Pike Trials begin on Monday!!!!

Today I ran a Corporate Flyfishing Day at Testside lakes in the Leckford Valley during the hottest day of the year!  I cannot remember a hotter day this season apart from the World Championships - and they were held in Italy!

Temperatures soared to over 80 degrees farenheit in many parts of the UK and in just 2 days time, we begin the Pike Trials on Chew Valley lake.

I fly fished for pike yesterday and the previous day on Chew and it was very hard - we managed just 3 jacks but saw some massive fish.  The trout fishing recently - and all through the season - has been amazing on both Chew and Blagdon Lakes, but even the trout have been hard to tempt over these past few days.

On the River Test, during this afternoon, there was not a single rising fish.  The lakes at Testside fished exceptionally well during the morning and early afternoon, but come 4:00pm, even these fish had stopped feeding.

Is this the effect of Global Warming?  Will this be the norm for our coming Autumns?  Who knows?

I bet that by Monday, the present spell of windless, hot, sunny weather has passed and is replaced by cooler, windy weather - and for once - just once; I will be relieved.  And so, I hope, will the fish.  I bet the pike trials will be brilliant and the trout fishing at the back-end on both Chew and Blagdon; will also be superb.

Watch this space ........