Clothing To Keep The Cold Out

One thing that makes fly fishing enjoyable is being able to go out in the elements and withstand anything mother nature has to throw at you and still enjoy your days fishing.

The correct thermal layering is essential when deep water wading in winter!

A good set of waterproofs and a well layered construction underneath can keep you warm throughout the day, often leading to you being called everything under the sun as your the last one off the water!

By layering up I don't mean throwing everything you own on and setting out fishing. Less layers with a good technical performance are more equipt at keeping you warm than 6 layers of t-shirts or 3 pairs of socks. A 3 layer system is the most effective. Base, Middle and Outer depending on the conditions your experiencing. Below is the perfect way to insulate your body to protect you against anything thrown at you.

Base Layer

Your base layer is the first layer of your winter protection and is the layer next to your skin. Getting your base layer correct is the key to retaining heat in any weather conditions. A quick moisture wicking material is ideal for keeping your garment from holding moisture such as sweat. This is vital for keeping you warm. It means if you sweat while fishing or walking your base layer will remain dry allowing you to stay warm.

The ideal base layer materials are merino wool, silk, polypropylene and other various synthetic fibres. If there is one rule to follow - never, ever use cotton as a base layer. It will not matter what you put over the top in an effort to keep warm, you will remain wet and cold.

You may wear light-weight, mid-weight, or heavy-weight base layers depending on the outside conditions. Use light-weight base layers for mild conditions and heavy-weight base layers for extremely cold weather conditions.

Mid Layer

The main purpose of the mid-layer is to provide your body with insulation. Its aim is to trap the warmth coming from your body, by trapping the warm air around your body. So make sure all your items fit correctly or your warm air will escape.

Tucking your layers in will help too! Your mid-layer goes over your moisture wicking base layer. You may need any number of mid-layers depending on the temperature you are experiencing.

A mid-layer should be thicker than a base layer. Again, do not use cotton it simply does not insulate as well as other fabrics. Some good examples of mid layers include a mid weight fleece or polyester.

You will find using several thinner mid-layer articles, like a vest, sweater or jacket, is better than one really thick and heavy garment. It will provide you with more flexibility if the weather change

Top Layer

This should be your thickest insulating layer and your warmest layer. There are many outer layers to choose from. When choosing an outer layer consider the following:

Temperature - Weight  - Style - Purpose

An outer layer maybe a heavy fleece, a down jacket or soft shell. This is the layer that most people will see and will be in most of your photos when you get home.

A shell is your final layer. It is very important as it protects you from perspiration and wind. Essentially it is your water proof, wind proof layer which keeps all of your other layers warm and dry. Again there are many features of shells to be considered - weight, durability, length, warmth and waterproofing.



It can also be a good idea throughout the winter and the start of spring to use an additional 'bib and Brace' thermal underwear, which can be worn on top of your mid layers, putting the fleece and shell outside to retain the heat produced. These add much needed cold protection to your legs whilst wading in icy cold river, sitting still in a boat or on the bank of a still water.

Airflo Thermo Skin Bib and Brace has an effective wicking system which effectively transfers moisture away from the skin. The full body thermal suit retains heat from your ankles to your neck, paired with an effective fleece the cold will be sure to stay outside!

River Monnow

I have to confess the Monnow is a river I seldom get to fish so it was a bit of a treat to get a chance to go and give it a go on Sunday.

All looked good when we arrived and expectations were high...but fishing rarely turns out as you envisage, today was one of those days.

As it turned out the most productive pool of the day was the first one we fished, which just added to the expectation that we had caught the river just right and were in line to catch plenty of grayling.

Running a team of three nymphs hard along the bottom using my Streamflex 10' #3 seemed to be the right line of attack but after our initial success we struggled to find any of the bigger fish and although some of the pools looked like they should hold plenty of big grayling we could only connect with the smaller specimens and the occasional out of season brown trout.

Biggest of the day taken from the first pool

We were left to analyse the day over a couple of pints of Hobgoblin in the friendly surrounds of a nearby Inn and the only conclusion we came to was that Hobgoblin is a damn good pint of real ale!

Little River Avon

It's not often I get a chance to sneak away from work to go fishing but when I had an invite to join Peter Anderson on the Charfield AA waters Little River Avon I just couldn't say no.

The Little River Avon is a small tributary to the River Severn and is situated in South Gloucestershire, we had arranged to meet at 10am but I couldn't resist getting there a little early a taking a quick stroll down to have a look.

This stretch of river is full of bends, riffles, tree roots and deep pockets of water, in places it gets narrow enough to almost jump across and today it was carrying a little extra rain water from the night before and a tinge of colour. It reminded me of the River Clun...a similar sized river I have fished many times in Shropshire.

When my host and guide for the day Peter arrived we chatted for a while then set off downstream where Peter highlighted the potential target areas which were noted for our return upstream.

I had decided to start with a short rod with a duo set up, whilst Peter opted for short line nymphing. We started at a lovely looking pool which I was informed held some grayling, so as I set my rig up Peter dropped his nymphs into the flow and within minutes was into his first fish, unfortunately this slipped the hook and a couple of casts later saw another on the hook and quickly into his hand.

 

This was the sort of start we had hoped for and when I got in and fished up through the pool with my duo rig I was also fortunate to connect quickly with a couple of nice grayling. Early signs were good and we progressed upstream through some nice looking water but finding more feeding fish proved very difficult, a switch to a short line nymph set up brought a few smaller grayling but it became evident that our good start was not going to continue through the day.

We finished around 3.30pm with a few more smaller grayling knowing that today the river had fished hard but nevertheless it was a lovely place to spend a winter's day where temperatures were close to double figures.

A Fair Cop

As we headed through Mid Wales early on Sunday morning I thought my luck was in as I was kindly asked to accompany an attractive young lady to share the front seat of her car!

 It took her no time at all to get down to business and she soon got out her...ballpoint pen and her pad of fixed penalty speeding forms! yep you guessed it...whilst heavy in conversation with travelling/fishing companion Nick I totally failed to keep a check on my speed through a 30mph zone and was duly nabbed by the lady in blue.

Not the best start to the day but I was still looking forward to spending the next few hours in pursuit of some grayling.

The Wye tributary we fished was still running a little high and carrying slightly more colour than we would have like but as long as the last couple of days of heavy frost hadn't shocked them too much we still anticipated finding a few feeding fish.

Well it was certainly a slow start and likely looking spots yielded nothing, but a little further upstream Nick latched into a good fish which certainly tested out his recently built 11' 3wt rod. We had both opted to fish variations of long rod - short line nymphing, switching between heavily/medium weighted tungsten flies to enable us to get down to the riverbed quick in the stronger than normal flows.

The day continued with us both taking the odd fish as we progressed upstream and we finished with a handful a Grayling each but they were all quality fish with most measuring over 35cms.

It seems like this was the first days fishing this winter where the air and water temperatures made me feel glad I'd doubled up on my thermal layers, but fortunately we seem to have so far escaped the Arctic conditions which virtually wiped out last years winter grayling fishing.

Making The Best Of It

OK...I know at we are expected to spend a little extra time with our families at Christmas but it’s hard to stop looking at those online gauges to check the river levels or in my case walk the dog along the river watching for any signs that herald even the slightest possibility that casting a line is worthwhile.

Rain has made up the bulk of the weather over the festive period and has left the rivers and streams in the upper Wye system severely full, but a day or two without rain should bring them back down very quickly, such is the nature of these spate rivers.

On Wednesday I seized my opportunity and sank my waders into the still high and partially coloured river Irfon, the wind was blowing hard and the current was pushing hard against my waders but it was good to be casting a line again.

I had set up a three fly combination which consisted of a very heavy tungsten nymph on the middle dropper with two lighter nymphs either side, these were fished on a short line using my 10’ 4wt Streamflex with a short lob to get them out in the flow.

Heavily weighted dual tungsten 'sacrificial' nymph

The method worked well under the conditions and I caught 12 grayling in just a few hours with some nice fish amongst them. The fish took all three flies but the pink point fly was possibly favourite.

I also snatched a couple of hours today (Thursday) where the Irfon had dropped a couple more inches and was a lovely colour, the wind was blowing even harder but similar tactics proved good again and I was rewarded with some more nice grayling including one which I would consider to be one of my best from this river, a stunning 18” fish which was full bodied and in perfect condition.

Very deep 18" Grayling

As I write this the rain is lashing against the window (as it has done most of the afternoon) and the planned day out tomorrow fishing with a friend looks certain to be put on hold until the New Year.

Festive Greetings

Almost the end of another year which has seen some quite adverse weather conditions. The rainfall experienced through much of the trout season was woefully short and some of the smaller streams I fish became little more than a trickle.

For me this year has been quite productive in many ways. Firstly I took up membership of a new club which has given me a lot more waters to fish within my area, these include first class wild trout and grayling rivers which even in the low conditions produced some magnificent fish.

I have also spent much of the year getting to grips with the 'long leader' European style of fishing used in conjunction with a long/lightweight rod, this will not appeal to all but I find it a great way of getting the best out of certain rivers. This style of fishing is becoming more and more popular and rod manufactures are now incorporating a range to cater for this. Amongst others Greys have a range of rods that are specifically designed for this in the XF2 Streamflex range. I have a friend who has built himself a 11' #2 rod which is just a dream when it comes to casting a long leader and light nymphs so I can see a new addition to my rod range for next year!

I am also trying to improve on my fly tying skills which I am now realising is a long term project, but there is always pleasure in fly tying and trying out a new pattern which catches fish.

With a long festive break coming up I'm watching the river gauges like a hawk and hoping the recent high levels drop in time to give me a chance to over-indulge over the next two weeks.

Just leaves me to say that I thank all those that have dropped by to read my blog and those who have posted comments, I wish you all the best for Christmas and hope you all find next year brings you new and exciting experiences.

Hanak European Grayling Festival - River Dee

This was my first time fishing this team event which is held over two days (3 sessions) on the River Dee around Llangollen. The rain that had fallen before our arrival on Friday had pushed the river up high but as we peered over the bridge in the town we could see that the clarity was still good.

Friday was to be our practice session so we headed on to the river to try out methods and flies for the match. It was to prove tough as expected but we all caught fish in the 20cm and above class (minimum size counted in the competition) with lots of smaller grayling also showing.

Overnight rain had pushed the level up even higher for the Saturday as the 21 teams headed off to their designated beats to fish the first of the two sessions scheduled for day one. The river was still rising during the day and starting to colour up somewhat, but the first day ended well for us and we were lying in fourth place with all of us catching some fish when many teams had blanked!

Martin and Phil Dixon (England Black Gnats) on their way to 3rd place

Our first beat

We guessed day two was going to be even tougher when the rain was falling hard as we made our way to the local curry house on the evening...guaranteed to give the waders some rear end abuse the next day!

Sunday came and it was a grey, damp, cold start as we set off, our beat was further upstream so we hoped it may escape the worst of the rainfall but again the river was ripping through.

A combination of  heavy beaded tungsten nymphs fished through the slower runs and a good dose of steely grit and determination saw us finish with 3 fish which was as good as we could have hoped for.

The final results were read out back at the Hand Hotel in Llangollen and we learned that we had finished in 4th place overall. When taking into consideration that many anglers here were of international standard and this had been our first attempt in this competition we were more than happy with the outcome with many lessons learned for our return next year.

Overall Winners - Italy Caddis

A total of 92 fish caught of the two days proves how tough it was...last year this event saw 321 fish caught in sub-zero temperatures!

Top 10 teams:

1, Italy Caddis
2, Wales Dragonflies
3, England Black Gnats
4, England Damsel Flies
5, Wales Adams
6, Czech Coachmen
7, England Dunkeld
8, England Corixa
9, Wales Grey Dusters
10,Wales Red Spinners

Total Fish Caught: 92
Top Individual: Martin Dixon 12 Fish (England Black Gnats)
Biggest Fish Caught: 47cms - Olivier Dupont (Belgium Stoneflies)