Birmingham Anglers Association

Last weekend amidst this blistering heatwave we have been experiencing I decided to grab the fly fishing gear and have a day on the new water on the river Aln.

The forecast for the day was a wall of sunshine from dawn to dusk and temperatures around 28 degrees. Admittedly not ideal for fishing of any sort and when I first saw the river over the bridge running no more than a foot deep and as clear as tap water I did expect a challenge ahead.

I started to set up my gear on the car park at around ten and I noticed a few other angler's cars next to mine under the bridge.
With waders equipped I walked out underneath the railway bridge in a very shallow glide which run deep underneath some shady cover at the bottom end of the swim. A few small fish were topping around this area and I felt confident that I could get my day off to a good start. I adopted a single nymph approach on a classic hares ear pattern to fish across and down as I was walking downstream throughout the day and on the way back up I would switch to the dry fly to head back upstream to my car when the heat of the day had laid off and I hoped a few more fish would begin to rise.

The water was so clear that I knew if any fish was to take my fly I would be able to see it before I feel it and so I was a little happier knowing that any fish interest could not pass unnoticed.

First cast out into the far bank of the swim I drifted the flies into where the depth just started to drop off and was pleasantly surprised to see a small fish dark out and grab my fly. After a short fight a dace of around five ounces appeared itself which was followed up by similar fish in the next three casts. As I walked walked down the swim at the tail end of deeper water shadowed by trees a large fish which I assumed must of been a brown trout rose a couple of times but after struggling to reach the target zone and present the fly correctly I was gutted not to convert the rises into at least a bite. However, as the session was no more than an hour in I felt sure that other opportunities would present themselves throughout the day.

Walking further down it became clear that the river never really went any wider than about 20ft and the surrounding trees gave a difficult and close feel to the swims. I like this though, its nice to have venues that need skill and thought to be able to present your hook in rather than the brain-numbing bald banks of day ticket venues which are now popping up at every still-water in the country.

Armed with polarized glasses I scanned each and every swim in sight of some fish I could tempt into taking my fly and I wasn't short of opportunities. Dace appeared to shoal at the end of the shallow runs and were a good source of fun as they were taking my nymph violently as it passed by although I never caught nor saw any of notable or specimen proportions.

Disappointingly, after walking the entire downstream stretch I never saw a brown trout at all which was a shame as I was hoping this could be a river outside of the peak district or welsh border to give us Midland fly fishermen abundant river trout.

The biggest surprise fish I saw were two bream sat in slack water milling around each around the two pound mark at a guess from where I could see them.

As mentioned before I switched over to a dry fly approach using a single fly, swapping between a Griffiths Gnat and a parachute Adams. I was happy to see that my stable catches of dace did not stop and that the dry fly also seemed to be a better method for drawing out the bigger fish in a shoal. I made it up to a notable swim where the river takes a sharp turn and the fast current runs from the near bank and heads on a B-line straight for the far bank, It looked the most fishy swim of the venue and my predictions proved right when an eel snaked its way in and out of the flow. Suddenly I was taken aback when I spotted a brown trout of cracking proportions, Around (2/3lb) sat around two foot out from the near bank in the white water charging through the swim. Rather stupidly I tried to cast my dry fly upstream in the hope to tempt a rise out of the lone trout which looking back was out of hope more than judgement and I was punished for the error when the trout ignored my fly and bolted and the first sight of my fly line. Lesson learnt, change to a nymph!

I took a break back at the my car and changed back over to the Hares Ear before heading onto the upstream section. This venture proved to be a little close to a waste of time as the river just became to shallow from the the recent lack of rain to really be able to hold anything else other than some more small dace.

In all I was very impressed with the venue which is full of character and upholds a wild stream personality that would appeal to a lot of roving pleasure anglers. I will definitely be back for a few more sessions particularly when the water holds a bit more depth and colour to it.

After chatting with a few locals about the past fishing in the river it seems like it has declined as all rivers have over the last decade but it is far more full of life than other BAA rivers are such as the Lugg and Teme.

I wish the BAA would consider plans to improve the facilities and provisions provided for game angling members as the sport if experiencing a fresh explosion of anglers. The Peak District Passport Scheme and The Wye Passport Scheme give excellent examples of how this can be done whilst still managing thew waters in the same wasy as the BAA do with their coarse waters already.

Definitely food for thought for though in high places at the BAA and it would be interesting to see how others feel about the idea on this fourm!

Tight Lines,
Adam