I had not been out for a couple of weeks due to a weekend in London with the wife and as part of a birthday gift and a thank you from our daughters for various bits and pieces we have supported them with. Saw the Committements in the West End, fab show. So back to today, no club match scheduled and a day to early to go out on the river I was some what torn what to do. A fairly busy day on Saturday meant I had little time to prep or get bait so a bit of fly fishing it was to be. I had planned to go on Chew but decided after I got in the car to head down the M5, off at Bridgwater and out to Hawkridge Res where I had some success last year. Bank fishing is good and it goes very deep a few paces out. Not in any rush I took a steady drive down and got there around 09:00, had a chat with the Ranger who said bank results were mixed due to the bright weather and the water was christle clear but he said I should get a few fish. I headed away from the Lodge, driving down to the next lay-by and parked up, a step over a low wall and I was on the bank. Two other guys where there but had not had a pull in the hour they were there but fish were showing on the top. The far bank looked inviting and there were no other angler so I walked around to the far side through some woods and carried on until I was more or less opposite the Lodge. Given the clear water and the fish not wanting to come that close I set up with an 18' leader, Booby on the point (which floats) and then a Black Buzzer and a Green Dawl Bach as droppers meaning I would be just fishing under the surface. It took an hour to get my first pull but it was half hearted and did not result in a take. The wind was coming down the lake which made it difficult to keep a tight line so I had to cast at 2 o'clock. About 11:30 I saw a fish rise in front of me about as far out as I could cast, a quick retieve and back out to where it showed resulted in a take as soon as the Booby hit the water, a nice rainbow about 3lb. I moved up towards the Dam a bit and could see a couple of guys out in a boat doing a quick retrieves which meant they must be on lures, they were getting a few fish as well. I change the Booby to a little gold head Hares Ear to get the flies down in the water to have a look. First cast and about 5 rod lengths out while pulling back a little faster than I had been resulted in a very agressive take on the Dawl Bach and the fish headed toward the middle of the lake. I managed to get it under control and as it came close I could see it was a decent brownie. Got it in and it was a lovely fish, weighed later on it went 3lb 14oz, best on I have had. I chopped and changed flies the rest of the day and finally had my 5 fish limit at 14:15 which I was happy with, back was killing. Heres the 5 fish, when weighed together came to 17lb 5oz not bad and freezer topped up again.
May try and get on the Kenn one evening this week but new job is full on at the moment. If not its the Bristol Avon at Barton Farm near Trowbrige for the practice match which is also a charity event prior to the next round of the SW Super League so some prep to do.
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