Blagdon report Mon 21/08/06

[Greenheart]

My usual fishing partner & Chew valley & Blagdon regular Pete Mcguccian, phoned me on Sunday to tell me that he had booked a boat on Blagdon & would I care to join him for a spot of fly fishing. He told me that he had spoken to the ranger Howard, at Blagdon who had informed him that now some cooler weather & rain had arrived, that the lake was fishing really well.
I did,nt need asking twice.....
Pete picked me up at 8.30 & we arrived at the fishing lodge at 9.30.

Blagdon Fishing Lodge.

We spoke to Howard & he said that a lot of fish were shoaled up in the main bowl of the lake down by the dam. I set up my 9' Orvis fly rod with a 6# line & a team of 3 size 14 Daiwl Bach flies on an 15' leader. Pete set of his rod with a team of traditional wet flies.

Daiwl Bach Fly

We loaded the Gear into the boat & set off rowing into a strong headwind for the dam area. We arrived to find a fair few other boats were already fishing there, but we found a quiet corner of the lake & dropped anchor.

Blagdon Lake is a large area of water (440 Acres) & we would normally drift down the lake to try & locate the fish. But today was very windy, so we were glad for the tip off as to where the fish were.

We set up our boat seats & started to fish....

Pete


Me

I had one cast without a bite & decided that the sun was a bit bright. So I cast out again & then reached down to my bag to pick up my sunglasses. As I did so, my rod was nearly pulled out of my other hand & a trout leapt into the air about 30yds away.... I had my first fish, a nice Rainbow of about 2lb.
I carried on fishing & was getting pulls & tugs on my flies almost every cast. Pete asked what size flies that I was using & I told him size 14 Daiwl Bachs in various colours. He changed his flies to match mine & we continued to fish. Within 2 hours I had my limit of 8 fish. Pete had none & was not even gettin a pull. Something was wrong. We were both using floating lines, 8lb Flourocarbon tippet & both fishing in the same area using the same retrieve. I handed him my rod & team of flies which he used for about half an hour. Still with no fish, although he did get a few tugs.
He decided to try with his own rod again & handed me back my rod. As he handed it to me, the tip of my rod pulled around hard. Another trout had attached itself to one of my flies just as he gave it to me...
We just could not believe it. We both fished on for another couple of hours. I crushed down the barbs on my hooks & was fishing catch & release catching another 4 fish. Pete still was getting nothing. We just could not understand what the problem was. Then a gust of wind blew petes flies accross my way as he cast & one of his flies caught in my landing net. I leant down to untangle it & saw the problem. Pete was using size 12 flies. The difference between a size 12 & a size 14 hook is barely visable to the human eye, but the trout could tell the difference & just did not want to know. Pete changed his fly size & immediately caught 2 trout. By now the wind was getting really strong & cold & the sun was starting to go down, so we decided to pack up & head for the pub. I really felt for him, but it made a change for me to beat him. He's quite an expert fly fisherman & has made several selection finals for the English fly fishing team. He also coaches the England Junior squad on a regular basis.
It just go's to show what a difference that fly size can make. Definately a lesson learned.
Final tally....

Pete 2
Me 14

But I just know that he's going to beat me next time.....

[Rob M]

Amazing report GH. Lovely place to fish by the look of it, very nice pics. Well done on the fish

Rob

[fishypaul]

well done mate, some great pics,it really looks a lovely place.

you beat the england coach eh ? didn't just beat him,you slaughtered him ! ,

[Fishing Forum Admin]

what a great read mate

[mithrandir]

Sounds like a good day out ( one day i will have to try the fly, but not yet ) and a good read as ever.
Interesting to learn that a small size difference in hook can change the catch so much, is it the same for coarse fishing??

Mike

[pingu]

looked a cracking day out there ian

[Greenheart]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

Sounds like a good day out ( one day i will have to try the fly, but not yet ) and a good read as ever.
Interesting to learn that a small size difference in hook can change the catch so much, is it the same for coarse fishing??

Mike

With coarse fishing you generally match hook size to bait size. Trout fly size needs to match the size of whatever natural food that the the fish are taking. Colour also appears to play an important part too. Even though fish are supposedly colour blind. Speed of retrieve & the depth that the fly is fished at are equally important.

[Twiddler]

Sounds/looks like a great place to fish....I think I could manage that without getting seasick.

Great read a pics there, do you make your own fly or do you buy them ready made?

Tightlines

[baitmaster]

what a great read there ian and it looks a nice water
i reckon if i was in the boat with you i would let you win too
although i never fly fish i think the names of the flies are great i think i,m going to name some of my rigs for zandering like the muddy zeddler rig

tightlines
kevin

[pingu]

did you notice the tilt on the boat in ians photo









running and hiding now