There have been some big fish caught recently, with several over 4lb reported. We had good falls of Hawthorn Flies in early May. Black Gnats were abundant in May but have now become less important. Daddies have accounted for quite a few fish. Olive hatches have been sparse in recent weeks.
Agapetus Sedge pupae are becoming increasingly important as a part of the trout’s diet, particularly in the afternoons. Look for fish rising confidently to ‘invisibles’, something not visible in or just below the surface film. Agapetus feeders will usually ignore most offerings & what is needed is a very small (size 20 or 22), sparsely tied dry fly fished in the surface film & dead-drifted then twitched. The best fly pattern is Stuart Croft’s Agapetus Pupa tied with darkish rusty brown dubbing, alternatively an unweighted hare’s ear nymph with no tail, with floatant applied very sparingly to the top side only.
Agapetus fuscipes pupa
Dark version of Stuart Croft’s Agapetus Pupa
Large Cased Caddis larvae
Invertebrate samples are showing up large numbers of Cased Caddis larvae (over 700 in a 3 minute kick sample). Most are tiny Agapetus larval cases 4mm long but there are increasing numbers of very large species which bodes well for dry fly sport in the late summer using size 12 Elk Hair Caddis or F Flies.
As usual there are large numbers of Gammarus (Shrimps). There are also huge numbers of small Baetis nymphs (2000 in a 3 minute kick sample), so hopefully we will get some good Olive/Pale Watery hatches in July & August.
Dave Southall
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