Monday 30 July 2012

The Grilse have arrived!

After last weeks despair about my broken rod, leaking waders and lost reel part i was hoping for better fortunes on the river this weekend as the water is looking better by the day and was sitting at 1.11 on the gauge and was running nice and clear and surprisingly cool for this time of the year.

Thursday 26 July 2012

Disaster strikes!

Having arrived at the river early on Sunday hopes were high after Fridays success. I started fishing at 5.30 and it looked absolutely perfect. I tackled up with a small Snaelda cone head and proceeded to fish my way down through the beat.


Saturday 21 July 2012

Falling water success

With the river continuing to fall, albeit slowly, hopes were high for my morning trip to the river yesterday. It was a perfect height  at 1.35m to fish the fly without any weed issues. I tackled up with a 13# 8 weight and a medium sinking head on the multi tip line. The fly of choice was a small Snaelda tube with a tungsten cone head. Amazingly as I lifted off to re cast after my first cast a fish swirled at my feet.

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Guest Blog for Ghost Pepper Fly Fishing

I was asked if i wanted to write a guest blog post for a site in the US called Ghost Pepper Fly Fishing. Its an interesting site with some good articles about a variety of Fly fishing destinations. It's well worth a look. My Guest blog can be seen here South West Bonanza



Floodwater Salmon

In keeping with the last couple of weeks of despair through continued rain and a nasty case of Flu i was sat on my sofa feeling bored and fed up on Saturday afternoon when i spotted a 'Tweet' (a twitter notification) about the upper river Frome being high but crystal clear and looking very fishable. After a couple of messages Mark from Knighton Countryside Management asked if id like to fish the middle river around Moreton. It was an easy decision as i love exploring new waters and had never fished around here before. Arrangements were made and we met on the following morning at 7.30.

Saturday 14 July 2012

Blue Charm The Movie

Once again boredom has kicked in due to the high water levels. With any luck i will be able have a few casts on Sunday if i can actually get to the river. In the meantime i have been watching some DVD's to pass the time.

This one looks great, i haven't seen it as yet but it looks well worth watching
It has been uploaded by Speycaster11 and is available from the following website: Blue Charm

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Water water everywhere!

Well what can i say, its b ring a bizarre few days, after having a few casts on Friday in what looked like perfect water i was shocked on Saturday at the rainfall we had and the effect on the river. The river in My back garden went crazy and i had to rush home from Cornwall to put sandbags around my door as there was a serious risk of flooding. have a look at the level gauge 1 mile up river from my house:

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Wessex Chalk Streams and Rivers Trust Newsletter

I thought I'd post this newsletter as anyone who has an interest in the Wessex Rivers will find this a very worthwhile cause and should be thinking about becoming a member
Spring newsletter for the Wessex Chalk Stream and Rivers Trust

Strange summer

I am at a total loss as to what is going on with the weather at the moment. The river has been up and down like a yo yo! I managed to get out for a few hours on the Monday after the heavy water stopped fishing on Sunday. The river was still coloured but dropping.


Monday 2 July 2012

Article for 'Eat Sleep Fish' - Dorset's hidden treasures

Just thought id post a link to  an article i submitted for 'Eat Sleep Fish' online magazine. hope you enjoy it and maybe it will inspire you to think about the chalk streams of the South when thinking about potential day trips.