Hot Fishing On A Cool Lugg

Fishing on the hottest day of the year so far, must be mad , indeed fellow P-Tail Flyfisher Nick and i just might be!
The Sun was blazing down when we arrived on the Lugg at high noon for a friendly fishing shoot out.

Nick suggested we do a bit of kick sampling which involves disturbing a small area of gravel/stones in the river and catching the small creatures in a net.
This proved to be successful with Rhyacophilia, Hydrosyche larvae, Baetis nymph and masses of Shrimp drifting into the net.




Walking to the bottom of the beat we passed another fly fisher half way down, but saw no rising fish.

This was Nicks first time on the water and he set off up the river searching using a Balloon Caddis with a couple of nymphs underneath, i decided to upstream nymph, using a Pheasant tail and Hares ear.
Nick ties up some lovely fly patterns and after a couple of hours, when we met up he had caught about 20 fish, all to the nymphs.

With the bright, hot weather the river turned off during the late afternoon with only one or two fish being caught. On top of that we were fishing water that had already been fished through earlier.



In the Evening a few fish were rising as we neared the car park, Nick caught a couple on the dry fly and i had five decent fish out of a riffle.

Over forty fish were caught, Nick having about 25 and me 16, not a bad day considering the conditions. Most of the fish were Trout with a sprinkling of Grayling, all looking fit and healthy.



We both enjoyed the fishing and being out in the unspoilt Herefordshire countryside.

Mayflies reign on the Rea

A forty minute drive took me to the Shropshire/Hereford border to have a look at the River Rea late this afternoon. On arrival at about 4.00pm there were Mayflies in the air and a few tell tale rings that indicated the Trout had seen them too!






I had never fished the Rea before and it turned out be a surprisingly good looking river with a healthy head of Trout.

As the fish appeared to be taking the May's on went a suitable imitation. Walking upstream i covered fish after fish with plenty coming to hand, but many turning away or spooked by poor casting.

The size of the fish was on the small side,being between 5" to 9" ,although some of the rises seemed to be from bigger fish.





The Rea flows through a clay soil here with a Red Sandstone bedrock so wading can be a little tricky in parts. Further up the beat the bedrock gives way to leave some dark and silty pools, too deep to wade through.

Eventually the fish stopped rising to the Mayfly, so i switched to the NZ method, however a setting Sun behind the trees made it difficult to see takes.

I did manage to catch a few more Trout later with the biggest at 11" and they did start rising again late on, probably to midges.

It was a very enjoyable evening, catching 18 Trout, all returned as always, in quiet and peaceful surroundings.

This beat is owned by The White Swan Piscatorials and they have two other beats on this river.

The Trout go Cuckoo.

The Lugg fished well on on a warm and bright Saturday afternoon/evening.
There was the odd Mayfly about, but not enough on the water to get the Trout interested.
In fact i only saw one or two fish rising as i walked to the very bottom of the stretch.



I had only fished this lower part once before and that was in February so it would be interesting to gauge the Trout population.
As there were not many fish rising on went the duo of emerger and nymph, starting with an Olive dry and a size 14 Tungsten Hares-ear nymph underneath. However i soon changed to a Grey Emerger as it was difficult to see the Olive in the dappled sunlight. The dry fly was on a short dropper, with the nymph suspended about 2.5 feet below, i tend to lose more fish when tying the dropper directly to the hook.



The NZ method is a great way of searching the river as both riffles and slower glides can be fished , but presentation is very important, always trying to get that perfect drift.
As i said the river fished well with 34 fish being caught, 23 Trout and 11 Grayling. The biggest Trout at 12", which seems a good fish from the Lugg, the biggest Grayling at 15".
The Grayling were in good condition having watched them spawning back in February, they have recovered well.



Although a lot of fish took the dry fly most were taken on the nymph, especially in the riffles.
The Lugg contains a good mix of Trout and Grayling with Trout being the more active at this time of the year, but it will be a different story later on.
During the evening masses of spinners were dancing over the river producing quite a spectacle against the setting Sun.



I fished to the accompanying calls of a Cuckoo, a bird which has declined in numbers over recent years, and to the repetitive drumming of a Great Spotted Woodpecker.
In the riverside meadows i noticed Comfrey, an important source of nectar for bees.

A Good Soaking

The forecast for Sunday was for heavy showers turning to prolonged spells of rain. Standing in the garden at midday, there was a strong wind blowing, but the sky looked quite bright, so i decided to head for Herefordshire.
During the journey the sky became darker and as i pulled into the car park it had started to rain . A quick look over the bridge showed the Lugg was clear and a swirl said the fish were feeding. Walking downstream the rain became heavier and on reaching a pool with fish rising i was drenched.



Looking up the river with the rain easing, there were at least three fish taking insects off the surface although no obvious flies could be seen. Recently in this situation the Grey Emerger has worked well, so on it went. The first fish i covered took on the third cast, a 10" Trout, followed by two more as i moved upstream, best at 11".




After a hour or so i noticed the river colouring up and the fish had stopped rising, so a switch to the Pheasant Tail nymph under the Grey Emerger was made. Unfortunately other than a couple of lost fish on the Emerger no other fish were caught.
The wind strengthened which made casting difficult and the temperature dropped as i made my way back up the beat. So after four hours i called it a day and went back to the car.



A slightly disappointing afternoon, still it was good to have been out in the fresh air with the birds singing. In between the showers i did see a few Olives and Large Brook Duns, both refused by the Trout, but no Mayfly were seen.
As the year progresses, the woodland floor and bank side plants are growing fast, including the invasive Himalayan Balsam which is growing in patches along the riverside.

There's Trout about

I had a fantastic fishing session on the river Clun in Shropshire this afternoon.
Arriving at about midday i was greeted by the call of a Yellowhammer from the edge of a field planted with rape seed - great camouflage. The field contained a crop circle feature, see pic below.
The sky was bright with scattered clouds and just a slight, upstream breeze, but with a low river the Trout would be easily spooked.

This was my first visit to this particular beat and five weeks since i last fished the river, when Trout were only just starting to show.
The Clun tends to meander through meadows and so offers a good mix of slow bends, gentle glides with quick and often deep riffles. The banks are lined with trees and bushes which along with some submerged woody obstructions provide plenty of cover for nervous fish.



On reaching the river there were fish rising everywhere in the riffles and alongside the steep bank. I cast to one with the fly from my last outing on the Lugg, a grey Klinkhammer, the fish took and i soon netted a plump buttery Trout of about 12", what a start!

Moving upstream i caught six fish using various dry fly/emerge'rs, however stealth was needed as it was easy to put fish down with poor casting or clumsy wading.
After an hour or so i switched to the NZ method with a gold head P/Tail nymph under a brown hi-viz Klinkhammer as it was difficult to see what fly the fish were rising to.



This proved to be a good decision as fish continued to take both Klink and nymph plus it also enabled me to search pools and riffles.
The Trout were of a good stamp with seven fish of 11 inches or over, biggest at 14.5" and beautifully spotted.
The river also holds a good head of Grayling with fish to 17" not uncommon and today two fish took the P/tail nymph, one at 15".



For the next four hours i worked my way slowly to the top of the beat taking 16 Trout and two Grayling, many fish were caught and lost or put down after refusing the fly.

Large shoals of fry were seen, of which some, hopefully will survive floods and predators for the coming years. The Clun appears to be a fish rich healthy river, although parts are predated by
Goosander and Cormorants during the Winter months.



A great days fishing was had in the wonderful Shropshire countryside in the company of some of its inhabitants. Redstarts were calling and Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming from the riverside trees, with Kingfisher and Dipper sharing the river. A welcome sight was that of a Yellow Wagtail a not so common bird these days and of a Red Kite near Ludlow.

Trout with Garlic

With the weather looking settled for the afternoon i took a hours drive down to the Lugg hoping there would be a few Trout rising. Walking down the beat i noticed fish taking flies off the surface in the pools and along the edges of some riffles.

The woods were full of birdsong with Blackcap, Redstart & Chiffchaff all calling, announcing their arrival after a long migration.The heavy aroma of Wild Garlic(Ramsons) was in the air, some areas of woodland had its seasonal white carpet of this plant, whilst other parts had the blue mist of Bluebells. Fluttering through the trees were Brimstones, big yellow butterflies looking for Buckthorn on which to lay their eggs.

Having seen fish rising and as there were no obvious flies coming off the water on went the olive Klinkhammer. I took a couple of fish from a long glide and spooked others so they were definitely interested. Then i found a few fish rising alongside an over-hanging bush, carefully approaching upstream i cast in anticipation but they would not take. Switching to a rusty coloured Klink tempted a take and then a grey pattern caught me two nice fish. I continued up the river, taking ten fish, all Trout bar one Grayling with the grey Klinkhammer being the successful fly. It was a decent four to five hours fishing and as the weeks pass more Trout are starting to show even though the river is very clear.