Cold nights make fishing difficult if not pointless!

I have spent 5 days and 4 nights at Llangadog last week and I enjoyed every moment! The weather was lovely and warm during the day so I spent most afternoons in my hide with a camera. Despite every effort on my part I failed to get any decent wildlife shots! There were a couple of kingfishers about but none of them wanted to play ball with my perches! I did however get a good shot of 'the cat' to my great surprise and excitement! I need to process these images so I'll wait until I've got something that's worth posting! Unless we get serious rain I can't see it being worth daytime fishing and the prospects of that happening don't look all that good in the near future!

My last trip of the season beckons!

I'm going down on Monday for a few days as it's the only chance I'll get before the end of the season because of personal commitments! I may fish or I may not but one thing is for certain I'll get some peace! Having had my son and his wife staying with us for 4 days with their daughter Riya I'm ready to escape! With a dustbin full of nappies and a house that's been turned upside down I need space. By the way Riya is no trouble at all poor thing!!

I think she's hooked?

40 fish in 2 evenings! Beat that lads!

Sandy's report!

Managed to get hold of Sandy tonight. As you will know he hasn't been well. Anyway you will be pleased to know that he is feeling much better and his doctor is pleased with his progress too! He's talking about going fishing again soon!

One thing of particular interest that he told me about regarding his recent fishing trip is that on the last couple of nights he discovered the effectiveness of the Jambo! He got more offers and pulls on this than any other method - and some big fish too! So maybe he was fishing too deep even with a floating line? Interesting!

Tim's latest report

Tim Wilkinson has been fishing and sent me this report!

I had 2 nights this week - Wed on Crewil. I saw a few fish early doors, but nothing apart from a parr. One of the lads (Miguel's mate) had a 5 lb-er. Dai had one on, but lost it. Thurs I went down the bottom, but the strength of the wind was a problem. I had a take and fish on, then thrash at surface and fish off. This was in the pool above Andy's pool in the small slack on the opposite bank. I didn't see or hear any fish at all. Well the rain has come and hopefully, with the nets off and fresh water coming in, the sewin will start to run. Typical though, I'm off the Scotland tomorrow morning for a few days (not fishing unfortunately) so it'll have to wait until I come back. Maybe I'll see you down there before the end of the season. Please pass on my best wishes to Sandy, when you see him.

We need some decent rain I think. If we get some then I might venture out the week after next but without rain I think the prospects are poor!

Difficult fishing conditions?

This week I spent 3 nights on the river with Sandy and latterly John. I managed to get a fish on Tuesday and Wednesday but failed on Thursday! I had a 2 1/2 lb sewin on Tuesday and a 3 lb fish on Wednesday both of which were bars of silver and both were returned! Temperatures were generally high but the water levels extremely low with dam water fluctuations of 3 inches or more for no apparent reason. There were few anglers out but I must admit I enjoyed my fishing, expecting to get a monster at any moment. Daytime temperatures were very high so sleeping in the caravan in the morning was sometimes a little uncomfortable. Sandy failed to connect in Crewel on a number of occasions however he is fishing as I write this post so watch this space!

Same place, same time!

Well Rod left on Friday morning and I decided to have another night's fishing as the river was falling and clearing after a very wet 24 hours. Well it paid off! In the same pool and at about the same time I hooked a lovely 7 lb sewin. It was a hen fish and as fit as a butchers dog! Amazingly the river was desolate - not a single angler in sight! I gave up at 3pm as the thunderstorms began to fester. It was warm - in fact it was so hot to the extent that I walked the 2 1/2 miles back to the caravan in just a teeshirt! Before I started fishing mind you I spotted a monster fish heading and tailing in the fast water - it looked huge from quite a distance so I think it's fair to say that there are some big fish about!

Rod gets lucky with bar of silver!

Tuesday night Rod hit a cracking sewin at 11.20 pm! At 10 lb + it was to many a fish of a life time but to Rod it was just another nights fishing!!! Actually he caught it in a rare moment when he wasn't asleep!

Any news from the river?

Hi all

I'm thinking of going down for a few days near the end of the month and I wondered if anyone had heard of any catches? I'll be going down regardless anyway because I'll be heading over to Skomer for at least 1 day but it would be nice to know of any catches or fish seen.

The river has changed again this year!

Hi all, I spent 3 nights on the river last week and really enjoyed myself. The weather was lovely and the temperatures held up quite well. I got a 2lb sewin and I saw a couple of fish move but that was all. I didn't really expect to get anything so the fish I got was a bonus. I saw only 2 anglers on the river! One of them evaded me by shooting off quickly as i approached Crewel Pool and the other was Andrew from Merthyr. He said that he'd had a 9lb sewin on the Llandeilo water a couple of weeks ago.

I took a few pictures so that you could see what the river is like now. The big changes are down the bottom, especially my pool and below it too.

The concrete dump remains!

Looking upstream to Crewel Pool

A tree stuck just above the Cattle Drink on the lower beat

More concrete dumping!

What seems like a potential new pool for us just below Andy's Pool

The new pool?

Andy's Pool - better or worse than before? The jury's out on that one!

My first trip of the 2014 season looks as though it's about to start!

All being well I'm off to the Towy tomorrow for a few days. I know its early and I know there ain't much chance of catching anything but...........................! Its got to be done!

Our annual pilgrimage to the River Torridge ends fishless!

Rod and I have just returned from the Torridge very disappointed! The water was perfect, the weather was perfect and we cast our socks off for 4 whole days without so much as a pull or a knock! The Half Moon Inn have apparently only had 1 salmon so far this spring which is pretty unusual. I think we both still enjoyed the break despite not getting a fish however its very disappointing when you both work really hard for nothing! The HMI itself is sadly looking very tired but I guess that's the way many things have gone over the past few years. Needless to say most of the pictures I took are not of me! In fact Rod was developing a new casting technique so I have taken quite a few videos of him casting which might help him see how its coming along.

You will notice a picture of a certain creature which of course we love watching but I wonder if he had anything to do with our failure to catch?

The new season beckons!

Well its that time again when we need to start thinking about the new season, our tackle and our tactics.

I'm thinking about spending a few days on the Torridge again in the spring in the hope of picking up a hard fighting Spring Salmon. Having looked on the Half Moon Inn website I see that it hasn't been updated since July of last year so I'm not sure what's going on there as I know it was up for sale. No doubt Charles will still be around no matter what happens and I just hope that the pub has retained its excellent beats on the river, especially Beam! The Torridge is a magical place in the spring with lots of wildlife to admire when you are fishing, including that big dog Otter that loves to fish at Beam in broad daylight. Also the bird song is phenomenal! What I love best of all is chatting at breakfast and the excitement and anticipation of getting a hard fighting salmon that day. Often the sun shines in Devon in early April as the climate is much milder there than here in Worcestershire and with the wild flowers just starting to appear, especially the wild garlic which is everywhere on the river bank and gives off a delightful aroma as you walk under the trees alongside the river, crushing their stems with your boots. Often the kingfishers are busy building their nests and there is always a Heron or two to keep you company on the river. There is nothing lovelier on a sunny warm spring day on the Torridge to sit down on the bench at Beam and have lunch, some nice sandwiches and a cold beer - brilliant and hopefully with some good company too.

As far as the Towy is concerned then I guess my first trip won't be until the end of April or early May but nevertheless I'm looking forward to it immensely. It will be good to catch up with my fishing mates John, Rod and Sandy at some point. I know Sandy has been poorly of late so I wish him a speedy recovery and I'm looking forward to sitting with him at his bench in Crewel and sharing a story or two and having a good laugh! I've put a few pictures in just to get myself inspired for the new season so I hope you like them. Get well soon Sandy!

John eagerly casting across Beam

The Half Moon Inn, Sheepwash

A fine Spring Salmon to take home!

Rod with a belter of a Spring Salmon

Taking a break at Beam

The Weir Pool at Beam - the best pool on the river

A fine Sewin from the Towy

The Towy - looking up stream towards Crewel

A fine Sewin from the Towy quite a few years ago

AGM - so what's new?

I attended the AGM last night and have therefore listed a few of the discussions and one key decision taken. Not many anglers turned up - I guess about 15 or so? The proposals and voting arrangements need a considerable amount of attention in my view - they are certainly not very 'professional' lets put it like that! The club apparently lost £1500 last year although I can't see where that is stated in the accounts but perhaps I'm too dull to spot it? It strikes me that there are a number of items of expenditure in there that are completely unnecessary in my view. It probably wouldn't be difficult to strip out half the loss at least!

Most of the discussion was about catch and release and limits as Dai Watkins reckons that there will be mandatory catch and release on the whole river within 2 years. Only about 20% of anglers submitted returns however for the 2013 season and there were no proposals to deal with this! For this reason I haven't bothered listing any catch totals as they clearly aren't worth bothering with. Apparently canoeing is a big threat for the future so I'm off now to go and buy one - I must remember to buy an anchor though so that I can set myself up in the middle of Crewel!

Main points:-

• Crewel Pool rubbish dumping - this was done by the farmer but no action will be taken as the club believes that it was done naively. The snag at the bottom of the pool has been lost for good however the farmer says that he will put things right
• Facebook Page has been up and running for quite some time but few followers - I'm just about to log on!
• On-line day ticket sales have been a success
• Work Parties - all hands are apparently needed this year??
• Fees - stay as they are
• Vice President - position removed
• Fishing Limits for the 2014 Season are:- 4 fish per season can be taken comprising of Sewin up to 5lb and Salmon up to 10lb - all other fish are to be returned

I am not sure whether I will bother with the work parties because last year I travelled down for a 2 hour stint as everyone else cleared off by 12.00 noon! I think a proper structure for work parties is needed with everyone being given jobs to do and I believe it should be for a whole day not just a couple of hours! 

Otherwise I am looking forward to the new season as I am sure many of you are. I hope to see you all on the river at some point, preferably having just returned a monster. Fortunately for me there are no limits on the number of foxes, dogs or both that I am allowed to catch!

Tight lines - kingfisher

Well the Llangadog Fishing AGM looms!

This Friday is the Llangadog Fishing Club AGM and I wonder if at last the opportunity for change is a slight possibility?

The river has been in decline ever since I joined over 25 years ago and in recent years has been in danger of being lost forever! Despite many discussions by all stakeholders, loads of meetings, EA doing nothing, token gestures of sorting the river out yet nothing has been done and WE ARE ALL GUILTY of this - every one of us!

The fact remains that the River Towy is on the verge of being lost! Abandoned! Our children or grandchildren are unlikely to ever experience the pleasures that many of us have over the years - the thrill of catching a sewn on a fly at night! It may be that we are leaving the river to them, in the pathetic hope that they will eventually take the initiative to do something and rebuild or restock the river for the future, by protecting its environment and caring for what could be an amazing attribute of the area both financially and environmentally. Unfortunately no one seems to be able to do it alone and non of us are able or willing to join together to turn it around! No one seems to care enough!

Despite living 100 miles away from the river I do hold a fond passion for the river and its fish and have expressed my concern, like many others, for many years but sadly, from what I can see, the local population and anglers alike along the whole length of the river have allowed its decline to just flow them by without a care! I and my angling pals are just observers - visitors. We have no say really. We pay our dues, much more than locals, but thats as far as it goes. I personally have tried hard to help and assist in my small way to make the river better but I don't think that my simple and small efforts have in any way been replicated by the real owners of this river - the local anglers, most of whom appear to have no real love for the river or care about its future! Isn't this a very typical human trait - often people can't see what's obviously happening under there nose's - until its too late? I think it is very sad!

Again I intend to attend the AGM and I will be interested to see if there are any new initiatives on the table. I am prepared to support any initiatives that are proposed and to continue my support for the club. I will be there on the work party day even if the locals aren't but I think that the change of heart needed to turn this river around is immense and I fear that in reality the local anglers and the visitors will sadly fail to rise to the occasion as they have in the past! I sincerely hope that I am proved wrong!