Today was our first venture out this year with the fly rods. Blithfield was the venue on the Stoke on Trent Angling Society ticket. Rather good value at a cost of nowt except for the boat hire.
We took a rookey; Mick Lloyd, who has decided he would like to try fly fishing.
Now Mick Lloyd is a great guy. Trouble is he does not listen. We have tried and tried to teach him to cast but he still thinks he is casting a carp rod. We have told him to get a lesson from a pro. But he won't. So things didn't look too good for Mick Lloyd today.
On arrival, at 08:00 the delightful lady, who works on Saturday morning, checked our telephoned booking details.
"I've got Kent and Comerford, (she knows us well) but no Lloyd." she remarked.
"Let me have a look, duck," replied Bone, as he then proceeded to check the diary...
"Who is Mr Weed?" asked Mick.
Then the penny dropped; Mr Weed was supposed to be Mr Lloyd. We have no idea how you could turn 'Lloyd' to 'Weed' but the name will stay forever!
So..Bone in boat number 6 and Weed and me in number7.
Kent, Comerford and Weed tackled up. Weed asked for fly advice.
"Catching on black buzzers, apparently." I suggested. (did some reckie)
"This OK?" said Weed as he showed me a basic but tidy black buzzer with a red thorax.
"Perfect," I remarked, "might do the job."
To be honest, I thought he had chosen a decent fly but with his lack of casting skills, I thought he might struggle to catch.
I then spent ages sorting my leader set up with what I thought would work.
I tied on my favourite fancy tied buzzers, engine on and off we went.
We anchored, off a bay. I grimmaced at Weeds casting.
"Sit down!" I shouted.
"Got one!" came the reply.
I was made up!, Weed had got one! I put it down to luck.
He then caught four trout in half an hour! He missed loads and lost at least 3.
Why had I not had a touch? He caught his within 10 yards of the boat. I was getting frustrated. If we got back to the pub and Weed had caught and I hadn't, I would never live it down.
Worse still, Bone had also caught two!
It went dead for half an hour. We moved, perhaps 100 yards.
I looked in my fly box. A last resort. A black buzzer with a red thorax and, so plain. One of the first flies I had ever tied. It was a very poor attempt! I also found a little black buzzer type thing that I can't remember tying.
I tied them on.
First cast nowt
Second cast... I decided to move the buzzers through the water. Ha Ha!!!!
I had cracked it. I just could not fail! One after the other! I have never experienced anything like it!
We all caught our limit and returned the rest.
We packed up.
I asked "Weed" where he got his buzzer from.
"It was the one you tied in the pub when giving me a lesson...you should have tied two!"
The good old standard buzzer. Luckily I had one like it..
Another thing to note is that after unhooking my second fish, I noticed the hook straightening. After every other fish I had to reshape the profile!
Just tied the one in the picture in 2 minutes. Makes you think.
We took a rookey; Mick Lloyd, who has decided he would like to try fly fishing.
Now Mick Lloyd is a great guy. Trouble is he does not listen. We have tried and tried to teach him to cast but he still thinks he is casting a carp rod. We have told him to get a lesson from a pro. But he won't. So things didn't look too good for Mick Lloyd today.
On arrival, at 08:00 the delightful lady, who works on Saturday morning, checked our telephoned booking details.
"I've got Kent and Comerford, (she knows us well) but no Lloyd." she remarked.
"Let me have a look, duck," replied Bone, as he then proceeded to check the diary...
"Who is Mr Weed?" asked Mick.
Then the penny dropped; Mr Weed was supposed to be Mr Lloyd. We have no idea how you could turn 'Lloyd' to 'Weed' but the name will stay forever!
So..Bone in boat number 6 and Weed and me in number7.
Kent, Comerford and Weed tackled up. Weed asked for fly advice.
Funny, really, how such a simple fly does the business!
"This OK?" said Weed as he showed me a basic but tidy black buzzer with a red thorax.
"Perfect," I remarked, "might do the job."
To be honest, I thought he had chosen a decent fly but with his lack of casting skills, I thought he might struggle to catch.
I then spent ages sorting my leader set up with what I thought would work.
I tied on my favourite fancy tied buzzers, engine on and off we went.
We anchored, off a bay. I grimmaced at Weeds casting.
"Sit down!" I shouted.
"Got one!" came the reply.
I was made up!, Weed had got one! I put it down to luck.
He then caught four trout in half an hour! He missed loads and lost at least 3.
Why had I not had a touch? He caught his within 10 yards of the boat. I was getting frustrated. If we got back to the pub and Weed had caught and I hadn't, I would never live it down.
Worse still, Bone had also caught two!
It went dead for half an hour. We moved, perhaps 100 yards.
I looked in my fly box. A last resort. A black buzzer with a red thorax and, so plain. One of the first flies I had ever tied. It was a very poor attempt! I also found a little black buzzer type thing that I can't remember tying.
I tied them on.
First cast nowt
Second cast... I decided to move the buzzers through the water. Ha Ha!!!!
I had cracked it. I just could not fail! One after the other! I have never experienced anything like it!
We all caught our limit and returned the rest.
We packed up.
I asked "Weed" where he got his buzzer from.
"It was the one you tied in the pub when giving me a lesson...you should have tied two!"
The good old standard buzzer. Luckily I had one like it..
Another thing to note is that after unhooking my second fish, I noticed the hook straightening. After every other fish I had to reshape the profile!
Just tied the one in the picture in 2 minutes. Makes you think.
Good stuff, I've also joined SOTAS, mainly for Rudyard and the Dove - did you see any of the Blithfield anglers doing well from the bank?
ReplyDeleteToo busy to notice! Sorry.
DeleteTell you something though. My mate was playing a fish and he shouted, "It's got heavy". His rod dipped under the water good style. He then played the fish and I landed it with it's guts hanging out. Pike!