Late Spring on the rivers around Bristol...

I have been fishing for wild Brownies at numerous locations during the late spring sunshine. Evenings or later in the afternoon have been the most productive. Although I have encountered the odd Mayfly hatch I really missed the main event on my local streams the Chew and Wellow. Nevertheless the fishing has been good with plentiful fish on both streams of fish up to a 1lb. I have to say though the larger fish have been a bit elusive - perhaps it has just been my timing. The Chew is now like a jungle and unfishable or inaccessible on my favourite stretches. The Wellow is not so extreme in terms of effort getting to the river but casting is severely restricted. Both streams are about as vibrant as they are all year with Damsels, flowering Water Crowfoot and plenty of young bird life.

A trip to the Culm a few weeks back proved tough with clear sunny skies but no obvious hatches left three of us scratching our heads on where the fish were. We managed a few on deeply fished nymphs but the Champerhaies beat was disappointing with very few rises or signs of trout in fairly cloudy low flowing water.

My local, local however just less than a mile from my door splitting the urban belt of North Bristol has really produced the goods with plenty of good size fish coming to the net all on the dry. Perhaps it is the timing as I fish this on evenings after work just before dusk. Amazingly saw some little wild Brownies rising in my Bradley Brook recently just a few hundred metres from house - I knew they would make it upstream but just how far I was never quite sure.

 

Cornish Mayhem..

Spent a lovely week in Cornwall. Fished a West Country Passport beat I have not been back to in a while and picked up some beautiful miniature trout in the mossy wilderness on the dry fly. Stream was low with no sign yet of the regular Sea Trout. Spent a few lucky moments metres away from a Stoat which hugged the bank like an Otter.

 

Hmmm how do I get that cast in?

Sea fished from my new Caper kayak off the Roseland using some Snowbee Snakebite weighted jig heads. They worked wonders on the Pollack picking out the larger fish and unbelievably caught a nice 5lb Cod just a few 100 metres from the beach. It was coloured up like the kelp and fought like stink on my spinning rod. No Mackerel in attendance although I did see a large Seal playing with a big Bass just offshore at one of the beaches.

Surf small and unruley although managed some cleaner moments at Watergate and Perranporth.

Devon excursion fishing the Batherm and Exe

Another longer excursion to deepest darkest Devon. The contrast of this weekend from last couldn't have been more stark, wet wild and windy with higher temps. The afternoon was forecast to brighten up but it never did if anything it got worse. I met with Red with first stop Nick Hart's fishery where we had chat and picked some tokens for the West Country Passport beats. Nick suggested we try the Batherm and offered us some time on the Exe adjacent to his stillwaters. We set off to the Batherm first expecting a sunny afternoon back on the Exe. The Batherm was a great little stretch with riffles and pools. I caught 3 out of season Grayling and 4 palm sized WBT. The first Grayling was a lovely male fish all coloured up - if only I could select the type of fish with a fly as I felt uncomfortable disturbing them at critical point in the year. At one point Red and I watched a group of about half dozen good sized Grayling  spawning in a shallow run quite oblivious to our attention.

 

 

 

 

After covering pretty much all the beat we headed back to the Exe. The Exe was a different beast all together. When you spend so much time fishing small streams its difficult adjusting to a wide fast flowing body of water. I just went bigger with an 8'6" 5wt and heavier nymphs under more buoyant dries. It seemed to do the trick as within the first hour I had netted 3 Rainbows and a WBT. All on the nymph. In the end the weather beat us as squally winds and incessant rain called a halt to proceedings. Fished out and exhausted we headed back up the M5.

An Exe escapee of about 2lb.

Hard day at the office ..on the River Culm

Spent day on the Culm in Devon with fellow angler Rich Denning. It was probably the warmest day of the year so far and my face and casting arm were testament to the strength of the sun as the following day I had numerous comments on whether I'd been abroad. Its funny how you go so long without considering sun block and before you know it summers upon you. Anyway the fishing was tough to say the least with lots of beautiful runs and pools not giving up any fish. I caught a nice Brownie in the first 30 minutes, had two further palm sized fish that shook the hook as I lifted them in and then lost another decent fish before it entered the net at the bottom of the beat. Not a great result after a good 6 hrs fishing interspersed with the odd break from the 'action' with moments of contemplation. The only significant rise was the fish caught. I ran the changes throughout the day fishing deep with shot and altering the size of fly both on the surface and nymph but the fish were just not interested.

Rich went for the majority of the day without a take and then at the last knockings took two fish in a fast run below some Willows on my very own Copper John, on a large Size 10 no less.

Alder Fly

I was pleased that both of us had not walked away empty handed but it seems as if the fish haven't woken up to the fact it is spring! Better than a day in the office though.

Cornwall Summer Hols Part 1 - Surf, Sea Trout and Pollack

Just back from first summer holiday week down in Cornwall. Weather was in the main vast improvement over previous years with lots of sunshine and some sporadic heavy showers. Kayak fished on the Lizard at Kennack and caught lots of Pollack on the ebbing tide and a handful of Mackerel. Still no Bass evident. Shore fished a number of marks over the week plugging for Bass all on the incoming tide but no joy - this is getting frustrating.

Fishing for Pollack on the Lizard with my fishing buddy for the day Lisa.

Fished one of the local streams and caught numerous Brownies to about 8" mainly on the nymph. At one fairly shallow run my fly was hit by a bullet that went skyward. After  a colossal struggle in the small stream I bought my first confirmed Sea Trout to the net. Not huge at just over a 1lb, this fish which was a bar of silver with a bluish tinge, gave me immense satisfaction. Although initially I thought it had taken the dry when it was in the net I realised it had taken the Size 16 Goldhead. Releasing it I waded upstream disturbing another much larger fish but that was it fro the evening. I have to say catching this powerful fish in the small stream was fairly familiar as it was not unlike hooking a 2lb Rainbow on the Upper Chew.

A good sized Brownie for this stream

My first confirmed Cornish Sea Trout 

I surfed about a half dozen times mainly confined to sheltered spots - Aggie, Lusty Glaze and Great Western due to the big swell and southwesterly winds.Although yesterday had a nice little Magic Carpet session on Perran as the winds had flipped to offshore. Surprisingly Great Western at about 4' gave me the most enjoyment mid tide coming in when the closeouts can't really make up their mind whether to break or not!

Fly fishing the River Culm

Met up with Red at Taunton and we made our way down to the River Culm a few miles from Cullompton. The intention was to hit the Champerhaies beat on the West Country Passport ticket and if the water was up and coloured I had a back up of the Bathern stream near Tiverton. Once we got there the river was slightly coloured but looked in good form with some good fish rising. It is lovely stretch with riffles, runs and big pools. Not unlike the upper Bristol Avon at Lacock but with more gravel and more importantly more trout.  After spending months fishing the inaccessible streams around Bristol I was champing at the bit to have space to cast with the chance of catching some decent sized wild Brownies and Chub. Armed with my 8'6" Greys X Flite and usual Klink and Brassie I took the section nearest the car while Red headed off South. First couple of casts and missed two rises to the Klink. After a frustrating hour of missing takes I eventually hooked and lost a good fish of at least a 1lb. Shortly after one finally came to the net on the Brassie nymph it was good sized fish that fought hard in the fast current. I then moved down below Red who had caught a nice Chub on an Emerger pattern. I caught about half a dozen 8" fish in one stretch overshadowed in Alder and Willow both on dry and nymph. I jumped out my skin when a female Goosander launched itself from a branch nearly on my back. I can only assume she was protecting her nest or chicks although I was unable to locate either. She proceeded to watch me from a distance.

Average sized Brownie from the Culm

Red's first Chub on the fly.

 After a short lunch break we both headed to next field down. In the afternoon my catch rate went up netting numerous Brownies between 4-12" together with some nice Dace. The fish seemed to be in groups where small hatches of Sedge were coming off. I don't know why but for every fish I would miss half a dozen takes to the dry. Finally after a good 7 hrs of fishing, one fall, some 20 Brownies and 2 Dace later exhausted I returned to the car. I kind of felt fished out at the time but look back on the day as a great trip. I need to slow down, pace myself and enjoy the moment. Red had also caught a good number of Brownies and the Chub so he was made up with great days fishing.

A nice Dace to the dry fly.

The wonderful Culm.

Cornwall - from sea to stream in one day

Long late spring/summer day today. Spent the day at Praa and went fishing round the coast on the kayak towards Prussia Cove. Turquoise water and sea cliffs cloaked in spring flowers made for a wonderful paddle. The outgoing tide and stiff offshore kept us close in. No Bass moving but a couple of nice Pollack from some of the Kelp beds - although Rich W was convinced I'd hooked the same Pollack twice!

In the evening, after catching the last of an abysmal England performance against the Swiss, I fished a local trout stream. Caught a couple on the dry and then on a Brassie fished deep in some of the pools. None of the fish exceeded hand size but it was good sport in the small stream.

Much of the earlier week had meant some serious surfing at Penhale as a good swell had kicked in with fairly light winds. Took a few Mackerel off the rocks at Towan Head one evening some two hours after high tide! My second home for some 25 years now and still lovin' Cornwall. Back to work now yawn and time to concentrate on the rivers round Brizzle yippee - there has to be an upside!

Tresillian River

Spent a few hours on the Tresillian. If I thought the streams around Bristol were tough access it was near on impossible to get to the bank here. This was on the West Country passport tokens but I'd surprised if the stretch had more than a dozen visitors in a year. Wearing waders and trudging across bog is not a good idea. Once I reached the stream life was easier as the bottom was firm and the depth was pretty uniform for wading. Anyway the fish were not easy to tempt. I ended up catching 6 small Brownies on the nymph. Most were deep in a small weir pool. Returning to the car was no easier either as there appeared to be no exit from the boggy meadows. Eventually I got back to the car exhausted, sodden wet and in the dark.  I like wilderness but I was not prepared wearing the wrong gear and anticipating a nice evening stroll. Having had some wonderful sport in the evenings on the streams on the North coast of Cornwall, which was nearer to home, I can't say the experience left me keen to return. Maybe it was the weather!