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Post by leckie on Feb 17, 2012 19:57:18 GMT
Friday 10 February 2012 Headed down to the river at Polton just after 3pm. The river was low and clear and I decided to set up with a level line, two nymphs and an indicator. Fished hard all the way upstream until 5pm. No takes….didn’t see any flies on the water or any fish activity. Some parts of the river I hardly recognised as the water was so low…even lower than normal summer levels…unbelievable Alex
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Post by leckie on Feb 17, 2012 20:01:13 GMT
Saturday 11 February 2012
This time I started at first light…well almost. It was 07:45am when I arrived at the car park at Lasswade. Buglife from the Tenkara UK forum sent me a PM and said he would join me on the water at 08:30am. When he arrived I showed him a few of the areas I fish and we had a good old natter as we made our way downstream. There was no rain so the water was low and clear. We did see some fly life activity as around 10am there was a good hatch of olives…but no grayling were tempted by our offerings. At 10:30 we both decided to call it a day and headed back to the car. Although outdone once again by the elusive grayling it was still a very enjoyable couple of hours on the river and good to have a chat with a fellow tenkara angler.
Alex
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Post by leckie on Feb 17, 2012 22:24:02 GMT
Wednesday 15 February 2012 Tried again for the grayling this morning for an hour before work…..I wanted to Christen my new home made river scoop net…..formerly a discarded wooden squash racket…..the weather was perfect and the river running nice and clear...no joy on the fishing front.... though did see a family of roe deer by the water’s edge ...made up for the lack of fish. tight lines Alex
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Post by leckie on Feb 19, 2012 21:21:47 GMT
Sunday 19 February 2012 – River North Esk I met up with Buglife this morning at 8am at the entrance to Dalkeith Country Park. We were both determined to catch the elusive grayling….well elusive for us...We were only going to fish for a couple of hours……I was mainly showing Buglife a few more spots to fish on this very scenic little river. It was an absolutely glorious morning ….bright and sunny not a cloud in the sky….pretty cold though…the temperature hovering at +1degree centigrade. It was a fifteen minute walk to the wooden bridge where we started fishing the pool immediately upstream. On the way there we spotted a small family of roe deer and when they saw us they bounded off into the distance….magic to see. We set up and tried a few casts in the first run…and one cast into an overhanging tree…..won’t tell you who that was…..I took the lead and headed upstream. Buglife only just managed to cross the river in his thigh waders….he’ll definitely need to invest in chest or waist waders to fish this river comfortably….it’s currently on his to do list. We were both using weighted nymphs but to no avail. At 10am we packed up and headed for the cars…although no fish were encountered it was still great to be out on the water…and one day a fish will take and I’ll be able to post a photograph of a fish rather than the river for a change…but not this time.… Alex
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Post by leckie on Feb 25, 2012 21:32:48 GMT
Friday 24 February 2012 I arrived at Lasswade public park around 3pm…..I set up with a dry fly as it was quite mild around the 13 degrees mark…….there were clouds of small olives all over the place…who would have thought that it was only February. The dry fly that I was using was a tan sakasa kerabi which I tied a couple of weeks ago. I gave the dry fly a go for half an hour or so and as I hadn’t seen any fish movement at all in that time I decided to change to GRHE. Another angler arrived at the pool I was fishing at…….he is a local like me and had been fishing the river for the past seven years and this was the first time we had met. He too was struggling to catch the grayling….the last one he caught was a whopping 3lb’r…caught in October 2011 in the run that Buglife and I started on two weeks ago. Since then…..like me he has struggled to connect with the grayling (glad I’m not alone). He’s not sure why but thought it might have something to do with the large number of Goosanders that he has notice in the river at the end of 2011. I can’t see this being the reason…but who knows. I continued to fish upstream without success till 5pm then headed for home. I’m going back out tomorrow morning for a few hours….so I’ll ponder tactics this evening…..I only have a few weeks left before the trout season starts and I need to nail a grayling or two before then Alex
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Post by leckie on Feb 25, 2012 21:41:23 GMT
Saturday 25 February 2012 I was fishing early at 7:15am. I was using a line that chriscreeler gave me to try….15’ hi viz yellow…perfect for this river. A week ago I guided Buglife round this part of the River North Esk …..he showed me some of the sakasa kebaris' that he tied and gave me one to try…well here I am a week later trying for the elusive grayling …..this time using level line hand painted by chiscreeler ….a fly tied by Buglife …..and a small landing net made by my own fair hand from an old wooden squash racket. All that was required was for the grayling to cooperate…..Well the fly lasted half an hour before it snagged on the bottom. Never mind …I tied on one of my sakasa kebaris and a PTN NZ style. Another hour has come and gone and I’ve got less than an hour to go before pack up time. I come to a long run running into some deeper water at the bend …I throw a few lines….and the line tightens and a fish is on….I don’t believe it…..is it a trout or a grayling…..it stays in the fast current and I’m thinking that it might be an ooswbt because the fight is different to what I’m used to……this being my first season trying for grayling. As it comes closer I see that it is a nice little grayling of around 10”, similar size to the last one I caught back in November 2011. I use my squash racket net to land it and now I’m in heaven…magic. I take a quick photo and safely release the fish to fight another day. All I need now is for Scotland to beat France at Murrayfield tomorrow and the weekend will be complete.... ;D Alex
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Post by Simon on Feb 26, 2012 8:36:12 GMT
At last Alex you are no longer a Tenkara Grayling virgin! Well done. Next challenge is a grayling on the dry!
Simon.
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Post by leckie on Feb 28, 2012 13:05:43 GMT
Tuesday 28 February 2012 Just nipped down to the river for an hour or so before work…..well you have to take advantage of this benign weather. The river was in perfect condition…nice and clear and low for this time of the year. I started czech nymphing with a three fly cast that I had made up a few nights earlier. I was using a GRHE, PTN and an olive spider…all size 16. I tried this for half an hour then tried a single size 16 tan sakasa kebari fished as a dry. I did manage to raise a single rise to the fly but unfortunately didn’t connect ……but at least the ladies are looking up If the weather holds I think I’ll try a few hours again on Thursday before work…..this time I’ll try the River South Esk for a change. tight lines leckie
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Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2012 9:56:50 GMT
Hi all, North Esk Dalkieth Country Park Well its 8.30am and the temperature is hoovering around 12 degrees , Almost unheared of in Scotland . I set out to fish and hopefully catch the elusive North Esk grayling that Leckie and myself have been trying to catch now for some time on this wonderful wee river. Leckie had some good luck and skill and caught a beautiful lady last Saturday.. Well done Leckie, and thanks for showing this hidden gem ;D. I started fishing at the junction where the North and south Esk meet. I started with a size 16 klinkhammmer and a size 16 PTN fished NZ style. There were lots of hatches of olives, however no sign of rises. Working up stream the runs and pools were clear with the water running very low for this time of year. After an hour of hard fishing I lost both flies to the hazel bush and then whilst tackling up I noticed a rise in the back of a slow run. I changed lines to the new third generation Tenkara line and tied on one of my Partridge and orange I had tied the night before. The new Third Generation lines cast amazingly well however no connection with the grayling.. After about an hour of slow motion fishing still no joy, However I did see a flash of silver as the Grayling turned on the fly but no joy Untill next time Tight lines Buglife
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Post by leckie on Feb 29, 2012 21:36:14 GMT
buglife, Nice post...don't despair.....it's only a matter of time.....until the trout season starts ;D I think we'll need to take a trip to the River Alyn to catch the ladies of the stream Alex
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Post by leckie on Mar 1, 2012 13:14:02 GMT
Thursday 1 March 2012 I decided to give the river a try for a few hours before work. Arrived at the river at 07:15 am…not much cloud and only a slight breeze...the river is in fab condition…no excuses then. I’m fishing with a 15’ hi-viz level line…I painted the line with a fluorescent red humbrol enamel paint with a 3’ tippet of x6 with my hand tied sakasa kebari…to increase my chances (not sure if it does) I attached a PTN 18” below this. At the first run instead of wading into the water I decided to fish from the bank and cover as much water as I can from there. In a little eddy on the other side of the river a spot a distinctive grayling rise…I cover it repeatedly for half a dozen casts but no offer. I move upstream…I’m heading to the run where I caught my grayling a few days ago. Approaching the tail of the pool I see a bow wave from a spooked fish that must have been lying in shallow water….my hopes rise. I’m working my way up the pool and come to the exact spot where I caught a grayling a few days earlier….after three of four casts my line tightens again and I strike….it’s on…a nice grayling…giving its head a vigorous shake to dislodge my fly…once again it’s gone for the PTN…I’m under a tree and as the fish comes a bit closer to me I raise the rod higher to keep the line taut….damn it my rod’s caught in the tree…I get the rod free easily enough but I have paid the price…the grayling’s shook the hook off and is gone…..c’est la vie I fish on for another half an hour without any success then it’s time to pack up and head to work. Another blank day but who’s counting …it’s still great to be out on the river. tight lines everyone leckie
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Post by custheyder on Mar 1, 2012 13:38:21 GMT
I am wildly jealous that you are getting out fishing. Our season does not open till April. I have a whole month to survive without wetting a line in the river. I can see myself being caught in overhead trees as well.
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Post by leckie on Mar 1, 2012 19:59:58 GMT
custheyder, Yes I am very lucky to be able to fish throughout the year...365 days if I want to...thank goodness for the grayling...its a pity there's none in the Isle of Man. It won't be long now....I'll be cranking up the fishing trips in March..so if your jealous now.....I'd get myself a nice bottle of 12 year old whisky and have a nip or two when you read my March reports...hopefully with lots of photos of fish...that's what's missing..but don't worry I'm stocking up on batteries for my camera because I'm optimistic that it's going to be well used in the weeks ahead ;D tight lines from April Alex
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Post by leckie on Mar 6, 2012 13:31:26 GMT
Tuesday 6 March 2012 I had a bit of business to do in Dalkeith so the nearest location for me was the River North Esk at Dalkeith Country Park….so I arrived there before 07:00 hrs. There was some heavy rainfall over the weekend…not enough to put the river into spate but should have raised the level up a few inches. It’s pretty cold at 2 degrees…so I have plenty of layers on. I am using a furled leader for a change with two flies…one weighted and an unweighted nymph…both size 16. I didn’t realise that the furled leader was 13’ long…where did this come from….didn’t know I had one this length. I got a few tugs in the first run that I was fishing but missed them all…damn. I’m finding the 13’ furled leader a bit hard to control as most of the river is pretty tree lined. I continue to fish downstream to the next run…nothing…so I decide to change leader to a more traditional 10’6” length and keep to the same fly set up…that’s much better…at least I’m in control for a change. I decide to head a bit downstream to where I caught the grayling last week…. I’ll take a photograph of the run so that buglife will recognise it next time he is down. As I enter the pool and set up I find myself in a nice position to take a photo of some of the main features of the pool, and as the sun is shining through the trees it will be a nice one….but wait a minute...how can this be…the camera won’t take the shot…battery low….yet I only changed the battery less than a week ago….I’ll check it out tonight. It would just be my luck if a caught a grayling and couldn’t take a photo of it…and wouldn’t you believe it about 5 minutes later the line goes taut and a fish is on…it’s a grayling….this one is bigger than the last one…it’ll be around the pound mark I guess…I can see it mid-stream the silver flashing as it tries its best to shake the fly….and it’s definitely not my day because its slipped the hook…I inspect the hook and discover that it’s gone….I’m using a Davy Knot and this has happened to me a few times…so I think my association with this particular knot is history and I’ll go back to a blood knot or some other knot that’s easy to tie but is more secure. tight lines Alex
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Post by custheyder on Mar 6, 2012 13:46:36 GMT
Not your day at all Alex... but you still got out fishing!
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