A few weeks ago I decided a new chest pack was on the cards, not that there was much wrong with it, more an issue of bulkiness, the chest pockets would swing under your arms when you bent over, the weight distribution seemed a little off, etc.

As I said, not a bad chest pack, very good value for money, and I would still recommend.

That said, I wanted something that, if given the chance, wouldn’t slide under my arm pits, would sit properly on my shoulders/back/etc, was a true ‘middle of the chest’-pack, and would be just right able to handle all the tackle needed for roaming or exploring a stream/river for a full day. For me, this would include a fly box, couple of spooks of tippet, head lamp, food, and a bottle/flask.

In the end I stumbled upon the William Joseph Confluence Chest Pack, and the reviews of the pack were around 99% positive! Looked good!

Here’s what the people at Willy J had to say:

The Confluence literally renders all things before it obsolete.

Never before have technology, comfort, and performance come together so smoothly. All these features will ensure that you get the most from your time on the water. With the new Willy J AIRTRACK™ suspension you will forget you are wearing anything – no matter how much gear you have managed to stuff into it. From it’s William Joseph tippet dispenser to it’s voluminous pockets, it is the most organized pack on the water.

The pack has, over the last few trips, been exceptional, and you hardly notice it’s there. It sits as snug to your body as you’d like, and subsequently, it doesn’t move about when you bend over and it doesn’t swing under you. The weight distribution is also fantastic.

A couple of nice features of the pack are the built in retractable zingers (there are two) and tippet dispenser. Keeps everything nice, neat, and tidy (just the way I like my fishing to be!).

Other features such as the two swing-down ‘workstation’ style pockets (great for organising your flies mid stream, although I removed the foam fly holder straight away as I can imagine them getting mashed against the inside of the pocket), and the ability to wear the pack as high as you’d like via the strap system are definite advantages (brilliant for those deep waders among us!).

WJ Confluence Images

Front View

Rear View

Front – Main Pocket/Workstation – enough room for a large C&F fly box, mobile phone, etc.

Front – Secondary Pocket/Workstation with tippet dispenser (a little fiddly at first…we’ll see how this goes)

Back – Main Pocket (there are two smaller pockets as well) – Plenty of room for a 1ltr flask

A superb piece of kit although further scrutiny is needed. At the moment I would definitely recommend.

For more information, see the William Joseph web site.

With the weather as beautiful as it was for South Wales yesterday, I was determined to have a day on the upper waters of the Taff with the dry fly.

My last couple of visits to this part of the river have proven very positive. Comments such as “There aren’t any fish up there!”, “You won’t catch a thing!” have been answered quite proudly with images such as the one below (caught last week).

Wilder, more remote waters will always be harder to fish. In fact, sometimes they are down right near impossible. However, in fishing these waters I believe the skills deemed necessary (both close-quarter tactics, locating fish in the smallest pockets, etc) will be honed.

On arriving at the stream, the one thing which was impossible not to miss was caddis hatch. It was simply huge, and was content to continue throughout the day. The trout, obviously tuned into this fact, were quite happy to munch down my Caddis imitations such as CDC & Elk and Balloon Caddis.

The fish today were what you would normally expect from a stream of this size. Small (around the 6/7’’ mark), perfectly formed, and muscular. Very opportunistic in their feeding, most drifts of a dry fly would result in a splash at the surface. These fish were to be the standard for the day, and unfortunately, no bruisers such as the one from last week were brought to hand.

The major problem with this type of fishing, however, is getting yourself into position in the first place without disturbing the fish. It’s much easier to spook these weary fish, so wading and false casting are kept to a minimum, and instead, crawling and flicking rather than casting is the way of the day.

Again, an amazing day, I’m really starting to love small stream fishing…and I suppose, as my 5wt rod is currently undergoing ‘surgery’ it’s all I’m equipped for…I’ve never been forced to do something so nice!

A few pictures of the day…

Fly Fishing in South Wales is two years old today! Hard to believe I know, but hey, they grow so fast!

Since starting some web site analytics a few months ago, I can see that (amazingly!), the blog is receiving approximately 1,000 visits per month; has UK visitors ranging from Aberdeen to Brighton; International visitors ranging from Russia, Argentina, USA, South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand…it truly is humbling!

I’d therefore like to say Happy Birthday to Fly Fishing in South Wales, and I hope you all keep visiting and enjoying the blog!

A big thank you to you all!

The 2008 Monnow Social is right around the corner, and I’m starting to get a little worried!

With 16 days to go, my 8’6 5wt rod is still with Sage due to the problems I experienced earlier in the month. I’m told that repairs/replacements can take up to three weeks. I have two weeks until I’m desperately going to need an 8’6 5wt. This said, I have faith it will be sorted by then. After all, the only reason I bought it from the retailer was not only because of the low price, but because of their widely acclaimed customer service.

The Monnow Social is a gathering of like minded fishing lunatics, who fish hard, drink harder, and camp over two and a bit days on the river Monnow and it’s tributaries.

Last year the social fell on my birthday, and when asked by a work colleague how I’d be spending my birthday, the conversation went something like the below…

Colleague: “You’re birthday’s next weekend isn’t it? What’ you up to?”
Gareth: “I’m, um, going fishing…”
C: “Aye, but what else are you doing over the weekend?”
G: “I’m, um, fishing…all weekend…”
C: “It’s your birthday, and you’re going fishing ALL weekend!? That’s a bit sad isn’t it?! Who you fishing with?”

And this is where the conversation get’s a little weird…

G: “I’m, um, fishing with a few people…”
C: “Gar, you don’t know a FEW people to go fishing with…who?”
G: “Some, um, guys I know off a…um…COUGH website COUGH…”
C: sniggers “‘Ang on…you’re going fishing…all weekend…with a load of blokes you know from a website!?” Starts roaring laughing…
G: “Um, pretty much yeah”
C: “Sounds like a right sausage-fest to me! Are you gonna try out each others rods too?! HAHAHAHA”

Needless to say, he found it funny. In fact when announcing said conversation at the social, it was actually met with a few “Yeah, I’ve had that reaction too”, so I wasn’t the only one!

Still, last year’s social was brilliantly organised, the fishing was fantastic, and everyone had a brilliant time. I got to fish some beautiful rivers I wouldn’t usually get to fish, with a good bunch of guys I wouldn’t have met otherwise.

Because of which, the anticipation for this year’s social is building throughout the twenty five or so partaking bodies…let’s hope 2008 is as good as it’s predecessor! Check out last year’s photos.

25 blokes in a field, with rods…gotta be wrong!

Last year’s rabble…

The Second Date: You fancy her, and maybe she feels the same way about you. The first date went brilliantly, so maybe, the second will be even better. You’re really looking forward to it; is she? You’re hoping the few idiocies from the first date have been forgotten. Although the first date was ‘unproductive’, you haven’t been able to stop thinking about her…tonight, you’re going to show her that you’re the man. THE man.

Of course, I’m talking about my second outing on the upper waters of the river Taff. What? You thought I was talking about something else?

It’s 16:30, and work has finished. From my early school days, the ringing bell, signalling the end of the day, has stayed with me (metaphorically speaking of course, I didn’t steal it…), and today, it’s ringing, hard!

There’s no time to get home and pick up my gear, it was all stuffed into the car this morning at 6:45; I have to be ready for my date early.

I’m excited…can you tell?

At 17:30, I’m parked. At 17:45 I’m at the waters edge peering into a pool. This was delayed some what by a local making me aware of “you don’t wanna park there, it’s really remote and out of the way. Fifty percent of the time you’ll get back and your car will be fine, but, the other fifty percent…”. Enough said. After a ‘thanks for the advice’, a detour, a re-park, and a hike to the river, job done.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes…peering into a pool…

This pool, as you may have read from an earlier post, was where I met my ‘First Date’ if you will…and I was back for the second.

It doesn’t look like it, but my ‘date’ is in there alright. I mean, the stream is tiny! The water (running over a few large rocks and forming a nice seam and food channel) enters a tiny pool in such a way that you just ‘know’ there’s a trout underneath the riffle. Put it this way; if I were a trout, I would want to live there!

After 10 minutes of quietly observing the pool 15ft from the bank, I quietly worked my way into position (painfully slow steps over slippery rocks, under the branches of tress, crawling on my hands and knees while in the water…you know, the real commando stuff!).

Nothing was rising. Nothing was hatching. Logical I suppose, as if there is nothing rising, there is usually nothing worth rising for…and if there is nothing hatching…you get the idea. Anyway, I digress.

Why then, I tied on an olive klinkhammer, I’m not quite sure. I suppose she did seem to like it last time. Anyway, conditions were more or less the same as last time, so, what the hell.

Eventually, I was in position to cast, but decided to wait for another minute or so; If I’d lightly spooked anything while getting into position, casting a line into it’s domain would finish it off and it would then probably sulk for hours (and I only had ‘hours’ until dark).

Was the wait worth it? You decide from the photo below. A truly wild, beautifully marked brown trout, and with the biggest fins I’ve ever seen on a fish I’ve caught. They do say ‘the best things come in small packages’…this beauty came from the smallest pocket! She also represents my first fish of 2008 to a dry fly.

Now I know where she lives…play my cards right and I may manage date number three! Just have to remember to take my damn camera next time and not rely on my mobile phone (apologies for the photo quality, it doesn’t do her (or the sunset) justice).

An amazing brown, from an amazing stream…

…and an amazing end of the day…