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Post by mspaddler on Apr 19, 2016 9:39:44 GMT
I'm back! After a couple of months away I'm back fishing in gorgeous Yorkshire. Had a couple of session last week on waters that my club doesn't like me to post about, suffice to say it was the best first day of trout season for me ever! But to the matter at hand, the Yorkshire Calder or to be more accurate on of the tribs of the Calder. This tributary is probably my favourite small stream trout water, just wish it was closer. Anyway I ventured out of my comfort zone and went to a stretch of the stream that I had never fished. I'm always a little nervous and excited about fishing new water but I needn't have been concerned as second cast a pretty little golden trout came to hand. The stream has a public footpath adjacent and so is popular with dog walkers and me being in the water convinced several dogs it might be a good idea to join me! The dogs aside it was a very productive especially as far as hook up rate was concerned but these were slippery little varmints and I lost more than the dozen or so I landed. I fished with my TUSA Rhodo with about 8ft of level line and 4 ft of tippet with a Elk hair caddis and a small nymph underneath. All the landed fish fell to the nymph I had one hook up on the caddis but several other attempts at the dry provided entertainment as they emerged out of the peat stained water only to reject my offering. I change to several small drys but they got no interest at all.
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Post by phil on Apr 19, 2016 16:25:29 GMT
Great report Brian and a great way to start your season in the UK again.
We'll have to hook up soonish I hope for an outing.
Happy fishing
Phil
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Post by springerman on Apr 21, 2016 12:57:40 GMT
Good to see you back safe and well. Not lost your touch I see. Have a great season.
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Post by mspaddler on Apr 23, 2016 17:16:13 GMT
My "Calderthon" continued this week with sessions on the main river and 3 tributaries. The hook up/catch rates were very interesting. I found plenty of WBT in the Trib I fished on Monday including 2 which were probably in excess of 12 inches, significantly bigger than the usual suspects and probably as big as I have caught on that stream. My long distance releases were plenty also, must be the barbless hooks! I fished in and around Huddersfield some 'free' fishing in the city and also a session upstream on one of my club waters. The club water produced a few nice trout and one OOS grayling. However, the short time on 2 rivers in the city produced only OOS Grayling. Interestingly, where I usually start or finish my fishing in Huddersfield there was fly fishing instruction taking place so I went further down stream. This is the first time I have ever been to these urban rivers and not caught a single trout. My final couple of hours of the week was on the main river and surprise surprise lots and lots of grayling and just a solitary trout. I think I will be reviewing my urban fishing destinations for the next 2 months, I love catching grayling but not out of season. So no more urban fishing for me for a while, except maybe an hour or two on Sunday prior to the Copley Village River Calder clean up. This is the second clean up in the Copley area following the boxing day floods. It's astonishing just how much debris is still in the river, but again I suppose not too surprising when you realize that the flood actually took out 2 road bridges. Photos: I don't usually photograph OOS fish but I liked my reflection and the grayling was released in the water.
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Post by mspaddler on Apr 26, 2016 9:07:48 GMT
Well I did have a couple of hours on the Calder before the clean up on Sunday. Perfect weather, good water levels but very little fly life to be seen. However, as anticipated from my previous session further upstream it was a Grayling Fest. Six Grayling to one small Trout was the total. So that's me done with this part of the Calder system until mid June. Not a great turn out for the clean up but we did manage a dozen or so bags of rubbish. I think it will take quite some time for the river to look pretty again. Photo is of the Bridge at Copley, the very minor road it serves leads to a church and a couple of houses I don't see it being repaired in the near future, if ever.
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Post by mspaddler on Jun 1, 2016 8:51:35 GMT
Very windy yesterday and from out of the North so I anticipated it to be cool as well. Where to fish? relatively sheltered and north flowing? Not too many options but I did return to a Tributary of the Calder system I had only fish once with the late Gary Hyde. Tough going! The stream/brook/beck was very low and very clear running over a stone bed. As I approached the river I saw a rise and thought excellent dry fly action, well although I did catch the first trout on a dry that was the end of the rising and the end of catching on a dry fly. Most of the water was too shallow to fish and I was beginning to despair when I finally came across a pool that screamed fish. It should have been dry fly heaven as there was lots of various bugs hatching. I changed from the Rhodo to my Sato which was set up with a Elk Hair Caddis and a size 18 copper-head mary (from Barbless-flies.co.uk) and sure enough 4 little chaps came to hand on the nymph. A fun day though tinged with a little sadness, missing my friend.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 13:11:02 GMT
Nice fishing. It looks a lovely place.
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Post by mspaddler on Jun 6, 2016 22:49:02 GMT
Back on a Calder Trib again today. This time not in the Calderdale but on one of my other clubs' rivers. I have fished this river several times but always on the same section. This week I am planning to fish club waters I have never fished. Parking was easy but access less so and a very nice looking weir pool was beyond my climbing ability. Nevertheless I persevered and found a way onto the river and plodded upstream watching trout rising in the slow water out of reach of the T rod. I eventually came across another weir pool which obviously had to hold fish and sure enough I hooked 6 and netted 3 of those wild brown trout before my phone went and I had to head back to York. I'm often cursing 4 legged intruders into the rivers I fish but I didn't mind today's 4 legged friend he was just down for a drink and not chasing after a stick. Only 4 more fishing opportunities here in Yorkshire before I leave for the Summer.
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Post by fdking on Mar 19, 2017 13:29:23 GMT
I'm going to join the Bradford No1 club, mainly for their water on the Wharfe near Ilkley, but I also notice they have some water on the Calder near Elland. From these posts there seems to be a lot of trout and grayling in the river. How good is the Elland stretch as I'll be travelling up from near London and don't want a wasted trip.
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Post by mspaddler on Mar 20, 2017 9:45:24 GMT
I'm going to join the Bradford No1 club, mainly for their water on the Wharfe near Ilkley, but I also notice they have some water on the Calder near Elland. From these posts there seems to be a lot of trout and grayling in the river. How good is the Elland stretch as I'll be travelling up from near London and don't want a wasted trip. I regularly fish the R Calder but not the Bradford No 1 stretch. It looks quite fishy as you drive past it on the bypass but the Bradford No 1 water is a little way upstream of the main road. I fish the Halifax & Ryburn 'book' which is upstream of the Bradford No 1 water and that produces trout and grayling on the T rod. However, it seems to be a long drive from the London area to fish the R Calder surely there must be better opportunities further south. If you decide to fish the Calder near Elland let us know how you get on.
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Post by fdking on Mar 21, 2017 8:30:50 GMT
Many thanks for the reply. I like fishing 'freestone' rivers so I've a choice of Wales or Yorkshire within 4 hours drive. I hate the M25 and living by the M11 gives me better access to the north. I fancied trying the Calder as my mother's family were mill workers in Sowerby Bridge before her father moved up to Scotland to twist steel rather than wool, so I've probably got distant relatives round there. There is a garage there with the same name as my mother's maiden name. I think I'll stick to the Wharfe but may make a visit to the Calder sometime later in the year, as the reports for the grayling fishing look good, but then the Wharfe at Ilkley is also good for grayling! Interesting you live in York as that was where I was brought up.
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Post by mspaddler on Mar 21, 2017 20:04:20 GMT
I'll PM you Frank
Brian
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Post by mspaddler on Mar 28, 2017 10:21:37 GMT
First day of Yorkshire Trout season for me was Sunday 26th March. I took out membership of a club which has fishing rights on the upper reaches of a Calder tributary so I thought it would be fun to get up to the moors and see if I could find any wild brown trout. Fortunately I was there reasonably early and no one was parked on the layby which gave access to a path 150 feet down to the water, later when I was leaving the place was full of ramblers, dog walkers and picnickers. My first fish of the season came relatively quickly, maybe the third or fourth cast. However, that was not a sign of things to come and after 5 hours of fishing, clambering over rocks and missing takes I ended up with just 3 trout to hand. A great day on some new water, but I'll probably tackle it different next time. The climb out of the valley was tough on these old legs especially after all the rock hopping. However, it was still Yorkshire so still fabulous.
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Post by mspaddler on Mar 28, 2017 13:16:11 GMT
This is the area I fished on Sunday with the stream visible in the centre of the photo. Very beautiful, then again it is Yorkshire!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2017 6:52:13 GMT
This is the area I fished on Sunday with the stream visible in the centre of the photo. Very beautiful, then again it is Yorkshire! Not bad but has a fair way to go to beat Lancashire. 😀 David
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