Fishing in Late Season

With the prime summer months been and gone, most club members tend to divert their attention towards the wonderful salmon run the Teifi is bestowed with, retiring the sewin into their winter slumber. However, be warned, you may be missing out on some great sport, especially on the ever exhilarating surface lures.

Granted, many of the sewin you catch come September would have been in the system for a couple of months, and many would have lost their silver sheen. However, fresh sewin do enter the Teifi long after the season has ended, and some of the big fish bide their time, running alongside the autumn salmon run – as many a unsuspecting salmon angler finds out, with a large sewin making a seemingly impromptu appearance.

The habits and tastes of the sewin changes as the months progress, and the longer they’ve been in the system. Whereas the flashy blues and silvers may persuade those early fish, patterns that take on a more solemn hue prove to be their Achilles-heel late season; patterns where flash is incorporated sparsely, or not at all. In addition, sport tends to occur within or close to the surface layers, with little need of exploring the depths. Indeed, one of the best methods of targeting these late season sewin is with a surface lure – if you have yet to try one then you’re really missing out, they provide the most exhilarating way of catching sewin and work very well on the Teifi from July onwards. Don’t be shy of fishing the larger surface lures, too. 3+ inches is not uncommon. Further to that, some longshank singles accompanied with some low-water doubles should reflect your chosen armoury and hold you in good stead. Travel light and cover a few pools – with the nights drawing in you can fish for a good 3 hours and still be in bed before 12! Indeed, an advisable approach is to fish as it’s getting dark for the salmon, then give it a couple of hours on the sewin – best of both worlds.

Further to the surface lures, useful late season patterns would include traditionals, such as; Dark-Mackerel, Mallard&Claret, Muddler-Minnows, Stoats-Tail etc. Two of my favourite ‘tried&tested’ late season patterns for the Teifi would have to be the Insomniac and the Deuoni. Both offer totally different profiles and shade combinations for the sewin, and both carry a certain panache that lure the sewin from their leaf-lined-lairs.

Deuoni:
Hook: longshank 10-6
Thread: black 6/0
Body: silver tinsel
Rib: silver wire
Body Hackle: white cock, palmered.
Wing: black squirrel
Head hackle: dyed blue grizzle hen or cock

Insomniac:
Hook: longshank 10-6
Thread: black 6/0
Body: black floss
Rib: opal mirage tinsel, wide.
Tail: red rabbit fur
False hackle: black rabbit fur
Wing: black squirrel
Overwing: mirage/pearl mirror-flash
Eyes: Jungle cock.

As an end note; I would urge all anglers to return these late season sewin. Rarely would the flesh be as sumptuous as a June fish - even if the fish looks fresh, they’re best returned to carry on their journey. Enjoy them for the sport they provide, then grace them with a fair hand, and wish them well on their journey ahead.

Reprinted with permission of Steffan Jones.