Fly Fishing Evening Competition Round Three at Chew Valley Lake

The first of two fishing trips this week finds me at Chew Valley Lake for round three of the summer evening competitions. Starting mid afternoon, I tackled up with a floating line and three holographic nymphs on a fluorocarbon leader. My boat partner, Alan and I motored towards Wick Green Point, where we had been told fish were being caught. After several drifts we had caught a fish each. Other boats were struggling too so we decided to move. Despite fishing several spots, including near the island, the dam and Woodford Bank, only one more trout was netted, so it was back to Wick Green with a couple of hours to go. First drift produced a fish for Alan, followed by two for me and another two for Alan. My four fish for 11lb, including one of 3lb 9oz and Alan's four fish for 10lb 15oz were enough to secure first and second places, so we both went home with big smiles on our faces!

An Afternoon Fly Fishing at Wentwood Reservoir in South Wales

I was faced with the dilemma on Saturday afternoon of wanting to go for a ride on my motor bike but also wanting to go fishing, so a combination of the two, a ride to Wentwood reservoir in Wales, fitted the bill. Wentwood is a forty acre reservoir nestled in the hills twenty miles from Newport, with depths ranging from ninety feet at the dam end and shallowing up to just three feet in some places. I opted for the £18 catch and release ticket, but there are other tickets available. On arrival four other anglers were fishing the shallower end of the reservoir, pulling lures. I also headed to the shallow water to try my luck. I set up a floating line and a fluorocarbon leader on a 9' 6'' #6 rod with a pair of size 12 pheasant tail nymphs, as I had spotted fish feeding in the surface layers. On only my second cast I was playing my first Wentwood trout, a fish of 2lb which put up a brilliant scrap. Fish were sipping flies off the surface now but to far out for me to cast to as the wind was blowing at me, so a waiting game of a fish every time the wind dropped was played out. I had two more fish by this method then decided to have walk along the bank changing my pheasant tails for damsel nymphs and this produced one more fish of around 2lb 8oz. Evening time had soon arrived and with the sun slowly disappearing I headed for home. For more information on this venue visit www.wentwoodflyfishing.com

Enjoying an afternoon fishing

View to the Bristol Channel

An Afternoon Session on the Paddock Lake, Acorn Fisheries, Kingston Seymour

Thursday afternoon greeted me with a sharp, cold northerly wind and fairly low air temperature. Mark Bartlett and I decided to fish the some of island swims on Acorn's Paddock lake as a friendly match/practice session.
I set up a KC Angling Carpa2 4x12 float to fish the deeper of the two shelves which can be found on the far bank of nearly all of the pegs on the Paddock Lake. I decided to fish with carp in mind so had a 0.15mm mainline and a 0.13mm hooklenth tied to a Drennan wide gape pellet size 16. I also set up a rig for fishing the upper, shallower shelf. For this I used the same line and hook set up but with a Matrix Series 3 0.3g.
We both set up and at 3pm we called 'all in'. Mark and I have both fished the Paddock many times and Mark, being the fishery owners son, knows the lake very, very well. I began fishing the deeper shelf using a Fox toss pot to deliver small amounts of damp micro pellet with every put in. I had a selection of hookbaits to choose from but opted for 6mm soft expander. Mark had also chosen a similar approach.
Mark had the much more productive first hour, netting a few small carp along with a few skimmers, all coming to the upper shelf on the far bank at 13m. I had struggled in the first hour and only managed a single carp and 3 skimmers. I changed tactic or else I faced handing Mark the sacred £1 which we always have as a wager.
I set to task on the upper shelf, still cupping in with every put in damp micro's and now a few Dynamite Baits 4mm soft feed amino natural pellets with each cup with the intention of trying to hold the carp if and when they turned up.
I began to get a few signs of life and after a few lifts of the rig I began to get solid bites. Over the next hour I caught 5 carp and a few meaty looking skimmers.
At 5pm we took a tea break, cupped in a bit of extra bait on our favoured lines and retired to the clubhouse in an effort to thaw out if we could!!
We headed back out, cup of tea in hand and set to it again. Our friend Rob Fogg had joined us by this point as we wanted to see how the lake was fishing.
I caught steadily for the next hour and half and Mark was trying to get the skimmers feeding in his swim.
At 7pm we called all out. Rob, manned the scales and we proceeded to weigh in. Mark had weighed 9lb 12oz of silvers, mainly comprising of 'hand sized' skimmers. He also weighed 13lb 8oz of carp.
I ended up weighing 13lb for my silvers which was made up of 1lb to 1.5lb skimmers and also managed 30lb 6oz for my carp. I had managed to win by 20lb, which given the conditions I was very pleased with and more importantly I had the bragging rights and the £1!!
Mark, Rob and I have all booked in the the Saturday CostCutter match being held on Acorn Paddock Lake with weekend so no doubt Mark will have a chance to win his £1 back!

Fly Fishing for Trout at Chew Valley Lake and Mackerel Fishing at Hope's Nose

With warm weather forecast, I set off for my first visit of the season to Chew Valley Lake. Fishing the North Shore area of the lake from a boat with Martin Lowe, friend and customer, we opted to fish floating lines with teams of three nymphs on fifteen foot leaders. Trout were quick to oblige and the morning produced plenty of trout to over 3lb! After some lunch we headed back out, this time to try our luck in Herons Green Bay. Once again, just like the morning, the fishing was superb and we were soon netting more hard fighting rainbows. A fantastic start to my season on Chew! Speaking to Jon later that day revealed that he had spent the day at Hope's Nose near Torquay and had enjoyed a successful day catching mackerel using feathers and small lures.



Martin nets a large rainbow

Fish for Dinner

Dan headed to Blagdon Lake, whilst I popped to Kingston Seymour seawall this week. Fishing Bobs Bits in Butcombe Bay produced a couple of nice rainbow trout for Dan. His first fish of this season and on his first time of trying. A good start! Meanwhile, I was hoping a thornback or conger would take a fancy to my squid bait, I was to be disappointed though and after three hours of trying I packed up without having had so much as a bite. Dave, who had accompanied me, was fortunate enough to catch a lovely plump whiting and was kind enough to let me take it home, probably out of sympathy, as this is not the first time he has caught whilst I have blanked. Thanks Dave!

  

First trout of the season for Dan

A Smashing Fishing Holiday in Cayo Coco, Cuba. Bonefish, Red Snapper and Barracuda Provide Good Sport

15lb of hard fighting red snapper

As the title hints, I returned from Cuba this week minus a spinning rod! More on that later. The fishing was good though and despite some unfavourable weather I was able to get a couple of trips in. So, no complaints from me! My first day out was with Dunisky, one of the recommended local guides. We were joined by another holiday making angler, Jim. The three of us set off for the national park at low tide to target bonefish and permit on the fly and were soon wading in the warm, clear, shallow water and sight casting to individual fish. I soon spotted a huge bonefish, estimated to be about 12lb. I cast, dropping the fly just behind the fish, a bit short I thought but to my surprise the fish turned, snapped at my fly and the line tightened. Unfortunately the excitement of hooking the giant bonefish was short lived and after only a few seconds the fish threw the hook and was gone. Jim had similar misfortune with a large permit and that pretty much shaped the morning for us, both Jim and I hooking and losing several more fish. With the tide coming in and the water quickly getting deeper we were forced on to the boat to try trolling and spinning. This was instantly successful with fish falling to Rapala X-Rap plugs. Fishing these lures in eight feet of water produced plenty of takes and by the end of the day we had landed red snapper to 15lb, several blue runner, yellowtail and a dozen barracuda to 12lb. Day two and I was out with a different guide, a chap called Alex, who had a box of flies that he said would catch me the bonefish I was after. He wasn't wrong and on only my second cast I hooked and landed a bonefish of about 4lb. Five more followed swiftly, topped by a personal best of 6lb. A fantastic mornings fly fishing! Once again the incoming tide meant a change of location and tactics was needed for the afternoon ahead and so we made our way to an area known as the Bahamas Trench to fish lures. Sport was good and I enjoyed catching more red snapper and blue runner, but it was what happened towards the end of the day that will remain long in my memory. A very large grouper took a liking to my plug, Alex was quick to point out that it was well over 100lb, he estimated it to be nearer 150lb and I was left in no doubt as to its huge size as I watched the rod arch over, the reel start to scream and 150 metres of braid disappear off the spool in no time. Fearing the monster fish might empty the spool completely Alex tightened up the drag, something had to give and unfortunately it was my Greys travel rod, the sickening crack and subsequent jolt on the braid bumped the hooks free from the fish and as I looked down at my now useless spinning rod I was just pleased to have not been pulled overboard! Toby has his holiday to Cuba coming up soon so hopefully he will enjoy similar success and if he catches that grouper he can tell the beast it owes me a fishing rod!

My personal best bonefish

Spring Into Action!

A stunning common carp!

Recent milder weather has seen the carp in our local lakes getting their heads down. Venues including Walrow Ponds, Huntstrete Lake and Acorn Fishery have reported fish to nearly 30lb. Small baits and slightly scaled down rigs seem to be the best way to get a bite or two at this time of year and so with this in mind I've been out armed with tutti frutti boilies and good old sweetcorn! Fishing these baits on simple lead clip rigs and feeding small amounts of pellet has produced carp approaching 20lb. These fish are in fantastic condition at this time of year and what they lack in enthusiasm for a good scrap in the colder water they certainly make up for in good looks! Rivers have started to produce some good nets of fish now too. The mostly mild winter means water temperatures are high for the time of year and the next few weeks promise to be a productive time for those of us getting a few casts in before the end of the season. A recent trip to my favourite River Wye produced a couple of nice barbel and although I lost a couple also, due to a submerged tree branch, I went home more than happy to have had a few bites. So, it looks as though spring has sprung! Warmer weather and lighter evenings mean that there is no excuse for not giving it a go. Dig those rods out, dust them off and get catching!