At last, that persistent, chilly, annoying North-Easterly wind has dropped, and with a bit of luck, the trout will feel more inclined to rise and take some of the flies that have been hatching lately (and a few of our own). I've lost count of the number of times I've ventured out, determined to do some dry-fly fishing, and ended up resorting to the old faithful nymphs in order to catch some fish.
I'll admit I have a had a few fish on dries, mostly Browns, and the odd Chub that can't read the calendar, plus rather a lot of rainbows that went for a drowned klinkhammer, but those don't really count. A couple of people have done well on dries, so I guess it works if you're in the right place at the right time, or if you're just very good.
The water has cleared fairly well this week (after an extended run of murkiness) and the temperature is above 15 degrees, so with the wind now dropped, the omens are good. It's probably worth trying a big mayfly, for a while at least, and a Wulff is always a good general pattern, unless you're expert enough to identify what's hatching and select a good match.
Don't forget, that unless you are seeing plenty of rises, or targeting specific fish, don't worry if your dry fly sinks once in a while, especially as you retrieve it from downstream; a drowned dry can often stimulate a strike when you least expect it.
Results have been good in the last week or two with plenty of maximum catches, and from next Friday (16th), our lovely Grayling will be back in season, so if you want a dry fly challenge, see if you can land even one in 10 rises - you'll need to be fast. You'll also need to be very gentle with them and return them as quickly and carefully as possible.
Enjoy the cool sanctuary of our lovely river while it's in such good condition,
and consider turning up at the Fly Tying Evening on Wednesday at The Chequers in Lamberhurst. Ability to tie flies is entirely optional, but you'll find lots of helpful advice from people far more skilled and experienced than me; and they do great fish and chips there.
Cheers
PeterB
Apologies for the correction. The Coarse close season ends on 15th so no Grayling before 16th! :-(
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