Blood, Sweat and Slime

Saturday morning saw Nigel leading yet another squad of keen volunteers down the river below the Tractor Bridge. There we installed no fewer than four ladders, and extended a deflector that was doing quite well, but should be even better now.

This time we had two new club members joining the team, eager to explore parts of the river in more detail, and to meet fellow members and pick up tips. I think they probably worked out that most of us were there to chat and share opinions on how those doing the work could probably do it better.

Of course the main draw was the coffee break when we were once more treated to some excellent home-made sausage rolls from Andrew, and this time they had an added secret ingredient making them even more delicious - blood! Well, black pudding really, but very nice, and enjoyed by Andrew C, Andy W, Chris, David, Dexter, Mark, Matt, Nigel, Paul D, Paul S, Peter S et moi, and of course coffee and doughnuts were also available. Just the job after working up a sweat doing all that work (at least those wielding the mauls did).

As we were so efficient, and finished early, several members decided to fish afterwards, with varying levels of success. It's clear that catch levels have dropped off after the initial flush of success at the start of the month. The abnormally low river levels for the time of year are not helping much, and it means that a lot of the stocked fish are hiding in the deep pools, though wild browns can sometimes be found in the shallow faster riffles.

Given the lack of rain, and the low level, one might have expected the water to have been a bit clearer, but this may be due to the water being pumped in at Smallbridge from Bewl, where they're poosibly testing the new siphoning system.

The persistently low water level and the continually sunny weather have unfortunately caused the horrible slime to develop in many parts of the river. This is an algal growth I believe, and although I hate to say it, we need some heavy rain to wash it away.

Fishing through this with heavy nymphs is quite frustrating as you need to rinse the nymph, and even the line sometimes, after every cast. I also suspect that the choice of nymph may be rendered redundant almost as soon as it enters the river as it it's immediately covered in slime. It means you either need to use lighter nymphs or fish them carefully to keep them off the bottom. Other strategies include finding the rare bits of fast water which may be clear of slime, or switching to Spiders and trying to tempt the fish to rise.

If you're lucky enough to spot some trout rising to the surface, you may be able to switch to a dry, but not easy if you're using a nymphing rod. You may recall my practice of carrying a Tenkara rod for just such occasions (see Oct 31st 2024 blog item).

Failing that you may wish to use a normal fly rod and fish the Klink'n'Dink or Duo method, where you can use a largish Klinkhamer or other buoyant dry to try and keep the nymph just off the bottom. It does mean a lot of trial and error to get the nymph weight and depth just right, but at least you can easily switch to dries if appropriate.

It makes it a bit more challenging perhaps, but also very satisfying when you do wheedle one out.

Tight Lines

PeterB