Solihull FlyDressers Newsletter June 2014

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Alban Gregory
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1 Solihull FlyDressers Newsletter June 2014 Firstly an apology from the Editor for the late arrival of your June Newsletter. However I hope you will appreciate that sitting in front of my computer when the sun is shining, the fish are rising and the grass is growing is just not an option. Today it is raining so here it is, at last. My thanks again to those who put the items together for circulation, how about a few more of you putting pen to paper? DON T FORGET YOUR CARDS Fishing Section membership cards should be collected from the post box at Great Alne. At the moment there are still a significant number not collected. Remember it is a club rule that you carry your card when fishing club waters. DANGER AT BUSHELL S LAKE I understand that one or two people have been fishing the bank adjacent to the drive at Bushell s Lake. Fishing from that bank is strictly forbidden and there are signs saying so. Also the map only shows fishing from the other banks. The reason is that there are live power lines above that bank all the way along. Please observe this rule for your safety. If you want to get to fish rising near the bank where there is no fishing then please use the boat. GREAT ALNE LAKES TEMPORARY CLOSURE We have been asked by Sue Edkins to close the venue for 4 hours from till on Sunday 17 th August. She is holding a photoshoot for the photographic club that she attends. Please do not visit the lakes at Great Alne during the times quoted on that day. It is our barbecue that day at Bushell s Lake so it should not interfere too much.

2 Adding more flies to your cast will increase your catches and confidence. To many people fishing with more than one fly is guaranteed to produce nothing but tangles and lost fish. To others, fishing a team of two or three flies is the best and most interesting way to catch trout, particularly on big reservoirs, lakes and loughs, and usually from a boat. But fishing with more than one fly is not confined to stillwaters as those river fisherman who fish with a team of wet flies will confirm. So many of us started off fishing with a single fly and then with a bit more confident tried to attach droppers and fish a team of 2 or 3 with the inevitable teething troubles of tangles and lost fish through knot breakages, for some these frustrations get the upper hand and resign to continue with the single fly approach. What they are missing out on is the highly effective method of searching the water for the fish and being able to offer a selection of flies at different depths which increases the catch rate. By following some basic steps the frustrations can be minimised and the rewards can be gained with least pain, better catches and boosted confidence. If starting fishing with a team of flies for the first time, it's better to start with a team of two flies rather than three. A simple dropper can be added to your existing leader with a length of tippet material using a 4 turn water knot. Take a piece of tippet about 8 long and lay it against the main tippet about 4 from the point make these two strands into a loop and then pass the two point ends through 4 times, wet the turns and carefully pull tight. Make sure the knot is tightened really well and clip off the top spare end very close to the knot so as not to leave a little barb that will catch the rest of the line as it turns over in the air. The dropper should be about 4-5 long this is ready to have the fly tied on. Now careful selection of the weight of the flies for your team is essential, just remember the point fly should always be heavier than your dropper. A good way to start is with a simple cast of a size 12 heavy wire buzzer on the point and a size diawl bach, PTN or GRHE on the dropper. This will give the correct balance and allow the cast to turn over without affecting your casting. Slow your cast down slightly and make a concerted effort to cast with a slightly wider loop than normal. Do not be disheartened if the cast gets tangled, just check on a regular basis as one knot will impeded the lines movement in the air and create more. It can be frustrating at first but don t give up. One more thing to remember when fishing more than one fly, safety. There is at all times other hooks trailing along when playing a fish, just be aware these can snag your net, the boat, weed or your hands so be careful and with practise instead you will sang another fish and have the joy of a double hook-up. Tight lines enjoy.

3 SUNDAY MORNING COARSE FISHING MATCHES WITH CANTLOW AS Date Venue Time of Draw Fishing Times Cantlow 8 a.m. 9 a.m.-2p.m Gt.Alne 8 a.m. 9 a.m.-2p.m Cantlow 8 a.m. 9 a.m.-2p.m Gt. Alne 8 a.m. 9 a.m.-2p.m Cantlow 8 a.m. 9 a.m.-2p.m Gt.Alne 9 a.m. 10 a.m.-2p.m Cantlow 9 a.m. 10 a.m.-2p.m Gt.Alne 9 a.m. 10 a.m.-2p.m Cantlow 9 a.m. 10 a.m.-2p.m Gt.Alne 9 a.m. 10 a.m.-2p.m. Details from Dave Evason THANK YOU FROM KEN BEECH Ken had lost his priest which was of some sentimental value to him. He asked us to put a plea out in the newsletter to anyone who might find it. However, at a working party at Bushell s Lake he found it hanging up in a prominent place. Ken would like very much to thank the person who put it there. It just shows what can happen when you help at a working party!

4 DATES FOR THE DIARY June 2014 Eating at Tom O' The Wood /09 June Summer Trip to Gludy Lake and Hay on Wye 16 June 2014 First Day of Season on River Alne 16 June 2014 Coarse Fishing Match at Great Alne June 2014 Coarse Fishing Match at Great Alne July 2014 Eating at Tom O' The Wood July 2014 Coarse Fishing Match at Great Alne July 2014 Coarse Fishing Match at Great Alne August 2014 Eating at Tom O' The Wood August 2014 Coarse Fishing Match at Great Alne August 2014 Barbecue at Bushell's Lake TBA 18 August 2014 Coarse Fishing Match at Great Alne September 2014 Eating at Tom O' The Wood October 2014 Eating at Tom O' The Wood October 2014 Last Day of Season at Pettiford Brook 12 October 2014 Grayling Trip 13 October 2014 First Fly Tying of Season October 2014 Fly Tying October 2014 Fly Tying November 2014 Eating at Tom O' The Wood November 2014 Fly Tying November 2014 Fly Tying November 2014 Fly Tying November 2014 Last Day of Season at Bushell's Lake 30 November 2014 Fish-off at Great Alne TBA 01 December 2014 Fly Tying December 2014 Fly Tying December 2014 Christmas Dinner at Tom O' The Wood December 2014 No Meeting 29 December 2014 No Meeting 01 January 2015 Last Day of Season at Great Alne Lakes TBA for this period Pike Fishing Trip

5 ITEMS FOR SALE A very good friend of mine died recently. He was a very keen coarse fisherman which means he has left a fair bit of kit. His wife just wants to get rid of it so I offered to put it on our newsletter for sale. Any offer will be accepted for most items, however, there are a few items where it is expected that a bit more would be offered as they are expensive to buy. These are marked with an asterisk. You can aggregate several items and quote one price. If you are interested in any item then please either me on j.w.lane@talktalk.net, or give me a ring on If you make an offer and when you see the item, if you are not happy with it you may then refuse it. The items are as follows: Normark 12 3 piece rod with rod bag X2 River and Pit rod 12, 2 piece 1.5lb TC with rod bag Wychwood fishing chair Fishing umbrella 1 Fishing umbrella 2 Landing net head 1 Landing net head 2 Landing net head 3 Landing net head 4 Rod quiver Bank sticks (There are about 12 so you can have all or some) Fold up spade Rod pod with buzzer bars in a zipped bag 3m whip 3 rod tubes, 3, 4, 5 *Korum Tackle bag Rod quiver Large triangular landing net Stool 8m pole (Crane Sports) Feeder arm to fix to creel Bag of small items e.g. swim feeders, method feeders etc, etc Float box with some floats (Not in particularly good condition) Zipped pack with 2 baiting needles an a bait drill Daiwa hook holder Magnetic 10 section box with mini feeders Box with hooks to nylon, braid scissors, magnetic hook box, magnetic hook box with hair stops, 5 boxes of various size non toxic shots, pike trace, spinner, box of crimps, bait bands, float adapters Head torch (working but old) Head torch (working but old) Head torch (nearly new) Angling Times storage box 9 x7 x1.5 4 tubes of floats plus 1 carp controller and long forceps Sunglasses Angling Times magnetic box Box with 10 spools of fluorocarbon and braid

6 Box with Spools as follows: 6lb Fireline Crystal, 10lb copolymer, 2lb and 4lb bulk spools of Kingfisher momo, Ultima 11oz mono, AT 8lb red line, Browning 4lb line, Carp Kinetics 6lb green line Hook wallet with hooks Box of various floats Bite alarm (needs new battery) Rig pack Korum rig box with rigs 2 plastic rod rests Bag of swimfeeders Pack of PVA bags 2 pole floats and winder Baggin waggler Standard bait box for maggots Rig tubing Box with rig stuff, barbless no.8 hooks, small sectioned box with a few ledger items, hair stops, artificial maggots (red), shrink tube 1mm dia. Box with bait cutters, 2x scissors, 2x rod rest heads, spinner, disgorger, hair stops, lead stops/connectors, rig tube, old penknife, tweezers, drills, bait bands, swimfeeder, small and large method feeder, matt black enamel, bait needle, AAA shot, BB shot, large ring swivels Cantilever box with various items, e.g. 2 pike floats, size 14, 18, 20, 22 hooks, shots, float rings, sea lures, small bubble float, pole floats, disgorger, coffin lead, ledger stops, sea hooks Two bait droppers Head torch Korda bait Krusha Avanti Bait-Formed Apparatus Box of many large ledger weights PVA tubing Pack of 15 handwarmers Shimano Exage 4000 RA reel with spare spool Okuma Interceptor Pro reel with feeder converter and spare spool Zero Freespin 5000 reel with spare spool Rapid V Freespool reel RV4000 with spare spool Pack of fishing float lights (or can be used on rod tip) Large wooden centrepin reel Shakespeare centrepin reel *Trekker fishing suit with jacket, hood, trousers (come up back for warmth) plus fleece. Waterproof, windproof and warm. Size L. Used only twice, original cost 150. Xert overtrousers Xert overtrousers Deerstalker waterproof jacket size L Trespass waterproof jacket size L Barbour type jacket size L Avanti fleece size L in navy Avanti fleece size L in navy Reuben Heaton scales (tubular) 30lb in 4oz divisions

7 Summer Trip 2014: 40 th Anniversary Special Featuring Profiteroles Gludy Lake and River Wye at Hay-on-Wye 2014 summer trip featured exclusive access to Gludy Lake in Breacon and fine Wye water courtesy of Bill Treadwell. We might moan about the amount of paraphernalia our wives and girlfriends take on holiday but it is nothing compared to Russ and John. After a scenic route sponsored by Sat-Nav we arrived at Gludy lakes at 8:30am, greeted by fine Welsh weather and 7.6 acres of idyllic water set in a dammed valley, all for just the six of us to trash at. Gludy Lake has a different philosophy to most fisheries, taking a long term view, operating a pure catch and release policy, low stocking rate of Blue, Brown & Rainbows, and providing as natural an environment as possible. Like children in a sweet shop, we peered at the water, pondered float tubes and flicked through the catch returns. First things first bacon batches and sloe gin. The plan for the day was quite simple, pair off in the boats, return for lunch, change of partners in the afternoon and alfresco eating in the evening. Like bees round a honey pot we motored to the dam end of the lake. Fishing was steady throughout the morning with Blue, Rainbow and Brown trout being taken on a variety of flies with no one pattern standing out. The fish were in fin perfect condition and all really hard fighting. The peace and tranquility was only momentarily broken by Yorkshire cries of ave it, and a peacock call both disturbingly similar. One of the joys of the summer trip is fishing with different people, picking up tips and chatting away. Fishing in the afternoon continued with no real pattern to it, slow periods with pockets of activity and a brief evening raise. As with the morning, no real pattern stood out, which required changing flies frequently to draw a take. Last cast Nigel topped off the fishing before alfresco dining at the Lodge with a menu of; Choice of peanuts, Bombay mix and mini poppadom starters Greek style hummus and pitta bread Lamb chump steaks seared to perfection Chicken legs two-ways (BBQ and hot) Bean and green salads Profiteroles with hot chocolate sauce Beer As the sun set, the days catches grew in size as the Mad Goose went down. The day s returns were; Tim 8 x Rainbow, 1 x Blue 2lb to 2½lb Blob, Spiders, Floating Snail Russ 4 x Brown, 1 x Blue, 1 x Brown 2lb to 2½lb Black comparadun, Black PDB Nigel 4 x Rainbow 1½lb to 2 ¾lb Floating snail, claret spider, suspender buzzer Nathan 3 x Rainbow, 3 x Brown 1½lb to 2 ½lb Foam shipman buzzer, sparse, dawl bach John 5 x Rainbow, 1 x Brown 1½lb to 2lb Buzzer, butcher Michaela 4 x Rainbows 2lb to 2½lb Cats buzzer

The morning started with a fine cooked breakfast and an action plan for the Wye. We arrived mid-morning at the river just downstream of the bridge in Hay-on-Wye.

8 The morning started with a fine cooked breakfast and an action plan for the Wye. We arrived mid-morning at the river just downstream of the bridge in Hay-on-Wye. The weather was sweltering, muggy and almost too sunny! The water was holding some colour and looked very fishable. The setting was open countryside and a nice contrast to the valley of the lake. We headed to the downstream stream end of the beat in the morning which had plenty of water to fish at. As with the lake there was no one pattern catching with trout, grayling and salmon parr taken on GHN, PTN, wet flies and spiders. We reconvened at the cars for a buffet lunch of left overs and cheese board before heading upstream towards the bridge. The afternoon cooled down slightly but the fishing perked up with fish being taken to dry flies, nymphs and spiders. It is times like these when fishing is at its best; the anticipation, uncertainty and tranquility. As with all good things they have to draw to an end, but there are some firsts to mention; Russ and Michaela s first SFD fishing trip Michaela s first river trout Russ s first shad and unverified club record Thank you to the wonderful company of John, Russ, Nigel, Michaela and Tim, and Bill for the use of his water. What a great fishing club. Nathan Dam end Gludy Lake

9 It s a tough life but someone has to do it.

Waggler Float Fishing

Waggler Float Fishing www.how2begin.com Written & compiled by I. de la Haye Copyright how2begin.com2007. All rights reserved CONTENTS Chapter 1 - First steps Chapter 2 - Equipment Chapter 3 - Before you