Churn Pool Fishery

Archive for April, 2011

While the sun was out, the catch rates dropped for some and boosted results for others indicating the trout knew what they were after and some matched the hatch well. Saying that, most action was to be found sub-surface on buzzers and black nymphs. Cloudier conditions with a good dose of breeze have seen the trout rising, especially in the evening.

Surprises were in store recently for Colin Stuart and Jim hope with carp on the fly @ 8 & 10lbs. Well done.

Moving forward, we expect to see more results from Hoppers, PTN’s, various Parachute flies and even g/h Daddies and their variants, even at this early stage of the year. The Apps Bloodworm is still going strong also.

A great time was had by the North Wilts Fly Fishing Club this evening (Thursday) with Cats Whiskers securing most fish. The conditions were more overcast than the past few days leading to a lot more fun for those on the bank. Great to see some brownies coming out also! Many thanks to Keith from Orvis, Burford for bringing along some top notch demo toys also. The Superfine  and Helios rods were fantastic and have probably got a few chaps rewriting their Christmas wish lists.

Those thinking of venturing out would be advised to have a sinking line of some sort handy in case of very bright conditions. Other patterns seeing good returns are black nymphs and lures along with orange fritz and Apps bloodworm.

Update 23th April

With the hot weather, we had thoughts that the fishing would be horrific, but the catch rates were great overall, with small lures (damsels, cormorants and cats whiskers) doing will on one side of the fishery and size 14 buzzers doing well on the other. Well done to those who catch their limits or close to it. Also well done to Colin Stuart on the 4lb 8oz brownie. Not wishing to outdo him, Mike Waring settled for a 2lb brownie also. 

With some overcast periods and light wind, the fishing should be reasonably good although the water tempurature is getting warmer. Early mornings and evenings are favoured my most at the moment. Of course, that leaves the day free for many to roam where they please.

First of all, we stocked again on Friday with a load of rainbows and a dose of brownies which appear to be getting used to their new surroundings. Saturday morning saw some fantastic fishing with the usual suspects bagging their limits.

With the warmer weather and often quite still conditions, the fishing is harder so presentation and fly choice are paramount. The evening rises have been pretty active, especially just before dusk. To make things easier, many have opted for an intermediate line with a Cats Whisker. Always a safe bet.

Evening Tickets are now available after 5pm priced @ £15 for three fish with the option to retain your first two.

The recent bright days have really made the fishing more of a challenge until the evening where we tend to see some good rises. Sunken Daddies have produced some good fish so it may well be worth trying Bristol Hoppers and such like. In addition, Black Fritz  on intermediate or slow sinking lines could well be worth a try. Green Peas and Tadpoles have also seen success. We’ll update on the latest tactics after a little field testing.

Update 8th April

It was great to see Steve Cox from the www.simplyflyfishing.co.uk forum bright and early this morning. After tea and biscuits and a rummage through a few flies, Steve managed five ‘bows between 2 & 3.5lbs on the Apps Bloodworm in the upper layers of the water. A great result for such a warm, bright and relatively calm day. With Steve’s wise words (and flies) passed on, Mr Hope went on to secure five himself. Great work from Ray, Phil and Colin also on various methods including super slim buzzers, damsels & diawl bachs.  Biggest fish of the day goes to Ray Simmonds at an estimated 4.5lbs.  Great to hear all fish were fighting well.

Friday proved to be quite a busy day. Many thanks to all visitors who caught their limit, lost a few or simply topped up their tan. We hope you enjoyed yourselves and look forward to seeing you soon.

Saturday proved to be a fantastic day with most anglers reaching their limit. Steve Cole set the standard early on by fishing on the end of the westerly wind on the smallest buzzers and crunchers most of us have ever seen. Years of knowledge and simply observing the water paid off with five rainbows. John S and John Harrison weren’t far behind with dark nymphs attracting another five rainbows to each of them. Well done also to David, Rich, Colin, Shogo and Trevor on a great days fishing. Damsels and Holo-Diawl Bachs proving themselves yet again. Great to see Day Ticket holders, Rob and Mike also. Well done.

Those who observed Jim Williams (Wiltshire Fly Fishing School) giving casting lessons can contact Jim through…  http://www.fishinglessons.co.uk/home.htm

Sunday was much harder, even though conditions were similar to the previous day. Stuart Williams kicked things off with a  3lb rainbow and promptly spooned the fish to see what was going on. Out came a few live buzzers, pictured here along with some of my own examples. Given the cold weather, we were struck by the size and can happily recommend buzzers up to a size 10 and still be within what nature offers. After a small dose of rain. the fish were rising well at about 4pm allowing Ian Edwards to clean up with 5 feisty rainbows on black buzzers.