a few from today

[flyman]

All the rain we have had of late i coudnt wait to get out today,
Started of at Risca but the river was pushing through a bitquick for us.
I thought it would have dropped down a lot more by now we fished an hour managing 1 small trout each.

Decided to move down river were the river flatterns out and we could control our flies better
My mate casting upsteam of the Arches he caught acouple from there

Another 1 to hand

some of the flies we used today

It was hard fishing today strong winds and a lot of water but still great to be out finnished with 4 trout each landed.

Flyman

[Dubbed Squirrel]

Nice one Jeff. That water looks as if it`s pushing through at a fair rate of knots Jeff, I think you did really well under the circumstances. The water at those arches looks great, we have 3 or 4 stretches we fish that are the same. Always do well on the dry fly there, lots of streamer weed. Cracking fish and flies, did you tie them yourself? Well done on the fish.

Peter

[flyman]

Thanks Pete,
The water was going a bit fast in our favorite spot ,
we are lucky our club got most of the river and can move to a new spot.
I tie all my own flies its something i really enjoy doing.

Jeff

[Dubbed Squirrel]

Believe it or not, but our club has approx. 23 miles of water to fish in, not too bad is it. I`ve been tying for about 4 years now, started when the local tackle shop owner bragged about buying flies for 5 pence each and selling them on for 45-60 pence. So i started taking pics. of the flies in his shop and tying them myself from the pics at home. When I think of the first few attempts, then I discovered one of my friends tied and sold them. He put me on the right road, and I haven`t bought a fly since.


Peter

[Baz T]

Nice report Flyman, and great pictures - those arches look great. The flies look good too - nice one. Although I dont fly fish any longer, I started learning to tie flies when I was about 12 years old. An old angler in the small village I lived in used to take a couple of us keener youngsters out to the river and demonstragte and explain the art of fly fishing. Over the winter he would teach us fly tying every sunday morning for an hour or two in one of the local chapel rooms. I didnt have any money in those days, so used to to pick up feathers etc from all over the place, nicking tinsel from the xmas decorations box, wool from my mothers sewing box, and find the odd dead pigeon or wild bird when out fishing, and take the wings off them to use in fly tying, providing they didnt have too many bugs n things on them - my mother would have had a fit if she had known. I even started selling the flies to my mates who couldnt be bothered tying them, and that got me the dosh to go and buy some proper capes/hackles etc. Dread to think what my flies actually looked like compared to yours and Peters, but they did catch (some) trout..

[Dubbed Squirrel]

It`s the scruffier ones that do the catching Baz, that`s why i like spider style, the spikier the body, I think the better it does.



Peter

[flyman]

Cheers Baz T,
Like Pete said the scruffier the fly the better it works,
Like your self im always looking for cheaper stuff in pound chops,
hair extensions in wilkinsons , and christmas is the best time to look.
M y mates use to post ,fox tales, squirrel, and loads of other stuff, through,
my letter box when i wasnt in but it gave my misses a fright to many times when she got up for work.
Tying your own flies gives youa better buzz when u catch fish, u can make suttle changes , had bit more weight, or less sometimes, just change the flies different to one,s u see in shops or magazines might just
makes the difference.
Theres a fly tying club around the corner from me ive been helping out up there for years,
every body ties differently so u are always learning .
Im no expert when tying flies , but its a hobby i injoy just another part of fishing.

Flyman

[Baz T]

Yep Flyman, you are right - tying flies is another aspect to fishing, much like when I make up pike traces etc - if you cant be on the water fishing, next best thing is sorting out your tackle, or making flies or traces when able, and as you said - catching on your own flies etc is very rewarding