Dan O’Neill is back with the 11th instalment of his River Whispers series where he goes over basic fly casting technique, he interviews Denis Goulding about rainbow trout and Anthony O’Neill gives an angling update of his own..
Only the beautiful colours of the leaves tell us we are in autumn. Mild weather and the river looking slim, trim and relaxed. We hit the canals for perch a couple of evenings and had some really good sport on light gear. The water is quite clear so the flash under the surface as the perch hit the lure, we quickly became addicted to. It’s amazing how far the mind can drift away when fishing this way, there was one weed bed in particular I remember. I was bouncing the lure along the bottom watching the action of the lure sync with my rod tip movements (for once) and just as it passed the weed bed a perch’s head poked out from just behind the weedbed. The fish took a look and slowly retreated back to cover, seeing off my lure. Fantastic experience.
Anthony of course stole the show, he moves around and has begun to fish to a plan. He really reads the river and targets hit zones. I on the other hand take the chuck it and chance it approach when it comes to lure fishing and quite enjoy it.
Anthony’s recent catches
With mid-term passed I got to do quite a bit of fishing with Anthony. We fished 2 days in Oaklands and 3 days on the River Barrow. All trips were quite successful. The highlight was Anthony’s PB pike on the fly. Daniel also fished with us and at the age of 5 did very well, landing his first perch on lure and unfortunately losing a jack pike just at the bank which was the netman’s fault (Me).
Oaklands didn’t disappoint and we had some good carp fishing. Anthony had a couple of nice mirrors and plenty of commons. We fished peg 27 both days and enjoyed it. Daniel was with us to and caught plenty of silvers and a few carp. We enjoyed a lovely bankside lunch followed by a cup of tea, what a way to relax.
I suppose the most rewarding thing for me was to watch Daniel and Anthony working together on the same peg to catch fish. The picture I attached is one I keep looking back on and smiling warmly as it shows Daniel looking up to his big brother Anthony.
The pike
What a fish! My dad would tell me stories of pike taking ducks, small dogs and many other species. The excitement I had and also a slight fear that such a creature lived in the river I fished in. My first experience with a pike was with a Flying C. My dad caught a specimen perch on a Flying C so I would always give it a go when fishing was slow to try to nab a good perch. However, it didn’t happen for me but on one occasion a pike inhaled the Flying C about 5ft from the bank and I was in. My first pike back then was 20 pounds or so I thought. Looking back on it now it was more like 5- or 6-pounds max.
So where do we start for pike. I am going to speak a bit about fly fishing for pike, later on in the editions we will get in an expert on dead baiting and other methods but for now let’s talk about fly fishing for pike.
What we need: I use a 9wt rod mostly and even go 10wt at times. I have a selection of polyleaders from di3 to di7 all are 10ft. The river I fish I find these perfect. It’s very important to use wire traces as these toothy critters would make short work of monofilament.
How do i set up my rod? Where I fish I use a floating line with a di3 Poly leader usually which is 10ft. If fishing shallower water or canals I may use a 7ft one. I then use 15-pound Maxima usually about 2-3ft of it to my wire trace with is usually 20cm. You can of course make your own to a custom length if you wish. Let’s go with ready-made ones for now.
Flies? There are so many. Check out what fish are in the area you fish. Mostly where I fish it’s roach, dace and perch. Stuart Wylie has some great patterns and I use his perch patterns most of the time.
What size flies should I use? Pike flies, as you know, come in very different sizes. If I am fishing canals I tend to use anything from 4 inch to 7 inch flies in silverfish patterns / perch patterns. Some of the fly tyers have their own designs that work to so don’t be afraid to ask.
How do I retrieve the fly? Drop the fly in the water and move your rod tip, we are trying to imitate a fish in trouble / injured. Watch it dance around and use the same movements when you cast in the fly, allow to sink and move the rod tip to make the fly dance in the water, get ready!!!
Pike have a lot of teeth how do I unhook them? I use a landing mat to lay the fish on. I have a long forceps so I can take the hook out without having my hand too close to the fish’s mouth. Handle the fish with care and confidence. The fly usually is just in the corner of the mouth and deep hooking is very rare. These fish, although they look fierce and tough, are quite delicate, handle them with care and if unsure then take a friend who has some knowledge of pike fishing with you. Reach out to a pike angler and ask for some advice. I lower the fish into the water in the net to let it recover after the battle. Give it a couple of minutes and then just turn it out of the net.
Summer guiding and what I miss
Guiding is quite addictive. You begin to use your time slot with your client wisely. Getting to know them, catching them a fish, helping them to relax and enjoy the trip and exchanging knowledge. My guiding mornings start at 4am, usually, in the summer. What a fabulous time of the morning to be active. I grab my trusty Yeti cup after a couple of Weetabix and off I go to face nature’s equivalent of the school run.
Nature at that hour can be a little sleepy especially the blackbirds, pigeons and rabbits. The roads are extremely busy with nature as they are when the school run kicks off in the mornings.
Getting to the river the morning mist blankets the river and sometimes the surrounding area. Setting the rods up and sipping on coffee as the birds whistle and sing always makes me think I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else or doing anything else in the world. It’s a very short piece on what i miss about guiding as there is so much more involved. I am very lucky to be able to call guiding my job and meet such wonderful people.
Youth Competition time – Picture of your greatest catch
Between now and Christmas I will be running a small competition each edition for our young budding anglers. It will give them a chance to win a yeti cup for their fishing adventures. To enter email entries to [email protected] . Closing date for this competition is 6pm on the 20th November.
Go fishing…
