Hampshire Avon Deanery Meadows

Left work early on lovely summers afternoon. Met up with Rich and fished Hampshire Avon at Deanery Meadows. A beautiful stretch of river in the shadow of Salisbury Cathedral. We both fished nymph under the dry. Rich hooked a clonker of Chub under some Willows on the far bank. It was easily in the 4lb range and tested is light tackle to the limit. I was mainly catching small Dace on the dry.  I finally hooked into a good sized Chub of around 2lb on the dry taken from under some Chestnut trees on the far bank. Rich proceeded to catch several more Chub in the 2-3lb range. Trout noticeable by their abscence. A lovely late afternoon/evenings fishing easily worth the hours trip from Bristol.

Bristol Frome Dry Fly Evening

Evening session today fished Bristol Frome. Normal route from BB working my way downstream on the towpath looking for feeding fish and then approaching upstream. Dry flies here don't need to be fussy Size 12/14 parachute patterns work just fine for Trout and Chub. Intentionally missed the weir glide and noticed fish rising in a very short glide by the old bridge. First cast flicked under the hanging Hazel, bang nice little Brownie. Amazingly never spooked other fish despite skittish scrap across the shallow shingle below. Same pattern followed for two further brownies all around 6-8 oz. The area of water was probably a metre square and 3ft deep with shallow riffle above and below. Great result 3 casts on the same dry and 3 fish. Carried on down and caught another 3 further downstream before bad light stopped play. All fish safely returned.

Bristol Frome mixed bag

Evening session on my local patch. Not much rising. Headed for my favoured pool about halfway down my normal route. Fish rising under the far side branches - not sure whether its a Trout or Chub. Not a vigorous rise, just sipping. My favoured parachute is flicked up stream and engulfed on first run down resulted in my best Brownie on the fly from the Frome. Just under a 1lb I would guess, and it went berserk in the shallow water wrapping my 7ft 4 weight at right angles. After that not much on the dry but some lovely - out of season, for which I apologise, Roach, on the Goldhead nymph. All fish safely returned.

Wellow Wilderness

Weekend trip to the Wellow. Lovely clear stream just 40 mins from me but weekday traffic prevents further excursions. Difficult to fish, trout are spooky and casting is tough. Once you are on the stream bed it truly is magical. The high banks buzz with life and Kingflishers dash the walls either side of you. I find the dry fly hard to present and when a take comes I'm always pre occupied mending line or thinking a head. The stream moves fast through riffles and shallow runs with the occasional pool creating eddies that bow the line and hinder the flow of your fly. I use a 7ft rod but sometimes wonder whether to add a foot for more control. I loose 2 fish off the bat on a blunt nymph and then nothing. Clumsily working my way upstream spooking fish. The fish are like rockets exploding into the pools ahead putting heads down. Every rising fish is shadowed by an awkward branch. A tangled line forces patience and often allows confidence to return to both you and the fish. Finally a small trout comes to hand. I clamber the bank and move downstream to the footbridge. Beautiful Demoiselle are out in numbers flitting over the gurgling water. As I work my way upstream again, a head moves across one of the few deeper pools to a hole beside a stump in the bank - first time I've seen an Otter here and in total daylight.  I fear for any further action but 10 yards past my fleeting encounter I hook a further two wild Brownies on the nymph on a really productive glide below a deep pool.
Note to oneself must make more of an effort to return.

River Chew bonanza

Fished my favourite stretch of the River Chew. Great day with plenty of Grayling and Brownies taking the nymph and later on the Klink. Fish appeared to be shoaled up in the fast shallow runs. Best Grayling of season so far at just about a 1lb. A lot of Brownies in the 6-8oz range. Dippers, Kingfishers and a Barn Owl added to the experience - wonderful.

Upper Chew first trip

Thought I would explore Upper Chew as had read and heard good things. Unfortunately a fair bit of rain had coloured the water nearer the reservoir. The overall experience was not as good as I expected both from a fishing and environment perspective. Having fished relatively quiet streams in the past I was surprised to see at least 2 or 3 fisherman walking the banks. Although I like solitude I am always happy to engage but no one seemed overally friendly or engaging I guess they didn't want to see me either! I managed to catch 2 small wild Brownies and from the returns book that seemed to be a good result. One was on the dry and another on the nymph from one of the bigger pools below the bridge. I worked my way up the bottom beat and that was it with much of the stream appearing pretty lifeless. I did see one lurking stocked Rainbow at about 2lb but was unable to tempt it. Most enlightening moment was seeing Brook Lamprey beneath my feet and getting a few shots of a fish I had never seen before.

My Second Session on Chew Valley

My second visit to Chew Valley. Decided to repeat my method from first visit which had produced results. Waded off Nunnery point. The water was incredibly low and you could wade some 30 yards out and still be waist deep. I fished washing line with Booby on the end and couple of nymphs in between. Slow figure of eight retrieve. It was unlike the rivers as action would come in fits and starts but heart racing stuff nevertheless. Fish would bow wave towards the Booby plucking and tucking with only a few fish actually getting hooked. Caught two Rainbows with the biggest around 3lb. I had purchased a relatively cheap set up of Lureflash Viper and Leeda reel. It seemed to the business as was getting a reasonable cast without tuition and felt just right when playing the fish - forgiving during the lunges yet still enough backbone to bring the fish to the net. The groups of fish seemed to be following the Mute Swans disturbing the bottom. It was lovely evening with just a few bank fisherman around. First photo below is from my first visit but shows how low the water was on this evening.