Boys night out

I had been looking forward to doing something a little different for a few months, a friend Nick had invited me to join him and Tim for a night fishing the Woodmill pool on the Itchen for Sea Trout. I'm sure we are all the same when it comes to the countdown to a long awaited trip - checking the weather every few hours. If its not good news, look at a different website until we find the weather we prefer. Sadly, on this occasion, it was totally crap whatever website I looked at. Nick did a great job in re-assuring us that all would be OK. After a rendezvous and Nicks house and a very tasty meal we set off into the wind and rain to fish Woodmill. Nick has fished there a few times but neither Tim or I had fished it before. It sounded a bit strange from Nicks description and with a tidal range of several feet sounded rather challenging!

Painful loss

There has been a fair bit of action down down on my Sunday beat since the weather has cooled down and with a slight rise towards the end of the week things were looking up. I planned to go down on Sunday afternoon / evening as opposed to my usual morning jaunt. As I 'enjoyed' the imposed morning no fishing time I had a message from Tony showing a nice fish being returned.

Return to form at last

After a few weeks of very little fishing due to family commitments, holiday and extreme conditions I was happy to be getting some fishing time in finally. Over the last few weeks I have only managed an hour or two here and there. Last week I planned an early assault with a friend Nick.

Unexpected surprise

As a result of the recent run of decent fish being caught I was itching to get down to my usual beat on Sunday morning. There had been a small lift on Friday that had dropped back nicely and all looked perfect. I Put up the 13' 8# and tied on a good strong leader ready to do battle with the big fish that have been showing. After the usual head scratching of fly choice and rummaging around my disorganised fly box I opted for a pot bellied pig in black and orange.

Ever changing pools

Any one who reads this blog will see that I'm constantly remarking on how the pools change year by year and with them, the lies. Looking in my diary there is absolutely no pattern of where the fish tend to lie. This is the 5th year i have fished one of the beats and it would appear that hot spots do not tend to be the same each year. Although certain pools and runs can be relatively predictable the location of the lies at the start of the season is anyones guess.

Greenland to start commercial netting!

My intention with this blog was not to air my political views but I feel this issue warrants some discussion.
I find this news very sad, I read this story this morning and it has left me feeling pretty empty. Despite all the advice, Scotland, Ireland, Norway and Canada have continued to support or increase their commercial Salmon fishing activities. Sadly, although predictably, this has led to the Greenlanders deciding this is not fair any more and deciding to resume their commercial netting of the Salmon in their feeding grounds, one of the key reasons for the massive crash in Salmon stocks in the 80's.

As Mr Salmond has been actively encouraging the renewal of dormant netting licences and even tuning them through paying grants I cant help feeling that we have been severely let down by an ill informed politician.

Here is a link to the full story:

http://www.fishandfly.com/news/3309-international-salmon-treaty-fails-yet-again.html

One from the Hut pool

Despite my run of never landing a fish from the hut pool until last year it would appear that things may be changing. After last year continued high water and re shaping of pools I wondered what effect this would have on the river and how it fished.

Off the mark at last!

Yesterday was not your typical perfect day for Salmon fishing, bright sunshine all day and very hot. I had planned to meet a friend down the river who came to do a piece for his online fishing magazine. Obviously, catching a fish to order is never going to easy and it looked like yet another blank day ahead for me. When we arrived at the beat, I tackled up with a plan of fishing up first with a spinner and if we saw any fish we could go back and cover them with the fly. We arrived at the first pool, one of my favourites and I pointed out where the fish might lie and that they would follow the spinner out of the deep hole and take as the spinner started to come up the shallower pool tail. Five casts later - Bang!

Finally - fish!

After a slow start the fish appear to have finally arrived, I heard of a fish caught way up river above Wool last week and was full of hope that the fish have finally started to run. I arrived at the river a little later than usual today and soon had a call from my Friend Robin reporting a fresh 14lb hen fish.

Where are the fish????

As I wonder around the countryside aimlessly with my dog it continues to remind me of how late things are this year. The newly seeded grass on the 'mud patch' in the garden has only really taken hold over the last 3 weeks and the Buddleia I carefully manicured (hacked) has still to do anything worth noting. As usual the weeds are rampant as ever. This lateness to proceedings has been most noted on the river Frome. Normally by this time of year the fish will be well spread throughout the lower beats and a fair few will have been caught.

Long term test - Hardy Swift Mk II 13' 8#

I thought it might be an idea to share my thought on some of the tackle I have been using over the years, I, like most of us, am susceptible to the effective marketing of the major tackle companies. Happily, I have not made any particularly bad purchases as of yet.

My 13' Hardy Swift Mk II has seen more abuse than any of my fly rods and has served me very well!

First casts on new water

Although cold and miserable, tonight was an evening that marks the start of a very exciting journey - I had my first casts on one of the new beats.

Bank Holiday Forays

I managed to get out over the bank holiday for a few hours to fish my usual beat on the river. Having seen a fish on a lower beat whilst walking along the banks hopes were high. The river looked perfect, it had dropped to an almost normal level and clarity was OK. There was just the right amount of water to fish the fly properly

Memories of Frome monsters

I recently Gave a presentation about Frome Salmon and Sea Trout fishing West Stafford Village hall. The night was attended by a number of keen anglers who fish the middle and upper river mainly for Brown Trout and Grayling. This first Talk was Given by Alan Frake and was about “Chalk streams, Past, Present and Future”. 

Potential new water and new opportunities

As ever, the start of the season is greeted with new plans and renewed optimism. This year, however, I may be taking a lease on another beat with a view to running it as a small syndicate with some limited day tickets.

Against All Odds Trailer - Amazing!!!

I saw this earlier on Twitter and just had to put this on the blog - what a battle - One can only imagine how much his heart must have been pounding!!!

Taken from You Tube, Uploaded by Byskan Tube

Opening day

After what seemed like waiting forever over a never ending winter opening day on our river finally came. The first day of the Salmon season on the Dorset Frome is the 1st of March. It was with great excitement that I arrived at the Hut and this year I was prepared, we were in a 4 x 4.  After last years farce of Tony and I both driving to the hut and getting stuck I was keen to avoid any such stress this year!

Christchurch Angling Club Salmon open day

This weekend saw the annual Salmon open day held by Christchurch angling club. The day was held at the newly refurbished and very comfortable fishing hut at Somerley. The Hut is ideally situated by some of the best fishing on the middle river.

A snowy day on the shoot

Dorset winters are typically mild and can be very dull and damp so the heavy fall of snow was a welcome change and transformed the countryside. The fresh fall of snow coincided with a shoot day on the shoot where Poppy and I beat.

New Year, new opportunities

Now the seasons festivities are over, the tree is down and the renewed focus on health kicks in its now the time of year I can look forward to the start of the salmon fishing Season. Its with mixed feelings however, the start of the fishing season also sees the end of the Game shooting season.