Outside Days » Rivers

Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Has Riz…

Howard — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 05:02:45 +0000

I wonder where the water is?!

It’s only April and after a statistically dry winter (okay, there were days in the shooting season when it didn’t seem that way), and some unseasonable hot spells, water levels are looking low. Hardly suprising given we’ve had 2mm so far in April, and a miniscule 8mm in March – 10mm that’s a tenth of the average rainfall for this time of year.

The rivers are starting to fine off, with the silt dropping out and summer-style clarity dominating. The weed is getting a jump on the swans and growing at a good rate. As a result, there is plenty of invert life around the riverbank. With granom on the Avon and hawthorne on the Test, I’ll be popping out to flick the fluff before packing my rods for Bosnia, Spain and Argentina.

If you fancy reducing your stress and blood pressure without contorting yourself into a pretzel doing yoga, why not join us on a riverbank or a small stillwater pond? Or get in touch for coaching to improve your rivercraft or casting.

Icelandic Waters

Howard — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 15:55:28 +0000

Infamous for its volcanoes and salmon fishing, Iceland offers the angler outstanding sea trout, brown trout and even arctic char to accompany the legendary leaper. Outside Days offers a range of fishing opportunities from June to October in a number of noted rivers including the Tungulaekur, the Minnivallalaekur, the Galtalaekur, the Breiodalsa and the Jokla. Explore the wild beauty of Iceland rod in hand.

As you would expect from us, packages combining several rivers and species are available and as always we are only too happy to tailor a package to suit. We use a number of lodges, most on a river’s edge, and all designed to provide maximum comfort for guests. Whether your pleasure is wild trout reaching 16lbs, salmon heading for 30lbs, or sea run char and trout in any combination, we are happy to oblige.

Rivers of Gold: Thwarted Yellowfish Fever

Howard — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:05:59 +0000

You know you should find a fish in a river when the river’s name appears in the fish’s! So when we put the shotguns and rifles down long enough to flick fluff in the River Vaal, I fully expected to have the Vaal-orange largemouth yellowfish (Labeobarbus kimberleyensis) yanking my line. Nevermind that its sibling the smallmouth yellow fish (Labeobarbus aeneus) is much more common. I had might sights set on BIG.

Which was just as well: the Vaal is no trout stream or chalk river. Its a monster at 150m wide. Sidling up to it in our Crocs (shoes that is) and shorts, 5-weight rods in hands, we couldn’t help but feel undergunned. I have fished smaller rivers with 15 foot double handed 10-weights. Hours spent scanning the fish-porn online had armed us with a series of facts:
1. The River Vaal is wadeable
2. Yellowfish, regardless of mouth size, readily take dry and wet flies
3. The ‘freshwater bonefish’, even a 2lb yellowfish will take you down to your backing
4. Beware: yellowfish are dangerously addictive even for the experienced user

Unfortunately, as Fact 1 turned out to be…not entirely true, we were never able to prove the veracity or otherwise of Facts 2, 3 and 4. The Vaal had burst its banks six weeks before in floods the likes of which hadn’t been seen in 20 years. Although receding, there was just too much water heading downstream to make dipping more than a toe attractive.

Tiptoeing back along the bank to avoid waking slumbering monitor lizards (an effort put paid to by the dog mistaking one for a fire hydrant), we retreated to the buggy and the safety of our shotguns. Yellowfish fever will have to wait for another trip.

Shooting and Fishing in the Sun!

Howard — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:07:35 +0000

As the 2009/10 season draws to a close we have certainly had our share of weather! From shirt sleeves in November to being almost drowned in December to now being frozen, we’ve seen the lot.

Looking for a chance to get away from it all this spring (Dates TBC) ? I am looking for a clutch of guinea pigs to join me on an exploratory trip to Argentina.

The three locations we are looking to visit are:

Cordoba

World famous for its dove shooting and the enormous number of birds it produces, most of us have heard about this area – Cordoba makes every list of the top places to shoot before you die. Not wishing to cast aspersions about your health, but life is short and this trip is cheap. Why not make it this year?

Northern Patagonia

This relatively new fishing destination offers truly wild rainbows and brownies in a spectacular setting. Couple this with a luxury lodge and you have a memorable adventure.

Tierra del Fuego

When you fish the rivers of the sea trout capital of the world, even the average fish is the fish of a lifetime. We will be fishing the River Menendez were the fish average 16lbs. So pack those 8 and 9 weights and start eating your spinach!

You don’t have to do all three locations. Just pick the one(s) that appeal to you. This is a trial trip so the prices will never be beaten. For more information drop me an email.

Landing Wharfe

Howard — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:00:22 +0000

My erstwhile fishing buddy Tony and I grabbed a day off between walked up days on the grouse moor to fish one of Yorkshire’s premiere rivers, the Wharfe. Taking local advice from the gents clothing shop in Grassington, we rocked up at The Tennant Arms at 9:30 and joined the queue at the bar. The spit and sawdust fishing bar was populated by similarly attired folk checking leaders and flies before the Kilnsey Angling Club’s secretary distributed beats.

Having been issued the Netherside Beat and a stunning map of the fishing waters (almost frameable it is so nice), we made our way out onto the water. There were a few fish rising to pale olives, so being the purists we are we both stuck appropriate dryflies on the end of our leaders (mine was an olive Klinkhammer) and waded out. I was fishing with my Orvis Zero Gravity 5 weight. Tony was fishing with his spaniel Tom. Needless to say, Tom and Tony had the first fish, a lovely 10″ brownie.

While the water was pretty low, and (as it should be) the colour of Yorkshire beer, we still bagged 10 fish between the two of us from 4″ to 1.5lbs in 5 hours of concentrated fishing. Wherever I travel, I pack a rod or two, and slope off to find fishable water. No. 2 claims that I would fish in a dog bowl if it was the only available wet. So no matter where you are headed, business or pleasure, if you fancy an evening’s fluff flicking or a day’s sport fishing, get in touch. I’m bound to know someone with water and sport to spare.

Casts From a Gravel Path: Sea Trout in Low Water

Howard — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:37:39 +0000

Way back in the grim castless days of last season when Toby the Pedant suggested we explore the sea trout possibilities of his local waters, it seemed a fabulous idea. I rounded up some willing guinea pigs, and we made for the wilds of the West Country. The perils of planning a water-dependent venture so far in advance (more than a couple of days) are always amplified when fishing spate rivers like Devon’s. A lovely and DRY spring had Toby praying for rain.

As always, when the rain came, it came too late for the fish, but in plenty of time to drench the fishermen. We arrived for two days fishing and spent the first afternoon doing recognisance of the beats and access points while doing our best to tempt the odd wild brownie out from under the trees. It is always worth looking at a river you intend to fish in the dark BEFORE it gets dark…a river can change in character and lay of the land enormously in a short period of months. Better to identify the obstacles and hazards while you can see and avoid them rather than after you are standing in them. What we found was a sea trout pool with an enormous fallen tree in the middle of it (not there when Toby and I had explored in the spring), water moving so slowly that it was like fishing a pond, and the riffles between pools resembling gravel paths.

Despite the conditions, all five of us caught some brownies, but the sea trout were more elusive, probably queuing down at the river’s mouth waiting for the rain to raise water levels. We heard the odd splash, but only one sea trout was landed. The best bit about guinea pigs is their acceptance of the small pleasures of fishing: although we all had fun, before we offer this as a regular package we need to think long and hard about the impact of water level on these spate streams. Too little, and you find what we did. Too much, and it is like fishing the Nile: you are as likely to hook a hippo as a fish.

Fishing from Spring to See

Howard — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:00:47 +0000

The cool, clear waters of the Austrian rivers are fed by snow melt and springs, ideal for the salmonids they contain in diversity. The Austrians have a saying: ‘If you want to fish for big trout, fish in America. If you want to catch big trout, fish Austria.’ I never got any further than Innsbruck last week, but the tall tales the fishermen there had to tell coupled with the diversity of water I saw have me going back for more.

And they don’t stop with trout: Austria has been blessed with a feast of salmonids from the Danube salmon to the Siberian grayling and Arctic char. While plans are in the works for a lab rat trip to Outer Mongolia (taimen and partridge) for September ’09, Austria provides great value for money much closer to home. Three day Austrian fishing packages start at £500 per rod. If you are interested, get in touch and we can tailor a package to suit.

Splashing Around in the Dark: Sea trout on the Itchen

Howard — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:53:33 +0000

Start eating your carrots: some of the best fishing to be had in the summer months takes place after dark. Sea trout, the peripatetic siblings of the brown trout, return to the streams of their birth to spawn in the summer months. Most active after dark, sea trout are found in numbers in the lower stretches of the chalkstreams, spreading out at they migrate upstream.

The best nights to fish are those when the incoming tide and the start of the ebb are after dark. Seven weight rods provide plenty of power to cast large snake flies. For those brave enough to cast droppers at night (risking tangling and the ensuing unknotting by feel), they maximise return for effort. Fortunately, the mill pool we fish is civilised enough to provide ambient light from street lamps and neighbouring houses, reducing the risks of unscheduled swimming and fishing by feel. Once I’ve settled clients, directing them onto the most likely lies, the wader-filling holes to avoid, I get started on the stream of teas necessary to keep everyone warm and awake.

Like all fishing, catching isn’t guaranteed, but this mill pool is very productive, with bass bagged regularly as well as sea trout. It’s proved so popular, in fact, that we were booked within hours of releasing this years dates. If you are interested in fishing the 2009 season, please don’t dawdle in getting in touch and adding yourself to the waiting list.

Gamekeepa Fishin’

Howard — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:32:59 +0000

All of us need to escape the daily grind now and then, and flicking the fluff for mayfly-delirious brown trout is an addictive relaxant. Headkeeper Martin Broad stole away from the rearing field and the eagle eye of his underkeeper (and wife) to spend an evening on the banks of the River Test. The fishing was still challenging – all that rain has taken its toll on the hatch and the trout’s enthusiasm…or visibility.

A beautiful four pound plus brownie was ample reward for an evening’s patient work. Martin went back to preparing for the arrival of his partridge and pheasant chicks with lower blood pressure and a big smile.

Swan Replaces Trout on the Nation’s Plate?

Howard — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:00:41 +0000

One of the local river keepers is taking issue with the Queen’s diet: she’s not eating enough swan and, unchecked by natural predators, the mute swan population is booming. So, you might ask, what’s the problem? The charge laid at the swans beaks boils down to diet: by grazing on weed, the swans are uprooting valuable insect habitat and reducing the invertebrate populations on the chalk streams.

This, in turn, affects the amount of available fish food, reducing the size of populations sustained on a given stretch and the size of individual fish. Which upsets fisherman and keeper alike. Add to that the swans habit of joining sheep in field to graze, and the farmers aren’t all the keen on the population explosion either.

Over-grazing of weed is less of an issue in years like this one with plenty of water, but in a dry year it can be devastating. Weed works as a semi-permeable dam, helping to maintain water levels. Strategic weed cutting can make or break fishing on a beat. It comes down to conservation or preservation and species priorities when managing a population.

But how do you manage a protected species with a population that is getting out of control? Unique to this protected species is the Queen’s right of consumption: Her Majesty remains the sole legal predator. So the ‘keeper hopes Her Majesty will be serving swan to all her guests this summer.