Visited Arlington reservoir again yesterday.This time with boat partner and novice Jim Lockhart who is just coming into fly fishing. After a very blustery morning with waves coming over the bow we struggled to connect with fish using teams of buzzer and nymphs patterns. Except for Jim losing his potentially first ever trout as we struggled to get the landing net erected. Lesson to be learned there. After lunch the wind dropped and we ventured out again this time with fast sinking lines and searched the depths with black and green Zonkers. Normally a autumn fly I know but it worked and we bagged  5 trout. Then the weather really calmed for the evening  and the fish stopped taking so we changed the Zonkers to white colour which produced another 5 fish. I can’t tell you how many fish we lost to trout just grabbing or playing with the fly’s tail. I shall now be tying a set of flies to try and combat this occurrence by putting the hook in the tail. Here is a photo of Jim and his first trout and the fabulous scenery to take in when the fish aren’t biting.

 

 

I fished the tide out on the Adur this morning hoping for my first bass of the season. I did not catch or see any but I did get a surprise when my line tightened and in came a nice flounder which had grabbed my large black clouser.  I did pop it back after the photo. The river is only now just starting to clear after running brown for weeks. Apparently according to another angler, the Arun is the same. Has anyone any clues to why we are getting this brown colouration. May Bloom perhaps?

Tight lines Howie

I’ve been doing quite well with the fishing in Goa this season but I think I have lost as many fish as I have landed. This is because the sheer power and cunning of the mainly Red Snapper. I am new to lure fishing and try to fish the fly whenever I can. I had been using 12lb Maxima Chameleon for spinning which is a very nice line to use but these powerful fish head straight for the rocks which are covered with razor sharp shells and then it’s game over. Also to pull too hard in retaliation is another recipe for disaster. I have also had lure to line linkages straightened out too. I had to rethink my tactics and tackle and invested in some good spinning braid with stronger lure linkage which luckily are available here. 2 days ago I was rewarded with this beautiful specimen. Check out the the size of the size of the tail fin.

Good to be back in Goa again. I meet a new fishing buddy Nigel also from the UK the other day who very kindly took me to one of his fishing marks. We set off 6.30 am next morning so as to reach this mark on the rising tide. As you can see this is very rocky shore line. I soon discovered the sea swells run 15 to 20ft up the rocks which washes off crabs and anglers if ones not careful . Casting into these swells takes a lot of care when you only have one set of fly lines which can easily get snagged,sucked into rocks or get slashed on shells which cling to them. However this where the predators lie in wait for the crabs as I soon discovered when hooking and landing a nice Red Snapper and losing 2 more fish. Nigel loves his lure fishing and landed a yellow fin Travally. Which got released. and also lost a couple of fish. The morning before he told and showed me pictures of a 6+kg Barramudi and 2.8 kg snapper which he landed. 

 

This river trip on the river Saleri at Agonda,Goa was mid day plus full sun and so did not expect much in the way of fishing action but managed to catch a small red snapper while sitting back and taking in the beauty of this place. Must come back and check out  this river estuary at dawn or dusk. Or maybe just leave the tackle behind, sit back and enjoy?

 

 

For a special and original gift this Christmas why not by a friend or loved one a fly fishing gift voucher usable from spring 2014. Choose from either a beginners or improvers session or a day out at a local trout fishery accompanied and organised by myself.  More information, details and how to pay can be found on the  booking page of this website or simply contact me by email howie@flyfishingsussex.com to arrange an e-voucher to be sent out for you to print off.
Wishing you all a peaceful and happy Christmas. “Tight Lines” Howie

My new rod arrived today from http://www.worldseafishing.com . They have a sale on at the moment and I could not resist buying one of these as a spare or an extra client rod. At £24 it is great value and  very nicely finished.

 http://store.worldseafishing.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=atlantis%20shakespeare&PN=Saltwater%2dFly%2dRods%2ehtml#aSKP_2e1155385

I had a free day today and as the fridge required topping up with trout I decided to visit Chalk Springs fishery. On arrival I was pleasantly  surprised to find they have dropped their prices and now a 4 fish ticket costs £36. However they are now stocking with smaller fish. The morning started with thick cloud overhead and managed to bag 3 nice rainbows by lunch. Then bright sun in the afternoon and the trout became shy to the fly. I did eventually find a lucky fly (a large Minky) and nice 3.5lb brown trout engulfed it right under the rod then tore off across the lake and put up a fine scrap.