Only Just Spring And Already Praying For Rain

A first trip out to one of my favourite Shropshire venues was a little bit of a shock last Sunday. This little river was running at a drastically low level and as a result the flows had become almost static in places that would normally have a good pull of water running through them.

It's no surprise that under such circumstances the chances of a good days fishing was virtually non existent and added the fact that the water had become crystal clear and there wasn't a cloud in the sky I would have chosen better to return back home and tie some flies for when things get better.

The only chance for any likely fish was going to be the deeper gullies that ran at the neck of a few of the pools and I did manage to connect with a couple of trout from one or two areas but it was one of those days when I soon realised that I was just going through the motions and as a result the enjoyment level had diminished rapidly.

We all long for a nice, warm days when we go out fishing and pray that the rain keeps off but I came away on Sunday hoping and praying that we have a prolonged spell of rain that will help turn this little river and many others in this region back to the healthy flows that help sustain the delicate balance these rivers depend on.

I'm hoping to be back on the Wye around Builth Wells next weekend in time for the prolific Grannom hatches that this river usually gets, but even this Welsh giant of a river is unseasonably low at the moment and will require early morning/late evening tactics to get the best out of it.



Recently Tied Grannom Emerger #14



New Season Aspirations

This winters Grayling fishing has been pretty kind to me with some superb days fishing mainly down to the warmer than usual temperatures. Last weekend on the River Ithon in Mid Wales wasn't exactly one of the better weekends but it did produce a couple of nice end of season Grayling and also my first 'official' brownie to kick off the new trout season.

Pair of Red Kites flying low over the River Ithon

My best from last weekend

So what's this new season going to offer? Well that's a question that non of us can answer with any degree of certainty, but on a personal level I have some definite targets set out for this year which include the following:

Firstly, I aim to visit some 'new' waters that I have not previously fished and have a list of some nice looking rivers and streams which hopefully will appear in this blog in due course.

Secondly, for me the ultimate pleasure from fly fishing is casting a dry fly upstream on a small stream in the middle of nowhere to a trout sipping flies off the surface undercover of some overhanging branches, then getting in the perfect cast and watching it take a recently tied pattern...glorious!!! But as this is a rare occurrence I intend to further explore other styles of fly fishing. One style that I am getting to grips with is the recent development of the 'European long rod/leader' approach to fishing which can really prove deadly in the right conditions.

Fishing the 'long leader' with my 10' #3 Greys Streamflex

Thirdly, Since starting fly tying some three years ago I cannot now imagine not tying my own flies anymore so this year I hope to further my tying abilities and share some of the patterns on this blog.

A major concern and one of the biggest problems likely to be encountered this year will be the lack of rain which is already causing rivers to run well below normal and with little foreseeable rain I can only imagine some areas of the UK will suffer even more so.