New Members go Clubbing

Yesterday was perhaps the last really hot day of this early heatwave, and perfect for new members of the TAOA to get together for this year's Club Day.

We were treated to a very comprehensive seminar on 'River-craft' led by Peter Verrinder with contributions from Keith Tiley and our chairman Mike Wheatley. This started by describing the senses and perception of a trout, in terms of its sensitivity to movement, contrast and colour, and their vision, which is not binocular like ours, but has a wide scope on both sides of the fish. They sense pressure and low-frequency sounds as vibrations through the water, but it was suggested that the susceptibility to atmospheric pressure changes is probably a myth for trout in a river (so not an excuse any more when you blank). It appears that Trout may only have a good focal range of only about 4" since they cannot focus as we do, but they do see movement, contrast and colour at much longer ranges. This may explain the rejection of flies, especially dries, when they get very close, but also explains why shape, movement and outline of a fly can attract fish initially, and if they don't have much time to examine it closely, it may work even if not a perfect natural likeness. Dries descending onto the water, or spiders in the riffles, or nymphs rising on the hang may all deceive the Trout through movement.

Peter then went on to describe the relevant river topography, and the three basic types of water: riffles where it runs over shallow stones; rather less productive glides or runs, where it is smooth due to lack of features (hence all the deflectors our work-parties put into the river to liven these up); and of course the pools. Pools have a head which can often hide a sudden drop, and thus can be dangerous, and a tail which is often silt or fine gravel and can make it easy to lose your footing. Some of our pools are very deep, even though the river is mostly shallow enough to wade under normal conditions (20 to 40cm on the Stonebridge gauge). Mike advised new members in particular, but also all members in the early season, to use a wading stick. This is because the river changes every winter due to the serious spate conditions it endures, rising to 2 metres after very heavy rain, so gravel banks, silt, and even deflectors and sometimes rock structures can move or be eroded, changing shallow spots to deep ones.

The third part described the features of the water and where to look for fish, such a the 'food line' or bubble line, and the seams or creases either side of that where different speeds of water flow meet. We also discussed the 'lies' where Trout may feed, or take refuge, or rest before darting into the faster food stream, and the 'prime lie' where they are most comfortable and most likely to feed (and thus be caught). There was a lot of discussion of the contact nymphing technique (a.k.a. euro-nymphing, tight-line nymphing etc), which is probably the most successful technique on this river. This usually involves long lightweight rod (e.g. 10', 2 or 3 wt) and a long leader and usually a flourocarbon tippet, with the focus on keeping as tight a line as possible to the (suitably weighted) nymph so as to detect the slightest touch. Not easy to master but worth persevering as the river is not often as amenable to dry fly fishing as it is currently. We also discussed 'Klink and Dink' whereby a very buoyant and visible dry fly, such as a Klinkhamer, is tied into the tippet and a nymph suspended from the Klink , either from a special tippet ring incorporated into it or from the bend of the hook. he dry can also be tied onto a dropper, when this same technique is known as a 'duo'. This dry then serves as an indicator of a possible bite, but also helps keep the nymph moving, and can sometimes attract a surface take, but it can be hard to estimate the correct depth for the nymph, and the nymph depth will need to be altered as the river topography varies.

Peter and Keith then separately demonstrated the nymphing technique in the Chain Pool and Landslip Pool respectively, and both catching trout with their usual consummate ease.

There were of course loads more questions and teaching points throughout the morning, and far too many things for me to mention here, even if my memory (and notes) were better, but I hope this gives a flavour of the event. It was considered a great success by all involved, and a very sociable and useful introduction for many new members. In fact I think I heard someone say that it was so enjoyable and valuable, that they were considering resigning at the end of the year, and then re-joining, just so that they could come to next year's Club Day!

Cheers

PeterB