The Urban Fly Fisher

Seize the moment!

Seize the moment – when your wife tells you that you can go fishing – Do it!

Sure I caught nothing however at least I was out there – casting and wading.
Sunday was a funny day – it was kinda bright with a cold wind. The Kelvin also was a little cold. In fact it was damn cold (not absolute zero which is still hot) however cold enough to make me think I had a leak in my new waders – turned out it was just an exceptionally cold bottom I had.

A good pre spring day – on days like this you can see all the shady pipes that spew “stuff” into the river. Also as all the bushes are bare you can work out routes to new spots – perfect!

As usual appalled at the detritus washed up at bottle necks – bizarrely shopping trolleys are good for trout – they give immature trout somewhere to hide, the weed they collect encourages insect life and they put “real” anglers off fishing urban rivers.

Anyway, I caught nowt – however on looking through my fly box I noted I had very few small scruffy olives – considering my first (and only) trout of the season was caught on one I spent a quick hour (today was an exceptional day when it came to free time – the God’s were smiling) at the Vice.

It did not take an hour to tie up the one fly – ended up with a dozen elite fighters to add to the ranks!

Feel Privileged!

While fishing the river today I looked up……”Good Grief” I exclaimed….”I don’t believe it” – “It cant be..”

The most amazing sight in Nature – the nesting of a “Computeras Chairus”

David Attenborough eat yer heart out – you guys would rather see this than some crocodile – right?

Urban Fly Fishing – thats what I am talking about!

River Kelvin Public Relations Day

Check it out – over on the Official Site.

I went for a wee fish before it and caught hee haw – the sun was on the water, only seen a few olives coming off – the one trout I did see consistently rising a guy kept casting a worm at it (I kid ye not).

“theswami” brings up an interesting point (and only presses enter once) in the forum in that he feels the vet school area is not really urban angling – I disagree - go check it out.

I’m not calling to gloat..

“I’m not calling to gloat” I said to Campbell – “I am just phoning to share the ……joy of catching the first trout of the season”

You see, Campbell is a kindred spirit – we both thought if we had our child (like it was planned) in January that would give us a few months with the women and child and then it would be plain sailing for the rest of the year – sure, fishing would be cut down however surely it would not effect things that much. How wrong we were – for those without children – enjoy it my friends – for those with children, I stand alongside you as a kindred spirit – a brother in arms – a hunter of free time!

So this is why I telephoned Campbell – maybe that is why I managed to catch this trout – I looked down from a bridge on my way home from work – I saw the trout rise, I had put my gear in the car just in case this kind of eventuality arose – hell if I left now I would get caught up in rush hour traffic – I got my new waders on – they feel sweet and comfy – I string up my four weight and tie my knot on the scruffy olive – first cast a little too far right…..second cast the trout took the fly and then jumped clear out the water.

10 minutes later when nothing else is happening, I think about how in the past it would be so easy to get down to a river and how lucky I am that I was given this opportunity – I get my phone out my pocket – ““I’m not calling to gloat” I say…

River Kelvin Hatch Chart

I am trying to put together a hatch chart for the River Kelvin. Over the years I have noticed people reporting various hatches at different parts of the river. What I would like to do is collect as much information as I can this season and then create a hatch chart. I am expecting to see differences between the top end and bottom end which is why it will be a little tricky.

I would like people to post in the River Kelvin forum with date, weather conditions and name of fly – ideally a wee photo would be good so there is no confusion. Even if you are not an expert in entomology you can still help by taking a photo of the fly (use macro mode) and post the picture – we can then try and identify it for you.

So if you are a Kelvin fisher head over to the forum once you have some photos or the ID of some flies – also if you are definite that you have seen a hatch on the river post it so we can get started.

Looking forward to the crawly fun

Just because you can does not mean you should!

So I decided to take a walk along the Kelvin walkway as it was a glorious Sunday – hardly a cloud in the sky and very spring like. It was also pretty chilly – maybe sitting around the 7-9 degree mark. As I walked along it was pretty obvious the river is not ready yet for a serious session. Sure, there is every possibility of winkling out a particularly daft trout however you are unlikely to get any real consistent trout coming to the dry fly – the trout are just not looking up yet – the season may be open and you could go fishing however you should not count on catching trout.

Interestingly someone has been taking the litter problem into their own hands and has placed bin bags every hundred yards or so along parts of the walkway at Maryhill – kind of puts Glasgow City Council to shame really.

It was quite nice walking along gazing down at the river – what was especially interesting was being able to look at usually inaccessible areas of the river; usually they are hidden by bushes (and burning cars). What I used to do when I could fish the river every day was mark points which looked promising at the beginning of Spring and then come back later and try and whack my way through the bushes – often I would be rewarded with some nice trout – and cut arms, face and hands.

As it is once more I came to an especially long stretch of pocket and riffle water where guys fishing static probably would just walk by – I marked it in my head for a session – I reckon olives should be coming off in the next few weeks – certainly there were none today.

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River Kelvin Angling Association Bailiffs

They will take no prisoners – Hells Bells – I will probably have to buy a permit this year!

Spring Signs

Named Pools on the Kelvin?

How exactly does one go about naming pools?

Is it through history that the accepted name for a pool comes into being or can they be made up on the spot. There have never been any formal names for pools or areas on the Kelvin and I wondered whether we could try and gather as much info as possible on what people call the areas that they fish. I know at some point in the near future maps will be drawn up of the river and I suppose now would be a good time to start naming pools so that we all had a rough idea where we are all talking about – we all remember the famous tree pool debacle!

Major sections would include: The Vet School Stretch, Dawsholm Park, Kelvingrove Park, and the Botany Stretch etc

Pools my pals and I talk about – The Sanitary Towel Pool, The Petrol Pool, Skateboard Pool

Have any of you guys named any pools or stretches we could put on the map?