River Chew - Mayfly on the usual beat.

Got home early and headed off for my 'local' stretch on the lower Chew. Another lovely Spring day with a bit of a southerly breeze. Loads of fly life today Mayfly's in drifts above the corn fields. Red Campion and Field Buttercups in full bloom. Started with my own Parachute Mayfly pattern with a little Goldhead. Tempted a couple of rises in the first pool but did not connect. One a small Brownie and the other a decent Grayling. First fish to the net a medium sized Grayling on the Goldhead. Next pool surprise, surprise a couple of Dace falling to the Goldhead. Fished the big pool at the end of the first field and despite three or four rises to my dry could not connect. Clipped the tail of the dry. Crossed the river and moved a couple of fields down. Picked up a couple of good Brownies on the Goldhead and one on the dry. Had a Hornet  for company for a while! Could not believe how the vegetation had taken a hold and covered previous tracks. Fell numerous times as I tried to locate firm bank beneath the nettles and balsam. This stretch is like a jungle now and not for the faint hearted.

 In the last hour between 6:00 and 7:00pm I must have caught ten or more Brownies on the dry. I had removed the Goldhead on the dropper and the trout were aggressively taking the dry within feet of my rod tip.  A few other fishermen around today both on KAA and on Bathampton stretch on my return to the car.

Upper and Lower Chew in one day

Today did upper beat on Upper Chew and Lower Chew at Bye Mills with Red. Another sunny breezy day. A fair number of Mayfly coming off today especially on the Lower Chew. Caught a small Brownie and then a nice 2lb Rainbow on the Klink on the Upper Chew. The Rainbow just sipped the fly in and took some time to register it had been hooked. I was determined to net it after loosing one a week earlier. The rod was bent in right angles and thankfully the 4lb fluro stayed in tact. We then moved to Bye Mills on the lower Chew. The river upstream is shallow but heavy clay was making any wading extremely difficult. Lost two good Brownies of around a pound and netted a small one. Red caught a decent Brownie on the dry. Loads of Mayfly coming off but only a few fish rising. Downstream the river is deeper and less accessible but there seemed to be more rising fish. I managed to drop my fly on top of a beauty which took the Klink after I'd crept commando like along the side of the bank and just dropped the fly just under my feet. It was about 1.5lb but somehow got my nymph snagged on a tree root, I didn't have a long net and was unsure how deep the river was so felt pretty helpless. After lots of  scrambling the fish broke free  - damn another lost fish! Probably the most skillful fishing I have done to date it was just a shame I didn't get the fish on the bank. Finally caught a nice Brownie of about 10 inches on the way back to the car in a shallow run on one of my Parachute Mayfly's.

Chew Magna and Publow visit

Had day off work today as I had leave left and had to take my lad to Bristol City coaching session at Failand in the afternoon. Decided to try Chew Magna for some sedate lake fishing. Fished the right hand bank, weather warm and bright with light winds. Fished intermediate line with Goldhead orange blob as no visible fish. Talk of not stocking for a while, lots of blanks in the book and no pulls raised doubts over my optimism for a fish. Suddenly a few fish started to move a third of the way out. Buzzers started to dimple on the surface. Time for the suspended Buzzer beneath the Klink on the floating line. Three fish (two 2lbs+) in less than hour, one snapping my 4lb leader unfortunately.  Three fisherman around lake had not caught so left pleased. Thought I'd try for some Carp on the surface at Publow but they just weren't interested in surface baits/flies. A few trout rose so on went the Shipmans and I immediately caught a 1.5lb Rainbow safely returned. As usual Publow was empty - a lovely little lake that is somewhat neglected compared to other lakes on the ticket. Left feeling confident about my lake skills.

Upper Chew visit number two...

Feeling a bit groggy, after a good night out in Bristol watching one of my rock favourite bands of the 80's Magnum, I headed off to the top beat of the Upper Chew on another glorious morning. Red was already on the bank. A bit warmer and sunnier than the last visit but a strong easterly wind. Loads of life with lots of female Beautiful Demoiselle damsel flies on the wing. Finally located where the Kingfisher was nesting high in a north facing bank overlooking one of the most productive pools. I caught a small wild Brown on the Klink and then a sizeable 1lb+ fish from the tail of one of the pools. It took a Brassie suspended beneath the Klink. I was waiting for it to really come to life but after a couple of surges it came to the net quite easily. My guess was that this was a stocked fish but nice nevertheless.

 After a few hours I then moved to the lower beat below the road bridge. This beat was more open and the wind was creating havoc with my line and some of the trees at times with debris flying everywhere. After a frustrating start caught a couple of small Brownies and a nice little Rainbow on the Klink. Despite just being 8" long max it put up one heck of scrap jumping clear of the water several times. I can only assume Rainbows must spawn on the stream. All fish returned.

Upper Chew on the wedding day...

Fished the Upper Chew for the first time in a while. Met up with Red and we hit the top beat. Really nice little stream better than I remember. Wore a wetsuit as an under garment today as my leaky waders just didn't seem that inviting. Brisk easterly wind with slightly overcast skies, cooler than of late in the mid teens. The Wild Garlic was in full flower, Kingfishers darting everywhere and some fly life but only a few fish rising. Casting was tough as the place is somewhat confined and the wind was not helping. Caught some lovely small Brownies on a goldhead and some took the Klink however I was unable to connect. With hindsight I think the hackle may have been too large for the hook. After 3hrs that flew by we headed to the bottom beat that feeds into Chew Valley Lake. A lot siltier at the lower end fishing improves as you move up the beat. I immediately hooked a good Brownie on the Klink. My second fish on the beat was a Rainbow of 2lb+ that I watched come out of the bank and take my nymph in mid stream just a couple of metres in front of me. On my little Odyssey rod and 4lb tippet I wrestled with the fish for quite some time before it shot past my legs and buried itself under debris in a pool downstream leaving my flies hooked to a root. Doh! A few more small Brownies finished off a lovely day. Thank you Wills and Kate.

Bristol Frome on the Dry again

An impromptu little evening session. Wild Garlic out, Bluebells going over, Grey Wagtail, Kingfisher and Dipper on the river. Appeared to be territorial battle going on between two Dippers. Second or third cast in my favourite pool brought a rise but the fish shook the hook. I persisted and caught another further upstream that I got to the net. A good fish of around 10 inches. Despite several rises to my fly further downstream I did not connect and ended with just the one fish.

Bristol Frome first fish 2011

Evening session on Bristol Frome. Just 5 minutes from me and I know it well, very well, every pool, every riffle and every run. I sometimes wonder whether each year I catch the same wild trout as they hold up in the deeper sections. I learn something every visit and today was no exception.

First surprise a Dipper flitting on the stones at one my favourite pools. I have seen them further downstream at Frenchay in the Winter but not here in Spring. Are they nesting? Only time will tell but it would be great if they are.

Dry fly only this evening. A green Klink is cast under the Sycamore. A medium Brownie hits the fly on the way down only to shake free after the first jump. After a few more casts I get another rise, this time I play a nice 10" fish to the net. I move up the pool and get no takes on the surface. As I cast into the head of the pool the fly becomes waterlogged and starts sink. In an effort to make the most of the cast a slowly retrieve across the pool. Bang I'm into a bigger fish. At first I thought is might be one of the 3lb Chub I sometimes see lurking in the shadows. To my surprise its a good Brownie of just under 1lb. I only just got it to the net as it wrapped my line round a snag mid flow which was only freed by wading in. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo as I was more concerned with the trout's well being after such a hectic fight.

Downstream I missed a rise and then caught two small Brownies near the stanchions of the dual carriageway bridge. One day I am going to have to get a shot of beautiful wild Brownie in front of the graffiti clad concrete. The number and size seemed to suggest that the trout had spawned in the vicinity. I had always assumed that the trout here had come from spawning trout in the head waters near Yate where I have witnessed good numbers on some of the gravelly runs. Although it always seems strange to me that the Frome between Iron Acton and Winterbourne has little evidence of trout despite having a number of promising pools and runs.

Anyway another welcome return to my local patch. Spawning coarse fish conspicuous by there absence - usually I see groups of Roach and Chub rolling in the pools. Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted Woodpecker all put in an appearance.

End up locking my keys in the car on my return, d'oh! Nursing a twisted angle from a Stag weekend in Soton I walk home in the dark. Its not all good!