Day With Colin

I took Colin out for a day, he fishes chalk streams rather than free stone rivers, so to start with he found the bottom a little harder than the fine gravel chalk stream river beds, the main thing Colin wanted to learn was nymphing techniques.

So we started the day talking about the different styles of nymphing and all the various forms of bite detection, I must admit I could talk fishing all day long but it was time to put all the theory into practise, a quick demo and Colin was away and away to a good start he had a fish on within minutes which was also good as it was also on his brand new 10′ 3#, so my nymphing approach worked and rod christened, one strange thing as the trout season has finished they seemed to be very hungry and kept taking the grayling bugs.

The trout if in the middle of summer would have been fantastic but it was grayling we wanted, then the ladies started to play Colin was really pleased as the grayling he caught were a better stamp of fish to the rivers he usually fishes, by the end of the day I think Colin had caught around 10-12 fish ( Colin used his camera to take the pictures that’s why I’m holding the fish for him )

From Colin.

Thank you, a brilliant day and learnt so much about nymphing that I should be able to put into practice when I get back on the River.

Three Generations

Today was one of those days I really enjoy, when you have three generations of a family out together on the river, it must be fantastic over time for them to look back at the day they had together, dad, son and grandson all out enjoying them selves and all having firsts Dad caught his first ever grayling and a nice fish of around a pound and half, son and grandson both catching there first ever fly caught fish.

One down side from me was I forgot to take any pictures !

What the Howe’s thought of there day out.

It was great, they both enjoyed it and so did I, but it came as a shock to find how unfit I am! Fishermen can lie with the best but I was knackered.

Beautiful countryside, superb river and an excellent teacher.

Many thanks

Keith Howe

A Very Multi Cultural Week

Well it’s quite a week this week Carol and John from Phoenix Arizona today and a couple of gentleman from Kenya Africa for the rest of the week, I bet there all finding it a little cooler than where they live !

More to follow but have to make more flies for tomorrow 🙂

A Very Pleasant Day

Had a day out with Bob to day, it started off a little damp but the sun did come out which was nice, but yet again the wind showed it’s ugly head, most of the fish came to nymphs even with all the insect life that was buzzing around, we only saw a handful of rises all day, Bob caught on Trio and Czech nymphing the one real nice thing was all the fish were trout and no out of season grayling, I think Bob had around 12-14 brown trout in total to around the pound mark.

Orvis Helios 10′ 4# Fly Rod

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I have fished with this rod since it first came out, well a little bit before that to be honest, it is a very light rod in the hand, if a  little heavy in the pocket, but not more than any other top end fly rod. I have always been a tip flex fan and this suits me down to the ground, even though it’s a tip flex 9.5 on the Orvis flex rating, it still  has a very forgiving tip when your playing smaller fish, the one thing that I really like with this rod is it will do every thing I ask of it; bugging, nymphing, spiders, dry fly you name it does them all well, the one thing I always hated with some of the longer and lighter line weight  fly rods is, you can do the nymphing techniques well and if all of a sudden you get a rise going they were awfully at trying to present a dry properly, as I don’t like carrying two rods with me it was always a bit of a pain in the bum !

I have used this rod for around four years and it has been a very good companion and caught one hell of a lot of fish, the fixtures and fittings are all top spec and one of my pet hates with many fly rod is a poor cork handle, I have had rods that all the filler in a handle has fallen out by the end of  the first day, there is a small amount of filler in the Helios handle, but you can’t feel it and it has never fallen out. The only reason you know there is any filler in the handle is it shows up as the handle gets dirty through use, they made this rod as light as possible, so why put two stripper guides I’m not sure, it’s a river style rod at the end of the day and not a distance casting tool, mind it will throw a very long line, but I don’t usually buy a 4# for that sort of fishing, presentation and delicacy is more the ticket.

All in all I have been very pleased with fit and finish and how the rod casts and fishes.

What Orvis say about their rod.

If line control is important to your style of fishing, then the 10-foot rod offers an extra foot of reach for precise nymphing or greater mending capability with dries. In highly technical waters where the fish are picky and presentations need to be precise and absolute, the Helios 104-4 stands out as the best line control rod ever designed. The 10-foot rod is also the weapon of choice for float tubers and pontoon anglers, providing the extra length to keep the back cast up off the water. If you’re looking for a rod to give you that extra edge, the Helios 104-4 offers the lightest most powerful rod in its class. It is a specialty rod, but one that is proving more and more popular with anglers looking for that little something extra in presentation.
FRESHWATER:
Benefits greatest feel of action for more accurate and longer casts superior sensitivity and responsiveness the strongest fly rod on the market loads quickly, crisply, but nimbly supremely-balanced feel unmatched fish-fighting power better tracking for dry flies and nymphing smoother transition of power reduced casting fatigue

Features exclusive first-ever thermoplastic, thermoset resins from tip to butt Precision Power Taper™ woven graphite & gold-anodised aluminum reel seat recoil guides titanium frame stripping guide with NanoLite® ceramic insert translucent-olive finish highest grade cork handle woven-graphite rod tube made in Manchester, Vermont