River Lune May 28th 2009
I had received a lovely invite to fish on the River Lune from Rob and Annie Rusby and although I have a lot of things going on at the moment, the temptation to go got the better of my conscience. I managed to get off straight after lunch and arrived at the fishing below Kirkby Lonsdale at 3.00pm. As the Rusby's were delivering wine and not arriving until 4.30pm I elected to fish the top most pool Coneygarth, as I had plenty of time to walk up there, and the two labs Tia and Bolly would get some exercise. A quick look at the river revealed a nice water of perhaps a foot above summer levels with a good tea coloured stain to it.
As I had been invited primarily to fish for salmon I put my salmon rod up and after some deliberation elected to put a fairly bushy size 8 cascade double on. However remembering successful times for sea trout later in the season in the past I decided to add a dropper and try to cover all eventualities. The wading is very easy in this pool and I do not think that the bottom is rocky or weedy so I felt it was worth the risk of fishing two flies. Having added a smaller thunder and lightening type double as a dropper I set of.
The afternoon had got even better, it was warm still but some cloud had come over and I walked upstream with some optimism. The pool has a fast running neck which runs into a widening main pool which continues on for some distance gradually getting slower. On this height of water the pool was still a good 200 yards long. I went in just below the neck and was relieved that by tapering my leader and using different sized flies they were turning over perfectly even though I was spey casting rather than overhead casting as I wanted to fish fairly square. After about a dozen casts I got a take as I was stripping near the end of the swim. It dashed of and I thought sea trout immediately and after a brief fight I beached a nice 2lb sea trout on the large cascade which I returned. As I continued down the pool I caught a further 2 sea trout all on the cascade of a similar size and was starting to regret not fishing with my sea trout gear as the fish were outfaced by the 15ft salmon rod.
I then went back to the top of the pool and as the water was clearing rapidly and had fallen back a little I started higher up the neck in the much faster water. I was rewarded with three more sea trout in quick succession and a feeling of pleasure and elation at seeing and catching so many sea trout. The last few years have been increasingly tough for catching sea trout over the whole country and it would be fantastic if there is a recovery in numbers. I returned all the sea trout but would have been tempted to have kept one but did not as I thought that the law prohibited taking all migratory fish until June 15th However on catching up with Robert and Annie they asked if I had kept one and I said “no its illegal” Robert informed me that it was legal to keep a sea trout and that the laws just apply to spring salmon. I disagreed and several friends in the hotel later agreed with me, but a quick google in the morning proved us all wrong and an apology to Robert was due.
Sadly the clearing of the water and a slight drop in temperature signalled the end of the sea trout though Robert did catch a 2lb plus brownie which the water there is stuffed with. We rounded of a special afternoon for me with a meal back home at The Tufton. I owed Robert a favour so I did the wines out of my own cellar. A 1997 Alsace Pinot Gris, Grand Cru as an aperitif and to go with various starters. A 1998 Château Corbin-Michotte to complement the local racks of lamb. Definitely the highlight of the evening the Corbin was judged blind by Robert and he placed it initially as an older wine of perhaps Figeac or Ausonne class in St Emillion. I was delighted as I have several cases of it and have much pleasure in store. With cheese and putting the world to rights we enjoyed an old favourite from Beaune, Phillipe Dufouleurs 1997, Cents Vignes. A perfect end to a wonderful day.
Sea Trout Fishing
Salmon Fishing
Vintage Wines in Cumbria
Showing posts with label sea trout fishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sea trout fishing. Show all posts
Friday, 5 June 2009
Friday, 25 July 2008
Sea Trout Fishing and Salmon Fishing on The River Lune
How often do really good moments in life sneak up on you and surprise you when you are not really expecting it? Often events that you plan and anticipate for ages don't work out as you planned and can prove an anti-climax. I rang up Robert Rusby of Hallamshire wines to get a dozen cases of wine dropped off when he was passing next and he said " what about meeting up on the River Lune below Kirkby Lonsdale as there had been some water last weekend and though the water had dropped, it could have bought some salmon or sea trout in and why not meet up in the afternoon exchange the wines and have a fish? "
Set of late and arrived at Newton at about 4.30 pm, no sign of Rusby and the water looked quite low. Rusby rang to say his day had gone wrong he would not be there until 6.30 ish, but to get started and see what was about. Newton is noted for being the Ogelsby's home beat for many years and the hut has photographs and fishing records of theirs which somehow set the pulse running. It is also remarkable for the reason that the complete river moved in the middle of the beat some 200 yds making the bank we fish double bank when it used to be single bank. It really is quite extraordinary and has to be seen to be believed.
I tackled up and dropped down to 10lb nylon with a dropper and walked up to the very top most pool of the beat thinking that I would leave the best water until later when my host arrived. It was very hot, surely the hottest day of the year so far and the sun was bright but at least behind the fish, with the water at 3ins and very clear. I fished the pool down and started to think about our experiences in Norway. Which meant I started trying to fish more downstream, and more carefully. Whilst trying to wade along the waters edge without making any noise by splashing or disturbing rocks as I walked on them. As you do, I got very absorbed in this, completely in my own little word. When suddenly I was disturbed by a splash and a graunching noise. Tia my Labrador was 50 yds downstream trying to dig a large rock up from the river bed. I felt rather foolish and shouted at the dog, however what was interesting, was how the sound of the rocks she moved carried and presumably vibrated. Food for thought.
Rusby arrived and we had a snack and geared up for sea trout, apparently here traditional flies work well, but a touch of blue can help. I found a few stoats tails and tosh's, a couple of which were the right size and had a bit of blue along with a small thunder and lightening double. There are two favoured areas for sea trout, both with a good stream at the head so we resolved to try the oxygenated streams and observe the pools and then to concentrate when it got dark where we hopefully saw fish. I went to my stream and fished it 3 times with no excitement or sign of a sea trout. A car pulled up on the other bank and a pleasant chap passed the time of day and told me that there were not many sea trout in and I was inclined to agree with him!
I moved upstream to join Robert and compare notes and changed to some bigger flies, the thunder and lightening on the dropper and a shrimp with a tail on the point. Robert had seen nothing either apart from a few parr. As it got dark he continued down the pool and I went in behind in the stream. I went in higher than Robert did as I had a seen a fish move earlier in the day and immediately started catching parr and felt more hopeful. However I reached the bottom of the faster water after nearly an hour and had still not seen a sea trout so wandered down to join Robert and tactfully suggest we went home or found a local pub.
He though had seen several fish start moving in the very slow flats which go on for some 300 yds and suggested I started some 100 yds below him. The water was very slow and I lengthened my line until I thought I was in danger of hitting the other bank. Cast out again and it went solid immediately, I gave it a bit of pull to hopefully pull the fly of the rocks and it went bananas! Not a huge fish, but what acrobatics. I had forgotten how special fishing in the dark is for these wonderful creatures. Got the sea trout gently beached, it had taken the dropper and though we had had a discussion about the merits of 2lb sea trout to eat, considering them the best. I decided to put it it back as it had given so much excitement. Unfortunately though, it had put so much into fighting I could not get it going again properly so had to kill it.
Heard some splashing upstream and could just make out Rusby landing a fish. Went straight back in and after a couple of casts had a solid knock at which I struck, but it was gone. Was I too slow it always feels that way. Carried on had another knock, struck, this time success, a larger fish cartwheels up into the air but then runs hard towards me, I strip line rapidly and stay in touch until the fish is beneath the rod tip. Try to stay in touch and get the fish to run but suddenly I feel the fly ping out. However many times you lose fish the disappointment is always keenly felt and you are never quite ready for it. Robert let out a cry and had lost one as well. Still there was plenty of time left it was only 11.30 pm, but there wasn't. That was it 15 mins of activity otherwise you would not know that there was a sea trout in the river.
We tried for another hour but though it was a lovely night with shooting stars, a ruddy moon that got brighter and a pleasant wind. The reality was that moon was too bright, the wind had a bite to it and the water felt like lukewarm bath water and our fun was over. We exchanged the wines and I drove home happy and planning tomorrow's dinner for two. Fresh Lune Sea Trout with Hollandaise Sauce washed down with a bottle of Faively's 2002 Rully from the bin ends. Life has its compensations.
Nigel Milsom
Fly Fishing Breaks
Set of late and arrived at Newton at about 4.30 pm, no sign of Rusby and the water looked quite low. Rusby rang to say his day had gone wrong he would not be there until 6.30 ish, but to get started and see what was about. Newton is noted for being the Ogelsby's home beat for many years and the hut has photographs and fishing records of theirs which somehow set the pulse running. It is also remarkable for the reason that the complete river moved in the middle of the beat some 200 yds making the bank we fish double bank when it used to be single bank. It really is quite extraordinary and has to be seen to be believed.
I tackled up and dropped down to 10lb nylon with a dropper and walked up to the very top most pool of the beat thinking that I would leave the best water until later when my host arrived. It was very hot, surely the hottest day of the year so far and the sun was bright but at least behind the fish, with the water at 3ins and very clear. I fished the pool down and started to think about our experiences in Norway. Which meant I started trying to fish more downstream, and more carefully. Whilst trying to wade along the waters edge without making any noise by splashing or disturbing rocks as I walked on them. As you do, I got very absorbed in this, completely in my own little word. When suddenly I was disturbed by a splash and a graunching noise. Tia my Labrador was 50 yds downstream trying to dig a large rock up from the river bed. I felt rather foolish and shouted at the dog, however what was interesting, was how the sound of the rocks she moved carried and presumably vibrated. Food for thought.
Rusby arrived and we had a snack and geared up for sea trout, apparently here traditional flies work well, but a touch of blue can help. I found a few stoats tails and tosh's, a couple of which were the right size and had a bit of blue along with a small thunder and lightening double. There are two favoured areas for sea trout, both with a good stream at the head so we resolved to try the oxygenated streams and observe the pools and then to concentrate when it got dark where we hopefully saw fish. I went to my stream and fished it 3 times with no excitement or sign of a sea trout. A car pulled up on the other bank and a pleasant chap passed the time of day and told me that there were not many sea trout in and I was inclined to agree with him!
I moved upstream to join Robert and compare notes and changed to some bigger flies, the thunder and lightening on the dropper and a shrimp with a tail on the point. Robert had seen nothing either apart from a few parr. As it got dark he continued down the pool and I went in behind in the stream. I went in higher than Robert did as I had a seen a fish move earlier in the day and immediately started catching parr and felt more hopeful. However I reached the bottom of the faster water after nearly an hour and had still not seen a sea trout so wandered down to join Robert and tactfully suggest we went home or found a local pub.
He though had seen several fish start moving in the very slow flats which go on for some 300 yds and suggested I started some 100 yds below him. The water was very slow and I lengthened my line until I thought I was in danger of hitting the other bank. Cast out again and it went solid immediately, I gave it a bit of pull to hopefully pull the fly of the rocks and it went bananas! Not a huge fish, but what acrobatics. I had forgotten how special fishing in the dark is for these wonderful creatures. Got the sea trout gently beached, it had taken the dropper and though we had had a discussion about the merits of 2lb sea trout to eat, considering them the best. I decided to put it it back as it had given so much excitement. Unfortunately though, it had put so much into fighting I could not get it going again properly so had to kill it.
Heard some splashing upstream and could just make out Rusby landing a fish. Went straight back in and after a couple of casts had a solid knock at which I struck, but it was gone. Was I too slow it always feels that way. Carried on had another knock, struck, this time success, a larger fish cartwheels up into the air but then runs hard towards me, I strip line rapidly and stay in touch until the fish is beneath the rod tip. Try to stay in touch and get the fish to run but suddenly I feel the fly ping out. However many times you lose fish the disappointment is always keenly felt and you are never quite ready for it. Robert let out a cry and had lost one as well. Still there was plenty of time left it was only 11.30 pm, but there wasn't. That was it 15 mins of activity otherwise you would not know that there was a sea trout in the river.
We tried for another hour but though it was a lovely night with shooting stars, a ruddy moon that got brighter and a pleasant wind. The reality was that moon was too bright, the wind had a bite to it and the water felt like lukewarm bath water and our fun was over. We exchanged the wines and I drove home happy and planning tomorrow's dinner for two. Fresh Lune Sea Trout with Hollandaise Sauce washed down with a bottle of Faively's 2002 Rully from the bin ends. Life has its compensations.
Nigel Milsom
Fly Fishing Breaks
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