The Continuing Adventures of the Fluff Club, Episode 25
(In which names of
the Fluff Boys are disguised and the venue un-named, to protect the innocent;
everything else is true).
"Don't ask me 'bout my business
And I won't tell you no lies
Don't ask no stupid questions
And I won't send you away,
But if you want to talk fishin'
Well I guess that'll be okay".
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
The magnificent seven rode again. The Fluff Club fished here only three episodes ago, today's weather was almost identical. When I drove into the car park Jackdaw was already playing a fish in the swim closest to the lodge, which I took to be a good omen. He probably caught it on a 'psychedelic parrot' or some such lure. The Admiral and the Sailor were still tackling up and I joined them, exchanging greetings. We were all fishing before Foggy, Dell-boy, and Rodney pulled in.
I had earlier elected to use my Partridge split cane rod, not that I'm any sort of a traditionalist or purist, I just enjoy using it now its refurbished and looks like new. (Big shout out to Chris Ward). Having set up a floating line I wandered up the right-hand bank and noticed the Admiral tight into a fish in that first swim, Jackdaw having taken a break. En passant I made a jibe about "duffers' corner". Half way along the fishery the Sailor was casting from the end of the larger island. I made a few casts into the same area of water from my bank but didn't stay long due to the annoying clumps of weed on the surface and the oak trees lurking just behind and grabbing at my back casts. The Sailor and I agreed that the Fifth Law of Lake Fly-fishing is that loose weed will always move to exactly where your line is about to land despite there being neither breeze nor apparent surface drift. Moving up to the river inlet end, idly remembering how fraught last time had been, I espied a really cracking Brown trout close to a bankside bush. Stealthily I crept to a position behind it and made a cast, the red fox squirrel Diawl Bach landed a few feet to its right, but the miniscule plop it made on entry was enough to spook the trout which bolted away. As I hunted down the other side I spotted it again, slightly deeper down, but my cast elicited the same result, the Brown departed at speed, not to be seen again.
Foggy came along, he had caught on his very first cast so was now hunting for a better fish to complete his brace ticket. I told him about the big Brown and he went to look for it.
Further around, nearing that island, I came across a number of trout, some doggo but most on the move. As soon as the #14 DB landed it was grabbed immediately by a Rainbow that bent the cane to the hilt, giving me a real battle before I could lead it to the landing net. The next cast was a repeat performance so with two in the bag I thought some clemency would be in order and I changed the fly, putting on a Corixa pattern; my selection influenced by the profusion of waterweed all around. As the new fly descended through the crystal-clear water it was inhaled by a Rainbow which scrapped as hard as its predecessors and provided anxious moments near the net by entwining itself in a clump of bankside vegetation and floating weed.
Fishing a cane rod is great fun without any doubt, save for two drawbacks: 4-weight cane rods were not designed for long casting, and there is a lack of oomph! to control and subdue a Rainbow trout quickly; you have to remember to be patient when both casting and playing. With only one fish left on my ticket I headed for my car for some refreshment, along the way checking how the other Fluff Boys were doing. The Admiral, the Sailor, and Foggy had all 'braced' themselves, whilst Jackdaw had caught both of his before 09.30, quite a feat. On the other hand, Rodney and Dell-boy were yet to catch, fishing from adjoining pegs in front of the cars, despite trout moving through in front of them regularly.
While the Sailor and I took our ease, Rodney finally managed to hook and land a trout so we decided to see if we could be of any assistance to Dell-boy. Before this he had even tried Foggy's outfit and successful fly for a few casts but had received no interest from the fish. Dell-boy confessed he wasn't really 'with it' today but we proffered some different flies to try and suggested where to cast, how to retrieve and so on, probably not much real help at all. Dell-boy mentioned the warmth was getting to him and that his shoulder was aching a bit, so we helped with the odd cast too. Time passed then Dell-boy had a take to an American Damsel from the Sailor's box, but unhappily my non-slip loop knot failed completely and the fish and fly were gone. I apologised profusely. As most of the cruising trout appeared to be in the first two to three feet of water I put a #12 red Buzzer under a foam indicator rig onto Dell-boy's rod, which seemed an appropriate method.
A very relaxed Jackdaw watched from the lodge's shady verandah and Foggy decided to 'assist' Rodney, meanwhile the Admiral practised snake roll pick-ups nearby. Things took a slightly farcical turn, amidst plenty of banter Dell-boy completely missed three takes in succession, probably because our 'help' was actually breaking his concentration. During the same time Rodney hooked and played three trout only for each to break free after several minutes of his 'tug of war' playing style. With each missed take by Dell-boy there was a loud chorus of "Go on...oh no!" from Whytee, the Sailor and the Admiral, which couldn't have helped Dell-boy's confidence or enjoyment, but in the end, he did complete his two-fish limit. Rodney also managed to make his second Rainbow stay on all the way to the net, a triumph he captured on his GoPro (or similar, other cameras are available). He has bagged out two trips in a row now, some change in fortune!
I imagine some of the choicer language will need to be edited from his video before he can show it off to his missus.
Honour maintained throughout, although none of our fish topped three pounds, the posse eventually wended their weary way homewards; it had been so pleasant by the water that nobody was in much of a hurry to depart.
Tot die volgende keer.
"Don't ask me 'bout my business
And I won't tell you no lies
Don't ask no stupid questions
And I won't send you away,
But if you want to talk fishin'
Well I guess that'll be okay".
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
The magnificent seven rode again. The Fluff Club fished here only three episodes ago, today's weather was almost identical. When I drove into the car park Jackdaw was already playing a fish in the swim closest to the lodge, which I took to be a good omen. He probably caught it on a 'psychedelic parrot' or some such lure. The Admiral and the Sailor were still tackling up and I joined them, exchanging greetings. We were all fishing before Foggy, Dell-boy, and Rodney pulled in.
I had earlier elected to use my Partridge split cane rod, not that I'm any sort of a traditionalist or purist, I just enjoy using it now its refurbished and looks like new. (Big shout out to Chris Ward). Having set up a floating line I wandered up the right-hand bank and noticed the Admiral tight into a fish in that first swim, Jackdaw having taken a break. En passant I made a jibe about "duffers' corner". Half way along the fishery the Sailor was casting from the end of the larger island. I made a few casts into the same area of water from my bank but didn't stay long due to the annoying clumps of weed on the surface and the oak trees lurking just behind and grabbing at my back casts. The Sailor and I agreed that the Fifth Law of Lake Fly-fishing is that loose weed will always move to exactly where your line is about to land despite there being neither breeze nor apparent surface drift. Moving up to the river inlet end, idly remembering how fraught last time had been, I espied a really cracking Brown trout close to a bankside bush. Stealthily I crept to a position behind it and made a cast, the red fox squirrel Diawl Bach landed a few feet to its right, but the miniscule plop it made on entry was enough to spook the trout which bolted away. As I hunted down the other side I spotted it again, slightly deeper down, but my cast elicited the same result, the Brown departed at speed, not to be seen again.
Foggy came along, he had caught on his very first cast so was now hunting for a better fish to complete his brace ticket. I told him about the big Brown and he went to look for it.
Further around, nearing that island, I came across a number of trout, some doggo but most on the move. As soon as the #14 DB landed it was grabbed immediately by a Rainbow that bent the cane to the hilt, giving me a real battle before I could lead it to the landing net. The next cast was a repeat performance so with two in the bag I thought some clemency would be in order and I changed the fly, putting on a Corixa pattern; my selection influenced by the profusion of waterweed all around. As the new fly descended through the crystal-clear water it was inhaled by a Rainbow which scrapped as hard as its predecessors and provided anxious moments near the net by entwining itself in a clump of bankside vegetation and floating weed.
Fishing a cane rod is great fun without any doubt, save for two drawbacks: 4-weight cane rods were not designed for long casting, and there is a lack of oomph! to control and subdue a Rainbow trout quickly; you have to remember to be patient when both casting and playing. With only one fish left on my ticket I headed for my car for some refreshment, along the way checking how the other Fluff Boys were doing. The Admiral, the Sailor, and Foggy had all 'braced' themselves, whilst Jackdaw had caught both of his before 09.30, quite a feat. On the other hand, Rodney and Dell-boy were yet to catch, fishing from adjoining pegs in front of the cars, despite trout moving through in front of them regularly.
While the Sailor and I took our ease, Rodney finally managed to hook and land a trout so we decided to see if we could be of any assistance to Dell-boy. Before this he had even tried Foggy's outfit and successful fly for a few casts but had received no interest from the fish. Dell-boy confessed he wasn't really 'with it' today but we proffered some different flies to try and suggested where to cast, how to retrieve and so on, probably not much real help at all. Dell-boy mentioned the warmth was getting to him and that his shoulder was aching a bit, so we helped with the odd cast too. Time passed then Dell-boy had a take to an American Damsel from the Sailor's box, but unhappily my non-slip loop knot failed completely and the fish and fly were gone. I apologised profusely. As most of the cruising trout appeared to be in the first two to three feet of water I put a #12 red Buzzer under a foam indicator rig onto Dell-boy's rod, which seemed an appropriate method.
A very relaxed Jackdaw watched from the lodge's shady verandah and Foggy decided to 'assist' Rodney, meanwhile the Admiral practised snake roll pick-ups nearby. Things took a slightly farcical turn, amidst plenty of banter Dell-boy completely missed three takes in succession, probably because our 'help' was actually breaking his concentration. During the same time Rodney hooked and played three trout only for each to break free after several minutes of his 'tug of war' playing style. With each missed take by Dell-boy there was a loud chorus of "Go on...oh no!" from Whytee, the Sailor and the Admiral, which couldn't have helped Dell-boy's confidence or enjoyment, but in the end, he did complete his two-fish limit. Rodney also managed to make his second Rainbow stay on all the way to the net, a triumph he captured on his GoPro (or similar, other cameras are available). He has bagged out two trips in a row now, some change in fortune!
I imagine some of the choicer language will need to be edited from his video before he can show it off to his missus.
Honour maintained throughout, although none of our fish topped three pounds, the posse eventually wended their weary way homewards; it had been so pleasant by the water that nobody was in much of a hurry to depart.
Tot die volgende keer.
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