Pics of residents we caught from River Wye.

Pics of the beats on River Wharfe and some examples of it’s residents.

Me and Michele before we left Burnsall, notice the swollen river.

Pleasant river levels when we arrived. Me by Burnsall Bridge, River Wharfe.

The Road trip: River Wharfe and Wye.

Due to a busy work schedule, I haven\’t had time to go fishing for a long time and really haven\’t contributed anything here for the last two years. It\’s not that I have put fishing on hold. I have been visiting my local venues from time to time; but apart from that I hadn’t done anything interesting or visited any new exciting water that was worth writing about, other than the one you are just about to read about it below.
This is about a sudden road trip my Italian friend Michele and I decided to go up North and try to tame the might RIVER WHARFE, last September.
The drive from London to North Yorkshire was pleasant. Although long day driving up the motorway our spirits were still high, by the time we reached Skipton and bedded down for the night with the hope that tomorrow would be grand and a trout or two would rise to take our flies and make it special.
(Travel Lodge at Skipton A65/A59 roundabout, Gargrave Road BD23 1UD)
At first light, we left Travel Lodge and drove up about 15 minutes to our final destination: The Red Lion and Manor House B&B at the bridge at Burnsall. As this was going to be our base for the next 2 days including that night, as requested breakfast was served on our arrival. This was delicious and filling. The B&B also hosts the ticket office for Appletreewick Barden and Burnsall Angling Club and day tickets can be purchased from the reception desk.
Contemplating our tactics for the day over breakfast we moved on to securing our day tickets. After exploring the river from the car for an hour or so we decided to fish the stretch starting from Barden Bridge upstream towards Burnsall.
The day started cloudy, with the light breeze over the river with occasional sudden gusts of wind and light showers in the afternoon. We were not going to get dampened down by the weather and I was soon rewarded with a beautiful brownie, on my second cast, which went for a black and purple beaded nymph. The river was wide and fast flowing and upstream nymphing was the best tactics for the day but we did manage to catch fish on spiders fishing downstream and a few on dry flies in the evening. All in all, together between us we managed 15 brownies and 3 grayling. The flies that did well were: black and purple Jig nymph, quill body jig nymph with a hint of purple, pheasant tail nymph, baetis nymph, pale watery, deer hair emerger, snipe purple and light Spanish needle.
The Next day, was a brighter day, the river level had gone down significantly and the river just looked alluring. So, after breakfast, quick drive up to Bolton Abbey Post Office to secure our day ticket to fish the stretch of River Wharfe run by Bolton Abbey Estate. And, as we had already explored the river from the car the other day we decided to fish downstream from Barden Bridge, and as advised we parked down at Cavendish Pavilion and fished towards Kex Beck.
This stretch of the river was open and better managed and guess more suitable for beginners with well-defined pools, relatively easy wading and good stocks of trout and grayling that respond to most methods of fly fishing. Although the day started promising by 4 pm the weather had completely changed and after an hour or so it poured down as if there was a huge leak from the heavens and it got to point impossible to do anything we decided to pack up for the day and head towards the Red Lion.
All in all, we had a good day with catches totalling to 13 brownies and 1 grayling ……..and rain kept on pouring late into the night.
Peep first thing in the morning outside the hotel window was all sunny and bright, but the river had its own agenda, and due to yesterday’s heavy rain it was all swollen up and looked impossible to fish. After an unhurried breakfast we decide to go up to Kilnsey Park – a small local still water, which came up on the google search – for half day catch and release session, until it was time to head down to our last and final destination on our road trip to River Wye in the Peak District. Stretch of the River managed and run by Cressbrook and Litton Fly Fishers club, the next morning.
Kilnsey Park Estate was not a bad idea after all. The Park Fly Fishery is situated in spectacular surroundings. The two spring-fed lakes are both approximately 1 acre in size and stocked with hard fighting Rainbow, Blue, Brown and Golden trout from 2lb to 20lb+, all from their own trout farm and is also a TROUTMASTER water.
We both paid for 4 hours C&R ticket and boy did we have fun. Controlling the fish on light tackle was challenging and enjoyable. By the time our time was up at 3 pm, I had 8 trouts altogether – 2 large browns, 2 blue trouts that almost yanked the rod out of my hands, twice and 4 rainbows.
After having lunch at Kilnsey Park Estate cafeteria we drove down to Peak District and stayed over at The Bulls Head Inn, in Foolow, near Eyam Hope Valley. Although we first thought the B&B was in the middle of nowhere, actually it was located close to everything. We fancied curry for dinner and ended up in a delightful curry house called Curry Cottage at Lover’s Leap about 7/8 mins drive from the B&B. And, the next morning drive to the fishing venue from the B&B was only about 15 mins.
We met up with the River Keeper Chris Proyor by the river as instructed. There were several fishermen already there before us but they were all packing up and leaving. Chris explained to us that the river levels were very high due to the few nights of rain and although it was still clearing up it still looked muddy but fishable – with fishing nut cases as us, as long as we were allowed to swing our rods a day long by the water’s edge that would be completely fine with us.
Chris the riverkeeper was more than fair with us and gave us a few options. We could either have a full refund if we decided not to fish at all or he said we could choose a new date of our choice to come back and fish the venue for the same price, valid for a year or he said he would allow us to fish till the afternoon and if we caught nothing the first two options would still be open and available to us if wanted it. What the hell, we were already there and as long as there were fish underneath the muddy colour we were fine with it and decided to stay on and fish.
The river wasn’t that coloured to start with and it was clearing up very quickly. The day had begun brightly with the occasional strong breeze. As the flow of the water was quite swift we both decided to use flies with some weight in them. Michele decided to go for heavy nymphs and me just out of the blue decided to put on a weighted Daddy long legs in orange and that my friends were the winning fly of the day. I ended with 7 fish in total, 3 rainbows and 4 brownies and as we were going home that night we even decided to dispatch one large rainbow each for the pot.
Driving back to London that evening was not pleasant at all. After 5 days on the road going back to work was too harsh a change. But then reality kicks in, normality sets you up but beyond all that you realise your heart and soul is not into anything and all you want to do is get back out there …….
Till next time cheers to you all and happy fishing…………

River Tweed, started off nice and sunny. Late afternoon go battered by a brief but heavy hail storm. My brother Jaya and me.

Loch Cluegh, Tinto Fishery, Biggar

Few example of tweed beauties

Trout Chronicles : Scotland
Scotland is one of my favorite destinations to fly fish. You are really spoilt for choice. I haven’t had the chance to fish that many rivers, but I’ve fished the Clyde and Tweed several times and I must say the experiences on them have been rather good. I’ve fished the stretch of Clyde near / in Biggar. Downstream, from Wolf Clyde Bridge towards Lamington and upstream, from the bridge towards Cromiston Towers. Up or downstream, beautiful bit of water, easy wading and some cracking fish! It does get fished a lot so the fish can be a bit wary. As for flies watch what’s hatching …. likes of Pale Watery and Small Blue Winged Olives, good flies to start off with. For more info visit: http://www.lamingtonfishing.co.uk/index.html.
As for Tweed, I fished the stretch down in Peebles just after Manor Bridge – up B7062, past a farm house, down by the river bank. Parked up beside the Scottish water pumping station and fished upstream towards Manor Bridge. The river is wide and easy wading. The takes weren’t as frequent and as I would like it to be but hooked a few beauties nearing from 2 to 3lbs. The hatches in the evenings were prolific; pity did not see a lot of rise. Blue Winged Olives, Iron Blue Dun and March browns came out on top and performed well. For further info you can visit: http://www.peeblesshiretroutfishing.co.uk/index.html or on your way down, stop at Fishers (in 9 John Street, Penicuik EH26 8HN) for permit and for the usual banter. The guys in the shop are very helpful and full of information.
Loch fishing around Scotland, now that is another occurrence all together. Like I said before, you are just spoilt for choice. Take Lake of Menteith – www.menteith-fisheries.co.uk – for instance. This is one of my favorite venues to fish and I will recommend any fly fisherman to fish this venue when visiting Scotland. So much has been said and written about this venue and it does live up to its reputation. I’ve fished it with gale force winds – riding the waves, fished it when it is calm and tranquil, and even fished it from late afternoon into the night, during the summer, when the daylight hours are long. And, I must say each moment, every different day fishing there has been extraordinary. If you have never hooked a trout as angry and aggressive as here, well hell, you haven’t done trout fishing. Even the littler will give you a right run for your money. If you want to fish here once the season is on its way, please make sure you ring weeks in advance to book a boat. It is always fully booked and cancellations are rare.
During my visits I have also fished The Watch – www.watchfishery.co.uk – which was remarkable and enjoyable. Two of my favourite near Edinburgh are Glencorse RSV – www.glencorsersv.co.uk and Loganlea Trout Fishery – www.loganleafishery.co.uk. Both are next to each other and I have had wonderful time chasing trout on both of them, either from a boat or sometimes from the bank.
Another of my favourite is Tinto fishery – www.anglersholidaycottages.co.uk- in Biggar. This is a venue I take my whole family to. The fishery has two cottages you can hire – Wren and Dipper cottage. As you concentrate on your fishing, while your family can run wild, hike or cycle around the hills that surround the fishery. It is almost a retreat. The fishery compromises of two lochs. Loch Lyoch is approximately 5 acres in size and stocked with Rainbow Trout, Blue Trout and Brown Trout. Loch Cleugh is also approximately 5 acres in size and is a Brown Trout only fishery. The lochs are 26ft to 35ft deep at the deepest point. Loch Cleugh sits at 1020 feet, and Loch Lyoch sits at 960 feet above sea level.
The water is very clean and clear supplying a wonderful environment for wild stocks of brown trout and stocked rainbow trout to flourish and grow.
And if you ever grow tired of loch style fishing and want a bit of a challenge, the Clyde is literally 5 mins away from the fishery and if you speak to John, the fishery also hold all the relevant Clyde permits and offer a Clyde introduction tour on request.
Tight lines and hope to be among you soon with another interesting read.