Cold Water Fishing

Just think about all differing conditions we have to put up with when fishing, warm, wet, cold, windy, bright, dismal, flat calms. We have a list of stuff to use as excuses when the going gets tough and fish are hard to come by.
However we must also realise that there are a whole host of conditions that are continually effecting the fish, water temperature, oxygen level, barometric pressure, moon phases and some may say wind direction (hard fishing in an easterly wind?).
Put these 2 lists together and we end up with the real concept of the fishing challenges we face and the key to success is having the knowledge and skill on how we can overcome these adversities.

Cold water fishing is simple to understand. Rainbows generally like cold water and have no tolerance at all for warm water. However when the temperature gets down to around freezing then the fish take action and go down the depths to find water that is more comfortable. Once there they tend to bide their time basically going into a trance like state waiting patiently for things to improve.
Can they be caught when deep? Well yes, fortunately they can but we have to employ the right tactics. Sinking lines are almost compulsory as we need to reach the fish in the depths. We also need to allow the line to sink to the right depth and therefore need a degree of patience.

How long would it take for an "average" intermediate line that sinks let's say an 1" a second to reach 20ft?? Answer 4 minutes!!!
How long would it take an "average" medium sink line that sinks at a rate of 3" per second to reach the same depth, 20ft? Answer =1 min and 20 seconds

Now ask yourself how long do you leave your line to sink?? 10, 20. 30, 40 seconds?? Obviously sink rates will differ from brand to brand and will be subject to the size/weight and pattern of the fly you are using but you see my point - It's so easy to run out of patience in our eagerness to start fishing.
If you do get the fly to the right depth then you are in with a chance but you cannot expect the fish to really attack the fly and a slow retrieve is normally a better method but if you get it right you can be rewarded like these two beauties (the fish not the fly fishers!!!)

Difficult days fishing

Been hard going today for those anglers that fished curley's today. Plenty of Anglers on, although it only really came alive later on about half three. Early morning was fishing well also i believe. Slow retrieve / Static flies were the producers today, most fish came to orange egg flies fished static under a indicator.
Most trout were very deep down all day, sinking line is a must.
However some anglers were catching on floating lines, bright coloured buzzers and eggs teamed up.

It was bitterly cold, but next to no wind. Over-clouded so it was set to be the perfect conditions, but the trout just wernt playing ball. A sudden change in pattern and/or retrieve will be the way to go over the next few days, deep during midday hours and shallower during evening and early morning.

Tightlines,
Nathan

Cold but Appetising...

Fish being caught all over the lake! Mr Tony Baines has had a beatifully finned 4lb Bow to a Appetiser lure. Quick fact - The Appetiser was designed in 1972 for big fry feeding trout, by Bob Church and it was the first time marabou was used in the wing of a modern lure in britain.
Ted Brown has had 2 fish upto now on a white buzzer fished under an indicator.
To top it all off the weather is on our side for a change! Slight ripple, suns out but it is slightly cold but not as cold as it looks.
UPDATE: Mr Tony Baines finished on 3 fish, including a beautifully fully finned silver rainbow of 4lbs. Mr Ted & Mr Pat Brown finished on 5 fish between them. Still anglers out on the water so will do my best to bring you their catches.

Fish now coming out to a range of patterns, black & green fritz, red and black fritz and the appetiser is still catching.

Perfect conditions!

A slight ripple, no rain and its not too cold either!
Perfect day to wet a line.

If fish are playing by their usual standards they should be pretty shallow, within the first 5 foot of water, if its a little bit colder or the wind picks up the fish will go that little bit deeper. First off i would try a floating line, long leader and a single fritz or cats to find where the fish are sat. If this fails, ive had alot of success on curleys "popping" a booby across the waters surface, seriously aggressive takes can take place. If the fish are that little bit deeper, slow sinking line with a black comorant, cruncher nymph and a fritz and you cant go wrong!

Those looking to get a bit of fishing in today, head down to curleys and wet a line! The way its been fishing lately you cant go wrong.

Tightlines,
Nath

Tips and tricks..

Weather looks a little wet in areas, however overall its looking good for tommorrow! Sunny spells and the wind is dispelling a little at between 10-16mph (easterly).

Try something new and different at curleys, like a UV Blue blob and a sparkler booby, alot of anglers still using cats and the like, still catching, but i recommended something that little bit out of the ordinary to catch the trouts eye. I have also noticed a few "midges" flying about on warmer days, so a tiny size 32 hook midge pattern may well catch fish! Some more unusual pattern colours such as the UV blue blob and a black UV fritz and green booby. Worth a Dangle!

Been pretty tough conditions over the last week, strong wind and rain. But anglers still catching!
This Saturday is forecast extremely well, although a little cold, sunny with the odd cloud cover about. I will be at curleys early this saturday, so get to curleys early and catch alot more fish early doors.

Tightlines,
Nath

Fishing Report

It's a great fishing day today, at least in comparison to the last few days. Very little wind and fairly mild for January. However I think the forecast must have put most of you off. Couple of members wetting a line both catching on a regular basis, floating lines and lures with a steady retrieve seemingly working.

Report Tues Morning

Weather up and down - not much wind but the prospects of rain showers most of the day. Has forecast snow but seems too warm at present. If you have the clothing to keep you warm and dry then it will probably fish well.

fishing update

The wind has picked up a little but hasn't put the fish or those fishing off at all.
Some decent fish have come to the net up to now.
Top rod today (up till now) Jim McGinley with 7 mostly to lures.

Ian Kennedy with a good Blue (BTW all blues are not "Blue" some like this one are silver when compared with the true Rainbow below.

Jim McGinley with a good Bow

Prospects

Good News
After all the horrible rain and wind we finally have a rather nice day.  Prospects for fishing are good with a very gentle breeze breaking up the surface and mild temps,  the fish shouldn't be deep and a floating line should do the business.
Will give a further report later when all the guys fishing have had a chance to test their tactics.

Fishing report

Sunday - almost everyone put off by the forecast and actual weather. Very windy to say the least.
2 members braved the conditions and caught lots of fish.
Fish don't actually bother about the wind so much, it only causes us the problems when casting.  The good news is that you only need variations of the roll cast in order to get your fly out.
Roll casting is very under rated by the majority of still water fishers but is the most versatile and safest of  all casts to do when it is windy.

Let's hope for better conditions next week

Sundays Prospects

Wind is forecast to be easing, to drop to 18mph.

Over clouded, with small out breaks of rain.

Sinking line is your best bet, unless trout are seen rising, Di5 or a slow sinking line/intermediate if the fish are that little bit shallower. Slow retrieve with the odd pause or strip to induce a take. Cats whisker has been catching alot of fish lately with a single dropper with either a Black Blob or comorant tied.

Fishing Between the surface to 4ft down has been the zone for the last few weeks, however the drop in temperature and the strong winds weve had seem to be pushing the fish that little bit deeper, roughly between 10-15ft, finding that thermocline layer is the key to constant catches.
Keep moving from peg to peg, a few anglers tend to stick to a single peg, they may catch but the key to catching more fish is too keep moving.

Very Early morning there has been alot of fry movement over the last couple of weeks, the trout seem to be occasionally getting into a frenzy and gorging on the smaller fish. So Zonkers and general fry imitations are worth a go.

"I marrow spooned a 3lb trout roughly a week ago and a small, what appeared to be a roach or rudd, of only an inch in size, was the trouts last meal. A large duck feather was also concealed in its tract!"

Alot of good size fish from 4-7lbs have been caught lately so make sure your leader is strong enough to handle a fighting fit 4lb+ "blue".

Look forward to seeing you out on the water!

Tightlines
Nathan J

Saturday 21/1/12

Just a quick post, if your thinking about popping down to the water today.
The wind is in excess of 40mph and to be quite honest, curleys currently looks like the sea.
Strong westerly wind, however it is supposed to be bright and drier later on, so hopefully the wind will die down a little.

Still its possible to get tucked into a corner out of the wind, as
Mr Pat, Jeff and Ted Brown are currently fishing in the top right hand corner if viewed from the current cafe.

I will do my best to keep Anglers upto date on the weather here at curleys but strong winds to this extent wernt forcast.

Im sure those anglers that brave the wind will be rewarded as always.

UPDATE/EDIT: 12:15pm Wind is still unfortuneatly quite strong!

Mr Pat Brown had 1 fish dispite the conditions. (4hr sporting)
Mr Ted Brown also had the one trout.

PS. Please De-barb your chosen fly or use barbless hooks, as curleys is a catch and release water, its easier to remove the hook for one and it allows for a quicker release.

Please also allow the fish caught to be revived before released.

Cheers, Nathan Jones

Questions for you??

In my last post I wrote "the end of the frost" well I was right but I didn't realise at the time that what was replacing " the frost" was going to be worse!!! The good news is that the fish have come back up from the depths but the bad news is that it's been raining and blowing none stop! Still can we really expect great weather at this time of year??

I would like to think we have made progress at the fishery and from a lot of the good comments bandied about on various websites and forums then a lot of you agree - which is very welcomed feedback - thanks

However I don't want to sit back and think that all the work has been done cause it certainly hasn't! I have got quite a list of improvements that I want doing but at this stage I would like you guys to have a say as well - What do you want???

You can  place a comment on this post so everyone can see or you can send me an email if you prefer, either way your views and opinions are important to me. I can't promise that all your ideas will ultimately be introduced (finances are limited) but they will certainly be seriously considered in the short, medium and long term.

Thanks
Mike

End of the frost??

A little warmer today although started off very foggy but I guess that doesn't really have any effect on the fish!!
All those who turned out on not a very appealing day were rewarded:
Jim McGinley 7 fish
Geoff Allington 4 fish
Brian Winwood 6 fish
Mr Ashurst 2 fish.

More tales of "big" ones that got away but most were in the 3lbs to 5lbs mark

Fishing deep

The cold weather has pushed the trout that little bit deeper as expected, fished curleys myself today, sinking line Di-5, Cats fritz booby on the point with a comorant or a black blob on the dropper, generally the fish seem to be about 10-15ft down although some fish are still rising, but not like they have been during the slightly milder conditions.

Wrap up warm and fish deep!

Tightlines

Fishing Report

Very cold today - heavy frost and low temperatures overnight have left the fish a little out of sorts.
Fishery a little quiet with a few day tickets mixed in with some annual members braving the cold.
Sinking line work almost the only way to fish - a few caught with boobies in the deep (BTW boobies are only allowed at Curley's with a retrive and not static)

Forecast for a little warmer weather mid week

Tip of the week
When using sinking line it is good practise to use the "hang method" on retrieval. If you want to read about this tactic follow this link to an article I wrote a little time ago for Total Fly Fisher Magazine
It can pick you up a lot of fish.

Fishing update

After a slow start the fishing came alive as the sun rose.

Best catch - Paul Parsons a very feisty 4lbs Blue that broke his rod!!!

Top Rods today - Dave Cadman 8 fish (up to now still fishing)
John Grimshaw 7 fish in about 2 hours.
Andy Gaskill 4 fish.
Everybody else is still fishing and catching.

Surprisingly most of the fish were caught no deeper that 4 feet, but an intermediate line allowed the fly to "drop" a little before retrieving.
Black and Green lures of any description doing most of the damage today, mixed in with the odd pink blob for good measure..

Annual memberships are going at a pace and are limited availability. A few still left if you are thinking about it?

Sunday 15th

Good looking day, slight breeze, temps about +2C, the sun just coming over the tops of the trees.
The odd fish rising in spite of the cold water. Temperature set to rise towards midday

Fishing prospects look good with an intermediate line to Di3. You don't want one any faster sinking or else you risk dropping through the fish zone.

Couple of fish caught to date and some missed!

Loyalty scheme is paying off for quite a few now - have given out several "free" days fishing.
Don't forget it's free to join - just ask the bailiff for more details.
When you book on let the bailiff know you are a member to get your record updated each visit.

Cold snap

Quick catch update:

Cold but fish are still biting! And suprisingly close to the surface.

Mr Johnson had 4 fish.
Mr Baines had the one fish on his first fly fishing session ever!
Geoff the fulltime bailiff had 4 fish within a few hours.
Mr Jeff Brown had 12 trout
Mr Pat Brown landed 9 fish.
Mr Ted Brown finished on 3 fish.
Mr John Donohue our newest member had 5 fish to his net.

Updated - 2:14pm

Current patterns: Black and green fritz, red and white dancer, Zonkers and minkies still successful.

Fishing report

In spite of the lovely weather quite a difficult day fishing-wise. Rod average was 3 per session but most had to work hard.   Again lots of pulls and still lots of fish at the surface in spite of the colder water. I don't think anyone tried a dry - but if the conditions are the same tomorrow then it could be worth a go with a suspender or shipmans buzzer?

Weather looks to be good (for us) for the next few days but much colder temps tonight may have an effect, so be ready with the intermediates to Di3's certainly before it warms a little towards midday.

Had a great start to the tackle shop opening - glad everyone didn't spend up over Christmas!

weather report

Great looking day - sunshine with a very gentle breeze just breaking up the water's surface - perfect.
Let's hope the fish agree!

The same prospects for next 3 days.

Fishing Report

Good day's fishing today.  A bit of a "draft" on this morning but calmed down as the day wore on thankfully. Everybody caught and the rod ave was 4 per session.
"catch" of the day was this good looking rainbow caught by Paul Shorrock

Paul "guesstimated" it to be about between 7lbs and 8lbs. Pity we can't see it's tail in Paul's photo, bet it was like a shovel but thanks for sending it in Paul, much appreciated.

The shop is now fully opened and carries stock of almost everything required for stillwater/reservoir fishing.

Greys - GS, GS1, GRXi and XF Rods. GX300, GX500 and GX 700 reels. Platinum lines #6 to #8 in floating, intermediate and sinking.

Leader materials, snips, priests, nets, zingers, fishing bags and about 1,000 of flies to choose from.

Hope to see you all very soon.

SHOP NOW OPEN

We will be officially be opening the shop tomorrow.
Just a "soft" opening at this stage as I am looking a doing an "open Weekend" in the Spring.
It's been a very long time coming and am looking forward to getting all the stock out of my house and on display.

Rod averages are actually rising - today 7 per session with some good Blues showing.
 Forecast for the next few days - colder but brighter!!

Fishing Report

Last couple of day have seen better weather and still constantly good fishing.
Here is a photo of Brian Winwood with a good 5 lbs Bow caught with a white fritz

Fishing Report

In spite of the windy conditions catch rates still held and those flyfishing managed to overcome the handicap and catch.

Steve Moffatt had 2 good Bows to a Cats Whisker,
Andy Gaskell landed 6 fish, both Bows and Blues and lost 6 more using an orange and brown fritz,
Robert Allen landed 3 and lost 2 mostly with an orange and white fritz,

Gary Stanley a new 2012 member landed 3 and lost 2 to a black and yellow fritz.

So a few fish caught and quite a few lost!

TIP OF THE WEEK

Why are fish lost from time to time, a number of possible reasons:

• Obviously once hooked - if you loose a fish it is normally down to 2 common reasons. One is a badly tied knot - look at the end of your leader - if it is "pig-tailed" then it was a bad knot. If the hook held but the fish came off it is probably because you allowed the line to go slack.
• If you feel a tug but no hook-up then the fish has nipped the tail of your fly. If this keeps happening, the bring it in and just rip off a little of the marabou tail and try again.

Todays catches

Anglers that braved the wind:

Mr Paul Johnson who is still fishing, currently has
Mr Frank Evans had 5 fish on a 4 hour ticket
Mr Will (surname?) Had the one fish on a 4 hour ticket
Geoff the full time bailiff had a nice 3lb trout off the centre of the damn wall to a orange fritz
Member Mr J McGinley finished on 4 trout within 3 hours.

WINNING FLIES:
Pink or orange egg fly fished static
Anything big and shiny to take the stockies fancy
Black buzzer with Olive cheeks, fished virtually static.


Lets hope the wind eases off for sunday, im hoping to fish curleys myself then.
Check the weather report SEE HERE
"According to the weatherman its going to ease off to about 11mph winds. A bit of rain is forecast but nothing that us anglers cant handle!"

The fresh Stockies need to be caught that went in on friday, all 200 of them!
Im Sure on sunday they will have become fully acclimatised to the water and will be searching readily for a food source and the anglers fluff!

Saturday brief update 7/1/12

Windy but fish still coming out mainly to egg flies fished under a indicator, jettys fishing well although fish still coming off the dam wall, generally some fish are between 3-5 feet although the wind is pushing them that little bit deeper than normal, so an intermediate line is recommended to search the depths.

Floating line is proving to be difficult to cast with, so when you pop up to curleys bring some form of slow sinking flyline, in order to carry the flies through the wind.

Tightlines,
Nath

Friday 6th Jan

Good fish were stocked today - Bows and Blues to 5lbs

Reaping the rewards early, were members Jim McGinley & John Grimshaw who had 14 fish between them.
2 guys fairly new to fly fishing, Bill Peake and Peter Livesley had some good sport each catching some fine looking fish fish and it was only the second time ever, fly fishing for Bill!!

Prospects and the weather look good for the weekend.

2012 memberships are now available for Curleys allowing you to fish any day of the week for as long as you wish. -Ask Mike or one or the bailiffs for details

Stocking

We will be stocking the fishery tomorrow with good Rainbows and Blues to 5lbs just in time for the forecasted better weather.

No better time to wet a line!

The weather wins

I guess even the hardiest of fly fishers know when they are beaten!!
Still in spite of the weather we will be stocking again this week with mostly blues to 5lbs!!!

Good days fishing!

Fished Curleys myself today as it was my day off!
Didnt have any rain but the westerly wind was bitterly cold, anglers mainly to the jettys were catching fish, not many caught off the dam wall, although i did have a couple of shy takes near the outlet stream to a black buzzer.
The trout seemed to be taking the flies ever so gently today, a few anglers can back me up on that statement. Even gently taking fritz patterns, and/or pinching at the marabou tails.
All sorts of patterns were catching, best time of day roughly 2pm-4pm when the fish really woke up! I Finished on 7 Trout, mostly to lures fished with slow long pulls, about 2-3 feet under the surface. The fish seemed to go abit deeper about midday and the fishing went quite for a couple of hours. So get to curleys early and when it goes quite dont go home! wait for that magic time when the trout will take anything you throw at them.

Recommended flies : Pink Egg fly, fished static under an indicator. A wide range of large lures doing the business. Also black/red buzzers fished static.

Still stick with floating line and long leader, but as always keep some kind of sinking line to hand this time of year, just incase.

Tightlines
Nathan

Monday 2nd Jan

Report on the day thus far.....
Top rod Jim McGinley with 6 fish up to now. Jim has been mainly using lures with a floating line, longish strip back and catching his fish only about 2 or 3 feet down.
All others mix of tactics - from floaters to Di3's with lures and buzzers.
Dry and not windy but quite cold.
Tightlines