Trout Fisherman 484 (Digital Sampler)

FREE FISHERY GUIDE waters Your ultimate guide to the hottest venues – over 450

FIRST FOR TACTICS, TACKLE & WHERE TO FISH

www.trout-fisherman.com

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NG AMAZIOFFER R READE

E T E L P COMREYS G FIT OUlyT£159.99

Deadly damsels to try now

on

Your best ever

SUMMER

REVEALED! T he Secret dry you must use

Learn skills that give you the edge FLYMASTERS TOUGH FISH New competition off to a flyer

Cracking a pressured water

NEW TACKLE

Boots, rods & tying essentials

ISSUE 484 £3.40 MAY 25 - JUNE 21, 2016

THIS MONTH: WATERCRAFT Words & pictures: Ceri Jones

Summer ACTION

Ceri Jones & Matthew Pate read the water to catch tricky rainbows at an imitative ďŹ shery for discerning anglers

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TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

Matthew Pate lands a lively rainbow at imitative Kingfisher.

TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

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THIS MONTH: DRY FLY Words: Jeff Prest Pictures: Peter Gathercole

The Midas Dry tempted this stunning Rutland brown trout for Craig.

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TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

Fishing’s secret MIDAS TOUCH

Maybe there’s nothing new under the sun, but when a man fishing for 30 years can’t recall the last time he was this excited by a pattern, the Midas Fly could be the next best thing…

TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

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FOCUS ON: DAMSELS

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The nymph MIGRATION

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Damsel nymphs are undulating their way towards structure and the trout love them. Get ready for the wiggle factor...

4 Ma ting takes place

Damsel life cycle THE entire life cycle lasts one year and it’s mostly spent as a nymph. Let’s start with the adults that are a common sight in summer. The bright blue males find a female and mate – their bodies often forming a heart shape in the process. You can see them on reed stems and the like or even

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mating during flight. The females then deposit eggs on plants in, on or just above the water. The eggs hatch and the resulting nymphs are small and mostly straw coloured. They spend their immature life on the bottom or very close to some kind of structure for protection. They actually undergo up to 12 immature stages as a nymph. These stages are called instars.

Then, when conditions are right, the nymphs – now about an inch long – undulate as fast as possible towards structure in order to crawl up and shed their skin. The full adult emerges and allows its wings to dry before taking flight and starting the process all over again. Adults emerge throughout the warmer months and live for a few weeks or months.

TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

Introducing the damselfly nymph JUNE sees the biggest nymph movement of the season on stillwaters – that of the damselfly nymphs. They have been present in immature form all year but now the temperature is right it’s time for them to wriggle through open water before crawling up reeds, rocks or even anglers, to shed skin and begin adulthood. You’ve seen the adult flies at the bankside – the males are bright blue and the females slightly dull.

When you see the adults flitting about near reeds etc you can be sure that the trout are feeding on the nymphs – so set up tackle accordingly.

Any aquatic invertebrate venturing into open water runs the risk of being eaten. And with the nymphs numbering thousands in any lake, the trout have eyes for nothing else once the migration starts in earnest.

Because nymphs are on the move, takes are explosive so be ready for some fun.

A little knowledge about the insect’s life cycle and movement of the nymphs will help with fly-tying and how to retrieve patterns.

Marabou tails add plenty of movement.

Mimic the movement OBVIOUSLY, we’re trying to imitate that undulating side-to-side motion of the nymphs, so a marabou-tailed pattern is ideal. But if you want to copy the nymphs accurately then make sure the overall length of the fly is no more than an inch.

Anything beyond that is a lure – not a nymph.

Use a steady figure-of-eight retrieve with an occasional stop. Some anglers even wiggle the rod tip from side to side to enhance the ‘wiggle effect’ in the fly.

Adult damsels – a common sight in summer.

An adult damsel alights on the rod tip. If the adults are around it’s a sure sign the nymphs are as well.

Anatomy of a damselfly nymph

A steady figure-of-eight is a successful retrieve.

3 Legs These are optional and for close-copy tyers only. The same applies to the three breathers at the end of the body.

1 Eyes & head It’s easy to see why some anglers think damsels look like aliens! Tyers should aim for a pronounced head created by plastic dumb-bell eyes or the like. Proper imitations have a thick head and gradually tapering body but trout will take an olive pattern with bags of movement. There’s no need to imitate accurately.

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Pronounced eyes are a good feature to copy.

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Damsel eating habits 2 Thorax & body Some tyers create a hinged effect between thorax and body to enhance movement but there’s really no need. A tapering body gives a realistic enough impression.

TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

■ Nymphs eat aquatic insects. They capture prey with a lower lip called a labium, which extends out fast to grab hold of the food.

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■ Adults eat insects, crustaceans and even small fish, using their hairy hind legs during flight to capture prey.

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THIS MONTH: SMALL WATER DRIES Words & pictures: Jeff Prest

Handle the PRESSURE

The downside of popular fisheries can be fish that have bitten once and are now twice shy. We find out how anglers cope at one Scottish fishery, where help arrives by parachute…

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TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

Warm conditions and busy banks require anglers to refine their approach.

TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

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THIS MONTH: RIVER DRIES Words & pictures: Steve Cullen

This River Tweed brown fell to a Jingler dry fly.

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TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

The best river DRY EVER? Steve Cullen extols the virtues of the Jingler dry and its use throughout the season when any upwing is on the water

TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

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WHERE TO FISH

THIS MONTH

A spotlight on five venues worth visiting this summer Words: Russell Hill Pictures: Peter Gathercole

Exe Valley manager and fishing guide Nick Hart with a 13lb fish.

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TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

Fishing FOR ALL Nick Hart is halfway towards achieving his dream at the rejuvenated Exe Valley fishery

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UNNING a trout fishery is a tough challenge. Anglers’ needs are varied and therefore successful waters must also offer variety or hit on one thing that connects with a significant number of fishers to make the fishery viable.

Although the industry is not easy, many waters are really upping their game these days to maintain interest in a sport that needs more people taking part.

Exe Valley Fishery, near Dulverton on the Somerset/Devon border, has taken huge strides forwards and – although their plans are a work in progress – the two-lake complex with river is moving in the right direction.

Manager and fishing guide Nick Hart says: “We listen to our anglers and, although it’s impossible to keep everyone happy, it’s our aim to do our utmost to offer the kind of experience that has mass appeal.”

First impressions Myself and Peter Gathercole arrive in the spacious car park and walk towards the modern wooden lodge. We first notice plastic containers on gateposts in which anglers can discard unwanted leader. The fishery is championing Trout Fisherman’s bankside ‘Clean-up’ campaign and even has the logo on the containers!

As we walk to the main doors on the far side of the lodge we see the two lakes

TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

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NEW TYING COMP

The best ideas and patterns will make you a Flymaster

Fly Dressers’ Guild chairman Peter Gathercole judges Trout Fisherman’s new fly-tying competition

Challenge 2: Dry Sedge pattern Winners' badges.

Wings aid floatability and can be many materials, i.e. cloaked feather fibres.

Obviously, a stiff cock hackle will help the dry fly to float and don't trim the underside of the hackle. Keep it full so that the fly rides high on the water.

Bodies can be foam or dubbed seal's fur picked out to aid the fly's buoyancy.

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ROUT Fisherman has teamed up with Barbless Flies to relaunch the Flymasters flytying competition, with Peter Gathercole as judge.

Each month a challenge will be set inviting you, the tyers, to put your creativity to the test. Your pattern should then be posted to us at the Trout Fisherman offices and will be passed onto Peter. Now the Chairman of the Fly Dressers’ Guild, author of the best-sellers ‘Fly Tying For Beginners’ and the ‘Fly Tying Bible’ and all-round game fishing personality Peter is well placed to be judge. It’s up to you to impress him!

The antennae make the sedge life-like.

Use various materials, i.e. hackle fibres.

Challenge No.2 This month we want you to tie a dry Sedge pattern for summer evenings. Obviously, the pattern has to float, in fact it must be high floating so that it can create a wake on the surface when twitched. So, we advise using buoyant materials such as deer hair or foam. We've all seen how the natural adult sedges behave, they skitter across the water in low light so it's small wonder that takes are savage. Trout have to chase them and nail them with gusto if they're to dine! So expect splashy takes.

Peter is looking for innovation, a high standard of tying and creativity but this has to be tempered with the pattern’s prowess as a fish-catcher – after all, that’s what it’s eventually designed to do. All submitted flies should be squashed barb or tied on barbless hooks.

Post to: Flymasters, Trout Fisherman Magazine, Bauer Media Ltd, Media House, Lynch Wood Business Park, Peterborough PE2 6EA. Give the fly’s name, full dressing plus notes on how the fly evolved. Attach fly to notes, add your name/address and submit. Entries cannot be returned. The competition promotes barbless flies to reflect the popularity of catch and release, so squash the barb or tie on barbless hooks.

Deadline for entries: June 24. Results will appear in issue 486, on sale July 20.

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www.barbless-flies.co.uk

How flies will be judged

TIE ON BARBLESS HOOKS Barbless hooks are often seen as less effective at landing fish than their barbed equivalent – this isn't true.

Partridge of Redditch has played a long and innovative role in the development of barbless patterns – arrow points, dropped points and needle points all started here and have morphed into some of the most well known brands today.

Partridge’s PATRiOT Barbless patterns are characterised by the best of the features and benefits required by competitive and productive fishers: •Black nickel finish aids hook setting •Robust needle points to ensure that they set time and time again •Wire weights suit tough fishing applications

TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

THE PRIZanEtsSreceive:

SPONSORED BY

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Each month a challenge will be set inviting you, the tyers, to put your creativity to the test...with Peter Gathercole as judge.”

TROUT FISHERMAN MAY 25 - JUNE 21

www.barbless-flies.co.uk

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