Weather Conditions:
Overcast, Warm (~16C), Light Westerly Breeze.
Fish:
17 Rainbow Trout
Flies:
Black Susp Buzzer, Olive Susp Buzzer, Jardine Buzzer, White Buzzer (Fl Pink Head), Daddy Long Legs, Black Shipman's, Black Buzzer (Red Cheeks).
First days fishing of the new season for me, having bought me rod licence (which is now a water proof card), I was dying to get out and try me luck. Kilnsey is about an hours drive from Leeds, set in the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales and sheltered by the crags and cliffs of Kilnsey village (one of which looks like a monkeys heed). The conditions were perfect for a days fishing, cloudy and warm and a little breeze to create a little movement on the surface of the lakes - Perfect!
The car park and both the lakes were choka when I got there at 8:30am, Ive only been to Kilnsey 3 other times and each time there has only been a couple of chaps fishing, it was December like and one of those times it was snowing. The shop was closed so I went out on the lake and found a free spot, top lake west bank, the furthest one from the main road. Me favourite spot, straight opposite off the platform, was free but was blocked by an old fella's backcast who was fishing on the lower lake. Not to worry I felt confident in me pitch as I'd caught there before so I was happy enough.
There were fish rising all over the lake and a load of tiny black flies on the surface which the trout were feeding off. Always a good sign!! With that in mind, the first fly I tied on was a black suspender buzzer, obviously alot bigger that the naturals that were hatching but still worth a punt. The first cast got me into me first fish, a nice solid take, hooked right on the top lip. After releasing the fish I went to check in and pay me subs. Got talking with an elderly gent in the shop, who was fishing next to me and who I'd already seen had bagged his first of the day. A lovely fella who was very keen to swap tactics and told some good stories. He became me bezzy that day. He was fished a canny big black buzzer (~size 10) under a strike indicator about a foot benieth the surface. He kept the fly on all day and caught at a consistant rate.
Had 3 more fish to the black suspender buzzer in the first hour, including one foul hooked in the tail. I'd seen the rise and didnt strike thinking it had just splashed at it then felt a knock so I struck and must have got it in the tail as it was truning away from the fly.
A young lad around 16 came up and asked what I was fishing with, he'd just got into fly fishing and only had a few lures which weren't catching. He wanted to buy a suspender buzzer off me but I only had a couple of black ones so I cut off the one I had on and gave him that, without the charge remembering the times when other fishermen had helped me out and given me flies when I was starting out. He seemed pleased with the fly and caught on it with in half an hour and gave me the thumbs up from the other side of the lake - Quality!!!!!
I changed to an olive suspender buzzer and landed 3 more, 2 stockies around 2lb and a solid resident around 4lb, all fully finned beautiful fish. It went quiet for about half an hour so I changed again to a Jardine buzzer (I named it after Charles Jardine who showed me how to tye it when I met him once at Jubilee lakes when I was about 14 - Legend!!) a sparsely dressed bit of hares ear with a pearl rib. Barely anything to it but you can always rely on it to catch. The fish were still rising but not at the same rate as earlier in the morning. The Jardine sinks quite slowly so I must have only been fishing a foot or two below the surface, 2 fish took the Jardine retrieved dead slow.
Around midday a Mayfly landed on me rod so I took it as a sign to get a Mayfly on the end of me line but on checking me fly boxes the cupboard was bare, I didn't have one. I cant even remember ever fishing with a Mayfly. I've read loads of stuff and heard tales of the mythical days when the MAyfly's hatch and by all accounts its jackpot day for fly fishermen. The trout supposedly go mental!!! It wasn't one of those days, if they even exist, I reckon its like UFO's or Bigfoot, lots of people claim to have witnessed it but really its a bag of lies!! Who knows!!! Anyway!!! The nearest thing I had that looked anything like a Mayfly was a Daddy long legs so I stuck it on, lubed it up with floatant and cast it out. The first 10 casts or so I had a rise on nearly every cast but nothing conected. I think the trout sometimes splash at big bushy flies to try and sink them and take them second time round once submerged. Then I had a take sraight of the surface that ended in a nice fish about 3lb. I had to change to a different Daddy as the fish's mouth had gunked up the hackle on the fly which just made it sink. Another fish took the second Daddy before a quiet 2 hour spell around 1pm.
For about 2 hours I only saw one fella catch a fish. I tried all sorts but nothing was successful. I had a number of knocks on a black Shipmans buzzer but again I think the fish were just trying to sink it rather than take it. The Shipmans sits high on the surface where as the suspender buzzer is trapped in the surface film half above and half below the surface accounting for the strong takes earlier.
A white buzzer with a fluorescent pink head broke the silence, fairly heavy so the fish was hooked a good 4-5 foot down. Fish were still rising and picking off naturals from the top but they weren't having any imitations from the surface.
A lot of anglers left around mid afternoon which openned up a few more spots to fish so I had a wander round to the east bank and had a couple of casts off me favourite platform spot but the wind had ppicked up and was blowing straight in me face whihc made casting a bit tough so I moved to the south east corner nearer the car park. I was still casting into the wind but managed a few short casts and got into a fish that shot off and took all the slack line down to the reel. I love playing fish off the reel, not that its any easier in fact I prefer not to use the reel at all, its just that it looks a lot cooler!!!! Specially when the fish runs and the reel goes Sssssssccchhhhhhhhhh. Got that one on a heavy black buzzer with red tinsel cheeks.
Moved back round to the south west corner and caught another 4 fish on that same black buzzer in the late afternoon.
A fella near me caught a massive fish on a bloodworm ~15lb I reckon, the young lad I'd talked to earlier netted it for him then the fella gave him his phone to take a photo of him posing with the monster. Just before the click, the fish flinched out of his arms, bounced down the bank, into the water and swam off - Gutted!!!!!!! His mates will never believe him now when he goes ' It was this big!!'
All in all a cracking days fishing, 17 fish in total and some canny crack with the other fishermen, cant wait for the next time at Kilnsey!
