Wild About Fishing

The spring is coming!

2010-02-11T02:06:00.000-08:00

Hello folks,

Not long to go until the spring now. I usually kick off my season on the Usk around mid-April although some folks up in Scotland and Wales start as early as mid March.....

Mid April is a time of transition. It is the time of the season when fishing expeditions, previously inspired by hope, become fishing expeditions radiating with the strong sense of rod-flexing anticipation. Combine this with a yearning to brush off the last winter cobwebs and you can see what drives me on my annual spring pilgrimage to the magical Usk valley.

Timing is of the essence when Olive fishing on the Usk. LDOs are notoriously sensitive to climatic variations making it difficult to predict their exact emergence time. Generally, the hatch kicks off shortly after 11.00am, peaking around 1.30pm before coming to an abrupt end as a chill sets in about 4ish. To make the most of this window of opportunity lunch has to be put on the back burner or in my case hastily snaffled up while searching for the next spotted leopard.

A critical component of successful Olive fishing is to be highly tuned in to exactly what is going on above and below the water. Being aware of the various stages of Baetis rhodani is paramount as each individual stage will become a trout target as the hatch progresses. Like other members of the Ephemoptera order (mayflies) the life cycle of Baetis rhodani consists of; 1) egg, 2) agile darter nymph (various instars), 3) emerging nymph, 4) sexually immature dun (sub-imago) and 5) mature dun (imago). The astute fly fisherman will keep track of the hatch as it unfolds and the corresponding trout activity, changing tactics accordingly. Hawk-like observation, rapid changes of tactics, adaptability and quick thinking provide the key to successful spring Olive fishing.

As soon as flotillas of LDO duns start to sail downstream it is time to start scanning the water for any signs of activity in the plethora of gutters, runs and riffles, so characteristic of the upper river. Look for a nice lengthy run or pool below a long bumpy riffle. Remember, riffles are the nymph factory of any freestone river due, in part, to the increased oxygen concentration and the stable structure of the river bed which provides an excellent habitat for nymphs. When searching for productive water, try to avoid the runs and pools directly below waterfalls because the plunging water swallows up any adult duns drifting downstream reducing the density of flies perched enticingly on the surface.

Beech trees line the banks, standing like sentinels of the Usk, stretching their tendrils low over the river fringes and lanes of bubbles sidling their way along the surface. Spirited birdsong fills the air, as blackbirds, robins and thrushes sing with a passion and rapture that resonates all around. If you pass along the river quietly you might see a dipper skimming past, a bobbing wagtail or a bolt of blue as the king fisher whizzes by. If you are really lucky you might even glimpse an otter forging its way across the flow.

So if you are wondering how to satisfy your springtime urge to be on the water then why not visit the Usk valley to see the olive spring for yourself?

If you enjoyed this post you might like to see some of my articles and writing at my website - just type Wild About Fishing into Google and you will find it...

Cheers

Robert

Great fishing on the Test

2009-10-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

I just had some wonderful fishing on the Test sight fishing the Pheasant Tail Nymph. This days fishing inspired me to write an article that will appear in Fly Fishing and Fly Tying magazine. Here is a picture of one of the grayling I caught.....

The Mayfly is coming!

2009-05-07T16:24:00.000-07:00

The Mayfly (Ephemoptera danica) is coming......... watch this space.....

Fishing by waterfalls - shutter speed.....

2009-05-07T16:10:00.000-07:00

Just had some more great fishing on the Usk! What a great river. While I was there I messed around with my Canon EOS 40D SLR camera. In particular I was trying to catch the movement of water by adjusting the shutter speed.... Now this may sound like a simple thing to do and, to be fair it is a simple technique. The great thing about using a slow shutter speed on water is that while the water moves, everything else stays perfectly still so the motion is really captured in the image. See the two shots below to see what I am talking about....

Image 1 - taken with a fast shutter speed to capture all the action of the water from the tiniest droplet to the fractured appearance of the water....

Image 2 - slow shutter speed captures the movement of the water giving the still image a sense of movement.

If you adjust the shutter speed you need to take that into account by changing the aperture accordingly (to avoid over or under exposure). Most digital SLR cameras have an auto adjust which is really useful. That is to say that if you change the shutter speed then the camera will do the hard bit by working out what aperture to use. This is how the above shots were taken.

So there you have it - a really simple and well known trick, but one which was pretty much new to me until a couple of weeks ago so it just might be useful to you.......

I'll be back soon,

Robbie

2009-04-22T08:06:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of one of the magnificent Usk trout we caught. A cracking 2lber! Notice the idiosyncratic blue sheen on its cheek. The Usk trout are particularly well camerflouged to their surrounding environment and the red sandstone overwhich the Usk flows. This is because the trout population have retained much of their genetic integrity since the last ice age and have not been inbred with stocked fish. Most the fish we caught over the last few days were on Large Dark Olive immitations (LDOs hatch in droves during the early spring and the trout on the Usk, and elsewhere in the UK, can really lock onto them making for some great fishing.

If you want to learn all about the detailed techniques of fishing the Usk Olive hatch or just want to pick up some tips then see the article section of my website: http://www.wildaboutfishing.co.uk/Articles.htm and take a look at 'Leopards and Large Dark Olives' which was published in the March edition of Trout and Salmon.

The leopard spotted brown trout in the picture took a 'peaping caddis' fly fished deep through the gutter. Fly choice is important, but fishing your fly exactly where the fish expects to see it is more important than worrying too much about fly choice.

More Usk photography and fishing tactics to follow.......

Cheers,

Robert

Fishing and Photography on the Fantastic River Usk, Wales

2009-04-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

I have just come back from a wonderful few days of fly fishing and wildlife/landscape photography on the stunning River Usk, Wales. The fishing was fantastic and the light made for some awesome photographs (see below).

For this waterfall pitcure I used a slightly slower shutter speed than usual in order to capture the motion of the water - a trick often used by photographers. This image is soon to be published in the book I am currently working on a number of fishing and wildlife websites. Would you believe that every autumn you can stand at this waterfall and watch Atlantic salmon leaping the falls in their spectacular bid to spawn!

More Usk photographs and fishing tactics to follow..... watch this space,

Cheers,

Robert

Hi Everybody and Welcome to Wild About Fishing

2009-04-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody!

Welcome to my new blog. Amongst other things I am a passionate fly fisherman, a writer and an ecologist. With your help I hope to build this blog into an interesting and useful resource for people who are interested in fly fishing, ecology, wildlife and landscape photography, wildlife documentaries, writing and much more. Please feel free to get involved and write on the blog because after all that is what makes a blog go round.

A bit about me: I have been writing for some time and I am a passionate fly fisherman, naturalist and ecologist. I also have a photographic interest which is echoed by my regular contributions to the world wide angling press. I am a regular angling writer for various fishing magazines including Fly Fishing and Fly Tying, Trout and Salmon and Fish Wild online for whom I write about wildlife, ecology and world fly fishing. I am currently developing my photographic skills and I have numerous wildlife photographs published to support my writing and have exhibited my angling and river photography in Oxford, UK.

What am I doing now? Next month I will be working on BBC Springwatch as a story developer and I hope to bring back some great pictures from the Pensthorpe Nature Reserve in Norfolk. I am also going fly fishing on the Usk this week where I hope to catch some beautiful hard fighting trout. I also hope to take some photographs and to see some otters, red kites, buzzards, grey wagtails and dippers too - fingers crossed. I will be posting on here following that trip to let you know how I get on and to discuss the fly fishing techniques and tactics I used and why.

Watch this space and please contribute your thoughts to this blog........

Cheers,

Robert