John Horsey Fly Fishing Web Log

John's Fishing Blog

Amazing sport on Chew & Blagdon

 The opening few weeks of the fly fishing season on the Bristol Waters has been nothing short of amazing!  Buzzers have hatched in their millions on sometimes the coldest of days and the trout have gorged themselves on them.

For the last 2 days I have fished Blagdon then Chew with Trout Fisherman Magazine taking photo's for articles.  I also worked with Guido Vinck and Bruno Chermanne from Belgium last week along with Tony Donnelly doing pics for a Belgian Magazine called Le Pecheur Belge.  Each day was incredibly productive and we landed rainbows of up to 7lbs and browns to 4lbs.

When the cold winds drop, dry fly tactics or floater/midge tip lines with nymphs are the best methods, but when it gets cold and windy, nothing seems to beat a DI5 with a combo of Booby, nymph and Blob.  However, I have not yet had the need to fish the flies fast - a steady figure of eight seems to work much better.

Pike on the fly

The pike have now definitely spawned and some days the sport is very good.  Locating the pike has been tricky at times so I have used plenty of petrol looking for good areas.  The water temperature at the moment is around 13 degrees C and this time last year it was a mere 4 degrees C!  That was a cold Spring.

On Good Friday I had my first 30lb pike of the new season - 30:04 to be exact.  And it was a cracker of a fish - one of the deepest pike I have ever caught on Chew.

As usual at this time of the year, several very big pike have been caught by trout anglers using Black Boobies.  I weighed a 21:08 pike on the weekend caught by visiting angler Graham Bodsworth hooked fair and square in the top of the mouth on a size 12 Black Buzzer!

My 7lb Chew Rainbow
Tony Donnelly with a cracking Chew brownie
John Horsey's 30lb 4oz Chew Pike

Chew starts with a bang!

Chew has been open for over a week now and it has seen some incredible fishing!  Even on the coldest of days, buzzers have hatched all over the lake and the Chew trout have been feasting on them.
I have been fishing dries whenever the winds have dropped and even though the first week was very cold, these last few days have seen the air temperatures rise to over 16 degrees, with water temperatures over 10 degrees.

Lots of anglers have been fishing DI3 and DI5 lines with blobs, boobies and nymphs and they have caught well.  Others have used straight lined nymphs on floaters, washing lines with booby and nymphs and some of us have been targetting rising fish with dries - amazing!

It was the washing line that accounted for John Tabor's cracking 3lb plus Chew rainbow - overwintered and fin perfect.  John and son Anthony had a good day on the trout, even though the winds were freezing and the day was interspersed with rain storms!

The pike fishing has also been pretty good for the time of year and all of my clients have landed pike on the fly.  Best results to date go to first time pike on the fly angler Olly Seymour, who boated pike of 8:04, 13:08 and 18:08 yesterday.  I also chipped in with one of 24lbs to make it a real day to remember!

If you havent got a Chew boat booked yet, then my advice is to do it as soon as possible!!!!

John Tabor with an overwintered Chew rainbow
Olly Seymour's 18:08 Chew pike
Me with my 24lb Chew pike

Hi from New Zealand!!

It is wonderful here in New Zealand.  I have just completed 9 days of lake clinics on Lake Rotoaira and Lake Otamangakau on the North Island - great people and amazing fishing.

Pics to follow.

Now for the river fishing and filming with Yoshi near Rotorua.

Rotoaira rainbow on a Dry
Lake Rotoaira and smoking active volcano
Belinda Thomas juggling a NZ rainbow

32:08 Pike for Neil Leaver

On Tuesday my guest Neil Leaver boated this beautifully marked 32:08 pike - his Personal Best by a long shot!
Neil was fishing with John Synnuck and I on the second day of the 2014 Spring Pike Trials.

The previous day, all boats were cancelled due to the very strong Southerly winds, so John and Neil were forced to return home to the London area and drive back the following day.  My boat was cancelled on the Monday and they had a boat booked for the Tuesday, but they had no hesitation making the 300 mile round journey twice in as many days - and thank goodness they did!

Neil's fish took a floatfished mackerel deadbait in Villice Bay just after 12:30.

I then decided to have a fish and threw a few lures in the vicinity.  Within 10 minutes, a cracking 27:10 pike took my soft plastic lure and made it a great day to remember.

Since then, the boats have again been cancelled due to the high winds on the Wednesday, but bank anglers continued to do well and this culminated with Chew's biggest ever pike coming out at 44:06 - what a monster of a fish and congratulations to it's captor.

The next week of trials begins tomorrow (Monday) and I have a boat with my good friend Daryl Hunter.  Let's hope that the winds drop as they are forecast and we can cover lots of water using lures rather than deadbaits.

I truly believe that Chew Valley will produce a record UK pike for some lucky angler in the foreseeable future - and personally, I hope it comes out on a fly.  Now wouldn't that be amazing?

Neil Leaver and his 32:08 Chew pike
My 27:10 Chew pike on a lure

Bookings being taken for 2014 Season!

The new season is only a few weeks away, with Blagdon opening on 15th March and Chew Valley a week later on 22nd March.
Now is the time to think about getting new tackle; spools of leader materials, tying some new fly patterns, investing in that new rod or reel you've been promising yourself and of course, booking some days on your favourite fisheries.

My bookings have been pretty heavy this year already, with only 5 days remaining in March, 2 days in May and 10 days left in June.  April is still fairly clear and judging by the recent levels and previous seasons, should be a good month.  If the weather stays warm, then it should be a brilliant month, with plenty of fly and most fish feeding on buzzer pupae and bloodworm.

If you fancy a guided day fly fishing for trout - or perhaps scaling up a bit and trying for pike on the fly - then drop me an email via the "Contacts" page.  I can supply all tackle for trout or pike and there is no extra charge for this.

Both Chew and Blagdon are now overflowing and looking fantastic.  Bristol Water are doing their usual repairs and maintenance to their two fleets of boats and they will all be ready for Opening Days.
 

Blagdon Fishing Lodge
Blagdon spillway overflowing
Chew overflowing at a rate of knots!

Lexus Entry Forms now online

The 2014 Lexus European Flyfishing Championships is now launched and Online Entry Forms can now be downloaded.
Europe's biggest flyfishing Championships kicks off for another season on 5th April at Rutland Water, with 14 Individual Heats and 6 Team Heats across the UK.

Once again, the Individual Champion will win a Lexus RX450 Hybrid SUV for the coming year.  Anglers World Holidays are putting up Holiday Prizes for both the Individual and Team Finals.  Hardy & Greys are our main sponsors for superb tackle prizes throughout the Championships, while Ugly Fish Sunglasses and new sponsors Minox will provide other excellent prizes.

Entering the Championships could not be easier.  Just visit the Lexus website at www.lexusflyfishing.co.uk and download the appropriate Entry Forms.

Chew Valley Lake now overflowing

Chew started to overflow at the weekend and this means we are assured of top levels for the forthcoming Pike Trials in February and the start of the trout fishing season on 24th March.

Catch us pike fishing on the Sky Podcast

Tony Donnelly and I were featured on Sky TV's Tight Lines programme last Friday.  If you missed the episode or don't have Sky, then you can still watch the whole programme on the Sky Podcast.

Simply log on to: http://www.skysports.com/podcast/0,20494,19916,00.html

 

 

Chew Valley Spillway
Hollowbrook on Chew

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