Hi Guys,

Myself and a friend are off to do some dry fly fishing on the 7 1/2 miles of river that belong to the peacock hotel at Rowsley. I know we have a few experts in that area, so basically as i or my friend have never fished it, can you give us any pointers?? usual stuff, flies, particular areas to target etc etc. i wont be able o check back in until wed evening, but all info will be gratefully recieved and digested.

cheers

Deano

This is really nice fishing and of course there are wild rainbow trout. The people to ask are Warren Slaney and RichardW both of whom post on the Derbyshire thread.

One word of warning - beware the dry fly police because they have rather a strict view of what constitutes a dry fly, they don't allow any pattern of fly that sits in rather than on the surface and flies like Klinkhammers are out and probably F-Fly as well.

Having said that RichardW was talking about catching trout on a spent pattern and has yet not replied to my requests to reveal what pattern he was using that does not sit in the surface film.

The stretch is totally catch and release and by this stage of the season the fish are getting quite educated and you will need to fish quite fine, say a #4 or 5 outfit and leaders to 4 or 5x or even 6x and rods of 8' to 9' will be fine. For me I'd fish the upper beats which are away from the tourists but the bigger fish are down nearer Bakewell where they get fed.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

Just click on the Derbyshire thread for quite a bit of information. There are also links to things like Water~Lines, the newsletters that Haddon provide from time to time.

To clarify the question about dry fly and not dry fly. I take the view that if a pattern of fly is designed to fish with more than half of the fly below the meniscus then that means more than half of it is wet and so it is a wet fly and not a dry fly. Examples of such flies include: klinkhåmer special; shuttlecock; suspender buzzer and others with a float above the rest of the fly. But dry fly fishing is a method of fishing, not a check list for artificial fly anatomies. The angler is responsible for ensuring the fly is always presented as a true dry fly.

I keep missing sewinbasher's question about spinners. I'd say all spinners are designed to have more than half the fly on and above the meniscus. In fact the very flat nature of spinners without hackles at all would simply sink if more than half somehow got below the surface. The real Sherry Spinners do not go below the meniscus so it would be a useless representation of a spinner if it was design to keep going below the meniscus, partially or completely. The most effective spinner patterns have splayed tails, bodies that hold floatant and air quite well and buoyant polypropylene yarn for wings. If used with floatant and dried after each fish it is almost impossible for them to sink below the meniscus.

richard

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Who resides on the right bank of the Derbyshire Wye and is lulled to sleep each night by the mutterings of a weir, dreaming that "When the rivers and their inhabitants come first, we ALL win..."

Thank you Richard, all is clear now.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

I fished it on a day ticket the week before last.

I spoke to Bernie the keeper who is at the hotel in the mornings if there is fishing booked, you can speak to him when you pick up your ticket.

The flies he suggested were blue winged olive imitations and griffiths gnat (although the version he was selling was a sparkle version). The for later part of the day sherry spinner or similar.

During the day I also used a griffiths gnat of my own but smaller, size 20. I also managed a couple on a 18 or 20 black parachute adams (as this has a tail I believe I am not due a visit from the dry fly police!!).

I was using 6x leader, Airflo G3, which is pretty low diameter but it was still tough. A regular there on the day who has visited many times also said it was tough.

If you fish the slow glides it will be difficult as the fish will refuse, a lot! Instead of getting too frustrated fish the quicker riffles where the fish have to react a bit quicker, this is more difficult as you may not be able to follow your fly of course.

Its packed with fish !!!!!!