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16th August by Peter Coleman-Smith
I took my son Samuel up to the LA on Sunday evening to see if he still knew how to trot a float and have a go at a spot of fly fishing. The river was in good heart with a reasonable flow, plenty of ranunculus and a few fish rising. He soon had the float dipping, getting lots of takes and bringing to hand some chub, nice grayling (best about 13") and a very pretty wild brownie which were all keen to eat some sweetcorn. After a particularly good chub (of about 18" from exactly where you'd expect it - right under a tree) I switched him onto a fly rod. He began to get the hang of it and even saw a fish come up and take his fly, but to no effect. More practice needed I think. A lovely little trip.
16th August by Peter Anderson
Three hours on the LRA fishing the upstream part of beat 1 and the downstream part of beat 2....and it was hard! Too hot, bright, windy and very little water. With one thing and another this will be my last visit until the end of September and maybe that's no bad thing, just needs a month or so of rain. Nevertheless, I managed 5 small grayling and 2 tiny grayling, all on small nymphs either fished short or NZ style. I'm away on holidat for the September work party so by way of penance I uprooted 116 balsam plants, very satisfying!
Low water
21st July by Peter Anderson
Continued my exploration of this lovely river. Started at 10 am at the bridge at Avening Green and fished up beat 2. Fish very quickly came to a very small nymph fished duo style and by 11 am I'd had 6. It then got harder! I fished all the way up to the railway tunnels and called it a day at 2pm by which time I'd had a total of 9, 6 grayling and 3 trout, mainly small but a couple of fish I needed the net for. 3 fish in the last 2 hours didn't really tell the story, the final hour was blank and it was getting very hot. Still, well worth the trip.
18th July by Jon Ogbourne
I was really surprised when a report came in that LRA was fishable this weekend. As I approached the Kennels, apart from a small lift in levels and the slightest of tinges of colour it was looking very fishy. I was really keen to give the bend pool a good go, now the obstructing tree had been removed and there were two fish rising as I arrived. I managed to prick one but they melted away after a dozen or so casts. A couple of wild brownies came to hand from the fast water at the far side of the mini weir. Next, with time at a premium, I moved right up to near the top of the beat to the last proper pool before the long riffles and took 2 more brownies and a large grayling (one I’m sure I have caught before). It was the last fish of the session, a small grayling, which was the most interesting. Almost immediately after it had taken my nymph, it was grabbed by a much larger trout which held on for several second before giving it up. The grayling was bought to hand and released a little stirred but unharmed! I made me think how efficient/ruthless nature is at taking out the weak and injured as these two fish would have been peacefully coexisting up until the point the grayling was hooked. Still the odd Mayfly coming off.
13th July - by Peter Anderson
My first "proper" visit to the Charfield water. I'd had a short session a month ago on my way back from Wales and Billy kindly showed me the water last week. Arrived at 10am in drizzle and fished beat 1. Nothing rising. Parked at Avening Green and walked down to Damery, fishing back up. Nothing rising so it was a question of fishing the pools with nymphs. Not easy. but most pools gave up a fish or two and by 1pm when I had a lunch break I'd had 9 grayling and a trout. I had long nymphed, short nymphed and used the duo and all had caught. After a quick sandwich I moved onto beat 2. I basically got i n and stayed in, fishing the duo on the long runs between pools then short nymphing in the pools. Not as productive as the morning but had another 5 grayling and 2 trout before calling it a day at about 3.30 with the rain pouring down. 17 in total, none big but a very nice day.
12th July - by John Turner
Found the LRA in fine fettle this afternoon despite the low water levels. Fished from Avening Green upsteam to the aluminium bridge using a small Klinkhammer, kindly gifted to me by BernieP. Well, it did the trick as I netted 6 brownies (best about 1lb) and lost another 3 including a much better fish. Fish were rising regularly throughout the beat on what was a cloudy afternoon and somewhat cooler than of late.
The river was looking quite different since my last visit at the beginning of June with the flow taking on new routes as a result of the low water level. Lots of Rannuculus now growing on this beat which says something for the water quality - almost like a chalk stream!
11th July - HIWP by Jon Ogbourne
Big thanks to all who made it to the HIWP at the Kennels beat today. There was an excellent turn out with 20% of the clubs members in attendance. Special credit must go to Jon Tripp who didn’t finish fishing until 3am this morning and still made it by 9.30am and also to Bernie who I don’t think has missed a HIWP this year!
Because of the good turn out, the party was able to split into 2 groups, one of which went to the Kennels beat as planned and the other went down to the Huntingford beat. High priority for both groups was to clear access points to the river and this was achieved using a mix of petrol strimmers and slashing tools. In addition the Huntingford party cleared several hundred Himalayan balsam plants and the Kennels party cleared a fallen tree, which had been straddling the river for several seasons, and took out several branches to introduce more sunlight to sections of the beat. A survey was also made of the substantial tree that has been blocking the river on the top half of Kennels in order to get some professional help to move it from being an obstacle.
There is an encouraging amount of ranunculus growing this year. It was clear to see the benefit to the river from it’s presence with increase flows and therefore cleaner shingle where it was growing. The river however was still very low and a good dose of rain would be welcome to flush the system through and lift the water levels.
All in all, a productive and enjoyable morning.
28th May by Peter Anderson
My first visit to the Charfield water, I managed an hour and a half on my way home to Newbury following a session on the Monnow. Nice morning. I fished beat 1, mainly because I know where it is! Slipped into the water about 100 yards up at the tail of a lovely pool. Nothing rising so fished a small, heavy nymph, and a smashing brownie took on the third cast! Another followed, a cracker of around 12 inches. I worked my way up through the pools ending with 5 trout and a grayling and lost a very good fish which led me a merry dance before wrapping my line round some tree roots.
What a nice river which I look forward to exploring further
31st May - Bernie Price
Took a trip to the LRA with Matt now that the Mayfly hatch is in full swing. During the walk down to beat one it was clear that the fish had switched on to the Mays as there were Browns giving away their presence with crashing rises throughout the whole section. After noting the position of a few of the more accessible fish Matt slid in at a point above the metal girders just downstream of three Browns that were stationed on the smaller S bends under the canopy of trees. Fifteen minutes later the last of the three came safely to hand and so the 'hat trick' was complete! It took me a few missed takes before I finally managed to get one to stay on and avoid the blank. We both fished dry fly exclusively and all our fish came to size 12 cream klinkhammers. The LRA looks resplendent at the moment - the colours and smells of the spring vegetation are at their peak and of course the air is teeming with insects of all sorts, but none more impressive than the Mayfly.
24th May - Jon Ogbourne
This mornings weather wasn't quite what I'd had in mind as I tackled up in the rain. However looking down the river from the wooden bridge I was encourage by the quantity and diversity of the fly life on display. With dry fly fishing in mind, i tied on a size 12 CDC and elk hoping it would cover the sedges that were starting to show and also imitate any mayfly that might be about. Unfortunately nothing was rising on the first three pools so I reluctantly reverted to the duo. The water was much thinner than my previous visit despite the rain of the later part of the week. All 4 fish came to a mix of ptn's and grhe's and by the time I came to the last pool downstream of the bridge I still hadn't seen a rise. None of the fish went to more than 10", but what hansome brown trout this river holds. All of them fought well above their weight.
24th May - John Turner
I took a Guest to the LRA for an afternoon session at Avening Green. Alun Hughes was finishing his session (see below) so we entered the river at the old stone bridge and worked our way uostream. There was plenty of fish rising to keep Tony (my Guest) busy but actual 'takes' were few as his relative lack of small river skills meant I spent a lot of time 'ghilling' for him! Eventually he took a couple of small browns and then a much better fish of about 3/4lb. I grabbed the odd opportunity and took a lovely fish of 1lb. There was plenty of Mayfly coming off but as others have said, the fish were not 'into' them -seemingly taking smaller flies of which there were many.
24th May - Alun Hughes
Got to Avening Green at 7:30am with the promise of it being another roasting hot day. After being cooked alive in a boat at the Blagdon social a couple of days before and needing to remind myself what a trout looks like again, I hoped the Little Avon would be good therapy. Got in to the river behind the Avening Green bridge and marvelled at the clouds of insect life. It was only a matter of seconds before I saw the first rising fish. Fished upstream fishing mainly parachute patterns. The fish would inspect the fly and on the whole accept the offerring. Then on the bend near the underground cable sign / crab apple tree, I put on a small GH nymph to probe the new deep roundish pool that has formed over the last couple of years. Was at the point of thinking that it was time to move on when I thought I hooked a snagg in the pool - only for the bent rod and line to start shuddering and then shoot off in the fast water bend down stream. With only a 7ft 2/3 weight and 3lb tippet I had to run down stream to keep the fish on. After some heart stopping root manouvering by the fish, I netted a superb bownie of around 16 inches. Couple of pics attached. Fishing enthusiasm now restored by the Little Avon I continued upstream. Worth a mention picked up two good trout to the dry in the root lined channel before the railway bridge pool. Hooked and lost another big brown on the Kennels beat but came off after jumping & falling back in to about a foot of water - surprised it didnt knock itself out. The Mayfly were not much in evidence until 11am numbers increasing as time went on. Finished the session with 9 browns and 2 grayling at around 2pm by which time the temperature was 27 Centigrade. A most enjoyable trip.
23rd May - Anthony Reddiford
Whether the heat was too much or members were fished out after the club’s trip to Blagdon the day before, I found the banks of Damery surprisingly empty of fisherman when I fished between 9 and 12 on Sunday morning. The river was looking very low and the fish seemed to have moved out of the faster runs, which have become so thin with the lack of water. They were, however, rising freely in the deeper, shaded tree-lined runs that normally seem so uninviting. There were a few mayfly around but the fish have not locked onto them yet. The fish I saw all seemed to be rising to emerging olives just sub-surface. Catching them was another matter though. Every pattern in my fly box was deployed, largely without success, until a small quill-bodied Klink finally was the undoing of a lovely 10” wild brown. It was literally the last cast that saved the day. As the temperature cools this week and the fish start to lock onto the mayfly, there should be some good fishing to be had. We just badly need some rain!
15th May - HIWP by Bernie Price
Six members turned out for this HIWP - Rod Cheese, Peter Coleman-Smith, Billy Dickson, Jon Hall, Bernie Price and John Watters. We gave Beat One some significant attention followng on from the good work the Estate had done in the first field at the bottom of the beat. They have removed the tree that was 'leaning' on the new wooden fence - this has really opened up the pool beneath and let a lot more light penetrate to the river. We cleared obstructions from deep S bend, trimmed alders and brambles from the run up to and beyond the wall and generally tidied up smaller Winter debris throughout. Unfortunately the major obstruction that is the fallen tree which is in and across the river on the first bend remains in place and will need the attention of a chainsaw at a later date. Thanks to all those who gave up their time, it is very much appreciated.
15th May by Jon Ogbourne
Squeezed in an early morning trip on Saturday before heading off to Dorset with the family (where we discovered the mayfly hatch is already well underway!). The Ozleworth was doing her very best imitation of a chalkstream with clear water, waving ranunculus and willing trout. Starting 150m downstream of the wooden bridge, evey pool seemed more enticing than the last, and each one home to hungry trout willing to accept a passing grhe or klinkhamer. By the time I'd fished out the pool below the bridge I'd returned 8 brown trout only one of which was less than 9". The grayling must have their minds on other things and I was pleased not have bothered them with my flies. The Oz was in fine form and the Mays are yet to come!
7th May by Bernie Price
Had a day off today so took a leisurely trip to the LRA between 10 and 2. I started at beat one and found were fish rising from the off. It did not take long to connect with the first wild Brown... but unfortunately on the beaded GRHE nymph! A quiet spell followed so trial and error was the key initially, but once I had found the right depth I began to pick up fish at regular intervals, including a significant number of hand sized wild Browns - this really does bode well for the future. Anyway, up through to beats two and three and still they came, sometimes three from a pool, with the odd better fish in between. As it warmed up I switched to a dry only and immediately picked up fish on this too - a black Klinkhammer doing the business on the surface (there were lots of Hawthorn flies about). By the time I had climbed out at the footbridge I had accounted for a number of wild Browns with a further half dozen or so lost due to aerobatics, plus seven Grayling which were almost all in spawning condition and were released quickly in the water. The river appears to be in fine fettle at the moment, slightly above summer level, clear but with a little pace.
6th May by Jon Ogbourne
After blanking on the Ozleworth early Sat morning, I was in need of a morale boosting trip to Kennels. A meeting in Tetbury today offered the opportunity for a couple of hours fishing on the way home. The bottom half of the Ozleworth beat, although beautiful had appeared fishless (down to my less than light footed approach!) and it wasn’t until I got to the upper part of the beat that the fish became evident by which time I had to leave for dad duties. So it was a relief that rising fish were evident from the off today and there were more olives hatching than I have seen all previous trips this year put together. As per usual the trees harvested their more than fair share of flies, 5 of which had been tied for the trip, but number 6 did the business and a beautiful brownie was landed and released to a size 15 PTN. 1 more brownie came to the nymph but when I got to the last proper pool before the road bridge there was a steadily rising fish which appeared to be of a better stamp. A white haired DHE went on and a couple of casts later a plump 13” grayling was hooked, landed and on it’s way. Met the local Community Police Officer whilst packing down who was looking forward to an upcoming foray on the river as a guest.
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25th April by Jon Ogbourne
I was up with the birds on Sunday to take a look at the Kennels. At 6.30 it was 12˚ and had the promise of a warn morning hopefully bringing on some more activity in the LRA. Started just upstream of the tunnels and found some rising fish at the first proper run. My trusty DHE failed to work it’s magic so on went a NZ set up (note to self: I really should be more persistent with the ‘dry’ fly). First fish came in the corner pool just under the tree that crosses the river (big thanks to those who gave it a trim at the HIWP), a beautiful wild brown trout. A couple more came a few yards on, casting from under the tree into the weir. All fish so far took a size 16 GRHE with a black tungsten bead. Around the bend and a fish was busy rising, so on went the DHE again and first cast it was on, in some submerged roots and off again... Having traversed the semi submerged tree I fished up to the last proper pool before the road bridge. Nothing was rising so I swapped back to the duo and starting at the tail of the pool took a further 4 brown trout and a grayling up to 10” from an area the size of a table top. As I was leaving the pool I noticed a dead fish in the shallows, a good sized roach. Looking at the pic I took it looks like it has been attacked by something. I was very heartened to catch so many wild brownies in such a short stretch and it would seem to indicate that we have a very healthy stock of wild trout. Total: 7 bt and 1 grayling.
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23rd April by Bernie Price
I have just had my best every day on the LRA - 17 Browns and 8 Grayling from Damery up, I never got past the concrete bridge and I was home by 12:30!. All the Browns were wild - I had fish from four inches up to twelve. All bar two were taken on the nymph and every one was absolutely fin perfect - it does not get much better than that. What a difference from the last trip Friday evening.
23rd April by Bernie Price
Took a trip to Damery this evening with Matt in the hope that there was a decent hatch underway but this was unfortunately not to be. There were odd rising fish to be seen from time to time so we hoped for the best - Matt slid in at the new fence and was soon into a Grayling which was quickly released. A couple of casts later a wild Brown was on it's way to hand and put up a spirited fight before going back. Despite a stealthy approach and the long waits for rising fish to show more than once we managed nothing on the dry bar a couple of half hearted rises that were missed. All our fish fell to the trusty gold bead GRHE nymph. The final tally for the evening was a couple of out of season Grayling each, a brace of Browns to Matt and just one to me... although mine came to the recently acquired bamboo - very sweet!
20th April by Tony Perks
Took Nathan for his first session on the LRA today 20/4/10, fished the field below the concrete bridge and he actually caught fish!!!, a lovely 10" Brownie bit slim but perfect, a 9" Grayling and a smaller 6" grayling all on a orange poly shrimp bumping the bottom into deep water, and in the next field down whilst I was feeding a large chub- bread under a root he cast to and tempted a 12" Grayling on a green Klinkhammer. And not only did he do all the casting he very carefully unhooked and returned all fish by himself too.
His casting must be better than mine as it took nearly half a dozen trips before i caught anything on the fly, Long may he continue.
Weather was warm and sunny, river clear and cool, just a little up from normal. With a few green olives comming off in the warm sunny patches.
19th April by Peter Coleman-Smith
Fished the Kennels beat for 2 hrs between 5 & 7. Water was very clear and despite the warmth from the sun, virtually no fly life. A dry/nymph set-up were initally cold shouldered, but a lighter cast and smaller flies provoked sporadic rises to a small black klinker. I missed several, pricked a few then finally brought a 13"+ grayling to hand. No offers at all to the nymph. It was good to see a dipper on the water. On Saturday Jon Og and I caught a codling from the Bristol Channel on a squid lug/squid cocktail. The LA provided a very nice contrast.
16/17th April by Billy Dickson
As preparation for the working party, I fished the Huntingford beat for a few hours on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th April. Both days were warmer than earlier in the week, and the fishing appears to be on the up. The water has run off a bit and although crystal clear, it is now much easier to both wade. On Friday afternoon, I fished between 3 and 5pm. A few flies on the water and the odd small fish rising. Caught a 12" trout and a 12" grayling in the stretch between the bridges, and a handful of smaller trout and grayling to about 6". Mostly on a small PT nymph, but one on a dry fly. On Saturday, it was even warmer and I fished in shirt sleeves between 5 and 7pm. I thought that the grayling were supposed to have their minds on something else at this time of year. I caught 4 nice grayling between approx 11" and 12", and two brown trout of 8" and 10". Two of the grayling fairly hammered my dry fly, and the rest of the fish were caught on a small gold head. Plenty of small midges about.
9th April by Tony Reddiford
British Summer Time opens up the possibility of an evening’s fishing after work. I pulled up to the Wooden Bridge at 5.45 p.m. on Friday to find our Vice Chairman packing up for the day. Undeterred by his observation that the water was only 6°C, I walked 3 fields downstream and began my fist few clumsy casts of the trout season. There were a few sedges in the air and even a solitary mayfly (easily the earliest I have seen on our water) but nothing rising. I found what looked like a good sized brownie holding in a likely spot but nothing from my fly box would tempt him.
Feeling rather disconsolate, I moved on to more familiar water and drove down to the Huntingford beat. Sitting with a restorative cup of tea by a favourite pool not far below the aluminium bridge, I witnessed a really heavy midge hatch, much bigger than anything I’d seen on the Ozleworth that day. A small fish was rising intermittently in the tail of the pool and a size 16 Deer Hair Emerger did the trick. Just a smallish grayling but my first of the season to the dry. A few more casts through the same pool produced nothing more so I packed up at about 8, well satisfied with my first evening session of the season.
9th April by Bernie Price
I decided to take a trip to the LRA last evening in the hope that the warmer weather had urged the Browns to become a bit more active. Walking downstream towards the start of beat one whilst at the same time keeping an eye on the river raised expectations as there were a number of rises in many of the usual pools. I started at the wooden fence and moved up through the fast water fishing the nymph. An out of season Grayling took after half a dozen or so casts and was soon followed by a small wild Brown - a nice way to open the new season account. Several more Grayling followed from other pools and runs together with another even smaller wild Brown. I did manage to induce a few splashy rises to the dry towards the end of the session, undoubtedly Browns, but none graced the net... hopefully this is an indication of things to come as the water temperature continues to rise. Footnote: Having just read the reports on the website from Jon, Billy and Duncan it appears things are indeed very healthy throughout the beats.
9th April - Billy Dickson
I escaped from work early for a short session on the Little Avon this afternoon. The river was running clear, but very high with a strong flow. Wading was difficult, and I struggled through some of the deeper pools that I normally wade through with ease. I fished the Huntingford and bottom two pools of the Kennels beat. I was on the water between about 2.15 and 3.30. There was a few LDOs about, but no fish rising. I fished with a dry Adams with a gold head PTN suspended below. One brownie splashed at the dry, and I caught 3 fin perfect trout of 14", 10" and 6" on the gold head. Great way to start the season.
5th April - Duncan Laker
A small window opened up on an overcast and breezy bank holiday afternoon, so off the the LRA for an hour or so.
Arriving at Huntingford the odd brighter spells encouraged a few sedges to hatch and, although the river was still running high and slightly coloured, suggested that the dry fly would be the way to work off the winter rustiness.
Fishing between the two bridges was was difficult due to the flow, but after scaring a few rising fish, a feisty 12" brownie attached himself to my dark brown klinkhammer.
With the wind picking up and the temperature dropping my time was up after a brief, but enjoyable first session of the year.
13th March - first session of the year by Jon Ogbourne
Arrived a couple of hours before the HIWP to explore some of the upper water on the Ozleworth. The main river was coloured up after plenty of rain in the week, but true to form the Oz was running clear enough for the fly and looked very inviting. Had a few casts in the run up to the flight pool and landed the first BT of the season, christening my new rod into the bargain which felt like a good start. However, non-stop action it was not with just a nice plump grayling of 12” and a smaller brown coming from the pools blow the bridge. All fish took a size 16 Copper John variant suspended under a Klinkhamer. Spotted some very small olives hatching in amongst the midges, neither of which tempted the fish to rise. Nevertheless, this section oozes fishiness and I’m looking forward to getting back up their soon. Nice to get the season under way.
1st of the season!
Size 16 Copper John variant
HIWP Avening Green 27.03.2010 by Bernie Price
Twelve members including one junior turned out for the first HIWP of the year. The beat above Avening Green bridge was given full attention and at least two large obstructions were removed from the watercourse. Odd willows were pinned back to provide both habitat advantages and inhibit bankside erosion, sensitive trimming of lesser growth was also undertaken and general unsightly plastic debris removed. Clearly the work of previous HIWP's is now paying dividends as the good state of the habitat meant the team were able to extend activities into the higher beat up to the footbridge and work back to the Damery beat to remove a fallen tree from there too. Sincere thanks to all those who gave up their time.
Stout fellas - the HIWP March 2010!
13th March by Jon Ogbourne
After a week of little rain, PC-S and I were anticipating near perfect conditions when we pitched up at Damery early on Saturday morning. So it was with some bemusement that we encountered the river carrying enough colour to make fishing difficult. That afternoon Tony R took his family up to the river for a walk and reported back that it was “as clear as a bell” so I guess that something had been upstream of us stirring things up, cows or a tractor maybe. Anyway, in two hours fishing we both managed to hook and loose a fish each. Despite the poor result it was great to be out with the sun on our backs, surrounded by the early evidences of springtime. The scent of wild garlic was in the air rabbits, squirrels and woodpeckers all put an appearance in and it didn’t feel at all like a wasted journey.
Back next w/e for the trout!