I fished Chew last Saturday in the unseasonal heat and sun and it was very hard work. In fact I blanked and despite their being a number of very proficient fisherman there (practicing for the Lexus competition on Sunday), I only saw the odd fish caught the whole day. Even in the evening when there was a fairly localised rise and things looked promising it was still very hard, although my boat partner did manage to get 2.

However, I just read on Bristol Waters website that during the competition the next day (in even hotter conditions!), two boats managed to 'crack the method' and end up with their limits (8 fish), very impressive in my opinion. So, my question is, what is this mystery method that manages to catch on hot sunny days? I fished most of the day with a sinking line using boobies and lures with a nymph on the dropper without a touch. Any advice on how to be more successful in these conditions would be great! N

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Fundamentally fishing is a philosophy. A philosophy of earth, and growth, and quiet places. In it there is a rule of life, a recognition of permanences. It makes you notice the little things of nature, wherever you may be. ~Bernard Venables

I done not bad on my local water last weekend in the heat and sun.

Started in the morning with a clear intermidiate line, long leader with a mini cats and diawl bach on the dropper. As the heat came on switched to a midge tip again with a long leader with a weighted buzzer at the point and another smaller buzzer five or six feet up.

Think that the clear line can help on the flat calm as does the midge tip, long leaders as well.

Lot of people headed to the shaded area with mixed success, think a combination of changing depth, line, flies until you hit it right and a big chunck of luck???

Last Friday I fished a local stillwater and managed 8 in 3 hours all fell to Size 22# and 24# Klinks and F Fly best went 5lb there was a ripple on the surface thank god sadly spent the evening on the sofa sick as a dog from all the sun (even with my hat on)

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Allan
Only dead fish go with the flow.

fished my local still water last friday with a friend, the weather was scorching, we fished from 1.30pm til around 8pm. I ended up catching 8, missing 3 and losing 2
My mate ended up with 6 and lost 4.
it was hard work as they were rising but not feeding off the top, most were caught on size 16 diawl bachs, clear intermediate line, very slow figure of 8 retrieve

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new to flyfishing,recognise some members names from other forums

Thanks for the replies guys. It doesn't really sound like there's any hard and fast rule to fishing in hot and sunny conditions. Anyone who fishes Chew/Blagdon have any advice? N

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Fundamentally fishing is a philosophy. A philosophy of earth, and growth, and quiet places. In it there is a rule of life, a recognition of permanences. It makes you notice the little things of nature, wherever you may be. ~Bernard Venables

Nick
Have fished Chew and Blagdon for years now, and the conditions you describe, in my opinion, make for one thing - hard work!
John Horsey talks a lot about flat calms, small seals fur dry flies, and bristol bonanzas, but I have never come across this, perhaps due to not enough time spent afloat, or lacking his abilities.
I have had some good days anchored in Butcombe Bay and the Dam at Blagdon, fishing small wet flies like Peter ross and mallard and claret with a Booby on the point, fished deep and slow, on a line like Rio Deep 7. At the mouth of Butcombe is a deep area which tends to hold fish in hot weather.
With Chew, same tactics except replaced the wets for diawls and buzzers, again around the dam.
There are days when a good evening rise can save the day, but again in my experience, they are becoming all too rare, and usually I am so burnt by then I am heading for the pub with a bottle of after-sun!
All the best
Will