Blagdon Lake 15th Sept

Chris and I headed to Blagdon at 3pm and arrived to find conditions perfect! Overcast and warm with light SW wind...but how often does it transpire that "perfect" conditions mean you struggle? And thats what happened. Began on Cheddar water but nowt so moved to Butcombe shore...Chris missed 2 pulls and it wasnt until 6 that i had, and missed my first offer. At 7pm i managed to get a 1.5lb rainbow on a cruncher shortly after missing another pull, but the lack of trouty activity meant a move back to Cheddar where it was by now flat calm but with only the odd fish moving and little hatch of fly. I got one more fish (pic) on a cruncher again but despite us both trying dries for the occasional showing fish we headed home beaten!

Plantation Lakes 14th Sept

Had a few hours to kill yesterday so threw the coarse gear in the landy and drove 20 mins to Kingston Seymour. Havent fished coarse for a year or so. I only had a few bits of kit...very basic. I set up with float rod and centrepin reel fishing 2 rod lengths out with corn or spam on the hook. Had a very enjoyable session from 12 to 4pm...end result 3 carp to 8lb, a 2.5lb tench, numerous skimmer bream and roach.Made a very nice change. Off to Blagdon with Chris in a few hours...will let you know....

Brean Beach Monday 10th Sept

Went with Bella to Brean beach this morning...i wasnt expecting much to happen as it was one of the neapiest tides of the year...8.3m only which is not good. Struggled to dig any lug but managed a few and cast out at 11am.(high water was 2pm) There was a steady 15mph SW wind which helped give some optimism. Got drenched in thunderstorm and had small whiting and at 12.45 had nice bite which resulted in 2lb bass above which was a great result!!!

Chesil Beach 4th Sept

Me and Chris arrived at Abbotsbury 9pm, greeted by strong N wind which flattened off the sea. We fished through the night for 6 dogfish, a pout and a silver eel which was not great, though we did see a big shoal of fish in close via the headlamp which were either bass or mullet. At 6am i decided to lure fish with a surface lure called a Xorus PatchinkoII which sits in the surface film and makes a great commotion when steadily retrieved. I had two mackerel straight away and then the bass came on the feed! In the next 45 minutes we had numerous follows, boils and takes and landed 6 bass from 2 to 4lb...great fun! The only downside was me getting a treble hook embedded in my left thumb way beyond the barb whilst trying to unhook a bass in haste> There was blood everywhere and i had to prise it loose using pliers...one of the most painful experiences of my life. Life lesson...always use pliers to unhook them in future.

Blagdon 22nd Aug

Hi all its been a while since I went out so took the opportunity to have an evening at Blagdon. As I arrived it rained so hard I couldn't get out of the landy for 15 minutes so I wasnt too hopeful of a good evening. I began in Butcombe bay and odd fish showed a long way out in the lake but there was no fly hatch. The lake was still at top level...unheard of in August in all my 25 years of fishing here, and the water was the temperature of a tepid bath...not good. However I persisted for a couple of hours and missed one good pull when my concentration wandered. Moved over to Cheddar water but nothing doing there so back to original

spot and managed a nice rainbow of 2.5lb on deep nymph, but as the sun set nothing at all moved. It rained monsoon-like again so went back to Cheddar for the last 10 minutes where got snapped off by a good fish and called it a night. Got soaked again as packed up ha ha!

Overnight on Chesil in the wind and rain...heaven!!

Monday went and picked up Chris from his house at 730 pm and drove us down to Chesil in the defender. We arrived at 915 and walked half way to the Dragons Teeth. There was a strong S wind and rain in the air. I had made the wise decision to bring my mini-tent which we erected before fishing, making sure it was well bedded in with lots of pebbles or we could have been chasing it down the beach. We caught 3 bass (kept one of 2lb) all caught less than 3m from beach. Also had 3 snotties (thats silver eels, so called because of their slime which gets everywhere) and Chris had the fish of the night, a lovely blonde ray of about 10lb caught on lug and squid. It pissed down in the middle of the night and we went into the tent and tried, unsuccesfully to sleep. The expected dawn bass bonanza did not occur due to the 2m waves ( a bit lumpy) but the mackerel were abundant at 530am and we brought a few home and could have filled the car.Stopped off at Ilminster Little Chef on way home for an Olympic (2012) breakfast!!! Lovely.

Brean Beach Short Session Wednesday 25th July

Well its still hot hot hot so had a quick evening session with Bella at Brean. Dug my lug for an hour and fished 3 hook flapper with size 6 hooks on one rod and ususal pulley pennel on other. Nice waves and tide but bait came in untouched...struggling to catch locally at the moment.

Chesil Beach Monday 23rd July

Summer has arrived at last...27degrees no wind...a trip to Chesil is on!! Left home with Bella the dog at 1pm and stopped off at Mum and Dads in Budleigh on the way for a couple of hours then had a tortuously slow journey along the coast through Lyme Regis and Bridport (why do holidaymakers drive so SLOWLY?) to arrive at Abbotsbury by 6pm. Walked the mile to dragons Teeth and the sea was a glassy flat calm and the dog was hot and thirsty! Feathered for a while and got some mackerel for bait and had a few scad too, then cast out the long rods. As it got dark i put the usual fillet of mackerel in close and again as usual had a tremendous bass bite on it which i didnt connect with...i will have to rethink how i present this bait as my hookup to bite ratio is crap...currently use running leger with pennel 3o hooks...maybe a light lead is the answer. Had the ususal dogfish and pouting after dark and that was about it. However it was a FANTASTIC night and when i switched off my headlamp the stars in the sky were probably the most intense i have ever seen...saw a few shooting stars too.

Woolacombe Bay Bassing 16/7/12

Me and Chris decided to take the 100mile trip to Woolacombe for some bassing yesterday. Arrived at 9pm to find a huge surf running but the water as clear as gin which was nice. Walked 800yards down beach and saw a shoal of 100's of scad yards from the beach in a foot of water...shame i didnt have my fly rod! Tackle was simple...carp rod, fixed spool line loaded with braid, 3oz plain lead and pat pennel 2o hooks loaded with fresh lug. Waist deep in the surf, lob the lot out, finger on line and wait!  Bass take very strongly on braid and even a 1lb fish feels like a monster...great fun. We missed loads more than we landed and ended up with 5 bass to about 2lb.Fished until 3am and arrived home at 5am a wee bit tired but happy!

Blagdon 11th July

What does someone who has lost his fishing mojo do to regain it? Get a boat on Blagdon and bag up on trout seemed like a plan so me and Chris arrived at 3pm and headed forth. It was a strong SW about 20mph, sunny at first and rainy later. Tried Cheddar water. Butcombe, North shore point and finally Pipe Bay. No fly hatch but echo sounder showed plenty of fish at 3 feet down but they proved elusive. The usual buzzers and daiwl bachs did not produce and i did not have a pull at all. Chris had one take and lost one in weed in Pipe Bay. Only thing to brighten our day was a magnificent rainbow (in the sky , not in the boat Ha Ha!)  We are planning a sea trip for next Monday and am not hopeful....i have as much chance of catching in my bath at the moment.

Glutton For Punishment Brean Beach 9th July

Once again was lured by prospect of bass on beach. Someone had a 9lb fish the previous evening so down i went, dug a load of lug and bashed out the little devils into a lovely rolling surf. It was a 10.5m tide with high at 11.50pm and conditions looked perfect! Chris arrived at 9.15 after a late surgery, scabbed my lug , got a 2.5lb bass shortly after, thanked me for the bait and buggered off at 11pm......nowt again for me! Have last my mojo!

Brean again 5th July

Ok so in hindsight i should have seen another blank coming after Monday but it was a glorious evening and so took Bella to beach for 3 hours...result as Monday...a big doughnut!!!

Blagdon Wed 4th July

Went for evening on Blagdon with Chris....didnt arrive until 630 by which time he had got 4 already from Butcombe shore on buzzers. Wind from SW dropping to flat calm....lots of sedge on water but not hatching. Chris gave me a real drubbing and ended with 9 whilst i only managed 1 though i had a few pulls...the fish did not really come on and were quite deep despite overcast sky. Chris had bottom dropper very close to leaded point fly which is a good idea for next time.

Blank At Brean 2/7/12

Went and fished Brean beach Monday afternoon 11.5m tide high at 6.30...dug some lug and nice wave but wind awkward SSW along the beach. NOT A BITE the whole tide...a bit mystifying really and can only put it down to the masses of fresh water in Bristol Channel at the moment due to the shit recent weather. There is always another tide...........

Chew Valley 27/6/12

Decided to have a half day on Chew as the weather was warm and overcast...perfect! Arrived 3pm and went to Nunnery Point and fished for 2 hours without a pull. Lots of fly on water..damsels and buzzers. Wind  a gentle SW. Made the decision to move over to Wick Green at 6ish and fished floater with red daiwl bach on point and two buzzers on droppers. In next hour had 2 fish @2lb each on point fly but then went quiet until about 830 when odd fish moved in now flat calm water. Lost point fly on smash take and switched to silver invicta on top dropper as a lot of sedge about. Got nice fish on invicta then lost one at net before completing 4 fish limit at 930 with another to DB. Not as many fish moving as i thought but very pleasant evening all the same.

Chesil Beach Abbotsbury 25/6/12

After a few days of rain and strong winds the weather eased and so set off with Bella our cocker spaniel in the Defender for the 1 3/4 hour drive to Chesil. Dug lug at Brean on the way and bought some rag and squid from Colins Tackle too.Arrived about 5pm and lugged gear along to the Dragons Teeth where was greeted by flat calm sea, no wind and small swell.High tide was 11.30pm. I began with the feathers to get bait and within 10 minutes had 6 mackerel which was enough. Then fished both rods at range with lug on one and rag on other tipped with squid strip. Had no bites but was bitten off by spider crab and landed one too! First fish was about 10pm, a small pout and continued to catch pout on the worm baits and when fished at range with mackerel had a few dogfish too. At dark also fished a side of mackerel in close down to the left on running leger rig and carp rod....this rod was nearly pulled in at midnight by a tremendous bite which also took line off the drag but when i grabbed the rod nothing was there! Gutted! A big bass i am sure. Fished until 1am and arrived home 2.45 tired.

Brean Beach 20/6/12

Went for an evening session on Brean Beach last Wednesday with fishing buddy Chris. Fished from 6.30 to high at 9.15 tide height 11m which is good tide but sea flat as a pancake and prospects poor as need a blow here to fish well. Baits came back for 2 hours as good as they went out except for one small silver eel for Chris but an hour before high i had a good pull down followed by slack line. Shortly after a 4lb bass lay on the sand which was a real result! Bait was fresh dug lug fished on pulley pennel 2o hooks.