Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Noel Kelly

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #100 on: 17/06/2010 at 12:59 »
I hear you I have an ongoing battle over that myself!

Jim Eddie

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #101 on: 17/06/2010 at 13:48 »
Don't we all Noel  :z4

 :z18

Jim

Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #102 on: 17/06/2010 at 15:25 »
Ladies!
 
I find a well placed donkey punch prevents any further grief when planning a trip down the river. It's the weeping child at your heels that's hard to dodge.


Iain

(no wives were harmed in the making of this post)

Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #103 on: 17/06/2010 at 18:08 »
I see the pictures now Scott,

That's a fair plethora of big troot, well done.

 Time to pull out the 3 or 4wt - just in case.

Iain

Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #104 on: 18/06/2010 at 00:18 »
firstly, otters should either be in a zoo or in a kids storybook (perhaps borrowing a set of mittens or a scarf from a hedgehog for example)  pool spoilers :z6

Had a jaunt down the lower Don tonight to see what's going on.

20 min's in saw a nice wild fish come to the nymph...................



Only seemed to manage some smallish stuff then hit by a nice Sea-Trout which threw the hook on the first leap  :oops
5 min's later his brother fancied the PTN but he too escaped this time at the net  :mad

10 min's later this obliging chap was netted after an impressive show of gymnastics.



 No large Browns but enjoyable evening all told

Iain

emerger

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #105 on: 18/06/2010 at 00:24 »
Pictured below is my best of tonights efforts, I lost another shortly after which was considerably bigger, there was a good rise for about 15 mins or so then it all went quiet by 11pm. Scott C


Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #106 on: 22/06/2010 at 15:48 »
Although there are still many many river outings to come the longest day always seems to mark a lowpoint in the season for me and with only a memory of a handfull of warm evenings under my belt it seemed important to get out on the river

All the recent furore about the Barrio 3wt seen me dust down 'No. 12', throw her in the car and revisit an old friend.

The lower Don seemed as good a place as any so off I went.
As per usual I threw on a nymph and spider, content to speculate here and there as I watched what was going on around me.  A few smaller fish showed  here and there but out of my comfort zone so they were bypassed.

The tail of a long pool where I'd had success before yielded two nice wild 3/4 lb Browns to the spider - we were off and running.
Moving down to the next long slow pool gave a better bit of water for fishing the nymph upstream & the spider was being taken right, left and centre by trout in the 1/2 - 1 1/4lb mark virtually as soon as it hit the water. At one stage I was sitting in a clearing in the reeds after releasing a fish and just threw the leader out before I sorted out my fly line which was tangled around everything and it's dog when a 3/4lb fish appeared from nowhere and hit the spider  :z8  The 'warm' weather had fairly brought the flies out and fish were looking up and in the mood.


The tail of the pool was somewhere that I'd commited to memory as the place where I'd seen at least one very decent fish show on an earlier outing.  Problem being they were over the other bank which was a good distance away, over a couple of ‘tounges ‘ of faster  water & with one of those fly/ line magnet tree branches stuck on the bottom and jutting 1 ½ ft out of the water. I’d previously resigned myself to passing this spot as the wading necessary to fish the spot tactically was not for me in good conditions and definitely not in fading light.
Somehow the excitement of the Trout hammering the spider had the devil on my shoulder filling my head with photo’s of large trout in the net and I crumbled.  Insect (especially sedge) life increased and I was aware of easily 5 or 6 decent fish in a coverable area, if I could get into position.  Wading as close to the rapids and as far into the centre flow as I dare at the tail of the pool I got going.
Fish after fish came to the spider and all the time I was well aware of the bigger fish off the other bank.
 The branch was a major concern and had me stripping the line in on each cast well before the flies had finished fishing effectively.  I did get stuck on a limb once but managed to pull free, the second time I wasn’t so fortunate and the flies were toast.
Being a religious man I saw this as the man himself telling me to plug on a dry.  A half dozen or so new sedge patterns were just made for this evening and the lightest (fading light) version duly went on.  Fish seemed to be everywhere and I had four or five missed takes before I hooked into the fish I’d been after........he was out of the water and off downstream in a flash. I had him close in three or so times before a final run saw the arc in the Barrio straighten...................along with the hook , damn those longer shank Kamisan B400’s. He was perhaps in the 4 – 4 1/2lb range.


Not being downhearted I mucked about at shorter range trying in vain to see my newly installed darker sedge in rapidly failing light. It’s now or never I thought as I cast directly across stream at a good rise – only thing was the fact that I had perhaps 3’ or 4’ of free drift before the current started skating the fly or I had to strip the line back like mad to avoid snagging the branch. This suicide cast I performed half a dozen times before he rose again and I tightened into him.........YES!
I’ll cut a long story short here but he headed off downstream behind the branch and a sustained effort to let him go then bring him back up my side was dashed as he swam for the cover of the branch. After what seemed like 5 mins of me playing a tree I realised he was still attached and there were only two outcomes – either I waded over to the branch (which I really didn’t fancy) or I pulled as hard as I could and something gave. I didn’t fancy either option but wanted to give the fish a fair chance so I headed his way.
The result was that I’m gratefull for my studded Orvis wading boots , my large net & my ketchum release but need to buy a wading staff, new phone and digital camera ‘cos they’re  f*****! The return journey should probably not have been attempted as the ‘possibly’ safer trip to other bank might have been more sensible. Bats and sedge in the ‘lug didn’t help the balance either.
Needless to say I didn’t even attempt to photo the fish as I was only too aware of my surroundings and he’d been through a lot. He was returned safely and weighed in the region of 3lb. (also didn’t know at this time the camera which is strung around my neck and tucked inside my waders wasn’t infact inside my waders............DOH!

Fantastic evening but the loss of the larger fish & camera was a massive blow.  Exercise losses

Iain




A couple of fish salvaged from the SD card

Michael Buchan

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #107 on: 22/06/2010 at 16:23 »
Well done Iain sounds like a great night  :z16

You still up for an evening on the Don some time, i widna mind picking the upstream nymphing masters brains as i truly suck at nymphing.

Michael

Matt Henderson

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #108 on: 22/06/2010 at 16:34 »
Nice work Iain.  You deserved that after our cold outing on Saturday! 

I'm really surprised why more people don't have wading staffs with them.  Unless the river bottom is flat sand then a stick is a huge help!

Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #109 on: 22/06/2010 at 16:51 »
Hi Mike,
upstream nymph master  :z4 :z4 :z4 you're a cad!
I typically fish a nymph with a 2.5mm tungsten bead on the point and a spider on the dropper and whether I fish upstream, a little upstream and across, across, or across and down OR a mixture of these depends on the water I'm fishing.
Seeing the line stab away is much more exciting than hooking something down and across although I've seen me 'down and acrossing' quite a lot recently due to the type of water I've been fishing & the distinct possibility of a Sea-Trout attacking the swung PTN.
Again I like to see the (infact I think it's essential) to see the line tip when doing this so that you have more control of the flies and can lift into the slightest detraction from a steady drift and the dark lines of my 2 and 3 wts along with the failing light conditions of when I venture out doesn't lend itself to this method (for me).

Funny that I haven't Klink n dinked yet which is a very effective way of covering fish.

I think my problem is I want to fish for Browns, Sea-trout and Grilse using lots of methods and set ups right through the Don system but you either have to be very determined and focused or you end up fishing the same haunts using the same methods..................which isn't that bad.

A lottery win would see me camped along the riverbank throughout the season.



When were you thinking of heading out Mike?

IAin

Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #110 on: 22/06/2010 at 16:56 »
Matt,
Saturday evening and last night were poles apart temperature wise & a monkey in a bow tie can catch trout when they are in the mood.
As for a wading staff I now have one - being up past the navel in poor light with boulders all around is absolutely no laughing matter.
Iain

Noel Kelly

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #111 on: 22/06/2010 at 16:57 »
Well done Iain sounds like a great evening. I have taken to keeping the electronics in waterproof pouches.
MDH I have tried again and again with the wading stick but I find the disadvantages out-weigh the advantages for me anyway including a lost fish of about 4 lb about a month ago :cry The things are a fly line and net magnet. If I cant reach a particular spot I just leave it and move on.  

paavo

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #112 on: 22/06/2010 at 20:51 »
Iain,
Great evening and nice report.  :z16

//Harri

Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #113 on: 23/06/2010 at 00:59 »
Just back from the lower Don - not much to report  3 x 1/4lb troot and lost a Sea-trout  :oops
todays weather promised a good evenings sport but the arrival of a thick mist hampered things and my strategy of tackling some larger browns from a different angle was goosed by the realisation that my new vantage point was, well not to put too fine a point on it ......s**** impossible to cast from.

2 points of interest though;
2 spanners came down the river in a boat (length of a canoe, slightly wider with a flat stern to which was fitted a petrol outboard) which wasn't the end of the world although I had to move as they displaced a pair of swans with their cygnets and a further swan, which virtually destroyed the fishing 50 yards either side of me. Then they proceeded to start the engine and motor off down stream - which lasted all of 20 seconds as the pool wasn't that long.............................................ricardo heads!
secondly, as I was heading home I must have startled a deer and it bolted from out of the trees, misjudged the depth of gutter in a ploughed field and landied a*** over t** in the mud  :shock It took a second or two to right itself and in this time I wondered if I'd have to go over and help it to it's hoofs  :z4 you had to be there.


Anyone else out?

Iain

Matt Henderson

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #114 on: 23/06/2010 at 07:34 »
why no pictures Iain?  :z4

Noel - I find the key to managing with my wading staff is making sure that it sinks and having it on a long enough lanyard.  I find mine is heavy enough at the end that it sinks and the handle can be sub surface in deeper water, I've also tied off the lanyard so that the loop to go round my body is as small as possible which gives the longest length of chord to allow the stick to go as far down as possible when fishing.  

Iain Cameron

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #115 on: 23/06/2010 at 07:44 »
Just back from the lower Don ...

2 spanners came down the river in a boat (length of a canoe, slightly wider with a flat stern to which was fitted a petrol outboard) ...
Iain

hi iain - I was out last night on lower don, and as I was coming off the river about 11.15 or so (tired) I saw a canoe or similar coming down, pretty late at night for huckleberry finn adventures. I thought I saw someone still in the river near the footbridge, was that you? I had a few wee fish to 1/2lb, one decent tug that might have been.... and got a scare when a bright green petrol can floated past about 3 feet away, what the heck was that!! probably from the canoeists.
bizarre

iain

Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #116 on: 23/06/2010 at 10:54 »
Hi Iain,
pity I didn't know you were out 'aint seen you in a while - hope all's good.

Matt - I'm still inconsolable about the camera so ease up eh!  :cry

Iain

Steven Kidd

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #117 on: 23/06/2010 at 23:24 »
Hi all,

Caught this fine brownie on a cinammon gold fished down and across :z4, never normally fish this way.....but it works!

Shortly after I fell and dislocated my knee! :shock, fishing off for a few days! :cry



Steven

Jim Eddie

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #118 on: 24/06/2010 at 06:29 »
Nice Fish steven , pity about your knee

 :z18

Jim

Noel Kelly

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #119 on: 24/06/2010 at 07:58 »
On night shift this week for the first time in years so had a few hrs on the river this morning. As usual as soon as I saw a fish rise on went a dry.
Had a few average size but was tricky see the fly in the blinding rising sun, this caused me to miss a take from a very good size brown which I didnt know anything about until I felt it for a few seconds :cry
This prompted me to turn about get my back to the sun and fish down stream for the first time in ages.
I had forgotten how much fun it can be :grin
Had a load of fish on nymphs and spiders across and down but they were all small.
Had a savage take from a decent fish on a retrieved sunk dry fly...hmmm   
Action tailed off about 6.30.
I will be back tomorrow bright and early as it definitely has potential.

Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #120 on: 24/06/2010 at 08:09 »
Noel,

I couldn't get out last night (blinkin' kids) and decided to head out early this morning ..........................ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ slept in  :z10,

Early morning fishing is great though - looks like you are having fun.

Iain

Michael Buchan

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #121 on: 24/06/2010 at 13:17 »
Had a crack after work last night ended up getting a surprise seatrout about 2.5Lb.  Got him on a tunsten headed ginger biot nymph fished down and accross after returning it got another good take 2 casts almost in the same spot later but missed it.



Brownies never really played ball so ended up moving to Kintore fished there from 10:30-11:30 few nice fish rising around 11 but tailed off quite quick.  Good night to be out though.

Michael

Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #122 on: 24/06/2010 at 14:25 »
Nice Sea-Trout Mike.  :z16

Nice to play on the Sage SP too.

Iain

Iain Goolager

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #123 on: 25/06/2010 at 01:06 »
Went out to try my new 3wt GT140 tonight on the lower Don

had a couple of 3/4lb'ers on a spider pattern & a 3 1/4lb Sea-Trout that removed all the new line and 10' of backing as it slipped between pools and had me clambering over rocks for 50 yards. It took a grey sedge dry fly  :z16

spoke to a great old guy who fishes dry spiders/ traditionals on his old split cane rod - he had caught and released a few nice trout.

Iain


Noel Kelly

Re: River Don 2010
« Reply #124 on: 25/06/2010 at 09:26 »
Just home from a morning session after nightshift. Once again lost the best fish of the session which I hooked on a sedge type thingy, this is becoming an annoying habit recently. Was pretty gutted but after switching over to across and down wets, spiders and nymphs I couldn't go wrong. Must have had 20 fish, it was a fish a cast in a few areas. Fished every bit of the river and was pulling fish out of the most unlikely places. Great fun.
Right bedtime for me :z18 

 




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