quarters of the boats headed that way. Tony “Bag

I had a report yesterday from Rutland that the fishing is superb, whilst a friend phoned last night to report on Farmoor, and how well that is fishing. My home waters of Chew and Blagdon continue to produce amazing bags of fish.Last Sunday saw the Blagdon club’s annual boat competition on Chew Valley Lake and twelve of the competitors caught their limit of twelve fish. Jeff Loud, the stalwart chairman of the club, devised an interesting system involving catch and release, which is employed in club competitions. Anglers may kill their first six fish – should they be able to catch that many! They are then permitted to release a further six fish, recording on a score card the time of capture of each of those fish. The time that the twelfth fish is caught is then used to work out a further time bonus. It works quite well and isn’t too difficult to cope with at the weigh-in.A few of the entrants had been fishing the day before and the word was that there was a large concentration of stock fish behind Denny Island, especially up towards Hollow Brook. Roughly three-quarters of the boats headed that way. Tony “Bag-up” Baldwin, as he is affectionately known to club members was at the front of the charge to get to the Hollow Brook area and he hauled out his limit by just after one-thirty. Not too far behind him was club treasurer Steve Pope, and in third place was my team partner Lee Sennington. Lee was one of the small group of anglers who steered away from the Hollow Brook area and this was why he managed to achieve third place. He caught his fish later than quite a few other fishermen, but had better quality trout.Your correspondent decided to avoid the mad rush – as he usually does, and he fished the middle of the lake for the occasional risers. He managed to catch ten trout – seven of which fell to dry fly, and in spite of “failing” to get to the limit, was not too far behind as the weight of his trout was so great.John Mitchell again generously supported the competition and after the presentation of prizes a super buffet was served in the lodge – which for the first time I can remember was shut to the public on the behalf of the anglers!One award that was made was that of clubman of the year. The proud, but somewhat shocked recipient of this fine trophy was Gareth Jones. As the presentation was made Jeff Loud told members that it was mostly for his great performance in helping Wales to second place in the World Championships last year.I have had a few trips guiding in the last couple of weeks. The fishing being so good makes for great days with clients, but even on the tougher days fun can be had provided the right approach is maintained. One of my days on the lake last week with Brian and Raymond was one such occasion. The day was hot – no, very hot, and the fish were not as cooperative as earlier in the week. Brian and Raymond stuck manfully to their fishing and with a move here and there, a break for a couple of pots of tea, plenty of discussion about the bird life and the ways of the world, before we knew it we had ten trout in the bag. I heard of only one better boat on that day and that was a pair of Welsh International anglers! The weather has been extraordinary this week – most unusual for the high pressure to stay rooted, as it has done. It is a measure of the stocking policy that most anglers have still been able to winkle out a fish or two. On Wednesday evening I stayed out fairly late and witnessed the most amazing rise of trout. I was guiding and hence didn’t get to fish for them, but I later found that most people found the fish really difficult, nay, impossible to catch. I would have loved to have had a crack at them. As with their slow and deliberate moving they looked pretty catchable to me. I did have a couple of casts with one of my clients’ rods but an eight weight and sloppy rod proved too much of a handful to an angler who tends to use a five weight in such conditions!Anyone wishing to gain the benefits of my years of experience on Chew or Blagdon can book me for a day – or evening trip, or what about that pike fishing session. A few good pike are being caught at Chew. Bob Church made a visit last Saturday and had a number of pike up to 17lbs. Give me a call on 07747-843548.I will report on the European Open at Brenig next week, as I will be running the North Wales event myself. John Horsey is busy Bonefish hunting in the Bahamas – I don’t suppose he is much warmer than we are here!Tight lines,

Martin Cottis