Spring has sprung on the River Chew

Beautiful day with wall to wall sunshine and light winds. Temperatures however were still only just in double figures. I fished my local stretch on River Chew. Quite a lot of upwinged flies coming off: in the main Large Dark Olives although I did see sporadic small dark bluish upwinged flies which I am suspecting were Iron Blue's. I need to get a decent ID reference book and really try to make some field notes. Anyway I caught about half a dozen nice sized Brownies and couple of out of season Grayling. I did miss one rise to a Klink but all the fish I caught were on the nymph. Saw only about two fish rising all day despite the quite abundant fly life and relatively warm conditions to that of late.

In one of the deepest pools I had a viscous tug after retrieving the nymph from the bottom. A serious fight followed with my little Fladen Vantage 3 weight bent at right angles. After a struggle I got the fish in the net and was surprised it was only just pushing a pound. On inspection its flanks had a iridescent silver/bluish hue with limited red markings. Having only caught one Sea Trout before I cannot be positive but it sure didn't look like the standard Chew Brownie and fought like a fish twice its size. A few minutes later in the same pool I hooked another good fish but after a long deep fight it bent the hook and evaded capture.

Chew Sea Trout?

Kingfishers and Dippers very active today calling and chasing each other down the river. Grey Wagtail, Raven and Green Woodpecker also very vocal. House Martins, Swallows, Chifffchaff and Blackcap all back for the summer.

Wet and warmer on the Cam Brook

Met up with Red today fished the Cam Brook just south of Bath. The morning had been dry but by the time we hit the bank it was drizzle which persisted throughout day. Supposedly warmer as the car registered double figures with the rain although in the stream I certainly didn't feel comfortable. The wetness and wind seemed to create problems fishing in confined space today with tangles and hook ups with trees a plenty. Despite it all caught two lovely wild Brown Trout nearing a pound in one shallow run on the nymph. Both were rising in the rain but chose to ignore the dry. Caught one other smaller fish and hooked and lost several others. Bow and arrow cast all the way today.

First one

Second one even bigger within a meter of first

Wild Brownie saves the day on Bristol Frome

Family commitments meant a quick morning trip to the Bristol Frome. Unfortunately it had been -3C overnight so despite the sunshine it was going take a while for the day to warm. The fishing was quiet right up until the late morning on my return to the car when I hooked and netted a nice Brownie on a weighted nymph which I had left to drift in a deeper pool. It was a wonderful morning nevertheless with the bare tree canopy giving way to shafts of sunlight lighting up drifts of Wood Anemones. Some nice birdsong with fleeting glimpses of Dipper, Kingfisher, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker. First day in my new Greys GRXi waders which were incredibly comfortable if not a bit cold. The day went on to be glorious, perhaps the warmest of the year so far reaching double figures in the sunshine!

Day Two - Cam Brook, Somerset

Fished the Cam today in glorious sunshine with the temperature getting up to a balmy 9C although a cold easterly still made it feel chilly. I hadn't fished this stretch before and it appeared to have plenty of potential with lots of pools, riffles and runs. I saw one rise as I made my way to the bottom of the beat so hopes were high. After thirty minutes of not getting any takes I was beginning to doubt my stealth and the 4lb fluro leader which I thought might be spooking fish in the gin clear water. However I finally got a take on a heavily weighted nymph in a turbulent pool. After that the fish started to come thick and fast mainly deep although I did hook one on the dry but lost it. It was magical to see a fish rise from the bottom and take the Klink - I almost felt I was on a chalkstream.

           

As the afternoon wore on the fish got larger with most averaging out at around 8 inches. Access points were limited due to the steep banks but once in the channel it was lovely to fish with the mature trees in the main unhindering a roll cast. Ended up with about ten fish in the hand all on the nymph. Several hatches of Large  Dark Olives coming off at some of the larger pools. Damaged my scoop net beyond repair on some of the fallen trees but it was worth it.

River season starts with a bang, perhaps more of a puff, on the River Chew!

Cold easterlies and an overcast day constrained me to a few hours on the opening day. Fished my usual stretch of the Chew. No sign of any rising fish although I did see one Large Dark Olive come off in the 3C heat. The river was lower than I 'd fished it all last year. First fast run and caught a spirited little Brownie on the nymph, this was quickly followed by a small Grayling and then I lost a good fish in the current. Next deeper pool caught a palm sized Brownie. I was amazed how the river had changed: deep pools were now sandy banks and where new tree branches had obscured the flow deeper pools caught me out. I did feel that the river lacked large wood debris as I did not have to negotiate one fallen tree on my visit which is unusual for this stretch of the Chew. This lack of cover and weed growth made fish hard to find. I went on to catch a couple more mid sized wild Brownies in the deep pools on the bends. One downside was that I had to report to EA sewerage seepage from one of the banks from an area I'd reported before. Funnily enough on my return home the sun came out for the last few hours of daylight but it was too late.

Cold Cornwall - Turns on the surf and dolphins at the Cribbar

Just come back from Easter weekend in Cornwall. Temps still in single figures with a stiff Easterly wind. If you got out of the wind it was nice. Surf on Saturday maxed out with a hardy crew out on the Cribbar. I surfed Great Western and got a few nice lefts on the dropping tide at about 4'.

For a while the surfers on the Cribbar took a back seat while a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins, including some young calves, came through off Towan Head.

Looking forward to fishing the rivers tomorrow even if it is still freezing!

The lucky ones... Rainbows under cover on the Chew

Walked a good stretch of the River Chew today with Red and his dog Sid. Weather bitterly cold with strong NE winds. The water was coming down to a normal level (what is normal in the current climate!) with a touch of colour. Most of the section you couldn't sight fish as the water was slower and deep. We saw just one small dimple rise. The area we walked had very little cover though so any fish would have been spooked long before we had clocked them. We moved on to another section and to our surprise saw a dozen or so stocked Rainbows jostling for position in the flow. These were hauled up in a section shrouded in trees. They were the lucky fish from last season who had not been caught, washed downstream or predated. Couldn't see any wild fish but that was probably because they were well hidden in the deeper holes of the undercut banks. Also saw a pair of Goosander on this stretch.

On my way back to Bristol stopped off at the Chew lower down and lucked upon Rich Denning from Keynsham AA. He was just netting, would you believe it, a Rainbow of about 2.5lb he had just caught ledgering for Chub. This is one of the ones that had been washed down from the stocked stretch. It didn't surprise me that the fish had taken up residence a fair way from where it was put in as the Keynsham stretch offers cover in abundance.