Sunday, 1st June
Glencorse Reservoir, Day Session
The day started promisingly, if a tad bright, and a tad calm. However, it quickly clouded over and a breeze got up from the east (is there any other direction it can come form, we ask ourselves?) Not to worry, the first couple of hours gave us good fishing conditions. Len Newby made the most of this period - doing way better than anyone else at this time. Len fished a black tadpole and a cormorant on an intermediate in the big bay area, and took 10 fish, followed by 3 more in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, others were fishing with dries and nymphs and other stuff that was being treated with disdain by the fish. An odd one was taken here and there, but no bags were being built up. Christopher Bell and I worked our way up to the top end before we found fish willing to take our offerings which, after some fiddling about, became damsels on intermediates. The fish seemed to be high in the water - often taking within seconds of touch-down, or first pull.
Bob Whyte tries to figure out, how come both his batteries are flatter than a billiard table...?
Then the rains came. And it rained and rained. And the fish stopped taking (well, our flies at least). What do you do? Persevere? Move? Change tactics and get all your gear soaked in the process? Christopher had had one on a claret hopper early, so I had a bash with the dries rod (as it was made up anyway) but figure-of-eighting the dries to make them stand out in the rain. Instant success, with a fish to a claret hopper. The next one wellied it when I was off guard, broke me, and I never had another offer after re-rigging. We didn't realise we had been steered in the wrong direction by the high in the water thing. We should have gone deeper.
An early one on a claret hopper
Bob Whyte and Richard Goddard were fishing the same area and had a similar tale to tell - fish early on, taken on intermediate and medium sink, pulling with cat's whiskers, snatcher, damsel and tadpole. Then struggling as the rain came in. That last pattern, the tadpole, was starting to recur in proceedings. Moving on... Bob Norris and John Robertson had fish to floater, intermediate and sinking line, but the only pattern on their cards was: tadpole. Bob Allan: 3 out of 5 fish on a black hot-head. Dougie Skedd had most of his fish to a black booby on DI-7.
Bob nets a fish for Richard Goddard
The 'pattern' was certainly emerging. Averaging it out, black tadpoles on a sinking line seemed a good bet. It should have dawned on me - the water around the boats was teeming with tadpoles! I'm not sure I'm convinced that a 3 inch streamer passes as an imitation of a black wriggly thing half an inch long, but Dougie Skedd will tell you it is all about "controlled exaggeration".
All of which brings us to Tommy Steven, who landed no less than 18 fish over the course of the day. The vast majority were taken on DI 3 and mini-lures: bloody butcher, Viva and... black tadpole. Just to throw a spanner in the works of all this clever deduction, Tommy's boat partner, Dougie Goddard had his fish on fast glass and snatchers!
Christopher Bell unhooks one taken on a damsel
With all the mention of black tadpoles and no idea of the exact patterns being referred to, the best I can do is give the links to all the usual suspects: black tadpole, black tadpole, black tadpole, black tadpole, black tadpole and black tadpole.
When we came in, admittedly a bit on the soggy side, we found that no fewer than 8 of the 20 rods had buggered-off early in a wet and bedraggled sort of state. I am still waiting to hear from 2 of them. Others I caught up with, their cards turned to papier-mâché, and not much to tell.
To date, 18 rods landed 73 fish.
Photos: Canon 40D with (image 1) Sigma 10-20 mm and (images 2-5) Canon 55-250 mm IS lenses
