Fishing
Reports; mail to:
g.john.turner@blueyonder.com
Please
replace .com with .co.uk when emailing. This should help reduce the
amount of junk mail I get!
6th May by Jon
Ogbourne. First light bank
holiday Monday morning I covered the stretch from the aluminium bridge
up to the railway tunnel. Nothing much hatching early on, but by
the time I was walking back to the car there were encouraging numbers
of medium sized light olives coming off mixed in with the usual midges
(some of whom had had their pound of flesh from me while tackling up in
the car park!). Also evident were a few small mayfly shaped flies
smaller and less marked than Danica. Could have been Yellow Sallys but
weren’t as brightly coloured as Sallys I’ve seen before.
Hooked 6 trout, all on size 14 tungsten headed GRHE’s below a Klink, landing 4. The fish fought with great spirit and appeared in prime condition. I guess the high cold, clear water helped too. No monsters, but you wouldn’t find prettier trout anywhere. Some really good patches rununculous in the streamy runs. Only hooked one grayling. It’s nice to see the balance has tipped now in favour of the trout.
5th May by John Turner. I was able to grab a short session on the Kennels Beat on Sunday afternoon. A pleasant afternoon but not much success. Netted a small Brownie about 6" and touched a few others on a goldhead fished upstream sink and draw. There are some trees overhanging the river adjacent to the sewage works which could do with a trim and a tree down further up which although parrallel to the river could do with some trimming. If anybody fancies a non programmed working session please contact me with some dates.
21st April by John Turner. For my 1st (belated) visit this year I fished above the Flight Pond with a Gold Head nymph from 9am on Sunday. Had a few takes both on the sink and the draw but only netted 2 small brownies up to 8". As usual on the first session I lost a handful of flies to the trees and bushes. I've found it takes a few sessions to get the accuracy back so the answer must be to fish a bit more! Weather was an improvement on previous days as there was hardly a breath of wind and the temperature was up probably to average for April.
18th April by Frank Williams. Had a day fishing the LRA today . I started at around 10.30 at Avening Green. Although it was quite warm it was very windy. This did not help with the flys hatching, there where a few olive coming off but not enough to get the fish looking up. So as has been the case so far this season heavy nymphs where the order of the day.
The First three fish were Grayling But After that I caught a good few brownies a couple to around 14 inches these where all good over wintered fish recovering well from spawning.
Lovely to see., and just a taster of what this season may bring .
` `
14th April by Jon Ogbourne. Squeezed in a couple of hours just after dawn. Fished up from the aluminium bridge to the railway tunnel. The river was as clear as I’ve seen it in April and the fish seemed to have settled into a far more relaxed feeding rhythm. Fishing the trusty New Zealand set up, the dry would slip gently below the surface rather than violently shoot for the depths as earlier in the year, suggesting fish holding station and leisurely sucking in nymphs as they passed their noses.
I started with a black Klink with a 14 gold headed GRHE with a copper twinkle tail underneath, but swapped for a more buoyant RM balloon caddis on top after a while. The main difficulty was the rising upstream sun making tracking the path of the fly, particularly through broken water, almost impossible. The only solution was to position oneself so a tree trunk obstructed the worst of the light. This didn’t always make for the most elegant of casting positions. Anyway, manage to tempt 3 browns (best 12”, see pic) and 7 out of season grayling to the nymph.
Did see a couple of rising fish, one of which ignore the Klinkhammer on went on to take the trailing nymph! There were some small, pale, up-wing flies in evidence but, although hatching regularly in the warm sunshine, they were far from prolific (unlike the the bluebells and wild garlic). IMHO this this is the best time of year on LA, it’s stunning. Sightings of Muntjac deer, French Pheasants and a Wagtail all added to enjoyment of the trip.
13th April by John Turner. 6 members turned out for the working party on Saturday - thanks to you all. We worked upstream of the Wooden Bridge and removed a falled tree and took down some overhanging branches which opened up a bit more fishable water. There is still one large tree down which will need some heavy work with a chain saw - Frank William's saw cried enough when it shed its chain!
6th April by Billy Dickson
5th April by Jon Ogbourne Met Jon Tripp at the Scout Hut car park for 7am this morning for a stolen hour or two on the Little Avon.
The forecast the night before had been pretty grim and to be honest if I hadn’t made the arrangement I would have turned over at 6am and gone back to sleep.
To our pleasant surprise we we greeted by sunshine and as soon as I got on the water it was clear the fly life was responding to the warmth. For the first time this season I saw steady hatches of small light olives coming off the water mixed in with the usual midges. The water was at an excellent level and colour. I soon took off the heavy shrimp and indicator from my leader, on a day like today it didn’t really feel right. On went a black Klink and a size 18 sparkle ptn with a black tungsten head. Only one small grayling (which came off) showed any interest in an hours fishing, so with 15 mins left before I had to leave I swapped the ptn for a size 14 sparkle Copper John. Almost as soon as the fly hit the water it was seized by a very lively fish which turned out to be a 13” wild brown. In the next 20 yrds and 15mins 3 more browns all over 10” and 5 grayling up to 12” came to the nymph. The out of season grayling had all taken on a darker gunmetal colour as they prepared to spawn.
One first today was hooking a fish and playing it for a good 10 secs, before it came off. I flicked the nymph immediately back to the spot where I lost the fish and it took it again as it hit the water! It was duly landed and released.
Not sure how Jon got on as I had to leave for footy duty before he was finished.
1st April by Jon Ogbourne. Squeezed a couple of hours fishing in before work this morning. I feared the worst as I heard rain on the bedroom window. Half an hour later when I arrived at Damery Bridge I was relieved to see the river was perfectly fishable although on the high side and carrying just a hint of colour. I fished about the 50yrds up to the tump by the electricity cable sign and had 3 out of season grayling to nymphs. When I arrived it was still quite cold and there was nothing moving, save a few midges and a Mink above the concrete bridge! By the time I left the sun was out and it was promising to be a perfect day for fishing...
15th March by John Turner.
At the AGM on the 3rd March, the following major issues were addressed:
1. John West was elected as Vice President.
2. Frank Williams will be helping Mark Lewis out as Membership Secretary. This will be a gradual handover so until advised differently would all membership issues e.g. payment of annual subs, be addressed to Mark.
3. Rule 9. It was agreed by the meeting that the membership be limited to a maximum of 100 of which there will be 50 Seniors. The balance of 50 will be made up of Juniors, OAPs and members of the Renishaw Social Club. This reduction in Senior members will be achieved by natural wastage. It will mean therfore that prospective members on the waiting list will now have to wait some time until a space becomes available. N.B. Guest tickets willl be further discussed at Management Committee meetings as the issue of these will require a rule change which will have to be agreed at the 2009 AGM.
4. All members are reminded to provide Simon Cubbage with Catch Returns. Currently hardly anybody bothers. It is important for the club to have a record of catches as for example, in the event of a pollution incident, our records will be invaluable in getting compensation for lost fish. If the return rate does not increase dramatically in this year then the Management Committee will have to consider ways of improving the rate.
5. The Annual Subscriptions will remain as for 2007-8.
19th Feb by Simon Cubbage
As the excuse for missing the December meeting I told JT that I was pursuing some warm saltwater fish with the fly. In fact I think I have missed two or three recent meetings for this reason. JT asked if I would pen a few words which might encourage others to leave the Little River Avon for a week during the winter.
For those of you who haven’t ventured overseas to fish, it is a steep learning curve. I have been 3 or 4 times now in search of bonefish and tarpon. Until the most recent trip, the weather has been against me, but last December the fishing gods smiled.
Thus far the waters fished have all been similar – in the Bahamas, Belize and Cuba. On the flats the bonefish are the main quarry. All that you read is true – go armed with your reservoir trout rod (on calm days a 6 wt, if windy a bit heavier). Or buy the specialist gear – a 9 foot rod is a bit easier to punch into the solid wind. But the rod is secondary to the reel, which really must take the line and 200 yards of backing. Bonefish flies are easy to tie. Go armed with a large selection of weights and types. Most places you will have a guide and be in a boat, or wading (take flats boots). Once you’re on the water, the adrenalin will give you a rush like no other. The reason for this is that bonefish are so visible yet invisible. The fishing is 100% sight fishing. The only difficulty is seeing them. When feeding bonefish have the very helpful habit of putting their head down and their tails up. In 18 inches of water you see the fins and the tails (tailing fish). You can see which way they’re pointing. All you have to do is land your fly in the right place (not so easy when they are spooky and you’re casting from 30 yards in a strong cross wind). The fish spots the fly, you watch the fish follow and take. When not tailing they are very difficult to spot – it takes a few days to get your eye in to se a fish with mirror scales that reflect their surroundings. When the take occurs it is a strip strike – easy to break off at this point – and often a pause as the fish realises something is wrong. Now the adrenalin rush comes as the bone heads off. Medium sized fish at the speed that bones swim will break off on 15lb tippet, or heavier. They have to be allowed to go, and now you realise why the backing is there. My largest fish to date (estimated at close to the magical 10lb) took over 150 yards of backing on its third run – the first two were in and out of the mangroves.
Hooked 6 trout, all on size 14 tungsten headed GRHE’s below a Klink, landing 4. The fish fought with great spirit and appeared in prime condition. I guess the high cold, clear water helped too. No monsters, but you wouldn’t find prettier trout anywhere. Some really good patches rununculous in the streamy runs. Only hooked one grayling. It’s nice to see the balance has tipped now in favour of the trout.
5th May by John Turner. I was able to grab a short session on the Kennels Beat on Sunday afternoon. A pleasant afternoon but not much success. Netted a small Brownie about 6" and touched a few others on a goldhead fished upstream sink and draw. There are some trees overhanging the river adjacent to the sewage works which could do with a trim and a tree down further up which although parrallel to the river could do with some trimming. If anybody fancies a non programmed working session please contact me with some dates.
21st April by John Turner. For my 1st (belated) visit this year I fished above the Flight Pond with a Gold Head nymph from 9am on Sunday. Had a few takes both on the sink and the draw but only netted 2 small brownies up to 8". As usual on the first session I lost a handful of flies to the trees and bushes. I've found it takes a few sessions to get the accuracy back so the answer must be to fish a bit more! Weather was an improvement on previous days as there was hardly a breath of wind and the temperature was up probably to average for April.
18th April by Frank Williams. Had a day fishing the LRA today . I started at around 10.30 at Avening Green. Although it was quite warm it was very windy. This did not help with the flys hatching, there where a few olive coming off but not enough to get the fish looking up. So as has been the case so far this season heavy nymphs where the order of the day.
The First three fish were Grayling But After that I caught a good few brownies a couple to around 14 inches these where all good over wintered fish recovering well from spawning.
Lovely to see., and just a taster of what this season may bring .
` `14th April by Jon Ogbourne. Squeezed in a couple of hours just after dawn. Fished up from the aluminium bridge to the railway tunnel. The river was as clear as I’ve seen it in April and the fish seemed to have settled into a far more relaxed feeding rhythm. Fishing the trusty New Zealand set up, the dry would slip gently below the surface rather than violently shoot for the depths as earlier in the year, suggesting fish holding station and leisurely sucking in nymphs as they passed their noses.
I started with a black Klink with a 14 gold headed GRHE with a copper twinkle tail underneath, but swapped for a more buoyant RM balloon caddis on top after a while. The main difficulty was the rising upstream sun making tracking the path of the fly, particularly through broken water, almost impossible. The only solution was to position oneself so a tree trunk obstructed the worst of the light. This didn’t always make for the most elegant of casting positions. Anyway, manage to tempt 3 browns (best 12”, see pic) and 7 out of season grayling to the nymph.
Did see a couple of rising fish, one of which ignore the Klinkhammer on went on to take the trailing nymph! There were some small, pale, up-wing flies in evidence but, although hatching regularly in the warm sunshine, they were far from prolific (unlike the the bluebells and wild garlic). IMHO this this is the best time of year on LA, it’s stunning. Sightings of Muntjac deer, French Pheasants and a Wagtail all added to enjoyment of the trip.
13th April by John Turner. 6 members turned out for the working party on Saturday - thanks to you all. We worked upstream of the Wooden Bridge and removed a falled tree and took down some overhanging branches which opened up a bit more fishable water. There is still one large tree down which will need some heavy work with a chain saw - Frank William's saw cried enough when it shed its chain!
6th April by Billy Dickson
I managed to wet a line for the
first time since last November when I had a few hours on the Kennels
beat on Sunday afternoon. The car thermometer indicated 6 degrees, but
dressed up like the Michelin man in many layers of thermals I was quite
comfortable. I fished a combination of dry fly and gold head nymph on a
long leader, but unfortunately did not get any offers. There were a few
spring olives about, but did not see any fish rising to them. Almost
stood on a big grayling though, so the fish were present. Although no
fish, it was a pleasure to be back fishing after the winter break. The
water was clear and at a good height. There were a few fallen trees
that could do with being cleared. In particular, there is a small tree
fallen across the river near the top of the second pool above the
railway bridge. This prevents fishing through the pool, but the tree is
small enough to be cleared by two persons. There is some rain forecast
for Wed, but hopefully this will not raise the water too much
before the bank clearing on Saturday.
5th April by Jon Ogbourne Met Jon Tripp at the Scout Hut car park for 7am this morning for a stolen hour or two on the Little Avon.
The forecast the night before had been pretty grim and to be honest if I hadn’t made the arrangement I would have turned over at 6am and gone back to sleep.
To our pleasant surprise we we greeted by sunshine and as soon as I got on the water it was clear the fly life was responding to the warmth. For the first time this season I saw steady hatches of small light olives coming off the water mixed in with the usual midges. The water was at an excellent level and colour. I soon took off the heavy shrimp and indicator from my leader, on a day like today it didn’t really feel right. On went a black Klink and a size 18 sparkle ptn with a black tungsten head. Only one small grayling (which came off) showed any interest in an hours fishing, so with 15 mins left before I had to leave I swapped the ptn for a size 14 sparkle Copper John. Almost as soon as the fly hit the water it was seized by a very lively fish which turned out to be a 13” wild brown. In the next 20 yrds and 15mins 3 more browns all over 10” and 5 grayling up to 12” came to the nymph. The out of season grayling had all taken on a darker gunmetal colour as they prepared to spawn.
One first today was hooking a fish and playing it for a good 10 secs, before it came off. I flicked the nymph immediately back to the spot where I lost the fish and it took it again as it hit the water! It was duly landed and released.
Not sure how Jon got on as I had to leave for footy duty before he was finished.
1st April by Jon Ogbourne. Squeezed a couple of hours fishing in before work this morning. I feared the worst as I heard rain on the bedroom window. Half an hour later when I arrived at Damery Bridge I was relieved to see the river was perfectly fishable although on the high side and carrying just a hint of colour. I fished about the 50yrds up to the tump by the electricity cable sign and had 3 out of season grayling to nymphs. When I arrived it was still quite cold and there was nothing moving, save a few midges and a Mink above the concrete bridge! By the time I left the sun was out and it was promising to be a perfect day for fishing...
15th March by John Turner.
At the AGM on the 3rd March, the following major issues were addressed:
1. John West was elected as Vice President.
2. Frank Williams will be helping Mark Lewis out as Membership Secretary. This will be a gradual handover so until advised differently would all membership issues e.g. payment of annual subs, be addressed to Mark.
3. Rule 9. It was agreed by the meeting that the membership be limited to a maximum of 100 of which there will be 50 Seniors. The balance of 50 will be made up of Juniors, OAPs and members of the Renishaw Social Club. This reduction in Senior members will be achieved by natural wastage. It will mean therfore that prospective members on the waiting list will now have to wait some time until a space becomes available. N.B. Guest tickets willl be further discussed at Management Committee meetings as the issue of these will require a rule change which will have to be agreed at the 2009 AGM.
4. All members are reminded to provide Simon Cubbage with Catch Returns. Currently hardly anybody bothers. It is important for the club to have a record of catches as for example, in the event of a pollution incident, our records will be invaluable in getting compensation for lost fish. If the return rate does not increase dramatically in this year then the Management Committee will have to consider ways of improving the rate.
5. The Annual Subscriptions will remain as for 2007-8.
19th Feb by Simon Cubbage
As the excuse for missing the December meeting I told JT that I was pursuing some warm saltwater fish with the fly. In fact I think I have missed two or three recent meetings for this reason. JT asked if I would pen a few words which might encourage others to leave the Little River Avon for a week during the winter.
For those of you who haven’t ventured overseas to fish, it is a steep learning curve. I have been 3 or 4 times now in search of bonefish and tarpon. Until the most recent trip, the weather has been against me, but last December the fishing gods smiled.
Thus far the waters fished have all been similar – in the Bahamas, Belize and Cuba. On the flats the bonefish are the main quarry. All that you read is true – go armed with your reservoir trout rod (on calm days a 6 wt, if windy a bit heavier). Or buy the specialist gear – a 9 foot rod is a bit easier to punch into the solid wind. But the rod is secondary to the reel, which really must take the line and 200 yards of backing. Bonefish flies are easy to tie. Go armed with a large selection of weights and types. Most places you will have a guide and be in a boat, or wading (take flats boots). Once you’re on the water, the adrenalin will give you a rush like no other. The reason for this is that bonefish are so visible yet invisible. The fishing is 100% sight fishing. The only difficulty is seeing them. When feeding bonefish have the very helpful habit of putting their head down and their tails up. In 18 inches of water you see the fins and the tails (tailing fish). You can see which way they’re pointing. All you have to do is land your fly in the right place (not so easy when they are spooky and you’re casting from 30 yards in a strong cross wind). The fish spots the fly, you watch the fish follow and take. When not tailing they are very difficult to spot – it takes a few days to get your eye in to se a fish with mirror scales that reflect their surroundings. When the take occurs it is a strip strike – easy to break off at this point – and often a pause as the fish realises something is wrong. Now the adrenalin rush comes as the bone heads off. Medium sized fish at the speed that bones swim will break off on 15lb tippet, or heavier. They have to be allowed to go, and now you realise why the backing is there. My largest fish to date (estimated at close to the magical 10lb) took over 150 yards of backing on its third run – the first two were in and out of the mangroves.
Unfortunately
the guide was not as good with the camera as he was putting us on fish.
This is an
interesting site I regularly visit as he does a lot of fly fishing for
Bass and Mullet - Operation
Sea
Angler
4th September - Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Water Vole Project.
At last night's management committee meeting we had a talk from John Field of the Gloucestrshire Wild Life Trust about his project for the re-introduction of Water Voles into rivers where they previously lived but no longer do so. The project aims to address 2 issues to assist with the natural re-colonisation of rivers, including the LRA:
- Habitat improvement
- Eradication of Mink
If any member would be interested in helping out on the project in some way then in the first instance would they please contact me. I can then pass on more info. The Trust will be holding a training day in October regarding Mink trapping so please let me know of your interest ASAP.
The Management Committee are supporting this project and hope our members will do so as well. Thanks in anticipation of a good response.
POACHERS!
Unfortunately, we are getting reports
(07/05/07) of poachers, fishing illegally on our waters . Once
again, please challenge those who you suspect of not being
members. If you can put one of the
Warning
notices on
their car's screen then so much the better. Generally
Poachers do not have an EA Rod
Licence so there is a bigger stick to wield of a fine from the
EA!
The new Police Community Support Officer Sean McKinnon has made contact with the club and is keen to ensure that our rights are protected from poachers. he can be contacted on 07825 388928 in the event of members requiring assistance. The local beat Policewoman is PC Lee Bainbridge and she can be contacted on 07919628617
The new Police Community Support Officer Sean McKinnon has made contact with the club and is keen to ensure that our rights are protected from poachers. he can be contacted on 07825 388928 in the event of members requiring assistance. The local beat Policewoman is PC Lee Bainbridge and she can be contacted on 07919628617