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Post by dbl on Apr 29, 2014 19:05:53 GMT
I joined a working party on Sunday morning and, frankly, benefited from the experience more than it cost me in labour. One thing about the winter's frequent floods was the scouring of the river, quite large rockfalls were cleared by the force of the water, how much silt moved, for better or worse, we can only guess at. Of course, woody debris has also built up, which we were beginning to clear. I had left my old Dong Feng rod in the boot, but had no waders to safely use. (I had taken my neoprene rubber cleated boot waders which were lethal on the slimy cobbles of the Ceiriog). So, I worked the bank with an overlong Tenkara rod. My first location was not productive, so I moved to the section just above the viaduct. The few pools here had not been cleared of debris, and there is a lot of overhanging canopy so it was not ideal! One thing that became clear in working a pool with these features is that hooking a fish is the start of you problems with a long rod and a fixed line. If you can't get your line close enough to get hold of because you can't elevate your rod, you can't easily maintain any tension on the line. Sadly, I lost several fish partly because of this. A thunderstorm intervened and I took shelter under the viaduct. I revisited the various bsnk accessible stretches as I returned upstream to the bridge where I was parked and finally hooked and landed a 12" brown trout in a streamy rocky stretch. A small palmered grizzle pattern, fished wet, I had put together was the successful pattern. I think the fish might have been a recent stocking as an almost identical but dead fish was awash in the shallows not far away. If it was stocked it had adapted quickly because it was full of cased caddis. The joy of small success after long frustration is rather addictive!
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Post by dbl on May 20, 2014 21:45:50 GMT
Another working party last Sunday 18th, spraying knotweed, led to the discovery of a prolific small deep pool, (thank you, Ismo), just below a small bridge high up the fishery. I returned to it in the afternoon, anxious to try out my newly shortened Iwana. I was fortunate to buy the 9' butt for the usually 12' rod from John Pearson on one of his courses. At this length I had heard it was a bit stiff, but I found it just right and the length was perfect, keeping me out of trouble with the overhead branches most of the time. I had put on a slightly overlong line which got me most of the way across the pool without wading too deep. The trout were most interested in dry flies and I took a number of small fish. They seemed to grow wary of a pattern after a short while, but returned to the attack when a new one was presented. Very little line was on the water which may have helped to keep them coming. I left then to prospect downstream for about 200 yards,without success, but returned before leaving. I tied on a small black parachute fly and this had immediate success bringing a 5", a 7" and finally a 9" trout in a few minutes. All very lively and healthy looking! The small fish had the most beautiful red spots, with a highly coloured adipose fin which almost glowed dark red.
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Post by dbl on Jun 7, 2014 16:01:06 GMT
I returned to the beat just above the viaduct last Sunday afternoon and walked down stream to the bottom of the beat. About half way down I saw a pair of anglers fishing a rocky stretch from under the trees on the bank. The lady told me they had had good sport on the dry fly and that they too were working upstream, having had a number of fish from the viaduct pool. I decided to begin on a tiny pool below them that I guessed they had probably missed, it is very snaggy with fallen branches and I thought the short Iwana would work well there. This turned out to be true and, for the first time, I realised why someone might find a fish counter handy. I used mainly a little gray cdc emerger that started dry and finished soggy. All the trout were small, about 5" on average. They were very lively on the light tackle.I did begin to strike more effectively, anticipating better and hooking with more finesse so the smaller fish were less likely to be catapulted into the air. This also helped avoid trees when the take was missed! I had decided to try wading with the short rod up through the rocky stretches. This was a mistake as the combination of a pulled thigh muscle and the tortuous nature of the river bed meant that progress was slow and scary! My wading staff saved me from disaster several times. It was a good education in how complex the depths and current flows are in such stretches. Only one fish came to hand for all this effort so I decided to drive up the the small easily accessed pool mentioned above (May 20) to finish off the afternoon. Well,nothing even took an interest. Everything around me seemed much the same as my last visit, but nada...Another puzzle!
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Post by orangeotter on Jun 7, 2014 17:31:42 GMT
well done Dave, a good result in difficult conditions, I'd like to try the Ceiriog myself soon.
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Post by fishingcane on Jun 9, 2014 7:40:54 GMT
Louis,
Let me know when you are free and your our more than welcome as a guest.
Steve
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Post by dbl on Jul 9, 2014 23:16:39 GMT
Various family concerns have meant that fishing opportunities have been scarce recently, but I snatched a few hours on Tuesday afternoon. As time was short, I worked along the viaduct field again. The river is now very low and clear, and the snaggy pool is now really just a scour by the collapsed branches. Still there were some small rises and so I put a small Olive Caddis SK (after Louis' Esoteric tying) on the short Iwana and cast up the pool. To my surprise, the pool gave up no less than 3 WBs all about 7" in length before it went quiet. Rather pleased that I had not lost the hook in the trailing vegetation I then treed it behind me! A Williams Favourite SK accompanied me up slowly the stream, but did not even get a pull in the depleted glides. There are a number of places by the opposite bank where the current runs in that are so well covered by collapsed or low hanging trees that they simply must be sheltering fish, but they are mostly too difficult to attempt. Arriving at the bridge pool, it first seemed so low and clear as to be pointless, but I noticed a couple of small rises right by the supports on the opposite bank where again the current runs in and there are nice little holes to hide in. I chanced a small Partridge and Orange SK and worked over the closer stretches until I reached the edge where I immediately had a take which brought another 7" trout to hand. Another rise a few feet further down was cast to and the flash of a taking fish came instantly. This looked almost the twin of the first. A couple of missed takes alarmed the remaining citizens into putting up the shutters so it was time to leave! I recently bought some Klinkhamer hooks, but I haven't yet had the confidence to tie one. However, I noticed the curve had some similarities to the Japanese hooks used by Esoteric so I have been tying the SKs, including some traditional Japanese SKs as well as the British spiders, on them. They look rather large so you have to size down a bit, but I quite like the curved look, especially on the Caddis pattern. It also gives room to build up the head on an SK which I find helps to flare the reverse hackle. The same Caddis pattern also got taken very positively by a large grayling on the recent Tenkara Forum day. That I managed to lose it at the net was my fault alone! BTW, I have recently started to use the Shooter Metan Invisible camouflaged tippet currently sold by Esoteric. My spool is the 3.5lb, now out of stock, which I find handles very well, has less flash, and seems very strong for the diameter. It isn't cheap, but you get 100 metres on the spool which lasts a while with typical tenkara tippet lengths of just over a metre. The 4lb, in stock, is not much thicker. ( www.esoterictackle.co.uk/tippet/51-metan-shooter-invisible.html)
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Post by custheyder on Jul 11, 2014 11:26:15 GMT
I won;t be getting any more of the Metan Shooter in buit for those that like the camouflage approach I strongly recommend the JMC Kamoufil (http://www.esoterictackle.co.uk/tippet/20-jmc-kamoufil.html) which I will be keeping in stock.
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Post by dbl on Aug 16, 2014 21:13:02 GMT
A few hours on the lower Ceiriog today, after an enforced long break. Grey skies and gusting winds didn't bode well, but at least it was dry. The river was still very low, despite the recent rains. I began at a pool just above Pont y Blew. I kept missing takes in the fast water at the head and realised they must be grayling. I rested the pool by moving up to the tail of the next smaller pool, but was soon joined by thirsty cows. I moved back down and was changing to a kebari style beadhead to get lower in the channel when I realised the water had changed colour. The whole herd was crossing! Fine clay sediment was colouring the water, but I managed one 8" grayling before the water was completely obscured.
I moved down to the bottom beat, and took a couple of hand-sized browns on a sakasa kebari from the top of deep pool just above Rivers Meet. The run below was too shallow, so I fished the scour entering the Dee and was surprised to take a rather skinny rainbow, where I expected a grayling. It just exceeded the minimum limit and I had promised a neighbour a trout, so I killed it. Its stomach was almost empty, so I think it hadn't adapted very well. It had probably escaped from the trout farm,which is about 5 miles upstream.
The wind was gusting ever more strongly so I paid a final visit to the higher pool and landed another small brown.
Despite it being a Saturday, no one else was fishing in that section as far as I could see!
PS. I ordered a small cheap tamo/damo from Plats of Japan, as I couldn't see one anywhere here. I thought I'd use it today. I threw in a pink line and a tapered line to make better use of the EMS shipping fee.
One week later Esoteric and Tenkara Times are between them stocking all these (Daiwa rather than Shimano, but almost identical)! Still. I'm ahead, right?
One week later still and UK Customs and Parcel Force between them have turned a two day delivery into an information free blockade. Even the Japanese tracking site told me more about the fate of my parcel in the UK than Parcel Force's site.
The goods from Japan were good value even with VAT, but apparently Customs charge VAT on the shipping as well(!) and Parcel Force charges a fat (mis-)handling fee for leaving everything in Customs for weeks. This last a hot topic on small business forums.
I think I'll leave importing to the professionals...
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Post by orangeotter on Aug 17, 2014 8:44:49 GMT
That's a challenging day Dave but well done.
I imported a rod from the States and was crippled by duty and tax on about everything, just not worth it as you can get all we need from UK now.
Anyway, enjoy !
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Post by flatsghost on Aug 18, 2014 8:33:20 GMT
Dave Spoil yourself and get a Tamo from Seth Leach. You will not be disappointed and will avoid all the customs crap! Tight linesand well done on your trip. I am laid up presently and can only read of others success! Glyn
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Post by dbl on Sept 15, 2014 20:00:50 GMT
As family matters have to dominate the rest of the month, I took myself to the lower part of the Ceiriog on Sunday. Mostly grey skies and light upstream winds. The river is very low, but there are some deep pools there, so I had some hopes. I started with the narrow run into the deep pool a little above Pont y Blew. Last time it produced small grayling. This time, using a red takayama kebari, it produced several small browns. When this went quiet I moved to the smaller pool just above it (cow free this time) and took a couple more from the shallow edges. Treeing this fly, I decided to try a small fuzzy beadhead in the deeper parts of the pools. As two hooks are beyond me, I attached a small wool floating indicator which has the merit of sliding easily for depth control. This produced almost nothing. Just one brown from the deepish slow tail of the lower pool. I broke for lunch, then moved to the deep pool above the Dee confluence, keeping the beadhead, set at about 4 ft. In the slower tail of the pool, again nothing, but as I drifted it through the streamy head, the indicator bobbed under at the furthest reach of the rod. I struck to find a good fish had taken the hook. Brought to the bank it proved to be a nice brown about 11" in length. A good size for frying, so it will be. I find these beadheads horrid to cast on the Iwana, and even worse with the indicator, so I finished by tying on an Ishigaki kebari. I tie these very simply with black sewing cotton and a partridge hackle or, as this time, a badger cock hackle. I used a size 2 Owner tenkara hook which I got with my folding tamo from Plats. They are similar in size and weight to a Kamasan 911 size 14, though barbed and flatter in the bend. The eye is cranked down slightly. I can't see any advantage over the Kamasan myself. Anyway, this little homage to the man produced a small brown first cast. And pretty well the last as it was time to go. Go grayling, I guess! Some pictures attached.The first picture is representative of several lured by the lost Takayama!
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Post by dbl on Sept 15, 2014 20:48:25 GMT
A photo comparing the Kamasan 911 size 14 and the Owner Tenkara hook size 2. The Kamasan is on the right, with the straight eye. Attachments:
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Post by orangeotter on Sept 16, 2014 13:02:44 GMT
interesting trip Dave. I find that a bead head doesn't cast as well as an unweighted SK, often out of balance.
ref hooks: I've stopped using B911 as I bumped a lot of fish. It's actually a hook suited to sweetcorn and pretty thick, I guess it needs a thump to set it. I've moved onto a 'Fish On River Academy nymph/wet' which is excellent - a long very sharp point and a decent weight to sink a SK. I almost exclusively use a s14. I would recommend that you try some.It's barbless of course.
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Post by dbl on Sept 16, 2014 17:19:58 GMT
Thanks for the tip, Louis. I had heard good things about the Fish On hooks. I'll definitely give them a go. I generally tie in 12s and 14s. Some of the differences in gape sizes between brands are now ridiculous though, which is why I used a specific hook as a reference for the Japanese numbered Owner Tenkara hook. The 911 is also available (I guess because it is a coarse angling design) in spade ends and I have used those for the silk eyes as well as the Esoteric Japanese hooks. I have one tying question which puzzles me, I believe a lot of SKs are tied with hen pheasant neck hackles, but I am not sure if I need to buy a whole skin to acquire these. Can anyone help me here?
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Post by orangeotter on Sept 16, 2014 22:05:56 GMT
Your best bet is to look for road kill, the younger birds are best as the chest feathers are smaller. I bought a full skin last year and the feathers were far too large.
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