I had the pleasurable company of Derek and his good friend David yesterday for a session on the river. Not just any session but one that precedes a guided trip to the river San in Poland next week.

Wanting to arrive in Poland with some technical knowledge so as not to waste valuable fishing time, the focus of the session was to cast and fish using a ‘Tactical Presentation Leader’ et al Leader to Hand technique which they’d previously purchased having been advised that this would be a chosen technique to be used amongst others.

Now… I absolutely get this concept and understand totally where it could be advantageous given certain situations and conditions, however, to then try and do so with a leader that has more memory than a rocket scientist and knots seemingly tied by a 3 year old didn’t make things any easier.

The copolymer leader is packaged with lots of information printed on and within to aid your decision on how to set up your system based on your pre determined method of fishing. (Excellent stuff)

Straight out of the packet and unravelled – holding tension removed, it’s like an explosion in a spring factory. No great shakes here, all that it needs is a wee stretch and we’ll be good to go…

I think not!… stretch after stretch it’s ability to straighten improved not one jot.

(Left) I got this as a present from Derek, it is free hanging in this picture having been stretched five times already which by anyone’s measure should be plenty enough.

Derek & David’s were no different through the guides and out beyond the rod. Slack as we know is the bane of fly fishers when trying to load the rod through a given stroke, to do this with very little line mass is difficult enough and takes some getting used to, but with a line in this state casting it was not going to be easy.

Then we looked at the knot that joins the level 12mtr section to the 2mtr advanced taper section…?

And this knot is what exactly?… just rubbish and down right lazy, all 3 were the same.

And as for this tag section supposedly to make the locating of the indicator easier… I despair!

Having put some rights to the wrongs and pulled out as much memory in the leader as possible we set about the cast. Using quite soft tip rods (Hends & Hanak 10ft) and void of any line weight otherwise associated with standard weight forward/double taper fly lines, we worked on shorter casting strokes and increased inertia to work the tip and traject the leader. Once mastered and none too soon after, twas to the water we progressed.

With a snappy breeze and thus sometimes limiting the ability of this system as would be thought, the guys were restricted to relatively short casts teamed with some favoured RNPTN’s and Olive Quill nymphs. Fishing both upstream and up & across so as to work with both slack and taught drifting line techniques, the guys were soon into fish.

Having rattled two prior, David brings his first to the net from the upper reaches

Derek knows no bounds as to the length (depth) he’ll go to get a fly back… Oh yes – it’s one of mine

Getting to grips now with longer line nymphing, this sight, stalk, cast and take was text book

Dave – pleased as punch and deservedly so.

Likewise and casting in a tight tree laden pocket… some sterling fishing from Derek followed.

These beauties came on a size #18 flash back PTN teamed with 2 No4 and 1 No8 shot to drop the fly onto the fish within a foot of the drift. 2 casts resulted in these from the same pocket.

Well spotted and thus avoiding a squish as it hopped across our path – The protected ‘Common’ frog

Late afternoon and returning upstream from whence we came

We targeted likely known holes plucking fish from almost all we surveyed.

Pretty as a picture

The guys performed superbly this afternoon nailing plenty of good fish. If they were any lesser an angler in terms of capability they’d have scored little today… very much a case that their skills far out weighed the quality of the product, in this case the Tactical Leader.

I admired them for wanting to stick with the technique, I feel many areas would have seen a fly line perform better, however in certain runs it was lethal and pulled fish due to it’s delicacy.

They’ll almost certainly be putting the frighteners on those River San residents if they fish in the same vein. I’ve loaned them the rods used today for the trip and discussed some leader material alternatives to source, take and have a play with.

Finally: I will give the tactical leader a further mention in that by the time we’d finished it had lessened it’s grip on retaining coils and straightened a little. Perhaps the pull of fish, the weight of the flies and warmer afternoon temperatures helped but not to a degree where mine will ever see the light of day.

As to this L2H type set up & technique, much has been written, argued and debated… there’s a host more I’ll use before resorting to it… that’s called personal preference and you’ll have yours.

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The morning after the night before… sunrise creeps above the treeline as viewed from the Cammarch Hotel on the Irfon. For Warren, James, Richard, John and I it was to be the start of a few days fishing for the Maxia team and the hopes of a misinformed and ever changing forecast.

Breakfast devoured we load up only but the essentials and pile into the sunshine bus, a Peugeot thingy built in an age when manufacturers thought that installing useless electrical gadgets was a really good idea. There was some weird flashy light s%#t going on with the dashboard and stuff!!!

…it reminded me of something but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it…mmm

We’re fishing the upper beats to start with, a foray here last year proved very successful so we couldn’t really do any worse than to revisit some of the known lunker locations.

We had it in mind that with conditions slightly against us and deteriorating it would be prudent to fish subsurface with a nymph… we’re all using 10ft #2 with ‘RYR’ indicators and 7ft leaders.

The RNPTN’s a favourite, probably the most prolific here with but the odd exception.

We’re concentrating our efforts in the channel where a significant ledge drop off occurs on the right bank which can be seen in the picture above as Warren guides his indicator waiting for the slightest of movement. (The rain is imminent)

I’m fishing in the same channel downstream of Warren, I miss netting my first fish… beneath tree cover which I’d forgotten was there, I had no place to go whilst attempting to maintain rod tension so the fish slipped off with ease – what else?

Almost immediately and in the midst of a forthcoming downpour, a fish rose twice within the zone I’d just nymphed, having spotted a few stonefly and olive some moments earlier with haste I slipped on a CDC olive in the hope of meeting the fish during rise No 3. With presentation somewhat slightly compromised as the tapering was more favoured to a nymph, I managed to place a cast all be it luckily in the perfect spot… slam dunk, this beauty nailed the fly and took off downstream before succumbing to some unwieldy pressure and my desire to get it to the net pronto.

Here it cometh ‘the rain’… meanwhile James is underneath the tree way down stream of Warren below and has just hooked into a superb grayling on a RNPTN – his personal best.

The picture doesn’t do this fish justice, James is shaking with the adrenaline rush.

An absolute stunner

Guided by James who decides to have a break, Richard jumps into the same pool. A few casts later having run the RNPTN through the same pocket water… Richard hits into yet another grayling.

Another beauty… the rain’s now falling harder

Now we’re stuffed, the heavens let rip almost immediately. 2 weeks of lovely Olympic weather then this, we’d been waiting so long for this opportunity to all come together… ruddy sods law.

Warren’s so pleased he’d had his hood sewn up, that flat cap more than makes up for it though.

My jacket is to being waterproof what Chernobyl was to the environment… useless

John, Richard and James with no where to hide… stair rods ensue… 3 hours of it non stop

As fast as it falls, is as fast as it rises, and as fast as it colours… oh joy!

Having stopped with only but the odd shower as an after thought, riffles and pockets have become just long murky glides, the visibility that once was is now all but lost… the likely hood of any fish?

In the hope that it’ll run off quickly and clear to a point so to mistake it for a chalkstream, we wait in vein for something to happen… like it’s ever going to… we’re willing it to happen… Bored anyone?

Some observe and fiddle with tackle… some just kip

We sit and relax for an hour but fear the worst, the forecast is for more rain and lots of it. Deciding to make our way back prematurely to the hotel and the bar, it quickly dawns on us that the likely hood of fishing the river tomorrow is futile at best.

Early the next morning having seen the river continue to rise and colour, we’d decided to settle up and leave the hotel for blighty and to the Coln. I know this river like the back of my hand and new that although the rain had pretty much hit everyone hard, it would still be fishable.

What a contrast… arriving midday we were inspired to see clear water, the wind however knocking 20mph didn’t deter us as there was plenty of good cover.

Almost mimicking the setups of the previous day all be it with slightly shorter leaders we covered the length and breath of the river, one fish coming to a dry midge but the remainder by all to the RNPTN or a pink head Hairy Mary.

John has a very successful afternoon in the upper reaches

Covering all eventualities I spend the day on the duo trickling through the glides

This peach came to the RNPTN #18 drifting 4ft below the klinkhammer fished tight into the margin

Leaving no stone unturned as it were…

Sunshine all day long, a pleasant contrast to the previous day and not a drop of rain

It was certainly worth the drive back for some good fishing… Richard eagle eyed in the lower reaches

fish spotted, targeted and nailed… the nymph on ceremony yet again.

The only fish I could tempt to a dry fly today… olive cdc

Warren hunkered down at the ford. Interesting here in that he lost 3 fish very quickly, under tension the fish seem to extricate themselves with ease, offsetting the throat off the hook slightly seemed to rectify it from there on in.

They were lost no more

Thankfully the day on the Coln rescues our dampened Welsh spirit, with such a premature visit it sounds like another good excuse to get out and away for a further few days, Wales anyone?