15th April  –  Isle Beck Frustration Below the A19 Bridge

I wanted to fish Isle Beck below the A19 again before the weather breaks so early afternoon found me well down the beck by the little copse which is as far as the working parties reached.

I tried dries but with nothing much happening in the way of rises switched to a goldhead and for 40 minutes or so nothing kept on happening. Then I saw a goodish trout rise twice so changing back to an Adams Klinkhammer and cast to where he had been rising. He took it straight way, I felt him but just as quickly I somehow pulled the hook out.

Moving on and switching back to the goldhead I hooked and lost a grayling, then in a bigger pool I missed two takes in succession from what were probably small grayling. This was getting frustrating as I had been fishing for 2 hours and hadn’t landed a fish, however the next cast produced a firm take and I managed to keep a 10 inch grayling on and into my riverside log book.

I moved upstream and a few minutes later a good take produced a very lively 12 inch trout that also stayed attached to get in the record book.

I had hoped this was the start of a great late afternoon session but I got no more action before I reached the A19 Bridge. I was going to pack in but looking upstream over the bridge I could see the “Alder tree trout” rising. I watched for a couple of minutes and he kept rising so I changed back to a dry, carefully waded under the bridge and cast to where he had been rising. Sure enough he took the fly first time and I promptly pulled it straight out! My frustration afternoon was complete.

  10th & 11th April  –  River Riccal

The weather is still holding up and I decided to have a good go at the Riccal hoping that the trout there would be in a better mood for taking dry flies than has been the case on the other waters I have fished so far this season.

On the 10th I fished above the road bridge which is one of my favourite bits of the Riccal and I was not disappointed. The River itself looked perfect; in fact I don’t think I have seen it as clear and sparkling.

I made a good start with a small but perfectly formed trout that took a goldhead on the edge of a fast run, under 7 inches but they all count towards the rather ambitious target I have set myself to try and catch from YTAA waters this season.

After the first trout things slowed down and it was 40 minutes before I found a rising trout. He ignored an F Fly I drifted over him several times but I changed to a small Adams Parachute and he took it first time.

I had fished almost to the top of our beat without any further action and decided to walk back down and re-visit some of the pools just above the bridge. It had been 2 hours since the last trout but a rising fish by the river level gauge took the Adams Parachute and was added to the log book.

It was another 40 minutes before I added to my tally with two trout in consecutive casts from the same run, both taking an Adams Klinkhammer. The Klinkhammer version does sit just a little lower in the water than the parachute version and sometimes works better. Anyway these last two trout were enough. Just 5 trout in 5 hours fishing felt like hard work, but it was a nice warm day and amongst other things I had found some brook lamprey clearing a spawning redd, which I haven’t seen on the Riccal before.

I was back on the Riccal by mid-afternoon on 11th April for a shorter session hoping to see some action and maybe even an evening rise.

This time starting at the bottom of our beat I appreciated how open it is after our working parties, but it was still half an hour before I got off the mark with a near 10 inch trout on the goldhead. After this trout, things went downhill and it was nearly 2 hours before I got a similar size trout on an Olive F Fly.

By this time it was clear that the repairs to the left leg of my waders were not as good as I had hoped and I had a very soggy feeling from my left knee down so I decided to call it a day, in any case another YTAA member had arrived for an evening session and I was happy to leave him space to enjoy what was left of the day.

Oh I nearly forgot to mention I saw two more rarities I haven’t seen on the Riccal before. The first was a bullhead – a good indicator species for clean water and I also saw a native white claw crayfish, itself quite a rare sight in UK rivers.

  8th April  –  Above the A19 Bridge

Another outing today in my quest for trout.

It is early days for the trout season but at the moment it feels like hard work. At least today I did see two rising fish neither of whom ended up on my line. An hour and a half of careful stalking and casting produced nothing but about half way up our beat there is a deep pool with loads of casting room and using a goldhead on a Klink and Dink rig I finally hooked a lively trout which was safely netted, measured at 10.5 inches and after a quickly photo safely released.

Half an hour later in one of my favourite pools a better trout took the bulk parachute fly I was using as the Klink and after brief but hectic battle on my little hardy rod was safely in the net. This trout was 12.5 inches and was also quickly photo’d and safely released.

I did see one more trout and it was a very good fish indeed, it was just off the current in a big pool and kept sipping in flies. I watched it for a few minutes before changing to a black F Fly and carefully checking the hook knot and all the joins in my cast, as a I said this was a very good fish and I expected it would be a very lively battle. I moved as close as I dared without disturbing him and watched as he continued to sip flies. I dropped a fly just in from of his last rise expecting an instant take but nothing happened, I cast again and then again but somehow I must have spooked him because he never showed again, I even waited for 20 minutes to see if he would come back but he didn’t. Still I know where he hangs out and there is plenty more season to come.

  5th April  –  A hard day at Ings Farm

The plan was to have a couple of hours on Howkeld Beck and then a couple more on the Dove and hopefully get a net full of trout. However it didn’t quite work out like that.

Howkeld beck looked pristine running beautifully clear but I didn’t see any rises at all and only managed one grayling on a goldhead.

I’d had enough after 2 hours and walked back down to try the Dove. The Dove was also looking good running clear and maybe a little fast. I sat and watched one of the good slabs pools as I had a quick sandwich but again didn’t see a single rise.

I tried a few dries as there were plenty of flies about but got no takes so switched back to a goldhead and got a nice 11 inch grayling from one of the faster runs.

Everything went dead for nearly 2 hours and then I got some action landing two grayling and losing a third one in three consecutive casts. The first of these was a touch over 12 inches and put up a big fight in the fast current. I had hoped this sudden spell of action might mean a nice evening rise but it wasn’t to be and I had to settle for just the four grayling

  25th and 26th March  –  Season Starters

Well at last 25th March opening day arrived and as working parties had done a great job below the A19 I decided to start down there. It is quite a walk down to the little copse but I was fishing by 11:15 and catching the first trout before 11:17. A great start to what I hope will be a bumper season.

A few minutes later I was pleasantly surprised to see our Honorary Secretary appear on the bank above me and after a brief chat he went off upstream a couple of hundred yards and we agreed to leapfrog each other as we made our way back to the A19 bridge.

Actually by the time I caught up he had already landed two and was about to start on a good pool so I left him in peace and moved up. I soon caught a second trout and then Bob passed me having caught “a real clonker” from the pool where I left him. I stopped to have an early lunch and to give Bob a chance to get well ahead.

I only managed one more trout albeit the best of my day and by the time I got back to the Bridge Bob had left. (I later found out he had managed 5 trout and a grayling so that was a good start.)

The next day I decided to have a look at Thirkleby hoping for a better catch rate. I was disappointed to find more trees down both below the Mill and above it and between the Mill and the footbridge near Balk Grange Farm a lot of rubbish and blockages.

Above the footbridge there is just the same blockage but it has got bigger overwinter but is passable.

I was struggling to catch anything but eventually a goldhead fished in the deep water at the top of the “Pylon length” produced a take and I was very glad to get a 9 inch trout safely on the net.

Moving up I saw a very large and clearly well fed dog fox run off up stream, and then a few minutes later a black mink ran off into the bankside undergrowth.

It was starting to get cool so I skipped a couple of runs to have some time to fish the weir pool at the top of our beat, but again I didn’t get a touch.

I was actually very glad I had managed not to blank and while only 4 trout over the 2 days doesn’t seem much it is still very early in the season and things should start to pick up in the next 10 days.

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