A true Winter Story!

You will be pleased to know that I have started scanning some of my old fishing pictures (as Father Christmas brought me an 'all singing and dancing' Scanner/ Printer / tea maker etc) and intend to put them on my blog in due course!

This is one that I found in my album the other day! It brought back fond memories to me so I thought I might share them with you!

Proud of my catch 15th April 1994

A 14lb Torridge salmon, me stood outside the entrance of the Half Moon Inn at Sheepwash in Devon!

This is the salmon that I refer to in my Catch To Date report for 1994. It weighed 14lb and is my largest salmon to date. I caught it on the Holsdon Beat of the River Torridge, the Half Moon Inn used to rent it from the National Trust but as far as I know no fishing is allowed there any more! I remember the circumstances very well!

It was a lovely spring day, sunny and quite hot. Access to the river was down a very steep, long bank and through some woods! It was dead easy going down the bank, the thought of returning back up though was far from my thoughts. I was on a mission!

The beat was split into 2 sections and you had to fish one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, sharing the beat with the syndicate who fished the opposite bank. The change over had to be a 12.00 noon!. The bottom beat had a weir on it at the far end and I had just started fishing the weir pool at about 11.30 am so I had 1/2 hour before I had to pack up! The water conditions were good for spinning, as there had been rain earlier in the week and the water was at a good height but falling (this was before the Fly Only rule came into force at the HMI after April 1st or whenever it is!)

I was fishing a silver toby and had just started chucking right over to the far side into the fast water below the weir. It swung round quite quickly in the fast current. I did this 2 or 3 times and then felt a knock! Must have been a rock or something I thought! Just at this moment a Range Rover came down the field on the far side and an elderly guy got out with his rods and gear ready to start fishing at 12.00 noon! 'Morning' I shouted. 'Morning' he replied, 'had any luck'? 'Not a touch' I replied. 'I've been fishing all morning and haven't even seen a fish'!

I continued fishing as time was running out and this pool looked like my last chance of the morning! Another cast landed right in the white water just below the weir. It swung round again. 2 knocks this time! Weird, must be a snag in the river! I cast again, this time, to my complete surprise, the knock turned into a savage and solid pull, the line tightened and I was in to what seemed like a decent salmon!

The fish fought like hell! It must be double figures, I was thinking! All the time I was being watched by the guy on the far side who kept looking at his watch! It was a powerful fish and this combined with the fast current at this point made the job of playing the fish that much harder! Then I realised that I had left my landing net further upstream! Bollocks! Now what shall I do?

There was no choice but to dive in after the fish or even, dare I say, tail it? I had seen it done but had never tried it myself! The trouble was I had trees all around me so I couldn't raise the rod high in order to control the fish and the current seemed too fast to tail the fish very easily! I decided that there was only one thing for it! I must get in the river and try to get the fish between me and the bank, however, this wasn't easy as the flow was strong and the water deep (about up to my thighs). My plan was this! As soon as I could get the fish close in and holding position in the stream, between me and the bank, I would chuck my rod as far as I could up the bank and then lunge at the fish with both arms and heave it out of the water and up the bank as far as I could manage! This was a cracking fish and I had no intention of losing it, especially with the opposition guy over the other side watching every move I was making!

When the time was right I put my plan into action! It was all over in a few seconds but it seemed like a life time! My plan worked perfectly and the salmon landed safely half way up the bank with me safely lead on top of it! It was an absolute cracker of a salmon!

I had by now overrun my time on the beat so I had to walk back along the river for about a mile so that I could start fishing the next beat. This fish was hell of a weight and at some point I would have to carry it back up the hill to the car! Not a pleasant prospect I thought!

I fished for a couple of hours more to no avail and decided to call it a day and go back to the Half Moon for a pint! Now then, how am I going to carry this fish up that steep long bank back to the car with all my other gear I thought? It didn't look easy at all. Ah, I know! I took the sling from my landing net and threaded it through the gills of the salmon. I then heaved the fish on to my back and secured the sling over my shoulder! Job done! I would have to carry the net in my hand with my rod but so what! God was it hot! Spring? It was more like high summer! The bank got steeper and steeper and I was sweating like a pig! The climb was murder! Will I ever reach the top I wondered. I kept stopping and wiping my brow and looking back down into the beautiful valley with the river meandering through it. What a sight!

I was puffing, panting, sweating and other things when I came out of the trees at the very top of the hill (mountain more like). In front of me was the style and beyond that I could see my car. To my surprise though a young, quite attractive girl was standing on the step of the style with a camera admiring the 'breathtaking' view (literally). 'High' I said. 'High, have you been fishing' she asked. I was not looking my best after this epic journey and didn't have much breath left so I just turned around to show her the salmon hanging down my back. All I heard was a loud scream! Then another! And another! When I turned around she had run off! Christ I thought, has she never seen a fish before?

I lit a cigarette and looked back at the amazing view while I leant against the style. Then I looked down at the salmon lying on the grass. It was a magnificent prize! What a fantastic day? It was certainly one that I have never forgot!

The Great Trout Escape!

Rod alerted me to this picture and story in the Telegraph newspaper recently. These brown trout worked out how to escape from their fish pond into the river and gain freedom! Remarkable? Well not really to us fishermen but a miracle no doubt to the non fishing public!

Freedom is the River Itchen in Hampshire!

The owners of a trout farm were left baffled when fish were going missing. But then a wildlife photographer caught their extraordinary escape route on camera.

He pictured the trout making giant leaps out of their pond straight into the metal feed pipe three feet above the water level.

They then fought against the current for 30 feet until they reached the end of the eight inch wide pipe, which emerges underwater in a tributary of the River Itchen near Alresford, Hants.
The wildlife photographer Dennis Bright, 59, captured the amazing aerobatic fish earlier this week at the trout farm.

He said: "It was an incredible sight. Swimming against the current is instinctive for trout as they head up stream to spawn but they are doing a remarkable job getting through that pipe.
"They are jumping for freedom in large volumes but sadly I think their fate will be less than happy - there are otter, herons and many other predators feeding from the stream.
"I imagine the trout are quite stressed in the ponds because it is a free-for-all for predators. When birds come along the fish don't stand a chance."
David Riley, owner of Hampshire Trout Farms, said he would be extremely surprised if more than one or two fish were making it through.
He said: "I have been a farmer here for about 30 years and have never seen a fish make it to the other side but I know Dennis and if he says he has seen it I believe him."
"November and December is the mating season in the river and it is natural for them to jump at waterflows. It is not entirely impossible that they are getting through the pipe but if they do it would just be one or two.
"The pipe leads to the watercress fields which are only 150 yards long. If they were getting there in large quantities we would certainly see them.
"We already lose quite a lot of our fish to natural predators and I wouldn't like to think we are losing any more through the pipe.
"We do have a grill and deflectors that we can put on the pipe. Those that are not taken by otter or birds are used to restock rivers for sport."
The Brown Trout belongs to the same family as the Atlantic salmon. It is a medium sized fish, growing to 20 kg or more in some localities although in many smaller rivers a mature weight of 1 kg (2 lb) or less is common.
They prefer cold (15.5-18.3ºC), well-oxygenated upland waters, especially large streams in mountainous areas. Their diet includes invertebrates from the streambed, small fish, frogs, and insects flying near the water's surface.

Driven by instinct

It is instinct rather than cunning that drives the brown trout to make their leap for freedom.
The fish will be trying to get upstream to spawn.
David Bassett, of the British Trout Association, said: "They will be thinking that water falling from the pipe is a waterfall leading upstream. Then they will follow their natural life cycle to get upstream."
Paul Knight, of the Salmon and Trout Association, said the fish would also be attracted to the pipe because it would be bringing in water full of oxygen.
Mr Knight said: "They will follow instinct. I don't think they would be looking up at the pipe and thinking, 'Come on lads, let's go for it.'"

The Great 2007 get together!

Well we all met up this year at the Swan Hotel, Bibury and we all enjoyed it. The girls got on very well together and us blokes just carried on as normal taking the p..s out of each other! It was great! Lovely Hotel and surroundings.

Rod really enjoyed the meal and absolutely stuffed himself!

Cerith tells us his story for 2007 and a bit about the past!

Here is a summary of my catch statistics for 2007.

Total sewin caught is 21 all between 1lb and 4.5lb and of course the 15.5oz sewin that was donated to the hatchery. Of these I returned 12 to fight another day. I also caught one grilse at 7.5lb. Kept. All fish were caught on either worm or spinner, none on the fly this year.

Since I began fishing I have kept records of all sewin and salmon caught, that's more than 20 years worth, which includes methods, dates and where. I also have a number of records of the fish my grandfather caught. This winter I will log them all on the computer and send you a copy. My best year on the Tywi was 1999 (the year I left university and had nothing to do but fish), that year I caught over 50, the worst year was 1991 with only one sewin. 50 fish in a year isn't bad but my grandfather once caught 24 in a day in the 60's.

Hopefully i'll see you all in the AGM in January.

Rodney Byles Reports on his 2007 Season and a bit more!

Andy

Your catch return is interesting so enclose my little contribution in response.

Would have been interesting for you to include the flies you used to catch this lot!! My best season was about 12 if my memory is correct as don’t keep a diary like you. This season not that good as only managed 5 small sewin up to 2lb and only one of those on the fly. Very disappointing, although with Cerith’s advice I did manage a couple on the worm. The running worm is a difficult technique to master properly and depending on water conditions etc I will give it a try again next year.

Although the season has only just finished I’m already suffering from withdrawal symptoms. As a substitute I thought I'd try a bit of grayling fishing yesterday (Thursday) on a 1.5 mile double bank stretch of the Itchen near Winchester. Lovely sunny day and was quite expectant of a lot of grayling as had the stretch all to myself and river was perfect - gin clear and a good depth and flow. Started at 10.30 and finished about 3.30 in the afternoon and sad to say I only had one very small grayling and none rising either. Very disappointing as this stretch has produced big catches of grayling for me in the past with fish up to 1.5lb. The river keeper reckons the cormorants are to blame and take at lot of grayling during the winter months, however, my grayling disappointment was made up for with one of the best days I have had in years for trout!

I actually lost count of the number I caught. I think it was about 10 Rainbows and a couple of Brownies all between about 3lb and 6lb and fought like hell on 4lb line with my small 8ft rod that I made over 20 years ago. Plenty of long runs with the reel screaming!! Very enjoyable. Took me ages to get them out in the fast current and lost quite a few more. All were in cracking condition and of course all returned. I also saw an Eagret and a couple of Roe deer so it was quite a good nature day all in all. Wouldn't it be great to catch that number of sewin in a night!!! Now that would be special. We live in hope!!

Rod

My Catch Record - 1986 to date (with gaps)

Date River Fish Wt (lb-oz) Comments

Notable catch in red

1986

18/07/1986 Glaslyn Sewin 3-12 Andy’s Pool
22/07/1986 Glaslyn Sewin 4-2
01/09/1986 Glaslyn Sewin 3-0

1987

09/08/1987 Glaslyn Sewin 2-8 1 of 3 fish
17/08/1987 Towy Sewin 1-8
19/08/1987 Towy Sewin 1-0
24/08/1987 Glaslyn Sewin 1-8

1988

26/07/1988 Glaslyn Sewin 1-0
26/07/1988 Glaslyn BT 1-0 Brown Trout
08/09/1988 Glaslyn Sewin 2-8 Sinking line, flats
04/09/1988 Glaslyn Sewin 1.00
10/10/1988 Swan Inlet Sea Trout 1.00 Falklands
11/10/1988 Swan Inlet Sea Trout 5.00 5@1.00 lb each av

1989

07/03/1989 Dever Springs RT 5-2 Fishing with Tony
07/03/1989 Dever Springs RT 4-0
07/03/1989 Dever Springs RT 3-8
26/04/1989 Torridge Salmon 8.00
27/04/1989 Torridge Salmon 7.00
13/08/1989 Towy Sewin 2-2
20/08/1989 Towy Sewin 3-8 sea liced
03/09/1989 Towy Sewin 5-0
06/09/1989 Nith Salmon 7.0 George Htl, Thnhl
18/09/1989 Shatterf’d RT 10-0 8 fish in total

1990

22/04/1990 Torridge Salmon 7-8 Junction
13/07/1990 Towy Sewin 1-8 Churns
13/07/1990 Towy Sewin 2-0
07/08/1990 Shatterf’d RT 1-9 Lewis landed this!
08/10/1990 Glaslyn Sewin 10-0 Below Gorad pool

1991

16/04/1991 Torridge Salmon 7-0 Madeira
29/06/1991 Towy Sewin 3-12 Flats
04/07/1991 Towy Sewin 5-4 Churns
27/08/1991 Towy Sewin 4-0

1992

11/04/1992 Torridge Sea Trout 3-8 Beam
14/04/1992 Torridge Salmon 8-0 Beam – Sunken T
26/05/1992 Towy Sewin 3-0 Lost in Churns
21/06/1992 Towy Sewin 1-0
16/07/1992 Towy Sewin 3-0 Fishing with Rod
26/07/1992 Towy Sewin 2-0 Flats
31/07/1992 Towy Sewin 5-0 Flats

1993

18/07/1993 Towy Sewin 3-8
06/08/1993 Towy Sewin 6-0
21/08/1993 Towy Sewin 6-8 Road Bridge
21/08/1993 Towy Sewin 0-12
21/08/1993 Towy Sewin 1-8

1994 My best season ever for both sewin and salmon

15/04/1994 Torridge Salmon 14-0 Wr Pool, Holsdon. My biggest ever salmon.
2 fish lost!
12/05/1994 Towy Sewin Lost in Groins
29/05/1994 Towy Sewin 7-0 Flats
12/06/1994 Towy Sewin 11-4 Big! My biggest ever sewin!
24/06/1994 Towy Sewin 4-8 Flats
24/06/1994 Towy Sewin 1-0 Returned
23/07/1994 Towy Sewin 3-0 Rd Brdge with RB
28/07/1994 Towy Sewin 2-0 Flats
28/07/1994 Towy Sewin 1-8
04/09/1994 Towy Sewin 6-8
09/10/1994 Towy BT 1-4

1995

15/06/1995 Nith Sea Trout 1-8 Lost 2 fish
16/07/1995 Towy Sewin 1-4
13/10/1995 Towy Sewin 5-0 Car Park pool

No records for 6 years (probably because the fishing was poor and I was even more poorly?)

2002

28/06/2002 Towy Sewin 2-8
13/07/2002 Towy Sewin 3-8
19/07/2002 Towy Sewin 6-0
25/07/2002 Towy Sewin 1-8
26/07/2002 Towy Sewin 1-8
26/07/2002 Towy Sewin 1-8

Another gap!

2007

03/06/2007 Towy Sewin 2-0
15/06/2007 Torridge Sea Trout 1-8
15/06/2007 Torridge Sea Trout 2-0
15/06/2007 Torridge BT 1-8
11/08/2007 Towy Sewin 2-0
11/08/2007 Towy Sewin 4-0
11/08/2007 Towy Sewin 7-0
25/08/2007 Towy Sewin 4-8
25/08/2007 Towy Sewin 6-8
25/08/2007 Towy Sewin 2-0 returned
01/09/2007 Towy Sewin 4-8
24/09/2007 Towy BT 1-8

Last chance of the season on the Towy!

Rod, John and I spent the weekend on the river in the hope that one of us might get a salmon! With the water so low we knew the odds were stacked against us.

On Friday evening we thought we would try for a sewin in the Cattle Drink Pool and started fishing about 6pm. I was the first to go down the pool having fished the Churns first so it was natural to stay in the water and 'follow through' so to speak. At about 6.45pm when it was half light I had a good pull just above the actual cattle drink itself. Then another and the third connected with a good fish which both Rod and John heard but it didn't stay on! After that there was nothing and it went very cold so we packed up at about 7.30pm and went back to the B & B.

Saturday was bright and sunny and useless for fishing but we all went through the motions. Sunday was cloudy but no good!

So the last chance is over and we must wait for next season to catch that elusive Towy salmon! My next report will review the season so if my mates can let me know the number and weights I will include a summary for all to see.

The highlight of the weekend was probably me having to go to Ammanford on Saturday morning, buying some new waders which turn out to be too small! That's £120 down the pan! But best of all was Rod trying to knock himself out back at the B & B when he headbutted a low beam on Sunday morning! He was staggering about for most of the morning and was too afraid to get in the water in case he keeled over! Fortunately he has recovered but now walks slumped over where ever he goes!

Got some nice pictures though!

Sunday 23rd September 2007

With the news of Gadget Man's 5lb sewin on Friday I decided to go down for the day to try my luck!

John and I stayed at the White Hart Inn at Llandeilo and found it to be quite good. We had a good laugh in the bar and a good hearty breakfast in the morning. When we got to the river the water was virtually clear but still a few inches higher than normal. My first few casts in the Car Park Pool resulted in a solid take and at first I thought it was a grilse. The water was fast flowing and the fish went down and stripped line off my reel! Would you believe it when it turned out to be 1.5lb brownie! Incredible! Anyway it was in fine fettle so it ended up in my bag!

We then moved on down to the bottom beat where it was quite blustery and it soon started to drizzle on and off. We both fished hard all day but had no luck! Still it was an enjoyable day and I continue to be amazed at the power of my Sage Z Axis rod! Even in a strong wind I was managing to punch out a good line of 15 m and more!

I am hoping to get one more trip in before the close of play. The 5th, 6th and 7th October look favourite. Hope some of you can join me?

Tight Lines

Gadget man bear hugs a sewin and stinks all the way home!

Well done Chris for landing a 5lb sewin on Friday 21st September 2007, reported to be a 'bar of silver'.

Actually that is not quite true by all accounts! The story goes that Chris hooked this fish on a mepps at the Cattle Drink. The river had risen by about 300mm and was probably just starting to fall and clear a little. The fish fought hard and then proceeded to nose dive the bank and bury itself in the vegetation. It was John who saved the day! By risking life and limb he managed to immerse most of his arm and upper body under the water and into the roots to recover the prize but that wasn't quite all! John was feeling around in the roots and felt the fish's tail. He grabbed the tail but the hold didn't stay and the fish jumped up clear of the water, into his face and thereby started fight No 2! Chris handed John his rod and charged after the fish along the bank and literally dived on it in desperation, grasping it with both arms tightly against his chest. The problem was that the line was caught up in the roots and there was not enough slack to allow Chris to climb out of the water with his fish! Answer - "bite the f.....g line through John so that I can get out" cried Chris to John. Which is exactly what John did! Chris then proudly climbed up the bank with the fish clamped firmly to his chest with both hands!

There is a moral to this story though. 'Don't bear hug a sewin that closely to one's chest - it makes your coat stink right under your nose all day and you can't get away from it!

Oh well! No doubt it will be only a matter of time before Gadget Man finds some amazing gadget on the internet that eliminates fish smell from one's clothing after close encounters such as this! I bet he's surfing the net as I'm typing this report!

A perfect night for sewin fishing?

Spent a few hours on the river last night. The night was perfect! Warm, overcast with no wind to speak of. I fished the bottom beat from about 8.30 pm until 12.30 am. I didn't see any fish at all and I didn't have any offers either! A complete blank and a complete contrast to the last 3 fishing trips. Maybe if I had stayed later I might have picked up a travelling fish who knows? I didn't even see any otters. The trouble with this time of year you can start fishing by 8.30 ish and by 12.00 I'm knackered! Anyway, nothing ventured nothing gained! I think I will wait now till the rain comes and spend a couple of days down there spinning or fly fishing in the day for that elusive salmon! That would end my season perfectly! Only 4 weeks to go lads!

Another productive night!

Fished last night on the LAA bottom beat. Conditions were good but not quite as warm as last week. Took this 4.5 lb fish at about 12.30 am. There were one or two small fish showing but no other pulls.

It's very strange but I was able to pick this fish up easily by the neck of the tail?

It's official!

My luck seems to be changing or is it Rodder's fly?

Got to the river last night by about 9.00 pm. The conditions were perfect! That's happened to me twice this year so far! It was warm, slightly overcast and still. A real pleasure to fish the river - pure enjoyment!



I started fishing the pool between the ditch and the bush opposite where we tackle up. Half way down I had a confident and solid take and got into my first fish, a 4 1/2 lb sewin that fought like hell, taking yards of line off my real and causing a right commotion in the pool. I was fishing Rodder's Special tube and when I say the take was confident I mean that the fish took the fly in a perfectly relaxed, normal kind of way. It wasn't a savage take but I could tell that the fish felt comfortable in taking it and that it would be well and truly hooked!



As I approached the bush I had a gentle pluck, a bit like a brownie. I continued fishing down the pool and as I got to the bush on the far side another take happened. Again it was confident, again it was going to stay hooked! It was a bigger fish this time that started cartwheeling down towards the fast water, stripping 10 metres of line on it's first run. I tried to get below the fish but it took more line and was getting dangerously close to the fast current. Eventually I managed to get below it and beached it about 10 metres below the bush. It weighed 6 1/2 lb.



I then went around the corner and fished all the way down to the bend. I did this twice to no avail. I then thought I would try the pool opposite our base again and hooked a 2lb fish right by the bush which I believed was the same fish that had had plucked me earlier. I returned this fish to fight another day.




I fished on until 1.00 am, had no more takes, saw no more fish, didn't see a fish move all night but enjoyed every minute of it! Except the bullocks in the field between the river and the car! When I came back through the field last night, as quietly as I could possibly be, you would have thought that the 30 or so bullocks in there would have hardly noticed me wouldn't you? Like hell! They were chasing around me like maniacs, I was chucking rocks at them, shouting, waving my arms, running, everything! When I got to the gate I flung myself over it, heart thumping rapidly. As I picked myself up the other side and looked back at the 30 staring pairs of eyes I thought ' I'm too old for this'! Swines!

Catch to date (2007 Season)

2 No Seatrout - up to 2 lb (Torridge)
7 No Sewin - up to 7lb (6.5 lb, 4.5 lb) (Towy)
2 No Brown trout - up 1.5 lb (Torridge)(Towy)

Happy Birthday to me!

Guess what - it's my birthday today! I'm sat at home trying to work on the PC but I can't help thinking about the Towy and the fact that I am now 56!

I've heard it is raining heavilly down there this morning. Just hope it clears up for the bank Holiday weekend as I am hoping to sneak off down there at some stage.

John took some pictures of me in action on the car park pool the last time we were down there.

The expert at work!

Our patio on the Towy!

I have been meaning to put this picture up on my blog for ages. It's not me, I don't even know the guy but it has to be the picture and fish of this season on the Towy!

Amazing!

Cerith does it again!

Cerith has been at it again! A casual walk down to the river last night armed with his rod and a bucket of worms and bingo! This is his report.

After some rain monday night the Tywi was up 6-8 inches Tuesday. Not enough water to fish the bottom even though I couldn't see the marker below Crewil Pool. don't think there's one there. Fished the worm tail end of the pool between the hut and the snag. Caught a 7.5 bs grilse at 6.30 a couple of casts later lost another of similar weight. Went quiet for a while then with no bites. At 7.30 returned a 3lb sea trout, caught a 2lb sea trout and lost a good sea trout of about 5lbs. During this half hour i was having knocks on every cast nearly. Then it all went quiet again. Rained heavy tuesday night wednesday morning and the Tywi must be up 12+ inches and very coloured. If we don't have any more rain the river should start clearing tonight and tomorrow but i don't think shell take the fly tomorrow night. But there should be a few grilse and salmon about given the rain of the past month and you could well pick one up on the worm or the fly in the clearing water. Cerith

Well done again Cerith.

Best nights fishing for many years!

Last night was perfect. Cloudy, warm and the water was crystal clear and a fair height!

We knew it was going to be good from the start. Ok, no massive fish like the double figure sewin caught the night before, which Rod witnessed, but a good run of fish after about 12 o'clock. Running fish and Rodders Special fly - well that's a magical combination!

4 fish were caught by myself and John. John kicked things off with a 5lb sewin early on caught on the bottom beat between the ditch and the hedge, opposite where we set up shop! This is the biggest sewin he has ever caught on a fly! Well done John.

I followed with 3 fish - 2lb, 4lb and 7 lb - all on Rodders Special. They faught like stink and I lost one other big fish too! All of my fish were caught around the bend near the rubbish on the far side. The bigger fish certainly tested my new Sage Z Axis rod and Hardy Angel reel!

A good 7lb sewin - what a fighter too!

3 fish, 7lb, 4lb and 2 lb - good sport!

The HOT SPOT for me anyway!

Chris had a small brownie but wasn't lucky on this occasion!

I fished until about 3.30 am by which time the skies had cleared and the temperature had dropped a little. What a night! This is what sewin fishing is all about! Can't wait to go back.

I am cycling 50 miles for the British Heart Foundation!

On 25th August I am cycling 50 miles to raise money for the BHF.

I want to raise in excess of £500! Will you please sponsor me?

You can donate on line and securely, just go to:-

www.bhf.org.uk/sponsor/ajholmes

Here you can read my full story about why I want to raise funds for the BHF.

Go on, get your credit card out now!

July is a complete wash out!

The whole month of July has been a complete washout. With up to 15 inches of rain across the country it has been the wettest July since records began!

The river has been up and down like a whores draws! I haven't even bothered going down there since the 11th July. Poor old Rod is on the river this week for his annual weeks holiday but doesn't seem to be doing much good! He's had 4 small sewin, 2 on a spinner and 2 on the worm! WORM? Rod, that's not like you - fishing a WORM! All I can say is that things must be getting desperate for Rod to start worming.

Having spoken to Rod this morning he tells me that he is sat in his car and hasn't even attempted to start fishing yet! It's pissing down!

Oh well, lets hope that August is our saviour!

Wednesday 11th July 2007 - water too high for the fly!

Would you believe it - my rod tip has come from Sage! Naturally I couldn't wait to get down the river to try my new rod out again. This time it remained in it's case for the whole journey and will do so for as long as I can be bothered to excercise some degree of caution! Not long probably!

Went down to the river in the hope that the fly would be on! Parked at Pumping Station and walked across the fields to the river. Got 3/4 the way across the river and had 75mm to spare below the top of my chest waders so I had to turn back. The water was pretty clear, not pres tine but probably OK. Drove up to the road bridge but there was no chance of fishing there! At least 6 cars were parked on our side of the river! The only other place I could go was the Car Park Pool so off I went. (Cerith went down the bottom so we could meet up but our rendezvous never materialised!

The Car Park Pool was running fast. I would say that the river was about 300mm to 400mm above normal. I fished until about 12.00. Didn't see a single fish, no knocks, nothing! To make things worse it was raining again, quite heavy!

A total wasted journey I suppose! Still, lets hope the river settles down now and that we have some dry weather for a few weeks. Enough is enough!

PS:- Cerith - I finally got your other fishy pictures and have incorporated some of them into my previous piece about your monster catch! Thanks mate!

Tight lines everyone!

Cerith gets a specimen sewin!

Well done Cerith for catching this monster hen sewin! For most it is the fish of a lifetime. It is also very pleasing that he donated it to the hatchery. A fish of this age must be either very clever and resilient or just plain lucky! Which ever the case hopefully her eggs will provide equally resilient fish for us to catch in the future. This was 1 of 10 fish that Cerith caught last week, many of which were returned to fight another day. Very commendable Cerith!

A fish of a lifetime - a 15 1/4 lb Sewin about to leave for the hatchery!

And some more!

This is Ceriths own account of what happened!

I had some holidays booked this week, and have managed a few fish on worm and spinner through the week.I fished Llangadog AA monday evening down by Bethlehem. The river was very high and dirty so I fished the worm along the edges and back eddies. I hooked and caught a 4lb sea trout within the first hour and had a few other decent knocks. But the real fun happened aroud 6.30 when a cracking fish took my single worm and shot off down stream. I knew i had a good fish on, and was pretty sure that it would be a double figure fish. After about 20 min I landed a cracking sea trout.luckily the fish was hooked in the scisors and I had a tether handy in my pocket. I quickly tethered the fish and released it back into some quiet back water. I phoned Viv at the hatchery and explained that i had a good sized hen sea trout, and sugested that he came down to have a look and see if he wanted it for the hatchery.To cut a long story short Viv and Olwen took the fish back to the hatchery and after the fish had settled down in the tank agreed to weigh the fish.Olwen e-mailed me today and confirmed that the fish weighed 15.25 lbs.After 25 years fishing I finally have a Tywi double figure sea trout.Im sure that if my grandfather can see me now he would be very happy indeed. He was a great teacher.

DiolchDwrgi

A lovely brace of sewin!

Well done mate, you deserve it!

Anyway, enough of this excitement, here are some pictures that I took when I was down in Llangadog the week before last!

My camp site right next to the river

Farmer Ken's old tractor - 1960 ish I think!

That's about the best that I can do - amateur photographer and Blog Manager!

Water coloured and up about 100mm

Went down to the river yesterday evening knowing that the water was coloured but thought it could be worth a go with the worm or even the fly in daylight hours!

Fished the top end of Crewel with the worm but failed to get any knocks. What a great place for worming now that the tree stump is there? The stump has created a lovely run that you can fish progressively for a good 25 - 30 m. You could even fly fish it too! Anyway, I saw 2 or 3 good fish move in the pool, 1 small fish kept jumping by the log stump and interestingly 2 or 3 good fish jumped about 100m above the pool on the far bank in their usual places. I will definitely try for these this next week while on holiday! I fished until about 9.00pm and then went back to the car at the car park to change the worming rod for the fly rod and got chased by the bullocks which raised my heart beat substantially as I hurled myself over the style! Sometimes I think I may be too old for being chased around fields by young jumped up bullocks! Load of 'bullocks' really isn't it!

So not much to report. I am on leave now for 2 weeks so I am hoping that the river clears up and that the weather settles so that I can get some night fishing in before I go back to work on the 9th July.

Tight lines.

I then fished the Car Park pool with various flies until about 11.00 pm but with no success. I didn't see any fish at all up the top of the beat!

Nice fish but not mine!

The sea trout forum seems to be getting some good reports coming through. Like this sewin caught this week. Rod, Cerith, John and Chris - pull your fingers out please, I want some pictures and reports to fill these pages!

3 nights on the Torridge

A solid and fresh Torridge seatrout with a lovely brown trout

Had some fun on the River Torridge this week. I have been working at Paignton where the CIWM show was so I thought I might as well take advantage of the fact that I'm in Devon and do some fishing in the evening! The weather has been OK up around Sheepwash but wet down at the show on Wednesday and Thursday. Anyway, I fished Brightley on Tuesday night and took a lovely fresh seatrout that weighed 2lb and fought like a salmon! Then on Wednesday I fished Madiera and blanked! Didn't see a thing. Thursday I fished Junction, Charles Inness's water and had some fun. I lost a good fish of about 3lb and killed a 2lb seatrout, fresh as a daisy and a 1.5lb brown trout. I also saw a good fish move in the junction pool. All were taken in day light on a size 10 stoats tail double and 10lb leader, 9 ft long! Good fun!

The Half Moon Inn is up for sale, Hotel only for £990,000! Lets hope we get a dedicated angler or anglers to buy it and build it back up to its former glory, although I can't see anyone buying the hotel without the fishing can you? Without the fishing the hotel will be nothing in my view!

This size of sea trout are the best to eat

So far this season I have taken:-

1 sewin - 2lb

2 sea trout - 1.5lb - 2lb

1 brown trout - 1.5lb

And lost:-

1 double figure sewin!

Tight lines everyone.

Double figure sewin lost at Llangadog!

In case you were wondering if the season is properly underway yet then I've got news for you all! Take it from me - it is!

Last night was magical for me! I now remember how I got hooked on sewin fishing in the first place. Although I have little to show for it the excitement was incredible. It only really lasted about 45 secs but I cannot think of any other sport or pastime that can possibly give me that kind of kick! None! You know what I mean don't you.

John started off at about 10.45 pm with a fine 2lb sewin on a 'rodders' special I believe, the last one that he has Rod! My first cast caught the fence opposite so I had to break it off. I then lost my fly box on the shingle (the second time I've done that!). I then caught a lovely 1.5lb brown trout, fat and firm, fought well for a little bugger!

We both fished hard but with no further success. We didn't see or hear any fish move at all. It went cool, not cold and at about 2.00 am John said that he was going back to the car because he was tired. So I bid him farewell and said I would be back soon myself!

I decided to go around the bend and fish the bottom pool so I put on a 40 mm black and silver waddington so as to get down in the water as the current is a bit lively around there. It wasn't long before I heard a fish move. Then I hooked and lost a good fish of about 3lb - 4lb. That got me interested I can tell you. All the time I thought I would get lucky.

I concentrated on the pool for quite awhile and at one point was joined by mum otter and at least 2 cubs! The tail seemed to be where I was getting pulls. I didn't think they were trout - not on a waddington of that size. It was now about 3.00 am I think. The next cast re-hooked me into sewin fishing with the fly! This is what it's all about - I remember now! 3 or 4 crap seasons had taken their toll on me but now, suddenly, that was to change! Believe me - it did!

A good cast, long and gentle as it landed on the water. I could see it land near the far bank and imagined it swing around to the tail of the pool. Half way across the pool - wallop! 2 yards of line were snatched from my grasp as I felt the weight of a big, seriously big fish! This was no 6lb-er, this was a double figure fish without doubt! My first reaction, once I felt the weight and heard and saw the fish cartwheel on the surface, was to drive the hook home. Just one sharp upward movement in the hope that it may stay on! Then, without warning, the fish took off downstream. The reel screamed! This is the first time I have heard my Hardy Angel do this since I bought it 2 years ago! There was absolutely nothing that I could have done to impede this run! Nothing at all. The fish piled off down river and took all of my line down to the backing. I ran down the shingle to get closer to it! I reeled the line back on to the reel, felt the weight of this monster again. Thump - thump - thump - as it rolled about! Then, then - the fish released itself. The fly came free! F.....g hell! Ba....d! I don't believe it! Yeh - I remember reacting like this before, maybe 4 or 5 years ago at least! I was gutted! Gobsmacked! Distraught! You know what I mean. What more can I say?

I carried on till dawn with no offers. I went to find my flybox that I had lost earlier but to no avail! Oh well, I thought I would look next week in broad daylight.

Back at the car John was flat out! As I started off loading my gear he woke and I related the story to him, concluding that I had given up on finding my flybox! He opened his bag and handed it to me. He had looked for it on his way back along the river and stumbled on it first time! This is the second time I have lost this box and the second time that John has found it for me! Thanks mate!

I can't say anymore about this other than that I am hooked again on sewin fishing - hooked again BIG TIME!

On walking back to my crossing point, as I was about to climb down the bank I disturbed a big fish that sent a bow wave across the river as it turned and moved across to the other side slightly below me! There are big fish about lads, there is no doubt about it!

Tight lines all.

Is this years season underway at last?

What a perfect night?

Arrived on the river about 9.00 pm. The sky was overcast and it was very warm. As darkness fell I expected to see a fish or two move but nothing! I had company, 3 guys in fact! Nevermind, I was here first so I was going down the pool first! Everything looked perfect. The water was clear as crystal, the air muggy and the sky dark! Perfect! But where are the fish? By the 2nd June they should be here! There are reports of fish lower down but have they got this far yet?

3/4 the way down the pool a nice fish took me and cascaded down the pool back to sea! Not a big fish, 2lb or so but a solid bar of silver. At last I have opened my account for 2007!

Later on I lost a bigger fish halfway down the same pool and my partners in crime each lost fish during the night. The one guy got his prize however! A cracking 6lb sewin, rock hard and silver. What a fish? I am convinced that these fish were running!

6lb bar of silver

(crap picture though!)

Lets hope that this is the start of a productive season. We shall see!

Get down there lads and get your prize! Let battle commence. Come on Boyo's!

Rain at last!

This may be perfect timing! For the past few days the Towy has been up and down, probably reaching +250 mm which is not a great deal but enough to encourage a run I think. Today, Sunday it is absolutely chucking it down at home, all day, relentless! Looking forward to next weekend when we could be in for some good sewin fishing? Cant wait for my first sewin on my new Sage rod!

Tight lines all.

Not a sewin but a handsome fish all the same!

Rod kindly sent me this picture that he took recently when walking along the river. It's a fantastic picture and the original is even better but too big to upload!

Thanks Rod!

8lb - 13oz barbel from the River Colne

Winter on the Towy

The Llangadog AA AGM was held last Friday in the village. Unfortunately I was unable to attend due to another visit to hospital but Rod and John did and came back with some useful literature on the CFF (Carmarthenshire Fishermans Federation) and Llyn-y-Fan Hatchery.

LAA have agreed to let guests assist with winter maintenance and have promised to inform us of the work day dates when we receive our permit renewal letters! I will certainly make myself available to help now that I am fit and able!

It is also good to see a healthy set of Financial Accounts for the Association.

I am pleased to learn that the restocking policy for 2007 may now include sewin as well as salmon! Its been a long time coming but lets hope that it helps to turn around the rivers fortunes in perhaps 3 or 4 years time, who knows? Amazingly one thing that I have learnt from the hatchery literature is the survival rate of adult salmon v the number of eggs propagated! In the wild it is reported that from 10,000 salmon eggs only 3 adult salmon will result (and one of those Cerith will probably hook out) whereas the hatchery claims that from 10,000 eggs it can produce between 60 and 90 adult salmon returning to the river! If these figures are anywhere near true then the hatchery appears to be far more effective than nature!

My own view is that nature can probably cope, the problem is man! Get rid of the high sea's fishing pirates, the estuary netters and improve the spawning areas up river and once again the River Towy could not only become one of the finest game rivers in the UK but could boost the economic prosperity of the area no end (and by heck it needs it!)

Anyway, back to the river! Recent floods have taken their toll on Cruel Pool, eroding the footpath away and uprooting the tree from the foot of the steps. The following pictures were kindly taken by John and Rod whist walking off their hangovers from the night before! Considering the time of year the river looks good and the quality of the pictures are excellent (even after me reducing their size by 60% in order to be able to load them on to the blog). Well done both of you. I am disappointed though to see that you failed to climb By-Pass Hill (formally Heart Attack Hill) and get some pictures of the lower river!

I like this picture of Cruel Pool - very creative!

Rod showing off with his new camera!

Some people are always on the phone - he's probably talking to me actually!

Looking up towards the railway bridge. Good to see the island still remains (left)

Cruel Pool - in all it's glory

The Cattle Drink on the left looking upstream

Let's hope the tree survives the remaining winter floods - it should make a great worming spot!

It makes me very jealous to look at these pictures but I know it's not long now before I will be on the river and I should be much fitter than ever before! You will all be pleased to know that my second trip into hospital seems to have been worthwhile (but time will tell) and that the Ablation Therapy I received should prevent any further episodes of palpitations that I have suffered from recently. It worked on Tony Blair so hopefully it will work on me!

Roll on the 2007 season!