Rio Gold - Good or Bad

Last weekend I was so depressed at the fact I have fished ONCE in 2013 so far that I decided to make myself feel better with some retail therapy of the fishing kind!

I feel I need a new fly line and after several hours of research Rio Gold seems to be floating to the top of the pile (so to speak!). But the price £50 and upwards! I'm not joking when I say that my rod cost less than that, but as presentation is everything I jumped in and bought it. A quick search on eBay and I've found it for £45 all in..

I finally used it yesterday and right now I'm impressed, I'll test some more and get back to you but it does seem to cast well and float high. Will I catch more fish? I'm not convinced but will report back.

See more here...  Rio Gold Fly Line

First Fishing Day of 2012

I have been missing trout fishing for 3 months now, our lake is closed between November and March - too long. I arrived at the lake fairly early in the morning and was really pleased to see all the old regulars there. The old guy who had a heart attach last June was back (I thought he was dead!) and Graham was just leaving and had caught 6 trout, we was so happy - 'Fucking fantastic!' were his exact words.

Graham kindly directed me to to bottom end of the lake where he said they were biting. I started off to far end by the cattle gate and even though the wind was in my face I decided to try his advice for a bit. I put on a fuzzy black fly with a bit of green (this worked so well last April) - on the second cast I had a fish, I was so relieved to break the 2012 season in with a fast catch. A few minutes later I got another and then while battling to the wind got caught in the tree and last my fly - the only one like that.

I found a slightly bigger black and green lure and popped that on the line. Again very quickly I got three more fish and then decided to move as I didn't want them to come out quite that fast. I had a stunning walk around the lake and then fished from the near bank with no luck but honestly, five on my first day was way more than I could ever have hoped for.

It was so exciting to be back, I had my new bag and equipment prepared for weeks and from that side my rod, reel and line are just perfect for this lake. It's almost like time has stated again and to see all the 4 regulars again just like 3 months hadn't gone by was fantastic. It was all over in a few hours but what a start!!

Six Trout - Black Boobie

Today was the perfect day to fish. I was up at 5.00am and had all my urgent work done by 9am.

Sun was shining and the water was like a mirror, perfect for me! (I know a little ripple is supposed to be better but I like it like this). I take a boat and start on the Gold Buzzer that I had so much success with last week, I did get a little knock but no takes. Graham is there - its great to see him again and he's already caught 5 trout! He had fish swilling all around him, you wouldn't believe it, luckily he invites me over and we both fish at the shoal of around 30 trout. I still get nothing and he gets his last one to make six.

I switch to a small Black Boobie and hope for the best. I've never fished with one of these before and luckily I bought one on Wednesday. They have polystyrene eyes and float on the surface, so when you retrieve them they make a small wake behind them and the fish just LOVED it. Five fish later and my heart is pounding out of my chest. Can I catch six! This will be my PB and make my day! I cannot describe to you how excited I was. I decide to donate my 5 to Graham and row back to the jetty to hand them over.

Now it's 12am, its hot and I'm hungry and thirsty. Just a quick little half hour more and see if I can get the sixth trout! Before I go, I meet Mr Six Fish (he catches 6 every time he comes to the lake and I've wanted to meet him for months. What a nice chap and very helpful with tips - he fishes from the bank and hides behind bushes for camouflage). I push off from the jetty, see a fish rising and cast just beyond it, bang! It's on and I have number six!!! I'm so lucky and grateful to have this fantastic lake on my doorstep - its totally changed my life for the better..........

PS: Mr Red Cap Old Guy has been missing for months, he turns up as I'm leaving and tells me he had a heart attack in June and this is his first time back. I really thought he had died, I missed seeing him as he ties his own flies and is very interesting.

Four Huge Trout ... I Love Fly Fishing!!!

12.15 pm. After not having fished for a week I'm having withdrawal symptoms, I'm irritable and have a constant headache, I have to go to the lake today for a bit of fly fishing.

It's windy and overcast but warm, perfect for me to top up my tan and to catch a few trout. I know this sounds obvious, but until recently I'd just pick a pretty spot and fish there, now I know I have to find the fish, where  they are jumping or swilling around feeding? Also my casting is so amateurish that fishing from the bank becomes very frustrating as I feel I can never reach far enough. I see a few jumps at the bottom side of the lake near the gate and decide to take a boat and give it a go.

Starting at the top end I decided to do 10 minutes at one spot where a few fish are jumping. Another guy is 100m away and I watch him pull in 3 trout within 10 minutes. It's too painful for me to watch - I HAVE to move away so I can't see him. Keeping to my original plan I put on a smallish black Boobie (it has green foam eyes that keep it on the surface) - that's what I caught my single trout on last Sunday. Nothing..

The old chap with the red hat is there again, he's been there since 8am and has nothing, the lady with the fizzy hair is also there, she's had 3 trout all on a Hare's Ear fly (I'd actually forgotten what that was, so couldn't use that). Off I go past them both and tie up to the white buoy. There are lots of fish around and they look pretty big too. Still nothing on the Black Boobie. Time to change to my Killer Gold Buzzer!!

Two minutes later I have fish number 1, it's huge and fights like a shark!! I using the Hywel Morgan technique of doing a figure of eight retrieve for a bit, then some short sharp jerks and then some longer pulls - a variety of retrieval methods. Then comes number 2, not as big. I lose one right by the boat, as I retrieve and am coming to the end I jiggle the line past myself to the right to prepare for the next cast, bam.... another take - but not hooked well enough and its gone.

Then comes trout number 3, then 4 - can I break my record and get 5? I lose another one and then decide that I've had enough. Four trout in one day!!! Wow I feel so good!!! 3lb, 2.12lb, 2.10lb, 2.12lb

Back at the jetty, Mother-in-Law (MiL) has just arrived so I can show her my haul!! I feel even better now! I give all four away to another fisherman as I'm sick of trout and it means I don't have to gut and clean them. I direct MiL to where I was fishing, give here the Killer Gold Buzzer and hope she also catches. She's as dedicated as I am and she deserves to catch loads!!!

What a day!!!

Three Trout with Buzzer Ben

Sunday lunch time. Ben and I are off for a quick fish before our trout BBQ (we love trout fishing in Cambridge during calm summer days). The lake is like a millpond and we decide to take the big green boat. We see some fish swilling near the surface in the middle of the lake so we get within 10 metres of them and put the anchor down.

Ben starts with a lure and I start with a tiny size 16 nymph, nothing. Then dry flies, different coloured and sized lures, nymphs and damsel fly dries. We are casting right over and just beyond the swirling fish and retrieving the line through their midst - nothing.

Ben decides to put on an epoxy Buzzer, with red highlights - as always when you've got the right fly he has a take right away! Missed, and a few more times too, then finally he has a fish on the line and lands a beautiful 2lb Rainbow Trout. I put on a Gold tinted epoxy Buzzer and I've got on too. We are retrieving them just below the surface and the fish seem to love it. I land up with one more and we decide to call it a day. Ben's wrist is sore and I don't want to catch my weeks quota in one day. We could easily have caught 3 more trout but it was almost too easy..

Big Trout Week for Mother-in-Law

Caught 4 rainbow trout in two sessions!  My best yet – and, having caught 2 yesterday, I could have caught more if I hadn’t dropped my ‘priest’ into the lake!  The fish were leaping so close they were splashing me! 


On Friday, after trying a host of dry flies, I eventually hooked one (1lb 13oz) on a Shipman's Buzzer and another (2lb 1oz) on a red-bead-headed lure (Woolly Bugger?)    

On Monday, again after numerous attempts with different dry flies, I was twice successful (2lb and 1lb 14oz) with a gold-bead-headed lure (Woolly Bugger?)     One of these days I’ll know what the damn flies are called!

 

Blue Damsel Trout

After a long hard week, I'm finally going fishing - yay!!!!

Only two of us there and the lake is beautiful. I can hear a Buzzard in the distance and Swans are strutting their stuff. As I did so well last week I decide to start on the little Bronze thing. I see a few fish following it but no takes. Moving up to the top end of the lake by the gate I can see literally hundreds of fish swimming around. I must catch one now surely!

A boy and his granddad have one on the line from the bank, poor child was being given so many instructions to bring the fish in I would have broken the rod over his granddad's head! He loses the fish and I can hear him being told everything he did wrong. I move away they are ruining my chill.

I try a CDC blue Buzzer, more small nymphs under the water and a red headed damsel nymph. No interest! I'm reluctant to put on the Blue Damsel dry fly as I notoriously have no luck with it. But on it goes and I have a take immediately. Interestingly it just swirled over the fly and I caught it by just lifting the rod rather than striking (all the experts say to do this, but I'm normally so excited that I strike and pull  the hook right out its mouth).

So, one fish and I'm happy.... Sunday with Ben will be fun..