Bideford Angling Club start their series of Summer Junior Events this Saturday. Well worth supporting and really good for young people to get involved.
A HARD DAYS FISHING
Chew Valley Lakes reputation was further enhanced this Spring with the capture of a British Record pike scaling 47lb 5oz. I have fished the lake on and off for over twenty years and enjoyed a mix of success and failure at the venue.
I joined my good friend Bruce Elston for a day with the fly rod. The weather forecast had looked good with a moderate North West Breeze and no rain. I arrived at the lake just after 9:00am and we chatted to fellow anglers as we loaded our gear onto the boat. It appeared that the fishing had been hard going. Undeterred we set out for our chosen area searching the water casting our big flies in ten foot of water. With a drogue controlling our drift we covered water at a steady pace.
There was suspended algae present in the water and visibility was not as good as on some previous visits. On the first drift we had a couple of follows and pulls which was encouraging.
Next drift Bruce hooked into a jack of around 4lb which boosted our confidence. On the next drift it was my turn and I brought a jack of around 4lb to the boat nothing big but at least we were catching. The next couple of drifts resulted in a couple of missed takes and a micro jack for Bruce.
As the day raced past takes dried up as they often do during the afternoon. Hundreds of swifts were swooping over the water undoubtedly feasting upon insects. To our surprise throughout the day we saw only a couple of trout rising which for late May was perhaps a little strange.
With wind increasing and action non-existent we decided to head for shelter and enjoy an early evening snack. In a sheltered bay I lit the stove and fried up a dozen chipolata sausages. Bruce put out a team of buzzers whilst he waited for the culinary delight of a sausage sandwich.
The sun broke through momentarily bathing the bay in evening light. We resumed our search for a while in the bay before once again heading back to the main expanse of the lake. I tempted another micro jack on one of Rodney Wevil’s bright orange scruffy tigers.
As the light faded from a late Spring day we had several last drifts eventually conceding defeat at 20:45.
We had made many casts during close to nine hours of fishing at a guess I reckon we notched up close to a thousands casts in the day.
Chew Valley Lake can be hard; its draw is of course that the next cast could bring that fish of a lifetime. I was fortunate to catch that fish a couple of years ago so I know it can happen. Maybe next cast?
Pike fishing seems to follow a natural cycle with each year slightly different. There seems to be an explosion of micro jacks this year with a few very large fish and low numbers of medium sized pike. The lake is large however and will always hold mystery and just maybe another British Record. A fifty ?
Atlantic Salmon : THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION?
https://fishrise.substack.com/p/atlantic-salmon-the-brink-of-extinction?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1289122&post_id=140218257&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1uvzdy&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
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Salmon are in trouble. Ask anyone involved and they’ll tell you how bad it is and who’s to blame (it’s always someone else).
It’s so bad that the Atlantic Salmon is now officially an IUCN Red List Endangered Species in the UK. In Ireland, the population has collapsed by 80% in 20 years. Other places and other salmon species are not far behind, and the word extinction really has entered the debate.
We can see this decline by watching the way the money flows. Just about everywhere the value is slowly ebbing out of salmon fishing, almost no matter how or where we do it, and from mega-trawler to rod & line.
Sure, we can remove dams and nets, replant catchments and clean up pollution to help mitigate the decline, but they’re not enough.
This crisis is universal, which is of note, because not everywhere has nets or fish farms or pollution or management corruption. Indeed, some have none of the above, yet their salmon are in trouble.
One of Scotland’s most exclusive rivers, the Helmsdale, used to be a place where fishing was accessed via dead men’s shoes. Royalty graced its banks and the management was so discrete as to be almost uncontactable. A rod on the Helmsdale was a mark of status. Now the Helmsdale has gaps to fill and is promoting itself in upmarket magazines. It has no pollution and no fish farms to blame. Something else is going wrong.
What salmon everywhere have in common is rising water temperatures. This is happening both at sea and in rivers. High temps impact badly on salmon at every stage of their lifecycle, from squeezed and collapsing ocean food chains to overheated redds and undernourished smolts failing to make the journey back to sea. The salmon lifecycle makes them especially vulnerable to warming water.
This is real and it’s happening everywhere. Check out the Missing Salmon Alliance for a thorough breakdown of these combined threats. Their rallying call is Cold, Clean Water – which is as succinct a summary of the salmon’s plight as you can find anywhere.
And it’s not just salmon: Entire food chains are wobbling. In recent years 10 billion snow crabs have gone missing from Alaskan waters and the most plausible explanation is starvation in warming seas. A few years ago 100m Alaskan cod went AWOL for the same reason: Warmth increases fish and crustacean metabolic rates, so they have to eat more just to maintain body weight. At the same time the warm water suppresses growth in their food supply. So they need more, get less and starve. It’s becoming a regular feature of ocean life.
Worse, the increase in metabolic rate may also increase salmon’s need for oxygen beyond the ability of their gills to fully deliver. If so, that too would inhibit growth and reproduction.
To understand why, we need to do some time travelling because today’s benign weather wasn’t always a given. Our ancestors had a much tougher time than us.
About 17,000 years ago the world was in the depths of the last Ice Age. We humans scraped a marginal existence as hunter-gatherers. Life was freezing and the world was a whopping 5c colder than nowadays.
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We hit our stride about 10k years ago when the climate warmed and delivered a sweet spot that stuck. We could sow crops, expect to harvest them and feed our expanding population. Great civilisations formed. We could also hunt and fish for nature’s seemingly boundless resources such as the herbivores that roamed the plains and the fish and whales in our seas. The post-glacial world was rich in opportunity.
This is the Holocene Era: The time when the Earth and its climate came good for humans. There were blips along the way: a few major volcanic eruptions that caused cooling and short-term global famines, for example. But since the end of the Ice Age, Planet Earth’s climate has been stable and very hospitable.
Then came the Industrial Revolution and the arrival of the fossil fuel era. We are about 250 years into it now – the red zone below.
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Current predictions are that temperatures will likely peak at about +2-3C, with growing confidence that it will be a lot closer to 2C than 3C. The hoped-for 1.5C target is surely a lost cause.
We have understood the basic science behind this since the mid-1800s. It’s not difficult – excess CO2 is pollution that traps heat in the atmosphere. We can measure it very accurately. We know the science is good and that what’s happening now is unfolding as scientists predicted it would (my first TV report saying the Holocene could unwind was nearly 30 years ago, and I was in Antarctica reporting established science, not breaking new ground). The scientists even got the speed of change about right, although as a layman I’m shocked by what we’re seeing now:
NASA animation of global temperature change since 1880:
We’re hitting temperatures not seen for 125,000 years and it’s going to get worse. When we finally stop pumping out CO2, we will revert to a long, slow cooling trajectory (business as usual). It will take thousands of years to get back to where we were just 250 years ago ( NASA ). That’s one heck of a hangover from our CO2 party that we’re giving to future generations.
It’s not all bad news (below). Climate scepticism is fading, clearing the way for better political engagement. The graphic below shows that only the 10% or so on the margin are still drinking neat Clorox. This group are mostly hard-core conspiracy theorists and have bucket lists of competing dire consequences they expect to suffer. You’d think climate doomsterism would be right up their victim-centric street, but I don’t think they will ever shift their position by much. I suppose they believe that one day they’ll be proved right and they won’t be the only ones dying of vaccine-preventable diseases or in G3/4/5 radio mast attacks.
The remaining 90% of us are increasingly concerned about climate change. The dial is shifting.
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So where does this leave the salmon?
The answer is worrying: We can do a great deal to adapt to and mitigate the impacts, but the bottom line is that we’re stuck in a pattern of decline that won’t end until we tackle the root problem. The Earth is getting too warm and it’s happening too fast for the fish to adapt.
Ask an Atlantic Salmon. If you can find one …
COMBE MARTIN SAC PUTSBOROUGH OPEN 2024
Combe Martin SAC have been hosting an Open competition at Putsborough for close to thirty years with a two year break for the COVID epidemic and it seems a little surreal to be writing this as I think I have fished and helped organise each and every one, alongside our longstanding Secretary Nick Phillips. I guess we will get the hang of it one day!
There is always a degree of stress and apprehension running the competition for there are a multitude of things that can and do impact upon the success of the event. We have been very fortunate over the years to have been given generous support from our sponsors Sakuma and local tackle shops.
We must also thank the venues owners at https://www.putsborough.com for allowing us to stage the event each year with the lower car park opened for us throughout the night.
The main factor that determines the date and time of the event is of course the tide and six months or so prior to the competition we peruse the tide table to find a good tide. This year tides during June were all rather late at night so we went with Saturday, May 18th. With low water falling at 9.38pm the competition was scheduled to run from 9.00pm until 1:00am a less disruptive time than some years when we have been driving home at first light.
The weather is of course the big game changer that can disrupt the event. Even weather leading up to the event can have a detrimental impact if large amounts of weed have been dislodged by a summer storm.
Bank holidays, big sporting events or Royal celebrations can all impact upon attendance. And some of these events are difficult to predict. One year England’s footballers got through to the semis of some big tournament. Now I am an optimist but there are limits! This year Tyson Fury was boxing in the heavy weight title unification bout.
Anyway onto 2024 and after extensive publicising on social media, the local paper and my website North Devon Angling News the night had arrived and it seemed the weather was playing ball with light winds forecast and only the chance of a few showers. A little drama was as always introduced with a severe weather warning of thunderstorms until 8:00pm!
I arrived at the car park a few minutes after 7.00pm having picked up some quality frozen squid and sandeels from Braunton Baits. Nick was already setting up in the familiar corner of the car park. The sun was slowly setting the warm embers of the fading day reflecting upon a mirror calm sea.
A few early arrivals were already taking rods from their cars keen to get booked in and off to secure a piece of beach. It was good to note that the sands were pretty much deserted as being slightly earlier than some years visitor numbers were not an issue.
Over the next hour a steady stream of familiar faces arrived along with a few newcomers. The atmosphere was convivial and friendly with prospects for the coming fishing very much unknown. I always find it fascinating to put a good number of anglers onto a beach and see what turns up. Every year is different with the odd surprise always on the cards.
By cast off we had thirty competitors booked in and spaced out along the sands. This was perhaps slightly disappointing as in previous years we have at times exceeded fifty plus entrants. Last year had proved extremely successful as regards to fish numbers with the weigh in taking far longer than expected. Learning from this we have scrapped the best brace pool with a flat £10 entry with prizes awarded for the best single specimen fish. It was good to see two junior anglers taking part and we catered for them with two special prizes to award if they successfully tempted fish.
As the sun set dipping beneath the horizon baits were launched and rods set in readiness. Nick and I being organisers headed for the section of beach immediately below the car park an area that seldom results in winning catches. The winning fish generally coming from the central area of the beach where the water is shallower as the tidal pull undoubtedly pushes sand and food to accumulate and attract the hunting fish.
It was good to be back wading into the surf in the fading light. A gentle wave caressed the shore and I wondered what was swimming out in the dark waters.
An hour into the competition I heard excited calls from the right and walked over to where Lee Algar and his son and daughter were fishing. Eight year old Leo was engaged in a tussle with a good sized fish that was putting an impressive bend in his light beach caster. A good sized small eyed ray emerged from the surf to the delight of his proud father. At 6lb 11oz it was a pleasing start and ensured that he would get a prize for his sterling efforts. His sister Chloe went on to land dogfish and a plump bull huss of 3lb 6oz.
It was a joy to share the family’s triumph with dad catching several dogfish and a couple of small eyed ray.
Further along the beach I heard of several good fish being landed with small eyed ray of over 9lb beached within the first hour.
The four hours of fishing passed by all too quickly and we walked back to the meet up keen to find out what had been tempted.
In the last hour even I secured a catch my ratchet rasping into life as a small eyed ray of over 5lb took my bait.
The prizes were set out in readiness on the papering table and Nick and I started to take the entry forms from competitors. It took a while to write down all the fish entries and work out each percentage point. In total close to forty fish were registered with many more fish not recorded as they would not make the grade required to secure a top ten place. Species caught included dogfish, smoothound, small eyed ray, blonde ray and turbot. Full results below.
A turbot fior Daniel Welch
One pleasing conclusion from the results is that despite general gloom around fish stocks the truth is that some species are doing Ok. The catches over the past couple of years have been exceptionally good considering there have been years when we have worried in case nobody actually caught. Smoothound are undoubtedly far more prolific than in the past. I didn’t hear of any bass this year and over the years bass have been surprisingly absent from catch returns.
Combe Martin SAC are very grateful to the anglers that make the effort each year to fish this popular event in the local calendar. Many travel from Somerset and South Devon to take part with a long drive home afterwards in the early hours.
FULL RESULTS – Putsborough Open 2024
1st Simon Springell – smoothound – 12lb 2oz 121%
2nd Craig Mc Cloughlin – small -eyed -ray – 9lb 6oz 93%
3rd Simon Springell – blonde ray – 11lb 1oz 92%
4th Steve Liddle – smoothound – 8lb 12oz 87.5%
5th Matt Werbitzki – smoothound – 7lb 11oz 76.8%
6th – Tyrone Jones – smoothound – 7lb 10oz 76.25%
7th – Mike Squires – small-eyed-ray – 7lb 6oz 73%
8th = Phil Vanstone – small eyed ray – 7lb 1oz 70%
8th = James Waygood – small-eyed-ray – 7lb 1oz 70%
9th – Gareth Peach – small-eyed-ray – 6lb 13oz 68%
10th – Simon Springell – small-eyed-ray – 6lb 11oz
Top Junior
1st – Leo Algar ( Age 8)– small-eyed-ray 6lb 11oz
2nd – Chloe Algar (Age 10) – bull huss 3lb 6oz
Fading Silver
It’s almost Mid-May and the evenings are long with dusk now lingering well past 9.00pm. I always seem to be caught out not fully appreciating the onset of Summer realizing all too soon that it’s getting towards the longest day and that those days will once again start to shorten. In the words of that Pink Floyd song;
Staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun
I arrived at the fishing hut early evening pleased to be at the beat for only the second time this season. I was half expecting there to be another angler fishing but I had the fishing to myself. I had brought my salmon rod and a light trout rod just in case the trout were rising and could be tempted on a dry fly.
The river looked to be in fine fettle a perfect height and good clarity. I watched the river carefully for signs of life but no fish moved.
I left the trout rod in the hut and approached the water’s edge extended a line across the water and drifted a silver stoat’s tail across the river. I made my way carefully negotiating the slippery rocks coated in slimy algae. My casting could be better I thought, no sweet rhythm this evening.
After a few steps I was startled by a head appearing just a couple of feet from the rod tip. The large otter rolled again a further few yards down river. There are some who curse the otter for it predates upon the salmon and sea trout. I take a slightly different view for whilst I fear for the salmon I accept that otters have hunted this river for centuries. There was once an abundance of salmon in this beautiful river more than enough for angler and otter.
I feel sure that if I had stood on this river bank just thirty years ago salmon and sea trout would be leaping from the water crashing back with loud splashes that would fuel the anticipation.
This evening the ever flowing river heads to the estuary and the ocean beyond. During my two hours I drift my fly in fading hope. There are no glimpses of silver, the river banks are lush and green. The scent of wild garlic drifts in the warm evening air. But despite the natural beauty all around I cannot help but dwell upon the lack of salmon and sea trout. As a young angler I assumed the salmon and sea trout would always run the river or at least throughout my lifetime. Sadly I realize that this may not be so as the actions of mankind decimate the natural world and in particular the rivers those arteries of the land.
In recent months I have been involved in the screening of the film Riverwoods to audiences across North Devon. The film suggests solutions to the demise of salmon. After the film I give a presentation about salmon decline in the South West and beyond. I talk of the plight of salmon, their decline in my lifetime and suggest ways that we can all delay their route to extinction.
I ponder upon the salmon’s plight as I pack away my tackle. The angler, the otter and the salmon are all perhaps on borrowed time unless we act to bring our rivers back to life.
As I step from the River I again see the Otter heading back up river where Henry Williamsons fictional Tarka may well have swum. I read the tale recently a book that records a time of abundance full of cruelty but all within a more balanced natural world before a burgeoning population brought us to our present place in history.
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way but your older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death
My next trip to the river will be to the higher reaches where the water still glistens running clear with vibrant beautiful crimson spotted brown trout in abundance.
Fishing is good for the soul and we really need to celebrate the wonderful nature that we still have around us. The fleeting glimpse of electric blue as a kingfisher flashes past. The swooping swift, the evocative call of the cuckoo, the cheerful chirp of the chiff chaff.
That great Countryside writer BB’s books include the rather poignant words.
The wonder of the world, the beauty and the power, the shapes of things, their colours, lights and shades, these I saw, Look ye also while life lasts
I wonder what BB would make of today’s world?
Out of Minehead – Ray and hounds with CMSAC
After several aborted trips due to bad weather it was good to eventually get back out to sea on a Combe Martin SAC boat trip out of Minehead with Steve Webber skipper of Osprey Charters. As a club we have been fishing with Steve for many years a skipper who has provided us with some exciting fishing trips over the decades.
On this day we had six anglers on board two of which are good friends who kindly came along filling vacant places left by club members who could not make the trip.
The forecast for once promised calm seas, light winds and perhaps a little sunshine!
The boat was due to sail from the harbour at 10:30am so a rendezvous at the Minehead Witherspoon’s was arranged at 9:00am. This proved an unwise move in some ways as discussing the days fishing prospects over a full English was difficult as it appeared that Butlins stags had invaded in numbers. Alcohol in quantity at 9:00am certainly fuelled the volume making hearing a little challenging for those of us who have impaired hearing. Like many anglers we are getting on a bit!
And so we climbed onto Osprey all pleased to be leaving the raucous delights of Minehead to the young Butlin brigade.
Steve welcomed us with an ever cheery greeting and we set off for familiar fishing grounds to the West of Minehead. The tide was ebbing as Steve dropped anchor at the first mark. The steep wooded cliffs were lush and green. The sea a pleasing calm beneath a blue sky interspersed with light white cotton wool clouds.
Fishing talk flowed freely with a bit of local politics, reminisce and fishy tales thrown into the mix.
I think I was lucky to catch the first fish a small smoothound. Dogfish were to prove a menace throughout the day snaffling baits intended for more worthy fish.
Jack Phillips caught a smoothound of perhaps seven pounds that gave a good account and was the first of several caught throughout the day. The best a fish of around ten pounds to my good friend Bruce Elston his first of the species and a welcome catch adding to his impressive tally of species across salt and freshwater.
Ray were the main target and several small eyed ray were tempted at this first mark of the day.
Jack hooked a very good fish that put a healthy bend in his rod before severing the 60lb b.s hook length after a ten minute tussle in a strong tide.
As the tide eased towards low water. Steve up anchored and steamed further west to a renowned area for ray.
I decided to drop down my down-tider for the first time having concentrated on Up-tiding for the first couple of hours. A mackerel head and flappers was devoured within a few moments of it hitting the seabed. A large huss of just over 10lb appeared on the murky water surface and I was pleased when it slid safely into the net. They have an annoying habit of spitting out the bait on the surface.
A steady succession of hounds and ray were brought to the boat. Steve kept us fully hydrated with tea and coffee throughout. Friendly banter flowed and the sun shone down.
As the tide flooded we made a couple more moves to new areas based upon Steve’s extensive knowledge of this spectacular stretch of Somerset coastline.
Our last mark was close to where we had started and after a quiet start gave a frantic last hour with several small-eyed nudging double figures and a stunning thornback to Peter Robinson.
I lost a good fish that slipped the hook just a few yards from the boat. A good smoothound or a big bass? I will never know.
After close to nine hours at sea Steve called last orders and we steamed back to Minehead. The sun was sinking in the west as we washed down the boat. It had been a great day typical of a day out of Minehead its murky waters home to an array of ray and other species. All within a very short steam of the port.
Steve and his family have three charter boats and Speed-bait operating out of Minehead. Check links below:-
https://www.charterboats-uk.co.uk/osprey-minehead/
https://www.teddieboycharters.co.uk
The flyfishing season is off to a promising start at the Arundell..
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A few early sea trout have already been taken by rods further down the Tamar, and will be expected up with us in the next few weeks. A couple of salmon have also been hooked but not landed by rods lower downstream, and with good water levels we expect to see a fresh fish in our beats any time soon.
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RIVERWOODS SCREENING AT LYNMOUTH
The next showing of the Riverwoods Film is at Lynmouth National Park Centre. It will be followed by a presentation by myself that will include a focus upon the River East Lyn and its declining salmon population.
WIMBLEBALL FASTMAIL PAIRS MATCH
Great turnout for our Fastmail pairs competition over the weekend. Winners were Martin Williams & Darren Blackburn who recorded a total weight including time bonus of 40lb 11ozs. 2nd place went to Andrew Gooding & Paul who recorded a weight of 37lb 13ozs. 3rd place went to Wayne Thomas & Matt Kingdom with a bag weight of 32lb 8ozs. Thanks to all the anglers for your support…
Calm waters greeted Matt Kingdom, myself and other competitors as we assembled for the 2024 Fastmail Pairs Match at Wimbleball Reservoir. A day out on Wimbleball with good friend and experienced Fly angler Matt is always a joy. It’s also a good idea to pair up with an England Team member.
There was a buzz of anticipation in the air as lines were threaded through the rod rings and favoured patterns tied to the tippets. Some had practiced the day before and had an idea of where to head. I was told that there had been a good hatch of bright blobs the previous day and that this could be a wise fly choice!
Shortly after 9:00am Mark Underhill gave a briefing to all competitors with rules explained before giving the go ahead to depart and go fishing.
The start off reminded me of a slightly shambolic Grand National Start as competitors boats milled around before the starting signal was given. Competitors set off and Matt and I paused to see where everyone was heading. One thing I quickly learned from Matt is that observation is a key factor in competitive angling.
We headed straight for Cowmoor Bay an area that had been producing a few fish and an area that we had both done well in during previous visits.
It was a beautiful morning to be on the water with warm sunshine and a very light cyclonic breeze. The wooded banks and gently rolling arable land a delightful backdrop on this May morning. A time of year when the English countryside is at its most beguiling.
The occasional fish was rising but we soon realised that we had made a wrong choice when we saw a boat heading back to the pontoons at 10:30am, presumably with their ten fish bag complete.
A change of area was required as by this time Matt had caught one nice rainbow and I had had one follow.
We moved to the Dam end of the lake where most competitors seemed to be concentrating their efforts. We drifted the deep water in the gentle breeze. My line zipped tight and I was into a hard fighting full tailed rainbow a moment that was given added value when that evocative sound of the cuckoo drifted across the lake.
Over the following two and a half hours we picked up fish on most drifts with Matt’ s competitive experience undoubtedly scoring for us as we fished hard Matt ending with seven rainbows to my three.
We headed back to the pontoon with our trout and weighed in to record 32lb 8oz inclusive of our time bonus.
Despite being close to four hours later than the winning pair at completing our bag it was pleasing to end up in third place.
It had been a very enjoyable day. Many thanks to fishery manager Mark Underhill and Jeff Pearce from Snowbee who worked very hard on the day ensuring that all went to plan. Thank you to Phil Dixon for organising the day and providing prizes and goodie bags.
All the Gear and No Eye Deer !
Strange game this fishing lark and angler’s fishy targets that vary considerably. Bream are a species that are loved by some and loathed by others. My own feelings on bream go back a long way and they are a fish I have mixed feelings for rather like eels. Small skimmers are slimy creatures only worth catching during match’s and a complete nuisance when targeting bigger fish. Eels are much the same with slimy bootlaces tangling the tackle whilst snatching bait offered to a more worthy specimen.
Big eels and big bream are both worthy targets that hold a spell over a dedicated hard core of specimen anglers. The dedicated tunnel visioned carp angler view both species as vermin cursing at the hooking of either species regardless of its specimen proportions. A bream or eel that would be a fish of a lifetime to some anglers is tossed back without weighing by many carp fanatics.
Big bream have eluded me over the years and they are not a species I have targeted to any great extent. I have caught bream to over 8lb from Hatchett Pond in Hampshire under the guidance of a good friend twenty five years or so ago and I once tempted a 7lb bream from the tidal Exe whilst fishing for carp.
Recent seasons I have heard many reports of the big bream that reside in Lower Tamar Lake. At first I tended to treat these reports from carp anglers with a degree of scepticism when they told me of bream well over ten pounds that they had caught but not bothered to weigh.
My sceptical nature on this occasion proved to be wrong as more pictures started to appear of big bream that had been weighed several of them well over ten pounds.
These specimen bream were on my list of target species yet time as always seems an issue as I spend my time pursuing many fish and balancing this with family, home life and a little work.
My first trip after bream was back in May 2021 when I enjoyed a session banking one nuisance carp of 19lb 4oz! I jest for in truth I am pleased to catch anything that bends the rod and a 19lb carp is far better than a blank.
The bream remained on my bucket list but for one reason or another I didn’t get back to them until earlier this year when I persuaded my good friend Bruce Elson to join me at the venue. Bruce had already achieved his target of a double figure bream after just two trips.
The night before the trip I picked up a couple of books from my bookshelf and flicked through the pages looking for a few nuggets of info regarding specimen bream fishing. Renowned specimen anglers talked of long sessions and many blanks chasing specimen bream. Judging by the efforts of these anglers and the results I was hearing about it was obvious that Lower Tamar is an exceptional venue for specimen bream.
In late April Bruce and I lugged our barrows full of gear to what had proved productive swims on the lake. We talked tactics and I noted Bruce’s approach. We had pulled straws to select swims and Bruce assured me that my swim was a cracker as was his.
Last year I had fished Roadford Reservoir during the carp removal project and purchased a sack of pigeon conditioner a renowned particle bait for carp. I had cooked this up and added a tin of sweetcorn and a few pellets. I spodded the best part of a bucketful out the suggested number of wraps. Strange how carp anglers have now created a language of their own. Twenty years ago I would have looked puzzled if someone told me they were fishing at 15 wraps.
In old terms this was about 60 metres.
This spodding out of bait is a bit tedious and took close to an hour. We had arrived shortly after midday and it was late afternoon before the baits were in place and the bivvy assembled. Time to make a cup of coffee and sit back.
We didn’t expect much action until after dark so when Bruce called me over to his swim well before darkness I was surprised. I stood waiting at his side as he reeled in a fish that was undoubtedly a big bream. The sight of the bronze flanks as it appeared were certainly impressive. At 9lb 5oz it was an encouraging start.
Shortly after dark Bruce’s call came again and this time it was a truly special fish. I slipped the net under a real slab weighing an impressive 13lb!
This set the pattern for the night as Bruce woke me periodically to show me bronze flanked bream weighing 9lb 13oz, 9lb 1oz, 12lb 1oz and 11lb 4oz. And a small eel…. A breamers dream session!
I must have had some sleep for I awoke just before 6.00am and recast my rods. Not a bleep all-night.
I chatted with Bruce in an analysis of my failure. Bruce expressed that he was concerned when I had told him I was using pigeon conditioner. An excellent bait for carp but he and his brother had used it in France to deter the bream!
Return trip
And so a few weeks later with plenty of big bream being reported I headed to Lower Tamar once again. This time I was on my own and it was late Sunday afternoon by the time I arrived. The prime swims were occupied so I had to fit in where I could and a swim named Fishless Corner failed to inspire. I knew it had produced the target fish in recent weeks and reasoned that my chances were still good. I spodded out a mix of pellets, sweetcorn and crushed boilies.
It was early evening by the time I was settled in waiting. I watched the water, the grebes and that ever pleasing sight of mother duck and her ducklings patrolling the margins. I cooked up a burger, made a fresh coffee and became emersed in the scene.
The light slowly drained from the day and a stillness enveloped the lake. The birdsong became subdued and hundreds of bats appeared as the stars began to twinkle in the night sky.
I climbed into the sleeping bag expectant and alert. Slowly I drifted into a shallow sleep waking from time to time. My expectation was fading as the sky slowly lightened as the sun returned for another day. A movement caught my eye in the half light as a rat scampered onto the boards at the front of the swim, its form clearly silhouetted against the dim light. The dawn chorus slowly increased in volume familiar sounds of birdsong resonating in the still light of dawn. I am always amazed at the volume and clarity delivered by the tiny wren. I have an app on my phone called Merlin that identifies birdsong. Wren, chiffchaff, goldcrest, wood pigeon, carrion crow and blackbird all recorded in 60 seconds.
Reflections of lush green and blue sky upon mirror calm waters. Mist drifted across the far side of the lake it was a perfect late spring morning. I sat back and breathed in the pure cool air savouring the sharp taste of hot freshly brewed coffee. I contemplated upon my lack of success and philosophically accepted that in the grand scheme of life not catching was of little consequence. To be here was surely worth the chase.
As a gentle breeze riffled the water all hope of catching evaporated and I packed slowly away. As I pushed my barrow full of gear back to the car I had to concede clearly that I had all the gear and no idea.
Back at the car I met a fellow angler. “ How did you get on ?” I asked. He replied that he was, “ delighted to have caught a 29lb common carp but had been plagued by nuisance bream that were this big!” He stretched his arm wide to indicate the size of bream within my dreams.
I will be back third time lucky. In a different swim with modified rigs and hopefully no requirement to find a reason that I failed to connect.
