Outside Days » salmon

Reels at Gin-Clear’s Fly Rise

Howard — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:45:51 +0000

The downside of the CLA Game Fair is that the most interesting people always seem to cross your path when you are juggling other commitments. When Matt McHugh introduced me to director and producer Nick Reygaert, I had my hands full of Orvis gear. Only later when I logged on to his website and read his blog did I realise what I’d missed

The fly fishing equivalent of Cannes, RISE is the world’s largest fishing film festival and on our doorsteps for the month of November. From exotic locations to big fish, cinematographers have captured the epic passions that drive us back to the water over and over. Don’t believe me? Check out Nick’s equivalent of a trailer on YouTube. I’m overcoming my distaste of the Big Smoke long enough to make the London showings…

You Can Save the Atlantic Salmon

Howard — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:11:58 +0000

All of us get those irritating phone calls at dinner time asking for a donation to a worthy cause, or bristle at the 1000s of trees felled to make the envelopes and paper for begging letters that come through the door. I don’t know about you, but in this climate of penny counting, I am being more careful about where and to whom I give my money. Well here is a noble cause backed by plenty of science with your interests at heart: the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Salmon Recovery Project.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (formerly the Game Conservancy Trust), they are a charitable organisation undertaking research into game and wildlife management techniques (they also do the best breakfast at the CLA Game Fair). So when the folks at GWCT got in touch to tell me about the new project they are undertaking to help the recovery of the wild salmon, I knew where I’d be spending my charitable penny.

Atlantic salmon numbers are in a decline so steep it could best be described as a free fall: throughout the fish’s range in northern and central Europe, its numbers are down by 70% in 30 years. The GWCT is aiming to understand what has caused the decline, and how it can be reversed. As a keen fisherman (and as many of you may not know, a fisheries scientist with a MSc in aquatic resource management), I am only too keen to better understand this magical fish, the issues affecting it, and how I can play a role in its recovery. I’ve hit the big yellow button on the GWCT website…will you?

Playing in the Avon

Howard — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:00:12 +0000

Living in close proximity to the director of the British Deer Society has its disadvantages: when they have an auction, he bamboozles me with flattery (as only he can do), and I find myself guiding on the River Avon. Secretly, of course, I am more than happy to support the BDS and its aims, and to share a stretch of river I love. For me, it is the river of my childhood dreams, a real Mr. Crabtree water (giving my age away), packed with coarse fish as well as trout, sea trout, and even the occasional salmon.

Fortunately, the successful bidder and his friend share my views, and could both fish (a necessary skill for having success on this water, packed as it is with wading challenges, trees, barbed wire and uncut weed…never mind wily fish). We were on the river by 11, having trekked downstream in waders that were doing their utmost to resemble portable saunas.

The first fish of the day weighed in at an impressive 3oz…an escapee brownie from a nearby fish farm. As host, you always worry that the first fish is a harbinger of things to come. Fortunately, in this case it was only an easy introduction to day filled with trout from the 3 oz to the monster 3lb that was the biggest the river keeper had seen caught on fly. As dusk began to loom, we had accounted for a wide selection of trout and the odd coarse fish, all of which were returned to fight another day.

Salmon, trout and….tuna?!

Howard — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:37:35 +0000

With my son in an Irish boarding school, I have taken to haunting Ireland’s rivers and coast in search of perfect sporting opportunities. We’ve bagged two new jaunts based around Dingle Bay in County Kerry: salmon and trout on the lower stretches of the River Caragh and albacore tuna on the fly offshore.The Upper Caragh appears in the pages of Salmon & Trout on a regular basis, but until this season, the Lower Caragh was a net fishery. And fly fishing for tuna? The skipper caught the European record albacore in 2007 on lures and is absolutely convinced that the piscine champion of the northern seas will take to the fly.

There are no rod records for the Lower Caragh, so short of sticking a wet finger in the wind and guessing, we can only tell you the Upper Caragh records 250-300 salmon a year, and the net fishery was declaring a similar number. The river is dotted with the riffs, ripples and pools that make salmon fishing so exciting. Sea trout and brownies also run in the river, and there are an abundance of sea bass in the sea pool and estuary, making multispecies days a possibility.

For regular readers of these pages, you’ll know I’m easily goaded into non-traditional sporting challenges, egged on and accompanied by Special John, Kayak Nick, Tobias the Pedant and Tony. When I heard the nearby wildlife touring boat turned its hand to a little offshore tuna fishing for a few months a year, I had to challenge the captain. So he’d caught the European record…could he help me and anyone crazy enough to join me tackle tuna on the fly? He’s game…are you?

***there are still a few places for rods on a trip the first week in August to fish the Lower Caragh’s salmon run***

Spey Casting

Howard — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:02:52 +0000

Occasionally a plan comes together, and I pack the right equipment to make it happen. The estate we have been shooting grouse over pointers on happens to have the River Spey running right through it. This means three things: the potential for brownies, salmon, and fabulous whiskey.Although we didn’t fish it in anger, and didn’t expect the big returns being recorded closer to the sea, all the guns took the opportunity to relax by the river each evening. Even better, everyone caught even if the fish were the same size as the flies.

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.

Orvis Cast and Blast Meon Springs

Howard — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:39:05 +0000

Family-friendly Meon Springs provided the perfect setting for Orvis’ Cast and Blast, and the powers that be provided unbelievable weather despite the best efforts of the meteorologists to convice us otherwise. Even my parents put in an appearance, tried their hand at flyfishing, and went home with a trout for the table. Richard Banbury kept me busy with a reprise of my presentation on large mouth bass, and the debut of an introduction to shooting.

Dickson and Macnaughton, gunsmiths with a concession in Orvis’ Stockbridge store, were kind enough to loan me some choice weapons as props as well as being on hand to offer technical advice. Really it was just a platform for me to vent my pet gunhandling hates that peeve me over the season.

For those anglers out there looking for something a little different, we have just secured a few nights sea trout fishing on a productive tidal pool new to us on the River Itchen. Last year I pulled a PB salmon out at 2am…just after all my clients packed it in for the evening.

Contact us

Christopher — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:03:33 +0000

Our peripatetic habits and Blackberry addiction make email (through the form below) the best way to reach us.

Fishing

Christopher — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:26:57 +0000

Flicking the fluff can take the keen angler around the globe in pursuit of quarry large and small.