All boats have been cancelled on Chew today due to the strong Southerly winds - that's why I am sitting at home writing my blog!
I was on Chew for the last 3 days and have sat through 3 different wind directions, bright sunshine, rain and even thunder. Yet the trout fishing has been incredible. On Tuesday, I fished with an old mate Paul Kurgo and his father Edgar - Paul is new to fly fishing and they boated 5 big rainbows and a cracking brownie - all on nymphs off the East Shore and new Picnic Area.
On Wednesday, Tony Ling and I managed 8 trout apiece on a mix of dry flies and nymphs - from the same areas. Fish were stuffed with hoglice, bloodworm and buzzer.
Yesterday, Derek Aunger and I took another double limit using either straight nymphs or washing line behind Denny Island.
All the fish fought really hard and many were over 3lbs in weight, so you can see why it is so frustrating to let the wind spoil today's fishing and put a halt to such a good run of form.
I'm out for pike tomorrow, but the weather forecast is not good ..........
England International on Loch Harray
Last week I fished Loch Harray in the Orkney Isles and volunteered to manage the Team in the absence of a full time manager. What a place! In 4 days, the Team boated an average of 140, 11-inch plus fish on the 4 days of practice - and that meant we would have caught at least the same amount each day of undersize fish. Harray is alive with brown trout - all wild and the hardest fighting trout, pound for pound, that I have ever caught.
We fished with the help of ex England Captain and World Gold Medallist Brian Thomas, who has lived on Orkney for the last 14 years. He showed us the method of fishing Sedgehogs on the Skerries - shallow areas strewn with large rocks - the takes were explosive!
The main method however, was sinking lines - DI3, DI5 and DI7 sinkers complete with 4 flies - several of them muddlers. Takes came either on the drop, during a punctuated retrieve or on the hang - in other words, whenever the flies lifted or fell in the water.
We had a team of 14 which included no less than 9 new caps- all experienced anglers, but first time for an International Match. And this was a truly unique venue with truly unique fishing. Wales on the other hand had the strongest team I have ever witnessed, with an incredible 9 previous Captains of Wales - very impressive!
Scotland too had a very experienced side and of course, a fair degree of local knowledge, while Ireland are well versed in the art of catching wild brownies.
The fishing got harder throughout the week of practice, but even with an estimated 5000 fish being caught during the week, Harray still fished well on the day.
Sinking lines proved to be the best tactic, particularly Airflo Sweep Lines and the Skerries were not so productive as in recent days.
Congratulations to Wales for an emphatic victory, with Scotland 2nd, Ireland 3rd and us picking up the Wooden Spoon - our lads all gave 100% but sometimes you have to concede that you were fairly beaten by better teams on the day.
Give Chew a visit
Since opening day this season, Chew Valley has been on fire! Only the recent 6 weeks of strong winds has dulled the action - and that has not been for lack of fish activity. Even during the sun and wind, trout have continued to feed and the buzzer hatches are really prolific the second the winds drop.
Hopefully, this trend of strong winds will soon pass, giving us some settled weather. The best areas are shallow water with no weed - once again, the Chew trout are staying well clear of any large weedbeds.
Last year's low levels meant the lake bad was exposed for months in some shallow areas and this has had a marked effect on the weed growth for this season - hence the greast fishing of late behind the Island - all in shallow water.
If you're looking for some proper nymph and dry fly fishing, then head on down to Chew - you won't be disappointed!
