Thank you Goa

Posted on by Howie

Just got back from India,well Goa actually. This trip I discovered a lovely estuary at the mouth of the river Talapona to the south of the state. After trying with a fly for some time with out a nip or a follow I noticed some action on the opposite bank. Bait fish were busting the surface all over the place. The action was out of reach with my fly and was all going on under the overhanging trees. Luckily I had my spinning rod and a few shad lures and asked a nearby boat man to take me across for a few ruppees. I scrambled over the rocks until I reached the the spot where I saw the action. The first cast I was hit when just as I was lifted the lure to the surface. After a heck of a scrap I landed a black 2lb snapper. After a few more casts I was hit again. This time it was a red snapper same size. Then a smaller fish but none the less feisty. A few more cast and I was fighting again with a good fish which alas I never saw which ran my line around a rock got away. 

This was one didn’t and went down nicely just plain pan fried with cold Kingfisher beer.

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Seasons greetings from India.

Posted on by Howie

Shafi at the dam 002

Although I had to cancel my Mahseer trip again I’ve decieded to explore my local dam in Goa. There are some big fish surface feeding at dusk. Don’t know what these fish are or feeding on yet but will post if and when I make contact.
Tight lines and happy new year. Howie

(photo) Myself and fellow angler Shafi sharing a suset at the dam

Greyling fishing at Wherwell fishery

Posted on by Howie

This week me and a couple of old fly fishing buddies had a day on the upper Test and carriers on the Wherwell estate. This is a lovely trout and greyling fishery with gin clear water and stuffed with fish. This is now greyling season and costs £40 per rod per day. In spite of the windy conditions we all had a great day and caught fish. I took (and lost) all my fish on an own tied and weighted shrimp pattern with a pink collar (see photo). Here is the link for browsing or booking.http://www.roxtons.com/fishing/venue/Test_Wherwell_Estate/ Tight lines Howie 

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Lady fly fisher, learners feedback

Posted on by Howie
Hi Howie,
 
THANK-YOU so much for Saturday, we both had a great time! 🙂 We were talking about it all weekend and, probably, boring our family and friends too! 😉
 
We probably won’t be able to get the trout fishing in before you go as money is a wee bit tight at the moment but certainly, in the Spring, we’d love to go.
 
Again, we really did enjoy ourselves and it’s MUCH harder than it looks! You are a great teacher though and really put us at ease and made it all fun.
 
We wish you well for your trip to India and are very jealous!
 
Keep well and thanks so much again for Saturday and for the links below.
Kindest regards,
 
Elaine and Shani.

Arun Angling Centre

Posted on by Howie

Arun Angling Centre has moved to bigger premises with parking at Angmering. I popped in today to introduce myself and check it out. I chatted to Tim Nudds a keen fly fisher who works in the shop and takes care of sales and fly gear. Although the shop is mainly aimed at carp coarse and sea he has a nice little fly fishing section stocking some Airflo starter kits to rods, reels, lines etc. from Hardy and Greys. Plus a nice selection of flies. As far as I know there is not much in that neck of the woods in the way of fly fishing shops so it’s well worth a visit. I said I’d give him a plug so mention my name if you talk to Tim. Cheers Howie http://www.arunangling.co.uk/

Steve King putting the roll cast to good use.

Posted on by Howie
Howie, thanks for the video and today’s instruction. the casting guidance was great, and I was able to put the roll cast into action this afternoon in swims I would otherwise have ignored, resulting in a few carp. regards Steve.                                          
 
Thanks Steve.
 Shown below is a good tip for roll casting your fly from a snag.
 

September Bass

Posted on by Howie

This 4lb plus fish I took from the Adur Saturday morning an hour after low water which leads me to think maybe not all bass go back to the sea in between tides. I know there are resident mullet in the river. Wouldn’t it be great if bass took up residence too? Fishing buddy Adam also had a nice 5 pounder earlier in the morning plus 2 schoolies. 

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First mullet. First cast on the fly for Andrew Walker

Posted on by Howie

Andrew asked me for a guided session for mullet. Although being a very acomplished angler as he’d yet to catch on the fly. I set him up with a toast/bread fly on the top as an indicator. Then a 4ft leader tied to the bend of the hook. I think is know as French style? and attached a home tied mud shrimp pattern for a point fly. We set off to one of my mullet marks at a junction in the Adur where the mullet wait to run up with the rising tide. First cast, the toast fly was engulfed and the fish was on. 5 minutes later we landed a good 2lb plus, lovely golden grey mullet.

Well done Andrew.

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