Summer of Bass and Wrasse

This year for me was a bumper year for Bass. Not big and all returned but glorious mid range fish from the Cornish coast. Some days on the kayak at certain states of tide my catch rate was into double figures. The best of fishing on Black Minnows but other lures did the trick as well. It was the first summer I caught a Bass on the fly from a South Cornish cove. As well as the Bass my son and I caught some cracking Wrasse. Deeply fished lures that had to be weedless to cope with the kelp.

Summer day at Ringstead Bay

Beach day with family at Ringstead Bay. Managed to get a few hours in searching for Bass. Just one Bass and a Wrasse  after covering a lot of ground. Nice paddle though with light winds.

My unsung special place that gets me through the week..

How lucky am I? On my doorstep I have an urban river that fills my summer evenings with joy. It’s so easy to tap into something like this but the world of North Bristol spins around it. A beautiful Roach and glorious wild Brownie on the fly all in one evening..

Evening sessions on the local rivers - River Chew and Bristol Frome

Had some lovely late afternoon/evening sessions on River Chew and Bristol Frome. The Chew was incredibly low in level. I wonder whether Bristol Water are managing the flow in this way but question the impact on the fish who are struggling hard to find deeper pools. Nevertheless I found some good spirited mid sized Brownies falling to the dry as Mayfly were steady in coming off. No big fish though but lots of parr which is a good sign.

Meanwhile the Bristol Frome babbles away beneath the busiest of Bristol roads harbouring some wonderful fish. So far on the dry I have netted Dace getting on for a 1lb and some really solid Browns still managing to sustain a reasonable population. 

River Chew evening on the dry

Wonderful evening on lower River Chew. I fished a long section that a fellow fly fisherman, Charles Fishwish Halliday, and I had tended to on the weekend before. We had made some access points, unblocked some tree falls, undertaken some sympathetic pruning to open canopy and positioned fallen branches to increase flow. It was remarkable how much work we had done in a day. Today I was reaping the benefits casting to the pools I had planned and yes they were full of rising fish. Mayfly were starting to trickle off and the fish were sipping and hitting my dry with enthusiasm. A nymph never left my box. The other good thing was the variety in size from small par just a few inches to really good wild Browns of over a pound.  

The best of the bunch in the net was a good 14" fish and this was just after a colossal struggle and line break a few casts before. Weather getting warmer in late teens with the odd light shower.

Teifi trout again but no Salmo

Spent a few days of May bank holiday weekend being hosted at Red's Teifi retreat on a caravan site in the middle of the Welsh hills. The nights were blooming cold dropping to near freezing and I had leaky waders so I don't think my feet really felt comfortable at any point in the 48 hrs. We were spinning primarily using Mepps or I occasionally tried a Black Minnow. Our target species was Salmon or Sea Trout but I was happy with some good spirited nice sized wild Brownies. Just one day I will buy that lottery ticket and cast to a pool that contains a responsive migratory fish but not this weekend.

On the last day Red had a few casts with the fly rod while I spent an hour just taking in the scenery.

Wellow on the dry.. lots of birds and bees going on.

Colder but the odd sunny interval following a bit of rain and a period of unseasonably strong winds. The Wellow remained fairly clear and as I slipped in the water I could see rises ahead which gave me hope. I immediately put on a dry and started to cover fish. Predominant hatches were Large Dark Olives. Within the first few casts I had targeted and hooked several beautiful browns on the dry. Although there were head and tail rises most were just sips creating dimples as the flies emerged. My go to dry is the klink and delivered today tempting 80% of the fish I targeted and bringing rises from blind casts in likely runs.

Lots of breeding birds today with Green Woodpecker nesting in an Alder above, another pair of Mandarin Ducks looking for hollowed trees and Kingfishers nesting high in an earth bank above a deeper pool. I settled on a log further upstream and a metre to my right was alerted by a Robin feeding its young between nettles in the bank. I am acutely aware of disturbance so never stop long to ensure the parents are not adversely affected. What surprised Red and myself today was the changes in the river from last season. Some new pools had been created where banks had been undercut and some old pools had now become runs where deposits had changed the river direction.

 

Pleasure to be out today with Red netting at least half a dozen trout obliging to the dry. First Mayfly also clocked drifting through the shady sunshine.

Early trout on the Cam

After a blank first session on Wellow I was keen to use the warm spell to open my account. I'd hooked several on dry and nymph on the Wellow on the first Saturday in April but for whatever reason I could not get them to the net. The Cam meanders through wooded glades and is generally siltier than Wellow and harder to wade so care is required particularly when water clarity is not at its best. The fish appear to be more localised in pockets but are quite often a larger than average size. I love this stretch as it is partially covered in mature woodland offering a cacophony of bird song in the spring.

After a an hour of not locating fish I finally found a section of 30 metres or so where I hooked three lovely browns on the nymph taking Grannom emergers. My final fish was a bit of surprise, a large Rainbow in the shade of a usually unproductive run. It rose in front of me just 10 yards ahead. A trusty Klink delivered a yard ahead of the rise and it was on pulling me all around the little river. I was pleased that my 3lb leader remained intact. Fish are not stocked here so it must have travelled some distance from the Midford.

A pair of Mandarin Duck where on the river looking for nest sites in the hollowed trees. A lovely session in the spring sunshine not seeing another person in three hours.

Tenerife shore fishing species hunt

It had been two years since I had last fished the shores of Tenerife and not a lot has changed. Fished loads of spots with my youngest James on the lure and with a variety of seafood baits but primarily squid. Fished areas up the South East coast including Abades and Las Galletas as well as Palm Mar. On the lure we managed to tempt a few Trumpet fish and the ever present Lizard Fish mainly to the Black Minnow. I did have follows from escapee Bass but no takes. I find it absolutely amazing that the predatory fish are so limited near the shore on this volcanic island mid Atlantic even though we fished some really deep marks. On the float with Size 12 hook we landed many mini species including Canarian Damsel, Boga, Canarian Rockfish, Canarian Puffer and Ornate Wrasse. The tide had a noticeable impact on fishing with incoming tide always way more productive.

Trumpet Fish

Boga

Puffer

Canarian Rockfish

Biggest fish of the holiday on Black Minnow

Tenerife pumping surf for 10 days straight

Spent great 10 days in Tenerife surfing and fishing with family. After a long few months without surf apprehensively took on a great long period swell that was hitting the Las Americas peninsula. Surfed 7 out of 10 days and the days we missed the surf still pumped. Surfed primarily with middle son Henry who really started to gain confidence on some pretty decent days.  First session we went to our previous main stay of El Medio which is effectively the break on the outside of Spanish Left. It produces good lefts itself and a slower right. Unfortunately the place is crammed with all levels of surfers now and getting an unmolested wave is difficult.  It is easy though with paddling out either across flat rock or from the shit pipe that stretches out in front on McDonalds. Despite good waves it was tough to get a decent ride and the locals were getting heated as proficient soft boarders covered every wave.

As the week wore on and the swell jacked to overhead on some of the exposed spots we found La Fitenia was showing good form. This is the last point before the Los Christianos breakwater. It was smaller but wound off beautifully down a right hand point. For days we shared this wave with just a handful of friendly locals and tourists. Wind was gentle breeze to howling offshore and it was unseasonably warm with temps hitting 27C. The one downside was the parking which has now become an absolute nightmare on any weekday with no spaces even before sunrise. I have created a little map as I find all the spots here confusing here with multiple names.

La Fitenia showing some class rights

Pike elation tinged with some sadness..

Roving trip to Somerset Frome strictly fluff chuckers only this time with Red and I targeting initially the Chub and then the Pike. The Chub elusive as I tested some bread, maggot and traditional flies in the clear water. Not as easy as a dry fly session in the summer when the naturals are providing some encouragement. I felt a tub of liquidised bread would have gone well with my foam flies but it is not really cricket and I might just as well have moulded a piece of cheesy dough to the hook. Anyway no success in the absence of some nice smelly bait prompted a quick change to the predatory gear and a trace. As we explored the Frome we came across a dying fish pretty lifeless on one of the shallow runs. On closer inspection it was a Barbel of about 4lb pretty much intact save a number of puncture marks around the head and eyes. Such a shame the first Barbel in my hand on the Frome a dead or dying one. I held it in the flow to try and get some life into its limp body but to no avail. I concluded it had only recently been the target of bird attack - Heron, Goosander or Cormorant. 

A bit later on another large fish lay in a shallow run this time without a head, it was a small Pike. The culprit here was either another Pike or mammal (Otter or Mink). Back to the fishing and it was proving hard despite the river looking in good form with great clarity to work the fly. My first bit of action came as a good 1.5lb+ Perch chased the lure in to the bank. It stopped, I imparted two quick jerks, it swallowed the lure completely, I struck hit resistance but the hook pulled. A lesson learnt  - if you hit a snag and pull the hook free check the bend. I had been fishing with a hook had that had opened and it cost me a good fish. Incidentally this Perch was in exactly the same pool as a fine Perch I had netted back in the summer. My last stop saw a change in fly to a 8cm Brown and White Bass fly from eBay. I worked it down the edge of some sunken willows and suddenly struck resistance. A slow dogged fight saw a nice Pike in the net with a heavy stomach, probably my biggest so far on the fly at just under double figures I would estimate.

Bristol Frome stick float roving...

Quick stick float session on Bristol Frome with some maggots and bread resulted in numerous out of season wild Brownies, a nice Dace and some Minnows. The river with a tinge of colour and the air temp just above freezing. Red maggot seemed to do trick. Best of the day was a clonking Brownie that would have made my fly fishing season. Quick photo then returned for me to catch on fly in the Spring. Over 18 inches in length, a glorious wild fish with a predatory jaw stacked with sharp teeth.

Dabbling with fishing the Bristol Channel at Littleton-on-Severn

James and I have embarked on some shore sea fishing on the Bristol Channel just 20 minutes away. Something I have always wanted to try but I have previously avoided as a dark art. The thought of lots of new rigs and tackle to understand, the challenge of getting fresh bait and the timing of visits to make the most of the tide has to be honest put me off. However a bit of research and minor investment in some entry level kit has opened the door. The guys in Veals of Bristol were of great help.

We have now conducted 4 trips and I am glad to say none have resulted in a blank. Our visits back in October were relatively balmy days at Littleton-on-Severn (Whale Wharf to be exact). Ideal tides seem to be between 11.5m and 13.5m arriving to fish 2hrs before and leaving 2 hrs post high. It is silt with very few snags the only issue is traversing the salt marsh mud below a metre high grass verge to get distance on the cast. First visits saw mixed results of a schoolie Bass on float fished ragworm that was intended for the Mullet in the small wharf, some tiny Whiting on flapper rigs baited with ragworm and a nice Conger of about 5lb on squid.

 

As the Winter has moved on we have caught a number of Codling most returnable but the odd one large enough to take home for tea which has been great. The bigger fish seem to fall to the bigger baits and generally taken the defrosted squid. Smaller fish are constantly tapping on the ragworm but are unable to shift the 5oz leads. The larger Cod and Conger produced slack line bites indicated by the rod straightening on the rest.  

Still new to this discipline it is nice to build knowledge and understanding. Points of note have been: that casting distance has not really had a significant influence over success; carp rods have landed the biggest Cod and the Conger however clearly they do constrain casting distance with large leads; sea reels are required to ensure rapid retrieve to avoid snagging; its best to leave small taps as the fish will either hook themselves or move on; gripper leads are a must to combat the tide; and finally a good strong rod tripod is an excellent investment. Both James and I are looking forward to more sessions and fishing through the seasons on the Bristol Channel.