Making new friends along the river

We had a good day out yesterday. Fishing at the lakes in the morning then on the river in the afternoon. Not much was biting and nothing was caught with trout pâté on the lake. Most of the other fishermen had gone home as we arrived, but we saw some fish. I saw a large trout close to the shore and tried about five timed to cast just in front of the thing with no luck - it wasn't interested.

Quite a few insects flying about. On the lakes were these crane flies (below), on the river we saw some sedges.

I have decided to use my best (working) bamboo rod - "The Richard" made by Lee of Redditch. It is 9'2" with a hexagonal section. Originally made in the 1960's, it was restored in 2008 and has a semi-parabolic action. The reel is my Hardy Sunbeem 6/7 that is 3 7/16" (87mm) in diameter. Made in the 1980's. With this cobination, I can get the line to the far bank of the river with ease and it feels quite good doing it.

We're fishing just behind the Conty horse driving grounds.

A pair of swans were feeding on the algae in the river. There are about a dozen swans on the river and lakes and many other aquatic fowl that live in this well looked-after environment.

Olivier trying out my Lee rod and Hardy reel. Olivier is the secretary of the Société Pécheurs De L'Yéres. See their site here: La Truite Yerroise.

Tom fly fishing. He had a go even though not many fish were seen. We practised getting our flies wet. We were just too hot as we had dressed for the cold morning and both of us had thick socks and multiple layers of warm clothing. You do need the protection though because of all the nettles.

What's in my flybox?

I have a good collection of flies. Some new, many old and some antique. Salmon and trout flies, some pretty and some fugly.

What do we fish with this year? Last year I fished mainly in the summer and had good results with stoneflies and daddy long-legs. This year, I'm approaching the concept more carefully and looking at the hatch a little more carefully.

I have made up one box with a good selection of flies that should appeal to the pallet of the most discerning trout or greyling in my local river.

We have a Dun/adams pattern (bottom right) for the Spring Mayflies. The effective Stonefly nymph patterns in black and brown. A few yellow Dun/Yellow Sally patterns to see if the fish are interested in a little variety. The Daddy Long-legs that excite the fish with their knotted cockerel plume legs. Some March Brown patterns as they work so well. A collection of sedges on quite small hooks to attract the little tricky fish if there are no big ones around - these are stored on the threader needles of the Orvis box. I've included a red spinner and a couple of Jassid patterns just for pot luck.

Spring fishing in Conty

Tom and I spent the morning down by the lake trout fishing. Pressure had been a constant 998hPa over the past 24 hours. Nothing was biting, but the weather was great and we had fun. We saw some nice trout and greyling in the river on the way home. Next time is fly fishing.

Trout Fishing Conty

Gamefisher Machined CNC Aluminium Fly fishing reel #5/6

Game-fisher CNC LA # 5/6 Fly Reel

Manufactured from aluminium and CNC machined, the Game-fisher large arbour fly reel features a smooth progressive drag system and is completely salt-water proof. They represent excellent value. If you are interested in a similar reel and a matching rod, you can get it here.

This reel is loaded with Woodstock 30 pound braided Dacron backing and a 25 meter Loop Adventure WF6F line. Paul from New Zealand will now be using this reel hopefully catching some nice wild NZ trout. Check out his local fishing ground: Waimakariri River Fishing.