~Wading the flats in search of Bonefish~

Heading for the Sun:

A bunch of us are flying out Mexico for the next couple of weeks, heading down to Ascension Bay in search of all kinds of exotic fish. Although bonefish, tarpon, snook and the elusive permit will be our main quarry, hopefully we'll encounter other species like barracuda and even sharks. Updates will be posted from early December.

Paul~

~Jim Fearn demonstrates the finer points with a double hander~

Busy Fly Fair:

The BFFi took place last weekend in Stoke. With the weather almost behaving itself, record crowds attended, making this a successful event. AAPGAI instructors passed on invaluable knowledge during demonstrations on the casting pond. The line up included Jim Fearn, Gary Coxon, Karl Humphries, Gary Champion, Lee Cummings, Tony Riley and myself. Indoors the Fly Tiers Row proved as popular as ever where it was possible to watch World class demonstrators. Not surprisingly, AAPGAI Maters Paul Little wowed the crowd with a stunning display of Spey style flies. I based myself on the Wild Trout Trust stand were it was encouraging to see a positive response from the public.

Paul~

~WTT Director Shaun Leonard manning the stand~

~Marc Petitjean and John Glynn share a joke on the banks of the Wye~

Wye Comes Good:

With many other rivers bursting their banks, John Glynn, Marc Petitjean and myself steal a day in deepest Derbyshire. Although the Wye was slightly tinged, grayling responded well to a modest hatch of Large Dark Olives. A size 16 olive Paradun cast upstream and left to drift, tempted a number of fish. Of course, the day didn't pass without the heavens opening. By 2pm fairly persistent rain set in, concluding the hatch. A switch to small nymphs allowed us to connect with more grayling. However, having enjoyed success with dry flies throughout the morning, it didn't quite have the same appeal.

Paul~

~A nice Wye grayling taken on dry fly~

~Marc Petitjean tying another killing fly~

An evening with Marc Petitjean:

Prior to the BFFi, Marc Petitjean agreed to visit the South Cumbria branch of the FDG. He gave a detailed demonstration on the history of CdC flies and included many of his ground breaking flies. It's always fascinating to get another fisherman's slat on flies, especially someone like Marc who successfully travels throughout Europe. Primarily, his tyings trade on sparseness with some intriguing ways of incorporating CdC fibres.

Paul~

~Howard Taylor demonstrating knots for a keen group~

Great Grayling Day:

The weather held for our first Grayling Day this winter. The rivers too were in fine fettle, albeit it low and gin clear, which certainly made grayling that bit more edgy. Despite being flighty, plenty of grayling were caught and some impressive fish at that. Small nymphs were the order of the day and pitched delicately upstream they accounted for most of the catch. Those brave enough to try a dry fly tempted a handful of fish too. A hearty lunch set us up for the afternoon when most people explored the upper Test in search of grayling shoals.

Paul~

~Discussing fly life and the graylings' environment~

~Jim Lees straining to spot his #18 paradun through heavy snow~

Hardy Soul:

Hailing from Scotland, Jim Lees has to be one of the hardiest fishermen I've met. Withstanding sub-zero temperatures, Jim literally had to be dragged from the water at the end of each day. He even managed to fish without gloves, amazingly his fingers still functioned in biting winds. Granted, his sheer determination paid off time and again as Jim got amongst some nice grayling, even late in the day when BW-O spinners returned to egg lay. What took some coming to terms with was the fact that female spinners were still prepared to egg lay, who would have believed spinner falls in Arctic conditions.......

Paul~

~A nice grayling steered towards Jim's waiting net~

~Heavy snow pelts Richard Tong~

Braving the Elements:

With lunchtime temperatures struggling to the heady heights of 2 degrees C, we weren't exactly rushing to the water first thing. Amazingly, hatches of fly continued despite the snow and by 2pm good numbers of BW-O duns had grayling dimpling at the surface. However, it was a bizarre and somewhat mesmerising experiencing trying to spot your dry fly through a wall of snow flakes. The rewards however were rich with some stunning grayling falling to our dry flies.

Paul~

~A handsome San grayling in freezing conditions~

Snow Time:

Our second day saw heavy rain eventually turn into snow and with biting winds, we were soon facing blizzard conditions. At least the lying snow wouldn't affect water levels! Our journey to the river was however a different story. Still in leaf the trees couldn't cope with the weight of snow, which brought many of them crashing down, blocking the road. Determined as ever, an axe and some serious manpower shifted the heavy boughs.

Paul~

~All hands to the deck~

~Just enough room to squeeze past~

~30 yards later, another felled bough~

~BW-O Duns carpeting the San~

Incredible Fly Hatches:

I'd been talking the San hatches up on the flight out and thankfully she didn't disappoint. Around noon on the first day, Blue Winged Olives began emerging in huge numbers. We'd caught a few fish on nymphs and spiders prior to the main event, but once things kicked-off, everyone switched to dry fly. Interestingly, a number of adult caddis could be found along the margins, not bad for an October day. The hatch of Olives lasted until 4pm-giving us a good 4 hours of blistering sport.

Paul~

~This large caddis would make a decent meal for trout~

~Tackling Up~

First Day:

The San river in Poland flows from the Carpathian Mountains and boasts some of the finest fly hatches known to man. So it was with a degree of anticipation we tackled up on the first morning of a recent trip. Above, the boys discuss tactics and flies on a typical Autumn morning.

~Richard prepares lunch~

The clean Polish air certainly puts an edge on your appetite, especially following a couple of hours wading in cold water. Our guide Richard was a dab hand with the griddle and rustled up some traditional Polish sausage-delicious. Funny how wafting smoke summons everyone from afar... Wedged between fresh bread this meal certainly kept the wolf from the door.

~Autumnal Colours~

Ancient woodlands in South East Poland mainly consist of deciduous trees, resulting in a spectacualar fiery show at this time of year. A watery sun helped lifted these colours, making it a pleasant experience as we awaited the first BW-O duns to emerge.

Paul~