The "Dog Days" of Summer

I was never entirely sure why they call the hot sultry period of summer the "dog days." Apparently, it's linked to the star Sirius (the dog star), which appears in the sky around the end of July. Certainly, my father and his fishing friends would often talk about it not being worth fishing in the dog days and would switch to coarse or sea species or wait for darkness and go after seatrout. You can, though, still catch, especially if you fish early or late. If you have to fish in the middle of the day, then terrestrial patterns, streamers, and tightline nymphing techniques can all score.

[@neilogston8992]

Well done Chris yes definitely a lacking fly life this year ! But we see to have an abundance of ant's Our horse paddocks are full of ant hills loaded with the little critters 😊

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

There was a bit of a plague of flying ants in Exeter apparently but none around here. Nature as they say abhors a vacuum so I suppose the insects that do survive are going to take advantage.

[@DavidAnderson-zp6nx]

100% true Chris very few insects and swifts and swallows up here in Aberdeenshire. A very poor trout season for me anyway. There have been a few more butterflies about recently with a warmer August. Daddy’s are scarce though. I do believe it’s down to the cold wet spring after all there was snow in the highlands in July! Climate change is real but I don’t think it is as dramatic as we have seen this year. Other species and ecosystems that suffered last year such as the marine heatwave seem to have to recovered slightly this year.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

I think you've born the brunt of it up there David. Certainly worse than we've had it. Nature is resilient and can bounce back, if only we'd let it!

[@durhamranger988]

Definitely a lack of butterflies and bees in Cumbria, hardly seen any, even on warm days.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

You do wonder what it means for next year. If we get a more "normal " spring will there be a new generation to take advantage of it?

[@soultrader57fishingandmusi25]

Not bad after all, Chris! and Major Oliver Kite would be gratified to see the "induced" take working so well! Our rivers are low, stale and slimy waiting for rain now. Hopefully the trees have taken their fill for the summer and late august rain will flush the rivers. I'm looking forward to trout fishing in September now realistically. 👍👍

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Greetings Dave, funny you should say that as I was watching an old "Kites country" on youtube just last week. My father was a big fan of the show and actually wrote to Major kite with some birding question and received a nice reply apparently. That's another old classic that deserves an outing the Imperial. I'll try and remember to give one a cast next spring when the Ldo's hatch. Sorry IF the Ldo's hatch!

[@darrenjgreig]

Nice one Chris thanks for the video

[@alastairdonaldson-jj9vh]

Herefordshire. We've got about 5 buddleias, but butterfly numbers all in single figures. Do hope it improves. Best A.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Ours used to be covered by now with Peacock, Red Admarials, Small Tortoiseshell, etc. Almost nothing this year ( and numbers have been declining for years). I suppose time will tell, but the breeding population must be tiny this year.

[@fieldsman3307]

Well done Chris in difficult conditons , pity to see the water so low but it's the same here in Wales . Your vids are just the tonic for me and I am hoping to get on the river about the end of September.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

It does seem the way of it these days Mike. No matter how much rain we get through the winter/spring we always hit low water in July/August . Is it climate change or population growth increasing demand or has it always been thus and we just loom back with tinted glasses? I hope things are going well for you and you get out before seasons end👍

[@DAVEforeverLFC]

Hi Chris another great vid I cut grass for a living bees used to be all over the clover but this year hardly seen one so something must be going on cheers Dave

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Hi Dave, I actually heard and saw a cricket in the grass behind the bee hive last week. Who would have thought that seeing a cricket or grasshopper in the UK would be a rarity?

[@wildfisher]

You did OK there Chris, funny as you say how the average size changes from year to year. I agree about the lack of insects, can't say I have seen a single wasp this year.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

How are things Fred? How have you found the dji (if you've used it for other things) I hear good things about it re battery life and low light conditions. Agreed about the wasps very few attacking the hives this year and the ones I've seen seem smaller than usual. I think the cold wet and windy spring has hit everything hard.

[@wildfisher]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 Have not used the DJI since last winter Chris but it was impressive and more reliable than the GoPro. I have not cast a fly for about a year, poor health and lost fishing mojo though I am feeling a bit better over the last few weeks, so there is hope! 😄😄

[@robertalp3878]

Another lovely video, Chris, and some beautiful fish. I'd certainly agree about the flies, bees and other insects. Their decline is well documented but is really brings it home when you see it yourself. Certainly where I live, too many houses have small gardens, many with no living plants or grass - the rise of 'astro-turf' is a nightmare.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

I saw a garden the other day Robert on a talk by Dave Goulson ( insect professor) that had plastic grass, plastic wisteria and plastic hedges!! I despair.

[@robertalp3878]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 yep, I really don’t know how you educate these people!

[@peterwelsh9509]

Hi Chris, certainly not the insects that we expect to see. I Riverfly sample on the Rye in North Yorkshire, the Invertebrate counts are good, yet I haven't really witnessed any good hatches this season, so when are they hatching off?

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Very interesting, Peter. I keep being told that our kick sampling only shows a small decline, so where are the hatches? I did fish the Yeo a couple of years back at 4.30 am. when the weather was too hot for daytime fishing. I believe I caught the end of a hatch of iorn blues, a fly I've not seen in Devon for many years. Could it be that the drop in population has meant that there is now no safety in numbers and the flies are emerging under cover of darkness? Or perhaps there were always different populations that hatched at different times, and the "day" flies are now extinct? All suggestions welcome 👍

[@peterwelsh9509]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 Chris I fished the Rye yesterday and apart from a few Caddis nothing on top, yet my kick sampling on Tuesday had Cased Caddis, Heptagenids and Baetis in abundance. I have hardly fished a dry fly this season. Keep up the posts, I love the small rivers.

[@brianherbert2061]

Hi Chris - snap. Beekeeping for 25years. Poor year for hymenoptera apart from ants, hardly any butterflies or moths seen. Swallows and martins very late arriving and numbers down. Our RMI counts holding up thankfully.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Excellent, that's at least two beekeepers that watch 👍 alas we have almost no swallows here Brian just a few house Martins. When we first moved here some 25 years ago the telephone lines were covered in them. I suppose it's the same for all insectivorous birds. I don't hear the cuckoo anymore either.

[@brianherbert2061]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 Here in North-East Hampshire we still have the cuckoos returning. But since crow2000 we have lost the nightjars, pipits and nightingales from the heathland - too many dogs disturb the nesting birds (BTW bees are working the heather at the moment!)

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

We used to have Nightingales but the change in land use around here has pushed them out. Just Maize and silage fields now with very little life in them.

[@valeekso]

Real lack of insects in Northumberland from my experience this year, Chris. Not the nicest measure but a clean helmet visor for the year is a good indicator. Great video as always.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Yes, and yet some people still argue that the cars are now more aerodynamic, so less insect splatter? I'm not sure they can claim the same for helmet visors? Sadly, it's always easier to look for an excuse rather than face reality, isn't it. The really sad thing is that it's no mystery. Everybody knows the factors that are causing the decline. We just seem powerless to reverse it??

[@DaviekFlyFishing]

Successful little outing there Chris, the River Leven is as low as I've ever seen it so it was back to the Lothrie this morning. Been noticing more Butterflies in the past week but not in great numbers, seeing bees in their usual numbers which isn't that many mind you. Were you catching mostly on the Sedge then?

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Some on the Neff Caddis and some on, you've guessed it, the Whickhams. I think I might have done better with the animated black bug but I'm addicted to dry fly. Still not many butterflies down this way except for cabbage whites.

[@tomdemianvingsgard4532]

Induced take coined by Sawyer😂Thanks for another splendid video.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Spot on Tom, infact Mr Fitton describes the technique as a series of Sawyer induced takes. I sort of try to make the fly hop and skip about with a series of tiny rid tip flicks. Our streams are often cloudy so this is all done blindly. Maybe one day I'll get on a chalk stream and try a proper induced take to fish I can see. Very exciting I suspect.

[@thomaspakes907]

Bright sunny conditions and low flow, they’ll be firmly ‘on the deck’ Chris. Can usually tempt them up with a bushy CDC olive but tbh it’s nymphing water by the looks of it. Interestingly thought today I haven’t seen a single Bee all year, quite worrying tbh. Riverfly wise out rivers look quite healthy this year though, a good BWO and Hep resurgence

[@thomaspakes907]

A lot of aphids on the water my way today but tried a pattern that I thought looked ‘ok’ and the only interest it had was a 3cm brown (not kidding on the size) despite no real discernible hatches the size 14 olive cdc did the trick 🤷‍♂️

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Nice to hear you still have good bwo hatches Thomas, they used to be so common in the Westcountry. Yes I know deep down I'd be better off nymphing in terms of size/number of fish but km addicted to dry fly takes!!

[@carlhughes9584]

There was a BBC article I read about 2 weeks ago, saying how it was such a bad year for wasps. Its all down tothe weather. Its all over theplace and such a shit spring. I cant look forward to grayling fishing this autumn and winter, as I just think it will be the usual.......storm after storm and constantly flooded rivers 😢

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

I've had a Grayling day arranged with the club sec for 3 years now. Never comes to anything as it's always flooded when we plan anything. The spring was one of the worst for bees in living memory. They have caught up a bit now but its all a bit too little too late.

[@carlhughes9584]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 Seems to have been the norm for past 5 odd years! Fingers crossed we get a ' normal ' autumn/winter.....not holding my breath

[@Mikeyreelsandwheels]

Well done Chris, looks like tricky conditions. Ive been out a lot and been getting them up to about 1.5lb! Been a pretty good season for me up in scotland, but like you said, a huge lack of butterflies, bees and other insects 😕 was out tonight hunting for the salmon, 7 trout landed, 1 sea Trout and a salmon that just about spooled me! He managed to spit the hook 😢

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Bad luck with the Salmon, I still remember losing an above average one from the Teign in my youth. It still haunts me all these years later as it was my own stupid fault. I do wish sometimes that our fish were bigger but as the actress said to the Bishop "size isn't everything ".

[@Mikeyreelsandwheels]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 I think that fish will also haunt me🤣 yes absolutely, I could catch palm sized wild trout my whole life and be content! Can’t think of anything better, other kids my age seem to think a phone is the best thing

[@RickLohrey]

Well done Chris ..summer can be challenging for sure …certainly is in my neck of the woods ..and I think the reduced numbers of insects is a global issue ..a serious and continuing to reduction in a number of mayfly species here in Tasmania …Farming practices and climate change are being stared down as the most likely culprits 🤫

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

A study in Germany using malaise traps saw a 75% reduction in bio mass over 25 years, and these were in nature reserves! If you cover the countryside in insect killing chemicals then it really shouldn't surprise us if the insects decline?

[@RickLohrey]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 exactly …environmental heath v production and profitability …😙

[@DutchyNo.1]

Lovely session. Definitely a massive decrease in bees and butterflies. What is your shop called on eBay? Thanks.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

I think we've only just moved on to ebay, but this is our online shop beekeeping.co.uk/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwuG1BhCnARIsAFWBUC068_U16oMQRmGTfkaBpcNLb0G1s_DLBlaRibdxY-Nynokx2St1_CAaAhDEEALw_wcB

[@DutchyNo.1]

Thanks again

[@mikehudson9083]

Sitting indoors in the sweltering heat of 30C+, it was very enjoyable and relaxing to watch someone fishing - even on a video. Thanks Chris! As to the birds and the bees etc, in my part of the south east, everything seems to be down in numbers this year. The most noticeable though has been the crash in wasp numbers. They are much maligned by picnickers but are such important pollinators along with bees and must have all suffered in the sustained wet weather earlier on.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Hi Mike, obviously wasps can be an issue for us beekeepers but they are as you say important pollinators. Really noticeable this year how untroubled the hives are by wasps. There was talk last year the the Asian hornet would be a big problem in the South East. I wonder if the dire spring has set them back aswell because I haven't heard anything in the bee world?

[@richardjackson3939]

Well fished Chris

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Cheers Richard, another season going by far quicker than I'd like.

[@UK-Blue]

You're a bee man too! I kept bees for 6 or 7 years before moving into a van. Been tempted again now I'm in a flat by a farm.... but probably won't bother. Yes I've noticed a lack of many insects as well as bees. Bumble Bees I've noticed decline over the years. Years ago I geeked up on Bumble Bees and could remember all the Latin names for all the British Bumbles and identify. Can still remember a good few though. Good trip Chris, some nice wee trout. 👍

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Many thanks, yes I follow Dave Goulson on youtube who has spent years studying bumble bees. Some of the statistics he quotes are frightening.

[@CJL2008]

Well done Chris.