Category: Fish and fishing


Why did the chicken cross the road?

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May 29, 2014

One of the unusual features of human mind is the curious interest we show in the behaviour and motivation of chickens. For instance I have lost count of the number of times people have asked me why the chicken crossed the road. And I have often been challenged to state what came first,  the chicken or the egg?

The first question, the road one, has a large number of possible answers, each considered to be hilarious. The second question, about the egg, is supposed to entice us to stroke our chins in contemplation even though it is a pretty dumb question if you know anything about science. The most memorable answer that I can recall is the dismissive comment that a chicken is simply “an egg´s way of making another egg.” Continue reading →

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Barry´s Pool

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May 12, 2014

There is a pool on the river where a friend of mine, Barry Anderson, caught a shed-load of barbel a few weeks ago, some nice ones too. It is not very big. It is a hole really but I thought it might not be in the best taste to write “Barry´s Hole” as a title to this post in case I got a fat lip when we next meet.

The pool is small and, truth be told, I have known about it for a few years and managed to extract a few barbel from it, though none of the bigger ones I have seen in there. Those big boys will ignore a nymph and just cruise around nonchalantly while their repeated refusals send your heart rate through the roof. Fly fishing is supposed to be relaxing but, Christ, there is nothing relaxing about seeing a bigger barbel than you have ever landed, swim up to take a look at your nymph and then turning away again! Continue reading →

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Filming fly fishing for Spanish TV: Day 1

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Folks I know, Other bits and bobs — 2 Comments
May 7, 2014

A little over a week ago I began three days of filming on the Río Grande and Río Guadalhorce for Spanish national television. I was joined on the rivers by my friend John Langridge who is a great character and a hugely experienced fisherman. He is also a veteran of several films on fishing and an author of a dozen or so books on fishing. The TV people got in touch with John and he in turn asked me if I wanted to be involved. As if he needed to ask! Fishing is always fun on these rivers but in the company of a fisherman like John I knew I was going to be in for a real blast. Continue reading →

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Don´t shoot me. I am not a duck!

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports — 4 Comments
May 4, 2014

It can be very difficult to choose where to fish, particularly at times like this when the Río Grande and the Guadalhorce are fishing well but today I opted for the Grande. This river all but dries up in the heat of the summer although there are a few deepish pools where the fish can tough it out. At the moment it is just lovely and is carrying a fair amount of water.

It occurred to me that I should take advantage of the raised water levels to explore a stretch of river I had not fished for a couple of years. Continue reading →

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April 17 – Fishing report from Concepción reservoir

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April 17, 2014

I can barely get my arse out of bed in the morning if it is an ordinary work day but if there is an early start for a fishing trip I hardly even need to set the alarm. This morning was typical. I woke at around 5.00 am and decided to get up and hit the road. The alarm on my phone went off when I had already broken the back of the journey to the reservoir and my arrival coincided with the first bit of light that was good enough for fishing. Continue reading →

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Ants

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Flies and fly tying, Natural history — Leave a comment
April 15, 2014

A couple of weeks ago Harry Abbott caught a very nice barbel on a dry fly. When I asked him what pattern he used he told me it was a little floating ant.

I have relied almost exclusively on nymphs for the last few years when fishing for gipsy barbel on my local river although there was a time, a few years back, when I fished dries nearly all the time. Back in the day, the barbel were often attracted to the little splash created by the fly landing on the surface. Often they would turn to take a look at the source of the disturbance and, more often than not, they would take the fly. Harry´s success has prompted me to think about dries once again and so I tied up a few little ant patterns of my own.

Ants have a silhouette which is unmistakable. They show the typical insect body plan (a three part body) far more distinctly than most insects. The three body parts – head, thorax and abdomen, look as though they are held together only by a thread.

Their slim waists separate the components of a rather curvaceous figure. A woman shaped like an ant might be considered pretty desirable if you were happy to overlook her two extra pairs of legs! Continue reading →

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Fishing Report of April 6

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April 6, 2014

It looks like the gypsy barbel are getting close to their spawning time. The males have prominent tubercles on their snouts, rather like carp develop, and so can be easily told apart from the females. Two of the three fish I took yesterday afternoon were males. Continue reading →

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Farting Cows

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My A level Biology students get to use the word “fart” in exams which is something I feel they should be excited about. What other subject would let you get away with that? The farts in question are emitted from the rear ends of cows and are said to contain significant amounts of methane, an important greenhouse gas. Technically, the gas is much more abundant in cow burps but the word “burp” doesn´t quite have the same appeal. This methane is a by-product of the complex process of cellulose digestion and is actually produced by microorganisms residing in the cow´s intestines rather than the cow itself.

Continue reading →

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Fishing Report – 29 March

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March 31, 2014

It rained heavily last night and the rain continued to fall as I headed out in the late morning to take a look at the river. The weather seems to have been dry for some time now and I was curious to see how the fish would respond to the rainfall. Perhaps the disturbance of the droplets on the surface of the shallow river might animate them a little or, at least, make it a little easier to approach them unseen. I figured one thing was certain, the rain was unlikely to make them any wetter than they already were! Continue reading →

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Fishing Report of March 23

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March 23, 2014

Today is Sunday and I managed to complete my domestic chores by lunchtime and so headed off to the river for a spot of hydrotherapy. Continue reading →

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