Driven by two fundamentals: conservation of wild habitats and the key of presentation. Jeremy Lucas is known for his simplicity and minimalism which he refers to as the ‘ultimate refinement’. Cambridge science graduate, author of Presentation Fly-Fishing, Tactical Fly-Fishing and long standing England team member, Jeremy’s name is synonymous with light line fly fishing.
During the thirty years that I lived in Cumbria, fishing the Eden and the rivers of North Yorkshire, including the Ure, I had never fished on the Tanfield Angling Club waters. Thanks to the kind invitation of my friend Robert Russell, the Riverkeeper, a small group of friends and I enjoyed what each of us regard as the most wonderful of fly fishing experiences. We were stunned, frankly, by this beautiful stretch of river; the scenic splendour, the rich history and the quality of the fishing.
With water levels at an all time springtime low, after a devastatingly dry period in northern England, we might have expected to struggle. I know that on the Eden, we would have done, waiting for the ‘easy’ time of late afternoon when the trout become easy targets as they feed on spinners. Not so at West Tanfield. We fished very different areas. I started on Sturdy’s Stream (yes, really, that section most favoured by the original Riverkeeper, Tom Sturdy, of Sturdy’s Fancy fame).
With no hatch and nothing other than small fish breaking the surface, I fished duo style, with an Oppo dry fly and Hydropsyche caddis (the predominant caddis species on all northern rivers) on point. There was the immediate gratification of two lovely wild trout on the Hydro as I worked upstream. Soon I came to Staveley and, in the low water, I could wade out to the rapid on the far bank. This screamed fish to me. Fast water has the three essential requirements of salmonid species – oxygen, cover and food. And so it proved. There were grayling rising, as I approached, and also a few subtle rises on the periphery of the rapid that I knew were trout. There were midge in the air, along with grannom caddis and a few medium olives, but whatever the fish were taking was invisible to me.
In fast water, I favour a caddis style CDC pattern (#16/17) and switching to this as I waded into position, I made the first tentative casts. Staveley is now indelibly imprinted in my memory. Without moving my feet, I rose perhaps thirty fish, both grayling and trout, and netted a dozen. Note that this was springtime when grayling are out of season, but this is always the way on a mixed wild fishery when you will catch grayling even when targeting trout. With barbless hooks and soft netting, this does no harm to the grayling whatsoever. Remember that a feeding grayling is not a spawning grayling. Nonetheless, I needed to move on, and Robert offered me a ‘challenge’ that would greet me downstream.
Freshly tied caddis (#16) and a pair of my standard heron herl plume tips (#20)
The contrast was startling – smooth, slow water, with a well-defined foam lane towards the far bank. Cruising fish, which were obviously mostly trout. I felt that the big caddis was wrong. I extended the leader out to about 14’ and put on a size 21 plume tip. And they came, the trout, and a few grayling, by carefully placing the fly on the foam lane as the fish patrolled. Beautiful fish, these, and I might have stayed all afternoon with them, but for Robert’s alternative ideas.
He took me farther downstream, near the hatchery, where there were enormous trout cruising. Again a contrast. I continued with the long tippet and small plume tip, only to have ‘fresh air’ rises and a few pricked fish. Robert suggested the caddis again, so even though this looked too big to me on the calm surface, I did as I was bid. The result was immediate, in the form of a gorgeous 5lb plus trout, the biggest of the trip.
All my companions enjoyed fishing that they described as unbeatable, and we are still talking about it now, each yearning to return to Tanfield. Frankly, there is no trout and grayling water in England that offers so much to the fly fisher.
Jeremy Lucas is author of Fly Fisher, Tactical Fly Fishing and Presentation Fly Fishing.