New waters and new flies...

What have I done since I last posted on the blog?

The last time I was out I missed a large pike as it swirled around my fly, but in some ways it didn’t matter. I have found myself exploring new waters with and without the rod and perhaps over the next year or so there will be some surprises both for me and the pike.

New waters have led me from rural settings to those where the industrial revolution carved a straight line in the land and filled it with water for barge traffic. I think it’ll take me a while to crack that one!

Fly production has been varied and I’ve come back to having a go with the surf candy… this one is a play on a pikelet! I wonder whether it’ll catch a Grandma?

Looking forward to a day on the river on the 16th… start of the coarse season

Catch of the day NEW PB!!

Well here you are - catch of the day! It's surprising what that old bucktail can pull out of the lake...

Seriously I was looking at some pike photos on a website and came across Lakemaid Beer's website ticker. I'm grateful to Stephen at Lakemaid for allowing me to share Miss Northern with you all.

Beers are on you Stephen!

What's tying tonight...

It’s blowing a hoolie outside at the moment and I’ve been tying over the last couple of days for a bit of fun and relaxation. I watched an online tutorial which included reverse tying bucktail to give more body to the fly. I have to say I may have become a convert to it as it does give more control of the fibres and keeps the body shape as well.

The other thing I’ve wanted to tie for a while is a popper… but stopped short of buying popper heads… anyway rifling through a few boxes I came across an ideal donor or two! Anyway I tied a prototype popper and tested it last night. There weren’t any takers sadly but boy did it pop and gurgle! I’ve never had a surface take on a popper and it didn’t fly badly either, so here's hoping.

I’m not going to tell you what the popper head is made of just at the moment… I thought of running a bit of a competition to see who can guess the answer (and no there isn’t a prize, just the glory of getting it right).

Q: What have I made the popper’s head out of?

Answer please via the comment box.

Top water action...

Going through my images of Chew this image stands out for me... it is the epitome of the pike and its single fingered salute to the world "I'm the boss here!" It is a class piece of top water action on Toby's fly. I have so many images in my head of Chew and that day.

I'm not the world's greatest fly caster... I consider myself more of a hunter! I'll be transferring some of the images I took on good old 35mm shortly it'll illustrate the point better.

Photo manipulation...

Photoshop CS3... manipulation by my step-son Will... he's 13.

Catch and Release!

Ordinarily I wouldn't post something I'd seen somewhere else BUT it reminded me of the day that I saw a fin perfect roach being caught and when put back I watched it for all of 10 seconds before the swirl of a pike took it! Watch and enjoy...

They've woken up!!

Well another nice fish in a very short session... an hour or so of bliss and a new fly pattern... or should we say an upgraded version!!! It started off as a clear blue sky and ended up in squally showers when I was fishing... hence the section of a lily pad left on the pike's face!