Chew Valley Lake

 The last 2 weeks have been pretty hectic.  First I guided each day on Chew and then filmed a "special" on Chew with Keith Arthur and the Sky TV cameras for Tight Lines.
We started off the day fishing for trout and had some cracking rainbows to over 4lbs - with Keith taking the best on a floating line with a Diawl Bach Nymph.
Then we had a go for the pike and both of us had one pretty quickly, but as the day went on, the rain got heavier and heavier.  We were about to call it a day when we landed a beauty - but you'll have to wait until Friday 5th July to see the action on Sky's Tight Lines when I am joining Keith in the Bothy for a "Chew Special" programme.

Ireland and Lough Derg

The very next day I caught the ferry from Liverpool to Dublin and then drove the 3 hours route down to Portumna and the mighty Lough Derg.  At 29 miles long, this is a brute of a lough, but full of fish.  We were filming for the Irish Tourist Board and along with top matchman Baz Simth, we landed over 200lbs of quality roach, bream and roach/bream hybrids over the two day-sessions.

I also lure fished for pike and along with top Irish Guide Dave Harris, we landed plenty of fish with 3 decent doubles and a couple of big fish lost upon the way.

There were also lots of mayfly coming off and I had a few chances at the big brownies, but sadly blew my chances when I was broken twice and then missed the best take of the day by striking too quickly - BAD ANGLING!!!!!

Back to Chew

Lexus Heat on Blagdon

Today I held the first ever Lexus Individual Heat on Blagdon and it was a raging success.  In the sell-out Floating Lines Only Heat, the average catch per rod was 8.5, with an amazing average weight of 2lbs 11ozs.

Top rod was Mark Stevens, who qualified for the Grand Final at Chew in September and won an emboidered Greys jacket and a pair of Ugly Fish Sunglasses.  The other qualifiers, who all won Greys reels were John Piper, Wayne Aitken, Jim Purvis, Mark Thomas, Alex Johnstone, Steve Ebdon and John Glanfield.

 Well, we all know it's been another freezing cold week.  I fished today and it was officially the COLDEST APRIL DAY IN 60 YEARS!!! And it felt like it too.

Yesterday I guided John Synnuck and Neil Leaver on Chew in similar North Easterly winds, gusting at times to around 20 mph.  But the main difference was the sun - it shone all day and took the chill out of the normal wind chill factor.

North Shore, False Island and Denny Island have been the best areas, but the strong, biting cold East to North East winds have stopped anyone-  with any sense-  fishing anywhere but at the top of the wind.  So in effect, 90% of Chew Valley lake hasnt seen a fly this season!

John and Neil caught 12 rainbows weighing 33lbs, including 1 overwintered fish.  All had daphnia in them apart from the grown-on fish which had Hoglice and a few Shrimp.  Black Lures, Black Boobies and Coral Boobies fished on either Floating or DI5 Lines took most of the fish.

On Tuesday I fished with Bryan Brown and we had 8 trout apiece, including my best of the season at 6lbs 4ozs - another overwintered fish.  Once again, that fish had been feasting on Hoglice and Shrimp, whereas the others had daphnia and all took Black Lures or Black Diawl Bach Nymphs.

I've recently been putting my new Hardy Ultralite CLS Reels through their paces - and the new locking system for the spare spools.  They are fantastic and a big improvement on my old Demon Reels - and they were damned good!

It looks like the winds will be dropping on Saturday and over the weekend, but next week will start cold and get warmer as the week progresses - which will then turn wet!  I hope not.

Lexus Heat at Rutland

On Sunday I am running the first Lexus Individual Heat at Rutland Water - PLACES ARE STILL AVAILABLE - Email lexus@johnhorsey.co.uk to book a place.

The Team Heat is on Monday at Rutland and you can still enter a team of 6 anglers.  Simply email the above address.

 The 2013 season is just a few days away when Chew Valley Lake will open for the Spring Session of Pike Trials.
Thanks to constant rain and recent snow melt, both Chew and Blagdon are still overflowing.  Due to the increased water coming into the lakes, the colour of the water is dirty near to the inlets.  Recent heavy winds have also stirred the water up, but today it is calm and most of that sediment will fine down and clear. 

The dirtiest parts of Chew are in the "out of bounds" areas and the majority of the lake is easily fishable.  What we do not want is more windy weather, so its "fingers crossed" for some settled conditions.

A few years ago I fished a Spring Trials when the whole of Chew was chocolate brown.  You could put your hand into the water and not see your finger tips - it was that coloured!  Amazingly, that was one of my best trials ever for lure fishing.  The majority of boats were doing what they normally do - anchor-up and watch floats all day.  But I watched Bob Jones and Pete Climo as they fished lures on the drift and land a couple of crackers early doors, so decided to copy their lure fishing tactic - and boy did it work!  You could'nt fish those lures fast enough as the pike were whipped into a frenzy by the vibration of the lures.

Lets hope that these trials are productive - I really enjoyed the Autumn Trials, especially when my client Peter Mersh got the best fish of those sessions at 35lbs 5ozs!
Some people were having the usual moan as it was a bit harder than usual, but hey, what do they expect?  It cant be easy all the time and Chew being full to overflowing for most of the season is something none of us have ever witnessed.

I am expecting the pike to be well spread at the moment, as there is water in some of the margins that has never reached there before!  It should be a great season for both trout and pike and I for one cannot wait to get cracking again.

Tight Lines for 2013!

I normally don't update my Blog so frequently, but feel I need to keep the info flowing about Chew Valley's incredible trout fishing.
Normally by mid November, the trout fishing has died a death on Chew, but not this year.
Yesterday I fished with Tony Ling, who has an enviable record of catching trout over 5lbs in all of his last 6 visits to Chew this season - and yesterday he kept the record going with another fin perfect 5lb rainbow - see pic.

We fished lots of areas yesterday, from Herons Green, to Moreton Point, through the False island, along east Shore and around the back of Denny Island.  We had takes or caught fish in just about every location - but we tended to drift close to the shore or along reed beds.

The trout are still feeding like crazy and the marrowspoons revealed daphnia, hoglice and shrimp in big numbers.  Although Minkies, Black Lures and large Minkie Boobies are taking the majority of the fish, I used a standard floating line for long periods yesterday with a team of 4 Diawl bachs and Crunchers.  I hooked 6 fish, lost 3 and landed 3 and my best fish of 4lbs took the point fly Cruncher.

Chew is open until 30th November and boats are available most days - BUT DO RING THE LODGE FIRST ON 01275 332339 TO CHECK ON AVAILABILITY.

Mark Thomas and Ceri Sweeny came across from Wales today and landed 24 trout in an action packed day.  They mainly fished behind the Island near to Hollowbrook and the East Shore using Slime Lines and Black Lures.

FUR & FEATHER MATCH ON 24TH NOVEMBER

Bristol Reservoirs Fly Fishers Association have organised an end of season friendly competition at Chew Valley on 24th November.  It will be fished to Fishery Rules and you can choose your own boat partner.

There is no Entry Fee and top prize is a Turkey - ready and waiting for you for Christmas Day.  There will also be plenty of other prizes.

This is a great opportunity to spend one last day on Chew Valley chasing the massive rainbows that are feeding all over the lake and also a perfect way to end the season.

To enter, simply email the BRFFA Secretary Martin Cottis on martin@troutguide.co.uk

ENTRIES NEED TO BE MADE BEFORE 18TH NOVEMBER TO CONFIRM YOUR PLACE.