Upper Chew on the wedding day...

Fished the Upper Chew for the first time in a while. Met up with Red and we hit the top beat. Really nice little stream better than I remember. Wore a wetsuit as an under garment today as my leaky waders just didn't seem that inviting. Brisk easterly wind with slightly overcast skies, cooler than of late in the mid teens. The Wild Garlic was in full flower, Kingfishers darting everywhere and some fly life but only a few fish rising. Casting was tough as the place is somewhat confined and the wind was not helping. Caught some lovely small Brownies on a goldhead and some took the Klink however I was unable to connect. With hindsight I think the hackle may have been too large for the hook. After 3hrs that flew by we headed to the bottom beat that feeds into Chew Valley Lake. A lot siltier at the lower end fishing improves as you move up the beat. I immediately hooked a good Brownie on the Klink. My second fish on the beat was a Rainbow of 2lb+ that I watched come out of the bank and take my nymph in mid stream just a couple of metres in front of me. On my little Odyssey rod and 4lb tippet I wrestled with the fish for quite some time before it shot past my legs and buried itself under debris in a pool downstream leaving my flies hooked to a root. Doh! A few more small Brownies finished off a lovely day. Thank you Wills and Kate.