I fly fish when I can........
21 Feb 2012
Not much fishing this month but I did manage a nice break to Cyprus with the kids. Another passion of mine is photography and I thought it would be fun to share some of the images from the trip.
03 & 04 Feb 2012
My last practice session on Wherwell came on me as quick as a wink, as I went to pick Graham up from Arborfield the temp gauge on the car told me it was -7. I knew it would be colder at the fishery and I was not wrong as we arrived, the temp gauge said -9. So a cold day indeed, Graham and I both decided to stay of the water that we would be fishing in the morning to give it as much rest as possible. I was surprised that only Howard Crosten seemed to be out practicing. Fishing the unlikely spots the fishing was indeed tough and by lunch I had only one fish to show for my efforts. The afternoon fished much better and I dropped in just above the bridge and had five Grayling in short order. I spent most of the rest of the time showing Paul around the river as had been indulging in some light exercise in the morning…….CFT. I also took the opportunity to walk past the water I would be banking on in the morning. I passed an angler who was fishing my preferred stretch and he told me he had had no joy. This left me a little concerned but I was going to stick with my game plan. Graham had changed his game plan more times than I can remember, I think he was trying to
confuse me (not hard). Anyway it was home and a hot bath and a wee dram to put some heat back into my bones.
The day of the humiliator dawned and it was even colder than the day before we arrived at the fishery to -11. This was to be Simon Lucas first go at running the event, he had some big shoes to fill as John Ball was always as sharp as a tack. I am pleased to say that Simon excelled and proceedings in the morning were very slick and well run. As a competitor it is always pleasing when a match is run efficiently as it is one less thing on your mind. Before the draw I was hoping for two things 1. An afternoon session as I knew that would fish better. 2. Not to have Howard or Graham in my flight. You guessed it Bob Hope and no hope I got the morning and Howard, deep joy. Still not to worry Richard Wood was my controller an experienced angler and a complete gentleman. I was particularly impressed with Richard who did not even chuckle when I caught my first fish of the day. As I struck the river bed beneath me gave way and I found myself on my arse with my rod in the air. As I looked up my rod tip was trapped in a tree and much to my 
surprise dangling about two feet of the water was a 30cm Grayling. I struggled to my feet and by some miracle the fish came safely to the net, I untangled the tip and brought the fish over to Richard. I had not covered myself in glory but hey I was of the mark. I started to work up the river and managed another eight fish to give me a grand total of nine. On the whole I was pleased with the way I had fished and with the number I had caught. I was a little disappointed to be beaten into third place but at least it was by a team mate. I may be lucky and still make the cut time will tell. If not there is always next year, you do learn a lot from these events and not only that you meet like-minded anglers to chew the fat with.
Wherwell Results 4th Feb 2012
Morning session
Howard Crosten 23 fish = 944 points
Paul Lee 9 = 381
Lindsey Simpson 9 = 375
Mark Withyman 5 = 229
Robert Brown 4 = 181
David Long 3 = 139
Andy McMahon 1 = 50
Paddy Bangham blank
Morning catch total = 54
Afternoon Session
Richard Wood 25 fish = 1190 points
Graham Lumsden 21 = 871
Ben Bangham 21 = 848
Martin Burgess 12 = 513
Jim Wright 6 = 329
Simon Lucas 5 = 276
Paul Maslin 1 = 62
Malcolm Price (pleasure angler) 2 fish
Afternoon Total fish caught = 93
Total Fish landed = 147
Biggest fish = 46 cm going to Howard Crosten
27 Jan 2012
I had the opportunity to go fishing on Wherewell with my river fishing mentor Graham. I had excellent sport over the Christmas holidays on Wherwell with catches on the best days up to 80 fish. In fact until this point the lowest number of Grayling I had taken in a day was 45. So as you can imagine I could not wait to get back at them. I picked Graham up on route and the morning was a crisp and clear one. Robbie the river keeper was in good form apart from the usual time of year health problems, colds, bugs and back problems. I tackled up my 11’ rod for a 3# and fished a tapered leader down to 5lb of around 10’ to a duo rig. My duo consisted of a Hi-Viz Dry fly and a Mary Nymph size 16 (see the video on how to tie these flies on the You Tube link) and we decided to start at the bottom of the beat. As we walked down the river I could see that the water clarity was not as good as it had been on previous visits. More worrying however was the fact that there did not seem to be as many fish showing as on previous visits.
We started to fish fairly quickly up the river and it was soon apparent that the fishing was going to be a lot tougher than we both expected. Usually when you get into a shoal of Grayling you can take a fair number of fish. Today though if you were lucky you would pick up one then have to move some considerable distance before getting another. I had been brought back down to earth with a bang, with my Qualifier next week I am worried that it will be a grinder. By lunch time I had managed 7 fish, Graham had faired better with around a dozen. During lunch I spoke with a couple of other anglers that were fairing much worse than ourselves so here is hoping it was going to be a better afternoon.
The afternoon provided a little better sport at the upper end of the river and I managed to grind out a few more fish. Having fished Wherwell a lot the last few months I am hoping that this was just a bad day. The water level is very low and it was quite coloured on my visit, I did manage to catch 18 Grayling which is fairly respectable for a day’s fishing, but after experiencing days with upwards of 50 fish I could not but help feeling disappointed. Role on next week where I hope the river will be back to its old self.
17 Jan 2012
A few people have been asking about the vice I have been using for the step by step videos so I have decided to do a short review.
The vice itself is a Jan Tvrdek Rotary Vice Harmonic it can be bought for the princely sum of £164.60. This of course is the sum once it has been converted to GBP, the vice comes from Europe where it is for sale €199. It came into my possession by chance, I had entered a photography competition and was fortunate to be selected as one of the winners the prize was a small tackle bag with a hefty £250.00 price tag. Not needing this I asked the organiser to swap with the individual that won the vice. They very kindly let me pick anything from the website to the value of the bag.
I liked the idea of the way this vice locked the hook into place. It is very simple and I don’t know why it has not been done before. The vice is made exclusively in the Czech Republic it comes with a pedestal stand and you can buy as an
extra the heavy base weighing in at a hefty 5.5lb. I have tied flies from 
size 10 down to 24 with no problems. The vice allows hooks to be positioned in any vertical alignment and holds them securely. I have enjoyed using this vice and look forward to many years service from it. That said I can see a couple of disadvantages over a conventional vice. The attachments for tube flies may not be compatible with the jaw mechanism on this vice, but as I don’t use that in my tying it is not an issue.
A solid well made bit of kit, I would give this vice four out of five stars and this is only because I feel the price could be a little cheaper.
12 Jan 2012
Well I have just revamped my site the old version was a bit clunky and difficult to navigate, I hope this new look will be easier to work with. To fishing then, my diary is fast filling up with not only river fishing dates but also the loch style dates for this year are fast coming in. I am really looking forward to my rivers qualifier on Wherwell. The river was in top form over the Christmas holidays and I enjoyed some great days out, catching a UK personal best with a Grayling of 53cm.
I travel with a group of like-minded anglers to European destinations and this year’s plan was to visit Northern Spain. We had a blow to morale shortly after the holiday because the flights from our locations were unworkable. We have since formulated plan B and are now making our way to the South of France in May.
