Fishing!

So I have actually been fishing, I have managed to fit in a couple of evening sessions since the start of the month. This evening was clear and bright with a brisk easterly wind. Very little insect activity. I pricked a small fish but that was that. Given the conditions not really a surprise. A similar session last week was much more benign and I was even able to record my first capture of the season. A moment of quiet reflection on the bank revealed that this was my first brown trout since the close of the 2013 season, a gap of some 18 months.

This was caught from a short stretch of club water that pretty much nudges up to the Surrey / Hampshire border. I know how fortunate I am to have access to this water, a true chalk stream, very close to home. This water has been un-managed until recent times and it is interesting to see the gradual changes being wrought on this water through sympathetic management.

Consider the following...

Looking upstream this stretch screams 'trout here',

Looking downstream some of the changes are more apparent, the banks have been fenced, the channel has beeen narrowed, note the faggots, and it is possible to discern flow deflectors. The 'pond' area is principally to enable horses in the field to continue to drink, but without damaging the banks as before the fencing was installed. This area my also act as a haven for fry to shelter from the main current.

Last shot, one taken this evening from the top of the stretch. This little chalk stream really does have the character of chalk stream carrier fishing,