Why This Season Will Be Special

Why This Season Will Be Special - By Clive Rounce 

I always look forward to the start of a new trout fishing season. Although some stillwaters remain open throughout the year, and good sport can be enjoyed on a crisp winter’s day, Spring always feels like a new beginning. As the warmth of the early April sunshine breathes new life into the natural world, we began to anticipate the aquatic awakening of a myriad nymphs and buzzers – and the response of the hungry trout….

But this season, my anticipation is heightened by a new dimension; I have joined the illustrious ranks of those who tie their own flies. I have always admired fisherman who created their own flies but had never ventured to try myself. They say that to catch a fish on a fly that you have tied yourself brings a special satisfaction: well this season, I intend to find out if it’s true.  My father-in-law had the inspired idea of giving me a vice from Sportfish this Christmas and I have become a fly tier. Well, perhaps that overstates my progress and proficiency. I have learnt how to attach a thread to the hook, wind it on with a bobbin, catch in materials using the ‘pinch and loop’ technique and finish off with a whip finish by hand, or with a tool, which I prefer. I have begun to understand the importance of proportion and to appreciate the effective sequence of construction which ensures that the tying thread is always where you need it, with the minimum number of steps. I have had my first attempt at dubbing fur onto the tying thread. Best of all, I have produced a dozen or more flies. None could grace the pages of a Fulling Mill catalogue, but they might – just might – be good enough to deceive a trout.

We admire a perfectly tied fly and we praise the skill of the person who produced it and there is great satisfaction in mastering a new skill and becoming as good as we can be. I aspire to produce excellent flies that would win the approval of any seasoned angler. But I am mindful of the purpose of my flies; they are created to catch trout. So let the fish judge my flies this season. My goal is to catch a trout using home-tied flies in all of the following categories: a nymph, a lure, a wet fly, and finally, a dry fly.

I fish at Thorpe Vale, a fishery that consists of two spring-fed lakes cradled in the Lincolnshire Wolds. For me, the name is evocative, bringing to mind past successes (as well as failures and lessons learnt) and causing my right arm to twitch. The approach to the lakes is perfect.  You turn onto a rough track from the road and proceed downhill into the valley. You have to wait for your first glimpse of Lake No. 1, until you reach the bottom of the hill and take a sharp right turn, when suddenly the vista appears. Sometimes, you spot the rings from rising trout as you turn the corner and your pulse quickens. Often, there are pheasants and hares in the fields that border the track to the water. I wonder if, this year, I will look at them differently, with a slightly covetous glint in my eye as I think of the PTN (Frank Sawyers’ wonderfully conceived pheasant tail nymph) and the GRHE (the ubiquitous, much-copied and very versatile gold-ribbed hares ear).

I have fished several seasons at Thorpe Vale and I have an idea of the flies that work. From the early season onwards, black buzzers and small nymphs can work well. I have tied some simple black buzzers with a black floss body, a silver rib and a small peacock herl thorax. I hope that these will work well when the fish are within a few feet of the water surface. I will tie some superglue buzzers that are designed to sink more quickly and to be fished deeper. Although these patterns look simple, I would like to include some white breathing filaments at the head and some coloured wing buds and this makes it a little more difficult. I have a couple of diawl backs with a peacock herl body and a tail and beard hackle made from brown hackle fibres. I haven’t quite got the beard hackle right. Some people suggest that you should rotate the vice; whilst others say that this is not necessary. It’s interesting how different books and DVDS can be equally adamant and give completely opposite advice on some aspects of fly tying. For example, on the simplest of subjects, some insist the hook point should be contained within the jaws of the vice so that you don’t snag the thread. Others say that this is wrong because it can damage the hook. I guess that you have to figure out what works best for you and that is one of the beauties of learning fly tying. I like to be able to see the barb and point of the hook to help me in positioning the body correctly and achieving the right proportions. To complete my nymph selection, I have some PTNs and GRHE nymphs. The former, I have tied with thread, ribbed with copper wire and using the pheasant tail fibres for the tail, abdomen, thorax and wing case. When Frank Sawyer invented this classic pattern, it was tied without thread using just the copper wire and pheasant tails – brilliant in its simplicity and very effective too.

I have also tied some Black Pennell flies, a classic wet fly that has worked well for me in the early season when there is a ripple on the water and the trout are near the surface. I like the look of this fly with its golden pheasant tippets, ribbed body and black hackle – one of my first hackled flies along with the black and peacock spider. I also love the sense of continuity and tradition associated with a fly with such a long pedigree.

As the season progresses, the nymphs continue to be effective and you can add the damsel nymph to your armoury. I have tied some simple olive marabou lures in the tadpole style, some with gold bead and some without. I also have a fly that I call the Canary - named after Norwich City football club, my father’s favourite team. My daughter became interested in what I was doing and wanted to have a go. She chose to make a lure with a yellow chenille body, a silver tinsel rib and an olive marabou wing. Wouldn’t it be great if I could catch a trout on this fly?

In May and June, you can catch fish on dry flies. So far, the only dry fly that I’ve made is a wingless Wickham’s Fancy. It has a flat silver tinsel body, with a wire rib and a palmered brown hackle body. This is my third hackled fly and I like the way that the wire rib is would through the hackle from the bend of the hook towards the eye to secure it, whilst the tying thread is positioned at the head and used to tie off the wire. I’d love this fly to work. I haven’t tackled any winged flies yet and, whilst I will do this at some point for the challenge, it’s an interesting debate as to how important this is in patterns that are designed to catch fish. I can understand that the wings protruding above the water will be the first thing seen by a trout as a fly drifts into its window of vision – due to the refraction of light through the water surface – but how important is this as I attempt to cast to rising trout on a stillwater? After all, the trout will be looking up at my fly and, hopefully, it will land fairly close to them!

In September, there are some fantastic evening rises to sedge flies and the sport can be very exciting if you skate a suitable pattern across the surface. My favourite pattern is an elk hair winged dry fly and I will attempt to tie some of these before the Autumn. There are also times when the fish become pre-occupied with the tiny white caenis flies – well named as ‘the Anglers’ Curse’. I’m not sure that my novice-level fly tying skills will stretch to tying something so small. And, even if I can, how do I get a trout to find mine amongst so many naturals? Perhaps, I’ll try to deceive them with a larger white pattern.

So, the season stretches out before us with the familiar cycle of hatches and, although we have our experience to draw upon, we know that there are times when it will be different and we will learn new things. That’s what makes fly-fishing endlessly fascinating. And this year will be especially challenging for me as I set out to catch trout on my own flies. Whatever happens, it will be a special season – and, if you are interested, I’ll let you know how I get on.

Other articels written by Clive Rounce : Why This Seaon Will Be Special & Wickham's Is A Winner