30th September  –  Return to the Riccal in the Rain

Well the last day of the 2024 season finally arrived with rain all over Yorkshire, of course I still wanted to fish, but checking the river level gauges only the Riccal was at a height worth trying the rest being still a bit too high to be worthwhile. I have fished the Riccal above the road bridge a lot this season so decided I really ought to try the lower part of our beat. I knew it might be very overgrown and I wasn’t wrong!

Walking down to the start of our beat I had a horrible sinking feeling that I might not get anything it was that overgrown with only a few open bits left. Normally I use a 5’ rod on the Riccal but I had deliberately set up with my 6’ #3 Rawson S Glass rod and changed my leader to a “Klink and Dink” rig with just 18 inches of 6lb line from the fly line to the size 10 White Wulf and 18 inches of 4lb line to a small Goldhead. Obviously not a conventional rig but one I felt ought to work in the conditions.

It took a few minutes to get going but then a nice little trout just over 8 inches took the Goldhead which I used with a catapult cast to drop into a narrow run between tall reeds. This was the reason for the glass 6’ rod, it was long enough to poke through gaps in the foliage and flexible enough to use a catapult cast to get the short leader into pockets of water where there could be a trout.

The relief of not blanking on the last day gave me a lot of confidence that my approach of using a very short leader and catapult casts was going to work. I did lose a couple of trout in the mess of reeds, branches and underwater obstacles but I was adding some nice entries to my waterside log book at about 20 minute intervals, which was about as long as it took to wade quietly into a position to get a catapult or sometimes a roll cast into the river.

Most of the fish were around 9 inches and were big enough to be fun in crowded conditions. On one pool with space to roll cast I hit into a much better trout which was a bit of a handful and measured 13.5 inches and was definitely fish of the day.

It had been raining almost from the time I started fishing so when I slipped on some mud and lay down in the river (narrowly avoiding total immersion!) I hardly noticed the difference though I had shipped a bit of water into the left side of my waders.

By the time I had got back to the road bridge I had landed 8 trout I was quite “damp” and it was still raining hard. I waded under the bridge intending to have a few casts to get some more, but my second cast got caught up in a tree and although I retrieved my flies the cast was all mangled up and I decided to call it a day. I had only fished for two and a half hours in fairly tricky conditions so 8 trout including the one real beauty seemed a very good result. The last trout for this season was just a typical Riccal brownie of 9 inches and I was happy to finish on that.

P.S. After the rain yesterday the Riccal gauge showed the river had again risen to twice the ideal height – so glad it wasn’t like that yesterday.

  28th September  –  Riccal in the Sun

The Riccal had been high after the heavy rain reaching 81 cm which is way above the 19cm height I like it to be if I am going to fish it. Watching the level gauge I could see it was dropping rapidly and soon after midday it was back down to 22cm and that meant it was well worth a look on a sunny afternoon.

By the time I arrived the Riccal was still at 22cm and when I looked over the road bridge it still had a hint of colour, but there were fish rising and some of them looked big!

I did my usual trick of going downstream and wading up under the bridge to fish the pool immediately above it. A fish nudged the Adams Parachute I had on but didn’t take it so after a couple more casts I changed to a Green Emerger and immediately hooked into a very good fish that put up a heck of a fight on my Hardy 5’ #2 but was eventually safe in the net. What a fish! A good solid wild trout 15 inches long. It was easily the biggest trout I have ever landed from the Riccal and I was almost tempted to pack up and finish on a high note, but as I’d only been fishing for three minutes I carried on.

In the next three hours I added 5 more trout, 10”, 8.5”, 11,” 10” and 11” all on the same Green Emerger. I have had sessions on the Riccal where I have caught more fish but in terms of the size and the quality of these trout it was probably my best ever session on the Riccal.

  26th September  –  Riccal in the Rain

After overnight rain and heavy showers in the morning I checked the on-line gauge and was surprised to find that the Riccal was more or less normal height and “steady”. The weather radar showed big showers moving across Yorkshire, but there were some gaps and I set off for the Riccal hoping I could exploit a break in the weather for a few casts and a trout or two.

The road through Sheriff Hutton and Hovingham were not encouraging with puddles right across the carriageway and by the time I got to the Riccal the gauge showed it had risen a couple of centimetres and I could see it was fast and slightly coloured.

Earlier this year my Scottish fishing buddy and I fished the Riccal in the rain and had a very good session with 18 trout between us most of them rising to dry flies, so I set up a 5’ #2 with a black F Fly in the hope that I might get some action in what looked unfavourable conditions.

The first trout took the Black F Fly within a couple of minutes of me starting but then things went quiet so I changed to a small goldhead and over the next couple of hours picked up 4 more trout before changing to an Adams Parachute to get a trout rising at the end of a slow run. By now the strong side wind was getting worse and twigs and small branches were being blown off the bankside trees sometimes landing close around me which was a bit alarming so I didn’t bother with a photo and slipped him straight back before thinking that if the weather doesn’t improve before Monday he might have been my last trout from YTAA becks this season!

  24th September  –  Thirkleby Mill Revisited

I grabbed a chance to get out for a short session but with limited time I chose to go back to Thirkleby as I do like the fishing there. I wanted to fish from the Mill to the Weir if time allowed hoping for a nice big haul of trout. I missed the trout rising under the bridge, but wasn’t particularly upset as I usually get a trout from alongside the mill wall, but not today.

Moving on under the trees I picked up a chub from the “Blue Pipe” pool and a dace from a wider pool a bit further up before I finally I picked a small trout from the run below the huge new area of knocked down tress and bulldozed earth where the farmer has made a new parking area for machinery.

I moved up beyond the footbridge to fish some pools there but had trouble getting the fish to stay on but I eventually got another small trout from the “19 Second” pool.

Finally, with rain threatening I fished up the pylon length and picked up a really nice trout on an F Fly and with my available time running short and the rain starting to get heavy I called it time on the session.

  21st September  –  A funny sort of day on Isle Beck Beats

I arranged to meet Ben early afternoon to return his forceps and fished below the A19 for two hours before that. Fishing from about quarter of a mile down back to the bridge was hard work it’s very overgrown. There was nothing rising and no takes for an hour and a half and then I got two trout in 12 minutes, the first a very solid 12.5 inch fish.

After returning the forceps to Ben I drove to Thirkleby Mill and in 3 hours had 3 dace, 3 trout (best 11.25 inches) and 9 chub. Amazingly 6 of the chub and a trout came in 8 consecutive casts without me moving position….. which is probably a record for me.

All the fish today came on the same #16 Adams Parachute which was looking a little worse for wear at the end of the day!

  20th September  –  Low and Clear above the A19

I don’t want to miss any chance to get out with the end of the season approaching so I got out mid-afternoon for a session on Isle Beck above the A19.

The beck was low, slow and clear with quite a lot of debris and leaves blown off the trees in the last big storm. What with that and in places very high reeds across the beck it felt like a scene from the film “African Queen” as I pushed my way through to wade upstream.

There wasn’t a lot of action going on and I only managed a one decent trout and a 4 inch monster before I got to the big pool below Arden Bridge. I usually get grayling in this pool but the fish that rose to my F-Fly was a nice dace instead.

It was a nice little session but I had hoped for more trout so maybe the highlight of the trip was finding the forceps that Ben had reported missing and I am now arranging to return them to him.

  18th September  –  Howkeld Beck and the River Dove

I have been in Wales fishing and hadn’t fished any of YTAA’s Becks or Rivers since 29th August and fancied a day on Howkeld beck and if there was time would also fish the River Dove.

Howkeld Beck was a little low and very clear but I was really hopeful of a good mixed bag of trout and grayling and maybe even “wild” rainbow, but sadly it was not to be. I hooked and lost 3 fish in the first 20 minutes which was very frustrating. I then waited a very long time before I finally landed a little grayling on a small F-Fly.

An hour went by and I was wading up above the junction with Hodge Beck before I finally landed a small trout. Having at least caught a trout on Howkeld I was happy to retreat and have a go at the Dove.

I got in on a pool I call the slabs (Its wide and the bed is slabs of rock!) and started to fish my way up stream. There was nothing much rising and it was nearly an hour before I managed to hook and land a good trout from a very shallow run.

Half an hour later I spotted a fish rising tight against the bank on the edge of a fast run. I dropped an F-Fly a foot or so above where he rose and he nailed it first time. A bit smaller than my first trout but I thought it might be the turning point and would start getting the big bag of trout I wanted. Unfortunately it wasn’t the case and I didn’t get another touch though I kept trying for another two hours.

I shouldn’t really complain it was a nice warm day, I had caught a trout and a grayling on Howkeld beck and two trout on the Dove, but in the end I was a bit disappointed that I hadn’t added more to the log book.

  29th August  –  River Dove

I like to try to fish on all of YTAA’s becks and rivers each season so I was starting to feel a bit guilty at not having fished the River Dove or Howkeld Beck this season. So when Mrs KFD said she wanted dropping off for a walk near Kirkbymoorside it was a great opportunity to grab a couple of hours and try the river Dove. I knew my time would be restricted so started at a pool nicknamed the Slabs about two thirds of the way down the beat. There was nothing doing in the big slabs pool but a change to a goldhead brought the first trout from the skinny little run above the big pool.

Moving up to the next decent run I landed a trout, a grayling and another trout in three consecutive casts, all good fish with the grayling just over 11.5 inches. This made it 4 fish in under 20 minutes which is good going by any standard.

Quite a bit of the Dove is overgrown with willow bushes making upstream wading interesting and casting almost impossible, but fishing where I could in the more open bits I picked up a micro grayling (3.5 inches) and three more trout before I got the phone call to pick up Mrs KFD.

I had only managed two hours fishing but two grayling and six trout, the last of which was a plump beauty made it a very satisfactory session.

  26th August  –  River Riccal

I wasn’t sure where I was going to fish as I haven’t fished the River Dove or Howkeld Beck yet this season so headed in that direction but stopped at the River Riccal instead. I was just putting my waders on when another car pulled up and out hopped David Aspinall who also fancied the Riccal to try out a new silk line he had bought.

We started together wading under the road bridge to try the pools above it and although a couple of fish were rising they ignored David’s Adams Para and my goldhead on a K&D rig.

There isn’t a lot of casting room on the Riccal this late in the season so I got out before the River Level Gauge and moved upstream about 350 yards leaving some good water for David to fish and left him to his own devices agreeing to catch up with each other later.

When I got back in it felt like hard work fishing the Riccal this late in the season, the branches and bushes have grown out over the river making long back casts difficult and with low clear water even a very stealthy approach was sending trout shooting off upstream.

Eventually I found a rising trout within reach at the tail of a pool and he duly obliged taking an Adams Parachute. This was a very acceptable 10 inch fish, about as nice as they come on the Riccal. Two smaller trout followed both on the Adams before I changed back to take one more on a goldhead fished K&D.

I got a message from David to say he’d had enough of the Riccal and was going to head back and have an hour at Stearsby. I was at the top of the Riccal beat so headed back down to fish up from the river level gauge but didn’t get any more action.

  22nd August  –  A Mixed Bag on Cod Beck

I wanted to fish this afternoon but wasn’t sure where. I fancied the river Riccal as I can usually catch enough trout to keep me happy, but I have fished there a lot this season. Cod beck was the right height on the Thirsk gauge (23cm) but at 93 cm a little higher than I like on the Dalton gauge (to my mind safer wading is 78-80cm on Dalton gauge). In the end I decided on Cod Beck starting above the Junction with Willow Beck, firstly because I haven’t fished that bit this season and secondly that bit of beck has high banks either side meaning my casting would get some shelter from the strong breeze.

I parked at the lower parking area of Gristhwaite farm (the YTAA sign was missing?) and made my way down to get in the beck just opposite the junction with Willow Beck. I got nothing on my first speculative cast on the edge of the fast run, but got a nice little grayling on the Adams Parachute second cast. Nothing else took the dry fly but switching to a goldhead K&D I got a smaller grayling from the same run a couple of minutes later.

The system of trying a dry fly first on each run or pool and then switching to a nymph to try deeper down is a method I use a lot and works well and it set the pattern for the rest of the afternoon. I ended with a good mixed bag which included the two grayling a dace, a minnow, a trout and four chub, the last of which was a very good fish.

Despite only getting the one trout I had a very pleasant three hours and managed to wade up without needing to try to get out up the steep banks. However the wading on Cod Beck is not to be taken lightly and I consider a wading staff and boots with good studs or cleats absolutely essential even when the river gauges are at the right levels. There aren’t that many easy areas to get out but I scrambled up the bank near one of the many willow trees and beat my way through head high nettles thistles and balsam back to a field.

  10th August  –  A Leisurely Late Afternoon

I wasn’t sure where I wanted to fish today, I knew it would be mid-afternoon before I could get going so Isle Beck, Thirkleby and even Cod Beck were all possibilities for what would probably be a short session. In the end I decided to try another session below the A19 starting at the Little Copse where the farmer has his water pump. This part of the beat has been opened up recently with a number of trees on the bank and in the beck removed letting in a lot more light and creating a bit more casting room. I decided to use a 6’rod instead of a 5‘ to take advantage of the extra room. My 6’ #3 Rawson Fibreglass rod is ideal for this sort of work.

It’s a bit of a trek to get down to the little copse but I was fishing by 16:35 and catching by 16:36 – not quite first cast but a great start. A few minutes later I switched to a goldhead to search the depths of a deep hole and a little chub went in the log book.

Having switched back to the Adams Parachute I was moving carefully upstream trying not to disturb any fish and exploring the recently opened up runs and pools.

Sometimes these were wide open with plenty of casting room and sometimes it was a case of sneaking quietly up the side of the beck almost in the balsam and nettles and using a roll cast to drop the fly in an overgrown run where I expected a fish to be. I even got two trout from the same run using this softly softly stealth approach.

The best of the day was an 11 inch trout from one of the opened up runs – a rising fish that was an easy target where there was plenty of casting room. Once I reached the really overgrown parts I called it a day as the 6’ rod would be a disadvantage and anyway I had caught 6 trout and the chub in a very pleasant 3 hours, which felt enough for a leisurely sort of late afternoon session.

  6th August  –  Balsam Bashing above the A19

I have found it hard going getting in and out of Isle Beck above the A19 to get past the fallen trees or deep pools. The nettles and balsam are head high and as I had broken the tip of a rod trying to get through the high balsam at Thirkleby last time out I decided that a little time spent clearing some entry/exit points would be a good idea.

The “little time spent” turned out to be quite a “long time spent” but at least there are now obvious routes around some of obstacles and deep pools for at least half the beat.

After a much needed drink and a rather late lunch in the camper van I decided to try the 5’ Hardy Aln rod I broke last time. This has been repaired and is now a 4' 10.5" Hardy Aln!

I lost the first trout that I cast to seconds after it took, but I caught a nice 8 inch dace a few minutes later. Switching to a goldhead to fish one of the deeper pools I landed a good 10 inch trout and got another slightly smaller trout from the next deep run on the same Klink and Dink rig.

I was pleased that the shortened rod worked absolutely fine casting both dry flies and roll casting a Klink and Dink rig without any problem – to be honest I couldn’t feel any difference at all in its performance or fish playing qualities and as there was nothing much rising I was quite happy to keep it to a short session.

  2nd August  –  Thirkleby

I wanted to try and boost my trout numbers as I am down on recent years and I decided Thirkleby was my best bet. I was a bit late getting going and decided to fish below the farm track for an hour or so, stop for lunch in the camper van then fish on above the mill for the rest of the afternoon.

By lunchtime I had only landed 1 trout but had also caught 5 chub on a mix of Adams Klinkhammer and goldheads. After lunch I decided to fish above the mill bridge and tried to make my way through the head high balsam on the bank to get into the beck. I felt my rod catch on some balsam behind me and to my horror saw that I had broken about 2 inches off the tip of my 5’ Hardy rod!

Fortunately when I bought the Hardy I also bought a spare tip so that was put to use after phoning Hardy spares to see if the still did 'The Aln‘ spare tips – (they didn’t). After an hour trying eBay and various Hardy outlets I gave up and went back to fishing. I was not in the happiest of moods but a 9 inch trout from along the mill wall improved my humour no end.

Moving up under the trees I got an 11 inch trout which turned out to be the biggest of the day. As I moved up the beck I was catching trout or chub and sometimes both from almost every pool, mostly on Adams Parachute but some on goldheads fished Klink and Dink. I tried a red beaded nymph at the top of the pylon pool but only got a small dace but switching back to a goldhead got me another chub and another trout.

By the time I arrived at the weir pool I had caught 1 dace, 10 chub and 14 trout and I knew I needed 1 more trout to hit 100 from YTAA becks this season. I tried dries and goldheads but nothing seemed to be moving until I dropped a goldhead almost onto the sill of the weir when a trout hammered it almost as it landed. After a brief fight the trout was safe in the net and I’d got my ton up.

  30th July  –  Big surprise at Cod Beck

I have only had one very brief visit to Cod Beck this season with only one (albeit good) grayling for my troubles and I have been watching the river gauges to see when it would be low enough for safe wading. This afternoon the Thirsk gauge was down to 23cm - and my ideal is only 22cm so late afternoon I headed off to Gristhwaite farm for a short session.

Clearly nobody has been in there for a while as I had to beat my way into the river through head high nettles making a note that sting proof gloves should be part of my essential equipment from now on.

Once in the water I was surprised that it was quite fast and carrying quite a bit of colour but a rising fish just upstream of me seemed a nice easy target. Having missed him first cast I tried again and again with several different flies, before changing to a Goldhead Klink and Dink to catch what turned out to be a small grayling.

Moving up to the next pool under the trees a trout of nearly 10 inches took the goldhead followed quickly by a tiny dace. Moving onto the big run below the railway bridge I tried for some time without so much as a sniff of a take, eventually I got caught up in the trees behind me and did a very precarious wade through deep water across the beck to retrieve my fly and then wade up the far bank try under the railway bridge.

Again there was nothing doing under the railway bridge but just above it there is a field drain pouring water into the beck, it always looks like there should be a trout there and this time there was - a nice little 9 inch fish I put back quickly. There was nothing else doing near the outfall but moving up a little into the slower wider section I got a 9 inch chub that I watched cruise gently up to the Royal Wulf I was using as the “Klink” and suck it in. A few minutes later a 6 inch chub took the goldhead and was quickly recorded in the log book and released.

This section of Cod Beck has a deep central channel and a shelf on the right side, as the water was fairly opaque it was almost impossible to tell where the shelf ended and the deep water started so I was a bit wary of going too far but thought I’d try one more cast into the deep run. I got an immediate take and struck into something very solid that stayed deep and moved very slowly upstream. At this point I was grateful I had decided to use my Malcom Grey 5’ #3 rod as it has a little bit more backbone than my much favoured Hardy 5’ #2 and I certainly needed it. The fish stayed deep for quite a while putting a big bend in the rod and not at all not willing to come up but eventually it did and I could see that I had a very respectable chub on the line. Fortunately this bit of beck is mostly deep and clear of any roots and obstructions so it was just a matter of care and patience to play it out and get it netted.

It was by far the biggest chub I have landed from YTAA waters – measuring just over 18 inches it was a deep solid fish and weighed in at just under 1.2kg which is 2lb 7oz. Sadly I wasn’t near a convenient bank to get a good posed photo and the ones I took quickly standing midstream don’t really do it justice. It looked massive in the beck and huge in my net so I was happy to end the short session on that winning note.

  26th July  –  Isle Beck – A Pleasant Afternoon Above The A19

I didn’t expect to get out again so soon after my session below the A19 but managed to get 4 hours in above the A19 Bridge. I was amazed at how much the Balsam and Nettles have grown up here since my last visit a month ago and I had a few problems getting in and out where the pools are too deep to wade, but it was a warm and lazy sort of afternoon and I was in no great hurry.

A nice 10 inch trout was first up followed soon after by a 7 inch trout both on Olive F-Flies.

Making my way upstream it was pleasantly cool under the trees and although shallow in some places the beck really looked good, though there weren’t many fish rising.

There seems to be some more “woody debris” washed down from somewhere as I am sure there are more trees and branches in the beck than on my last visit to this beat. To balance that a couple of runs seemed to have opened up a bit and seemed a bit easier to cast in than previously. On one of the shingle edges to the beck I found a Crayfish skull and a pair of claws, clear evidence that there otters are still around.

I switched to a goldhead to try some of the deeper pools getting more trout, dace and a chub but then switched back to the F-fly for a shallow run half way up the beat for the last trout of the afternoon.

I should perhaps add some advice on Isle Beck, first there are some deep holes on this beat so tread carefully and use a wading staff to check you can wade through safely. Secondly at this time of the season the beck will have some very shallow runs and the temptation is to wade straight through to get to deeper water, but my advice would be tread carefully, even the skinny little pools will have trout in them and a cast or two in each is often worthwhile.

Finally, I usually see a kingfisher when I fish YTAA waters and today I also saw a dipper and I can’t recall when I last saw one on Isle beck, I hope it’s a sign of improving water quality.

  24th July  –  Isle Beck – A mixed bag below the A19

Looking through my log book I noted that I had one very short visit below the A19 Bridge and hadn’t caught anything so today was an opportunity to put that right. It is a bit daunting at the start below the A19 as the path is a bit overgrown. However climbing over the fence there is a tractor track all the way down past the barley field without damaging the crop.

The farmer has removed the first hedge so it is one big field replacing what was two fields then a field of potatoes to where I was going to start fishing. However as there is now a wide track through the next field I thought I’d start just below but as there is now a wide track down the next field (sweetcorn), I carried on to the little copse where the pump to take water from the beck is located. Someone, either the farmer or maybe the water board has been very busy and the wide track was obviously created to give access for heavy machinery as a large number of trees that were lying in the beck have been removed and several trees beside the beck have been cut down and piled up near the bottom of the field. This has opened up a number of pools but also changed several others and actually improved the access no end since I was last down here.

I started with a small chub on a goldhead fished Klink and Dink, five and a bit hours later I finished with a minnow on a small F-fly. In between I had caught 5 trout, 2 more chub, 2 grayling and 2 dace, a good mixed bag but not quite a full house as I didn’t get a bullhead!

The best grayling was 11.5 inches and the trout were all wild fish, the best two were 12.5 and 14.5 inches and great fun on the Hardy 5’ #2 glass rod.

It was interesting that apart from the biggest trout I didn’t do well on the upper part of this beat which in many places is now a tunnel under the trees that cross the beck from both sides joining up to make it very dark and difficult to fish. I should also add a word of caution as where the trees have been removed from in the beck there are now some very deep pools – some that I used to wade through without hesitation are now in danger of topping my chest waders and needed careful probing with a wading stick to avoid a ducking!

  13th July  –  Back to the Riccal

After the mid-week flood on the Riccal when it rose to 1.34 metres it was back down to just 20cm this morning so I wanted to have another go at it. I was delayed by various things and when I could get away I went via Stearsby so I could collect catch return sheets for June. So it was nearly 5 o’clock before I made my way under the bridge to try the first pool.

You might think that as it wasn’t raining there would be a lot more “trouty” activity to be seen but it was not the case and it was a little while before I got a trout to record in the log book. I had started with an Adams Parachute as that had worked well previously when there were mayfly about and sure enough I started seeing rises and landed a few more trout. After an hour or so I started trying a green mayfly and that got me a two more, including a chubby little trout which was about the biggest of the session.

Finally I switched back to the Adams Parachute as the light under the trees wasn’t great and it was easier to see. That got me a final little trout to make it 8 in total, a reasonable result for just two and a half hour’s fishing.

  8th & 9th July  –  Fishing with Gordon

It’s been a couple of years since my Scottish fishing buddy has been down to Yorkshire to fish with me but armed with several guest tickets we were determined to make the most of YTAA becks for a few days.

The 8th of July saw us heading up to Thirkleby on a nice afternoon with the beck in near perfect condition and Gordon was soon into a trout.

When we are fishing we usually stay together and alternate on who has first chuck at each pool. It also means we can get photos and videos of our efforts and have a constant stream of friendly banter over missed rises and lost fish. I was soon on level terms with him and that is how the afternoon carried on as we waded upstream.

Beyond the Mill we found a large area of bank, trees and vegetation had been bulldozed into a huge heap to create a space for new farm buildings. It looks a right mess but no doubt will soon be covered by Balsam and other plants to hide it.

By the time we got to the footbridge at Balk Grange Farm Gordon was on 5 trout, 3 chub and a dace and also had the biggest trout at 11 inches while I had 4 trout and 4 chub. We were really enjoying the free rising fish but it didn’t last, we had both noticed the beck was staring to colour up and in a very short time it was thick brown mud and silt and I guessed there was more work being done on the replacement footbridge at Balk. So we packed up and drove round to check and sure enough it was evident that the digger had removed the mud and berm that had been protecting the foundations of the replacement bridge and that would have caused the silt tsunami. The beck at Balk was now running clear below the new footbridge so we knew it would just be a few hours before it washed right through Isle beck.

The 9th of July was not a great start, it was raining heavily and the radar pictures showed wide bands of more heavy rain sweeping across the whole of the county which would almost certainly ruin the fishing on most of the YTAA waters. However the River Riccal is fed from limestone so in theory it would still be fishable, so we headed off through the rain and very wet roads to Nunnington. On arrival at the Riccal it was still raining steadily but the river was running clear and at 19cm on the level gauge was a perfect height. So wrapped up as much as we could we decided to give it a go.

We both had a trout on mayflies and I picked up two more on goldheads before it really dawned on us that despite the rain there were plenty of fish rising. So we both changed to Adams Parachute flies because the high visible posts would make them easier to see among the rain drops.

The Riccal is getting quite overgrown again with bushes leaning across the river and low branches overhead so casting was fun but amazingly we didn’t lose a fly to the trees or bushes. It didn’t stop raining all afternoon so it was hard work keeping the flies floating but the trout were rising freely and by the time we were soaked through and really had had enough Gordon had landed 8 trout and I had landed 10 trout including the biggest at 10.5 inches so earned the bragging rights!

On the way back to the camper van we checked the level gauge and the river had gone up just 1cm to 20cm while we had fished. We had hoped to get another day’s fishing on the 10th July but the Riccal level gauge showed the river had risen to 1.34 meters while the gauge for Cod Beck at Dalton was at 2.95 meters (safe wading means circa 0.8 meters!) so that was the end of that.

  17th June  –  A Pleasant Afternoon On The Riccal

I had thought about an afternoon on Cod Beck but the gauges showed it was not suitable for wading and the sudden rise in levels probably meant Isle Beck would be less than ideal so I decided to spend an afternoon on the Riccal.

I was fishing by 13:30 and catching at 13:31. In fact I had three trout in the first 9 minutes on a Green Emerger and switching to a goldhead for a fast deep run added a 13 inch grayling before the first half hour was up.

The Riccal was in excellent condition, clear and a good height. There were mayfly hatching and trout were rising in most of the runs so I made the most of it, switching to a small mayfly pattern for the rest of the afternoon.

I had a few trout that just slashed at the fly without taking it and a few came off before I could get them to the net but it was all good fun, until a sudden and rather heavy shower of rain seem to kill the action completely. The mayfly action gradually returned and by the time I had reached the top of our beat I had logged 8 trout and the grayling which felt like a reasonable afternoon’s worth.

The Riccal can be deceptive and there are some seriously deep runs that do need very careful wading. On one of the deep runs I tried a goldhead K&D hoping for a really big trout but instead a greedy 4.5 inch trout managed to take the size 10 Royal Wulf I was using as the Klink!!

I had a leisurely walk back down to the bridge and was going to pack up but I saw a fish rise just above the river gauge where I had missed one before, so putting the Green Emerger back on I cast and got him first time, a nice 9 inch trout to round the afternoon off.

  12th June  –  Above the A19

After yesterday’s curtailed WTT Auction Winner day I was keen to check if the beck was running clear again, but first I nipped to Stearsby to collect the catch returns for May.

By coming the back way I arrived at Arden Bridge and a quick glance told me it was back to it’s usual clarity. Simon Haw was also at Arden Bridge thinking of an evening session and told me he had lost the tip section to his Agility Rise rod somewhere below the new Farmers Bridge below the A19. If anyone should find it I am sure it will be well received as KP Spares in Redditch don’t have any more spare tips!

I drove down to the A19 and was soon wading under the bridge to get the Alder tree trout – That fish often features in my catch returns!!

Moving on I had a pleasant couple of hours of very chilled out fishing. I managed to hook 8 trout but only landing 7 on a mix of dries and goldheads.

The highlight of the afternoon was one rather large trout that leapt right out of the beck to take a mayfly that was taking off and was at least a foot above the water. Of course I immediately changed to a mayfly patterns and got absolutely no response to every mayfly pattern in my box.

I suppose a mayfly frenzy will arrive eventually (probably while I am in Scotland!).

  11th June  –  WTT Auction 2024 Winner’s Day

A day that did not go to plan.

I met John at the A19 Bridge and he was soon tackled up ready to start his Wild Trout Trust auction winner’s day.

It started quite well with a nice little trout from the Alder Tree run just above the A19.

But the rest of the morning was a bit slow with nothing much moving, the one good fish that was hooked shot down stream at an incredible rate of knots and threw the hook.

After some lunch we moved up to Thirkleby Mill and sauntered down to the beck only to find that the beck which had been lovely and clear at the A19 was now the colour of strong coffee and not looking very good at all.

Thinking it was from the farm we went to the footbridge at Balk Grange Farm but the beck was still the same horrible brown colour suggesting pollution. John suggested driving to Balk where a road crossed the beck to see if we could find the source of the problem. As we were setting off I asked the farmer if he knew anything and he advised us that there had been a digger in the beck at Balk removing the blocks of the footbridge that had collapsed a while back. At Balk we found the digger that had obviously been moving blocks and digging foundations for a new footbridge and had undoubtedly created the tsunami of silt and mud we had found. At least it was only mud and silt and not something toxic.

We went back to try to fish Isle Beck below Arden Bridge where the beck looked clear but after a few casts the mud and silt arrived and there was no prospect of continuing. I have agreed that we would provide John with another day in July so he gets a full day of fishing ... watch this space.

  15th May  –  Thirkleby Mill

I had hoped to get out earlier this week but heavy rain suggested it wasn’t worth the fuel to go anywhere, I wanted to fish the becks before I go to Wales for a few days so I headed out to Thirkleby for an afternoon session and was ready to fish by 14:15.

By 14:16 I was returning the first trout of the day that had taken an Adams Parachute, after a fairly dismal start to some of my trips this season it was a great start. It didn’t end there, although there were a few Mayfly around the trout weren’t really taking them but had a definite liking for the Adams and better still most of them stayed on to be netted. By the time I got to the footbridge at Balk Grange Farm I had 7 trout in the log book and added a chub from the run below the footbridge. Another chub and a trout before I got to the Pylon length all caught on the Adams.

For a change I tried a Green Emerger which added another trout and then in deep pool at the top of the pylon run added two trout more in consecutive casts on a Goldhead PTN fished Klink and Dink.

Switching back to the Green Emerger I got three more, two of them from either side of a log sticking out in the middle of the fast run below the weir pool. I have usually found a trout alongside this log but don’t always get to land them as they are straight back under it.

The weir pool itself was a disappointment, it seemed to be very fast and slightly cloudy. I got a 9 inch trout from near the tail of the run but nothing else would look at the Emerger. Switching to the Goldhead K&D I was sure I would get some more trout but strangely it was not to be.

  10th May  –  Cod Beck and Willow Beck

I had to meet a niece at Wetherby Services on Friday afternoon to give her keys to my caravan and intended tom go fishing at the nearest YTAA water afterwards. The nearest water was actually Cod Beck and Willow Beck at Dalton which gave me a small problem as Cod Beck was running at 30 cm on the Thirsk level gauge and I don’t recommend fishing if it is much above 22cm. I could have driven on to Isle Beck or Thirkleby but in the end I thought 8cm (3.25 inches) was probably ok, I was wrong!

Walking down past Willow Beck it looked pretty good, a tinge of colour but didn’t look too high. Cod Beck was a different story, it was a bit high and cloudy and once I got into the run just above the big pool below the junction it felt very fast.

I decided it was just about ok to fish as long as I took even more care than I usually do. I changed from a dry fly to a Klink and Dink fairly quickly hoping for some action in the first run or in the junction pool with Willow Beck but didn’t get a touch. Just above the junction I got a call from Bob who had fished Isle Beck above the A19 and found that was also high and coloured and had only a dace for his efforts.

I was trying a few casts in the fast run with a heavy goldhead to get down deep when to my utter surprise a fish came up and took the size 10 White Wulf I was using as the “Klink”. I could see it was a decent grayling and it put up a hectic fight in the fast water so I was glad to get it in the net. I managed to get a decent photo releasing it before I tried a few more casts in the same run hoping for more action. In the end I decided to get out as I wasn’t really comfortable wading in the deep fast water, but I had a wander up Willow Beck which actually looks quite good in places but got no action on the Klink and Dink or when I changed back to an Adams Parachute so packed in before I got back to the bridge.

  8th May  –  River Foss (Stillington Beck)

There are a couple of waters on the YTAA list that for some reason I have never bothered to fish. I haven’t tried the River Derwent, Fangfoss Beck or the River Foss at Stillington. I have looked over the bridge at Stillington Mill and wondered about it a few times and today I decided to give it some attention. The member’s card basically says start at the Mill and work upstream so I did but of course I tried my usual trick of going under the bridge first!

I’ve been in YTAA over thirty years but never fished the River Foss at Stillington (Sometimes it’s referred to as Stillington Beck!) and I am sure there hasn’t been a working party on it since I’ve been a member. In fact I don’t think anyone has fished it since I took over recording catch returns and the only person who I know who has fished it in the distant past is the late Jeff Hardy and I don’t know how long ago it was that he fished it.

In the lower parts above Stillington Mill the beck is fairly shallow with easy wading with some great looking pools and runs, the banks are remarkably clear of overgrowth so casting is fairly easy, but apart from one small trout I saw as I got into the beck there was not a lot of action to be had.

As you get further upstream you find a series of deeper pools and I found I was changing back and forth from dry flies to goldheads K&D style to try and find some fish. Eventually on one of the bigger pools I found some small fish rising and I guessed they were tiny chub so I switched to a size 18 black Parachute Emerger and promptly landed a very small dace.

Moving on the beck does get a bit overgrown in places but generally has reasonable casting room. I had to get out once to get around some large woody debris, but it was not as bad as some we have on our other waters. I wasn’t getting any fish but was checking each run and pool in the hope of action. It was warm and sunny, there were buzzards mewing overhead, a couple of Kingfishers came shooting downstream past me, in fact it was a very pleasant day and I was enjoying exploring this water.

Eventually I came to a stop just past a large brick barn on the left bank. I knew this was about three quarters of the way up our beat, but the pool above it was definitely too deep to wade (my 5 foot wading staff was submerged when I tried). I managed to scramble up the steep bank and avoid the electric fence at the top but couldn’t see how to get back in further up. I had been exploring the water for 4 hours and decided enough was enough so walked up the track to the road and back down to the Mill.

It was a shame I hadn’t managed a trout, I’m fairly sure there are some decent fish there to catch on the right day but at least I didn’t blank completely.

  30th April  –  Thirkleby

To say I have been fed up with rain and high water on all the YTAA becks is an understatement. The feeling is even worse when its nice sunny afternoon and the you know the becks are going to be high and fast and muddy, but in the end it was too much and I had to get out and at least look at Isle Beck to see if there was any chance of fishing.

I arrived at the A19 Bridge at half past two and a glance over the bridge showed the beck was high and fast but not too muddy so knowing it might be even better at Thirkleby I headed up to the Mill. Instead of my much favoured Hardy 5 footer I tackled up using my Malcolm Grey 5’ #2/3 as I guessed (correctly!) I would be using a lot of weighted nymphs and a strong breeze that had picked up from nowhere suggested I would need the extra power of the carbon fibre rod.

I do like to use dry flies when it is practical and effective so I started with a Black Emerger on the line and landed a nice 11 inch trout almost straight away. Sadly that was the end of the action on dry flies and I soon switched to a scruffy pheasant tail pattern I had tied up using a bright orange bead that my fishing buddy and I thought might work well in slightly muddy conditions. The beck was certainly going to test out that theory and while it was only about 8 inches higher than normal it was moving fast and was definitely carrying colour.

I fished my way up above the mill and up to the weir pool at the top of our beat, and the orange bead PTN proved its worth and added 4 more trout and a small chub to my bankside log book before I got to the weir.

From a distance the weir pool didn’t look too bad but close up it was running very fast and the bead on the PTN was probably a bit light to get down deep enough so I was about to change to a heavier goldhead when I saw fish rising on the edge of the main current. As I watched I saw that there were several fish rising and taking something from among bits of debris floating just off the current. I switched to the Black Emerger, then a Green Emerger, then an F fly, then an Adams, then a gnat and then I ran out of time.

Nothing I had tried worked but the fish (I think they were chub) had continued to take something on the surface all around my flies, but ignored my offerings, never mind I will be back - hopefully soon.

  25th April  –  Riccal Re-Visited

I didn’t expect to be back at the Riccal so soon after the last frustrating tree hooking session, but David Aspinall offered to come with me to do a little careful trimming of branches to open up some of the inaccessible pools and runs. Our cunning plan was to have 2 hours of branching trimming, a leisurely lunch in the camper and fish in the afternoon.

I left David to fish some of the bits we opened up and headed up stream to start above where we had finished work. Looking down from the high bank in front of one of the large woody dams I could see a very respectable fish sitting just off the current. Problem was there were willow saplings making a cast difficult and the wind was blowing straight across the stream at me. I tried a dry fly but couldn’t get it to land anywhere near the right place. I switched to a goldhead on a K&D rig, but even crouched right down I couldn’t get it through the gap in the willows and a catapult cast got nowhere near the right place. Eventually I switched to a free lined shrimp pattern with a white belly which I hoped would be easy to see as it sunk near the fish and at the third attempt I got it more or less in the right place and the fish immediately moved and took it. It was at this point as I tightened into the fish that I realised that it wasn’t a trout but very good grayling.

Although there are quite a few grayling in the Riccal it is rare for me to catch one, in fact when I checked my records I had only caught 7 grayling in the last 20 years and hadn’t landed a Riccal grayling since September 2021! Anyway I landed this one and at 14.5 inches is the best I have had from the Riccal.

To be honest I was so chuffed with that grayling I wasn’t really concentrating for the rest of the afternoon, but I did get a small trout on a dry which was nice.

After a break for a cup of tea David and I walked down to the bottom of the YTAA beat, it’s not good news and as we expected it is very overgrown. Perhaps David and I will have another trip to the Riccal and have a couple of hours opening up a few more of the better pools.

  21st April  –  River Riccal

I have wanted to visit the Riccal for nearly a month but the gauge has always shown it to be too high (19 cm on the gauge is my preferred height) but with the water dropping and the gauge showing 28cm I thought it would be worth a look. A quick glance over the bridge told me it was a bit high but at least it was running beautifully clear so I tackled up with the Hardy 5’#2.

As I often do I went below the bridge and waded through to fish the pool above the bridge but got no offers and then found that with the extra few centimetres (circa 5 inches) the pool was a little bit too deep for me to safely wade through but I managed to scramble out on the side.

There are a few deepish pools on the Riccal and if the gauge says 19cm with a little care you wade though most of them but not today and I found I was doing quite a bit of scrambling out as the afternoon progressed. It wasn’t all down to deep pools, over winter there must have been some very high water as the banks were strewn with big branches and detritus and in quite a few places there were impressive woody debris dams that also required scrambling around.

It was an hour before I finally hooked and landed a trout, by which time I had hooked more than a fair share of low branches and bank side bushes. In fact the whole beat is becoming a nightmare of low branches reaching out across the river. I can’t remember when we last had a work party above the road bridge but we need one soon or the beat will be unfishable.

An hour and a lot of hooked branches later I landed trout number two. A buttery yellow beauty pushing 5 inches which also took the weighted nymph I had switched to when the dry fly wasn’t working.

Another hour went by before I saw a rise in a fairly open run and switching back to a black F Fly landed him on the third cast. Again a pretty little fish which was to be the last of my session as I had definitely had enough of both low branches and scrambling around obstructions and deep pools.

I do seem to have a love hate relationship with the diminutive River Riccal. It is a beautiful bit of water and on the right day it can be spectacular and produce very respectable trout (and grayling) but yesterday even roll casting and kneeling down to cast the low overhanging branches were a source of frustration. Having said that I only lost two flies to the vegetation and I didn’t blank so it must have been a good day!

  18th April  –  Isle Beck

It has not been the best of weather for beck fishing since opening day, I have been watching the weather and more importantly the river gauges to see when the rivers and becks would be low enough to venture out. Eventually with the water levels still a bit high but gradually falling I got fed up with waiting and decided to at least have a look at Isle Beck to see if it was any good.

Arriving at the A19 I looked over the bridge and although the beck was higher than I like it was reasonably clear so I put up a 6’#3 rod and slipped under the bridge to start. It was 13:30 and as I waded under bridge the rain was just starting. Straight away I saw a decent trout rise near the Alder tree and two casts later he was in the net having taken a black F-Fly.

Having put him back and cleared a branch that was in the water spoiling the top of the “Alder Tree” run I moved on to the big pool above it. Here the extent of the extra few inches of water was easier to see. Not coloured but about 6 inches higher than I like and moving quite a bit faster than I like.

Actually the beck was so fast I was having trouble seeing the F-Fly which was sinking so I moved to the side of the beck to change to a Parachute Emerger that would be more buoyant and easier to see. I was just finishing tying it on when a fish rose a yard or two in front of me, I flicked the line out and a few seconds later a decent grayling was in my log book.

Two fish in 10 minutes felt good but it was not to last. The rain now got steadily heavier and although I missed another trout that tried to take a Grey Wulf on a K&D rig I was using it was the end of catching. I kept trying for another hour and a half getting increasingly damp and disappointed as I discovered a number of tree trunks (big ones!) had been washed down with the high waters and had blocked and spoilt a couple of my favourite pools. By the time I was half way between the bridges I could see the water was getting faster and starting to rise, I was not just damp but my fingers were so cold I could barely reel in line let alone change flies so I retreated to the camper and called it a day.

  25th March  –  Opening Day at Thirkleby

At last the much anticipated opening day arrives, but it is cold it’s wet and the Beck at Thirkleby is a little high, flowing fast and has a bit of colour. I exchanged pleasantries with another YTAA member who decided he wanted to try from the Vicarage Pool so he headed downstream while I headed up from the Mill.

There was nothing doing on dry flies so I switched to a Klink and Dink using a size 12 Pheasant Tail Goldhead and soon had a small trout to start the season off.

A nice 12 inch trout followed shortly after and was the best of the day.

I got a couple more good trout at 10.5 and 9.5 inches and two smaller ones by the time I got to the footbridge at Balk Grange Farm. I was actually quite cold and damp by then so headed back to the Camper to have lunch and warm up feeling quite pleased with the 6 trout I had landed.

After a quick sandwich I walked back up and fished above the footbridge to the weir pool and managed 4 more trout and a small chub. I had expected to get several trout from the Pylon Length and the Weir Pool but didn’t get a touch from either.

When I checked back through my records I found that 10 trout on opening day made it my best ever 25th March start which was nice.

On 26th March the weather was much nicer so just after 3pm found me walking downstream from the A19 bridge to see if could add to my great start to the season. The beck was still a little high, fast and coloured so I wasn’t surprised that there was nothing rising to dry flies. So after a while I switched back to the Goldhead fished K&D but that also produced no takers, in fact I didn’t get a touch or see a fish all afternoon. Never mind I know things will improve as the weather warms up.

Design  StarwebSystems