Welcome to my fishing diary.
I have spent some effort trying to get exact details of free fishing locations along the Thames by writing to local councils. All except one referred me to the environment agency who sent me the Thames Angling Guide (several times). It's useful but still a bit sketchy on detail. Top marks go to Reading Council for a fantastic guide to local angling See Reading Council I am in the process of drawing some maps of free fishing areas around Maidenhead which will be posted soon.
Coming soon:Fishing rigs - favourite and
unusual rigs from
around the world.
Trout recipes - do something with all those
trout in your freezer.
2007
A few trips to the Thames, Maidenhead & Cookham with no luck. River is very high and coloured.2006 
Summer fishing in Alberta, Canada Waterton and Banff National Parks June 200630 June 2006: Waterton National Park close to the border with the USA has some good fishing and beautiful scenery. I failed to catch in the Waterton Lakes but taking a canoe out in Cameron Lake yielded some really hard fighting but small rainbow trout. These fell to a home-made black maribou and cock-hackle nomad, on size 12 hook, a consistently reliable fly pattern for me no matter where I fish.
Fishing from a Canadian canoe is possible but tricky!
A small but hard fighting rainbow from Cameron lake
A slightly larger rainbow that pulled my arm off!
25 June 2006: Banff National Park and Canmore
Another superb fishing trip with Jeff Perodeau of Banff Fishing Unlimited this time to Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park. Flyfishing for Lake trout.
Lake trout are a type of Arctic Char and grow to enormous size in the lake. The lake is catch and release with a bag limit of two. I caught and released a number of 'Lakers' and a Mountain Whitefish before taking a couple of 5-6 pounders for tea. They were delicious! Another superb and entertaining day out, highly recommended.
There are a number of Bald Eagles in residence at the lake!
23rd June 2006: Canmore, Quarry lake
Quarry Lake, Canmore is stocked with some superb Arctic Garyling, beautiful iridescent colours.
A really lovely place to fish but I was rather deflated to hear that
this is where all the local kids go to learn to fish as the Grayling
are so keen to throw themselves on the hook! It was my first Graying on the fly so
I was very happy anyway.22 Feb 2006: Winter fishing in Canada
An amazing fishing trip in Alberta Canada with
Jeff Perodeau
of Banff
Fishing Unlimited. This was my first ice fishing
experience, fishing
at Spray Lakes near Canmore for Lake Trout. Tackle was small jigging
rods with
a weighted lure baited with a small piece of fish. The
amazing thing was
how far down in the lake you could see the lure for. You assume that
the lake
is dark under the ice but it isn't. The day was cold, about
-15 and quite
windy. I was very glad of the heated hut! After an hour or so of
frustrating
bites and lost fish, two small lake trout were in the bag for lunch.
Then I had
a nice fish of about 2lb which we put back.
Jeff explained that the smaller ones
are the tastiest, the big ones don't taste
so good and are best put back to secure the next generation of fish.
One thing
I am really pleased about in Canada is the care taken over conserving
fish for
future generations. Careful licencing, barbless hooks,
catch-and-release, and
restricted catches (especially for native species) are the order of the
day.
After a delicious lunch of pan-fried Lake Trout I hauled a
few more out of
the ice including quite a nice specimen, though 'puny' by Canadian
standards. Jeff then very kindly took me
for a
quick trip to the Bow River for
a spot of spinning for Brown Trout. Yes - incredibly even at -20'C some
parts of the
river are ice-free. Fly fishing is not practical or sensible at these
temperatures but
spinning is possible, albeit with very cold fingers! Unbelievably the
first
cast in a nice deep pool got us a lovely Brown Trout that would be a
prize
specimen by UK standards. Some tantalising bites and lure chases
followed
before we went downstream to another couple of nice pools. Again the
trout
attacked the lures but I was too slow to react... Mind you the water
was so
clear and the Trout so close that it was great just watching them. A
great day
out and I can't recommend Jeff highly enough as a guide. He is very
knowledgeable and enthusiastic and most importantly finds fish!
2005
Not much fishing this year. A cold but productive visit to Watercress
farm, Devon in February with 4 rainbow trout taken and a
couple of
Pike from the Thames, one of which wasn't hooked but refused to let go
of the rubber fish lure I was using!2004
Northern Sweden August 2004. This
has to be some of the most idyllic fishing on the planet. You can
really feel
the sense of nature rushing out to make the most of the long summer
days up
there. Like the buzz of the countryside in an English high summer but
more so.
The first day was spent at Rickleå, a river flowing into the
Baltic just north-east of the Umeå river. A good river
for Seatrout and
Grayling and some Salmon all for about 50Kr (£4) a day! Sadly
all I managed to
hook were a few small jack-pike.
The weird thing about this river was that in sections it could have been an upland moorland river with rapids, rocks and forest yet round the corner it was a slow moving sedate river in farmland. It certainly made for an intersting walk.
I was told that when you go fishing in Sweden
you won't meet a soul all day, this was nearly true except I met a
local farmer
who must be the only Swede I have ever met without any words of
English! Some
good humoured gesticulation later we were having a good laugh about the
way
fishermen exaggerate. Some jokes are universal and need no language!
Speaking of which, I had some
difficulty translating the names of fish between Swedish and English.
Thank
goodness for www.fishbase.org
Well
worth a look if you are travelling abroad.
The
next day was spent with my Swedish friends Thomas and Petra in
Karingsbeget, which is about 70km inland from Umeå in what I
guess
are the low foothills of the upland area of Sweden . We spent the day
spinning
for trout in a number of beautiful lakes, one of which had a large bird of
prey, which I took to be an Osprey, in residence. Thomas had a
nice Rainbow
about
mid-day then late
afternoon we both landed a nice wild brown trout each, just
as I was becoming desperate for a fish to take home for tea! Thomas
rounded the
day off with another nice brownie. Meanwhile Petra had been very
diligently
collecting cloudberries and lingonberries from the forest. Driving home
we had a Golden Eagle fly out in front of the car and we followed it
for a few hundred yards - amazing! I was
treated to a
very traditional Swedish summer evening meal of fresh barbequed trout
rounded
off by lingonberry pie and cloudberries and ice-cream.
Wonderful! 
July 10th 2004. Boulters Lock Maidenhead. A small but lovely coloured perch taken on a damsel nymph fly.
May 27th 2004. Felix Farm, Berkshire. Took boat out, a magical evening, almost dark with Bats flying all around the boat. Yet another Rudd, about 1.5lb, taken on a goldhead Damsel. This is becoming a speciality! Trout all around but not taking the fly. (Pah! At least Rudd are indigenous!)
May 20th 2004: Felix Farm, Berkshire. Very difficult warm day, fishing since 9am. I took boat out at 5pm, had a 1lb Rudd (returned) on a muddler minnow! Lost a ~5lb trout as it got caught on the mooring line. Thundery front moved in, got drenched, returned to shore. Caught 2lb 4oz Rainbow.
2003
9th September 2003: 'Maxed out' with 5 trout at Felix Farm for the first time. Smallest 2lb, biggest 2lb 6oz.
7th September: Small bass, Elender cove, South Devon. Caught on a silver wedge (apparently by Roy Kinnear judging by the photo!) Returned unharmed. (Save our Bass!) http://www.ukbass.com/
27th July 2003: 3lb Widemouth freshwater Bass, a lake somewhere in Ontario, Canada
28th June 2003: Mackerel from jetty at Dawlish. Using feathers and a wedge spinner in place of sinker.
21st June 2003
A nice 3.1lb chub from
Odney stream, Cookham. I was fishing on an idylic summers day, using
lobworm on a running ledger just under the overhanging trees at the
second "chub pool".
5th January 2003 - Fish of a lifetime!
My friend Stan bought
me a guest day ticket for a stretch of the Kennet for a spot of Pike
Fishing. We arrived at 7-30am on a freezing but clear winters day.
About 3-30pm with no bites we start amusing ourselves by catching the
endless crayfish, in 2ft of water in the margins. All of a sudden my
rod bend double and I am convinced I have hooked a large chub but as it
broke the surface I cannot belive my eyes! Its a ~3lb brown trout
caught on a size 1/0 sea hook with half a herring!! After admiring this
wonderful fish for as long as we dare I decide to put it back to fight
another day. Just the best way to start the year!!
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2002
18th August - 7 Perch Silver mepps spinner + earthworm
Weather:
Warm & overcast
14th August - Small Chub Odney. No pike or perch despite
many
trips to the Thames at Boulters lock. Rumour has it that the "jubilee
river" (Flood protection scheme) is to blame for low fish
numbers.
2001
23rd Sept 2001 Newhouse Fishery nr Totnes, Devon . My 40th Birthday with Dad,
Me 4 Rainbows Olive gold
damsel about 2lb; Dad
5 Rainbows 1-1.5 lb
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2000
Sea: Pollack (Salcombe, white artificial sandeel)
Game: Best ever Rainbow 4.2lb (Felix farm, Caddis
Larva
Fly)
Coarse: Small
pike
1999
Sea: 10lb
Spur Dog (Canada, Herring) while fishing for Salmon
Game: 2lb Rainbow Trout (Meline Lake
Alberta)
Course: Black
Bass (Victoria, Canada,
Plug) Rainbow Trout (Malign Lake Canada, Minnow fly). 1/2lb Rainbow
(Lac le Jeune Canada), Rudd (on fly, Felix Farm UK) 13 March 1999
Pike 10.5lb *personal best* Pike 9lb Fluor Orange Masterlure Mugger
Weather: fine sunny broken cloud.
Black Bass, Victoria
Malign Lake, Canada. What a place to
fish!
Spawning Rainbows, Lac Le Jeune BC
Small but hard fighting Rainbow trout Maligne Lake. This one nearly pulled my arm off!
1998
Sea: Bass
(Salcombe, on ledgered squid)
Game: Rainbow Trout
2nd April 1998 Rainbow Trout Olive goldhead damsel Weather:
Heavy
showers and Thunder, Low Pressure
1997
Sea: Cod;
Ling; Mackerel; Sandeel; Pouting; Pollack (Salcombe, jelly worms)
USA Sea: Blue Fish, Pompano, Spotted Sea Trout, Lizard
Fish,
Blow Fish, Sand Perch, Pig Fish & Reef Snapper (Sarasota,
Prawns)
Coarse: Roach, Perch, Pike
A morning's inshore fishing in Sarasota,
Florida
This trip was simply the best fishing I've ever experienced. I booked a morning trip with Capatain Bob Smith in Sarasota Florida. Fishing with very light tackle using live shrimp as bait I had eighteen fish in three hours. We were using very light spinning rods and what appeared to be about 10LB line.
The
most common fish were Spotted Sea Trout, not a trout at all but a
member of the Drum family. They are remarkably like a brown trout but
with the colour of a rainbow, an amazing example of parallel evolution.
Other fish caught were Blue Fish (a lovely fish a bit like a Bass),
Pompano (Good eating), Lizardfish (looks like a lizard and very ugly),
Blowfish (a smooth puffer fish), Sand Perch, Pigfish & Reef
Snapper
(a type of grunt). The Blowfish was interesting, when I was
removing the hook it started to inflate making it quite difficult to
handle!
The
Pompano, Blue Fish and Sea Trout all put up fantastic fights on the
light tackle used. The one that got away was probably a Spanish
mackerel, which moved away at such a lightning speed that it snapped
the line which had become entangled with the rod tip. I would love to
have kept it on the line!You can find out more on Bob's website, http://www.sarasota-fla-fishing.com
Tench on a Fly!
I had just started fishing at Sheephouse Farm Trout lake near Maidenhead when I caught a very unusual looking Trout, a Tench of 3 lb or so! I was using a slow sinking line with a goldheaded green damsel nymph. It was pretty near the bottom by the time the line was nearly out of the water and I saw the Tench make a lunge for the fly. It put up a pretty useless fight, I just dragged it in and released it, I wonder if it had be caught a few times before? My first Tench, an ugly slimy fish IMHO.
Bone fishing in the
Caymans May1996
While on holiday in the Cayman Islands I managed to sneak off for a morning to hire a fly fishing guide. The bonefish of the South side of Grand Cayman make regular runs up the mud flats on the rising tide. They are very difficult to see, several times my guide was showing me patches of slightly disturbed water where I could see nothing at all, then just a glimse of a fin or tail breaking the water. I spent six hours stalking the "grey ghost of the flats", seeing plenty but not managing to tempt any of them. In one very frustrating moment trying to remove several wind knots and severe tangles they were all around me, just a few feet away. By the time I had finished untangling of course they were gone. A little disappointing but I had great fun finding out about fly fishing in the sea. Some days they are very hook shy and this appeared to be one of them!
Standard tackle consists of a 8-9 ft fly rod with a shooting tip, and a AFTM 7 weight forward floating line. Long casts in strong winds are required and jerky sink and draw retrieves are used. The flies used are small shrimp imitations with a pair of plug chain eyes tied at the bend of the hook and crystalflash and parrot feather "legs".The material used to tie the flies, my guides pet parrot feathers, have an iridescent coloration underwater. I had a vision of a poor bald parrot cowering somewhere! Thanks to Ronald of Ewbanks Charter Boat Hire for an entertaining morning.
Overall I found the Caymans shore fishing a little disappointing. I spent a considerable time spinning and fly-fishing off the shore on the West and South of the island and some of the canals and inlets with no luck at all. The Tarpon seemed to be absent from most of the inlets although the season proper starts around June/July. One success was a small Barracuda of 4lbs taken while spinning a whole shrimp (Prawn) using a small spinning rod. The Barracuda fought very much like a medium sized Pike with a few breathtaking runs but then periods of inactivity where it was simply a matter of winding in. Out of the water I was amazed to find that it just sat there and waited for the hook to be removed calmly with no flapping about which was just as well considering the ferocious teeth on display.
Perch on the Thames
near Maidenhead.
A pleasant way to spend an evening in the summer months is spinning for Perch on the River Thames near Maidenhead. There are several good spots on the free stretches of the river. The west bank upstream of the bridge is fishable in several stretches until you get to Maidenhead Angling Club waters just past Boulters lock. Tackle should be light and I like travel light with a few spinners in my pocket so that I can walk up the river unencumbered with tackle boxes. A good portable landing net is however a necessity, a trout net is a good choice.
My favourite spinner for perch is the green and black bladed ABU with a white/black spotted body. This spinner seems to be selective for Perch, Pike seldom seem to take it. I replace the dreadful treble hooks with large (1/0) single Mustard wire sea hooks and partially de-barb them. They are much less damaging to the fish then the oversized trebles. It is not unusual to get baby perch attacking lures of half their size. Hook up rates are no different with the replacement hooks, once a perch takes it is hooked.
Start off at the Bridge where you can fish from the park, however this is seldom a good spot due to the proximity of the bridge. Walking up river you loose access until you are passed the Thames hotel, you may then descend to a narrow ledge which stretches all the way up to Boulters lock. Evenings are a good time along this stretch particularly if you cast out close to the islands in mid stream. At Boulters lock you lose access until you are some way up the lock cut. Fishing in the lock cut is not permitted. Once on the towpath you may resume fishing again. The area, which opens up above the lock, is a very good spot and also holds several good pike. Watch out for fry breaking the surface. This is a good sign of predatory activity below. Cast just behind the disturbance and begin a slow retrieve.
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Minke Whale Spotted on
board The Phoenix,
Salcombe Devon June 16th..
On returning from a days Wreck fishing aboard the "The Phoenix" Salcombe Devon June 16th we spotted a Minke Whale. We spent an enjoyable half hour watching and photographing this amazing animal.
Links to other fishing
pages:
- Bob Smiths Page, Sarasota- http://www.sarasota-fla-fishing.com
- Where To Fish Guide - Where to Fish
- UK Sea Fishing
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