A New Year & A New Season

Ok so the 2014 season is here at least with the main rivers now open since the 1st February and  some since early January.

The Laune system saw fish caught on the opening day on the Flesk along with several more fish in the opening weeks. High water levels meant fish were not holding on the Laune itself and running straight through the river into the lakes and upper systems.

Now since mid January we’ve had some of the most consistently high water levels that I can remember in many years and which meant opening day on the Blackwater and Lee was a non runner and have been ever since, with water levels remaining well over the 2 meter mark, and over 3 meters on many days.

As I write this the wind is howling and rain pouring down outside so there seems not to be much chance for a change of prospects for the coming week or so at the very earliest. So I guess the hunt for that elusive early Springer will have to wait for a while.

Still a little more time is now at hand to plan the season ahead, rods, lines , flies and perhaps most importantly tactics and approach.

This year my approach will be to  use lighter rods where at all possible, 12 – 13 foot 8  and 9 weight double handers along with switch rods, short shooting heads and indeed skagits and generally a more delicate approach.

The plan is for light shooting heads in the 30 – 35 foot range for delicate work with smaller flies and skagits when larger flies are called. Don’t forget an 8 weight skagit correctly set up will easily cast any fly a 9 or 10 weight speyline will, and with a fraction of the effort.

Effort that’s the key, with the hours that we need to put in to catch fish particularly during the spring it’s all about reducing the amount of effort.

Less effort means the ability to fish effectively with higher levels of concentration for longer periods of time. To think about our fishing and to plan each cast in each pool. The lighter outfits also allow for more feel, letting us know what the line is doing and more importantly the fly, ensuring it’s fishing correctly in an attractive manner so when we do cover a fish we are giving ourelves the best chance possible.

In other words to maximise our time on the water and not to fall into that robotic routine of cast and wait. Be proactive rather than reactive.

So lets hope for better conditions in the coming weeks and especially coming into March when numbers of fish entering the river should be on the increase.

 On another note I have made myself a promise  this year to spend more time chasing our wild Brown trout and more so to get back to hunting down the larger specimens using lightweight switch rods and skagits to fish large baitfish patterns and minkies which have worked so well in years gone by. Though with a few tweaks here and there. Watch this Space !