The water is a real gem and I would recommend it to anyone

The water is a real gem and I would recommend it to anyone. If you haven’t had a trip to the area try and find a space in your diary and give it a go – it is one of those lakes that will drag you back time and time again. I found an opportunity on both days to do a bit of fishing, maybe not for bonefish, but the trout were more than willing to sample some of my Bristol-style dry flies. I stayed well away from competitors, which is quite easy to do on such a large lake, and caught or moved fish on every single drift that I tried.As to the competition, the results couldn’t have been much tighter! On Friday the top three anglers were only 7ounces apart; there were sixteen eight-fish limits and the rod average was over four and a half fish per angler. The best fish weighed a cracking 4lbs 10oz and there were several other fish over three pounds brought to the scales. Many anglers caught the beautifully shaped trout that have overwintered in the reservoir. They have a bluish sheen to them, great big tails, and of course they fight much harder than the recent stockfish. Unfortunately they are long and lean and, as the competition is based on weight, the anglers are not quite so happy about catching them!Winner on day one was Dave Tilley who was the last angler that weighed in. He caught his eight trout by 1.45pm and, therefore, had eight and a half pounds of “bonus weight” to add to his fish weight of 16lbs 2oz. Five ounces behind was Stuart Pickard and then two ounces further adrift was Paul Davies. Chew regular Paul Sharman was fourth with 22lbs exactly. The biggest fish qualifier with that 4lbs 10oz fish was Kevin Prince.It was great to see so many newcomers to competitive flyfishing having such a good day and I saw many anglers exchanging flies and helping each other. Various methods worked from booby fishing with fast sink lines, through intermediate and mini-lures or nymphs, to floaters with dries, or even the “bung” style nymphs. Sunny weather for most of the competition didn’t deter the fish from feeding; I heard many report that when the cloud came over later in the day the fish actually went off the feed!Day two brought different conditions inasmuch that it was overcast throughout; we even had a couple of light showers. The fishing was almost as impressive as day one with twelve limit bags being weighed in. The first three anglers were only one pound apart and again the crucial aspect was that of catching a quick limit of fish. Scot Stuart Fraser came out on top: he had 22lbs 14oz and obviously benefited from his practice time and performance on the first match day when he had a limit, but caught it too late to figure in the prizes!Tim Llewelyn was second although he did actually get to his limit ahead of Stuart. Tim found a slime line and boobies to be the best method, as he reached his eight fish target by one o’clock. Not far behind was Mick Read with 21lbs 14oz, whilst Andrew Banner filled the fourth automatic place with 20lbs 5oz. One had to feel sorry for Michael Lightfoot who was only TWO OUNCES behind in fifth position!Colin Davies was the qualifier with the biggest trout: he managed to battle an impressive 8lbs 10oz brownie to the net. Fortunately for Colin, brown trout were not to be returned on day two, as they had been on the first day. I was most pleased about that for to capture a large trout such as this was a real angling achievement and it was suitably rewarded.So, another round of Trout Fisherman’s European Open was over and a very pleasant time was had by most of the anglers. We have a couple of weeks off before the next round of the competition. In the meantime I have several days guiding on Chew, a brief family holiday to County Kerry, and the little matter of our National Eliminator, also on Chew Valley Lake. I will let you know how I fared in that competition next week.There are still a few places left in the remaining rounds of our competition so, if you are still thinking of entering, give John a call on 01761-490367.Tight lines,

Martin Cottis