Day on Midford Brook with the ATAA

Glorious August day saw me guesting at Avon & Tributaries Angling Assoc. (ATAA) Midford Brook with Red. Started day with some kick sampling, something I have never engaged in before but quite addictive. Took me back to my pond dipping days, I was soon getting my eye in on the invertebrates that were turning up. The catch included Maylfy nymphs, Stonefly nymphs, Caseless Caddis, Cased Caddis and large amounts of Baetis together with numerous Bullheads. I have to say it made me wonder what the fish saw in my nymphs as most in the bucket would look dwarfed by my standard Size 14's. Met a good bunch of guys all keen to keep their special piece of the environment in the best possible condition not only for the fish but for all the other wildlife of the valley.

Afterwards Red took me a mile or so downstream and we made our way slowly upstream fishing likely pools and runs. Red in what seemed like his first two casts caught Grayling, one a particularly nice fish for this brook.

It took a while for me to get a fish in the net, after a few missed rises and hooks shaken, I finally broke the duck with a nice wild Brownie. From then on it was Rainbows all the way running us up and down sections of this little river. Most of my fish came to a GRHE although I had several rises and lost fish on the dry.

 

Great day out with some good company and good fishing.

A few hours on the upper Wylye

Fished a few hours on the upper Wylye near Warminster which was gin clear with massive beds of Rannuculus . The fishing was tough despite seeing a lot of wild Brown Trout and Grayling. I managed a few rises to dry but did not connect. All fish in the net were caught on the nymph just sub-surface. Bank fishing only made discrete accurate casting a must. First trout looked like a Smolt with an iridescent sheen and pale/translucent fins. The fish were generally palm sized but the challenge of catching made it worthwhile.

Salisbury & District antics...

Well after years of waiting both Red and I finally got to the top of the list and offered membership to Salisbury & District Game angling. I was undecided however as had forked out for all my tickets this year in clubs around Bristol and wasn't sure I'd make use of the offer. However, I was persuaded and I am now really pleased. It has  miles of new chalkstream to explore and has re-invigorated my passion for river fly fishing. To date we have covered a number of beats including West Amesbury, Ratfyn, Manningford and Stonehenge all on the Hampshire Avon and all with a different feel. Manningford was similar to my normal west country rivers, further up the Avon it is a small meandering stream similar to the Wellow or Chew, it is clear but not quite a traditional chalkstream. Further downstream the other beats are varied with wide beautiful crystal clear glides to deep rannuculus laden pools. Despite the rain the river has remained clear particularly in the middle reaches.
The Grayling sport has been fantastic with plenty coming to the net some of a good size:

 

The trout have also been good sport with mainly wild Brownies being caught interspersed with some larger stockies. Mayfly has been trickling off but everyone we meet seems to be complaining that this year has been disappointing on the Avon. I guess it is all relative and I am content to just be out on such a great river. On the middle reaches the fishing is whole different ball game to what I am used to with fish as suspicious as they come inspecting and dismissing your fly out of hand if you don't match the flow or present your fly in a natural way. On top of that if fishing from the bank you need to keep low to avoid spooking whole sections of river. Nevertheless perseverance pays off and eventually a few trout are fooled by the newbies!

River Chew in its May glory

A beautiful spring day on Chew today loads fly life Sulphur Duns, LDO's and the odd Danica. The odd fish rising but most feeding sub-surface and falling to nymph. Disturbed a few Dace and a reasonable Grayling quickly returned. Nice to be back on river which has now dropped quite considerably from a few weeks back. New wide angle GoPro camera as the old Panasonic has just given up the ghost.

Long time coming .. and now for some Pike on the Bristol Avon

Lovely autumnal weather sees Red and I out on the bank fly fishing for Pike at various locations on lower and middle Bristol Avon. Rivers incredibly low at moment with some jacks up to about 5lb coming to the net. They seem to come on the feed sporadically after the bait fish start to come to life. You can cover a peg many times and then suddenly get a hit out of nowhere when you are least expecting it. Such a hassle free exciting way to tackle these wonderful fish.

Kayak trip to Lyme Regis

Spent the day kayaking with my youngest son kayaking the ledges to the west of Lyme Regis. An early Bass got me excited but this was short lived as the hours went by without a further take. Over the size limit but it went back as a present to the gods although I felt they didn't return the favour. Towards the end of the day the Wrasse came on the feed savaging my soft plastics and costing me dearly. Great little scrappers on light tackle though. It was a beautiful late summer day though with very little wind and fantastic scenery.

Wellow beauty...

Red sorted me a guest ticket on Avon Tributaries section of the Wellow. Beautiful stretch nearer its confluence with the Cam downstream to the Knowle beat I am used to fishing. The fishing was not as easy as I was expecting and the wild fish were just not showing. After a change of fly to a green fluro shrimp pattern, on Red's recommendation, I picked up a nice stocked Rainbow in one of the deeper sections. Funny how that fly will probably be returned to the box and will not be used for another 12 months until I am left scratching my head.  Fantastic sunny day in a secluded valley on the outskirts of Bath.