Beautiful Afternoon at Boringwheel Trout Fishery

Having dropped my son off at Heathrow Airport for his 12 days holiday in the USA, I drove to the LondonTemple, near Lingfield and gave another one of my friends there a casting lesson on grass.  Then as the fog had lifted and the sun was shining I drove south to Nutley to fish Boringwheel Trout Fishery.  The location is just south of Nutley and you turn left onto Cackle Street and then follow this narrow winding road down hill for around half a mile.  The entrance to the fishery, which is on the left is not easy to spot as the name is on the gate and the gate is open.  The first time I went there I overshot and only spotted it after I had turned round.  You then drive up a paved road and park in the tennis court!

 

I was there to check out the water clarity (before I bring any more friends there) and I wanted to try the "gold headed daddy long legs" that had been so successful at Coltsfold Mill earlier in the week (see last post).  Well the water clarity was improved now that we had gone for some time without rain so I decided to fish and bought myself a 2-fish ticket. 

 

I tried the modified daddy down in the corner where the outflow is.  Third cast and I had a firm pull but did not hook up.  When I checked the fly, surprise, surprise, one of the rubber legs was missing! A few casts later and I was in, and I landed a perfect rainbow specimen.

 

I then walked round the lake and fished next to an elderly gentleman called Peter, he went on to catch on drowned sedges and a gold ribbed hare's ear.

Peter into a fish

 

I had a few pulls on a cat's whisker, then I tried several other lure patterns to no avail.  There was no breeze and the water was flat calm.  Occasionally a fish would show but usually just out of range.

 

When the time crept round to 5pm I decided to take the plunge (not literally) and take a boat out.  Now the boats are old but they are very stable and with a couple of pulls on the oars and you glide out into the middle of the lake.  You then need 360 degree vision because activity can occur anywhere.  I targetted fish that showed and eventually a blue flash damsel did the trick and I boated a cracking specimen who managed to pull the boat along before he surrendered.

 

The second fish like the first, was a cracker!

 

Boat fishing Bewl, last days this year: The where and the how!

Yes the boats come off the water at the end of November but there are still a few days remaining to hook up from a boat.  I went down today and caught 3 beauties, the largest of which I thought was going to disappear over the horizon! It weighed in at 3lb 8 oz and was perfect in every respect.  The where is: around the cages.  The how is: Cats whisker or simillar lure.  It was overcast and calm and the fish were near the top but only showed when they were on the chase.

 Just look at that perfect tail!

The head looks pretty too.

 

I understand that bank fishing will be available right through to February.  You can always check their website (see link at side of page).  Why not join the Bewl Bridge Fly Fishing Club, brilliant value for money and you get the famous magazine with all the marvelous tips.  See the link for that as well.

 

A big thank you to everyone who follows the blog and sends me e mails and comments.

Some tips on boat fly fishing for trout at Bewl Water, Kent, UK, and success with a magic Booby!

Let me start off by saying the best thing you can do is to join the Bewl Bridge Fly Fishers Club (see link at side of page) where you will get loads of help especially via their bi-monthly magazine the “Bewl Angle”.  As you will see if you stagger to the end of this post it was through reading the magazine that my trip yesterday went from failure to success.

On the practical front here are some suggestions you may already be aware of or you might like to try.  Firstly the whole object of having a boat is to have the ability to be mobile (like the fish) and to be able to cover the whole water (except the bird sanctuary where the really big fish hang out)?  If you’re not seeing fish, and catching, then move.

So you have hired a boat and been given a boat number, before you set off, check it out.  The staff are very good but they often get to clean and check the boats just as it is getting dark. 

Look for an anchor (it is attached to a red buoy so that if you get it caught on the bottom you can untie the anchor rope and leave the buoy marking the spot where the anchor and rope are.  The rangers can then try to recover it.  Oars are a useful plan B, although most of us have the fishing lodge number in our phone which is a better plan B.  Many years ago as dusk was falling at Rosemary’s Lane I foolishly let a beginner operate the engine to take us back to the lodge.  John tried the other way of stopping and sheered the pin that holds the prop on, then he announced that he couldn’t row.  Exhausted, I slept well that night!

 Note the small G clamp I have attached to the edge of the front seat, with the drogue rope attached to it (more about drogues shortly).   Note the landing net with the long handle, I got that idea from the competition boys.  If I am on my own in a boat I usually set up two rods (you are only allowed to fish one at a time).  I will set them up with different lines (say a floater and an intermediate) so I can quickly change my method if required.

 

The drogue is an underwater parachute enabling the boat to drift down wind slowly.  It is called loch style fishing and it means that you are covering fresh water all the time and hopefully another pod of fish.  If you don’t have a drogue then you have to anchor, tie up to a buoy (if it’s allowed) or drift free (a problem in strong winds).

The orange bailer is essential for fellers fishing as it enables you to discretely urinate whereas the ladies have to grit their teeth or motor back to the lodge.   The red cord is the “kill cord”, solo anglers are encouraged to attach the end of it to themselves so that in the event of them falling overboard the engine is killed and they a) don’t get chewed up by the prop and b) have a chance of swimming to the boat and hanging on.  I don't have a fancy armchair type boat seat.  What I do have is a foam one that velcros to the wood seat.  An occasional boat fisher could use an old cushion from home in a strong plastic bag.

The bilge pump (black handle on the left) is useful especially after a heavy downpour. You can also see the second G clamp for the drogue in the left hand corner.

So yesterday, having had a chat with Janet in the lodge, paid my dues and been assigned my boat I had a helpful chat with James, one of the fishery rangers.  He suggested I drift from Beaumans to the cages and used very small flies.  He said the fish were on the top swimming around in small shoals and that I should watch for any disturbance of the ripples and cast to them.  I thought that given the time of year the fish would be on hoppers and daddies so I spent the first few hours fishing them to no avail.  Eventually I gave up on what James had suggested as it got quite wet and windy.  I motored over to the corner of Chingley Wood to get out of the wind.  Within a few casts I had my first pluck on the daddy or hopper but did not hook up.  I tried a number of different drifts and even the corner of the damn, where I saw the odd fish.  Eventually as the weather improved I decided to try round the fish cages.  Whilst drifting between the cages and the grass at Ward’s Lane, right in front of me half a dozen fry leapt out of the water followed by a big rainbow and I realised the fish were on the fry!.

It was then that I remembered that Ray French had written in the latest edition of the Bewl Angle that competition anglers were having good success using tiny booby flies.  I also remembered I had tied 2 the night before.  So out they came and on they went and I came away with three nice 2lb rainbows.    Thanks Ray!

 

If you look closely you can see the tiny Booby in the corner of the fish's mouth. Now I am going to try and tie some more.

 

BEWL WATER FISHING WELL: THE FISH ARE ON THE TOP TAKING DRIES!

 

 

This is the news we have all been waiting for.  Having exhausted myself on the chalk stream over the last two days I thought I would check on Bewl.  I spoke to Rob Dixon, one of the fishery managers and he said a change in wind direction has brought the food and the fish to the top of the water and anglers are catching on dries! Apparently the best action is along the dam and both bank and boat fishers are getting pleanty of action.  My guess is that hoppers and daddies will do the trick.  You heard it here first, now I need to get down there before you do!

CHALK STREAM FLY FISHING MAGIC AT LAST!

Well I finally managed to steal away from family, projects and chores and headed for the Whiltshire Avon.  As I had not been on the SADAC club waters for something like three months I headed to "The Cart Shed". This is the club's office and home of Andreas Topintzis, the General Manager, and very helpful top (what's happening where) guru! Following a friendly greeting Andreas proceeded to recommend I fished the Avon as the Whylie was a bit "hit and miss" at the moment. As the weather was going to be very warm, with bright sunshine he suggested beats with plenty of tree shade and he made it clear that during the day it was "nymphing" if I wanted success.  So I settled on beat 18 as I had fished it before and knew at least half of it had good tree cover and could be waded.

 

Beat 18 has at its top a hatch pool.  The hatches are used to control the level of water in each section of the river.

The hatch lifting mechanisms are a tribute to old fashioned engineering and have weathered the passage of time.

 

With summer flows low and only one hatch passing a lot of water the hatch pool is one big whirlpool and I could see some big fishing waiting for food to be jetted towards them.  Sadly I have never found a way of getting a fly or nymph in front of these monster fish.

 

As it was so hot I decided to forego my chest waders, and having forgotten my thigh waders, so I decided to "free wade".  I unzipped the lower half of my fishing trousers and laced my wading boots up tightly.  I then forced myself to walk quietly down stream to the start of the beat, watching out for fish.  Having seen plenty of fish I started to work my way up stream on the bank covering the water that was in full sun.  I caught a few "little fellers", then when I got to the wading section I slipped into the cool water (which is always deeper than you think) and commenced to creep up on some decent fish.  I found I had to relearn my nymphing technique as I was out of practice coping with the fast currents. I caught a couple more fish and got to familiarise myself with more of the beat and then had to quit around 6pm so as to get to my daughter's for supper!

 

The next morning saw me fishing at West Amesbury and I had a blast.  I parked in the recreation ground and walked down to the Ham Hatches bridge where I watched the huge trout dancing (and presumably feeding) in the deep pool just below the hatches. 

 

I had a look upstream but the ranunculus looked a bit daunting so I headed downstream checking out the water for fish as I went. Enroute I found clear evidence of someone poaching!

I picked up the can as I hate seeing litter on the river bank and it's a club rule that you are responsible for collecting any litter even if it is not your litter.  I did wonder what would happen if the bailiff saw me with the can.

 

Having got down to the Allenby Bridge I decided to walk on a bit further as I had seen a splash!  As often happens fish seem to show where getting at them can be quite challenging or even potentially dangerous.  Fortunately being a well run club warning signs were in place.

 

Eventually I managed to cover a fish without any drag and was rewarded with a half pound brownie. So I walked onto the next beat and watched a gentleman laying a nice straight line on the water in classic upstream nymphing style.

We exchanged a few pleasantries and names and he kindly allowed me to take his photograph.  Sadly, I didn't write his name down, I do hope he forgives me and the picture compensates.

 

Now you have been waiting for the action and this is when it starts.  Working my way upstream I soon spotted some serious sub surface activity in the wading section.  Entering the water and using a tiny gold-head nymph I started to get touches.  Refining my technique with a very straight up stream cast and a quick retrieve, so there was no slack between my hand and the fly, I started to pick up good-sized fish, mainly brownies, but one whopping grayling.  Sadly I also caught a large brown that had one side split open by a preditor!  He put up an energetic fight and was obviously feeding so I decided to return him to the river.

After a frantic hour in which I caught five good-sized trout and four grayling, things calmed down and I had a break.  Whilst wading elsewhere I first noticed a heron banging around in a tree on the edge of the river.  At first I ignored it but then roughly under where it had been I noticed a twitching reed with something really bright flashing where the reed entered the water.  This went on for sometime so I decided to investigate.  Well the flashing was caused by a vertical reed moving in the current lifting a horizontal reed lying on the water.  As the reed was lifted the film of water on it was catching the sun and flashing like a natural heliograph.  Having solved the mystery I was just about to move away when I saw a movement in the water between the reeds and the bank. Wow, there were between fifteen and twenty large torpedo shapes quietly swimming there and some of them were honkers!!!  Concious that I was in full view of them I eased myself away downstream putting a bush between them and me.  I then started on developing my strategy.  How could I cover them when I had to fish upstream, dodge overhead branches and avoid the massive weed bed with the reed sticking up out of it between them and me?  After a few minutes deliberation, you cannot rush opportunities like this, I felt I had a plan, albeit a risky one.

 

Having manouvred myself into position I cast a few metres upstream of them and as the line drifted downstream towards the vertical reed I flicked the line gently over it. The next thing was one of the fish broke ranks and presumably chased the nymph as the line went tight and I was in and he was on!  Before the fish realised what was happening I managed to get him to the top and over the weed into open water where he went ballistic.  Eventually I got him under control and brought him to hand where I used the old trick of turning him upside down.  This disorientates the fish and they stop struggling enabling easier unhooking.  The crucial thing is to turn them back the right way up before letting them swim off  your hand.

 

I was pleased to see that the quick exit of their companion had not disturbed the other members of the shoal so I decided to see if I could manage a repeat performance.  Well I spent the next hour and a half trying to cast to these fish to no avail, I just could not get the presentation right, but it was great fun trying and as I close my eyes I can still see them there.  I retreated exhausted, concious that I had a long drive ahead.  It was a priceless experience I will always remember. Thanks for letting me share it.

Incidentally as I was leaving the fishery I was politely stopped by a club bailiff who asked to see my membership book.  This I gladly handed over for him to check and sign.  This friendly policing of the water helps maintain the quality of the fishing.

 

 



Bewl Water Fishing Report 1 August 2013

Having been away from Bewl for over 8 weeks (mainly in the USA) and knowing the weather in the UK has been warm I read last weeks fishing report with interest. I reprint it here as I know fishers from across the globe are interested.

Picture courtesy of "fishactive.com"

"Cooler weather over the last week has improved the fishing at Bewl. The fish are not as deep and have spread out across the water. Anglers have been catching at a depth of about 10ft rather than the 25 ft during the last few weeks.

This week's rod average is an excellent 3.58. Brown trout are beginning to show, especially at the end of Hook Straight. A brown of 6lb 8oz was caught and released.

Best areas for boats are the Main Bowl, the cages and the end of Hook Straight. Bank fishing is still challenging and the deeper water off of Chingley is the best place to try.

 

Successful flies have been Buzzers, mini lures, Cat's Whiskers, Minkies, Minkie Boobies and Sparkler Boobies.

An early reminder that no boats are available on Wednesday 18 September when the Annual Grand Max competition will be taking place.
Water temperature 20 degC, water level 85.5%"

So I might be tempted to give it a go!

Danger on the river and a friendly Sheriff

Now that I knew there were plenty of large aggressive steelhead in the Skykomish I resolved to have another attempt at catching one. As it was the 4th July and for some strange historical reason my American friends make it a holiday I decided not to try spinning or plunking under the hatchery as I was sure the guys would be there in large numbers.  Standing shoulder to shoulder, crossing lines and getting tangled up with another chap's tackle is known as "combat fishing" and it is not my idea of a pleasant time by the water.  So I thought I would fish further down stream and try to see if by learning from the last time in that location I could over-come some of the obstacles.  So this time I had a home-made wading stick, wore a personal flotation device and used a full sinking line.  Anyway the net result was that in spite of carefully wading quite deep my 9 foot 8 weight rod was still not getting me to where I thought the fish would be, so after an hour of trying I quit and walked back to the car,  As I had come 40 miles to fish I had a go spinning etc just down from the Big Eddie boat launch ramp.  By this time several lovely families had arrived and I watched in horror as a couple of dads launched themselves in a very small, beat up, row boat into the Big Eddie.  They didn't row it but used the oars as paddles. They were not wearing PFD's and only just made it to the bank just upstream of some fairly serious rapids. 

The picture makes it look safer than it was, they were wobbling like crazy!

They then proceeded to fool around and several times had to paddle flat out to avoid being swept downstream.  This was all done in front of their wives and children none of whom seemed aware of the potential danger.  As I walked back to the car I said to the wives that I hoped their husbands had plenty of life insurance! 

Whilst getting in the car I noticed that the Sheriff had arrived so being inquisitive when he walked back from the river I wandered over, introduced myself and asked him if he could explain the difference between the roles of the Sheriff and the police. 

He was very friendly and explained that he was a deputy and that the Sheriff was elected by the community and that they worked closely with the police but did not do detective work.  I said I was concerned about these dads downstream with their little boat.  He said that he had come down because he had a call saying that there was some dangerous activity on the boat ramp.  I told him where the dads were now and he said that 2 days ago he had pulled the body of an 18 year old out of the river. Then he went off to warn the Dads and I jumped in the car for the cruise back to my holiday home and a rest as that afternoon we had been invited to a 4th July party on the lake!  On this holiday it's all go!!!

 

Fly Fishing Plans: The Sky and then the Salt for Coastal Cutthroat Trout

Since this blog is meant to be primarily about fly fishing, you, my friends from the 52 countries that look at the posts, will be wondering when I am going to report some serious fly fishing activity!  Well, I have been doing some extra curricular activities, the main one being a redecoration of one of the largest rooms in my son's house here in Redmond, WA, USA.

It is the first time in my life that I have had to use scaffolding to reach a ceiling!

I let my wife, Rosalind, do the tricky bits!

 

Fortunately, my local pal (buddy) Lonnie has invited me to fish the Skykomish tomorrow afternoon. Then having had a chat in the Orvis shop in Bellevue with manager Reggie Harris I have booked a B & B near Gig Harbor the next night so I can fish the salt for sea run cutthroat trout (or coastal cutthroat trout as the renowned expert Les Johnson calls them) in three recommended locations. So watch this space! Having said that my experience of trying to find the access to some of these fishing locations can be challenging (to put it mildly).  This evening I spent a good half hour (actually a bad half hour) driving round Beaver Lake, Sammamish looking for the boat ramp.  The problem is that everyone and their aunt have built houses on the edge of the lake and so you can only get access to the water from the small adjacent park and the boat ramp.  I still haven't found the boat ramp but I did see it across the lake from the park.  I asked a young man bait fishing if he could give me directions to the ramp and it turned out he was from Oxford in the UK!  I also saw swimmers in wet suits in with the trout and large mouth bass.  I would like to fish Beaver Lake from my float tube as I have never caught a fresh water bass but the thought of catching a swimmer instead of a bass is a bit daunting.  Swimmers are far too large for my landing net!  I expect it has to be "catch and release"!  Anyway watch this blog for "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth"!

Rattlesnake Lake, WA, USA: Deep Water Fly Fishing Techniques!

Mark with his truck and "pram"

 

I met a real gent yesterday and he very kindly gave me a “master class” on how to fish the bottom of a deep lake with Buzzers (Chironomidae) using a fly rod.  Mark had responded to my request for guidance on the Washington Fly Fishing Forum and he proved to be a star.  He gave me some buzzer patterns, loaned me a reel with a fast sinking line and gave me one of his special homemade plummet weights.  Now recently Mark had been fishing Rattlesnake Lake regularly and his special method had been delivering the goods big time, which was why he suggested we fished there.

Mark concentrating on catching!

Mark was fishing from his fully equipped 8 foot “pram” and I was in my less fully equipped float tube.  Mark and his pal had developed this particular fishing approach because a bit of arthritis had cramped their casting style and they still wanted to fly fish.  The method was to use a team of two buzzers with a small shot crimped to the leader just above the flies and measure the depth exactly by attaching the plummet to the bottom fly.  Mark had put depth markers on the main line using white nail varnish (his wife’s I hasten to add).  The first thing that rapidly became apparent to me was that you need to be anchored to work this method and keep the flies right down.  Having tried holding position with my fins and failed as it was quite breezy Mark came to the rescue producing a 5lb dumbbell from the bottom of his pram (I said it was “fully equipped”) and I attached that to 45 feet of nylon cord I had brought with me and I used that successfully as an anchor!

Mark gently sucked the stomach contents out of one fish and showed me what they were feeding on.  Buzzers!

Anyway to cut a long story short Mark managed 5 fish and I caught zero.  So how do I explain that?

Well here goes:-

·         Mark had a fish finder

·         Mark’s anchor was a bit longer than mine so he could fish deeper

·         I was using a 6 weight rod and Mark was using a 3 weight set up so his rig was more sensitive than mine

·         Mark really concentrated hard on detecting fishy activity whereas I was distracted by the joy of just being there

·         Mark is well practiced at this method

Mark was disappointed with his 5 as he normally catches shed loads!  Although I was clearly outfished I was delighted with the day for the following reasons:-

1.       I had met a really nice guy

2.       I had been fishing

3.       I had learnt a new technique to try on the deep reservoirs in the UK in the summer when the water warms up and the fish go deep.

4.       I didn’t sink and have to swim and I learnt that I can anchor a float tube and fish provided I have a dumbbell with me.

 

 

And when it was time to go and I got cramp in my right leg (and could only paddle round in circles) Mark came to the rescue and towed me back to the launch ramp!  A real star!

 

Some of the buzzers in the plastic container were still alive, have a look at this short video clip.

 

 

 

 

Now to get on with stripping “popcorn” off of 300 square feet of ceiling!

Fishing Excitement on the Snoqualmie, WA, USA

Having got on well with my chores I finally went fishing today,six days after I arrived.  The chaps on the Washington Fly Fishing Forum had given me lots of useful tips on where to fish and I plan to follow that advice as much as I can.  However, I thought I would make today a practice run and fish somewhere familiar to me, so after I had laid some mortar in a remodeled fireplace I headed up to the Snoqualmie. 

 

I found a promising spot and waded out to a gravel bar that had a perfect seam running along it. Second cast and my copper john was hit by an 8 inch little feller, then I realized that not only had I forgotten my hat but I had also left the camera with my wife who was reading on the bank 50 yards away.  Still I thought there are going to be others to photograph so no problem.  So everything was quiet and peaceful and perfect. 

Then it happened, a helicopter suddenly showed up and started circling right above me, making a hell of a racket (sorry of that is swearing, it isn’t in the UK)!  It was so persistent hovering overhead I started to wonder why it was there.  My guesses were as follows:-

·         Someone knew I had arrived and they wanted to film me fishing

·         The pilot had it in for fishers and he was trying to scare the fish and me

·         A rooky pilot was practicing turns

·        Then I noticed someone standing on the under-carriage skid and I thought I was about
          to see a spectacular suicide attempt.

·        The auto pilot was stuck

Anyway after about an hour I was getting a bit fed up with the noise so as the chopper came round again, I put my hands on my hips and scowled at it.  I was rewarded with it flying off to try and land on the face of the adjacent large mountain (Mount Si of Twin Peaks fame)?

Meanwhile having thought my wife was completely safe round the bend sitting on the gravel bank I found her in the company of two charming Park Rangers dressed in attractive orange waistcoats!  She insisted in having her picture taken with them. 

About this time the helicopter reappeared and the Rangers advised that it belonged to the Sherriff and they tactfully pointed out that it said that clearly on the side.   I expect the Sherriff is a charming helpful person but I could not help the words of a song involving a Sherriff and a Deputy running through my mind.

Armed with the knowledge that my wife was safe in the company of Rangers and with the local Sherriff keeping an eye on her from above I wandered upstream to try and find an undisturbed seam.  At a tempting spot I noticed what looked like several brown torpedo shapes in the current.  Weed?  Logs?  Both seemed unlikely given the speed of the current.  They reminded me of what I had seen a few years ago downstream of the Wallace Hatchery.  My fishing buddy had pointed to them and I in my ignorance said ‘“what are they”?  He replied by catching one and it turned out to be a rather large steelhead!   So I decided to wade out towards the torpedo’s because they just couldn’t be big fish.  As I got about six feet from the nearest torpedo it moved sideways further out by a foot or two!   I walked back to the car and tooled up with a small selection of steelhead flies.  I then proceeded to cast my selection of flies at them from all angles other than the optimum one as there was a large tree/bush in the way.  I tried going up stream through the jungle to the other side of the tree/bush but the bank there was steep and straight into what looked like deep water.  I didn’t want my last glimpse of my wife to be as I drifted downstream to the falls!

Eventually feeling rather tired I gave up but it was a hard decision to make.  The questions are:-

1.       Have I gone mad because of the noise of the helicopter?

2.       Did I really see fish?

3.       Were they steels?

4.       If the answer to 3 is Yes, how should I have tried to catch them?

If you have any suggestions they would be gratefully received.

Embarrassing footnote: A real gent on the Washington Fly Fishing Forum has gently suggested that even steelhead would find jumping the Snoqualmie Falls a bit too demanding.  Blogger has egg on face. So what fish were they?

Bewl Water: Challenging Fishing

 

Back in 2005 I gave a bank fishing lesson to 3 friends from church at Bewl.  Recently one of them called Rowland, having had a look at my blog, called me and said could we fish Bewl together again.  How could I refuse such an appealing suggestion.  I didn't know what to expect, would I be teaching casting again or had Rowland progressed?  I suggested we should use a boat so we were mobile and we fixed a date.  Now the challenge of fixing a date well in advance is that you are at the mercies of the weather. Sadly on this Bank Holiday Monday my prayers for overcast skies and a slight breeze were completely swamped by other prayers for clear skies, brilliant sunshine and a strong breeze. See the picture above.

Anyway Rowland turned up all kitted out with the right gear (see picture above) and advised me how another friend had helped him overcome some shoulder problems by getting serious about fly fishing.  Down on the jetty Bewl's Rob Barden warned me that the fishing would be hard as the water was crystal clear and with the sun beating down the fish were deep.  He advised on techniques and suggested some locations to drift. So off we went at 09:00 with a strong breeze from the south. The map below shows where we fished.

 

Where                                          Results

1. Canoe club corner                   I had a pull but 4 drifts later nothing
2. Monty's to Ferry Point             Saw one fish jump
3. Bewl Straight near FP             Saw one fish caught
4. Off the oaks close to bank      Quiet
5. Rosemary's Lane                    3 boats throwing metal, quiet
6. Tinker's Marsh                        Very quiet (first time I have fished there)
7. Enrance to Tinker's                Quiet but windy
8. Polecat Wood                         Quiet but windy
9. Corner of Bryants Wood         Quiet
10. Below Bewl Cottages             Quiet but windy
11. Top of Hook Straight              4 boats throwing metal, no action
12. In front of Hook House           Saw a fish jump
13. Back at Canoe Club               Rowland took a fish practically out of the bushes, Hurray!!!

So 10 hours on the water and only one fish to show for it.  Still I didn't feel bad about it Rowland had connected right at the end and in the recent International Competition quite a number of fishers had blanked.  We had tried almost everything in terms of lines (floaters, intermediates, di 3 and di 5) and in terms of flies, buzzers, minkies, boobys and even cats whiskers.

On the positive side, the boat and engine were good, the scenery wonderful and the weather, yes the weather was nice for the rest of the occupants of Southern England.

Well done Rowland!

Fly Fisherman has just seen this years FIRST Mayfly!!!

 

Wow, the season is late this year on the Wiltshire Avon.  Last year at this time we were desperately short of water, this year we are desperately short of sun and heat!  Having assisted my son in law with a little paint job I found myself walking towards the banks of the River Avon with condtions over cast and windy.  A fellow angler was walking away from the water and I could tell he was not a "happy bunny".  He said "I am wet and cold and the wind makes casting impossible, no fish are rising, take my advice and go home!"  I thanked him for his advice and agreed it did look unpleasant with grey clouds scudding across the sky.  However, when home is 110 miles away, and the river only 50 yards away you have to have a look.  I had timed it just right, the wind eased, a ray of sunlight hit the water and a fish rose with a splash.  Darn it I was hooked, so I legged it back to the motor and got kitted out ready for action.  Slowly the weather improved and so did my optimism!  The river was high but the water was clear and I could see fish clearly taking nymphs and only occasionally rising to take an emerger.  On the SADAC club waters at this time of the year it is strickly upstream dry fly only.  So I persevered with a selection of dries and emergers.  Why dry fly only I hear you asking?  Well one of the characteristics of English sportsmen (and women) is that we like to create obstacles to make things difficult for ourselves so that if we are finally successful there is an enhanced sense of achievement!  It does seem a bit daft to be fishing on the top when the quarry is dancing around on the bottom.

 

Well to cut to the chase, I saw my first mayflies (green drakes), hooked a couple of nice fish but they ejected the hook before I could bring them to hand (I say hand because I had forgotten my landing net)!  I need to re-read my post dated 30th Jan 13 which advocates using, and details my tackle list!

 

The weather improved and so did the number of rises.  I found I was responding to takes too quickly and pulling the fly out of mouths that were still open.  This is something I have to overcome every year.

 

Highlight was when someone crossing a bridge sprinkled the crumbs from their lunch box on the water, suddenly the water was alive with fish, one or two of which were probably 5lb plus!  A fellow angler cast a fly into the boiling water but the fish were intelligent enough to know the difference between wholemeal bread and fluff a la hook!

 

So the Mayfly have returned.  Sadly I will miss a lot of the Avon action this year as I have two days next week teaching reservoir fly fishing on the drift and then I am off to the States for 6 weeks!  Have rod, will travel, have blog, will post!  Promise!

BEWL WATER FISHERY WEEKLY REPORT week ending: 9th May 2013

Riding the waves at Bewl and picking up fish high in the water. Eye protection off so you can see it is really me!

 

I didn't make it down to Bewl myself this week (I was on the chalk streams see earlier post), but I plan to go in the next few days, so in case you are planning that too here is the latest from Janet in the Fishing Lodge:-

 

"Bright, sunny weather and changes in the wind direction over the Bank Holiday weekend made the fishing harder for a day or two. The fish are moving up and down the water levels with the changing conditions. They are also starting to move away from the banks, therefore more are being caught in open water. Most anglers are using intermediate lines with various teams of flies. This week's rod average was a respectable 3.92. Best areas for boat fishing are still Rosemary Lane, Hook Straight and Chingley. Bank fishing has been best at Rosemary Lane, Ferry Point and Canoe Club Corner.

Successful flies haven't changed much either - Damsels, Cormorants, Buzzers, Cat's Whiskers, Blobs.

Any method anglers have caught mainly on small spinners.

The Anglian Water-Airflo Southern Heat took place at Bewl on Saturday 4th May. 42 anglers caught 210 trout giving a very good rod average of 5. Winners were the Soldier Palmers with 48 fish weighing 125lb 9.5oz, inc. time bonus.

Breakfast is now served everyday from 7.30 am in The Waterside Restaurant in the visitor centre.

A FINAL REMINDER THAT THERE ARE NO BOATS AVAILABLE ON MAY 15TH, 16TH AND 17TH.

Water Temperature is 11.7degC and water level 99%."

 

Final tip from me:  At Bewl right in the middle of the reservoir there is a floating weather station that produces data that the weathermen (and ladies) interprete to predict the future weather.  Anyone can access these predictions by going to:-

 http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=309&sty=m_menu and selecting Bewl Valley Sailing Club.  There you can get predicted wind speed and direction, gust speeds, temperatures, precipitation etc.  You can also look at a web cam.  I have always found the predictions pretty accurate and very helpful.

 

Here's wishing you "tight lines".