Fishing United
One minute you are there, enjoying the sensation of wading a section of prime Salmon river, plugging into a rhythmical cast and feeling alive as the weather chucks whatever it can at you. The next moment it is over. Fishing trips are never long enough … are they?
But the memories survive and the experience. It’s what it is all about right? And last week on the Deveron was no exception. That trip had everything we needed, great highs, a few lows, plenty of banter and even the occasional bottle of wine.
And what about the fish? Well they were tough to come by, but there was just enough action to keep everyone alert and plenty of stories to share over multiple curries in Banff! But best of all fishing had united a bunch of guys who all herald from various walks of life.
No Fishing on a Sunday! The team prepare for the week ahead by checking out the river.
There was Al who had flown over especially from Dubai, James from Ireland, Stu from Aberdeen and Dom from Edinburgh plus us two reprobates from Devon. I refer to myself and Patagonia man of course, my new nickname for Lewis who appeared on the scene looking more like a Detroit Gangsta Rapper than an angler hell bent on catching a Salmon!
Patagonia Man
It was over all too quickly but at least we have that other great fishing pleasure to revel in now, the anticipation of the next trip. I can’t wait! I will post some memories from the trip over the coming days.
Fishing is not just about the fish - its about the banter on and off the water
Many thanks to Dom for the images which appear with this post, you can see more of his work here. More about Dom and his first ever fish (a Salmon on the Deveron) in future posts.
Wet & Wild on the Exe
It has been another year of unseasonable weather patterns. One minute we were fearing a drought and the possibility of requiring only slippers to wade, the next our drying room is filled with the smell of damp wading jackets. Where did the summer go? In all honesty bright blue skies and sunshine are not ideal fishing conditions but then neither is the requirement to wear thermals under waders to stay warm in August!
But enough complaining. I have to say that this year has been a great season for big fish and Friday last was no exception. My guests for the day were Jim Pool and JJ from the South East of England, which has witnessed more than its fair share of precipitation in recent weeks. So much so that I received a couple of nervous emails from Jim requesting a plan B if A fell flat on its face. I was keen to stick with plan A as during our correspondence I was surprised to see that the golden orb had decided to put in an appearance. The local web cam also beamed a reasonable river condition back to my laptop, a little high but certainly fishable and the gauges showed that the levels were falling. Even so I went to bed crossing my fingers.
The next morning I wondered if plan A, a trip to the lower Exe, was indeed flawed. The sun was well and truly hidden, masked by a thick grey sky which refused to cease pouring copious amounts of rain across the region. During breakfast I tentatively navigated to the webcam, fearing the worse. Instead I was pleasantly surprised to find that the river levels had in fact dropped some more. Result! At least Jim and JJ would get some fishing today. But for how long?
Fishing is all about preparation, especially when working as a guide and in particular if adverse weather conditions are to be dealt with. Boxes were stocked with heavy bugs and large dry flies the night before the trip and 10′ #5 rods packed just in case. On the way to the venue I collected hot pies from our local butcher, stocked some beer in the cooler and arrived at our meeting point with time to spare. When the guys arrived our first conversations were unsurprisingly weather related.
No going back now, the guys pulled on waders and we set off in haste … the river could blow at any moment. The web cam findings were confirmed and instantly confidence levels were boosted. Were we going to experience some good sport; even in these conditions? I will let the pictures do the talking!
Drenched but very happy. Jim Pool beats the weather and this stunning River Exe Grayling.
Jim had in fact already got off the mark with a couple of 8″ Browns taken on a Baetis pattern which was pleasing considering the conditions. However the good old French Nymph fished New Zealand style accounted for this superb fish around lunchtime … note the rain in the background. We continued fishing, leaving the pies in the truck!
Who cares about the weather?! JJ looks very pleased with his biggest Grayling to date.
That proved to be a good move. I guided JJ into a run just above Jim and before long his French Nymph had been spotted by this superb fish in peak condition.
Bigger again! Another Grayling for Jim.
My picture does not do this fish justice. I think this was down to a mixture of excitement and trying to keep the lens free of water!!! This was seriously fat fish and awesome to see these specimens in such good condition. Heading towards the magical 2lb mark and caught once again on a French Nymph not far from Jim’s first fish.
Wow! Plan A comes together as JJ lands his best ever West Country Wild Brown Trout
I had set JJ up with an extremely long dropper (4′ +) section hanging from his indicator fly and finished it off with one of our secret Orange rubber legs nymphs, a serious killer this season. I had waded JJ into a deep section of water after we had seen a big rise but covering the area with a dry repeatedly produced nothing, so we changed to sub surface tactics. This was the result … and still it rains!
Jim gets in on the Trout action
After a late lunch washed down with a cold beer (should have been soup, or hot chocolate!) we fished the middle to upper section. Fish were caught but nothing to rival the previous specimens, although we did manage to get the dry to work. The river had started to show signs of colour and was definitely cooling, especially after one particular deluge! It was so heavy I could do nothing but giggle uncontrollably! We all looked like drowned rats and questioned our sanity if only for a moment. Perseverance can and will pay off though and Jim finished off the session with this reasonable fish.
So even in such extreme conditions (it did not stop raining all day!!!) our wonderful West Country venues can still produce the results. To be honest I reckon the guys would have been happy with a few palm sized fish for their efforts. Well done to them for facing the weather and sticking with the original plan, it certainly paid off … even if it was a little wet and wild!
Sea Trout Symptoms
Fly Fishing for Sea Trout is a bit like a really good night on the town; but without the headache! There are symptoms. The next morning you feel slightly shaky which is possibly caused by fatigue but more likely a massive dose of adrenalin. Images flash through your mind, ghostly figures airborne, silhouetted trees and trying to remember the best spot to land a fish. And when it finally happens, that almighty unseen tug … well then all hell breaks loose.
So this morning as I write this blog I think I am touching about 4 hrs sleep, feeling shaky and experiencing flashbacks. Yes I was Sea Trouting last night not partying! Meeting up with Wayne Thomas for the second time in as many weeks I am beginning to wonder why I have not been heading out with this all round angler more often having known him for over 20 years. Wayne you are like a good luck charm! And if you wonder what I mean take a look at the Bass which he found for us just recently. Wayne is also a serious fishing junkie, so much so that even an unexpected trip to A&E yesterday could not keep him down; such is the power of the piscatorial narcotic which is night Sea Trout Fishing.
To be honest I had expected to be pounding the rock marks of North Devon for spikeys during the day but to cut a long story short that all went wrong. A text message just half an hour before from a different mate (you know who you are!!!) who I was going fishing with to say he was pulling out (because he was tired!!!) meant that I did what I have done far too often over the last 5 years. I went to work instead. This did nothing for my demeanour, yes I might work in fishing but it is VERY important to actually go fishing. Anyway enough of that, I don’t want to spoil the shaky buzz!
Paperwork completed and a few phone calls later it was decided that a River Mole Sea Trout session was the way to go with an 8.30pm rendezvous. We tackled up, put the world to rights as we did so and then began a brisk walk to the Wood Pool. Our aim was to target a Salmon while there was still some daylight, a warm up before the night’s main event. En route we bumped into a couple of Stags who had been to the river for an evening drink. Suddenly the disappointment of not going Bass fishing was ebbing.
At this point I should be honest; I had not been in the best of moods throughout the day because the night before I had been partying. These days I rarely drink but my brothers 30th birthday was cause enough for celebration, involving some very good Cabernet Sauvignon and a lump of Cheddar. Oh yes, the Hart boys know how to party. None of those Jager thingies for us, come to think of it perhaps we should have gone Sea Trouting instead … it would have saved the headache.
Wayne managed a take to his Stoats Tail and then suddenly the night arrived requiring another brisk journey to a new pool. And what a pool Island Pool is, heavily canopied, dark and mysterious. Wayne graciously gave me first run down with my sunk lure while he followed with a surface fly. At this point the anticipation is at fever pitch, every sinew of our bodies craving a fish fix. A good hour later we are doing cold turkey. Nothing!
The night was perfect, very warm, very dark and very still. “Please Sea Trout, I have had a bad day, give in and take my fly”. This is another symptom, you may begin to hear voices in your head or even begin muttering to yourself. For some instant relief try another pool, so we did. This time Wayne was first down Sandmartin Pool, at any moment I expected to hear that electrifying splash … and then I did! “Are you in Wayne?!”
“No, but that was a big fish”. Prepare to be half scared out of your wits when one jumps right besides you. This happened to me, then I had a take and Wayne rolled a fish. All in split seconds! Sea Trouting is pretty weird like that. Nothing for the whole session, hopelessness sets in and then in split seconds we are alert once more. We tried going down the pool again. Nothing! I was not giving up. Down we went again and then crash, there is a huge commotion below me and I expect to hear Wayne screaming for help. And yes I did mean “screaming”, if you have experienced night Sea Trout fishing you will appreciate what I mean.
Calmly Wayne explained that he thought a decent fish had just entered the tail of the pool which was followed by “chomp, chomp, and chomp!” This noise was not emanating from Wayne, he was not going mad, right opposite me sat on a ledge (well, I think it was sat) was an Otter scoffing the fish which it had just successfully hunted! We had not caught any fish ourselves but at least someone was enjoying success. I should really have put down the rod and got out the camera, but my hand was welded to the cork. Midnight was upon us.
After Wayne’s eventful day I could understand why he was keen to make tracks, walking back to the cars we pondered upon why such a perfect Sea Trout evening had yielded no fish. The answer is that’s Sea Trout fishing, there are no rules! But I was not done; I needed more, so while Wayne broke down his gear I stumbled my way through a hedge row into an unknown pool. The water was not familiar to me but I knew there was a fish there. During our meeting several hours previously Wayne had spotted a decent specimen and we agreed that we should have a crack at it by dark.
My disease and cure - the fish let me grab a quick snap
First cast I had a take! Then a fish jumped to my left, I cast towards the noise and hooked … a tree! Damn! More muttering, a few expletives and then relief, my lure was free. I set back to work the area which I had originally intended to target while Wayne chatted to me from the bridge above. If only that conversation had lasted another 30 seconds! As he began manoeuvring his car for the journey home the fish took! “Wayne, Wayne … WAYNE!!!” I had begun screaming, after all there was now a large and ghostly apparition before me very eyes. But Wayne could not save me.
Heart pounding, heavy breathing and slightly disoriented in an unknown pool I almost wanted to pinch myself to check I wasn’t in fact dreaming. I have this same thought every time I hook Sea Trout. But no, I was very definitely awake and so was the Sea Trout, I guess you would be if you had just munched on some cold sharp steel! I fell about the pool, elated, trying to ready the net and praying that one of the huge leaps did not meet with success for it and despair for me. Chaos had ensued, so much so I just had to switch on the head torch. To hell with more fishing, I just need the one on the end of my line in the net!
And then it was. I cannot explain the feeling, hopefully this garbled and rather shaky video clip will. A fish of at least 5lbs I quickly rattled off a picture, shot some video (check it out on my You Tube channel here) and then slipped my prize back. It was 12.30 am on Wednesday 3rd August 2011, is there a more perfect way to start a new day?! Suddenly I was not tired, in fact I could have carried on quite easily and a fish leaping in the pool below almost tempted me. But I had my fix, the shakes had developed and I was definitely feeling good. God how good is Drum & Bass on a journey home from a Sea Trout session?! Try it for yourself but beware, there is no known cure …
The Lovely Lambourn
Every now and again it is cool to travel away from home and look after clients. Our local spate rivers teem with Wild Brown Trout and make for an energetic days fishing in stunning surroundings, but the Southern Chalkstreams are a little different. Slow moving, crystal clear, frequently stocked and convenient. City workers may find it difficult to head into the South West for a day’s fishing at the drop of a hat but many chalk streams are little more than an hour’s journey from central London.
The door to the fishing hut - ideal for a post fishing cup of tea
Rather than the over manicured razor shaven grass more fitting of a top flight golf course than a Trout fishing beat, the Lambourn is an entirely different proposition. In fact it is about as undomesticated as any chalk stream available, with a reasonable head of wild Trout to its name. And Grayling; BIG Grayling! There are 3lb + specimens that can easily be seen against the sand coloured river bed, but tempting them is another matter. These are clever fish!
Tackle ready for our Lambourn guests
All in all perhaps not the perfect place for a couple of novice anglers! But we like a challenge and so just recently Lewis and I set off for a mid morning meeting with Jim Pool and a couple of his guests. Jim is well known to us through his fishing adventures which he has enjoyed here in the West Country, but Jim was not our priority today. Instead he was hopeful that his guests may enjoy a guided day on a chalk stream (instead of a mundane corporate Golf outing!), with a fish or two to show for their efforts. It was only a few days before the event that Jim let on that one of the guests in question had never fished in his life! The dry weather has made for low flows and the Lambourn can be a tricky river at the best of times so this added a new twist to the day.
An enticing Lambourn hatch pool - home to BIG Grayling
Upon meeting Tom it was obvious that he was very enthusiastic to give fishing a go. We spent the morning getting to grips with the gear and learning how to cast, please note for those that think we are fishing downstream on a chalk stream (god forbid the thought!!!), Tom does not have a fly on. This was merely practice, meanwhile behind us the fish began to wake up and sip the occasional meal from the gin clear surface of one of the Lambourns mouth watering hatch pools. All was going well until we decided to tie on a fly and then Tom’s business associate Richard arrived, who had enjoyed a very successful morning. 4 fish with Lewis!
Teaching Tom to cast on the Lambourn
The heckling began and for 30 minutes Tom fell to pieces, until eventually Richard got bored and left him alone! The flow reappeared, a nice tight loop sailed upstream and in an instant Tom was playing his first ever fish. Phew … pressure off, grip & grin (Tom seemed quite happy!) and then it was time for lunch. The Cowdray Farm Shop provided a fantastic picnic, plus there was wine and champagne. For our guests anyway … while they talked a hefty amount of business Lewis and I watched several huge Grayling and a shoal of well conditioned Trout going about their day. We were both itching to get guiding again!
Tom practices his cast ready for action!
Eventually we got back down to the real business of catching fish. Tom added another fish to his scorecard as did Richard and after a mesmerising hour working on the elusive Grayling Jim popped the perfect cast. A decent specimen succumbed and engulfed an Oliver Edwards Freshwater Shrimp; a proven killer when gold head patterns are refused. And then it was time for the guys to head back into the smoke, although a celebratory pint in the local Pheasant Inn helped them on their way. Don’t let looks deceive, this pub may not seem like a typical English hostelry from the outside but their beer is very well kept and the food is superb. I see they also have accommodation. Maybe I will give it a go the next time I head up to the lovely Lambourn? Here are some memories from the day.
- Fishing and a Feast – certainly beats a day in the office!
Tom seems pretty pleased with his first ever fish!
... and just as happy with his second.
- Richard had fished just a handful of times but ended up with 5 lovely Trout under the guidance of Lewis Hendrie
The Lambourn Trout are stunning
... and this is a small Grayling on the Lambourn! Caught on an Olive Shrimp fished "upstream & induced" by Jim Pool
My First Lure Caught Devon Bass
I had an entirely different blog post lined up for today. However it is fair to say that right now I am buzzing. The buzz that only fishing can give you. To be honest I really should have been sat at the fly tying vice sorting some sand eel patterns for James & Cian of Absolute Fishing … but instead I went fishing. Sorry guys!
Heading out to the North Devon coast with long time angling buddy Wayne Thomas the goal was to catch a Bass, not with flies, but with lures. It might seem like stepping backwards, using lure tactics when I have caught a stack load of Devon Bass with fly. But that’s not what this blog post is about. If you want to know my feelings on fly/lure crossover fishing then have a look here.
For this inaugural Devon lure outing I could not have been in better company. Wayne is a well known all round angler with a few books to his name and regular articles in the angling press. This guy knows his stuff, so much so that last week we aborted the trip because a strong North Westerly had “blown” the area we had hoped to fish. Believe me learning all about tides and weather systems is all important if you fancy tackling the salt; that is with fly or lure. So if you can find a sea fishing mate as knowledgeable as Wayne, hang on to their every word. There is a safety aspect too.
Wayne found us some awesome looking ground
All that stood between the mouth watering looking ground and our lures was a pretty impressive near vertical climb over a series of jagged rocks. I followed Wayne very carefully! It was well worth it as he had dropped us right on to some of the ground that I have come to know as Bass country through my travels to Ireland with Henry Gilbey. This place looked just right!
A "Basslet" got the session off to a good start. Wheres your mama?!
Within 5 minutes Wayne had landed a Bass on an IMA Komomo SF-125 in the Plasma Candy colour. OK, so the lure was almost as big as the Bass, but it was a great start in my eyes! At least there were some fish around. And then he moved! Always willing to experiment Wayne had gone off to have a play with some soft plastics, so without any hesitation I jumped into his spot and gave the area a bit of a pasting with a Feed Shallow (or is that a Shallow Feed?!) No joy.
Now that is one hungry little Bass!
Looking into the depths of my new Shimano lure box (thanks to James Barry for the heads up on that) my eyes settled on the Megabass X-140 GG in what I think is the Inakko colour. Don’t ask me why it is called Inakko, it doesn’t matter. All I do know is that it reminds me of a Sandeel, has a really nice action and is easy to use for a lure beginner like me. There was a fair bit of water clarity too so I felt that something not too garish which I had confidence in would be worth a chuck. It was!
I am not too sure who was more surprised, me or the Bass! What I did know was that it was a good bit bigger than the lure as it stuck a lovely curve into my Mazzera 742, (just 7’ 4” and a dream to cast) an ultra lightweight rod that offers real sport with these fish. Making sure the fish did not dive and cut my braid I soon had it on the surface, caught a wave and it was mine! We reckoned it was 3lb, a school fish by most standards, especially Ireland. But I did not care one bit and the fish might even have been 2lb. I wouldn’t have minded if it had been even less although I had better get myself a new BogaGrip, just in case!
My first ever lure caught Devon Bass - stoked!
I will always remember that fish it because it was my first lure caught Bass, on the coast of Devon. The light was not great for pictures but I think the grin says it all, moments later the fish was back home possibly wondering how it had been so daft as to take an X140 dangled b y a newbie! For the rest of the session I kicked myself that living so close to our glorious coast line that I have not been out there pounding the mile upon mile of wonderful ground available. Our session did not start and finish there because we had some more follows and in one excellent spot where the water really came to life as the tide flooded we rapidly increased our tally to 4 fish apiece. These were small schoolies up to a pound and a half although I connect briefly with another half reasonable looking specimen that shook the lure and we had a real thrill seeing fish chase the lures to the rocks.
Devon is home to mile upon mile of stunning Bass ground
Could I have caught these fish with fly? Quite possibly and next time maybe I will give it a go especially as the long range casting qualities of the lure fishing gear had helped to show where the fish hang out. But I have to say that once again I cannot thank Wayne enough because it was his knowledge regarding where to find those fish that was so important, leading to my first Devon Bass on a lure. We must have been on the right track as we bumped into Joel Squires who has had some serious Bass this season and operates a lure guiding service. Anyway I had better shut up waffling and go and do some work … and tie those flies … although I might just sneak a look at the tides first. Er Houston “we have a problem”.
