Website Back Online

I have put the website back on-line with the bare minimum of contents, purely for anyone who visits they can at least see something, this will be an ongoing project over the coming months so bear with us for changes etc.

Refurbished Rod meets The Ladies

The car thermometer went -2 when I arrived at the river to start my days fishing, which I was quite excited about being the first time using my newly refurbished rod. The river was lower than what I would have liked but it still had a peaty tinge to it which I like so set up and started off at the head of the pool. I so wanted the first fish to be a Grayling to christen the rod and the 5 minutes later it was.

Nothing big an average size Grayling for the river but nevertheless the rod was christened with a Grayling.











another few minutes trotting and a brown trout appeared so I had been lucky with my first capture, It might be silly but I like to christen new things with the fish I admire the most, the Grayling.

As the day went on the fish started coming thick and fast.

By lunchtime I had 19 Grayling and 1 trout

 After lunch I went back to the runs which had been producing the Grayling and was soon back amongst them again only this time around they were a better stamp of Grayling and the first fish out weighed 2lbs 10oz.

 shortly followed with some other better than average Grayling

It wasnt long till the trout started to make an appearance again

As the day drew on the trout and Grayling continued to come to the net

The skies were starting to get very dark and almost instantly a heavy hail storm came out of nowhere so with bait almost expended and 45 Grayling & 7 Brown Trout  all returned to fight another day we called it a day and made our way back home, a nice day with a lovely refurbished rod which took everything that was given to it.

Ready for Duty

I can now finally say that my latest rod project an Edgar Sealey Octofloat is ready for service. I finished the last coat of lacquer last night and today gave it all a wipe down ready for fishing tomorrow. The original rod had red intermediates and blue whippings so I deviated a little as my last Edgar Sealey was all red, I made this one all blue whippings & intermediates. A few pictures taken of the finished article.

 Another project finished and great satisfaction bringing something back to do what it was designed to do...catch fish.

Website Down

After considerable thought I decided that I needed a clear out on the website server so have taken everything off the website server apart from the Index page which directs you to my blog. This will allow me to go through everything and clean it up as there were files everywhere and will also allow me to work on the website itself as it needs updating.
Anyone with questions can still contact me at the usual address and please note no floats are being made until March  as my focus at present is on the Grayling fishing and other projects.
Cheers George

Grayling, Grayling, Plop

Yes as you have probably guessed from the heading my camera went for a swim today, which doesn't do it much good. Started off this morning later than normal as being on duty engineer really messes with your rest time, anyway was on the river just after 11am and found it to be high and running dirty but just in the realms of fish able so set up and started trotting a float through and about 20 minutes later connected with my first fish of the day a very small fingerling Grayling. After continuing on in the same swim a slightly better Grayling took a liking for my bait. Nothing of any size but always nice to see so took a photograph and just as I was putting it back into my pocket as I've done loads of times I let it slip and in it goes...Plop.
After feeling around with my net as I was up to my waist in water I managed to scoop it up and empty it out of water. It still turns on but turns straight back off again so I dont think it will be taking many more pictures in the future. Anyway carried on fishing and managed a further 4 Grayling from the run and then it went quiet so moved down onto my next run and took a further 3 Grayling and 2 Brown Trout from there again nothing of any size. Was just about to start to move onto another new section of river when the Bat phone went off and I had to leave to go to a gas emergency but not bad for 2 hours on a rising river all be it I now need a new pocket camera.  Maybe I should buy a waterproof one.

Winter Project Part II Update

Last week I bought another Edgar Sealey Octofloat as I was quite impressed with the 1st one I bought & renovated and am now using to great effect after the Lady of the Stream, I have since managed to get the rod stripped of all its eyes, get the loose ferrules all glued up and sorted and get the handle cleaned down, now the more time consuming stuff starts with the whipping back on of all the eyes and the intermediates. Good job that the TV isn't up to much as normal so wont be disappointed at missing anything and lets me crack on with the job in hand. Will keep you updated as always.

Rod as it was when I first bought it from the seller

Rod as it currently is today

Was I asking too much?

Yesterday I had the pleasure of swapping my Edgar Sealey Cane Rod and Centre pin for a Purdey Over & Under 12 Bore, My friend and myself had the pleasure of a wander around an estate that he does some work for and managed some good sport, whilst there I got chatting to some of the locals and told them of my intentions of fishing the river today and many gave me looks of disbelief and even heard a few murmurs of The boys not right in the heed!
As I drew back the covers at 8am I knew it was cold I could feel it in the air but nevertheless I was fishing the river this morning after the ladies. As I defrosted the car the thermometer said -6, but it was a dry morning with a definite crispness in the air. As we arrived at the river we could see that it was very low, crystal clear and a lot of the river had became bunged up with floating sheets of ice which was coming  down the river in vast quantities, things were not looking good!

After an hour of constantly being clobbered in the back by these floating sheets of ice, having to clear the ice forming from the rings of my rod and the ice which had taken fancy to my line and making it look like a tow rope, I hooked into my first fish, a small Grayling which  I could not have been more happier to see as I thought it was going to be a blank day.

With more faith now knowing that there were fish there I felt a bit more confident in myself and continued to fish on and it wasn't long before the float dipped under again, this time something with a bit more muscle, an out of season Scottish Brownie.

 By this time my back was aching from the constant onslaught of sheets of ice and in need of some refreshments we called a halt to fishing but some passers by called it something else as we stood on the bridge admiring the ice flows with a hot coffee in hand.

There was only an hour of fishing left before we had to call it a day as I had to get back and pack the car for our journey home so round 2 into the ice cold waters we went.

Nothing for almost the full hour and just as we were about to call it a day the float dipped under again and there was a fish on, this time I knew it was a Lady they way she turned and twisted and sure enough the river had rewarded me for my efforts with a nice Grayling.

 

I have to say this was without doubt the hardest fishing session I have had for a long time, but one I will remember for a while.

Scottish Ladies

As I packed the car this morning the temperature was -5 on the car thermometer, It was very cold but the sun was just starting to peak above the horizon and the breakfast weather reported cold with sun all day, just the start I was looking for.

After our drive up the M6 and onto the M74 over the Border into Scotland the temperature gauge was rising to a balmy -1, we arrived at our friends and settled in and had some lunch, unfortunately my friend had to go into work which left me with 2 woman talking about everything I wasn't interested in.

Around 3pm I decided that I could take it no more and decided to go and have the last hour or so on the river with the fly rod, so headed to a pool that I knew would give me the best chance of a fish. Around 25 minutes later I connected with what I can only describe as a turbo charged rocket, this fish went like the wind and there was no way I was going to keep up with it or even stay connected and seconds later my 2lbs tippet parted with the fish and I was minus a Beaded Hares Lug. I suspect from the power & speed of the fish it was a kelt that I had hooked.

10 minutes later I saw the leader stop dead in its tracks half way down the run, struck and this time a more controlled fight ensued with a lovely Grayling of 41cm's coming to the net, My first Scottish Lady of 2012 and weighing in at 2lbs 1oz a very good start.

After hooking another fish which turned out to be a small trout I decided to call it an afternoon as the sun dipped down behind the hills.

Tomorrow is another day and a full day on the river chasing the lovely Scottish ladies what more could a man ask for. Maybe even see a few friends on the river, you just never know.

Winter Project Part II

I couldn't resist trying my luck on the bidding for another Edgar Sealey Octofloat Cane rod and again managed to win it at what I class as a reasonable price for a rod that requires restoration.

This rod again has a few minor things require doing to it, luckily all the eyes are in a rust free and good condition so dont require new ones to replace them, the whippings for the eyes are all loose so will be need replacing , one of the ferrules is also loose which isn't a problem and really apart from a rub down and a re lacquer the rod is good to go, its perfectly straight and sound and when done will join the other Octofloat trotting for Grayling.

1st Grayling Outing of 2012 Dancing ladies

After sitting since the 27th December which was the last time I managed to get onto the river & waiting on the river to finally drop to a fish able level, today was the first outing in 2012, the river was still high and dirty but within the limits of being able to trot a float down so with anticipation and eagerness the first trip of 2012 started.

After nearly 40 minutes of absolutely no bites I was beginning to wonder if the fish were playing or not, then I happened to glimpse a silver flank as I dropped a couple of loose fed maggots in, they were indeed there but they were sitting so close to me that I was actually fishing the bait behind them, so with 1 step back and a small alteration to the depth of the float the first Grayling of 2012 came to the net.

After sighting that first Grayling there was no looking back after that and the ladies started to dance for the 2 or 3 loose fed maggots that were put in on alternate trots coming right up to within my legs to take them as they dropped through the water, a beautiful sight to see at any time. A further 10 Grayling of no considerable size came to the net before they dropped back into the depths of the river

I altered the tackle again to suit the log trot hoping that the grayling had dropped back down the swim and sure enough first trot through the float disappeared, but this time it felt different and I knew it had to be a trout, and sure enough it was but what immaculate condition this one was in considering the others I had caught 2 weeks ago were well into spawning this fish showed no signs of it at all and was fitting fit.

a few smaller Grayling followed before I finally succumb to hunger and thirst pangs, time for lunch. and the old saying where you throw your hat is home, mine was on the branch of a low hung willow.

During lunch I observed the river drop by some 2" in just under an hour, which was looking good for the afternoon session and hopefully some more dancing ladies, and it wasn't long before I was back amongst them

 I connected and lost a couple of fish which I suspect to have been trout as they took off in the opposite direction at speed but nevertheless the day was turning out to be an ideal start to 2012 with 21 Grayling and 1 trout safely returned. 

The next two Grayling were crackers for the river, as its mainly a smaller stamp of Grayling caught so a quick slip onto the scales and one came out at 2lbs 1oz, the other I didn't bother to weigh as it was slightly smaller.

 As the day grew older the fishing started to dry up again so a walk along the bank to a new swim discovered that nature thinks its spring already, with the daffodil bulbs poking through & the snowdrops in flower already.

Another few small Grayling were landed in the new swim before I decided to call it a day and walk back to the car and reflect on the days fishing, 31 Grayling and 1 trout what a start to 2012 and hopefully the rest of the year will be just as fruitful.

First of 2012

Although I'm taking some time out from making floats for other anglers. I'm still pottering around and last year was asked if I could make something up to go to an auction to help out some guys running a project which I support in Scotland.
They were looking for something that caught the eye of the coarse men in Scotland as coarse angling in Scotland is nowhere near as popular as it is in England as its mainly game fishing that dominates up there.

I have had some lovely tail feathers from some exotic birds that my friend keeps in Lancashire waiting to be put to good use so turned 3 of them into inverted quills, a very sensitive float designed for still waters and ideal for the pond fishing and loch fishing  of Scotland, where Roach & Rudd are the quarry.  All the quills roughly average 10 - 10.5" in length and have a shotting capacity of 3 - 4BB and fitted with a Brass Eye.

Tench fishing has become popular  in Scotland with a few estate lakes being opened up to the public so what better than some Goose Quills. Averaging 8" in length and taking shotting weights of between 4 - 5BB and fitted with a Brass Eye. Ideal weights for fishing just off the lily pads.

Carp fishing or even Barbel fishing on the slower moving parts of the Clyde which require a float to hold a bit more weight due to larger baits, I decided to put together some Swan & Goose Quills. All averaging 7" in length and holding shotting weights of 3AAA and fitted with a Brass Eye.

I'm sure any coarse angler who loves using some Handmade & Natural floats will love fishing with them and may it bring the lads some support in the auction.