The Continuing Adventures of the Fluff Club, Episode 36
The names of the
Fluff Club members, the Fluff Boys, are pseudonyms, all else is factual.
With some of the other stillwaters in the south shut, due to the hot spell, Manningford has been very busy of late. Indeed, there was a club booking for twenty-plus anglers, but they very kindly agreed to let we three Fluff Club members join in the proceedings. Yes, that's right, just three this time, another drop in numbers. Mind you, that just mirrors the drop in reader numbers for this blog: I noticed that episode 35 was way, way down on previous readership numbers. I rarely get feedback but it would be great to hear any suggestions for getting it more widely read, as you know I'm just trying to 'spread the love' of fly-fishing and fly-tying. Maybe you could pass a link onto anyone you think might enjoy reading these chronicles? No more wallowing though, on with the blog …
The Fluff Boys last fished here some time ago (episodes 7 and 13) and I haven't been up here separately for more than a year, so it was good to see that nothing much has changed. If it ain't broke, why fix it? As the Professor, Dell-boy and Whytee tackled up, we kept an eye on those already fishing. There were plenty of nice, tight loops being thrown; these club members obviously knew what they were doing, and some rods soon arced over, into fish. Our prospects looked good.
Mission control and subordinates all expected me to be home by early afternoon with a brace of trout, for a barbecue celebrating youngest grand-daughter's first birthday. No pressure then. I put together two set-ups, namely #5F and #5I, not knowing what had been working the best lately. I walked towards the far end of Manor Lake along the left bank. One chap I passed was in the process of playing his fourth fish, most others already had one or two fish, and it wasn't 09.30 yet. I noticed that a couple of fishing platforms have been removed, along with much of the thick vegetation between the 'lake' and the River Avon, so the venue wasn't totally unchanged. There were two 'ties to try' today: a 'Muskins' (essentially a pulling buzzer, a pattern new to me) and young Ben Beckwith's 'Phuzzer' (pretty much the same style, a deliberate cross-over between a PTN and a buzzer).
Several trout were visible moving purposefully around; it is always good to sight-fish and see the reactions to your flies and presentations. Oftentimes a different fish other than the target one, intercepts and that is exactly what happened on my sixth or seventh cast, the sinking Muskins was engulfed by a trout coming up from the darker depths. This Rainbow went two-and-a-half pounds but fought ultra-hard, pulling drag on run after run until it eventually tired.
Having chosen just a two-fish limit and not wanting to hurry, I changed over to my other set-up and tried the 'Phuzzer' for a while before it dawned on me that the fish did not seem to like my tying of the pattern very much. I switched the fly onto the intermediate outfit, but still had no interest. Oh well, I'll need to try it on different days and different waters before I reach a verdict. There were still other flies I wanted to try out and I had plenty of time left.
The Professor was fishing nearby now, but Dell-boy had stayed put near the car park and lodge. The Professor was trying some of the wacky patterns he has introduced at recent Fluff Club tying evenings. One, looking a bit like a traditional barber's pole with a red floss tag, had been generating follows but not takes, so next he switched to another wacky wonder which I'll attempt to describe. Think, in general terms, of a Bibio sort of Wooly B*gg*r: picture a purple/green/olive metallic flash tail half the hook-shank long, black/red/black fur dubbed body, and short grizzle hackle palmered down to the bend then secured with silver wire ribbing wraps. Well, at least one trout liked the look of it and ate it!
I faffed around with some other flies before selecting a size 16 cream spider with a clear, glass bead thorax, I knotted it onto the #5F outfit and covered several moving fish, until one turned around to a slightly wayward cast and took the fly 'on the drop'. Despite being the same size, this 'bow did not have the strength nor stamina of my first and soon came to the net. As I started to pack-up the Professor hooked his second, also his last. This came to another, as yet un-named, recent tying that I suppose could be termed a 'fritz zonker'. This was a B175 size 12 hook on which a piece of fluo orange Blob fritz one-and-a-half inches long is bound Matuka style to the shank with silver straggle-string. The loose end of the tail is carefully sealed with a cigarette lighter flame to prevent it unfurling and coming apart. The Professor claimed the fly was taken first chuck! This Rainbow was the FBs' best of the day, making three-and-a-half pounds.
We walked up towards the inlet where Dell-boy was still fishing. He had banked one on a Dawson's Olive variant tied one evening when I was leading the group, but his wasn't securely constructed and by now was only half its former self. He was tired anyway, still not enjoying good health, and our presence, each with completed limits, was a welcome sight, giving him the excuse to pack up too. We had only been fishing two hours.
So endeth today's lesson. Comments and advice welcomed. Oh, and please pass it on!
A hiki i ka manawa e hiki mai ana.
"Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul". - Marcus Aurelius, c. 170 A
With some of the other stillwaters in the south shut, due to the hot spell, Manningford has been very busy of late. Indeed, there was a club booking for twenty-plus anglers, but they very kindly agreed to let we three Fluff Club members join in the proceedings. Yes, that's right, just three this time, another drop in numbers. Mind you, that just mirrors the drop in reader numbers for this blog: I noticed that episode 35 was way, way down on previous readership numbers. I rarely get feedback but it would be great to hear any suggestions for getting it more widely read, as you know I'm just trying to 'spread the love' of fly-fishing and fly-tying. Maybe you could pass a link onto anyone you think might enjoy reading these chronicles? No more wallowing though, on with the blog …
The Fluff Boys last fished here some time ago (episodes 7 and 13) and I haven't been up here separately for more than a year, so it was good to see that nothing much has changed. If it ain't broke, why fix it? As the Professor, Dell-boy and Whytee tackled up, we kept an eye on those already fishing. There were plenty of nice, tight loops being thrown; these club members obviously knew what they were doing, and some rods soon arced over, into fish. Our prospects looked good.
Mission control and subordinates all expected me to be home by early afternoon with a brace of trout, for a barbecue celebrating youngest grand-daughter's first birthday. No pressure then. I put together two set-ups, namely #5F and #5I, not knowing what had been working the best lately. I walked towards the far end of Manor Lake along the left bank. One chap I passed was in the process of playing his fourth fish, most others already had one or two fish, and it wasn't 09.30 yet. I noticed that a couple of fishing platforms have been removed, along with much of the thick vegetation between the 'lake' and the River Avon, so the venue wasn't totally unchanged. There were two 'ties to try' today: a 'Muskins' (essentially a pulling buzzer, a pattern new to me) and young Ben Beckwith's 'Phuzzer' (pretty much the same style, a deliberate cross-over between a PTN and a buzzer).
Several trout were visible moving purposefully around; it is always good to sight-fish and see the reactions to your flies and presentations. Oftentimes a different fish other than the target one, intercepts and that is exactly what happened on my sixth or seventh cast, the sinking Muskins was engulfed by a trout coming up from the darker depths. This Rainbow went two-and-a-half pounds but fought ultra-hard, pulling drag on run after run until it eventually tired.
Having chosen just a two-fish limit and not wanting to hurry, I changed over to my other set-up and tried the 'Phuzzer' for a while before it dawned on me that the fish did not seem to like my tying of the pattern very much. I switched the fly onto the intermediate outfit, but still had no interest. Oh well, I'll need to try it on different days and different waters before I reach a verdict. There were still other flies I wanted to try out and I had plenty of time left.
The Professor was fishing nearby now, but Dell-boy had stayed put near the car park and lodge. The Professor was trying some of the wacky patterns he has introduced at recent Fluff Club tying evenings. One, looking a bit like a traditional barber's pole with a red floss tag, had been generating follows but not takes, so next he switched to another wacky wonder which I'll attempt to describe. Think, in general terms, of a Bibio sort of Wooly B*gg*r: picture a purple/green/olive metallic flash tail half the hook-shank long, black/red/black fur dubbed body, and short grizzle hackle palmered down to the bend then secured with silver wire ribbing wraps. Well, at least one trout liked the look of it and ate it!
I faffed around with some other flies before selecting a size 16 cream spider with a clear, glass bead thorax, I knotted it onto the #5F outfit and covered several moving fish, until one turned around to a slightly wayward cast and took the fly 'on the drop'. Despite being the same size, this 'bow did not have the strength nor stamina of my first and soon came to the net. As I started to pack-up the Professor hooked his second, also his last. This came to another, as yet un-named, recent tying that I suppose could be termed a 'fritz zonker'. This was a B175 size 12 hook on which a piece of fluo orange Blob fritz one-and-a-half inches long is bound Matuka style to the shank with silver straggle-string. The loose end of the tail is carefully sealed with a cigarette lighter flame to prevent it unfurling and coming apart. The Professor claimed the fly was taken first chuck! This Rainbow was the FBs' best of the day, making three-and-a-half pounds.
We walked up towards the inlet where Dell-boy was still fishing. He had banked one on a Dawson's Olive variant tied one evening when I was leading the group, but his wasn't securely constructed and by now was only half its former self. He was tired anyway, still not enjoying good health, and our presence, each with completed limits, was a welcome sight, giving him the excuse to pack up too. We had only been fishing two hours.
So endeth today's lesson. Comments and advice welcomed. Oh, and please pass it on!
A hiki i ka manawa e hiki mai ana.
"Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul". - Marcus Aurelius, c. 170 A
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