The BFFI & Autumn On The Clun

Saturday

The annual British Fly Fair International 2010 was again held at Trentham Gardens in Stoke over the weekend and put on a fine display of all things fly-tying.

This is a great event for catching up on what new materials are available and stocking up on a few supplies...I normally end up leaving with far more than I planned! I managed to resist the temptation of walking away with a new vice but I'm sure its only a matter of time.

This event also gives you the opportunity to watch some of the elite fly-tyers and quiz them on some of their techniques. For me 'tyers row' is what makes the show special with Dave Wiltshire & Andy Baird demonstrating some extremely eye-catching flies, its was also nice to put a face to a few people I met from the Flyforums.


Andy Baird - Master at the art of micro flies.

Seasoned favourite at the show - Oliver Edwards

Next year's event sees a change of venue to the County Showground Stafford and will now be earlier in the year in June.

Sunday

I couldn't resist rounding the weekend off with a little Grayling fishing on the superb River Clun. Warm temperatures, little wind and the most stunning Autumn colours paved the way to a very productive few hours.

The warmer temperatures had spurred on some flies to hatch which led to a few fish coming to the surface, although a change to dry fly with a small nymph below proved that the majority of these fish were out of season trout so it was back on with the tungsten bugs to get down to where the Grayling were feeding.

Out of season but fighting fit and in beautiful condition

With the clocks going back one hour it all seemed to end too early but the drive back home gave me time to try and think of a possible new Grayling fly to tie up using my new stock of materials!

The ocean laid down yesterday long enough to run out and get a couple limits of rockfish. Steve Towne of Dillon Beach caught these three Tiger Rockfish in 160' of water off of Tomales Point. I've only ever seen 6 of these fish before, so three on one drift was pretty surprising. Last chance for rockfish this weekend. For those of you thinking about trying for some dungeness, this is your last chance to get some hanging bait. The weather looks fishable with a raincoat.

Our friend, Larry Stevens, passed on last week. Here's a picture of Larry with his 301# yellowfin tuna, the biggest fish on a boat full of big fish. He will be missed.

On the home front the rockfish are biting. I took three 8-to-11 year-old boys out fishing for three hours yesterday and they caught their limits. Nathan Porter did better than that with his trip down to Ten Mile Beach. He caught his three halibut and returned four others in about three hours of trolling between Abbott's Lagoon and the north parking lot in 40'of water. The halibut were full of pinhead anchovies. Perhaps there will be something to fish for during the crab opener after all. This weekend the forecast calls for rain and big swell.

No fish to report this past weekend, at least no fish that I heard about. Three weeks to the dungeness opener and things are looking pretty good for this season. Fishermen and divers on the bar are reporting lots of big crabs there which should translate into good numbers in and out of the bay. Two weeks left for rockfish season.

Three boats fished the bar yesterday for a halibut each, one on a jig, two on live bait. One halibut speared there as well. A few rockfish from outside but a slow bite. There is still a pretty large swell so be careful on the bar or fishing shallow outside.

Rough today, but the one boat that went out caught two halibut just inside the bar, where it was safe. Going outside the bay was not doable today.

Two halibut speared on the bar, two halibut caught on the bar, and one taken near Hog Island. Possibly two halibut from off of Dillon Beach. Rockfishing was slow.

Today's totals: Two halibut from McLure's, two halibut from Ten Mile, and halibut bites but none hooked on the bar. No rockfishermen today.

Rockfishing was a bit slow yesterday, especially in the shallower water, but at least one boat limited out. Two halibut were caught, one on live bait off of Dillon Beach and one on a dead herring on the bar.

The rockfish are biting again, and good thing because the season closes after Halloween. I caught these 7-pound vermillion on a 7" glow-in-the-dark rubber shad in 150 feet of water off the towers. The ocean was beautiful yesterday and is supposed to stay that way through Saturday.

The big swell stirred up the water and cut the visibility to 2-3 feet but Steve Werlin was able to spear this 32# halibut as it swam by. He didn't see any others, but then again, he hardly needed to. The bite slowed yesterday with more boats catching less fish. Numbers ran about 0-4 fish. Jigging has been pretty effective, accounting for at least 9 halibut in the last two days.

First off, the bar is breaking and potentially fatal to anyone trying to cross it. The forecast is for a smaller swell tomorrow, so perhaps less break. That said, the halibut were on the bite today just inside the deadly part of the bar. Only a few boats fished it but numbers ran from 4 to 7 fish. They were biting dead bait as well as live. Anyone thinking of trying it tomorrow should plan it around the incoming tide when the current will move you away from the breakers.