Another year ends!

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year!

Tight lines for 2010!

My catch summary for the 2009 season

6th June 2009 - 2 No sewin - 6lb and 3 lb - 8 oz
27th June 2009 - 1 No sewin - 7lb
6th Aug 2009 - 2 No sewin - 3 1/2 lb and 1 1/2 lb
29th Aug 2009 - 1 No sewin - 9 1/2 lb

John breaks his 'duck' on the last day of the season!

John stayed down the river on Saturday and managed to entice a good fish of 3lb from the fast water in the neck of the Car Park Pool. Well done John!

That's the end of the season now. I think its been pretty good other than the fact that July was a complete wash out. Still - must look forward to the 2010 season now - God willing!

15th October 2009 - last minute sport?

Had a night on the river Thursday! Caught 1 sewin of 3lb and lost a much bigger fish. There were lots of fish about. Just shows the extent of the Towy sewin run!

Rodder's takes to the sea!

Rod has sent me this report about his salt water fly fishing exploits!

It’s been difficult for me recently trying to coordinate a trip to the Towy at Llangadog when the river's been okay for the night fly, so decided instead to try my hand at sea bass fishing, something I’ve wanted to do for quite along time, and the sea is nearer to my home.

As I’ve never been bassing before I thought it best I book my very first trip with ghillie Justin Anwyl, who runs a sea bass guiding service from Chichester Harbour and the surrounding area.

See his website http://www.bass-fishing.co.uk/.

On this occasion we were drifting over kelp beds from a small boat, another first for me. Thanks to Justin’s guidance, advice and tackle, I managed to catch my first ever sea bass and on a fly. Estimated weight was 5lb and put up a very strong fight and maybe more so than a similar weight sewin, but without the acrobatics!! I was very pleased with myself (see photo) and as this is a bass conservation area unfortunately it went back instead of on my plate!



I was rewarded again later with another hard fighting fish of about 2.5lb. My fellow angler Duncan also had two fish of very similar size. And to cap it all I also caught my first ever mackerel, also on a fly. This was a memorable and very enjoyable day, which wouldn’t have been possible without Justin’s guidance. I will definitely go again and maybe try it from the beach next time, when all the kids are back at school!!

Rod

Well done Rod! I think I will have a go too sometime!

Best catch ever!!!!

My gorgeous granddaughter Sofia!

Saturday 29th August success!

Friday was a horrible day and the water was up to a good level. After a day of very mixed weather and no success this morning proved to be a different thing all together!

I woke at 6.00 am in the car and immediately got up and cooked my breakfast. It was a lovely start to the day, blue sky, white fluffy clouds and lovely sunshine. The river had dropped about 300mm and was almost clear at the car park so it was bound to be better down the bottom. I made my way down to the bottom of the beat, through the woods and up and over heart attack hill. I remember a very similar day like this last year. The water level and weather were identical and I caught a good sewin last year so I was looking forward to repeating it again! In fact when I arrived at my pool I looked in my fly box to see if I could find the very same fly and there it was all bedraggled and scruffy! Even so I still put it on! I worked my way down the pool and got closer to the 'hot' spot. Would history repeat itself? I cast perfectly to the place that I caught a fish last season. The fly came round and there was a swirl at it! Might have been a trout perhaps I thought? I cast again - nothing. One more cast and the fly came round and wallop! A 9 1/2 lb sewin in bright sunshine at 8.00am on 12 lb breaking strain nylon! Amazing!

Where have all the sewin gone?

Went fishing Wednesday and Thursday nights down the bottom of our beat, touched one fish in my favourite pool, otherwise saw nothing! They have either gone upstream or are sulking! Maybe they are in hiding because of our 'black cat'? One good thing it seems about this 'killer' cat is is many anglers are staying at home and leaving the fishing to me! I fished all night Thursday and didn't see another angler!

What a beautiful place?

Thursday 6th August - a good nights sport!

Went fishing last week for a couple of nights and had some good sport on the fly!

Thursday night was warm and the water completely clear. I landed 2 fish, one 1 1/2 lb and one 3 1/2 lb but I lost many more! If I had landed every fish that I had felt the weight of then I would have had the best night of my whole career. Every other cast it seemed produced a pull or better. It was amazing!

Even more amazing was the big black cat that I saw! Must put this story in my book!

July is a 'washout'!

This has to be one of the wettest July's on record? Downpour after downpour is all we are getting making the river largely unfishable most of the time. Certainly fly fishing at night has been pretty much out of the question. Lets hope August is drier but with 75mm of rain forecast tonight and tomorrow then I fear the worst!

2nd and 3rd July 2009 - my latest report!

I fished both nights with no success! The night of Thursday 2nd July was torrential rain all night and the river rose at least 300mm! By the time Friday night came around I had just about dried out all my clothes but the river was still a bit coloured. There were many anglers on the river though but the only report of a fish was a young angler fishing the Railway Bridge Pool who reportedly lost a good sewin! Subject to weather and water I will be fishing this week.

Tight lines

Perserverance pays off!

Went fishing Saturday 27th June on a fine, warm night with the river low but clear and with the knowledge that their are plenty of fish about.

Met up with Dylan earlier and decided to fish the cattle drink for a change. Their was the odd fish moving but nothing seemed interested in our flies despite trying every pattern in our boxes! It soon became obvious that we not going to get lucky so Dylan and I walked back to our cars foe a coffee. He decided to quit but I thought I would try my luck at the Car Park Pool. At about 2.45 am I saw a fish move in the tail of the pool. I moved on down quickly and started to cover it. After 3 casts it took very gently, in fact I thought I had snagged on the bottom. It turned out to be a good 7 lb fish, caught on of course a Rodder's Special yet again! Rod - your fly is a revolution and for me has been very successful particularly for the big fish and those that are travelling I think!

Very rewarding!

Tight lines all.

Where have all the sewin gone, gone gone everyone!

I went fishing with John on Friday night. It was the most perfect night. Dark, still, warm and the water was pretty clear. After last Thurs and Friday nights fishing I thought we were bound to catch fish in these conditions. How silly of me! We didn't really see or hear any fish of any consequence throughout the night having started fishing at about 10.30 pm and packed up at 3.00 am! We fished really hard all night but the fish were not to be found and there were 'no new kids on block' turn up at 2 am either! It was very disappointing but I guess that is sewin fishing!

Tight lines!

Is the main sewin run underway?

Well, if the last 2 nights are anything to go by then I would definitely say that it is!

I spent 2 nights on the river (Thurs - Fri) and managed to land 2 fish (one 3 1/2 lb on Thurs and one 6 lb on Friday). Both were fresh, silver and in prime condition.

Thursday night's fishing started with me showing a visiting angler around the beat. Shane is interested in joining LAL and therefore took out a day ticket so that he could take a look at the beat. I offered to show him around so we both finished up fishing together all night down the bottom end of the LAL water. Hopefully Shane will be convinced of the quality of fishing that we have as he finished up with 2 sewin, one of 2 lb and the other about 3 lb - the first sewin that he has ever caught on the fly at night! Well done Shane! He was very pleased with himself and we both sat together having a cup of tea back at my base at 4.30 am talking about the nights fishing.

Shane with his 2 sewin, both caught on the fly!


I also caught a my first sewin of 2009 at 2.00 am which weighed exactly 3 1/2 lb so I was happy too!

Friday night was even more exciting!

John, my brother-in-law came down to fish with me and we both met up with Dave and Tim on the river before dark. As soon as darkness arived I started fishing the pool opposite the log where we sit. I had at least 2 good pulls but John, who was following down behind me, hooked a good fish but unfortunately it didn't hold. Bad luck mate! Tim, meanwhile managed a 1 lb sewin further upstream which opened his account for the season!

Things went quiet for awhile until about 2 am when I hooked and landed my 6 lb sewin. It was a beauty! Soon after Tim hooked and landed a good 6 1/2 lb fish which fought like hell! Around about 3 am I hooked a monster! I played it for quite awhile and it appeared to be well hooked. It fought deep down most of the time and I am convinced it was a double figure fish! It was not to be though and soon it released itself much to my frustration. Still, it was an exciting few hours that I can honestly say was some of the best fishing I have experienced for many years!

My 6 lb sewin awaiting the knife!

Lets hope this season will be a good one!

Tight lines

kingfisher

The Towy is so beautiful at this time of year with loads of wildlife to see and hear.

Looking down on the Railway Bridge Pool and the Car Park Pool

There is the odd fish about!

I spent Thursday and Friday on the river this week and enjoyed it immensely! The river is falling and is pretty much in fine fettle now. Thursday night Rodney Byles and I fished the bottom beat. We didn't see any fish at all except for the 4 lb sewin that Rod caught at about 10.30 pm and a fine specimen it was too!

My first trip of the 2009 season!

Went down to the river on Saturday night to try my luck. The river is low and the bed is covered in algae which frequently attaches itself to your fly hooks. There is no doubt that the river needs a complete flush out!

I fished first down the bottom of our beat. There are some changes there but nothing too drastic. The night was warm and overcast but I failed to spot any sewin at all. At about 12.00 midnight I went up to the car park pool and tried my luck there but to no avail. So my first night was blank but this was not too unexpected I have to say as the season is still very young!

Like my pictures? Why not view my complete portfolio?

If you like my fishing pictures then why not visit my Redbubble website and look at all my photographic work? There is something there for everyone and you can buy it too! From a greetings card to a full size, mounted and framed picture - its all there and I get a commission!!!! Pretty good actually as I am currently unemployed!

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See more kingfisher photography


Tight lines all

The 2009 season is approaching rapidly!

Yes, the new season will soon be here! Time to send off for our permits and licenses. Lets hope that the 2009 season is better than last year (well it can't be much worse for me anyway). Make sure you follow the Llangadog Angling Web Site for the latest news and this one of course. Just to remind you of how beautiful the River Towy is and to bring back some happy memories I have uploaded a few pictures for you to enjoy.






Tight lines everyone.