Fished the afternoon/evening on Saturday. Cloudy but mild with a light south-easterly breeze. Fished near the south-west bend. Tried nymphs and emergers without success but took two on a size 10 White Minkie fished on a floater not far down. Late on lost a good fish at the net when the fly dropped out. Very few fish showing. Those I caught had been feeding on green daphnia and small, dark midge pupae.

Took a boat out on Sunday. Spent the day trying various spots along the west bank, mostly at anchor. It started out dull and flat calm but brightened up at times later on. Occasional breeze to ripple the surface. Once again I could not get a sniff on nymphs and emergers so reverted to the White Minkie, this time on an intermediate but fished quite briskly near the surface. Had six fish in the boat by lunch time. Struggled during the afternoon but took the last fish at about 6 p.m. Best fish weighed 31/4lbs with a couple more at around 21/2. Once again, there was not much surface activity. Autopsy revealed diet same as the day before.

Mugsy

Mugsy,

I was also there in a boat yesterday.

As you said not much rising, even at the last knockings.

I managed to catch a couple,one on a minkie and the other on a humungus.

We tried along the West Bank and caught one as soon as we got there but it then went quiet.

It might have been you we spoke to when we first arrived along that bank.

The guy there told us that he had caught one on GH Hares ear when he covered a rise.He then said the bloke in front had caught quite a few. I also heard him ask the other guy if he was still catching on the White thing.

One of them guys must have been you.

Mark

Hi Mark,

Yes, I was the guy fishing the White Thing a.k.a. the White Minkie. I don't often fish lures but I just couldn't get any response to nymphs and emergers. Mind you, is the Minkie a lure? At this time of year it makes a superb fry imitation so perhaps I could argue that I was still sticking to my imitative principles!

I caught several of my fish by casting at the all-too-few rises. One of these took despite my clumsy cast. Perhaps it mistook the splash created by the arrival of line and leader as some kind of fry activity! Who knows?

Mugsy

Mugsy,

Strange that there wasn't a decent rise as i was there a just over a week ago in in similiar conditions and the rise was superb.

Maybe they are starting to switch onto the fry more than the diminishing insect hatches.

Hopefully see you down there again.

Mark

Hi Mark,

I have seen a couple of fish which might have been lunging at fry on the surface but perhaps trout, with lean times approaching, have some inbuilt instinct which leads them to chase possible food sources more aggressively than during the summer. After all, one small fish represents a sizeable chunk of protein.

Hope we meet up again some time.

Mugsy

MUGSY,
That is exactly what trout do, When the temperature drops and the nights draw in it triggers an urge to feed. Seeing as there is less insect life then they view small fish as a good food and it builds up more protein reserves for the winter. However after this topsy turvy summer they are probably well confused.
I have heard that after the first frost is when they really go for Fry
The met men are talking of a possible frost this week so out with the flasks of OXO and hip flasks of your favourite tipple and get fishing.
Hope to see you there
Andy Mac

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