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.

Early start to the river season on the Wye and Usk at Longtown

Red and I set off on a cool cloudy morning in Bristol to fish the Longtown beat on the Wye and Usk Wild Streams. Pleasantly surprised by this lovely little stretch of the upper Monnow. An upland stream cascading through the Brecon's with a beautiful backdrop. The river was gin clear and fairly low but steely cold topping out on the thermometer at about 8C. We fished plenty of runs but found it tough with the deeper sections only showing signs of fish. By midday Large Dark Olives were trickling off frequently but rises were scarce. We had a couple of tugs each from fish in the deeper pools and I watched a small WBT chase my nymph in fished deep. After a short lunch break in the glorious sunshine we set off again changing tactics to heavier nymphs. I was rewarded immediately with a good fish and to my surprise it was lovely Grayling at at least 15" and well over a 1lb which I quickly returned.

 

The afternoon wore on even with the warming sun but it still did not bring the trout on the feed. Despite the hard fishing Dippers, Grey Wagtail and Wood Anemones added to the ambiance and contributed to a pretty special place.

Red casts to likely looking run.

Last few sessions of predator fishing on the Bristol Avon deliver a fine Perch

A quick few hours on the Avon with a duo approach of light spinning tackle and fly rod. I think the Pike must be a bit lethargic at the moment as I had some quick pulls but very few connections. Lots of follows by Perch in the 1lb range and luckily managed to bank my personal best stripey whilst jigging with a weighted black jelly eel. The fish must have been in the region of 3lb a great chunk of a thing - not on the fly but I was pleased and impressed the old Avon had turned up the goods.

In search of Grayling on the Chew

After a break from game fishing for a while I decided to go out this beautiful February day to try and find some Winter Grayling. The banks were barren with Snowdrops bursting through in the sunshine to make it feel like Spring was just round the corner.

The Chew holds pockets of Grayling in a number of areas mainly where the current runs fast but they are not prolific and the fish rarely exceed a llb. The river was low and clear with little in the way of woody debris. It appears the recent high water has cleaned the gravel but also washed down any debris. First fish was a small Grayling to the nymph which gave me comfort after covering numerous runs without success. I had missed a rise through a turbulent riffle but things were slow to say the least.

Noticed lots of Otter or possibly Mink tracks on the silty berms on the inside of bends - I had convinced myself they were the reason for lack of success. Next fish a good wild Brownie quickly released - it was slow and lethargic but definately a wild fish taken close to the bank and roots of an Alder. Unfortunately my leaky waders were beginning to numb my feet so I had to leave but it was nice to be back out if only for few hours on the nicest day of the year so far.

Its that time of year again when thoughts turn to Pike on the fly..

Red and I have been out roving the banks on those sunny Winter days looking for Pike. We have walked for miles in wonderful surroundings seeing relatively few anglers. Mainly on the Somerset levels and Bristol Avon searching the margins and reed beds with intermediate lines and large streamer flies. Most of the fish have been in the 2-5lb bracket but just occasionally a big one comes along and then its a struggle on a 7wt rod. We have even found that a bit of colour doesn't dissuade the takes.

Lower Avon jack.

Red and a good double figure Pike from the Bristol Avon

 

 

North Drain Pike

Rest Bay mayhem on a good swell

Surfed Rest today with son Henry and friend Rich. We got there an hour after high to find the tide just coming off the rocks with beautiful head high peaks reeling into bay. It was busy and the tide soon started to undo the great swell as it ripped out. At low tide it cleaned up again with some nice 4' peaks hitting the banks down by the golf course. Saw the sun quickly set before departing. A nice trip with the odd good wave. I didn't really get cold but fear next session will see gloves coming out.

It's been a while but I will recap a glorious summer in the South west...

Spent many wonderful weeks in Cornwall. Kayak fishing and surfing with my family. Lots of Mackerel inshore and a few suprises but no Bass although it is a different story at time of writing with plenty of Bass now being caught along the South Coast.

Little video of two of my lads enjoying prolific Mackerel on the Roseland. One interesting trip out from Portreath saw a close encounter with an Ocean Sunfish and squid surprise. The squid regularly took the feather but rarely stayed on long enough to enter the boat!

 Back in July the Black Bream fishing was superb off the Solent with the shoals feeding on the moving tide and then switching off immediately on the slack.  

The surf was in no way great over the summer but I was super stoked to see my two eldest lads finally getting the bug. Now they know what it feels like to be a surfer!

I need to relocate returning to Bristol and work just doesn't get any easier.