Monthly Archives: June 2016

Malham Tarn 11-06-16

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We had a fantastic day on the mysterious Malham Tarn at the weekend with friends from the Leeds Branch of The Fly Dressers Guild. It’s not an easy place to fish but the wild brown trout are very special indeed when you find them. It was very misty with a few showers but in general the weather was good.

We didn’t get many trout with only 3 caught from 5 fishing but there were dozens of perch to keep boredom at bay. David Hild had two 4lb trout and Melvyn Wood had a stunning 6 pounder on a sedgehog as it hit the water. Jerry Lee and Jim O’Brien were pulling perch out like strings of mackerel, two at a time.

We were mainly fishing loch style with traditional wet flies, dragging large bushy flies on the top dropper through the ripple to attract the fish. You will never catch many trout here but when you do it’s spectacular.

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There were so many perch but mainly small ones – we didn’t find the big ones that are in there. I can’t wait for another trip, it really is a beautiful and truly wild fishery.

Fly Hatches in June

Yellow Mayfly

Rivers: the large dark olives will start to tail off, while other upwing flies such as mayflies (above), medium olives and yellow mays will increase in numbers. Mayflies will hatch right through June though numbers peak at different times on different waters. Stoneflies will be hatching alongside alders and some sedges too. As far as terrestrials go, expect to see beetles and black gnats featuring high on the menu.

Damselfly

Stillwaters: Pond and lake olives should start to hatch in increasing numbers. Caddis flies will most likely be on the water too. On warmer days there will be big hatches of damsel flies (above) and their nymph patterns will work well around the margins and in particular near read beds where they often crawl out to hatch. There will be mayfly hatches through the month if the species is found there. Lots of beetles will be getting blown onto the water so tie up some foam ones.