Fly Tying and Entomology Day

Sat 14th was the second fly tying and entomology day in the Old Friends Pub on Soutergate. It was well attended as usual with a few new faces and the usual regulars from the Committee.

Dave Helm was on hand to tie a few patterns, and he also gave a very useful entomology demonstration. How to match the hatch. Dave Anderson also gave advice and tied a few of his favorite patterns.

                                                     
Austin Robbie and Jack Seale in the beer garden firing up the BBQ.





I would like to thank both the Dave's (Helm and Anderson) for their time demonstration stills. Last but not least thanks go to Austin and Jack for the endless supply of food which not only fed the UAA crowd but most of the pub too!

Knottallow Catch Reports

Hi All,
Sorry I haven't put anything up for several weeks, but since the weather turned pear shaped not a lot has been happening.
Unfortunately the rod average has dropped below two and I don't have any reason. Usually it's put down to July Dog Days, but for different reasons - hot sunny days with no fish moving, etc. Fact - fish don't have eye-lids so when the sun is up they generally drop a bit deeper. But this is not the case at the moment, what with all the wind and rain! At least the water level has gone back up again. Funny, but since we have had this input of fresh water there have been no rises to speak about.
The caenis should be tailing off, but with the bad weather they may be a bit delayed and carry on for some weeks yet. There are plenty of sedges starting to appear, but again not much sign of fish rising to them. We also get some big buzzers at the back end, so all is not lost.
Fishing numbers dropped to around 20 per week. Maybe because of the wierd conditions. But don't dispair, according to the records there are nearly 500 fish still left in. Keep trying, good luck.
Dave the treasurer

Fly Tying and Entomology Day : Saturday 14th August at 2 pm

Location: The Old Friends Pub, Soutergate, Ulverston 

This is an informal get together of the association members and committee - it's certainly not stuffy, everyone's welcome. Come along and bring your mates, improve your understanding of fly tying, what insects to try and imitate, why, when and how to fish them. Even if you don't really know about fly tying and entemology you'll get some top tips from our 'experts'. Open to all - Members and non members welcome, Juniors and Seniors - Free Barbeque.

For more details follow the link to the Events Page on the UAA Website

Knottallow Tarn Open Day Sunday 13th June

Today was the annual open day at Knottallow Tarn. After a fine start the summer weather tried its best to dampen the day but it was great to see everyone fish and tryout the tackle through the rain. It was great to see so many new faces and some of the old ones too! Everyone had a great time.

Jim Fearn and Tony Riley (Rio Pro Guides) were on hand and gave demonstrations on a variety of casting techniques. 

From single and double handed Spey casting through to double hauling and roll casting with smaller rods, it's great to see the experts casting. Tony and Jim also helped everyone along with one on one tuition where needed and helped to iron out a few folks casting problems. Additionally they give out helpful advice on which rod to choose for which type of fishing and also demonstrated Leaders and Line set ups.

 They also brought along a vast selection of Vision rods, laced up with those fabulous RIO lines for us all to try  (and wish we owned!).

 

Thanks also goes to Dave Anderson for the endless cups of coffee, tea and the great sausage butties!

We even had a visit from Nigel Thompson from Lakeland Fly Tying. Nige always says he's really busy so it's nice to see him at Knotyallow.









Tony and Jim are sponsored by Guide Fly Fishing and thanks to them for the gear.

On behalf of Ulverston Angling Association I would like thank Jim and Tony for their time and effort. Even though the weather turned nasty the guys were on hand for the full day and gave some tremendous advice. 

I'd also like to thank all those who attended (and there will be fly tying at the next one!).

I thoroughly enjoyed my day, and by the comments of the other people that I talked to, they did too!

have a look at my own blog alan plevey  

Wayne Young nets two massive Carp on Ulverston Canal!

Wayne Young decided to hit Ulverston Canal last weekend as the Carp were spawning on Sandhall Ponds. For his efforts Wayne netted a 17-15 Mirror and a 22-6 Fully scaled Common.

Knottallow Tarn Open Day

Don't forget the Ulverston Angling Open Day on Knottallow Tarn
                                 SUNDAY 13th JUNE
                    Follow this link to the UAA Events on our web site for more details

Catch Returns to w.e 5th June

It's been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted the returns, so here goes.
For w.e. 29th May, 34 people fished with a catch of 90 fish. This works out at rate of nearly 3 a trip and this includes 8 nils.
A fresh stocking of 100 fish went in on Friday, 30th May. Usual excellent quality, but unfortunately only 12 inch fish instead of our usual 13+. Problems with the supplier not being able to feed in the stew ponds because of the mixed weather, and hence not growing on as quickly as they should.
W.e. 5th June - well everybody seems to have taken advantage of the fresh stocking (probably livened up the residents as well). 58 fished with a return of 245 fish giving a rod average of over 4 and only 3 nil returns.
Fish have been caught on a variety of flies, with no particular pattern to give you any advice.
Daytime fishing has been good for me with a variety of dries off the wind bank. The sheep seemed to be stirring up the alders which were in the grass and getting blown on. Now there is one for you - it is often said that fish don't take the adult alder!!! Try a bushy dry or sedge imitation. And here is another one - fish don't take adult damsels. Just wait and see. There a few about and if the weather returns to a bit warmer then you should see them going out over the water as mating pairs and the fish going berserk - following them under the surface and then leaping out of the water, sometimes bombing them.
Evening fishing has now come to inevitable - caenis. Everbody knows these even if it's only to curse them getting into your eyes, ears, you name it! Well at least you know what the fish are feeding on. I try small nymphs at the start of the rise swapping to emergers and dries and then back again, and back again, and back again, ditto. It's not easy, but keep trying. One trick is to cast right on the fish's nose and then lift the rod tip to pull the fly quickly in front of it - sometimes works!
The long dry spell has seen the water level drop. As you will have noticed we have blocked up the causeway again to try and retain as much water in the big pond as possible. Unfortunately with the lower water levels and recent warm spell the weed has gone mad. Treating it in these conditions can be a bit iffy - the last thing we want to see is the water getting de-oxygenated and fish suffering.
Don't forget the open day on Sunday.
Tight lines.
Dave the treasurer.