Yesterday I fished my England Qualifier on Chew and happily qualified in 2nd place with 7 trout, but boy has it been hard these last 3 days!
Just 5 days ago, we were all discussing it being a lottery, as you needed at least 6 fish over 3lbs in your bag of 8 to make a decent total. Then came 3 days of gale force winds and torrential rain, which completely put the resident stock of Chew rainbows right off the feed. By yesterday's match, we were all hoping to save the blank!
We made the draw for boat partners an hour before the match and I drew my England Team mate Iain Barr - this was not going to be a quiet day. As Barney had not been able to practice, I gave him a full run-down of the 2 days practice I had endured for a total of just 2 trout! But I did have a few places lined up and our decision was to start the day pulling a combination of lures and nymphs on DI3 sinking lines.
The corner of the dam had produced a few takes for me the previous day, rather than follows from other parts of the lake. We started there and then never left the area. Iain and I had a fish each within the first 30 mninutes, but any follows we had were right in the surface, so we felt we needed to switch to slower sinking lines. I changed to a Fast Glass and Barney put on a midge Tip - and got one first cast. I got 2 more on the glass line and a double sparkler on the point.
Those fish fought as hard as any I have caught on Chew and at one stage, Barney got his landing net out and netted one for me - then he did it again. What a cracking thing to do for your boat partner - and this is the sort of thing competition anglers do for one another - thanks mate!
I ended up with 7 fish and came 2nd, while Barney got 4 and also qualified in 6th place - a perfect result.
John Gumbleton fished like a hero and was the only angler to take his 8 fish limit, while Keith Gollop came 3rd, Mark Miles 4th, Andy Croucher 5th, Tony George 7th and Mark Withyman 8th.
The National is at Bewl Water in Kent during September, where 100 qualifiers will battle it out for the 28 places in next year's 2 Loch Style Teams.
What a difference a day makes ......
Today the weather changed for the better - light winds, warm air temperatures and even some sunshine. The fish responded by feeding properly again and my 2 guests Anthony and John Tabor had 10 cracking rainbows and hooked and lost at least another 10!
Dad John had an 8lb pike on a sparkler booby one cast, then a 3lb trout on a diawl bach nymph next cast. It was a case of sunscreen and nymph feeders, rather than full waterproofs and lure bashing!
If we get a period of settled weather now, the fishing will revert to it's usual fantastic self - with plenty of massive fish to target.
Lexus Heat at Chew on Sunday 1st July
I am running a Lexus Floating Line Only Heat on Sunday at Chew and expect the fishing to be excellent.
There are still places available at this Heat, so drop me an email and get your name down for it - you won't be disappointed.
