Latest Fishing News and Action from Bewl Water

My old fishing pal Richard suggested we fished Bewl together today, so how could I refuse having remembered how well it fished this time last year.  He kindly offered to provide the transport so we had a good catch up chat on the way down. 

The great thing about fishing with Richard is that he just loves being there and doesn't complain if he is not catching.  The challenging thing, for me, is that he sometimes out fishes me!

 

In preparation for the trip I had read the latest fishing report from Janet in the Fishing Lodge.  Here it is:-

Fishing has been a bit more difficult this week . Very strong winds and heavy rain have made conditions on the water uncomfortable.  However, rod average for the week still a reasonable 2.34.

The fish have remained in the top 1-2 feet of the water. Best areas for boats have been Chingley, the Main Bowl and Hook Straight and for bank fishing have been Bramble Point, Ferry Point, Ward's Lane and Chingley. Successful flies are again Minkies, Minky Boobies, Cormorants and Daddies. (We have sold out of all Minkies and Minky Boobies in the Bewl Fishing Lodge).  Vince Brooks' Annual Charity Competition took place on Saturday in high winds. 83 anglers caught 168 trout giving a rod average of 2.02. The winner was Keith Lawrence with 7 fish weighing 13lb 1oz.  £1,307 was raised

for Fishing For Forces.  Boat fishing runs to end of November but part of fleet is now off the water for winter maintenance so a reduced number are available. To avoid disappointment and a wasted journey, prior booking, especially at weekends, is strongly advised. Lodge open through November 0830-1030 only.

So I imagined the fishing would be a bit challenging, but having been briefed on a few tips by my personal Bewl mentor (RB) I switched to fishing a minky booby and a couple of black hoppers on droppers using a 6lb leader.  I was still tying on my droppers when there was a tremendous splash and Richard was into his first fish.  Sadly after a brief encounter it shot away to live for another day.  Shortly after that I took a fish on the minky booby and having played it very carefully coaxed it into the net.  It's rainbow colours were stunning.  We motored the boat round to drift over the same spot.  I like to drift from a known position, usually a buoy, so if I find fish I can repeat the drift and hopefully find them again.

 

I then experienced a savage take, so savage that the line parted at one of the dropper knots and I said farewell to fish and most of the leader!  Fortunately I had used the dodge mentioned in a recent Bewl Angle Magazine and brought with me some fresh leaders, complete with flies, carefully wrapped around a length of foam pipe insulation as shown.  Well actually not as shown because I used the flies and leader!

 

 

Within a minute or two I was back in action.  We both rose several more fish and had "takes" but we did not hook up and then the breeze dropped and the surface activity stopped.  We did all the usual things, changed location, Richard used an intermediate line with lures and all the time we were watching the other boats.  Then we did a bit of a tour, got drenched by the odd shower and even tried the dam where the waves were a bit uncomfortable.  Finally we went back to where we had started and as the sun dropped towards the horizon the fish started to move again and we had some swirls and follows.  Sadly we had to be off the water by 3.30pm as we are now on GMT and it gets dark quite early.

 

Walking back to the car we chatted to another boat fisher, who said in the afternoon he had seen 15 fish showing on the top.  Using a single sparkling booby on a 15 foot leader he had managed to catch 5 of them!  So obviously Richard and I just need more practice!

 

Osprey seen at Bewl Water?

See the osprey top right. We do get ospreys at Bewl Water as they migrate through but I must own up to the fact that I scanned this picture from the front of the latest Bewl Angle magazine.  Ray French, the editor, always manages to photoshop in an osprey in somewhere on the front cover of the magazine.  I must confess that he had me fooled the first time I saw it.

 

On a more helpful note here is the latest fishing report.  Please note that boats will be available for use on the water till late November.

BEWL WATER FISHERY WEEKLY REPORT week ending:  10-Oct-13

The good fishing has continued for another week. Conditions haven't really changed since last week. The fish are still high in the water but do need a bit of work to catch them at times. This week's rod average is a very good 3.99 and average fish weight up to 2lbs 2ozs.

Best areas for boats - from the dam across the Main Bowl and into Hook Straight . The cages and further down Hook Straight. Bank anglers are catching well from the dam wall. There are also plenty of fish at Chingley and Bramble Point which are starting to come in closer as the water cools.

Successful flies have been Minkies, Minky Boobies, Sparkler Boobies , Cormorants and Hoppers. All fished on a floating line.

Request from Vince Brooks: Please could anyone wishing to take part in Vince's Annual Boss's Day Charity Competition on 26th October, and hasn't yet done so, please give him a ring on 07955 174210, so that he has a reasonably clear idea of numbers.

Water temperature 14degC - water level (now falling quite quickly) 65%

I like to fish Bewl this time of year when the fish are on the top and hunting the fry, but I will have to wait as I am off now to a La Gomera a small unspoilt island in the Canarys.  If I get a chance to fish I will give you the full report.

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.

 

Fly Fisher Back at Bewl Water and some thoughts on tying knots

So to celebrate BT finally getting my Broadband back up and working I decided I needed to check on the trout fishing at Bewl Water personally. I shelled out on an eight fish ticket and an evening boat (£40, say $60).  Spoke to Rob Nixon on the jetty who said try the area near the dam.  It was 3.30pm before I started fishing but it was over cast with a nice breeze producing a ripple and I could see fish moving on the top.  I had a floating line with a long leader and a team of three flies.  Small booby on the point, hopper on the middle dropper and a daddy (crane fly) on the top dropper.  I had put the small white booby on because in the August Issue of the Bewl Angle, the Editor, Ray French had mentioned in one of his brillant articles that competition anglers were finding them very effective.  Well my third cast proved that to be true as the booby disapeared in a splash and I knew I was into a good fish.  It rapidly stripped loose line back onto the reel and then went seaching the depths.  Eventually I got it to the top and was glad I had my long handled landing net with me.

As you can see it was a lovely 3lb blue trout, in tip top condition.  Sadly he had destroyed my one and only small booby, but I solved that problem by taking my scissors to a larger booby, snipping away at the boobs!

 

It was half an hour later before I hooked my second fish, a 2lb rainbow also on the booby.  Then the sun came out and the wind veered and things went quieter.  There was still the odd fish showing, sometimes right next to the boat, when my flies were 30 yards away!  Eventually, and rather belatedly, I decided to fish sub surface and put a cats whisker on the point but I did not get any further action and time ran out.  I also got rather cold. I am a fool, I know it is always worth wearing plenty of layers when you out on the water.  So now as I write this I am developing a sore throat!  Still it was great to be out on the water and feeling a couple of good fish pulling a bend into the rod.  I shall be back for more as the autumnal sport hots up.

 

Footnote:  As I get older I find my fingers seem thicker and my eyesight dimmer.  This makes tying knots more challenging especially with the fine tippets I use on the streams.  This summer, I saw Rowland, one of my former fly fishing pupils, quickly tie a knot using a pair of small long nose pliers.  This reminded me that I had inherited from my American stepfather an old original Orvis Cinch Tie (a rather clever knot tier). See picture.

 

I checked the Orvis catalogue and they show a different version called a "Winder" which comes with a DVD presumably to show you how to use it.  It is priced at £22.50. Remember time spent messing about with knots means less time that your flies are doing what they are meant to be doing i.e. attracting and connecting with fish!