Pike

Due to popular demand, Draycote water near Rugby has been added as the final Qualifying Heat of this year's Lexus individual Championships.
The Heat will be held on 31st July and there are 30 places up for grabs.
 

New Fisheries manager Craig Barr has had his local anglers asking if there will be a lexus Heat on the venue, following the year's closure by Severn Trent and this has prompted the creation of an additional Heat.

I too have had competitors contacting me to ask for a Heat at this very popular venue, particularly following it's recent stunning form, where 00's of 3lb plus rainbows have been caught.

To enter, simply email lexus@johnhorsey.co.uk or download an Entry Form from the official Website at www.lexusflyfishing.co.uk

Tony gets his PB pike

Congratulations to Tony Bennett and the capture of his personal best ever pike on the fly weighing 28lbs at Chew last week.
I fished with Tony a few days earlier and he was snapped by a big fish which we were certain would have been his personal best.

Still, he made up for it in real style on his very next trip and I am sure his new aim is one of Chew's legendary 30 pounders!

Tagged pike

If you are fishing for pike - or trout - please look out for tags on the base of the dorsal fin.  They can be covered in algae and even have some weed growth attached, but they are quite easy to detect (once you know where to look).
I have tagged over 400 pike and am getting over 10% recaptures - no longer do we have to rely upon faded photograghs and hearsay to know if someone has caught the same fish - we can be certain!

So far, the average growth rate for a year is no more than 2lbs - even for big doubles and twenty pounders.  This has surprised even me, as I feel sure they are predating mainly on roach and perch.  Last week I had a 22lb fish which I caught myself just over a year ago and it had actually lost 2.5lbs.

I've included a pic of the above-mentioned 22lb fish, with the tag position clearly shown.  Note the bite mark across it's back which extended to the other side as well (would like to catch that big mother soon)!  So please log any tagged fish you catch with the weight, date of capture and area caught on the lake.  That way, we can build up a picture of recapture rates, distribution and weight increase/loss and have some real evidence on which to base our findings, rather than just the usual speculative nonsense!  So far, my findings are pointing to normal annual increases in weight and definitely not those associated with pike predating on 2lb average size rainbows.

Awful weather continues

I was hoping that once the terrible winds that battered us in May and June had subsided, July would bring a return to settled weather - sadly this has not happened.  I have just returned from Stocks Fly Fishery near Blackburn and the fishing was tricky - average rod returns from 3 sell-out days were less than 4 per rod and this is a very good and productive venue.  It is also superbly managed by Ben Dobson and his staff Matt, Paul and Tom.

Some of my friends have also just returned from Rutland Water where they were fishing in competitions and they told me that the fishing there was rock-hard.

Chew has also been "iffy" of late, but was just starting to improve again before I left for Stocks.  A big stocking seemed necessary to liven things up a bit and that happened 4 days ago.  Hopefully this will get the resident fish feeding, most of whom are still being caught around or behind Denny Island.
Washing Line or straight-lined nymphs are still the best 2 methods - I simply cannot get the fish up to dries at the moment - even last week when there was a massive fall of flying ants; they seemed very loathe to rise.

I think this is due to the fluctuating air pressures surrounding not just Chew, but the rest of the country at present.  Next week more unsettled weather is forecast, but at least that means cloud.

A PASSION FOR TROUT

I have often said that there hasn't been a decent book on fly fishing for trout written since the Pursuit of Srtillwater Trout, written some 20 odd years ago.
Well now there is one!

A Passion for Trout is a fine book written by Irish angler Mick O'Farrell with photograghs and publishing by top fishing photographer Peter Gathercole.

Mick is a life-long trout angler, fly tier and genuine nice bloke - he is also a very fine competiton angler who genuinely knows his stuff.  I have fished with and against Mick in competitions such as the European Championships, where we were both representing our countries.

The flies are superbly photographed - so often a fault in other fishing books.  Gathercole excels here and the patterns are truly up-to-date, incorporating the latest materials.

This book will become a reference tome for many and a "must have" addition to any serious fly angler's book case!

It seemed like the whole of May was blighted by strong, cold winds, so I for one am pleased we are now into a new month.
June is traditionally one of the best months on the Bristol Waters, but it'll have a hard act to follow the sport and weather we had in March and April!  Perhaps the seasons really are changing.

Despite the windy weather, we still had great fishing at times, especially on Chew.  Last week, 2 of my clients; Michael Ruthven and Bill Tucker, enjoyed their best ever morning session in Herons Green, with both anglers taking limit bags before 2:00pm using teams of Diawl Bachs and Buzzers.  Plenty of boats drifted by, just catching the odd fish, while Bill and Michael frequently had fish on at the same time.  Speed of retireve was critical - nice and slow, with floating lines - not midge tips.

Behind Denny Island has been the best area recently and we have taken fish in just 2 feet of murky water - amazing!  The rainbows are fighting harder than I can ever remember and good quality Hardy Mach or Rio Fluorocarbon in 8lb BS is essential.  Avoid the finer diameter fluoro's as they simply cannot cope with the savage nature of the Chew Trout at the moment - the knot strength is not good enough.  I wish I had a pound for everyone that has told me their expensive fine diameter fluoro has broken lately!

The trout are now moving around from Denny Island and the spit off Denny is starting to produce good bags of fish for the first time this season.

Weed growth and water levels.

Chew is about 5 feet down and the weed growth is already prolific over the Roman Shallows, Herriots and Nunnery Spit.  Strangely enough, the shallow bays by Hollowbrook and Herons Green are not infested yet and the trout are feeding avidly there on either bloodworm or huge black buzzer. 

Trout on the major reservoirs appear to hate weed with a vengeance and I never find them feeding or even swimming- around it.  Sometimes they feed on the edge of weedbeds, but even that is severely limited.  If the weedbeds get as dense as last year, then I fully expect the rainbows to leave those areas and populate the non weedy places - areas such as Whalley Bank, Woodford Bank, part of Villice and the Sailing Club - in fact, exactly the areas they could be found in huge numbers last season.  These places have very hard clay bottoms and weed growth is never a problem.

Spring International on Loch Harray

Next week, I will be away on Loch Harray in the Orkney Isles, fishing for England in the Spring International match.  We have 9 new caps in our side, but all are seasoned competition anglers and almost household names.  I am the Player/manager for this match and Clive Collier is Captain.  Andy Haskins, Si Morris and Alan Williams are the other experienced caps.  Ex Lexus Champion Lloyd Pallett is a new cap, as is regular Trout Fisherman Magazine contributor Leigh Pond and England Rivers International angler Keith McAdam.  Well known match anglers John Calvert, Harry Fox, David Wortley, Jim McGonigle, Paul Kitchen, Andy Croucher and Bob Shaw make up the rest of the team.

Harray is 6 miles long and 1 mile wide, so we will need as much practice as possible - hence the need to be there for a full week.  Our Team Coach is ex England International Captain Brian Thomas who now lives on Orkney in the quirky named village of Twatt!  Brian is an expert on many styles of loch style fishing and his knowledge will be invaluable.

The Scots team have to be the bookies' favourites due to their local knowledge, but the Irish are used to fishing for wild browns on their own Loughs and the Welsh Team are travelling up today to practice longer than any other team.  So all in all, it looks like being a fantastic match with plenty of top name anglers and ghillies alike.  All we are hoping for is some decent weather and no gale-force winds that could force the match to be abandoned.

Pike

The Chew pike have been active of late and I have had some great sessions, catching lots of fish - best last week from 8 twenties being Justin Whitfield's 22:08 fish.  I have also been reapturing some of the near 400 pike that I have tagged and am surprised to see that most have put on less than 2lbs in weight in a whole year! 

I see plenty of pike anglers out on Chew nowadays fly fishing for the pike.  This element of the sport is certainly one of the only growth areas and with sensitive management by the fishery; is a welcome addition to our fantastic sport.  Just one tip to some of the many pike fly anglers out there and struggling at the moment - SLOW DOWN and SCALE DOWN!

I love all species of fish that can be caught on a fly - be it perch, roach, pike, grayling, carp, barbel or trout.  My best ever roach weighed 3lbs 4ozs and took a Diawl Bach Nymph while bank fishing off Moreton - the angler next to me, when told it was 3lbs 4ozs shouted back "yeah - Fxxxing things"!
I also sadly remember the days when trout anglers on Chew threw their perch up the banks in disgust - much the same way that river anglers have tried to obliterate the Grayling for so many years.  Let's not make the same ignorant mistake with the pike.

To date, I have had 18 trout with cormorant marks and just 6 with pike marks.  This figure will probably change as the majority of Chews several hundred cormorants are away from the lake as they breed - prossibly off the Pembrokeshire and Western England coastlines.

If I can get an internet connection on Orkney, I will update my blog during the week - but don't expect any secret flies or methods from the Loch - all will be revealed after the International!