River churnet (fenton) 28/06/08

Well this must be the best nights fishing i have had yet,
I arrived at 5.30 and started on my favorite island run down the bottom of the fenton strech, the river had been up the previous day and was unfishable, but it had come down to near normal proberly a foot higher with slight colour, i new from past river fishing that they would be havin it!
For the first hour i did not have touch and no fish were rising, i tried a nymph but nothing was taking,
Kev had suggested i try some other runs which were unfished which i did and was very succesful, i saw a fish rise and a couple of casts i was into a lovely coloured brownie(see photo), from then the river seemed to just switch on! there were not that many rises but i was hitting fish on every cast, i took 11 fish in the space of a half hour!! in one spot i took 6 fish all from the same run,
I then moved to the hanging tree where i usally find it hard going, I was setting up and heard a big slurp! i have seen carp do this but not trout, I saw the fish rise again and placed a cast and hooked a good size brownie which fought well, the fish is the one in the net pictured.( just under a 1 lb i think)
I used a small adams which did the trick for most of the fish which is now battered and will retire on my hat,
All in all i had 14 trout and one dace which is a great result for me, but has spoiled me a bit, most fish were small but provide great sport, i would put the good fortune down to the fish feeding there heads off after the drop in water.

Thanks glen

river churnet 23/06/08 (fenton)

Called kev and told him i was going to wet a line down the churnet, five mins later he rang me back and said he was coming!
We met at 5.30 and made our wat down to the island swim down towards the bottom of the fenton strech, I have had more joy down there than any other swim on the fenton strech,
I had lots of takes as soon as i put the the fly in but only connected with one which was a small gayling, caught on my caddis.

Kev fished further up on the bend and soon started to hit fish, he was fishing the dry and nymph and had fish on both, one a nice sized grayling, in all he took 6 fish, 2 dace 2 grayling and a small trout,

I only caught the one grayling but was well happy with that as i am learning so much more watching kev.
I am still trying to get my casting right, i have taught myself and finding it hard to adjust to cast properly, kev seems to stay miles away when i cast!!!

River Dove ( fenton licence) 19/06/08

Went to dove tonight on the fenton licence, you need to walk for a few miles before you get to the strech, the run is about 1 mile with a good weed runs and glides, I last fished here for barbel 4 years ago but the banks have overgrown and fenton dont seem to be looking after it, wading is a must but this river is very powerful and is deep in places,
We started fishing our way through the river but saw no rises, it seemed to be very quite with no takes, we were fishing the dry fly and never tryed nymph which probly was the way forward but i need some advice on that method as previously mentioned,
When the light started to go fish started to rise in places which picked up my confidence, I took a violent take on a balloon caddis in very shallow water 6 inch deep, had a great 5 minuite fight on my light gear, then landed a superb 8-10 oz brownie ( see vid )

I will be back on this strech again soon for another bash, i am also joining the derby railway licence soon to have a go on some of there rivers (kev recommend)

Going back on my favorite churnet again sunday,

Thanks glen

river churnet (fenton) 18/06/2008

Went to have a go on churnet last night, had been raining most of the day and the water was up to normal hight, it was very cold and windy,
I fished my usual swim at the start with the island, I could not see any rises but stuck to my usual dry fly caddis, I had a coulple of takes but did not hook any fish, I was finding it hard to cast into the wind ( need more lessons off kev!!!)
I then moved upstream and had no luck there also,
I could tell from my fishing years that the conditions were great with the river being toped up, the fish must have been feeding well but i have never tryed to nymph fish properly and when i spoke to kev and heard he had 12 fish on nymph in the dove i new that is what i should of been doing, I need to learn how to nymph fish properly for next time when i have these conditions, I will be hounding kev for another lesson!!
Any way it was my first blank of the season, and thats not bad for a newbie, I will have many more but will keep on going, i am still loving it.

Going on the dove tonight on the fenton strech with a friend who is new to it so will hope for a bend in the rod,

thanks glen

River Churnet ( fenton ) 15/06/2008

Went for another go on the churnet again tonight, arrived about 6.30, started at the lower end near the tree across the water, and worked my way up.
The river was the lowest i have seen it, the usual runs i fish were totally different due to low water,
I started fishing a fast stretch where the water spills both sides of a island, I caught two small brownie that fell to my faithful sedge, fishing in the creases of the fast water,after that fishing went very quite with no rises, I moved further up to the slower parts on the sandy bend but had no joy there, the river seemed to be very quite and no fish were showing.
I moved back down to where i started and saw a fish rise, i dropped a fly on its nose and after 5 casts i took him, around half a pound brownie, nice!
A total of 3 fish on a quite night, not bad, going back on the dove later this week, cant wait!!

River Dove ( Hatton ) 13/06/2008

Went for a trip with a mate tonight on the dove at Hatton on the stoke licence, never fished here before but was impressed with the clear water, I have been only fishing the churnet so this was quite a big change for me, I noticed how strong the current was even in slow parts, but got used to it when i waded in,
I fisnroua hard gravel bottom with lots of weed runs which looked great, not a many features as the churnet but a lot of gravel channels ranging from 2ft to 5ft deep,
I saw quite a few rises when we arrived, i also noticed that these were big fish,
I started with my favourite cdc what has done well for me on the churnet, I was running my fly through the channels of boils next to the weed,
After half hour i switched to a orange klinkhammer, this worked for me after 3 casts i was into a good trout, my 4 weight greys streamflex was fully looped over as the fish was hugging low, then the trout did a 2ft leap clean out the water!!!
I started to have more problems when the fish came around me and kited downstream after10mins i landed a lovely 1 lb 8 0z brownie!!! I have had carp over 20lb and barbel over 10 lb but never had a fight like that,
Well I had a few more takes and lost another, but had a great night and will be back for some action soon,
The only downside i was casting my rod towards the end of the night and my rod broke in half, It is a greys streamflex which cost 200 pound, can anyone tell me if i have guarantee? I heard they are lifetime guarantee?

River churnet (fenton) 31/05/2008

Had a good day saturday, walked down to where kev said and started to fish just up from the island is, there were horses in the water around the island so i fished in the slow part just before the water went around the island, i saw nothing showning but put on a white caddis, first cast and i hit a lovely brown trout of about 8 oz, I then moved slightly up where i could see a riser, after 6 casts i hit into another brownie, slightly smaller.
I then moved to the bend with the island and saw risers but could not get them to take the fly, tryed changing fly but still no joy. I t saw absolutly loads of mayfly about but they did not seem to be feeding on them, I could not tell what they were taking but they must have been small.
I moved further up to a strech with over hanging trees and hooked another brownie from under a tree that put up a great fight which was caught on one of those green olives that kev posted to me!!! (thanks),
I had started to fish from one oclock and the fish seemed to stop showing at 6 oclock so i took a break to have my tea, the fish did not start rising again until 8 oclock, i was fishing on the sandy bend with my white caddis, there was a point where the fish were going mad rising everywhere but would not take the caddis until i switched to your green olive which took me another 2 small brownies!!
I had loads of takes where the hook was not setting home which was frustrating, I even saw a good size trout swim to my fly and just turn around as if it new it was a hook.
I noticed that if i saw a good fish rising and it had a go at my fly but i did not hook it, it would never have another go at it.
I read your blog where you said how the fish were acting,

At the end of the day i had five trout which i was very pleased with, I will post some pictures of the fish and some scenic ones as i used to be a wedding photographer so love my pics,



I am thinking of having a go on sutton brook this week some time,

River Churnet (fenton) 26/05/2008

I went back on the churnet tonight from 6.30 till 9.30, also been up stapely and bought some chest waders with the boots today! ( im getting hooked already)

Went down to the sandy bend and moved up to the weir, there were some fish rising but not as many as when i went in the week, I caught a small brownie that i saw rising under a tree, I unhooked it in the water and made great care not to damgage the fish, i never even took it out the water, feels better knowning it will fight another day.

That was all i caught but i lost a good fish in one of the fast sections, had it on for a while but the hook pulled!! I was having quite a few takes but not connecting with them, they could have been small fish, but one looked a good fish but did not hook it,
I tried to wade in and cast upstream but found it hard, i was getting lots of drag on my fly, i seem to find it easier when i am casting more downstream?

At one point i saw one of those sedge/caddis floating down the river and then it got nailed by a good size fish, I found at times tonight they were taking off the top but were not interested in my fly, i was using a cdc caddis for most of the night, tryed switching but still no joy,

Anyway i am proper hooked on this fly fishing, fully enjoyed tonight, cant wait to get back on, I will be trying to get some in this week,

River churnet (fenton licence) 24/05/2008

I had been emailing Kev Harrison after seeing his blog and he gave me some great advice for me starting out on my first ever fly fishing session, and what a great night i had!!

I arrived at about 6.00 and followed kev harrisons instructions, walked down to the sandy stone area on the bend and watched for risers, after 5 mins i could see them taking off the top, I put on a few dry flies with no takes for over a hour, I could see them taking flys off the top and they seemed to be like big white moths, i put on a small brown dry fly and had a take as soon as it hit the water, Great!!! I hooked my first ever trout on the fly, - put up a great fight on my new rod, you can see the fly i had it on in its mouth!! I have that fly on my cap and will never use it again!

I seemed to be gettin lots of takes but i was missing loads?
I saw a trout rising in the same spot for hours but never seemed to take my fly, so i put a fly that looked like the white moths i could see them taking, BANG!, I hit into a better fish as you can see on the photo, The fight was great, had my rod proper bent, and even got a tail walk!!

Well i started to walk back towards the weir and saw a few risers so cast to them and caught a nice grayling and a small brownie!!