Creeping through the undergrowth…………….

Here am I, creeping through the undergrowth, listening to a bird, hearing a calf call its mother as it rejoins the herd, discovering an orchid, watching a busy insect or sometimes just sitting on the river bank, observing all around me and reflecting on nature. But what am I?

 I am a fisherman. Everyone has their reasons to go fishing but for me, it’s understanding the whole environment that makes a person a better fisherman than somebody that just goes to catch fish. Let me explain as I am not just a fisherman but a hunter and the first rule of any type of hunting is to know your prey; their habits, habitat and their defences.

Every species of animal has a number of defence mechanisms, whether it is sight, smell, hearing, vibration detection or just plain flight. Once all these are understood, the prey can be approached almost undetected. If I want to approach a rabbit or a deer, the first thing I do is to keep out of sight. I also make sure I am down wind - keep the wind in my face. This has two functions, it blows smell away from the prey and any sound made is carried away by the wind.

But what has this to do with fishing?    Well, the trout has three very acute senses, sight, smell and sound in the form of vibration through the water, which is picked up by the trout by sensory organs along its lateral line. Look for a rising fish, then tap two stones together under the water and see how long it continues to rise.

Remember what was said about the importance of the wind, in the case of fish, the current of the water is our wind, but we must also look at the position of the sun. We must not cast a shadow over the fish as it will see us. The current, if we approach from downstream will carry any smell or vibration away from our prey. In this way it is possible to get closer and into a better position and yet still remain undetected. Trout have  good eye sight and because they lie facing upstream where the majority of its food comes from, any shadow or movements would be detected and send it darting for cover.

 This is only part of the rules. Know your prey, the next, is to find out as much as you can about its habits, its diet, what time it leaves its lair and what’s the favourite feeding position. We will cover this later but now, know your environment.

What is a river? A silly question? We have all walked a river; we know what kinds of fish it holds. Why? Because we have probably been told. However, if you come across a stretch of river and have no knowledge of the water, would you know what fish are likely to be there, which, of course determines what method to use to catch them. It is therefore prudent to provide a biological description of a river.

 The moving waters of streams present quite different living conditions from those found in still waters and ponds. What is more, the conditions vary as one moves up and down the stream. It is possible to divide a stream into several regions according to its animal and plant life.

The upper reaches of a stream form the headwaters. These are usually on high ground and are normally shallow and fast flowing. There is plenty of oxygen here, and the main problem for the resident population is to avoid being swept away. The only plants that manage to grow here are algae that attach themselves to the rocks. A few small snails crawl along the bed of the stream but the main animals are the young stages of various insects; flattened nymphs of some mayflies and stoneflies cling to the stones and nibble away at the algae. There are also caddis larvae, which make themselves little cases of sand or plant grains.

 The headstream gradually merges into the ‘troutbeck’ region. The slope is not as steep here but the bed is still rocky and the water runs quickly. A few patches of water crowsfoot may grow on the stream bed, but there is little other vegetation apart from the algae. The flattened insect nymphs of the headstream also live in this region, together with various snails and the river limpet. The limpet has a conical shell, but is not closely related to the limpets of the sea shore. Fish make their appearance in the ‘troutbeck’ region. They are either strong swimmers such as the trout or they hide among the stones and boulders - the loach and bullhead are among these bottom dwelling species. All feed on insect nymphs or on adult insects that fall onto the water surface.

The next stretch of river is usually called the minnow reach. The current here is slower and a certain amount of sand and gravel covers the bed of the stream. There are plenty of water plants and animal life is also more abundant. There are many different kinds of water snails, dragonfly nymphs, mayflies, and other insects. The minnow is the typical fish, but there are also sticklebacks, lampreys, dace, grayling, trout and salmon. Another common insect is the fresh water shrimp, which darts over the sand and among the plant stems.

 Below the minnow reach, the river gets deeper and slower. This is called the ‘cyprinoid’ reach, characterised by coarse fish such as roach, rudd, perch, pike, chub, bream and carp. The slower moving water deposits plenty of mud and plants are able to grow along the margins; worms, water snails and mussels are common in the mud. There is a certain amount of floating plankton in this stretch of river, especially in the weedy parts, but it is never as common as it is in the still waters of a pond.

 There, that is a river. Now that piece of running water you came across becomes more recognisable as to what stretch of river it is, what is likely to be living in it, and so, provides a clue how to fish it.

This is the importance of the second rule of hunting/fishing; know your environment.

You have found your prey, the conditions are right, so you now have to catch it. Apart from shooting and the use of dogs, traps are used and whatever type of trap you use, the prey has to be enticed into it. This is the second part of the first rule, know your prey. For a trap to be successful you have to bait it and the best bait is something the prey wants! In the case of fishing, the hook is the trap and the fly is the bait. This is where it is essential to know the habits of your prey, its diet and when it feeds.

Trout essentially feeds on water borne insects, but it also has its predatory side, taking small fry of its own species, minnows, and elvers. However, insects are the main part of its diet, so this is what we need to take advantage of, giving them what they want. This method of trapping your prey is commonly known as fly fishing.

The two main types of fly fishing use surface flies or sunken sub surface insects. You will understand this a little later when I talk about entomology. But now we are looking at habits, diet and feeding times.

 Firstly, where to fish. Well, in the case of a rising fish, the problem is solved. You can see where he is. The trout feeding on surface flies sips them as they float towards him. This is the rise. So you give him what he wants by casting a dry fly a couple of yards above where you saw the rise and letting it float over him, hoping it’s to his liking.

 In the case of sub surface flies, you are not casting to a rising fish as you don’t know exactly where he is. But there are things you can do or not do! The first is not to cast aimlessly or blindly into a pool. Remember that I said that a trout is always looking upstream for the river to bring food to him. Look at or into the water and you will have plenty of indications to the trout’s position. Other insects come floating by, or bits of debris. Where did they come from, which current brought them into the pool, which line did they take as they passed through the pool? Once this is established, you will know the likelihood of this being the food trail, and you can bet the trout know this too and this is where they are likely to be. So now you are not fishing blindly but with an education, which brings confidence in your casting and a definite advantage over someone who just chucks and chances it

What have we established so far in this article? Well, you know your prey, you know your habitat, you know where to find your prey and where they are likely to be feeding, and more importantly you know how to approach your prey using stealth. Lastly you know their general diet. I say general diet, but you really have to know their diet in particular. The trout is a very particular feeder. When he is taking a particular fly, he will touch no other. On the other hand, he could be feeding on two or three different types of fly at the same time. This can only be established by observation and a good fisherman spends just as much, if not more, time observing than actually fishing. What are we looking for?  We are watching for flies either floating down river, or taking off the river, the general colour   and size of the flies and most importantly, are the trout taking them.  Flies taking off from the water usually mean a hatch is on and this is the time for the fisherman to get out his fly rod. But what brings a hatch on? This is the time to examine that word again, entomology. This is the study of insects, in this case, water borne insects.  The flies you see floating down the water with their wings held upright where actually born or hatched on the stream bed. They live as larvae or nymphs for as long as three years, or short enough to allow three generations in one year depending on the species.  Most are vegetarians, one or two carnivorous. They live in the gravel beds, cling to the stones or bury themselves in the mud. Some will get washed away by the current and this is the time when fishermen will use a sub surface artificial nymph to tempt the trout.  The nymphs go through various moults and will develop wing cases in which their developing wings are protected. Just before the final moult of larval skin, they come to the upper layers of water ready to emerge. This is when we use a wet fly sub surface imitations but with their wings tied back, for they are still enclosed in the larval sac. When they finally emerge on to the surface and this sac is discarded, they will float down stream holding their wings high to dry ready for their first flight, which is usually a weak effort. This is the time when we see the fish rising and therefore fish the dry fly.

 So, there you have it. Are you a fisherman or a hunter? They are one and the same, following the same rules.  Know your prey, their habitat, learn stealth and most importantly, practise observation and, as with all pursuits, be patient.

Whether for the experienced or inexperienced, there are always tips to be learned. However, some rules are set in stone from time immemorial. Learn them and they will stand you in good stead.
So, get out there and good hunting.

Peter Hayes.

River Fly Life Monitoring

All Fly fishers should be aware of what fish are potential eating, a basic statement, but do we?
As a club Rossett & Gresford Fly fishers joined a national scheme in June 2007 to monitor fly life in our river, take accurate reading, and spot improvements & more importantly any fall in the numbers of invertebrates. By monitoring bi monthly a picture of fly life & food source for the fish is built up. Patterns can be developed to suit the main items of food for trout / grayling. It also reminds the fly fisher that these food items do not always come in a standard size 10 !!!
Over a number of years I have run the “River Walk” on the Alyn & have always been amazed by people reaction to the insects shown on the day, with comments like “how do fish see those things” or “isn’t there a lot of shrimp, do trout eat them?” Very simple entomology is a great starting tool to better fly-fishing!!
To give an idea what is involved, please read on.
Classroom work
The classroom work was held at BASC Headquarters Marford Mill in Rossett. Some members needed a caffeine fix to get started!! An agenda for the day was laid out with work split between classroom & the river. 1st part was the talk & a view of the basic equipment. Samples were brought in from another river, just to give an idea how to separate, identify & record the species found. Syndicate exercises helped people to get used to the work
Once insects were separated, then detailed checks could be made! From a fly tying point of view, using a microscope shows up a lot of detail – that may or may not help. With a microscope it seems better, if only they would stop moving! Help “again” was always at hand. There was some confusion with young & adult invertebrates. On small size examples it may difficult to differentiate between baetidae & stoneflies, without the aid of a magnifying glass or microscope.
River work
Please note that a risk assessment was carried out & everyone who entered the river was asked to use a lifejacket!!  6x teams of two collected samples for training purposes. These were washed and bulk sorting in the river with the results passed over for identification. To help with identification & counting a sorting tray was used and a pipette!! – Very handy when identifying & counting smaller numbers of a particular species
All the relevant information was collated, & recorded A surprising fact was that of the 6 team’s samples the smallest number of shrimp collected was 500 to a maximum of 2,500!!! This was a shock to most involved & made them re think their fly patterns for the colder parts of the season or when there was no evidence of a rise (all teams were within 10m of each other).
Following on from the course
From the course our river was split into areas & teams allocated to sample on a regular basis, under a central club coordinator. This was so results could be fed back to the EA & put onto their database.
November dip
My team’s area, just below Gresford weir. This is above the sewage farm outfall, so will give a good indication of the state of the river. Historically the sewage farm has been our main source of pollution.
A 3-minute kick sample was taken across the width of the river, so a broad sample of insect life could be checked. See the results picture.
January dip
By January 2008 we were getting better with collecting & identifying – sample
Flat bodied up wings, in a range of sizes.
Cased caddis – non found before
Stonefly by it’s self
Caseless caddis
Shrimp (Gammarus) – no where near as many compared with November (1/6 of Novembers results)
As can be shown from the pictures, there are considerable differences between the November & January survey. There was a distinct lack of BWO (Ephemerellidae) & a reduction of Olives (Baetidae) (1/5) in January. It will be interesting to see what March shows in the survey. Based on my catch returns for 2007 I expect a marked increase in shrimp, Olives & BWO!!
Food sources while not in short supply, are markedly less than spring & summer, so fish will be more aware when feeding, what is available. Unlike the summer months when there is a multitude of food types. Therefore it will pay to match what is around in the early part of the season. Shrimp & Nymph patterns should pay off in March.
Eddie

We were really looking forward to this years Game Fair especially after last year had to be cancelled due to the terrible weather. Our campaign had started a few months ago by booking a hotel only a couple of miles from the venue; as past experience suggested getting to these events can involve sitting for ages in the car wishing you were already there. We printed out a program for the fishing and a general one for all events as they charge an arm and a leg for a heavy, glossy booklet full of advertising which then has to be lugged around, all we want to know is what is happening and where. I prepared a cool box with enough food to last for most of our stay at the Game Fair so we could eat when and where we wished; knowing we were eating good food without feeling we were being ripped off for fatty rubbish, but if there was something we really fancied we could buy it. We also decided to leave on the Thursday so we could have a look around Oxford enjoy a meal out, relax and have a good nights sleep, as we intended being up reasonably early the following morning and get to the Fair before most of the predicted traffic chaos, the local news was also warning of the possible trouble ahead.           
Friday wake up, have a much needed cup of tea while persuading the body it needs to get up and going so early; prepare sandwiches for breakfast and leave the hotel at 7am. Already the traffic build up is hectic and getting around the first roundabout out of the hotel is bedlam. It was a nervous time as Simon maneuvered the car into the general direction we needed to go as it was already gridlocked. We listened to the Game Fair Radio station so we had an idea of what was going on as they had a helicopter keeping everyone updated on the situation, which seemed to only be getting worse by the minute. Being nearly stationary it seemed as good a time as ever to have breakfast and relax. It took us 45 mins to travel 2 miles but at least we were now in the car park.
I was surprised at how far the car park was from the actual site and getting into the Game Fair you had to at actively look for a map and facilities, maybe another way of getting you to buy a brochure. Having found a general map we quickly got our bearings and the fishing village was easy to find but I noticed there didn’t seem to be much in the way of Falconry this year. Heading to the Fishing Village there weren’t many trade stands and the Grayling society weren’t there either. Speaking to someone they said that it is getting extremely expensive to have a stand at shows like these and many people are getting priced out of appearing. That seems a pity as such large events are a great to showcase the countryside in all its many and varied forms to the interested public; as most events these days it is becoming a great corporate weekend away networking. Looking around there didn’t seem to be many of the advertised so called show bargains but I kept for an eye out for the fishing vest I was looking for and a few other odds and ends. Having looked around I decided to take a seat and watch some of the fishing demonstrations and it is wonderful to see great artists at work, they all performed wonderfully making effortless casts and it was very entertaining. Michael Evans gave a history of casting over the past 50 years and I was fascinated by the little rod he had designed especially to help him teach children, it seemed to be a very forgiving tool but all rods were in his very capable hands. As the heat was over bearing we decided to have lunch under the trees by the fishing area so we could see what was going on without baking. Sitting there Simon noticed something in the water moving towards us and on closer inspection it was a beautiful grass snake heading in our direction, it extended its head further out of the water and looked all around before deciding that there were far too many people around to come to shore so it moved on a little further, again it looked around several times before moving further upstream. One thing the organizers did get right were the amount of drinking facilities available for all the dogs at the Fair as it was a scorching weekend; the river was also used to cool many a heated pooch and one company had baths available for dogs to cool off in. There seemed to be four toilet facility areas around the fair so there was always either planning needed to be in the right area to see something and not be too far away or a hike. But, I have to say I found the attendants kept them clean and fully supplied and the queues weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be. It was now time for a much needed drink of anything apart from water, so we went to a bar for a much need reliving pint of cider as that seemed like it would be a refreshing option. I went to see the Falconry display and have a general wander around the other areas of the Fair I found a few falcons in a corner but there didn’t seem to be a dedicated falconry area this year. Simon went to look around the fishing village but as we were around the main arena there was no way I was going to walk down only to return to the arena later to see the Kings Troop as I was starting to feel shattered, so I stayed and looking around and saw things in the other arenas waiting for the last event I wanted to see. Having seen the Kings Troop we decided we had seen most of what we wanted to see for one day and it was time to hike all the way back to the car and have a much needed rest as I was tired and the heat wasn’t helping. To our annoyance the people selling tomorrows tickets cheaper had gone home for the day and it was only 5pm, but all I wanted to do now was get to the car ASAP and get off my feet. I found my second wind as I made it up the hill to the car park Phew!! Back to the hotel for a much needed bath and a relaxing glass of red.
Now the body was feeling human again it was off to the park and ride not far from the hotel, we travelled into Oxford for dinner. It is great being able to sit outside to enjoy a meal while people watching and just relax after a very long day. Off to the bus stop, back to the hotel and yes,” I know I have to be up reasonably early tomorrow as well”.
On Saturday after getting ready we set off around the same time as yesterday, only this time it was breeze getting towards the game fair. The only problem was that  this time the people running the car park sent a number off cars including ours past the turn we expected to go into, causing us having to go a queue for ages to get into another car park. While Simon was furious at the time as we spent more time sitting in the car, we were saved a fair walk as we were closer to the entrance as well as being saved the up hill walk we endured yesterday to return to the car. As we had seen all we wanted to see yesterday, today could be spent at a far more leisurely pace and the things we saw we would  purchase. Having spent most of yesterday around the fishing part we started at the food halls and the first thing I really missed was a decent cup of coffee which was swiftly followed by a bison sausage roll which was delicious. Feeling revived we set off towards the fishing village where we saw Michael Evans casting, when he was finished talking to other people in the enclosed area Simon addressed him and he come to see us. Then we talked about the rod we saw him use yesterday that he designed to help him teach young children to cast. It was amazing as a teaching tool as it was so forgiving all it seemed to want to do was to be cast, it even forgave a broken wrist motion which while not to be encouraged at least the general idea of casting could be achieved giving the user confidence they were able to do it. After using the rod we asked if they were for sale and were given a brochure. Then we set off to look for my fishing vest, Simon and I both saw the same vest but at different times it was made by fishpond for Ladies. Once at the stall and having asked how much the ladies vest was the gentleman bought out a mans vest; then after restating I was interested in the ladies vest wonders of all wonders they didn’t have one in stock. We negotiated on the price and as Simon paid for the vest I was asked if I fished, polite conversation was starting to annoy.  Having made a few other purchases and chatting to people we knew it was decided to look around and see some of the things we missed yesterday. The heat again was exhausting and a drink and sandwich were needed, we found a seat under a tree and it was a relief getting out of the sun. Being a Saturday the place was heaving with both people and dogs and after looking at the program as there was nothing further we were desperate to see we decided to amble back to the car and return to the hotel for a cool swim.
Maybe we will leave it for a few years before going to the next large Game Fair because at the end of the day you are paying an increasing amount of money to go into a shopping arena; and this year there were fewer shops to look around as well as less show offers around. Most of the demonstrations were the same word for word as the last time we saw them and the time after that but is always great seeing casting at its best. The spey casting was mesmerizing and great to watch form the bridge as were all the young people and ladies willing to have a go at casting a fly rod. The children having a go at course fishing were delighted at also being given a rod to take home with them making them ready to get started at minimal cost to the parents, I didn’t notice the same going out to those trying the fly casting but I may have missed that. Yes I enjoyed the weekend but you have to treat it as a weekend way that can turn out very expensive with purchases.
Sonia.