Lock Down - Salmon and Trout adventures

Well it looks like angling could be allowed all be it on a restricted basis to start with thanks to the efforts of the Angling Trust Team. As part of their campaign they encouraged anglers to write to their MP and made it very easy to do so. I wrote to mine and had a receipt back from his Secretary within a day.  If the Angling Trusts Phase 1 plan is accepted then it's a bit of Fly Fishing for me up on the brilliant Chew Valley Lake which is 20 minutes drive from home.

So with that in mind I thought I would Blog a few of my Game Fishing experiences.........

Apart from my early fishing days as a child in N. Ireland I only took up Fly Fishing about 10 years ago. I bought a rod and reel plus fly line from Cadbury Angling for £135. The line has been replaced but I still use the rod and reel and it is well travelled, more on that later.

First a little bit of Canada....
My wife has family in British Columbia and we have been over there a good number of times. Two of her cousins are mad keen anglers and I have been out with them a few times.
Graham her oldest cousin used to have a Gas Station and Grocery Store with Motor Home hook up's and a Boat Ramp at a place called ''Campbell River'' on Vancouver Island. Graham also had his own boat.

They go out into the sea to fish for salmon but there are also plenty of cod about. The first trip I experienced was something really special. Once in the boat we headed over to an island inhabited by native Indian's who caught and sold small live herrings for fish bait.
Using down riggers we put 2 rods over the side with herrings and fished them about 30 turns deep. No weight on the line, just lightly clipped on the down rigger. This was a whole new experience for me and I was told down hit the first knock as the salmon comes up to the bait, stuns it with it's tail and then turns to take it....so only hit the second bite.

We cruised along close to islands and it was soon pointed out to me a couple of American Bald Headed Eagles were following us along the top of the tree line, what a sight. They follow the fishing boats waiting for anglers to through any unwanted fish back and the swoop down and grab them before the fish fully recover.

The fishing was quite hard that day but we managed two nice Coho Salmon shallowish and then a few cod when we went deeper.

mine went 16lb

cuz Clives was about the same size

We did throw a few small Cod back and sure enough the eagles came down, pics aren't that great but you get the idea....

Another trip out of Campbell River but a different location saw us bag up, the fish were smaller but gave good sport.

I have been back a couple of times with the last 8 years and caught a few more but that first trip with the herrings was the most memorable one.

Getting back to trout on the fly...... It took me a while to get the hang of it as I am self taught. I only Fly Fish about 20 times a year and started off on the Barrow Tanks just outside Bristol. A nice old guy must have took pity on me and gave me a few tips which saw me catch a few rainbows.

I progressed on to Chew Valley Lake also run by Bristol Water, it's huge at 1,200 acres but has an average depth of about 15 foot. I mainly fish from the bank using chest waders but have taken the odd trip out in a boat. It really is a lovely venue with lots of other wild life to be seen. I have had red deer walk behind me, otters swimming close by and seen huge pike cruise in front of me, so close you could almost touch them. There is plenty of bank access and its not expensive.

Chew is a big expanse of water

It can get a bit choppy out in the boat but on this day the fish were ravenous. Loads caught up in the water

If I'm lucky I do get the odd limit bag but to be honest I am the only one who eats them so do a lot of catch and release now.

Another venue I enjoy is Hawkridge Reservoir just outside Bridgwater. Its a lot smaller than Chew at only 32 acres but is very intimate and on a weekday not busy at all. It also offers good bank fishing but you wouldn't want to wade as it's very deep close in. Run by Wessex Water they stock double figure fish and a number of different varieties.

Bottom end of Hawkridge

I have also done a bit of brook trout fishing down in Devon and grayling fishing on the River Ithon in Mid Wales.

And finally.....my original Fly Rod and Reel travelled to New Zealand in December last year. I went wild brown trout fishing a few times but if I went again I would hire a guide as its very different. I had some success and the best fish was a wild brownie of around 5lbs.

Me with my friends wife Lyn who live in NZ

So... lets see what Boris has to say on Sunday.

Stay safe all.