I revisited Passie’s Pond again with the Fly Dressers Guild yesterday. On our last trip I had a large double figure fish broke my rod. This time I took along my saltwater 8# rod with a bit more back bone and fighting butt and grip as I now know how these fish can pull. The morning started quite slow but still landed 4 great fighting fish. As before the action cranked up in the afternoon and landed another knuckle rattling 20 fish up to 10lb. Next week we visit Jenny’s lake which should be enough time for my arm to recover. Here’s a few of the species they stock at Passie’s. Thanks to Paul Davis for organizing the event.

Ian Mintram with his first bass on the fly taken from the Adur today at the end of the ebb tide. The smile says it all. Well done mate you saved the day. Howie

Yesterday I joined my club (Fly Dressers Guild) for a day out on Passie’s Pond lakes fly fishing for carp. This was a first for me and my mate Paul we were really not sure what to expect. Armed with 8# fly tackle, dog biscuits and flies to match we set off onto Passie’s match lake which we had booked for the day. We picked our casting platforms and and fired out a few biscuits out to the far bank and watched and waited. After a few minutes fish began showing and taking in the floating bait. I cast out to the cruising fish but they hoovered up the bait and refused my fly. I’d greased my fly and noticed it was riding much higher in the water than the biscuits but after a clean it began to sit down in the water film. Then I started to get takes but knowing when to strike and setting the hook was the next problem. Then I connected with a fish and battled for five minute or so and landed a common carp about 5lbs. Even with an 8lb leader you can’t bully these hard fighting fish. I finished the morning with 3 fish and Paul with 4 fish to about 7lbs. We all stopped for lunch over fishy tales, fish lost and discussed tactics but everyone had caught. Being a large water to fish we set off away from the others and tried our luck where no one seemed to fish for some reason. Before long we were both into bigger and harder fighting fish and landed another 8 carp of varied species but all in lovely condition. My heaviest went off my weighing scales which only went to 14lbs and Paul’s heaviest fish the same. I did hook a larger fish which after about a 20 minute battle it ran under the staging I was standing on and my rod broke trying to stop it. With no rod that was the end of the day but what a day. We have another day booked for August and can’t wait. This carp on the fly game is really a heart stopping and rod bending action of a day.

Whilst waiting for two clients for a fly fishing lesson I cast a fly on the Adur just before low tide and took one bass 2.5lbs then got hit by a monster which gave a hell of a fight then decided to head up river towards me. Running backwards and winding like crazy the fish came very close to the bank. I’d fitted a new 17lb leader and knew my knots were good so felt pretty confident about winning the fight. Then the fish thrashed madly and the fly came out and he she was away. I checked my fly and saw that the hook had straightened. I’m sure it could have been a double figure fish but I’d tied a test batch of clousers on off set hooks . I’m pretty sure this proved to be the problem and the off set was a weakness?? Anyway here’s the one I caught and the destroyed fly. “Tight lines n tuff hooks” Howie

Had a spare afternoon yesterday so skived off to Chaulk Springs as my wife needed trout for a dinner party tonight. (things we have to do hey)  Arrived to bright sunshine and anglers struggling to catch with floating lines and small flies. I tackled up with a fast sinking line and black zonker and ended the afternoon with my four fish. Two decent rainbows and 2 brownies: a 6.8 and 6.10lb. Still shaking now.

Apparently there have been good catches of bass around the 2-3lb mark caught off the beach from Shoreham up to Worthing. I hear most fish were taken bait fishing. If the winds had calmed down it would have been nice to try with the fly. It does however show the bass are starting to feed closer in and hopefully we’ll be soon catching more from the Adur. The river has started to colour up again with the latest rains so we’ll have to wait for the water to fine down again to give the bass a chance of seeing the fly.