• About The Tuesday Swim

the tuesday swim…

the tuesday swim…

Tag Archives: nadder

Seeking the pure piscator.

20 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by The tuesday swim in General fishing

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

brown, nadder, piscator, pure, trout

Over the years I have met many anglers that tread different paths, some have become friends who I now fish with, and others I have talked with on the subject but have never made it to the waterside. Amongst these anglers I can single out a few that I label as the ‘pure piscators’,  these are anglers who hold  a real close connection with a place and a first-hand knowledge that is cherished, and on occasions, shared.

Fishing nun

One such ‘pure piscator’ I met about ten years ago was the colonel (the father of an old girlfriend) who fished the Nadder for brown trout. His world on the Nadder was small but complete, his relationship with the river and the trout was intimate, when he immersed himself in the practice of dry-fly fishing he was content, it was pure. On my first visit to the Nadder I took down a collection of dry flies bought from Farlows of Pall Mall (when the flies came in a little complimentary round tin), the colonel was quite overwhelmed with the gift and added them to his box of disheveled looking dry flies, but I could sense he felt these new flies were interlopers amongst his own flies, each one of his flies had a history, a track record, the new ‘boys’ from London had to prove their worth on ‘his river.’ As a potential son-in-law I too was on trial as I entered this small world below the chalk hills of Wiltshire, my approach and attitude to the river was carefully monitored as my host put me on the right spots to fish. After an hour I started to catch some small grayling much to the disappointment of the colonel, he only considered the brown trout to be worthy of a bend in my rod, he loved the Nadder and the brown trout but grayling were not part of his world. The colonel’s tackle and casting was a little below par, but his attention to the tippet, and the delivery of the fly cast in the right places was faultless, everything else did not matter. Anyone who knows the Nadder (rumour goes the Nadder gets its name from the many tight bends, just like an adder snake) will understand that casting is limited to only a few yards; there was no need for expensive reels or rods. It seems a common trait that the pure piscator uses simple and reliable gear, normally tried and tested over the years, their real strength lie with experience and knowledge, their minds are not clouded by tackle manufacturer’s promises of guaranteed catches or gimmicks. To some extent I have been guilty of this, spending years accumulating fishing tackle, (be it mainly vintage). In a moment of ‘pure piscatorialism’ I have given away or sold a lot of the tackle that I just didn’t use including a ridiculous amount of fishing jackets. Now with less tackle I can concentrate on the important things, the way I fishing.

Relaxing fisherman

 

Jack Hargreaves, dry fly fishing on the Wiltshire Nadder.

17 Saturday Sep 2011

Posted by The tuesday swim in General fishing

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

adder, brown, cane, club, dace, dry, fishing, fly, flylite, grayling, hargreaves, jack, milward, nadder, of, out, rod, snake, split, teffont, town, trout

Many years back I dated a young lady near the town of Tisbury in Wiltshire, conveniently her father, a retired colonel was a member of his local fishing club on the River Nadder.

After a few visits to Wiltshire, approval was finally given to join him for a day’s fly fishing as a guest on the Nadder run by the Teffont Fishing Club.

Armed with my Millward Flylite split cane rod and a selection of dry flies bought from Farlow’s of Pall Mall the previous day, we set off in search of brown’s and grayling. That day local knowledge prevailed and the colonel caught several trout and graying, eventually I managed to hook a lone lady, thankfully my dry-fly fishing skills didn’t let me down that day. Walking back that evening the colonel told me about the history of this little twisting stream, looking back now, I forget most of the detail but one thing I always remember was the name, Nadder, a name given after the adder snake common in the Wiltshire district. The shape of the adder similar to that of the river, with its twists and turns. True? maybe, maybe not but I like the tale.

Here we have Jack Hargreaves dry-fly fishing on the Nadder delivered in his own unique gentle manner and hooking a rather fine dace.

Read about

  • Barbel
  • Carp
  • Fallon's Angler quarterly
  • General
  • General fishing
  • Music
  • Photography and video
  • Pike
  • Product reviews
  • Reading
  • Tackle
  • The Lea Valley

Instagram

Quiet
I find it difficult writing about the process of catching a fish, but this story had another layer worth sharing. Fallons Angler issue 26 out now - in the company of Britains finest angling writers #fallonsangler #tench #tenchfishing #sevenpoundtench
Pond Life
Back to the hammock
Oh joy! Seeing an old friend is great but after Adam just discovered he won Best Show Garden at RHS Chelsea 2022 was priceless. Adam looked down at the artificial stream in the Rewilding British Landscape Garden and said ‘so good, you could cast a fly into it.’ It was. Adam I hope we cast a fly soon, lovely to see an old Sussex boy.
Can never pass Ditchling Beacon without taking a stroll. #ditchlingbeacon
Another film done - Gritstone and Galena link in bio
Fallons’s Angler have promised to do a film up north, delayed over the last two years we finally met up with Graham Vasey on the Tees and soaked up the atmosphere while Graham trotted for the grayling. @will_memotone dropped the perfect notes over the top. The film will be out tomorrow at 4.00pm (25th march) on the Fallons’s Angler YouTube channel
Another Fallon’s Angler trip done, the epic Tees, a unique pub with the atmosphere of a forgotten front room and good fishing. Our new northern adventure coming soon… #kirkhead #teesgrayling #fishingfilm #fallonsangler #teesdale #canonc100 #trottingthefloat #traditionalangling #wadingtheriver #durhamfishing
Finally made it to the Tees, filming starts in an hour #fallonsangler #fishingfilms #grayling
Packing the camera kit for the Pennines - A Fallon’s Angler film coming next month. Waterproofs, waders and binoculars at the ready. #anglingfilms #fallonsangler #graylingfishing #rivertees #pennines #fishingfilms
It’s hard clearing the last few items from my parents house, some items I’m familiar with like the tobacco tin full of drills, others are not so, like the stamped coat hangers found in my father’s wardrobe, coat hangers ‘pinched’ over a lifetime, London, Bristol, Scotland - stories now lost.
Goodbye 2021, it has been one to remember #neighbourhood
The sun did return in spectacular fashion #wintersolstice
Snuck out Friday for a pre lockdown chub, the healing qualities of a fish is fathomless #chubfishing #mentalhealth

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • the tuesday swim...
    • Join 203 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • the tuesday swim...
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...