The Duffer's Fortnight...does it still exist?

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Tee-Cee

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First of all let me say that I have little knowledge of trout/fly fishing..in fact apart from time spent after big chub with a'bushy fly of sorts' AND a day on the Test fishing the Lord Mountbatten stretch which my wife treated me to as a birthday present(and possibly to bring home something for the table to justify costly course fishing!)I have never taken to the'other way'of fishing...

This morning,as a way of enjoying sunrise(and plenty of good tea!)and beyond I read a few chapters of Sheringham including one entitled'The Duffers Fortnight'.Excellent reading as only he can produce and it got me wondering about this period in early June(?)when trout can be caught at will and,I understand,of massive size!This account by Sheringham was written in 1916 or so and trout men may no longer follow the mayfly for this two week period.....or perhaps they do?

So,for curiosities sake,can anyone tell me if trout men head(with average funds available) for the rivers(Test/Itchen) these days,at this time of year,to become fed-up with mere 3 pounders(similar to boredom with catching 8lb tench come the 16th!)or is it a sport only for the rich or landed gentry??

Do 8/10lb trout fall regularly to mayfly on the Kennet for this two week period....hardly seem likely as Sheringham seemed to fail more often than not.....but .............
 
Graham Whatmore

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Ah! the dreams and aspirations of the angler, forever the optomist, is it something to do with the spring, the re-awakening, the thought of those few days remaining when proper fishing can once more be pleasured?

One thing puzzles me about that 'duffers fortnight' why would very large fish that have never shown before suddenly decide it is time to be caught?
 
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Duffers' Fortnight? Oh yes, still going, for Deep Pockets, though rather devalued now by the mass stocking of instant big trout for corporate types etc. I have had a good many classic Duffer Days in my time, though - both numbers and stalked and much-tried-for single-whopper size. One set of days, a numbers job on a Southern river with a fine Mayfly hatch, was as ridiculous as it was memorable for its sheer carnage: the man who controlled the water had told me to "Take out every rainbow you catch, Paul. Someone had a farm and pond escape upriver and the river is choked with them. No bag limit - in fact, as many sacks as you like..."

I had at the VERY LEAST 1500 trout from the several miles of water over that 3 to 4 week period. Not nice work and an experience that made me avoid the Mayfly Season in subsequent years and fish only the "small fly" - small dries and nymphs.
 
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So if one is lucky enough to fish these famous southern waters-chalk streams I suppose-how many fish do you actually take away from the water to eat?

I think you are allowed so-many brace(?)so are any above this returned to the water-must be very expensive in the first place so putting them back must be a real bind...

I have to say it all sounds very civilised......
 
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The reservoir I am fishing at the moment has now a nice hatch of mayflies. That doesn't mean that the trout are going daft on them, far from it. North of England reservoirs on the edge of the Peak District can prove very difficult to fish at times.

And by the way what I pay in a season to fish this water is about half one would pay for the cheapest day ticket on the Test.

There are two mayfly species to be found in Britain.

Ephemera danica and Ephemera vulgata.

Notwithstanding its name, E. vulgata is the rarest of the two.

There is another mayfly that is extremely rare: E. lineata. Some authorities believe this insect is extinct.
 
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Very sensible of you, Ron. The more "desirable" chalkstreams - large sections of them, anyway - have, to my mind, for many years been a must-avoid zoo ... fake fish, fake people...
 
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Very well put Paul.

There are stretches of the Test where they stock big pellet fed rainbows so that the monied oafs and "Hurray Henrys" have something to catch.

Personally I think that rivers like the Test should be left alone regarding the stocking so that wild brown trout can propogate themselves. Well this is how it was at the time of Halford and Plunkett-Greene.

But even Plunkett-Greene's beloved River Bourne was destroyed by artificial stocking of brown trout.
 
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It all looks frightfully upmarket, and for one day, probably equal to what I get as a pension in a year.

As old **** Walker used to say, these rivers are fished by more people who's money compensates for what skill they might not possess, than real, skilled, and experienced anglers.
 
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Paul Boote

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Or as I say: "...by people who think they've arrived, but, in reality, haven't even started.".
 
the indifferent crucian

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Can you fellers tell me what the small yellow mayfly we get here in Surrey is called?

It usually shows up mid-June and I have bought immitations of it in Hampshire. It certainly isn't any of the three species you have mentioned.
 
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the indifferent crucian

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Thank-you Paul.

I hope he feels he met with some success, as I have seen the small yellow fellows in just that river...the South Wey.
Perhaps this Yellow Drake is a fourth UK species then, Ron? The Independent article talks of 50 UK species of Ephemeroptera.

I believe the Wey flows past your old school? We play their 'Maniacs' side at cricket every year here,without fail.
 
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Paul Boote

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Try here - Riverfly - Ephemeroptera

---------- Post added at 13:31 ---------- Previous post was at 13:25 ----------
the indifferent crucian said:
I believe the Wey flows past your old school? We play their 'Maniacs' side at cricket every year here,without fail.
Click to expand...


I was briefly a Maniac ('B' team) until I discovered the then virtually unused Squash courts and got quite good at the game.
 
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Sorry chaps-I feel quite ashamed now for having been one of these'upmarket'types having fished the Broadlands stretch for a day.....even if it was a birthday present!

In some ways it fullfilled a dream,what with standing in water up to my waist swishing a flyrod about trying to apply coarse fishing skills to the pursuit of a trout and the nice lunch we had sitting under trees next to the river....and yes,it was all very civilised!

I cannot say,in all sincerity that my ghillie chappie and I really had much in common(sort of on different planets once we started talking about fishing)and even less so once he realised I would not be making a habit of it!!

Still,I did catch a trout of about 2,5lbs which fought well but I dropped a real bloomer by putting it back...I just could not bring myself to knock it on the head.

My wife and I often talk about it(more about the excellent lunch!)and it is a treasured memory.....just a pity it could not have been with real friends.....

ps One cannot help thinking how far one has come from such humble beginings as TottenhaM N17.......
 
Mark Wintle

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One point about the Duffer's fortnight as written about by Sheringham is that the mayfly hatch in the early years of the 20th century was far, far more prolific than that occurring in more recent decades. There were so many mayflies that the minor country roads were covered in a thick layer of mayflies such that cars lost control and it is easy to see why the trout became totally preoccupied with them. I see a few mayflies on my local Dorset rivers but hardly clouds of them just an odd few. Modern pesticides and chemicals have much to answer for.
 
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And trains having to slow on the GWR line between Newbury and Hungerford. I saw some big hatches around there in the 1970s and early 1980s, commenting about one to a local fisher of many years, who replied: "No, my boy. Big hatches's when you eat the buggers as you speak!".
 
the indifferent crucian

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Tee Cee, as the angler who has caught the fish it is, and always will be, your decision as to whether you return it.

I've taken a few for the table, and those who own fisheries have told me that so few fish will ever feed again it's probably a token gesture, but none have ever said I shouldn't return them if I choose to.

An interesting read about Broadlands new owners. I was there last year and it was a fantastic place ( sadly I was not fishing). I note they describe it as the home of Lord Louis, but of course it belonged to his wife, it having been her familys seat.
 
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