I had almost written off any river fishing this year but it is almost bursting its banks, as I write. I doubt whether any of the big Thames Browns made it up to spawn this year but there are plenty of resident fish and a few grayling to have fun with on a catch-and-release basis.

As some of you will have seen, not only is our Twitter feed up and running on an almost daily basis now, but our Facebook page is now fully functional and is a much easier medium to post photos and reports on a regular basis. Don’t worry, The Newsletter will still go out each month but for those of you in to Social Media, it is worth a look. The website has also had a spruce. There is now a tuition section and new, summery, photos. Facebook and Twitter can be accessed from the website. I have to admit that we are scarily down on numbers over the last two years so I will clutch at any straw to generate business.

Mayfly’s are in full swing, along with a host of surface fly hatches. There are some spectacular “rises” on Bushyleaze and not a bad amount of surface activity on Lechlade, although Lechlade fish are still happier taking nymphs and buzzers, sub surface.

We are still doing some great offers in the shop and have a huge range of the new Hardy and Greys kit. Rob is still running his Fly Tying evenings on the first Wednesday of every month. These are now being held ‘al fresco’ at Bushyleaze… Tie and catch!

We hope to see you all soon. The nights are still cool so fishing is great.

Lechlade is shut for a Corporate Event this Tuesday and Bushyleaze on Wednesday.

Reports for April:
Lechlade: 236 Anglers caught 683 fish. Average size was just under 8lb. 194 “Doubles” were landed. Largest fish went to Mr Lyne-Pirkis at 19lb 5oz. Donna Varley had a 15lb 7oz fish, hotly pursued by Mr Corbishley who had a fish just over 15lb in a bag that topped nearly 40lb. Biggest brown went to Mr Comley at eleven and a half pounds. Messrs Sinclair, Walker and Ally had exceptionally good fish. Best fly’s, predictably, were damsel nymphs and buzzers.

Bushyleaze: 342 Anglers caught 1,091 fish, average weight of just under three and a half pounds. There were 308 fish over 6lb. Largest went to Mr Campbell at 7lb 8oz. Messrs Smith, Blackburn and Gullet all had fish over 7lb. There were several 6 fish limits around the 30lb mark. Nice to see that most successful flys were dry olives and sedges, along with sunken Daddies and buzzers.

With all good wishes and Tight Lines from the Lechlade Team.

many thanks

I am lucky enough to be visiting the French Mediterranean Coast at Gruissan near Perpignan.  I am expecting it to be a sandy beach profile with breakwaters and boulders and some internal harbours with obstructions etc.  As it will be my first time SWFF on the Med I was wondering if there was any advice on likely catch, tactics and tips.

Thank you Forum,

Tom

I was reading Neil Patterson’s article, the Spanish Bubble Dance and it had me thinking about the various methods and leader set ups to control depth and movement.

I have my own leader set up which I call, a Stalkers Rig and wondered if it would be of interest to you.
Attached is a photo showing the Stalkers Rig.

I use it because I love the challenge of sighting and targeting an individual fish using only a single fly.
I originally put it together to target fish which were “Bulging” at the surface as they were taking ascending nymphs.

The Stalkers Rig is made up of three parts.
The first is the leader itself, the second part is what I call a Boson’s Chair and the third part is what I call Tent Peg Stoppers , which fix the Boson’s Chair on the leader to allow you to fish at different depths.

The good bit about the Stalkers Rig is that you can slide the Boson’s Chair and Tent Peg Stoppers up and down the leader in seconds to give you very accurate fishing depths.

You could choose, if you wished to, a fishing depth of 6 inches or 12 inches or 18 inches or 24 inches and so on, it’s that accurate and the Rig does not slide up or down the leader when you are casting.

You can use different materials; the Boson’s Chair is made up of Hends Products sliding Micro Roller onto which is attached a 2-3 inch piece of nylon which in turn is tied onto a straight eyed hook which has been cut to leave the straight shank and onto which CDC feathers have been attached. (similar to what you would do for a wiggle nymph)

The simplest Tent Peg Stoppers are made from ordinary rubber bands.

You thread your leader onto a fine, small diameter, needle and simply push the needle through the rubber band from the one side, say the top, out to the other side the bottom. You then repeat this pushing the needle back through the bottom and out of the top side.
If you have ever attached guy ropes to tent pegs you can see where the idea and name came from.

I’ve attached a photo from my sketch book (with very rough sketches) which shows the various parts needed to make a Stalkers Rig

I also find that being able to alter the depth is very informative and educational.

Last week I targeted fish which were “Bulging” at the surface to discover they were predominately feeding at around 3 feet below the surface with only the occasional fish feeding near the surface.

Years ago I would have probably persisted with a CDC suspender buzzer at the surface or cast out a fly which sank and passed through the depth which they were mainly feeding at.

You can fish the Stalkers Rig, static, leaving the wind to move your fly around your chosen depth but I’m not a great fan of that.

I prefer to cast out, let the fly go down to the chosen depth and then very, very slowly lift the tip of the rod to make then fly “swim” up to the surface.
When the fly reaches that point I pause and as the fly starts to sink down again I use a very very slow figurer eight to move the fly towards me and to give an undulating movement to the fly.

Although I said that I am not a fan of fishing the fly static, if you can see your fish in the water try casting to it and let it sink and sit suspended in the water.

At that point there is an unbelievable tension, as you watch the trout turn slowly and as it sees your fly, with amazing power, it lunges and takes your fly.

It is wonderfully heart stopping.
I know we have the washing line, the New Zealand method etc to control depth and movement, however, I hope my alternative, a Stalkers Rig is of some interest to someone.

Tight Lines

Gavin

Hook: Tiemco TMC2499SP-BL size 10 to 14
Thread: Uni 8/0 black
Tail: Furled organza
Body: Organza
Legs: Organza
Head: Foam cord

1.  Catch the thread in at the eye, take down to the bend in touching turns and secure along shank with a thin coat of superglue.
2.  Cut two 10cm lengths of 1 cm wide black organza ribbon. Cut the ribbon lengthways about 3mm in from the woven edge. Strip out the long fibres from each length and then trim the remaining short fibres for 1cm at either end of the strips back to the woven edges. Melt the ends of these sections with a cigarette lighter, this will prevent any risk of the prepared strips unravelling at the next step.
3.  Place the prepared strips on your bench lying back to back with the woven edges together. Now pick up the two strips together with the ends pinched between finger and thumb of each hand. Twist the strands together by rolling the ends, this will make the short fibres splay out from the twisted core strands. Once the strands are tightly twisted bring your hands together to form a loop and place the loop over the hook in the vice. The hook makes a handy ‘third hand’ at this stage; the trick now is to pull down on the loop and transfer all of the strands to between the finger and thumb of your tying hand.
4.  Lift the twisted loop off the hook and while gripping the base of the loop use the fingers of your other hand to encourage the loop to twist together to form the furled body. Now transfer the furled body to this hand keeping a tight hold at the base of the furled loop, place on top of the hook and catch in with a pinch and loop with the furled body hanging behind the bend. Keep a firm grip on the end strands and bind down tightly along the shank, trim off the excess organza and return the thread to the bend.
5.  Cut another 10cm length of black organza, cut to 5mm wide and strip out the long fibres. Trim the short fibres from one end to make a tying in tag and catch in at the bend with the strip hanging behind the hook with the short fibres pointing down. Bind down the tag and take the thread up to 5mm from the eye.
6.  Cut a 2cm length of foam cord and tie in with the foam projecting over the eye.
7.  Cut a 10cm length of black organza and cut strips from both sides 1mm in from the woven edge and discard the centre section. Melt both ends with a lighter and tie an overhand knot 1cm from the end of each strand to form legs. Tie in two legs either side of the shank with the legs trailing back under the furled body. Take a few figure of eight turns behind the legs to pull them out from the body, bind down the leg roots and trim away the excess. You can add more legs if you want, but I’ve not noticed that it makes any difference to fish attraction; as Richard Walker observed, fish can’t count and four legs make the fly more accurate to cast than more generously endowed versions.
    8.  Lift the furled body and take three turns of organza around the shank under the body, take a turn over the body and then wrap the organza up the shank through the legs using a turn between the pairs of legs to separate them. Continue up the body, lift the foam head and take a couple of turns before tying in and trimming away the excess.
9.  Apply a thin coat of superglue to the thread next to the hook, make a whip finish behind the eye under the foam head and cut the thread.

The river level for June has probably been the lowest for about 50 years, which means that most fish are holding in the tidal reaches rather than running into the main river.
The table below shows the average height for the month for the last four years – since the start of the drift net ban.
This year it was 0.18m compared to the average for 2007-9 of 0.41m.
In fact it was only above 0.30m (which we would normally regard as summer low level) for 2 days during the whole month.  There have also been few rods out fishing for the month.

Statistics for the Month of June for 2007 - 2010

———————        Year           2007     2008     2009     2010

Number of Fish Caught                 44           21         51         24
———-  Catch/Rod Day               0.25     0.09       0.30     0.30
— Average River Height               0.35     0.39       0.48     0.18

We can see from the Table that – whilst the catch number for the month was not high at 24 – in fact the catch/rod day was 0.30, exactly the same as that for 2009 when there was far more water in the river.

In fact, 22 of the fish were caught for only 24 rod days in the week from June 12 – an average of 0.9 fish per rod day, which was extremely good. One angler caught 5 in one afternoon – all on fly & 4 were released. Best fish of the month was a 12 pounder released on Upper Kilmurry.

July has started off well after a small fresh in the river on the 2nd. Seven grilse have been caught for 6 rod days in the three days from July 2-4.

For all the very latest information please see the Blackwater Lodge Fishing Report page on :
http://www.ireland-salmon-fishing.net/FishingReport/fishingreport.htm

Prospects
Even although the river is very low, the clarity is good and runs of larger grilse (4-5lb.) are coming in.
There is more rain forecast during the week, so the prospects of sport for the coming week are quite good.
Very small flies, light worming & spun shrimp are working best, though fish are also being met on spinner.

Where to meet us
Glenda is fly-casting demonstrator at the Irish Game & Country Fair at Birr Castle in Co. Offaly on August 28 & 29th.
We will also have a stand at the Fair.

Availability
We have availability of rods & accommodation in the next couple of weeks.
Late summer and backend weeks are now filling up fast, so contact us quickly if you are thinking of fishing later in the season.

Water clarity at Bushyleaze is still unbelievable but Lechlade has greened up a bit, although this has not affected the fishing. The browns are still coming out and there were two significant rainbows out yesterday, one just under 20lb.

The Twitter feed is getting a good following and I am hoping to hit the Facebook page today. This will be a much easier medium to post day by day photos. Both can be accessed easily from the website, which will still be updated fairly regularly.

The river is now open for fishing, although the levels are very low. There are some nice wild brownies in there and a few grayling. Lechlade Anglers can fish this catch-and-release as part of their ticket.

The fishing tackle sale went well and we shifted quite a lot of kit prior to our Year End. Ask/Beg and we will probably still offer 20% off RRP. We are still doing some crazy deals on Wychwood luggage, clothing and waders as well as some significant reductions on a huge range of fly Lines.

There were several sightings of the Bittern at Bushyleaze during the month. The blossom and Daffodils are all out and the place looks lovely.

Anyway….Reports for March.

Lechlade: 383 rods caught 955 fish with an average size just under 8lb. Largest Brown went to Mr Pincherle at just over 15lb. Mr Stubbs had the largest rainbow at 16lb 12oz. Mr Hunt had a fish just under sixteen and a half pounds and Tony Moore had a 15 pounder. Best bag went to Robin Plummeridge at just under 40lb. Best Flies were Buzzers fished under a GRHE. Montanas and Damsel nymphs also worked well. Fish were happy to take off the surface during the warm weather with Daddy Long Legs performing particularly well.

Bushyleaze: 366 rods caught 1211 fish with an average size just over 3lb. There were lots of much larger fish taken, this is going to be the norm for a while. Messrs Edwards and East had 6 fish limits of fish between 3 and 7 pounds. Largest rainbow went to Mr Lanley at 8lb 6oz. There were a few browns out too, certainly over wintered fish as we have not stocked any brownies since the autumn. Rob and Ben put some nice brownies in yesterday so hopefully we will see them out before the summer.

Best flies were Buzzers but a lot of fish were taken off the top on olives and sedges. Now it is a bit colder Damsel and Mayfly nymphs will work well. Fish are well spread out and there are no ‘Hot Spots’. The wood is fishing well, which is unusual for this time of the year.

Prospects. A lot depends on the weather but I am hoping it will stay cool and we have some decent rain. Bushy will react to surface activity at any sign of warmth. Small Olives or Daddy’s will work but it will be mainly buzzer time. Floating line and an indicator (Use a GRHE!) will do the trick. Lechlade is full of fry so small lures are still good. Even though we don’t see the tadpoles that we used to they are certainly worth a go. By the end of the month there will probably be some Mayflies hatching off so go nymphing now. If the water clears again go back to stalking bugs. If not, small white or bright green lures will do the trick.

Hoping we see plenty of you over Easter, we are not heavily booked so come along, weather permitting.

We are planning a ‘Dog Day Challenge’ in July or August. Time for you winter anglers to show your summer skills! We will provide a BBQ and Booze and would like anglers to bring their partners along for the day, to share a ticket or just see where their other halfs go during the winter. More news on this later.

Tight Lines and Best Wishes,

Tim, Rob, Ben and Charlotte.