the flooding.
|
|
|
Post by mspaddler on Feb 15, 2016 17:53:38 GMT
A few chilly hours on a Calder Trib today. More Grayling than wild brown trout so that was good. A Romanian lorry driver stopped and chatted while I was fishing, he wanted to know what I was hoping to catch and why the river was coloured (peat stained) he also told me "in my country I crazy for fishing". In addition I managed to rescue 2 footballs for some overactive half termers who very nearly joined me in the water until I told them that I would get their footballs. Dippers and wagtails on the river and 3 Red Kites spotted on the journey over to West Yorks. A grand day for my Grayling season finale, off over the pond on Thursday so I'm expected to start packing soon.
|
|
|
Post by springerman on Feb 15, 2016 18:50:12 GMT
msp, You had a good day. I was on the Ribble and had some Grayling, but not on Tenkara, a French leader. Gorgeous sunny day. Like you I saw Dipper, Wagtail and Buzzards. River was high but clean. First trip for me this year. Safe journey "across the pond".
|
|