Pike

Well it had to happen; a long, dry, wind free and generally mild Winter - then just as the Lake is due to reopen for Pike Fishing - WHAM!  Gale force winds and driving rain are forecast for the West Country, driving right across Chew Valley Lake and causing the cancellation of the 1st two days of the 2017 Pike Trials on Thursday and Friday!
Don't get me wrong, we desperately need lots of rain to fill both Chew and Blagdon, but why did the winds have to pick up to ruin the start of another Pike Trials Session?  Exactly the same happened last year and another Opening Day was lost.

Still, if the forecasters are right, then the worst of it should have passed by Saturday and the boats should be let out to sample the best pike fishing in Europe - if not the World!

I am doing 10 days for Bristol Water as their official Pike Guide and there are still 2 days free in November - simply ring Bristol Water Fisheries at Woodford Lodge, Chew on 01275 332339 to book a day for 1 or 2 rods (the price is the same).

Guided Trout Fishing for 2017

This will be my 23rd year as a Professional Fishing Guide and hopes are high for a great season on the Bristol Waters.  Early season until July last year saw both Chew and Blagdon enjoy amazing trout fishing.  Huge hatches of buzzer brought fish to the surface as early as Opening Day and nymph fishing became the norm throughout March and April. 

Then once the warm weather came, massive hatches of damsel flies drove the trout into a frenzy - particularly on Blagdon.  In all my years fishing the Bristol Waters, I have never witnessed the trout feed so voraciously on damsels - and the fishing with washing line tactics or dries - was electric!

This year Chew opens first on 9th March and Blagdon opens a week later on the 16th March.  The lakes are currently lower than would be hoped, with Chew at 68% and Blagdon just 56% of capacity.  However, this rain will certainly push both lakes up a bit and that will be a good thing.

I can provide the latest Hardy Rods and Reels plus any other tackle if necessary.  Comfortable boat seats come as standard in my boat and all you need to bring is a packed lunch and some drinks!

Litton is also a great place for tuition or Corporate Days and where else in the country can you get not 1, but 2 lakes exclusively to yourself?

Guided Pike Fishing

Pike on the fly is a fantastic way to target Chew's mammoth fish and unlike the Pike Trials, where getting a boat is like rocking horse manure, access on the fly is available throughout the season.  Also, unlike using treble hooks, a single debarbed pike fly is really unintrusive as regards capture.  So there is far less chance of damaging the pike and due to the nature of the weather conditions here in the West Country, the oxygen levels rarely deplete, meaning that the pike are fighting fit throughout the Summer months.

I can supply top of the range Hardy rods and reels plus all terminal tackle, flies, nets and crash mats to target these amazing creatures.

So why not book a day with me in 2017?  Simply go to "Contact" and I will be in touch.

Apologies for the delay in updating my blog.  I seem to spend more time nowadays updating Facebook posts to keep things bang up to date with whats going on in the fishing world.

Great Chew trout fishing

Following weeks of hot weather and water temperatures of over 79 degrees F, I can finally report that Chew is right back on form thanks to the cooler weather and heavy storms.  In the Lexus Heats held over the weekend, rod averages were over 8 on both days, with average weights being 2lbs 6ozs.

We fished to a 4 fish kill and then catch and release.  Of the 354 trout caught, no less than 194 were returned alive to the lake.  Paul Roach, winner of both Lexus Chew Heats in 2013, continued his amazing run of form with victory on both days this year!  Quite an acheivement.

But the biggest cheer of the day went to Paul's granddaughter Daisy Bristow for qualifying for the Grand Final with 11 fish and with it 6th place overall.

Greys UK Pike Fly Fishing Championships

The inaugural UK Pike Fly Fishing Championships sponsored by Greys took place a few weeks ago on Chew Valley Lake.

Top rod on the day was Alex Mason who landed 2 pike for a match winning weight of 20lbs 4ozs.  Mason’s catch included a 15lb12oz fish and his prize was a Greys Carnivore Rod.

Geoff Hewitt’s 19lb 14oz pike won him the biggest pike prize of a Greys carnivore Rod, while Mike Bolt topped the Perch catch, also winning a Carnivore Rod for his 2lb 2oz Perch. Runner up was Simon Pledge and 3^rd place went to John Bowen – both anglers winning Greys GX900 Reels.  4^th place to Kevin Edwards who won a pair of Ugly Fish Sunglasses.

I am grateful to Bristol Water for allowing us to have a pike match and to Greys for their superb sponsorship.  Next year we hope to sell out the event and I am confident that there will be sufficient support.

Some great pike being caught

High water levels and reduced weed growth with masses of roach and perch fry have meant that the Chew pike are feeding well.  Things look great for the Autumn pike trials, but in the meantime, some superb quality pike have been caught on the Fly!

I have been out lots of times this Summer and thanks to high winds and good quality water, there has been absolutely no problem with oxygen depletion and the pike are in top shape.  My best was a 32:08 cracker from Stratford Bay and that makes it two 30's to the boat so far this season.

As the temperatures drop and the water cools, I am expecting some great results from the pike and possibly also the Perch.

 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!

I can now reveal that during my recent trip down-under to Tasmania, I caught my biggest ever wild brown trout.
Chris Bassano, my good friend and ex-Derbyshire cricketer, was my guide on the Lower Derwent River.  We both saw the fish move before casting to it, but neither of us realised just how big it was!

Closer to 30lbs than 20lbs was our considered estimate, but we did not have scales and we also wanted to release it, so in truth, we will never know.  However, I have caught scores of 20lb plus pike and plenty of 20lb plus lakers from Northern Canada, so I have a pretty good idea about estimating weights.  Chris too is expert on estimating brown trout, having weighed a 28lb brownie for one of his clients in the previous week - and that was from another river!

If you want to read more about this amazing fish and see more pictures of my trip to Tasmania, then get this month's Trout Fisherman Magazine as they have the exclusive story.  Take a look at the picture below and see what you think.

1st decent Chew pike of the new season

In my last blog I reported on how difficult it has been to locate the pike on Chew this season.  Lots of things have conspired to make things tricky, but I finally landed a decent 17.08 cracker yesterday.  Armed with my new-found confidence, I was looking forward to finding a few more today, only to be scuppered by 25mph winds and all boats on Chew cancelled!

Tomorrow it looks like the winds will ease and the weekend looks good - so I'm hoping my clients and I have some decent fishing.