Rivers National

Hi Guys

I have just come back from fishing in the England Rivers National on the River Itchen. This is the event that can determine your position in the England youth rivers teams so there was lots at stake.

I set of on Saturday morning to make the 5 hours journey down to the Itchen at Southampton. Saturday was just a day for me to gain some confidence in fly and methods, as I don't fish chalk streams very often, in fact I only fish them about once a year if that!. Anyway it was a successful day for me as I caught a few fish and identified some successful flies an methods. I didn't catch lots of fish as I wanted to save them for match day!. after this I went back to the hotel to finish off my preparation for the day, this took me 4 hours as I wanted to make sure that I plenty of my successful flies so I woudent run out on the day and also making up plenty of leaders as the forecast was for strong winds.

Sunday was match day and I was very nervous as I wanted to make sure that secured my place in the team as well as trying to better me last years result of second place. I was fishing the lower section in the morning, which I hadent looked at in my practice but never the less it looked very inviting. while setting up I had seen few fish rising so I started with a trio set up to get the best of both worlds as I was fishing dry fly and nymphs at the same time. I fished all of the likely looking runs only to lose one at the net!. After this it took a while fore me to settle in. My first and second fish were trout so when I next struck I was expecting another trout but instead I found myself connected to my first Grayling of the day. I had hooked it on the far bank past a dense weed bed so I tried to French net the fish to stop it burying into the weed but unfortunately it hit the bank below my net and fell off. It then took me half an hour to get my first fish in the net. I fished my way up the beat fishing every gravel run and at the end of the session I had 4 decent Grayling which was good enough for second place. In the afternoon I caught too fish in very quick succession but then I again struggled to catch moor, I eventually got another. A nice hatch started to come off and I switched to drys to miss one first cast, but then no more offers with the dry so I fished the run again with nymphs and got a take first cast, but as I knew there were more around I opted to stay nice and low but this proved to be the wrong move as the fish came off at the net. This made me very anxious as the session was drawing to a close and I knew every fish would make the difference. I caught no more Grayling which left me in forth place, third place also had 3 fish but had slightly bigger fish so beat me on fish points.

So overall it was announced that I was third, not bad but not as good as I had hoped for. But never the less a good result. First place went to Carl Malpass who ran away with the victory, with Oliver Avis in second and me in third place. So well done to Carl for  winning the Tom Bilson trophy, and to Oli for his silver medal.

James

Thankyou

Hi Guys


Sorry its been along time since I updated, but I have recently suffered from a serious neck injury which concluded in a ride in the Air Ambulance to Lancaster hospital. Thankfully it was just a torn muscle but it could have been much worse!. So first of all I would like to thank the hospital team for the hard work and getting me back on my feet as quick as possible.


Secondly I would to thank G.R. & R.D. Taylor at Kikby lonesdale. After a shopping trip into Kikrby today, they very kindly offered to support me in my fishing competitions by giving me some very high quality clothing. So thank you for your support it is much appreciated. For anybody looking for some good outdoor clothing or army surplus supplies here is a link too there site http://www.gr-rdtaylor.co.uk.


James Atkinson

Airflo International Final

Hi

Sorry for the delay, I have been so busy with school work I just haven't had chance to upload anything. But better late than never!

On the 3rd of October we set off to practice for the match. With no help from the traffic we got fishing at 10am. But never the less we set of in good spirit. But it soon became apparent that the fishing was HARD. 70% of the fleet was fishing along the dam and the rest spread out over both arms. In practice we didn't catch many fish but we knew what to do and where to go. So back to the hotel we went to tie flies and prepare for our biggest fishing day so far.

On match day we had the team photos, not my best picture ever. The game plan was to fish either across the dam on Di3 sweeps with Cat Boobys and Cormerants or to fish at Armly wood or New Zealand point with slow glass lines and black nymphs. This plan worked very well as after day 1 we were in second place! Not bad for a youth team in a senior final.We had 25 fish which was 5 better than the Welsh Hawks in third.

Day 2 Saw horrendous winds forecast up to 40mph. This looked untrue at the start but was soon confirmed after 5 foot waves started battering the boats. Again we kept to the plan and sent boats to the dam and New Zealand. Unfortunately we had a bit of a bad day with the waves becoming to much for all the boats at the dam as we got forced up the arms by the Wardens, after 1 boat had to beach them self's on the dam. We stuck at it but the fish just didn't come. We only had 10 fish on day 2 which put us back into 5th place.

This was a bit disappointing but looking at the bigger picture it was an amazing result considering our average age in the team is only 17. It had to be one of the best few days of my life to date , to have taken part in the very prestigious event was a privilege and I hope we have an equally good year next year.

Witton Castle

Hi Guys

This weekend I was lucky enough to go any fish at Witton Castle fishing lakes. I went as part of the north west fly fishing team to help the younger ones work out what the fish were like, and how to catch them in preparation for a competition there against the North east on Saturday.

We started off on there middle lake were literally hundreds of fish were rising to the numerous sedge that were hatching. I started fishing with 2 dry's, a small brown Bob's bits and a Yellow Owl. Unfortunately none of the fish seemed interested in these flies. So I switched to my favourite small CDC, which took a fish within minutes.

So I decided to fish the smaller lake which is the one that would be used for the competition next week. I started fishing with the wind in my face and took fish on the same CDC. So I changed fly to try and find some different flies that worked, none of which worked till I tried a size 16 hopper which took another fish. So I moved. I tried the small CDC again with instant success so I caught a few more. Then I tried nymphes with no action at all, on all the nymphs that I tried. So I tried lures with the same effect until I tied on a Humungus, which took this 5 pounder on the first cast.

This fly took another fish next cast. So I tried to find another fly that worked, and I did, it was a small Minki with a grizzle rib.

Overall I had a great day and caught plenty of fish. And I hope all of the lads have a really good time next week.

James

World Championships

Hi all

I have just returned from the world fishing games in Italy, so I thought that it would be good to share my experiences with you!

We set of from Leeds Bradford on the 23rd of September for Pisa Italy. The weather was glorious and we landed on time, for once!, but the first worries came when none of our baggage came through. After 2 hours we eventually got our bags and set of to meet our guide for the week.

Our guide was Allesio Falorne. We had a chat with him to get an idea of what lay a head of us over the next couple of days, and thankfully he was full of enthusiasm for our fishing trip.

Our first day of fishing was on the Tail Water Sieve. This was an absolutely stunning river that just looked 'fishy'. We knew from our chat with Allesio that the river was full of big Scuds and Caddis, and therefore there was lots of huge fish. We also knew that it had recently been stocked, so things looked promising.

Our theories were proved correct when I got one literally first cast. What a way to start!. Our day just got better and better as we kept catching fish on all manor of nymphs. Unfortunately we were forced to stop fishing at 12 o'clock due to the 46 degree heat, but none the less the lunch that Allesio prepared was equally as pleasing as the fishing.

We carried on fishing till the evening, were I experienced the upper part of the river, which was wider and deeper, and as I found out very cold!. The wading became very difficult and lead to my first swim of the trip.

After our fishing we went to our hotel which was extremely good and was right next to the river. We could not of hoped for a better base for the next couple of days, as the rooms were roomy and cool. The food was also excellent, even if the starter was big enough for a whole meal.

For our second day we again fished the Tail Water Sieve. But unfortunately we arrived to find a coloured river due to a small feeder stream, so we were forced to fish further up stream. This may have seemed bad, but after another member of the team caught this fish (below) it didn't seem bad at all.

We had another great days fishing catching many fish including stoked and wild trout.

After these 2 great days fishing we felt confident for the competition the flowing week.

On the Friday we travelled over to the competition water (Tail Water Tevere) to look at the competition sectors. When we arrived we could not believe our eyes. In front of us was one of the most beautiful looking rivers I had ever seen, and what made it even better was the fact that there was fish everywhere rising and feeding at there hearts content. After our riverside walk through the midday sun and 40 degree heat we headed of to watch Allesio fish the river, so we could get an idea of flies and fish behaviour.

We soon found out that these fish were not pushovers, as they would come to look at fly and follow it, just to leave it at the end of the drift. We also found that they were easily spooked by bad wading and high profiles, but they were defiantly attracted to the plop as the fly hit the water.

We watched Allesio for around an hour with no fish caught, but we sore lots of Blue winged olives hatching and some very large spinners dancing. So Allesio swiftly changed to dries only to find the same thing as before, he even got this reaction with size 30 flies and 1.5lb tippet.

finally he got a fish, would you belive it on a streamer.

we decided that it might be time to leave around 7.30 because the mosquitoes were everywhere!.

The next day we checked into the official hotel, and spent the rest of the day preparing kit and fly tying. We soon found that this time spent tying was invaluable to us later in the competition.

Our next task was to attend the opening ceremony. We knew that this would be huge because all of the teams from 25 different championships were going to be there. We also knew it would be a very long day.

This proved to be absolutely true when we left the hotel at 1.30 and returned 11 hours later. All the same it was a tremendous experience to see all of the teams together, and what a privilege to represent your country in front of thousands of people.

The next day was Official Practice. This would be our only chance to test our patterns and methods on the Tevere before the match. We had a very successful day catching many Trout and Grayling on all methods which gave us great confidence in our tactics. This was also a great opportunity to find a good dry fly pattern. Which I did, I had fish rising nearly every cast to it but unfortunately not all of the made the 22cm size limit.

Finally competition day had arrived. We all packed our kit and headed for the buses. The nerves were now starting to kick in and I was shaking when I arrived at my first beat. But all nerves soon went once I had walked my beat and seen many holding pools and rising fish. I started at the bottom of my peg in a deep pocket only to catch nothing so I moved to the next pocket but again nothing, so I changed fly. This proved to be wise as I got one first cast. This proved to be one of many fish that fell to the same fly. I finished my session on 10 fish. This proved to be good as I got 4th position in the first session ahead of the Favorite French and Czech anglers.  

As we met for lunch it seemed most of the team had found similar success with three 4th and one 3rd placings. This left the team in 3rd place overall.

Unfortunately we struggled to keep this momentum up in the second session. In this session I had 13 fish but only 7 measured the 22cm limit which left me in 5th place in my group. Although it was not great, it was very respectable especially as the angler fishing that beat before me only had 1. Unfortunately not all the team were so lucky and we dropped to 8th place.

The next morning we awoke tired after spending lots of time preparing the night before, but none the less we went out optimistic as we were not for from the French in 4th place. My beat looked very good at the start as the was lots of rising fish, but as the start of fishing came it was obvious the fish switched of. I had no option but to fish the deep slow water below a wear. This was very hard as it was to slow to nymph fish and as the were no fish rising, dry's were ruled out leaving only streamers. I managed 4 fish which was not very good and left me in 8th for that session.

We had a free afternoon that day which we used to tie flies and to catch up some much needed sleep.

Before we knew it we had come to the last day of fishing, and looking at the results a couple of good sessions would put us around 4th which would have been very good. My morning session was the dry fly only session. I was looking forward to this even ore than the other sessions. After walking my beat I had identified that three quarters of it was not fish-able due to high banks and stupidly deep water. So I again started at the tail of the pool were there was a drop off and some moving water. I started with a black beetle only for every fish I saw refuse the fly. I could some some pale olives hatching so a changed to a yellow dry on a size 20, and cast it at a fish that had taken station in front of me, and without hesitation it came splashing up and the first fish was in the net.

two more fish followed very quickly. But after that it went dead. There was no hatching flies and no rising fish. So I went back to the Beetle. I saw a small hole in some bushed where I could see some smaller fish, only for them to swim away as the fly hit the water, so I thought I had ruined a very good cast. Then a huge mouth appeared and swallowed my fly. What came next was a very determined deep fighting fish, until I moved my feet. It them dashed down stream and under a sunken tree, but determined to get the fish in I waded out over the top of my waders and up to my neck to pass the rod under the tree. Thankfully the fish still on but heading for another tree, thankfully some side strain stopped it and after 20 minutes it was in the net. It turned out to be a 53cm brown ( around 6 pounds) but it was very thick and fat. I felt lucky to have landed this fish of a lifetime especially because it was caught on 2 pound line. This fish also turnout to be the biggest English fish and the 4th biggest of the competition. I got one more in the last minute after landing the fly on the back only for a fish to take it just as it fell of the ground. I finished in 3rd place above the local Italian.

The final session came and I felt good after my good session in the morning, but this soon went when I saw my beat. It was only about 75 metres long and most was to shallow and overgrown to fish. It did not even span bigger then my rod in places. But determined to get atop twenty place I started fishing. After a struggle I got my first fish. My coach them turned up and told me that to even have got fish was good. I still fished on and 3 more unfortunately 1 was undersized. Then I hooked a fish around 45cm which went ballistic jumping 7 times before diving under a sunken branch. I waded out feeling down the line to try and free the fish but unfortunately it just snapped as it came trough the last bit of weed. 4 Fish and 8th place.

After 5 sessions I was in 24th position, one place below the top English rod Tom Gott but he is 3 years older than me and in his 3rd championships and I was in my first. The coach said that I had put in a sterling performance with some bad beats and did extremely well. I had got up to 17th place at one stage and might have even got higher I don't know.

The closing ceremony and Gala dinner were something very special. with the awards being given and all the teams having a great time.

We then set of to the airport at 1am. we did not arrive home till 2 pm that afternoon, and I did not go to bad for nearly 2 day. But all the same it was a one in life time experience and I really enjoyed it.

The results were:

1st USA

2nd Italy

3rd Spain

1st Lukas Starychfojtu - CZE

2nd Dan Marino - USA

3rd  Mateusz Irsak - POL

So well done to all the anglers and a huge well done to those who won medals. Well done!

International

Hi

Last week was the Youth fly fishing international. As we arrived on the Saturday to start our practice it was clear that the weather we were going to experience was not the usual scotish weather.

After the first day of practice we had identified 3 main areas: Gate side bay, reedy bay, and international bay. All of these had produced fish mainly to the washing line method.

As the week progressed we gain more and more information on the areas and what methods was best. And by Tuesday we had established out game plan. This was to fish in gateside bay or reedy bay with straight lined nymphs on a floater or washing line on a midge tip, with a few of us deciding to fish Billys method in the flat conditions  with our best flies being green Nemos, pearly Nemos and red Diwal Backs with a few lures including Wooftas and biscuit flies.

On match day it was clear that each team had different approaches and it was going to be interesting to see who came out on top.

After a hard days fishing it was clear that the fish had dropped even further in the water and that the fish had to be caught early to stand a chance of the win.

At the weigh in it was clear that we had not done well with 2-3 fish being average and that the Scots had won with them averaging 4-5 fish.

They fished nymphs on Di5 lines to get there fish and got nearly all there fish before 11 o'clock.

The final scores were:
Scotland 68 fish
Wales 48 fish
England 41 fish
Ireland 26 fish

Despite a disappointing result it was a privilege to spend a week with some awesome people, and a massive well done has to go to the Scots for the gold medal.

I would also like to say thanks to all the people that helped us to compete in this great competition. And A special thanks goes to Phil Longstaff our manager and Carl Nixon our coach for staying up all night tying flies and doing all they could to help us do well. I would also ;like to Thanks Carl Malpass for coming up and helping as well. Thanks Boys 

Airflo Northern final

Yesterday was the Northern final of the Anglian water Airflo international at Rutland water. We travelled down on Sunday the 10th for a practice to see where the fish were holding and what methods were  working best. This proved to be invaluable as the fishing was extremely tough. Unfortunately we didn't find any particular areas that were holding fish but we did find fish and I also found that Woofta's and sunburst blobs were the top flies.

On match day it was very similar to practice with fish hard to come by, this was probably due to no cloud and near flat calm conditions. So i decided to fish a DI7 40+ line with Tequila blob and Wootfa booby. Unfortunately I didn't get my first fish till 2.30 out of Manton bay. So we decided to move to old hall. This proved to be the best move of the day as within 2 drifts I had caught my limit with 8 fish by 4.30. This turned out to be 1 of only 2 limits caught all day and claimed 3rd overall for me because I was narrowly beaten by Peter Appelby with 5 big fish to my 8 smaller fish. But it did mean that the team qualified for the international Final in October. So it was an extremely good day.

Airflo International Stocks Reservoir

Yesterday was the first heat of the Airflo international at Stocks reservoir. I was part of the England youth north team, and after a solid performance last year we were under pressure to be the first youth team to qualify 2 years in a row.

We arrived on the day to bright sky's and light winds, so I set up with a washing line set up on a midge tip. I had a 4 fly leader which consisted of a hopper on the top dropper, 2 cormorants and a cat booby on the point. This tactic proved to be the right one with me catching fish on my second cast! This was quickly followed by 3 more.

Unfortunately the wind then Picked up which switched the fishing off completely. In the big waves it was impossible to control the flies to I changed to a DI3 sweep line with a cat booby, tequila blob, and 2 cormorants. I took 3 more fish on this set up. This gave me 6 fish which was top in my team and 4th overall. This means I have being invited to the Individual final next year for the second time in a row.

All of our team caught fish so we qualified for the northan final at Rutland water. So overall it was a great day and there were some huge fish caught including a 11lb blue trout!

Airflo international final

Hi Guys

Sorry I havent updated recently I have just been so busy. But anyway here is a report of my experiences.

We set of on Friday the 20th in high hopes for the day ahead even though it was 4 in the morning. We arrived at Grafham water to find a gentle ripple and plenty of cloud cover. I was down to fish with Rob Edmund s on practice so we got of to a good start in Valley Creek where I caught a fish on a small buzzer booby before Rob had even set up. It wasn't long before it was 3-0 to me but then Rob started to get fish pulling. we fished all the way round the lake and established the fish holding areas so we left to prepare for the next day.

The conditions on match day were good so I decided to pull early on and them fish buzzers in savages. I was partnered with Graham Watson former England coach and we agreed that Valley Creek was to be our first call. I got two pulling early but it went quite so we moved to sailing club, there was lots of fish being caught here but they were small so we went to savages. We fished buzzers in here all day to have a great day.

The final result was not as I hoped but I was into the top 20 so for a junior in a senior match that was quite good. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day. I would like to say thank you to the Anglian Water staff and to Rob for a great day of practice and Graham for a good competition day.

Casting Day

On Sunday the 15th of May I attended the Stephen J Fawcett casting day where you can go and try all of the latest rods for free. I had a great time casting loads of new rods, and meeting some top casters including Jim Fearn.

after trying several rods it was clear which I thought were the best rods. The first was the new Hardy zenith, this rod was outstanding with quick recovery and stunning looks this would be rod of choice. Second was the Vison GT four, this again cast beautifully and had awesome recovery. I tried a 9ft 5wt and could cast 40 yards no problem. Finally the new Streamflex plus rods. this was a really delicate rod and made for river situations where presentation is paramount, and it certainly did what it was supposed to by casting suburb loops with accuracy and deliciously.

Last weekend

Hi All

Over last weekend I did something very new to fishing. Fly fishing from a kayak. It was a thrilling experience and I would erg all of you out there who would like to try, to go and do it!. We fished on Esthwaite water which is very accessible and has great fishing.

Many people think that they would be unstable. But after a day in one you would never think that again. We fishing in Ocean kayaks and they were so stable you can stand up in them.

Esthwaite pairs

Today me and John Macintosh fished in the Esthwaite pairs qualifier. We knew from practice that 3-5 fish would be enough. We also knew that we were against some of the best anglers in the country including Trout Master ace Richard Landsbury and past winners Ali Tait and Sandy Roberts.

At 2 o'clock we only had one fish and were starting to worry whether we could snatch a win. We then found pods of fish in Strickland bay were we stayed the rest of the day and managed to get to 5 fish. these came to a variety of methods including drys and pulling.

After reaching the dock it was clear that we had done enough with most pairs getting 1 or 2 fish. It was finally announced that we were the winners with 5 fish and Richard Landsbury and Blythe Palmer in second. It was a god day all round and I cant wait till the final. 

EYFA vs Prison Service

On Sunday the 3rd of April we arrived at Grafham Water. We were preparing to fish a very difficult and testing Grafham but after team briefing it was decided that we were going to pull blobs on the North shore. I immediately found that the fish had left G buoy so moved to deep water point which had been a hotspot the day before, but still no luck.

I then got 1 fish 10 seconds down on a DI7. It then went quit again so I moved to Pylon Point. This area had been rested all day so I was quickly into fish on a Denis the menace blob. I carried on fishing here for a few hours and caught 5 fish. So overall it was a good but hard day.

After a tense weigh in, it was confirmed that EYFA team A were the winners with 87 pounds and EYFA team B second with the prison service in third place.

Thanks to all of the guys for a great day.

River Fishing

Today was my first trip on the rivers of 2011. The conditions were not great with a strong north wind and bright sunshine. And even though we have had a lot of rain, the water was crystal clear.

I tried several pools with no success. I also tried many different flies. But after 2 hours no luck. So I went into a deep pool and tied on a small Mary, and sure enough after 10 minutes 2 fish followed in quick succession.

So overall it wasn't a bad first trip.

100 fish haul

Hi Guys

what a day it has been.

Me and my dad went fishing to the local small still water today and it was a day I will never forget.
We started of on intermediates and small mini lures. It wasn't long before I was into fish (first cast).
After this they just kept coming thick and fast, and because i was using two flies I was regularly getting double hook ups. We then mover round the lake only to find an even bigger pod of fish. Except this time there were some bigger ones mixed in.

We kept on fishing till around 4 o'clock when we had to go but we had been consistently catching all day. The final score was 30 fish to my dad and 100+ to me.

Non of this would be possible without my dad taking me or WADAA for supplying some great fishing.

Tight lines James

River Wharfe

Sorry for not updating this site recently, but I have had my G.C.S.E exams.

Anyway we set of to the River Wharfe expecting hard fishing but it proved to be a supper hard day.

We started at the bottom of the Burnsall beat fishing the Czech style nymphs. we carried on fishing for several hours with no luck, it wasn't until I fished through some slow riffle water when I caught the first fish.

we carried on fishing until dusk but to no avail. so overall 5 England team members caught 1 fish. the hardest river session I have ever had.