Rods, reels, lines, boots, waders, jackets, nets, you name it fly-fishers love them and as a result there is a lot of equipment on the market all claiming to be the latest and the greatest. It can be overwhelming at times, you buy a 9 foot 5 weight rod one week and the next week your being told you should have bought a 10 foot 3 weight!
Fortunately Orvis understand that not all anglers are equal, they need to find out what works for them, at a budget they can afford and make their purchase with confidence. That essentially was what Orvis day was all about.
Orvis representative Rachel Brady (right) made sure everyone had an opportunity to try out the products on show and provided technical support.
Members and guests enjoyed trying out the new Orvis range
We were delighted to welcome Stuart Wardle of the Durham Fly-Fishing Company (www.durhamflyfishing.co.uk) back to Tanfield Lake. Stuart presented two sessions, the first was a casting session on the Lake and the second a live demonstration of river-craft on the river. Stuart is an engaging character, his enthusiasm is infectious and the content of his sessions was excellent. There was something for everyone, questions asked and questions answered.
Thanks to everyone who attended, to Orvis, Rachel and `Stuart for an outstanding day and a reminder that fly-fishing is a wonderful sport where the big names never forget where they came from and life long friendships are built.
On Saturday 22nd August we will be hosting an Orvis Demonstration Day at Tanfield Lake. We will be joined by the Orvis team who will bring along a range of rods and reels for you to try out and Stuart Wardle (Durham Fly-Fishers) will be running two technical sessions, one on the lake and another on the river.
Images photographed and owned by William Woodward
The day is open to members and non-members, £10/person (cash on the day), activities start at 10.00am – book your place by contacting secretary@tanfieldac.co.uk
Stuart Wardle (Durham Fly-Fishers) will be running two technical sessions
This week Robert, our River keeper, has been fixing fly boxes to the top of our new steps on various beats of the river. These boxes contain flies fished successfully on that particular beat and are there for you to try. When you move on, leave a fly that worked for you that day, so other members can try your fly and leave another.
This weekend Tanfield Angling Club hosted fly-fishing legend Charles Jardine for his annual masterclass. After a week of glorious sunshine it was not exactly a surprise that on this Bank Holiday Sunday it rained and rained and rained!
Of course, a bit of rain wasn’t going to dampen the spirits of our Members who turned out to listen, watch and fish with Charles.
TAC Members hanging on Charles every word!
Charles is a very engaging presenter, he covered a number of subjects including casting, dry fly and spider set-ups followed by a lesson in river-craft and a demonstration of how to fish with north country spiders.
In the afternoon it was the members turn to fish with Charles working his way around the group offering advice. A number of fish were caught and everyone departed having experienced an excellent day on the river.
Karl Watson caught this beauty!
Our third Masterclass of the year will be with our old friend and local trout fishing legend Fred Bainbridge on Saturday 13th June. If you would like to book your place on this popular Masterclass series please contact secretary@tanfieldac.co.uk
On Saturday 2nd May, TAC held our first working party of the season with a litter picking session along the banks for the River Ure. Meeting at the Memorial Hall, the team split into smaller groups and were allocated specific beats on the river to pick up any litter. There were a number of comments about ‘not having seen any litter’ but when you start to look its amazing what you find.
TAC President, Christopher Bourne-Arton joined TAC Members to pick up litter
Items of clothing, shoes, trousers and socks, lots of golf balls and of course black and blue plastic stuck in trees following recent flooding.
With their litter picking duties complete, the team moved to The Bruce Arms for a de-brief, refreshments and to share notes on where the biggest fish were rising.
Well done everyone, a good job. Lets continue to be vigilant taking our own litter home with us and removing any new litter found during our visits to the river.
Through the immense kindness of my friend Robert Russell and the committee, I was invited for a return trip to the wonderful waters of the Ure at Tanfield. On the afternoon I arrived, Robert took me to the river at Slee Ghyll where there were a few fish rising, mostly in the shadows, on the glide. The river was not quite as low as we found it last year, although the almost unbroken sunshine, following cold nights, had suppressed the hatches. Even so, there were various midges and upwings in the air, with an occasional caddis. I noticed immediately, however, that the rises were to something invisible; possibly midges or black gnats.
I set up my usual simple dry fly rig (Sunray JL long head and 8’ of level 0.12mm Stroft on a 9’6” Greys Streamflex three weight) with a 20 plume tip. In one and a half hours, inching my way upstream, I caught several small grayling and three good trout, the latter resulting from tiny rises close to the overhanging trees, but which were all spectacularly active once the hook was set. What was fascinating, however, was that I rose far more fish than I actually hooked; the ‘fresh air rises’ that I have come to associate with the Ure, as nowhere else.
I was lucky that afternoon, because the session coincided with a reasonable, mixed hatch and consistent surface activity, even out over the exposed glide water. My friend, Malcolm, had fished downstream and had barely seen a rise all day, though enjoyed great success with a nymph.
Jeremy Lucas (3rd from left) spent a day with Tanfield Angling Club Members
The contrast of the following day, up in the woods at Mowbray – or was it a gorge in Scotland or Norway? The bluebells, wild garlic and pink campion softened the slopes, and we did see a few upwing spinners and caddis in the air, though almost no rises on the smooth water (as we had seen this time last year, in abundance), so I focused on the fast water running into the long pool, with exactly the rig above.
One hour, and thirty rises later, produced six fish, all trout. Some of the fresh air rises were probably the same fish, rising multiple times until it was caught or pricked. All these were in a comparatively small area of fast water, requiring me hardly to move my feet. This is a good thing on the Ure, because I have found it rather difficult to wade here, with the rubber soled wading boots I have been using. A lesson learned, though; my next visit will see me with felt soled boots. Perhaps I might finally give way to the good sense of a wading staff.
My final day at Tanfield was spent with some of the members so that I might give some guidance as to my approach. It was another bright day, following a cold night, and barely any insects on the water. I explained why I searched out the fast, broken water in these conditions, where fish might be expected to be – cover, oxygen and food. It was revealing that almost no fish were to be seen all day on the smoother glides and pools, while some members managed to rise and catch a few trout where we found the suitable water.
I revealed that time and again, it was fast water that had been most productive for me; places where the majority of anglers pass by. I discovered this many years ago, actually with spiders, but soon learned that dry fly is more consistent. I showed members my Oppo and plume tip variants, explaining how these have become the backbone of my fishing on any trout river in the world. I tried to impress more generally how a minimalistic approach, casting off the various myths and old sporting habits, in preference of a more analytical, instinctive assessment of the river, changes everything. If I were a fish, where would I be?
And here I am, now in Kent, and although I’ll soon be on my beloved chalk streams in northern France, I miss Tanfield so much. I feel so welcome there, completely at home. Thank you, Rob, Nigel, the members I met, the lovely staff at the Bruce Arms; I am already plotting my next visit. I need to reduce the number of fresh air rises, or rather increase the hook up rate, and I have much more that I would enjoy passing on to the members.
On Saturday we held our first Masterclass of the season with one of our TAC Ambassadors, author and world-class fly fisherman Jeremy Lucas. It was a very special day for those in attendance, Jeremy also asked me to pass along his thanks and share with our wider membership an overview of the day.
‘We discussed and rationalised the water around us (Goose Island), assessing where the trout might be, and why. I presented the idea of water types and finding the most appropriate water for the prevalent conditions and for the method used in such water. I focused on the streamy, broken water, where fish always hold in bright summer conditions, which led to the tackle and approach most suited to this- dry fly. I showed my particular, simple, set up, including the plume tips that I use.
We also discussed other water, nearby, and the methods most suited to these, in the absence of a hatch – duo and nymph (on a leader rig). I suggested that these would be comparatively low percentage approaches, as would other methods, such as spider, or even indicator nymphing; entirely because so few fish remain on the glides in the conditions of the day.
I gave a brief demo of my approach, resulting in only a few ‘fresh air rises’, which I have found peculiarly common on the Tanfield waters. I told the members that the previous day I had caught eight trout, while having experienced over thirty rises to the fly.
Later, the members spread out on water from Sturdy’s up to Goose Island, seeking out the appropriate water with dry fly setup, and a few trout were caught, along with some fresh air rises. No hatch materialised, oddly, but members were able to see, I believe, that the broken water areas still provided the opportunity of fish’.
Thank you Jeremy, it was a pleasure to spend time with you this weekend, a fantastic experience for those in attendance.
Nick Pinches continues his journey through the Tanfield Angling Club’s archive with a report on the TAC centenary dinner in 1992.
The Tanfield Angling Club was born on Tuesday 8th March 1892. The full article is now available in the Club History section of the websiteand a must read for those interested in the history of the Club.
River access on some of our beats can be challenging and members gravitate to the beats with the best access and don’t fish the likes of Goose Island, Mickley Glide and more.
In recent weeks the Committee, Riverkeeper, President, Volunteers and Richard (Michael Lupton’s right hand man!) have installed more than 10 sets of new steps across a number of beats including Hatchery Flatts and Rocky Stream. The steps system, designed by Richard, are a series of boxes that interlock and when filled with stones and gravel from the Estate quarry create a solid set of steps (see above).
The steps are strategically placed to protect them from the full force of a rising river and so far have proved to be structurally sound.
A huge thanks to everyone involved, a great team effort and special thanks Christopher Bourne-Arton, Michael, Robert and Richard for their unbelievable support with this project.
