I went up to Pendreich last night, first time in a few weeks and had my son along, his first outing this year. It was a somewhat gloomy night though a wee bit fresher than its been of late and I hoped it might set things in motion a little.
Lots of Caenis- Anglers curse
Certainly there were fish rising however they were somewhat intermittent and still ( as much of this season) well out from the bank. Well beyond casting distance with the 3 or 4 weight rods like we were using. I figured we would need to fish small and judging by the abundant Anglers Curse (Caenis) I suspect I figured right, though maybe still not small enough and that means light lines and long light tippets.
We tried a host of different dries but the fish were hard to target successfully. You would move to cover one and as soon as you did they would rise elsewhere. The water is pretty clear still and I am questioning if this is part of the reason the fish are holding further off the bank- the passing “traffic ” of dog walkers, and others maybe scaring them out.
Close up caenis- this is what you are up against
We tried small sedge, CDC emergers, Caenis and Midge patterns and got not a look. The only thing that illicited any interest at all was a PT Klink which I put on for my son. He was “tiring” a little- getting snagged in the bankside vegetation occasionally has that effect at times, and I cast the line out for him and handed him the rod to let him fish it. I was explaining not to take his eye of the fly when fish swirled at it, but he was way too slow and it was gone before he reacted. Gave us a good laugh though and showed you can get interest occasionally.
Satans Sheep- the sheep from hell at Pendreich
But it was to be another blank and I saw a number of others up there and never saw a fish taken, though there are some clonking huge fish in there if you can get near them judging by the splashes and the leapers we saw.
I did though thoroughly enjoy being out with my lad, wasn’t too worried not to catch anything- its all about good times.
Hi,
Been up a couple of times since my first fish,last Wednesday morning when it was pouring down.Met someone up there by chance, so we went out on the boat together, he did well catching 4 fish all on the dry fly,I missed 1 but I was able to learn where the fish tend to lie.Anyway I went out last night fished for a while from the far bank near the weeds caught 1 with my first cast, missed a couple of others my timing not to good right now.
Also got about an hour or so on the boat caught another one lost what seemed a really big one, it was the first time on the boat solo so it takes time just to familiarise myself, it’s better with a partner.I heard that it’s been stocked I don’t know if that made the difference. What a difference a couple of fish make.
All the best for now,
Tim
Glad you are doing well, I would have to say its not been fishing that well in my experience recently , though from my recollection it was tough after stocking last year and never livened up again until into August. The top of the water sport can be great up there. For me the secret is to fish small and light, there is no real need for a rod heavier than a 5 weight for most conditions except high winds. The fish in general are not that huge to warrant it and you can fish more delicately on the dries. The slight exception might be the top end as you call it where if you are fishing over the weed you might need a heavier rod to lift the line over without snagging.
Tight lines.