Autumn Breaks. October 2014

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.

The fish we are catching are great
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.

Well done to some of my guests, some complete beginners who have now experienced some mighty Rutland trout action! Look at the tail on this fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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?

 With the prospect of all boats being block booked for 5 days during the AW/Airflo match your editor decided to have a short Autumn break to recharge the batteries after a hectic season.

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.

 Perfectly formed wild brown trout from the little River Dever a perfect Hampshire chalkstream

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.

 Here’s Rutland visitor, Angus finding out how hard our trout fight!

Just back from a 2 day break to the Upper Tweed near Peebles. Tuesday was a wash out with high water, and leaves on every cast. But Monday saw me catch my biggest ever salmon to date, a 22 pound whopper on a cascade tube . Not the freshest fish ever, but a great fight and a lovely big salmon! It was fish of the month on the whole of Tweed in October.

 

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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