Waiting for the fish to arrive so sat back with a King Fisher and was shortly rewarded with a nice little Travally.

A story to one of my trout lakes recently. To say the least it was bloody hard going. Nothing much rising and not one hook up by lunchtime. So me and my buddy Dave Peach trudged back to the car for lunch and a nip of brandy (purely medicinal on a cold day you see) We concluded that the only real fly hatch that morning were Dragon flies and midges. The later which fed on us.  I had one fly in my box which was something like the one in the picture which was about 1.75 inch long. It can be tied up to 2.5 inch. The first cast resulted in a hard slam as the fly dropped through the water. In the next hour or so I had landed 4 clonking browns and one rainbow that tore off fly down to backing. Also lost several more fish before it all went quiet again.  Dragonflies can hatch all through the year on any water so I suggest carrying  a few nymph patterns in green and brown colours. The pattern I tie is scruffy but shapes up when wet. It needs to be bulky in the body to simulate the natural nymph so tying off the marabou near the end of the tail does the job. Watch out for savage takes so step the leader strength.

Howie’s Dragonfly Nymph

Hook:  Medium size 10 Kamasan B170  or same

Thread: as body colour

Eyes:  I like glass beads or black plug chain.

Body and tail: lots of marabou with felt tip painted stripes

Legs: Rubber Silli Legs, knotted

Wing case: Pheasant tail fibers. Varnished

Tight Lines. Howie

Now…..we all have good, bad, amazing and “unlucky” days fishing…. I suggest that the selection of rod, reel, fly line, leader setup, the right fly, a couple of hours casting practice will give you the edge over luck. To me, this practice is the norm. If I choose the lucky option then so be it.   My mate Glen (complete novice) was very certain he wanted to get to grips with fly fishing. I suggested a morning’s casting practice and water craft then on to the trout fishery. Hope the pics say the rest?The pics speak I think? Nice when it all comes together. By the way the killing fly was a natural Daddy. Tight ines Howie

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Introducing new anglers to the art of fly fishing is a great job to have, especially when you get positive feedback. It is amazing what is possible to learn in just 3 hours tuition. Absolute novice, Christian Drewett purchased a  beginners, session gift voucher for his father Brian but decided to joined in as well.  At the end he was casting nice tight loops and laying out 20 meters of fly line. Well done guys and tight lines.

At last, it’s stopped raining. So I go and visit my local lakes to try out the new rod,reel and line. I purchased a very slow sinking line which is great for those flat calm days. You can work the flies just under the surface without causing a wake on the water. The idea paid off as I was rewarded with three nice rainbows one to a daddy on the point and the other two took a diawl bach on the dropper.

Caught these two yesterday at Chalk Springs. My casting is coming on , but would still like to do another session at some point soon. Thanks Jon.

Hey! Congratulations Jon. Nice big one too. I’ll put this on my blog if you don’t mind? Just get back if you would like another session.

Yes of course. Was really chuffed as the big one put up a bit of a fight ! Quite s proud moment my first Trout on the fly.
Cheers Jon

Thanks for sharing your progress Jon.  “Tight Lines”   Howie

 

Tight lines  Howie

Thanks Howie , and sorry for taking my time getting back to you. I really enjoyed our lesson and reckon you’ve got a very accessible teaching style. Have no real suggestions on how you could improve as I thought it was a very good session.

Just started tying and topping up my Daddys as they’ve had a right hammering from the trout this season. They love these flies and it’s hardly surprising. There is nothing more insecty looking than the Crane Fly or Daddy Long Legs. And what a mouth full for the feisty trout. A little fiddly to tie but a great fly to imitate. Works really well fished dry or sinking. If allowed to sink get ready for takes at any time as it falls through the water layers. The natural fly is prolific late summer and Autumn but I like to try them all season. If you type “Crane Fly images” into your search engine there are lots of nice pics to study and copy from.   Never go anywhere without your Daddys. Tight Lines Howie

This is what happens when 10lb Ghost Carp sucks in your fly in. You hang on and wait 10 minutes and hope all yours knots will hold and the rod doesn’t break. Then with lots of luck and a little skill you get to take the photo. A great day with fellow anglers. Thanks guys.

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