I don’t want to go through it in detail again!

We started with two or three days of near gale force winds which really stirred up the silt (Chew especially is a shallow lake), and this was followed by several oppressive days – little wind and sweltering conditions, though not genuinely hot. In previous seasons these conditions have presented some of my most memorable fishing. But I am afraid to say that this time round it has proved disastrous for me!I fished the Airflo/Tightlines competition and only managed to catch three trout – though I hooked several others that just “came off.” I also fished on Saturday afternoon with John Horsey in preparation for the eliminator on the following day. Even though we stayed out till gone ten o’clock we only caught four or five each – though John had the compensation of having caught a superb 18lb pike in the morning before I arrived!The practice session was almost counter-productive as we found a few fish in almost every spot that we tried, but couldn’t settle on one single method! So when we arrived at Chew on Sunday morning we were in a dilemma. Instinct told me that I really should be fishing dries as it was overcast and the wind was gentle. I knew, however, that it would be difficult to persuade a partner to head for my favourite area in the middle of the lake, when there were so many spots such as Moreton, Villice, Herons and Stratford that were producing fish to the nymph men. That is exactly how it turned out. I drew to fish with one of the young up and coming anglers from our region and he was keen to get with the nymph fishermen. To cut a long day short – I don’t want to go through it in detail again! – I only managed to catch 3 trout as did my partner and it turned out to be a “four-fish-day”. Young Gary Haskins managed to get through to the National with a catch of only three fish, but they did weigh an impressive 9lb 5oz! As usual, at the weigh-in, there were lots of “if only” stories. It is amazing how, on a day when not too many fish are landed, there always appears to be a lot of the field who “could have” or “should have” qualified. Anyway, top of the field was Simon Gurney – a man very much in form at the moment – he caught just seven fish. We were trying the “new” catch and release idea when six had been landed, but only two people had more than six. Simon caught his fish from three different spots on the lake – first Moreton, then Nunnery and then Herons Green. He had five fish on nymphs and two on dries. Good luck to him in the final. The Cobbledick brothers drew to fish together and they easily ended up as top boat. Richard managed to catch seven, though he lost several other fish, whilst Robert had six. Robert’s fish were three pounds heavier than Richard’s. Next came several anglers with five trout each. Dave Malpas, Rodney Marsh and John Horsey. Interestingly, John did eventually decide to stick to dries and caught all of his fish on that method – four in the middle of the lake and one at the dam. I am waiting for the complete list of qualifiers. I will ensure that I print that next week. I will give the results of the Scottish heats of the Peregrine/Nomad next week, and the English finals of the Hardy. I hope that your area hasn’t seen the same slump as we have. In the meantime, tight lines!

Martin Cottis