2018 River Season Opener

Not quite right as Red and I had previously made a quick foray over to the Taff in March but really not worthy of mention as the fish were well and truly in their winter state of hibernation. The Taff a river which has come back from decline seems to be running clear now but still needs some TLC. The banks festooned with Japanese Knotweed interspersed surprisingly with large amounts of discarded scrap metal and plastic.  Loads of early upwings (LDO's) coming off in the coldest of March days but nothing taking. I came back across the bridge saddened that if only a fraction of the population queueing to spend their money in the Merthyr retail park realised how lucky they were to have a gem of a valley on their doorstep then that TLC could be realised. Hats off to the teams already working there but they need help.

Anyway this year I will mostly be fishing Avon and Tributaries Angling water. Salisbury was just too far for me to really warrant the outlay and whilst I enjoyed the well manicured banks the feral fisherman in me just wants to get back to the variety and jungle warfare of the local streams. I met up today with Red and Paul who were going to introduce me to some new water. The Wellow was running high so we headed to the Cam Brook. A lovely long stretch in a hidden valley with the brook bissecting mixed woodland and open farmland. The water was clearer than the Wellow and dropping but still in relatively high flow with the hills seeping from recent rains. Sporadic upwings were coming off but all the fish were deep, very deep. Heavy nymphs were needed to find the fish, lifting to induce a take in the odd back eddy or slacker water. I had two nice buttery wild Browns in the net and just a couple of other pulls I could not convert.

Spring had not really sprung but Primroses and Wood Anemones were making it feel warmer than it really was. Interested to find some Common Broomrape on the banks. A parasitic plant that does not require photosynthesis and therefore gives it an opaque, ghostly appearance without the need for green chloroplasts. 

Bird life was quite spectacular. At one point I could have been transported to the Forest of Dean with a male Pied Flycatcher displaying and Wood Warbler trilling in the trees. Kingfisher, my first clocked Swallow of the year and Green Woodpecker also observed.

Best shot I could get of Pied Flycatcher with my new waterproof Panasonic Lumix camera.