Nicholas S

This may have been mentioned before but I thought I would post it to raise awareness of what seems to be an atrocious and unsustainable practise: http://www.fishfight.net/

After another wash-off on the Wye I decided to go through with my planned fishing weekend in Wales and instead fish one of the Wye’s main tributaries, the Irfon, well noted for the quality of its Grayling. With that in mind I set off slightly later than intended on Saturday morning. It took a while to get to the river and by the time I had gone through the formalities of purchasing a ticket and tackling up I only had a few hours left to fish. The conditions looked good but the clear water, gusting wind and masses of leaves made it a little tricky. I think I managed about 6 Grayling and 1 small WBT, nothing big but it was good to get a feel for the river and get used to the rather brutal wading. Camped on Sat night and had an early start on another beat further up the Irfon the next day. As I walked to the river I was greeted by the glorious site of the Irfon valley in all its glory, the river snaking along the bottom of it and the welsh hills overlooking it, it was absolutely stunning. Started in the most perfect ‘Short Nymphing’ run and had a small Grayling virtually first cast, a good start! Made my way upstream and as my flies started to rise over a likely looking deep hole it got taken by a significant fish. In the fast water I felt totally powerless and I was gutted when the hook pulled, good fish lost. Virtually next cast and it was deja vu, another big fish and this time dropper went, really dissapointed now! After all that commotion I wasn't expecting another fish but this time in exactly the same scenario I thought I detected the merest hint of a take and struck early to find some resistance. This one didn't feel as big as the others and after a good scrap I netted a very large Grayling (for me)! Quickly weighed in the net the scales were flickering between 2lb and 1lb15z so being conservative I called it 1lb15oz, a new pb, very happy! Hate to think how big the other two I lost were! After releasing that fish (actually it released itself as I tried to take a picture of it!) I had yet another go in the same spot and unbelievably hooked another big Grayling which much to my dismay also came off, oh well, one for next time! As the day brightened the fishing got harder, final tally was 12 Grayling and 2 out of season WBT. I was also treated to the amazing sight of a large Otter right in front of me. Spotted it on the bank whilst I was standing mid river, it slipped into the water and proceeded to have a little swim in my pool before heading off downriver. I just stood and watched in awe, an amazing sight. Unsurprisingly I didn't catch anything in that pool though!

NO! The Trout that live in the stretches of the Kennet and Lambourn that you fish are not stocked and are not that numerous. Although they are not hard to catch with bait this is more to do with them being aggressive feeders with a soft spot for most bait rather than there being an abundance of Trout. Trout can be attracted from a considerable distance by feeding bread/maggots/corn etc. Their existence is already in the balance in areas of the river that area effectively dominated by coarse fish and face a lot of pressure, particularly from the 'locals' on the Lambourn. If everyone decided to take the odd one home I don't think it would take very long before the population was significantly reduced. Taking the odd BT for the pot from a wild Scottish loch is fine as these tend to support an abundance of Trout and are usually quite remote/inaccessible. If you want to restore your faith in eating Trout then take your fly rod with you on your next trip to Scotland and have a go for some of the wild loch BT or for some of the stocked Trout in the upper reaches of the Kennet!

Most of the silver fish fish were pretty small - i.e less than 0.5lb. I've never managed to catch any specimen size silver fish from the Thames (with the possible exception of Dace which I've probably caught to around 7oz max) although I'm sure they are there.

A great weekend spent fishing the Thames with Alan and his dad Trevor. Saturday was spent at Trevor’s secret location, a beautiful spot that gave us an appetiser for the sort of fish it can turn up on my last visit (see 29-30/08/2010) but sadly that time we were left empty handed. This time we had decided to adopt a more relaxed approach and feeder fish through the day hoping to build the swim up for Bream and possibly Chub and Barbel later in the day/night. The feeder fishing was excellent with both of us catching plenty of silver fish to a good size including a bonus Rudd for me which I was particularly chuffed with, haven’t caught a Rudd for ages! As night fell the Bream moved in and although we weren’t catching the numbers that you might associate with the Thames I was more than happy to finish the night with 5. Surprisingly Trevor and Alan both blanked claiming that I had the best swim! Not sure about that but it’s always satisfying when a plan comes to fruition. Sunday turned out to be a pretty miserable day with rain and strong winds making the thought of staying warm and toasty indoors seem very appealing! We eventually decided to brave it and to use up the leftover bait feeder fishing opposite where Trevor was moored up. Similar to Saturday we were catching plenty of silver fish with some excellent Dace thrown in. The final excitement of the day came right at the end when we managed to catch a cheeky Pike that had repeatedly snatched our fish as we were reeling them in! A trotted live bait quickly grabbed his attention and after a spirited fight we netted a nice fish of around 7lbs. I seem to have a habit of attracting Pike whenever I fish on the Thames, I think the next time I might have to try to target them specifically!

Many thanks for the kind comments guys, it was an amazing few days fishing. Alan, I think you're right, a few of the fish had red vent syndrome. Sometimes it is hard to tell because they can get an inflamed vent when they are digging their redds but I think the final fish I caught did have it. Rusty, haven't been to the River Glass but it's not too far from the Alness, the scenery up there really is stunning as you say. If I were you I would try and squeeze in a few days fishing on your next business trip!

Three days Salmon fishing with family on the River Alness in the Scottish Highlands. Salmon have proved to be a bit of an enigma for me. Unfortunately I don’t get the opportunity to fish for them very often but when I do it seems like I have been beset by bad lack with only tales of lost fish to take away with me. Usually the fishing is very hard due to low water and on a spate river like the Alness having enough water on the gauge is everything. This year however was different, for the first time there was water, a lot of water in fact, and to improve things further, plenty of Salmon had been caught in the couple of days before we arrived. As such I was positively brimming with excitement and felt that surely this was going to be the time I would finally break my Salmon duck! Day one was difficult. Rain the night before had put the river in spate and although a surprising number of fish were caught during the day, none came to my rod. Day two and the river was beginning to drop to what I had been promised was a perfect level. By lunch I was still fishless but after some barbequed sustenance I fished one of the most productive pools on the beat. As I made my way down to the tail of the pool I had a confident pull and was soon playing and netting my first Salmon! Ok it was pretty small, coloured and probably a Kelt (around the 3lb mark) but it didn’t matter, I was over the moon and after a quick pic, slipped her back to continue her amazing journey. Remarkably the fishing just got better and better with another slightly larger fish falling to my rod in the next pool I fished, talk about a change in fortunes! On the final day I woke up early and got to the river soon after first light. After making my way down a large pool I was feeling quietly confident but was still shocked when a fish aggressively took my fly almost the instant it landed in the water. It was again slightly larger than the other two, probably nearly 5lb and also quite coloured, normal given that it was the end of the season. The day turned out to be bright and sunny and I suspected that the fishing would get harder. Not that I was fussed, three fish in such a short space of time was unprecedented and I was in seventh heaven! However, there was one final surprise left in store. I was making my way down a long and deep pool beneath a road bridge. There were plenty of fish moving but as I neared the tail of the pool nothing had taken an interest in my fly. Having covered what looked like the prime bit of water I was tempted to head back for lunch mindful of the fact I was running late (as usual)! Luckily I decided to fish it right to the end and after placing my fly under overhanging trees as close to the far bank as I dared I had a strong pull and was playing what felt like a better fish. It was really fighting hard in the fast current and I was struggling to get much control on it. Instead of pulling the fish upstream against the current I waded down so I was parallel with it. The fish wasn’t far from me at this point and it was both exhilarating and frightening being able to see fish swimming just out of reach of my net. This fish was clearly much fresher and was fighting like you would expect a Salmon to. After what seemed like an eternity I eventually managed to net the fish much to my relief, I will admit I let out quite a large whoop of excitement! It was my final fish and was quite fresh run and silvery weighing just over 5lb. It was a special moment holding it in the water whilst it regained its strength, one of many special moments in what had turned out to be an extraordinary few days salmon fishing.

After getting a taster for fishing in Wales the previous weekend (See September 12) I decided to make a weekend of it and invite my friend Alan over to join me on a trip that I had been excitedly looking forward to all week. Early Saturday morning I picked up Alan from the train station and before long we were making our way to the river. I decided that we should try a stretch upstream of where I had fished the week before and one that I had heard was particularly nice. The river here is especially varied with deep slower sections interspersed with fast riffled water. Conditions were ideal and with a few fish rising Alan stuck to fishing the dry fly for most of the day and doing very well catching some lovely WBT steadily throughout the day. The Grayling proved a little harder to trick into taking a dry and repeatedly left us very frustrated! I was trying out a new rod which is too long for the small streams I fish around Bath and I was looking forward to putting it through its paces on a larger river. It’s suited to fishing with heavy nymphs so whilst Alan scoured the top of the water for rising fish I explored the deeper faster water. With so much water to go out two fisherman can comfortably fish side by side without interfering with each other or spooking the fish. The fishing was once again quite challenging but we caught relatively steadily throughout the day thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to fish a prime stretch of this lovely River. The final fish of the day was the most special – I had casually cast into a particularly non-descript piece of water only to get an immediate bite from what turned out to be a cracking Grayling of 1lb11oz, equal pb! Final tally for the day was 9 Grayling and 4 WBT. I’m still getting familiar with the Monnow and particularly with fishing on a large river. However it’s exciting stuff with the constant thought that your next fish could be something really special. After a hearty pub dinner we camped the night and woke up at the crack of dawn to have a go at a tributary of the Monnow; the River Honddu. I had heard great reports about the recent fishing on this picturesque mountain stream and waking up so early was for once not arduous in the slightest. The river is situated in the most spectacular surroundings right on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. It is an archetypal mountain stream running fast of the Beacons tumbling and gurgling its way all the way into the Monnow – not something either of us were used to but with so many ‘fishy’ holes it was difficult to show restraint as we walked down river to the downstream extent of the fishing rights. The day turned out to be surprisingly tough with the odd deeper bend yielding a couple of fish but with large sections of faster water producing nothing despite there obviously being fish in residence. Fishing very fast riffled shallower water is difficult and I have subsequently learn that success lies in being very selective in your casting, only picking out the minute areas where the flow is reduced and as such a fish is likely to be holding station. However, it was a brilliant days fishing in truly spectacular surroundings and on a river that changes its character constantly. I think I ended the day with around 15WBT to around 12 inches.

Cheers Rusty. The Monnow is a lovely river. I also enjoy trotting for Grayling but I have to say in my opinion it's more enjoyable catching them on the fly, the fight is certainly more exciting.

A pleasant but all too short evening session back on the Wellow. Haven’t fished the stretch since July so it was nice to be back. Managed to winkle out a couple of lovely small WBT and lost a few more. Sadly the nights are definitely drawing in and after work fishing sessions are particularly limited.

Wow that's an enormous Brownie! Mind if I ask where it was caught Jim? N

Do you mean phallus by any chance?! N

The following day I made a slightly mad and last minute decision to drive over to Wales and fish the Monnow for the day. I had been mulling over a trip across the border to sample Wale’s delightful river fishing for a while and finally decided that today was the day. Two hours of driving later (it should have been considerably less but I took a ridiculous countryside ‘short-cut’ which turned out to be a huge mistake) and I had arrived at the Monnow and boy was I excited! The river looked slightly high with a tinge of colour but still fishable. Without having any prior knowledge on the fishing I decided to take a gamble and start right in front of where I had parked and work my way upstream. The Monnow is a lovely river and considerably larger than the small streams that I frequent around Bath. This made it harder to deduce where the fish were likely to be lying and with no obvious surface activity I plumped for a couple of nymphs. It took me a while to get off the mark but soon enough I was into my first Monnow fish, a lovely Grayling probably just under half a pound. I continued making my way upstream picking off the odd fish here and there until I came across a long riffled section of deep powerful water that just screamed Grayling. Working my way up the far bank and fishing into the deeper water I was finding it difficult to get a bite. However, after changing one fly to a very heavy pink shrimp I had a ferocious bite and it was into a fish and that was really pulling hard in the fast water. The only way I could get a semblance of control was by lowering my rod tip into the water and attempting to gently ease the fish upstream and into the slower paced margins. Eventually I was beginning to gain the upper hand and slipped my net under a pristine Grayling that was just over 1.5lb. It wasn’t as large as I was anticipating but it had put up a magnificent fight in the fast water and I was really pleased to have got it in to the net. By now the day was getting on so with miles of river still un-fished I decided to wonder upstream until I came across a nice looking stretch and then hopefully fish the evening rise. Well, the evening rise did happen but it was almost dark by that time and despite numerous Grayling rising repeatedly I couldn’t connect with a single one! It was a slightly frustrating end to the day but I had had an fantastic time on a new river learning a lot along the way.

Yep I definitely wouldn't use them for spodding! Budgie has described some of the many faults of fused braids. The low shock resistance thing was a nightmare when I used to use it for lure fishing - the line would tangle as the lure was airborne, then jam in the reel and ping, there goes a nice £10 rapala!! Completely maddening!! You can buy powerpro very cheaply on eBay. Otherwise this website is good: http://www.fishingtackle-online.co.uk/powerpro-red-c-76.html

Unfortunately you are not allowed to fly fish for the Grayling on the coarse fishing ticket as far as I am aware. Not so sure about fly fishing for Pike however, I think that may be an exception! N

Fireline has a definite tendency to start fraying and going furry after a very small amount of use. It was the first braid I tried (for lure fishing) and after getting fed up with tangles and the line snapping randomly I gave up on the stuff and switched to Powerpro. The difference in quality was quite an eye opener - it's a bit like upgrading your VHS to DVD! For trotting I didn't want to go through the same experience that I had with Fireline and discovered PowerPro red in 8lb bs. It's not perfect (as Rusty has indicated) but I rate it very highly and personally haven't had the same problems that Rusty has had although I haven't used it in the freezing cold yet. I would suggest that you give it a go, if you don't get on with it on the pin then you can always transfer it and use it for feeder fishing which it is brilliant for - infinitely better than so called 'feeder braid'. N

A short afternoon trip to the LRA. Despite fishing the same stretch that has been so successful on my previous trip (see September 04), the fishing on this occasion was noticeably harder. I ended up with only 1 WBT, 10 Grayling to around 1lb, 1 Roach and 1 Minnow, still an enjoyable day but certainly more challenging that my previous trip.

Can't really see how these would be of any benefit when wading as surely they only prevent the cold coming through the soles of your boots and when your wading its cold all over your boot! N

This was a day I had been looking forward to for a while...a chance to fish the River Test in season and on one of the most famous Estates that line its illustrious and manicured banks. On this occasion I would be restricted to fishing the main carrier but just getting the opportunity to fish an arm of the Test was very special and after a sleepless night I woke up at the crack of dawn aiming to get down there for first light and take advantage of the prime fishing time. Upon arrival I excitedly tackled up and peered into the clear water of the carrier stream picking out some hefty Brownies. I decided to start with a caddis pattern and sure enough after a couple of casts a large Brownie turned around and almost sucked it off the surface – heart stopping stuff when you can see every move the fish makes! Once the sun began to rise the fishing got considerably harder with the fish frequently spooking despite my best efforts to remain as quiet and stealthy as possible. At times it was frustrating to see your target shoot off before you had even had a chance to cast a fly to it. Equally so when every offering you put in front of the fish was steadfastly refused! However, none of that served in the slightest to detract from the pristine aquatic environment and bucolic surroundings. By midday I had caught 4 superbly conditioned Brown Trout. At lunch I met up with the river keeper who kindly drove me around the Estate whilst I peppered him with overenthusiastic questions and ogled at the main river which snaked serenely through the grounds. The afternoon proved to be even more difficult with the light dropping behind me I stood out like a sore thumb. With miles of river still to fish I decided to explore the rest of the carrier dropping into any likely looking spots. Dispite my best attempts the afternoon only yielded one more Brown Trout bringing my sum total to 5 which on reflection I was pretty pleased with. Surprisingly I only saw one Grayling. I had been hoping for a crack at the Test’s renowned large Grayling but I guess that will have to wait until I get an opportunity to fish the main stem. All in all it was a brilliant day fishing on a very special river.

Nicely done Chris, would like to see a pic of those big Dace! N

The following day after my bumper session on the LRA I had a relaxed days fishing on Blagdon Reservoir with my flatmate and fishing partner James. It was my first time on a still water for a while but I was looking forward to a change of scenery. We had agreed that we would have a friendly match between the two of us but the day started slowly with neither of us registering so much as a pull for the first hour or so. However a change of location reaped instant rewards with both of us into a fish virtually at the same time! It appeared that we were over a large shoal of fish as the fishing was at times almost too easy with fish after fish coming to the boat. However as quickly as it started it stopped with the shoal seemingly moved on. The rest of the day was a case of motoring around and having a few casts to see if you were covering a shoal. However, after that initial bonanza the fishing was slightly patchy but nonetheless very enjoyable and more challenging than earlier in the day. Eventually the match ended at 6 all, probably a fair result! It was one of the best days fishing either of us had had on Blagdon and was a very enjoyable end to my season on the still waters.

An afternoons fishing on the LRA turned out to be my best ever session there and one of the best days fly fishing that I have ever had. It was just one of those days when everything seemed to click into place and to help matters the fish seemed more than willing to cooperate! I ended up with 22 Grayling, 10 WBT, 1 Roach and a Minnow. The Grayling were noticeably feeding harder now the Summer was coming to an end. I usually struggle in the slower sections of the river but I found that if I sped up the nymphs you could often ‘induce’ a take. It was really exhilarating to watch the Grayling come up and take the fly very aggressively. The final fish of the day was the most special. The light had begun to drop and I hoping to get one more fish before calling it a day I made my way up river to a productive spot. Sure enough there was a fish confidently rising. After creeping up on him practically on all fours I managed to entice him to take the fly on my second cast. A short but spirited fight ensued before I slipped the net under my second largest LRA WBT, 1.5lbs. It was a brilliant days fishing capped off by a superb fish.

A short evening session after work with Vince on his syndicated stretch of the Wellow. It was a new stretch for me but Vince had fished it a few times before and as time was short, guided us both towards the more productive pools. The fishing turned out to be pretty tough with no rising fish spotted. As such we stuck to nymphs but after catching a small WBT in the first pool we came to, it was hard going thereafter. However, as the light drew in Vince suggested we make our way to a particularly productive deep mini weir pool which he had had his best Wellow Trout from on a previous visit. It didn’t disappoint with three more lovely small WBT falling to our nymphs as the light all but went.

A very pleasant evening spent on the Box Brook. This was my first visit to the BB for a few months but after the recent rain I decided that now was the perfect time to reacquaint myself with the place. I decided initially to explore slightly further downstream from where I usually fish but despite some lovely looking runs and pools I only managed one small WBT. As the light began to fade I ventured back up to fish the stretch I am familiar with and managed three more lovely WBT with a few more nearly hooked after changing to a dry fly.

A weekend back in my home town fishing with friends. Saturday was spent on the punt with Alan and his Dad (Trevor). The river was slightly up and coloured and Alan decided to go for the Barbel straight away, usually a slightly hit and miss affair during the day. However, within 10 minutes he had had a confident bite and was into what turned out to be a small Barbel around 2lb. We spent the rest of the day catching small stuff with a sleeper rod left out in the hope of a bonus Barbel or Chub. As it turned out the Barbel and Chub were proving elusive but we did catch plenty of Dace, Bleak (too many!) and the odd Roach. After popping home for dinner I returned with another fishing pal (Michael) and we met Trevor by the river with the plan to fish off an island into the night. I had heard plenty of stories about this stretch of the Thames from Alan and Trevor and was eager to see what all the fuss was about! The setting certainly didn’t disappoint; it was a stunning stretch of the Thames with plenty of features and a seemingly endless number of ‘fishy’ spots that I was eying up for future visits! The fishing itself was slightly patchy – a few hours into the night we had had only two small Chub to show between the four of us and were wondering whether it was going to be a quiet night when Michael had a run on his rod. This was obviously a much better fish and after initially weeding him, seemed to swim straight towards us. Unfortunately that was the end of the excitement, for some inexplicable reason Michael’s line went slack and after reeling in the line was clean cut above the feeder. It was very mysterious and frustrating, for all of us! We spent the rest of the night fishless deliberating what could have happened and what the fish could have been. Pike attacking the feeder, line cut on the gravel, I guess we’ll never know but it seemed like a good fish and goes down as another story of the one that got away... On Sunday we opted for a change of scenery and went towards Newbury to fish Wylies Lake hoping for a Tench. This was my first time specifically targeting Tench so I wasn’t too confident but was looking forward to hopefully getting some fizzing around my float. Unfortunately despite baiting up a few likely looking spots only Trevor could get the Tench fizzing in earnest in his swim and he did well to land a lovely fish around 4lb losing another late in the day. It’s a lovely lake in the most improbable location (next to a bowling alley) but it certainly has some good Tench and I think I will have to have another crack at it in the spring when the Tench are perhaps a little more willing to feed.