Autumn Breaks
The trout have been taking fry patterns for some weeks now, however, only occasionally. Sometimes they have been aggressively feeding on fry and corixa but with the unseasonably high temps, I get the feeing that they are more often sluggish in their eating habits. Some great fish have been caught though mainly from over the weedbeds. specimens and give great sport in
the clear, shallow margins.
The tactics require a stealthy approach to ensure they aren't spooked and a delicately cast Mylar Fry of Deerhair fry will usually elicit a response.
What
with the Lexus Competition in late August, European Masters, Rudder
competitions, the Sierra Pairs, the English National Final and then Anglian
Water/Airflo in September, poor old Rutland water has had a ‘right old kicking’. It’s great for the
water to be busy (we need AW to be profitable so Rutland stays as a successful fly
only fishery) but the fishing hasn’t really recovered since. Practice days
seem, to me, to be a very strange phenomenon. One chap practising for the
nationals brought in an 8 pound brown trout only to give it away after weighing
it, it’s not going to be caught the next day is it?
A
trip to Hampshire was planned, more specifically, Stockbridge, the hub of
chalkstream fishing and featuring a ‘hole in the road’ where huge, tame rainbow
and brown trout can be seen eating the tourist’s offerings of scotch eggs and
sandwich crumbs (Perhaps a ‘scotch egg fly’ may work here!) I suspect that if you were to cast a fly over
them, you may end up in the local police station!
I
fished a tiny chalk stream, the upper Dever in Hampshire. Using an 8’ 3wt rod,
3lb fluorocarbon and size 18 dries, it was certainly a different kettle of fish
to what we’re used to on Rutland. With uncanny October temperatures and wall to
wall sun, those wild brownies were spooky to say the least. The Dever here, is about
10 feet wide, 1 foot deep and gin clear. There were great numbers of fish;
brown trout, a few stocked rainbows and grayling but as soon as you crept up to
them, they were gone!
Your
editor resorted to creeping on his stomach (not a pretty sight!) sneaking up on
individual fish and dropping the fly, without any fly line out of the rod in
front of a wary trout.
Quite
pleased with a half dozen beautiful wild brown trout, all released, it brought
to mind a few thoughts on fishing Rutland this season.
With
the current clarity of the water, which is as clear as the finest of chalk
streams, how many trout do we scare off which we didn’t know were there? Possibly many more than we think. Wading into
the water before casting a short line first
must be a mistake at the moment. The boats must drive fish away also
with their rattling engines and vibrating rowlocks and it’s often worth
stopping the engine 100 yards from where we wish to fish and rowing or in the
shallows ‘poleing’ up to your chosen place.
Certainly
recently, the trout seem to be individual fish in their own territory, waiting
for prey or swimming alone looking for food along the ‘trout highways’ (holes
in the weedbeds). So it appears, that when 1 fish has been caught or hooked or
has gone for the fly, you may as well forget that fish and search for another.
Different fishing from what we’re used to- casting and re-casting to pods of
fish in the same area. Plus the abundance of luxurious weedbeds, until very
recently, makes it almost like fishing
on a chalk stream.
Well,
almost, as when you get it right and
you fool one of these cracking grown-on trout, then 3 pound fluorocarbon is not
the leader to be attached to. I had comments from the Hampshire fishing tackle
shops such as , “don’t they fight!” Well,
er…….. come to Rutland guys! Our fish
fight like tigers, and as much pleasure catching those beautiful and perfectly
conditioned wild fish gave, it’s not in the same league as one of our 4 pound
silver rainbows pulling your string like a demented bonefish!
We
are lucky to have some of the UK’s most demanding yet ultimately rewarding fly
fishing on our doorstep. |
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Rob
is a well known Rutland guide and qualified
trout and spey casting coach and Orvis endorsed guide. With many
years experience fly fishing, learning his craft initially in North Wales
and then on the Yorkshire rivers; Wharfe, Aire and Nidd. He now fishes on
Rutland most days and has fly fished throughout the UK and Ireland, Russia,
Cuba, Kenya and Canada among others.
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