Anyone fished it lately? does anyone know whereabouts the fish are and what patterns are doing well? going there for the first time tomorrow.

Good luck tomorrow Rob, think the fish will hiding in this awful weather, just like on the E
I was supposed to be on the Monnow bash today- but have got the lurgey
Ade.

Fished Blagdon Thurs and Fri. Best areas seemed to be between Rugmoor and North Bank, with Pegs point being the outstanding spot. 10 fish to the boat on Thurs.... exploring the lake... then 22 to the boat on Friday... staying close to Pegs Point! Buzzers/nymphs worked well, but my best set-up was a small (12) Olive Booby on the point followed by a Cruncher and a Diawl... fished on a Di3 or Kelly Green. Fish were surprisingly deep for the perfect conditions, but very keen to grab a hold!

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Too much Saturn, not enough Moon.

Buzzers 2012


Fly Clips & Stands

Fished Sun 16th for the first time in many years. Broke my ban on paying Bristol Water to feed pike after seeing rising fish the day before.

8 fish taken to 2lb 4oz.Nothing spectacular, two were badly scarred by pike or cormorants,so it did not get off to a good start.

The morning was hectic as they were feeding well. Trouble hooking up on so many, I lost count. Should have bagged up and went home by 10 am! Took invictas when on top and stickflies during periods when they went deeper. All fished very slowly.

I gave some invictas to a boat who were first timers to Blagdon. They then went and caught one straight away in front of me. That was fine as I was having a break. However, the fish had another one of my invictas in it's mouth. It had smashed me up earlier so was not affected to take the same pattern so quickly.

Overall, a good day but reports from others was that fish were hard to find at Green Lawns, Rainbow and Peggs. Some boats did not take a fish all day which was hard to fathom. I put it down to the fact that stripping lures does not work when trout are nymphing.

or you could blame the pike........

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I HATE BUNGS.........

Had it been Chew I would agree, but yet to see nymphing pike. Seen the odd duckling go under at Chew but a mallard chick is a bloody big emerger!

Pike are certainly doing damage in Blagdon so it won't be long before it follows its bigger neighbour.Bristol Water needs to get on top of the problem before it gets out of hand. I suggest a mass pike festival from October to the end of the year. Anyone who has bought a ticket in 2010 gets a free day at the pike.

All fish caught could be re-homed to suitable locations rather than kill them. There is a notice up in the lodge that says you must remove all pike. However, at Chew they catch and return. Some will remember the mass slaughter of perch at Chew. I caught specimens to 4lb and they were thrown on the bank to rot. A complete waste of thousands of perfectly good fish.

Floating holding pens could be established to deposit fish.Bristol water has the fish transportation so it could be a mutually beneficial excercise. However, as Bristol Water is Spanish owned, it ain't going to happen....unless you pay.

Anyway, the weather looks good this weekend. If it has some cloud cover, the fish should be on top again. Good luck,fish long and often.

On the Thursday Scratch was bringing a 2.5lb rainbow to the boat when it was taken, by my estimate, a 15 to 17lb pike, quite close by. It was the only trout we chapped over the two days as the pike had taken the best part of its' tail, and only let go when it was a few feet away.

I did wonder, Chew now advertises as the U.K.'s premier pike venue.......

27th May: Thought I would try a repeat performance of my last visit. Never saw a fish until mid afternoon despite light northerly in Butcombe. The boats I saw, did not catch either. I later learned that there was action in Cheddar Water, so thats were I ended up.

Wind changed to strong cool westerly off the dam. Had a fish almost immediately on gold head nymph fished deep. Lost the next two in consecutive casts. Had to leave shortly after but it looked as if they were shoaled up after the Tuesday re-stock.

You've got to be very careful with this. When pike were illegally stocked into Llandegfedd they multiplied quickly and the fishery staff were netting in the winter and doing just what you suggest. A large number of big pike, including several over 40lb, were removed and stocked into other mixed fisheries in South Wales. It is doubtful whether a 40lb pike would survive in the much poorer lakes into which they were stocked but that's another issue.

The problem was that of course they couldn't catch all the pike and the removal of bigger fish let the smaller fish multiply and the problem got worse. The only predators for small pike are bigger pike and, whether you like it or not, you have to leave the big girls in the fishery not to get a massive pike problem.

I think the best policy might be to kill every pike under 10lbs initially and then only try to get on top of the bigger fish when the small ones are severely reduced, however the sad fact of life is that once they are in the water you are never going to get them out unless you kill everything and start again.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary