It's all about love

cheesy and funny and cute... all at once!
http://thelimpcobra.com/2012/11/12/fly-fishing-its-all-about-love/

striper continued

so, the next night Dave and Vlad go back and they get more and bigger fish! nice work guys...

Striper in the bay

I was in Boston this week on business and took the 8 weight just in case. The tides looked flat for most of the time I'd be in town but thursday evening had a low at 5, giving me a few hours before getting to the airport at 8. Although they have had a very slow August, with the water starting to cool and the bait piling up along the beaches Dave and Vlad invited me to tag along to a gravel bar that should have some fish on it on the rising tide.

About a mile from the car park we rounded the bend and looked down on the area we'd be targeting. Blitz! Birds smashing into the water and fish blasting through the surface.... we waded out onto the bar and Vlad was into a fish on his first cast. I was strapped into an angry striper just a few casts later. For an hour the action was pretty hot.

Vlad connects on his first cast

The fish wanted 2-3 inch long, white patterns fished pretty slowly. I hooked over 10 fish and landed 4 or 5 up to 30 inches between 5:30 and 6:20.

Not a bad way to say goodbye to the Boston area.

walking back...

Dusk over Boston on a warm evening

Flymage ezine- pretty cool!

stumbled across this ezine last week, very nice content, quite unique.
http://www.flymage.net/english.php

Slovenia 2012

Well after lots of prep and tying (and remarkably little new tackle purchasing) I got to Slovenia on 15th July and returned a week later: Starry eyed and still processing what I experienced.

The rivers are beyond comprehension with little exception. The amounts of fish is remarkable (even if you subtract the stocked rainbows which I seldom encountered thankfully).


The fishing was incredible. I don't know how many fish I caught, it will have been hundreds. I stopped counting on day 1 at 27 and that was the least prolific river by a long way. The mix across the whole week was probably 50% grayling, 25% rainbows and 25% browns. I am happy with that ratio and more, big, grayling would not have been a problem either. The vast majority of fish were on small Plume tip DC emergers, even some of the biggest fish, especially grayling. The big browns and rainbows ate streamers and big stonefly nymphs predominantly.

I love fishing small dries but the scope for streamer fishing to huge fish is magnificent and could have sidetracked me for the whole week.

The fish are beautiful and quite unique in their markings.

We didn't get around to the rivers on the other side of the country that hold the endemic Marble trout, we played to the weather to maximise our fishing. A pity but not a massive one given the amazing fishing we did have. Next time....


I took 2 rods, both Hardy Zeniths, a 9' 4wt and a 10' 3wt. I fished the 10' 3wt exclusively, even for big fish with streamers. This rod is truly incredible and this week of close work in so many different applications only makes me more convinced of my thoughts when I reviewed it in April. Everyone that touched it last week wants one. When you're fishing a long fly rod for long hours you want something that is weightless in your hands but highly responsive, this is the rod to beat.


The Slovenian countryside is dominated by high forested mountains, huge clear rivers and relatively few people (population less than 2 million). While there are few English people about almost all the locals speak good English which was helpful because my Slovenian is very very bad. 



see the photo album here



Thanks to Jeremy and Wojtek for organising an amazing mission into Slovenia!

Keith

UK National Angling survey launched

If you live in the UK and you are an angler please take the survey, it is critical to the conservation of our freshwater and marine environments.

showing a good friend my new water

I moved to the UK 5 and a bit years ago and this week a good friend from South Africa was passing through on his way back home from some jazz fest in switzerland. I took him onto the Darent to show him how my arse had fallen so squarely in the butter...

The weather was drizzly initially and there was little insect life until after noon: and then the mayfly starting coming off and the fish got a little silly :-)

...and then we went to the pub to eat burgers and drink English Blonde ale.

nice seeing you again Bruce!