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.

2013 River Fly Fishing Inspiration

Apologies for not updating recently but weather has dampened activity and enthusiasm for posting. Red likes to remind me of not catching fish - so yet again I visit a local lake and blank while he nets a couple of nice Rainbows on a Snipe and Purple no less. What's wrong with the good old Buzzer or stripped Damsel I ask myself! Anyway I had had some luck few weeks previous stripping on an intermediate at Chew Magna Reservoir - ended up netting 4 fish in a couple of hours but I'm afraid it didn't quite hit the mark. Standing still for too long and not casting to sighted fish I guess is just not my thing at the moment.

Today we went for a walk on a local Somerset stream and after catching a few glimpses of fish on the shallow gravel runs it got the old mojo back for the new year. The stretch which we haven't fished before looked good, hidden in deep banks with a high tree canopy great for the roll cast. The water was fairly high but clear in the shallow sections. An interesting sight was a large adult dead Otter which was curled naturally in the crease of some steps. Not far from the road, although it looked in tact, we assumed it had been hit by a car and found a corner to die quietly - sad. Small flocks of tits, Siskin, Treecreeper and Nuthatch moved through the Alders that lined the banks whilst a pair of Dippers lead us down the stream. Raven and Buzzard overhead.

Dead Otter

A beautiful Beech tree straight out of the Shire!

Chunky Croyde

Day trip to Croyde on a mild November day with my bro Rich. Light onshores and a chunky swell seemed to go unnoticed by most as we battled out to a fairly empty lineup. Tide coming in and caught some big rights but had some hellish paddle outs as there was little let up between the sets. Worth the effort and felt suitably refreshed since I hadn't been out since September.

Plan C on the Hampshire Avon

Went down to my bro's with idea of catching a nice little wave at Kimmeridge. The wave buoys were suggesting a nice waist high wave pushing up the channel. By the time I got down to Salisbury the readings were looking borderline at best and K bay is a fair old trek if you are not 90% sure it will be surfable. Plan B   then was to fish the Nadder on the outskirts Salisbury. Picked up a day ticket and got to the bank. It was as brown as the Chew and spilling the banks. Back to the tackle shop and Plan C exchange the ticket for one on the Hampshire Avon which Rich said had been running clear and beautiful for the last couple of weeks. No problems with exchanging and we turned up on the Avon which was looking pristine. Rich was the first to get any action as he hooked into a good sized trout.

Rich brings a nice fish to the net.

The resulting Brownie.

It took me a while to get any takes and then a flurry of rises in my vicinity lead to a couple of small trout and a lost big Grayling that snapped me off. We made our way upstream the fairly long stretch out of Salisbury. The fish were sporadic and came the feed for limited periods as the sun warmed the water enough for some fly activity. As the light started to fade on what was a lovely day the last 30 minutes was frantic with both good sized Grayling and some nice Brownies coming to the net.

My best Grayling of the day - probably of the year so far.

A nice wild one going back.