You would have thought I could have been a bit quicker with this post however I not only managed to lose my camera charger I also managed to lose my camera data cable – I found the data cable tonight so managed to transfer some photos .
It was roasting – the hottest day of the year so far, I mean it was nearly 20 degrees going by the car temp thingy and it felt like it when the sun hit you on the face – it feels even odder as a couple of weeks ago it was still sub zero temperatures – people are saying that the trout don’t care but from what I am hearing they do care – they care a lot and are pretty scunnered by it all – they are demonstrating this by being damn near uncatchable – or even more scary missing.
Sure we did not see any flies however you would have thought we would at least have fluked a trout – actually – we did see one fly – I think it might be a male LDO – anyone fancy confirming this?
Still, I ventured out with Alan (Vice Chair of the KAA) – he had already hit the Clyde the day before and totally blanked so we were optimistic the Kelvin would come up trumps – it did not – we did not even see a trout rise – he was using nymphs and I (ever the optimist) was using a single dry.
Secretly my plan was to move to nymphs as soon as he started catching however there was definitely no catching happening – we covered water and moved up to the Vet School.
I seldom visit the Vet School as it is usually one of the busiest stretches of the Kelvin however now that a fly only on a Sunday rule has been implemented I decided to give it a bash – also Paul Reid the secretary phoned from his sick bed to ask us to check it out for guys fishing bait – there is still a few guys not paying heed to the new rule – over the coming months the Sunday fishing rule will be pretty strictly enforced – I would not want to be around when the Salmon are running and a guy is fishing bait on a Sunday. Anyway – Paul had been moaning that hardly any Kelvin anglers had turned up for the first FORK clean up day (1st one my boy had chicken pox and the 2nd I had man shit to do regarding my shed) so we thought we had better do our bit as committee members and head up there – we were pleasantly surprised – everyone we met were fishing the fly – I even managed to give away a few flies to a young chap who had only just started fishing the fly again after a number of years – he put me in mind of Mike from Tamanawis when I first met him all those years ago.
We caught bugger all in the Vet School as well as our other spot– guys were telling us that the river had better be stocked soon or people were not going to stick around, guys were going to fisheries instead – good, I am glad at that – the fishing should remain consistent as long as good practice is used – if guys can only catch trout that has been stocked then there is something far wrong somewhere – like I say, we caught bugger all at the Vet school.
It was then time to head home and play with the boy.
Stuff I need to get sorted:
I have no tippet material – I know it was a long shot but 3 spools of Stroft went bad over the winter – three spools went bad in the space of a couple of months last Spring. Is there such a thing as a Tippet that does not go bad in a few months – trust me throw out any tippet that is older than 6 months – you could lose the fish of a lifetime because of it. I have noticed when tippet goes bad it does not all go bad – it goes bad bit by bit, so a few feet might be ok and then a few feet might be bad – the one bit you test could be the ok bit – throw it out.
I need to stop giving flies to random people – I need to learn that if I have absolutely no time to tie flies I need to try and conserve the 8 flies I have left – I need to bite the bullet and stop going to bed at 8pm and tie some flies – small ones just to keep my fishing buddies happy.
Anyway – I hear that we will have volcanic ash falling on us this weekend as well as more snow – enjoy the fishing boys, enjoy the fishing!
The fly is a March Brown Alistair, difficult to tell from the photo but looks like a female (if it had claspers below the tails it’s male, pattern on wings looks female though). Spot in the middle of the upper leg sections suggests the family March Browns are from too. LDO’s are smaller, wings are all grey rather than mottled and the LDO’s hindwings are small and elongated rather than upright.
I’ve been noticing a lack of insects and rising fish on other rivers too, this is the worst start to a fishing season I can remember. Fingers crossed it’ll pick up real soon.
A March Brown?
Careful with that talk Jim this is the kelvin we are talking about – next we will be getting Blue Winged Olives!
How certain are you? – I know there is no scale from the photo but it was not a “big” fly – I have seen March Browns on other rivers that were enormous!
Great post Alistair! I hope the fishing picks up for you soon, the feeling I’m getting from everyone around the UK is that the fishing is a little hard at the minute. That said, I reckon it won’t be long until they start looking up 🙂
Regarding the fly, I would have said it was an LDO also, as the March Browns we get down here are much larger and have more mottled effect in the body. Of course, I could well be wrong…like most of the time!
Keep up the great posts Al’, looking forward to reading about the fishing when it well and truly comes alive 🙂
G
Hunners of much better tippet material out there, you need to talk to your nearest expert on this stuff! And giving away flies is OK as long as you are getting 2 quid each for them!
99% Alistair. From the photo you can see the mottled pattern on the wings, upright hindwings and spot in the middle of the top leg section. All that says March Brown. March Browns are often not as big as you expect, Large Brook Duns are due on the water soon and they’re much bigger, most people mis-identify them as March Browns… it’s easy to do that.
100% it’s not an LDO, none of the Baetis species have large upright hindwings.
I have photo’s to show the differences I could stick up on the forum if you like.
Please stick up the photo’s JimL.
I think we should have an entomology section
Hey Alistair,
I have had a few sessions on the Kelvin lately and not had a touch or seen a single fish rise .Nymphs, dries, streamers…I’ve tried the lot.I’ve seen a grand total of 1 olive too.
I would really have expected to at least have had a few small fish by now.It’s a bit concerning.
Hopefully there will be some signs of life soon, either that or the cormorants and goosanders have cleaned us out during the winter!
I like the fact that folk are talking about abandoning the river if it doesn’t get stocked, hopefully that would get rid of the fishmongers and allow the river to return to a more natural state for the genuine fishermen among us.
Best Wishes
Paul
Alistair’s edit:not Paul reid
Gareth – Thanks for the comment – in a weird way it is good to hear that other people are struggling – it means I am not just pish!
darthwader – I have pretty much waded my way through the GAC tippet section – maybe I am just unlucky – I store it in my waistcoat pocket – not as if it is being hit by the sun – the same thing has happened to Tippet bought off the net – maybe I have been crazilly unlucky – I will be in the GAC today to pick up some anyway.
JumL – March Browns in the Kelvin – that is almost against the law – still if they are there (and it sounds like they are) then maybe that shows how much the river has recovered. I think I will get a full size picture and put it up on the forum.
Robert Puller – There is one 🙂
Paul – sorry I edited your post Paul – some people might think you were the sec! I think you are 100% correct – there is no place for fishmongers on a recovering river
Had a go this morning and blanked again. Saw a small fish rising – so there is at least 1 fish left in the river!
Went out tonight was just about to give up when I seen a couple of fish rising.Connected with a good fish but quickly lost it. Got out of the river and watched for this fish to settle back into it’s lie. After about 15 min tried again hooking up to two parr but knew that the better fish was lying near.Just as the light was going everything tighten up and a nice 9inch trout was unhooked and quickly returned. There out there.