Traditional River Floats!

Today My Blog is two years old. It's a real delight to share my fishing related experiences and to watch my viewing numbers increase as they have done over these past two years. I am now on average receiving 1,250 views a month which is very encouraging. Its more than I could have ever have hoped for when I first started this venture. Anyway I digress. Today I thought I would share the news that I will be receiving these beautiful hand made traditional grayling river floats within the next couple of days. They are made by George Lockhart a Scot now living in Yorkshire I have a link to his blog on my side bar... Traditional Floats.
You may recall a blog post from last month about a successful day on the Clyde fishing for grayling with John, on that day John showed me a plethora of floats that he had acquired over the years but the ones that caught the eye were the very beautiful floats that he had, made by George. I thought they were real works of art and told John that I would be scared to use them in case I lost them, he just laughed.
After seeing these floats first hand I decided to contact George about the availability of making me a set, through the Clyde Fishing Forum where he is an active member and regularly post his fishing exploits on there. He was more than Happy to make me a set but told me there would be a four or five week wait as this is a busy time for him and only makes them in his spare time in the evenings.Well just last week George contacted me to say that my floats were almost ready and sent me a pic of the floats to see that I was happy with them. At the time of taking the pic George told me they still had a couple of layers of lacquer to be applied.I think you will agree that they look rather splendid and I cant wait to use them on the River over the festive period.

The Dabbler's Xmas Wish!

Well its that time of year again when every fisherman has got to turn his thoughts to the very serious matter of what he wants for Christmas.Its not as easy as it first appears because the choice of game fishing accessories is quite bewildering these days. Difficult the choice may be, I’m sure that by way of this blog, Val, oops, sorry I mean Santa will take the hint and get me what I want for Christmas. Now then there are various things I could be doing with, for a start I could do with a new pair of waders, These brethables I have at the moment let in water like the lily burn rushing into the rizzer in full flow, Yes I really could be doing with a new pair of waders. A new floating fly line, I could always do with some top of the range fly lines oh! and some of those wonderful hand crafted grayling floats that George Lockhart makes . Living on a financial knife-edge means that I am always putting economy before efficiency, so what better time of year could you ask for some hi- tech gear. You see that is the beauty of Christmas you don’t have to pay. This being the case I think I will ask for a Sage four-piece travel rod with matching reel. I must say, that I have been a very good angler this year Santa so if you could kindly get me a season ticket for an exclusive beat on the Tweed or Naver I’m not bothered which river you choose, it would be really be appreciated, you see I already have a ticket for Hillend Loch so it would be beneficial to me if I could broaden my horizons and put my fishing skills to the test on some of the more challenging waters that there are to offer. Oh and as a little extra add-on could you guarantee me that I could catch at least one fish on each trip I make as it does really get embarrassing coming home empty handed time after time and having to make up excuses, such as, the water was too low or the water was too high or that the wind was that strong that I couldn’t get my line out far enough to reach the fish. Could you also make sure that when I’m fishing I’m always within sight of my friends so that they can see me when I connect with a fish. For a joy shared on a riverbank is a pleasure doubled I would also like it not to be raining every time I go on a fishing trip, you see this beautiful country of mine has a climate problem - its always bloody raining, In the last few years, my fly fishing travels have taken me to some truly awe inspiring locations bit it is always the same scenario, lovely all the way on the journey until I almost reach my destination, you guessed it down comes the mist down pours the rain or if its at the start of the season an easterly gale might come thundering in and just for good measure bring along the snow for company. Like I already said we have a very serious climatic problem and I can think of only one solution “ we need a roof “ I’m getting a bit flippant now I know that’s impossible, even for you Santa, I’d be happy if you could just stop it from raining every once in a while. This is Christmas the time for goodwill to all men and all that stuff. It’s not a lot to ask for, is it? Santa? I don’t suppose I’m the only applicant but I’ve been extremely good this year and after all it is Christmas.

Hillend Palmer!

I've had a lazy weekend this week and never ventured out much as the weather has been pretty horrible with it snowing off and on all day today. As well as doing my usual reading etc I spent a few hours at the bench this afternoon tying some more flies. I got an unexpected compliment today from non other than Davie McPhail who I regard as one of the best tyers in Europe if not the world.He commented that he liked one of my patterns which has encouraged me greatly because to get a compliment from Davie really is high praise indeed.I therefore went on to tie more of the style of fly he liked. Lets call this the Hillend Palmer. Here is one of those patterns which I really do enjoy tying and also like to use at Hillend on a cast of three while drifting the Loch from a boat.
The pattern is as follows Hook size, 10 Kamazan. Thread, Brown Uni. Tail, Yellow floss. Body, Copper holographic tinsel. Body Hackle, Brown grizzle cock. Rib, Copper wire. Head hackle, Hen neck Dun.

French Partridge & Malt

I've been tying a few flies this week mostly gold headed grayling bugs and leaded nymphs and the like. I find them very easy to tie and to be honest they can be a bit of a chore as there is no real skill involved in tying them.
Today I thought I would tie a few flies that I believe is my forte and the style that I get most enjoyment out of. What better way to make use of the tons of French Partridge that I have amassed than to tie a few of these flies which are loosely based on an Irish May fly pattern.This style of pattern is best used in the warm months of May and June, which seem an age away, and is best fished on the top dropper. My new fly box is steadily filling up but my fine bottle of malt is diminishing as I sit here at the tying desk on these dark dreich winter nights.

Frustrations of an Angler.

This week has been rather frustrating for me thus far.I have been really busy with non fishing related stuff over the last week and also my pc is still playing up every now and again. I have tied a few flies but have no means of uploading as pc problems prevail but there is hope on the horizon as I have high hopes of a new lap top in the next few weeks.
Anyway I digress the next best thing to fishing is reading about it I therefore took delivery of a couple of angling books last week. A Singing Reel by Moray McLaren and Long Walks with Little People by Bruce Sandison. I haven't had much time to read them thoroughly yet. The Moray McLaren book was recommended to me by a fellow fisherman but after reading the first couple of chapters its pretty difficult reading as its quite an old book and written in a style of its time but I will persevere with it when I get time. The Bruce Sandison book appears to be very good though. It's fairly light reading about Bruce raising his young family and introducing them to angling and the outdoor life in general. It is very humorous reading, very enjoyable in fact.
I was hoping to have a visit to the River Clyde this week but the weather has put an end to any thoughts of trotting for grayling for the time being as there has been heavy flooding in these parts over the last few days.Today I'm sure I saw animals leave the Lanarkshire countryside two by two.
On the plus side I have a nice bottle of 12 year old Speyside Malt, Cardhu, which I fully intend to enjoy whilst tying flies, reading about fishing and waiting for the rain to stop.

No Grayling Today!

Today I returned to the scene of my first real success at the grayling which was two weeks ago now.
We arrived at Abbington Services in the dark about seven o clock, we had a coffee and a bite to eat and waited for the sun to rise. As daylight broke it revealed a very grey and overcast sky. We soon made our way over to the river.
This time I didn't have the expertize of John by my side to assist me. This time I took along my friend Scott who is also a novice at the trotting lark. I had told him all about my last time on the Clyde two weeks ago and how great it was so I was putting a lot of pressure on myself as I had made it sound as if we were bound to have success.I set up my trotting gear as before but with a little more length below the float as the water was higher than the last time but it wasn't really all that dirty. I had a maggot on the bottom and the pink bug about ten inches above that with the weighted shot in between.
After only fifteen minutes or so I was into a fish sadly it was not a grayling but a nice wee brown trout which was fooled by the maggot.After a quick pic it was released back into the river. I fished on and soon after Scott was into a fish this time it looked a more substantial sized fish that mine but once again it was a brown trout and this fish was duped by the pink bug. As I hurriedly made my way along the bank towards Scott to get a pic of his fish the trout managed to wriggle away from Scott as he held it in the water so unfortunately we didn't get a photo of it.
We fished on for an hour or so but no further fish were caught. Today the weather was quite different from my last trip and because it was so dark and grey I struggled to see my float at times which wasn't a problem the last time when it was bright and sunny. I was using an orange tipped float . I was wondering if someone could advise on which colour is best for dark overcast conditions? I was thinking black might be a good colour.
We next moved onto a couple of other locations on the river that were reccommended to me by John but alas I had no more success.Scott and I really enjoyed ourselves and once again it was a big learning curve for both of us. It was just great to be out there!

Spiders! lost in a web of problems.

All week I have been having problems with my pc.Therefore I haven't been able to access my blog to load up pics or write some posts etc. It turns out my pc is completely goosed. Tonight is the first time I have managed to get online all week as I have a replacement now but it's not very good it's rather old and slow a bit like how I feel these days. I'm ready for throwing it in a skip as it won't accept my camera, my phone or even load up my photoshop programme.Therefore my ability to load new pics from my camera are zero. Not being in cyberspace this week has had its advantages though as I have been reading Mike Harding's book on North Country Spiders and spending more time at the tying desk tying those style of flies.Here is one I tied a while back to give you an idea of the flies I have been tying this week. This is a woodcock and ginger.
I'm not good with computers, as long its working I'm fine but when things go wrong I am hopeless at trying to remedy the faults.I have dropped enough hints to the wife about geting a lap top for my Christmas but I dont know if I could wait that long or if she even will get me one, I live in hope. Not sure when I will be making another blog post as it all depends on my pc plight. Bye for now folks!

A day to remember and forget!

Yesterday was the worst day of my life. To let you understand I was in the town of Coatbridge at the disgraceful hovel that is Cliftonhill to watch my dearly beloved Airdrie FC play Albion Rovers. If you don’t already know we suffered the most horrendous defeat in our history. Embarrassed and humiliated I was in much need of being cheered up; therefore a day on the River Clyde in the pursuit of grayling was the perfect tonic.
John and I arrived at the River in a cold and frosty Sunday morning but the frost soon disappeared as the warmth of the sun moved from the east to enliven this glorious day.
Not having much experience at trotting the river, John helped set me up and gave me all the advice I needed to get started. He let me have the first few runs through the river and then when John was setting up he lowered his float into the river and a trout immediately grabbed the maggot. Next cast John landed the first grayling of the day, which took John’s unorthodox bug. Then he caught another and another. I too was soon into some grayling and a couple of trout. All this lasted for most of the morning. We lost count of the grayling that came to the net in various sizes. We then had a coffee break and a bite to eat. Refreshed, we started trotting again and fished for another hour but for some reason all the fish seemed to have disappeared.
We then decided to move down river and switch tactics by giving the fly rods a try. Sadly the nymphs and bugs we used with our fly rods didn’t tempt any more fish. We then reverted back to trotting. One more trout and the biggest grayling of the day were landed. That big grayling that John landed was an absolute beauty and made the whole trip worthwhile. We were not entirely sure of its definite weight but it was well over 2lb. If it had been me who caught this wonderful specimen it would have been a personal best but remarkably John has had plenty grayling in the past which have been larger. We fished on a little longer until the light faded and the air turned cold.
We soon packed up, walked back down river and across the fields back to the car and reflected on a very successful and satisfying day on the Clyde.
As I was packing my gear into the car I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten all about. Ach well I can always ease the pain by having more fishing trips to the Clyde over the winter in order to forget.

The Red Tag

For my first blog post of the month I have tied a fly which has taken me back to basics, The Red Tag, which was one of the first flies I ever tied when I first started out flytying. It is a very simple but effective pattern that has the distinction of being the most popular grayling fly in Great Britain. It originates from the mid eighteen hundreds in Worcestershire where it was first known as the Worcestershire Gem. Many years ago a work colleague who is sadly no longer with us took me on my first ever grayling trip to Kinkell Bridge on the River Earn. Being a novice at the time John provided me with everything I would need and the fly that was on my first ever cast for grayling was the Red Tag. That day the river was running high and was getting dirtier by the minute but although I didn’t catch a grayling that day I did manage a small sea trout thus proving that the Red Tag is not only a fly for Grayling it’s also a good all round pattern too. Have a go at tying one they really are simple to tie and is good fly to have in your box.

Beneath the Black Water

I’ve just been on a fantastic fishing trip but I didn’t leave the house. I was taken on this journey by Jon Berry’s wonderful book called “Beneath the Black Water”
The content of the book is basically all about Jon’s obsession with Ferox trout but it is actually much more than that. It’s actually a glimpse into the last thirteen years of Jon’s life.
Although I certainly do not have a passion for ferox trout nor do I ever intend to hunt for these mysterious creatures I really did find this book compulsive reading. His whole obsession and compulsion really struck a chord with me. I defy any passionate fisherman who reads this book not to deny that they see a bit of themselves within these pages. Jon captures the essence of fishing and in some part explains the theory that there really is more to fishing than catching fish. It’s about the journey, the landscapes, the planning, the anticipation, the people you fish with, the unknown and sheer escapism.
My only criticism of this book is that it wasn’t long enough; I never wanted the journey to end. To be honest I think Jon’s journey hasn’t really ended he has only paused to collect his thoughts.
As you may have guessed I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

The Clyde Sand Fly

There is a fly that may be encountered from the end of April to the end of May on the Clyde when the conditions are suitable
The fly in question is known on the Clyde as the Sand Fly, but referred to elsewhere as the gravel bed, since it appears on the surface of gravel or sand, before swarming onto the water.
It is a rather drab little creature, but according to Clyde fishers the response of trout to its appearance can be very spectacular.
The hatches take place in the slightly moist sand and gravel near the river edge during sunny days in May.
For some Clyde anglers the Sand Fly season is the absolute pinnacle of the trout season. The recommended areas on the Clyde for sand fly fishing are in the Lammington area and also the Bower Pool area another suggested stretch is the half moon flat between Thankerton and Carstairs. There are many other suitable stretches such as the Elvanfoot area but the hatches maybe later in this location due to it being higher and often more cooler.
There are several artificial flies which some tiers claim to be the must have sand fly patterns but in my opinion and that of many others the definitive Clyde Sand fly pattern has got to be the one included in the Bert Sharps wonderfully rare book, “ Lets Fish the Clyde” The dressing is tied with size 14 or 16 hooks, black thread, a body of very sparsely dubbed mole fur and a wing made from a small brown speckled partridge feather and then a black hen hackle is tied in front of the wing.