Evening

There's been a bit of talk this week from Bernd and Lars about fishing at dusk and through into the night time. What's really interesting reading there FPs is that they've arrived at similar conclusions whilst going against the general consensus. Note - fish fast! All the talk of night time has reminded me of just how much I enjoy that magical hour just before dark and then the hour or two following.

 

One of my favourite types of fishing is getting to a hill loch for the last hour of light. Even better on one of those warm muggy evenings when there’s not a breath of wind and you just have that feeling that things are going to kick off in a big way. Looking around the loch there’s a sporadic rise or two, the air is dense with caenis. Yes, caenis! The caenis hatch is quite a spectacle that mother nature puts on producing these tiny, perfectly formed white upwings that hatch in biblical proportions. As every part of your clothing and being is covered in them you can’t help but think it’s only a matter of time before these little flies head back to the water to lay egss and ultimately get hoovered up by the trout in a mass feeding frenzy.

The faint orange glow on the horizon is indicating that it’s time to get a fly in the water. First a rise, then another and another and before long it looks like rain has started falling. Now where things get a little tricky is actually pinning the fish when they’re on caenis but I’ve had success using everything from sedges to tony spinner imitations. The best of the bunch however seems to be griffths gnats tied in size 20 and below.  I really do love watching a trout cruise around, a rise, a few feet further and another rise and then you pick your spot, leading the fish by around 8’ and hope he hasn’t turned away. It’s just magical tuned in fishing.

 

It’s not limited to the lochs though. My old local river used to produce some stellar evening and nighttime fishing in the summer. There’s something special when you see a good fish rising in the gloaming, you know where he is and more importantly you know where a few of his friends are too. You’ve got your length worked out all you need to do know is have the right fly and drop it over him at the right time. As the sun disappears and the sky darkens your eyes start to lose dominance and hearing becomes far more important. That point where your ears become your eyes is special, listen for that unmistakable slurp and strike on that same noise. My concentration gets to mindboggling levels with this type of fishing, there aren’t any other thoughts from the day’s nonsense going on, it’s just me, my casting arm and my ears. Pitting myself against mother nature with only the sound of rising trout and bats whirring past my head for company. I usually approach with small CDC and elk patterns and then as things get properly dark ramp up to big foam cicadas and mice which is funny as we don't have cicadas and I've never seen a mouse in our rivers. The trout don't seem to mind though.

Being at one with the delicate balance of the river and being able to get fish as beautiful as these is what makes the night time so special for me. So here's to some great evenings and putting pen to paper to plan the next trip.