October blank...

Well I thought I wouldn't have to post this but pressure has brought to bear and yes I fished a stocked lake and blanked. Fished Taylors lake with Red. Despite lots of fish rising and Red taking a nice sized Rainbow on the buzzer I didn't even have a tug. I tried every fly in the box at every depth but nothing. Lovelly sunny start but rain gave me a good excuse to pack in after a frustrating couple of hours.

Piking on the Bristol Avon

As I had my Keynsham ticket I thought I would take a break from fly fishing and dust of my coarse gear for an impromptu late afternoon pike session on the lower Bristol Avon. I covered about a mile and half plugging in likely looking swims. First hit was from a Perch. Under half a pound it took a plug way too big for consumption just under the bank. Then I had heart racing follow by a big Pike well into double figures. It followed the lure in took a lazy look at me and turned to return to the deep. Never sure what do when a fish pauses; whether to stop the retrieve, vibrate the lure or speed up. I cast several times to cover the same area but nothing. A few swims on I finally made contact with a jack which came to the net just after one mammoth surge that saw it break water. Probably between 4-5lb. A second fish came to the net at the furthest point on my hike. It took the lure within feet of the opposite bank and put up a spirited fight. I thought it was going to be a much bigger fish but once in the net realised it was just a bit larger than the first. Despite the scales in the photos I didn't weigh any of the fish and returned them to the water fairly quickly. All fish were caught fairly deep. Some nice Chub rising in the twilight back to the car. I love Pike they are just so impressive a top predator hidden away in our neglected waterways.

Greedy little fellow

First jack

Looks like the first Pike but trust me it is the second!

RIver season over back on the Rainbow stockies...

Fairly mild day with glorious sunshine. Fished one of Knowle Angling lakes today. I had 4 Rainbows and Red had 2 with numerous other takes. Mine started on Goldhead damsel nymph with most on a black buzzer fished on slow retrieve. Red had biggest of the day abou 2.5lb on the Sedge and surprisingly quite a few Sedge coming off in the warmer patches. A few carp moving but none showed any interest in the bread fly. Went to Bye Mills after to look at the upgraded gates on the weir and assess the impact on the River Chew. Water up a few feet above weir but thankfully changes don't seem to be too drastic.

Some flies for thought..my bankers for River Chew and Bristol Frome

I noticed I blog about fish I've caught but rarely give much info on my tactics. I am not a match the hatch fisherman although I do observe what is on offer and will attempt to look for a similar size on some occasions. Many times in the past I have seen Mayfly coming off only to see fish turn down an exact imitation but for the fish to take a generic Klink on the next cast. Consequently I like to keep things simple and it works for me. If using the NZ style I will fish a size bigger on the Klink than that of the nymph. Usually a 12 dry and 14 nymph or a 14 and 16. NZ style hits all the right points for me - it presents the dry nicely in the water, it often results in a second take after a missed rise or tug on the nymph, and it allows you to search the water.

My olive Klink

Various goldhead nymphs

Anyway here are my flies - not perfect (I am self taught), no doubt downright ugly to some, and pretty simple but the fish don't seem to mind. The Klink is olive floss with flashbou rib, ginger Metz hackle (wound at least 4 times). The nymphs are 2.3mm goldhead (not tungsten), wired body either exposed or dubbed with olive dubbing, flashbou rib if dubbed and hare's ear tail. If a brassie nymph I will dub with black behind the bead for contrast and a bit of movement. In the past I have used fine paint brush fibres for the tail (cheap B&Q ones) and have seen no noticeable preference other than if you use too many fibres they might prevent hooking as they are stiffer.  These cost me pennies to make - beads in bulk from ebay jewellery, copper wire again hobby/beaded jewellery store or old cable, a pack of fine flashbou will last years for ribbing. Main outlay is Metz saddle but it is worth the investment for ease of tying and numbers of feathers. These flies have accounted for 80% of my river fish on the local streams around Bristol. The only variation I would make for chalkstream fishing is to downsize.

Last knockings on the Upper Chew

Had day off today as was planning to do some drift fishing out of Weymouth for Bass and Black Bream but last minute call off due to strong WNW. As a result I thought I'd have another go at Upper Chew. Fished lower beat from lake up. Still painfully low flow, sun out with brisk NW wind. For the first hour very little sign of any fish despite a tip off at the returns box that fish had started moving up from the lake. Making my way upstream I finally found some groups of trout. Caught a couple of lovely buttery Brownies. One about 12oz  although not totally convinced it was a wild one. Then started to hook a few small Rainbows and boy do they fight for their size. I have just started tying a few small, for me anyway, Goldhead Hares Ears (size 16) with a flashbou rib and these were certainly doing the business. I did get one Brownie on a size 12 Klink. Ended up with about 6 Brownies, of which 4 were just finger sized, and 2 Rainbows. Surprisingly, a few fishermen about today obviously hoping for some good Rainbow sport but today it did not deliver on that front. Just like me the fish are waiting for some rain!

This one took the dry

Stockie or wild?

Nice little wild Rainbow