Saltwater Fly Fishing for Cod at Myfjord Brygge, Norway.

With a weeks fishing booked at Myfjord Brygge in Norway, my friend Jason and I were intending to be primarily ‘traditional’ fishing with lures, pirks and bait but I did also have aspirations for fitting in a little bit of fly fishing.

We had accommodation right next to the harbour and a self-drive boat for the week. However, whilst I knew I wouldn’t find a great deal of time to dabble with fly fishing I couldn’t resist taking an #8 fly rod and assorted flies on the basis that the flies weighed next to nothing and took up hardly any room in my baggage allowance and I could slide the fly rod into the same rod tube as my spinning rod. Bit of a no brainer really. Despite all my heady hopes and dreams of catching monster fish on the fly rod I knew I should set myself some realistic goals for the fly fishing. On top of that, the fly fishing would obviously have to fit around weather, other fishing and opportunities that arose during the course of the trip. You can read about how we got on with the ‘traditional’ sea fishing, by following this link.

My rod was a Shakespeare Agility EXP #8 multi piece fly rod that breaks down to 7 pieces. I took a cheap and pretty knackered reel that had seen better days (broken handle replaced with a now rusting bolt) loaded with Airflo Sniper WF9 DI7 sinking line. Using a short 6’ section of 30lb fluorocarbon to attach the flies I felt I had a reasonable chance of getting my fly down to where the fish may be. I didn’t really plan my flies well in hindsight and would go far better equipped next time. I took a small selection of pike flies, assorted uk saltwater Sandeel fly patterns and a few large self-tied monstrosities (which I didn’t even wet in the end).

Deep water and plenty of fish to be caught on traditional sea fishing gear meant that exactly as I’d thought, I didn’t spend much time fly fishing. When I did grab a short session fly fishing, it was at times when conditions weren’t too bad, fishing was slow and the water was reasonably shallow. By shallow I mean 15-20m or less. It didn’t take us long to appreciate small coalfish could be caught just about anywhere, being super abundant both in the fjord and out. Small coalfish were unsurprisingly the first fish I caught on flies this trip using small sandeel fly patterns more usually aimed at bass back in the uk. Successful patterns being olive surf candy’s and other sandeel looking flies. Catching coalfish was mainly about letting the fast sinking line get down far enough before quickly stripping the fly back in. It was usually the speed the boat was drifting that determined how far I could get the fly down more than anything else. A fast drift meaning the fly line was just dragged behind the boat and never really got any kind of depth. Even small coalfish give a good bite and wiggle on the fly rod so I was really hoping to connect with one of the larger ones.

Using shads on traditional tackle I’d had coalfish up to 20lb on the second day here, so knew there was potential for a fish of a lifetime on the fly rod. Maybe if I had persevered with fly fishing I would have eventually got a better fish but as it was it was other species that provided more of a fight and proved more interesting….

In amongst the small coalfish, I hooked a nice sized mackerel that really put a better bend in the rod. Not much bigger than the small coalies, but the mackerel really lived up to its reputation as a hard fighting fish. Great fun on the fly rod! I only wish I could have had a lot more of them but sadly they didn’t seem to be that prolific – either that or they were out competed by the ever present tiny coalfish.

Before the trip, when we had been researching fishing in Norway I’d read quite a few articles and blogs relating to fishing and in particular salt water fly fishing in Norway. A couple of blogs in particular had focused on catching cod on the fly, one of which described sight fishing for cod from a boat over shallow sandy bays. This really caught my attention and sparked my desire to give it a try. Sadly we didn’t really have any fishing spots matching this description at Myfjord as it is all deep fjord and open sea where we were fishing and the weather hampered opportunities for exploring too far from our home fjord. However whilst lure fishing we had found some shallower kelp filled spots close to shore that turned up lots of cod in the 1lb to 10lb range to light lure tackle and it was these spots that I felt offered some hope for catching a cod on the fly.

I’d previously read about people catching cod using a weighted plastic muppet as a ‘fly’ to get down to the cod so tried that approach for a few casts one day, but without any really confidence I gave up on that approach pretty quickly. I had been catching small codling a fish a chuck on the lure rod so knew they were there and feeding. What made things difficult was that I was having to keep an eye on the boat and its proximity to the shore at the same time as fishing. Being in a sheltered bay with very little in the way of wave action or current did make it practical to get into shallow water, fish and at the same time manage the boat. 

I switched to a pike fly weighted with a small cone lead and had a few casts. First cast produced a small coalfish before hooking up to a better fish that fought pretty doggedly. I was pretty confident from the start that this was the cod I was after before I saw it and wasn’t surprised to see the golden hue as it came up to the surface. My first cod on the fly was no monster but It really made my day to tick this off the hit list. After this first fish I had a couple more small codling between 1lb & 2.5lb. With a switch in wind direction the boat started to get pushed towards the rocks so I had to move out slightly into deeper water, with much shorter periods of drift between moves. This made the fly fishing difficult so I’ll admit at this point switching back to lures. After a short spell of catching some really nice cod on lures the weather turned pretty bad so a swift run back to the shelter of the harbour was in order. It was quite amazing how quickly the wind and waves picked up and I was very glad to moor back up and get into the dry and warmth of our cabin.

This trip was really a learning experience from my perspective, next time I’d be more confident in taking fly-fishing tackle to target the salt-water species in Norway. I’d bring a better selection of small sandeel patterns and really major on weighted flies as well as explore super fast sinking line options. I’d also like to explore some sheltered shallow water marks where I could take advantage of the abundant fish life here in Norway to have some more fun with salt water fly fishing.

West Lydford, The River Brue

A couple of days after the start of the river fishing season and I headed up to fish the river Brue with my fishing buddy, Jason. We met up early morning and had the pick of swims along the stretch we had selected. As it turned out we made the right choice and not only started catching decent fish straight away but had the benefit of being under the shade of a tree, which given the hot weather was a huge relief.

Jason started straight away with maggot and worm fished on the float rod and was immediately catching some very nice chub.

I opted to try out the fly rod to begin with and did manage to catch a couple of smaller fish using a small dry fly. I then switched to a foam beetle for that added “plop” which seemed to help attract attention from a slightly better size of chub.

Whilst catching fish on the fly was thoroughly satisfying, it was hard work casting amongst the early season overgrown bank-side foliage all the while watching Jason catch some very good fish a few yards downstream from me on the float rod. After a while I couldn’t bear it any more and decided to change tactics and join him in the float fishing.

Fishing was pretty consistent for the majority of the morning, but tailed off as the morning wore on. We caught mainly chub of varying sizes along with gudgeon, minnows and even an accidental brown trout that snaffled a worm. All in all quite a varied day.

By about midday we felt that we’d had our fill of fish and headed for home satisfied with our endeavours. I drove home reminiscing about the pleasures of a successful fishing trip and pleased I managed to get back out after having had quite a break from fishing over the last few months.

Exploring the Fast Stretch

With a trip planned to fish the River Tone, in Somerset I realised that I hadn’t actually fly fished for quite some time. With a view to putting the right when I arrived at the riverbank, it was with fly fishing gear only. I was further encouraged to bring the fly tackle, by the weather forecast that predicted glorious weather with very little in the way of wind.

On arrival I was pleasantly surprised to find that the weather forecasters had got it spot on! Jason and I met at Ham, and decided to walk the bank fishing wherever looked promising; he with light lure rod and me with fly rod.

There was plenty of fish to be seen feeding on the surface so I started by trying various small dry flies all to no effect. A switch to a tiny bead head fly finally resulted in landing small bleak and a couple of small roach.

Jason on the other hand searching for perch found success and managed to tempt a number of the target species on small lures.

Despite our efforts the fish weren’t exactly coming in thick and fast so we decided to explore a couple of new sections of the river (new for us) called “Hankridge” & the “Fast Stretch”. These sections run through Taunton and are very shallow in places.

We started on the Hankridge to Sainsbury section which looked awesome if only I’d had waders, as the bankside vegetation made it virtually inaccessible. There were a lot of fish to be glimpsed in the gin clear water, including a couple of brutes! We ended up settling into one of the few fishable swims that Jason decided to tackle with the float rod whilst I offered moral support. Given how shallow it was I really wasn’t expecting him to catch anything. As it was, attuned out to be pretty productive with a fish a chuck. Maggots and worms produced plenty of minnow, bleak, chub, roach and perch.

After a couple of hours we headed along to the fast stretch which was far more readily fishable. Jason caught more here on float whilst I tried and failed to catch anything on fly rod. We did see a number of nice sized chub but just couldn’t tempt them no matter what we tried..

It was a useful day exploring these sections of water. Whilst I had initially thought they wouldn’t hold that many fish, it turns out that they actually hold a lot of promise. A return will definitely be on the cards.

A Belated Start to the Coarse Fishing Season

A busy life got in the way of Jason’s & mine usual fishing trip to mark the start of the coarse fishing season. We eventually got a date in the diary for only a couple of weeks after the glorious 16th.

Glaston Manor Angling have now upgraded their website to allow the purchase on day ticket online which is fantastic for us and saved the hassle of trying to get to a tackle shop to buy the license before fishing. Anyway, with electronic proof of our purchases on the phones, we kicked off our 2022 coarse fishing by meeting at one of our favourite haunts – West Lydford on the river Brue.

All the usual swims were fishable and we had great weather, but water that was reasonably coloured. Hardly any fish visible at surface which didn’t bode well for fly fishing. We started off with a quick walk of the bank – I took my fly rod and Jason his light lure rod. We gave the stretch a quick exploratory effort that wasn’t rewarded with any immediate success so re-tackled with float gear.

I float fished maggot and had a few gudgeon and minnows before managing to pull out a fun sized cub of around or just under a pound by casting in under an overhanging tree on the opposite bank.

Jason had quite a few small chub plus a really heafty chub on double maggot. Quite a monster!

Despite the success it wasn’t long before we decided to explore other sections of the Brue and headed up to Wallyers Bridge.

This is one of my favourite stretches of river but today it was very windy, more overgrown than usual and looked pretty unfished. In fact it was largely unfishable for the whole stretch except the first corner.

We persevered for a while, in which time I landed a few fun sized roach and a perch – all on float fished double maggot. With the fishing proving less than thrilling we moved on again to Flight Weir.

Again it was breezy and only really the weir swim fishable. The rest of down stream river was either fenced off or overgrown, and the upper section above the weir – its usual state but super windy.

We settled into the weir swim and started catching numerous small roach and chub. Jason caught plenty of nice chub and perch before the sun started to set, the temperature drop and we decided to wrap it up for the day.

Good to be back out – successful to some extent but not quite the day’s fishing we had thought.

First Trout of 2022

Headed up to Hawkridge Reservoir to start off our trout fishing season for the year. The last time I visited here I seem to recall blanking so was hoping to do better. Jason and I booked an evening ticket which at this time of year meant only 3 hours of fishing. Still – knowing my attention span when it comes to fishing, if I haven’t seen near instant results I start to quickly loose interest so 3 hours should be more than ample I reasoned.

Weather was good, if a little breezy to start with. An annoying right to left breeze made casting awkward at times. Yet again we both vowed to get a boat next time as we watched people on boats have more “luck” than us.

Instant results weren’t forthcoming but the weather was nice and having seen a couple of small jack pike in the shallows I was content at treating the evening as a refresher session to brush up on my casting and admire the scenery.

Jason being his usual consistent self caught a hard fighting trout and lost a second. I tried a few different flies during the session but didn’t chop and change too much, instead just relying on a few trusted favourite flies. In the end a small black and green montana did the business as I hooked into a lively trout. Quite a relief to avoid the blank! As it was, that was the only sign of any action I had.

Back to the Brue

Jason and I headed to the river Brue, near Glastonbury for the first weekend of the coarse fishing season as usual. We were lucky and the forecast was for light wind and dry weather to start with, with showers developing later in the day. I was delighted with the light winds as I planned to fly fish for chub which would make things easier. The day did turn out to be grey and overcast too unfortunately, and as it was we saw absolutely no fish at the surface or any sign of fish whatsoever. This set the alarm bells ringing, as usually here at the Brue I would expect to see loads of chub cruising the surface and to be able to cast to them. As it was I resigned myself to casting blind.

I started off with a foam beetle and a small bead-head on a dropper below, to try to cover all bases. I didn’t have much success. Jason on the other hand went for a light lure rod and tiny plugs and spinners. Even he struggled to elicit much interest.

We travelled light and ended up walking a long way and explored some new (to us) sections of the river which was useful. Jason did manage to catch a few small chub and perch on the lures whilst I only managed two tiny chub on the flies.

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We did persevere for several hours before my enthusiasm waned and we both settled down so that Jason could float fish along the Cowbridge section. At this point the rain started. An hour or so of watching a motionless float in the rain and we both decided to call it a day.

Maybe not the start to the season we’d hoped for, but it was good to be out and interesting to explore a new section of the river. It’s all experience and knowledge for the future.

Slow day at Hawkridge

Sunday morning and I had a chance to pay a second visit to Hawkridge Reservoir and after the last trip here I was expecting a productive day. 

We were lucky and had nice weather and conditions generally. The water was very clear. Various people on the boats out on the reservoir were catching fish so it all seemed quite encouraging. Lots of fish could be seen and cast to but frustratingly they showed no interest and in fact shied away from all offerings no matter how many different flies I tried.. I tried everything I could think of, all kinds of different retrieves and pretty much every fly in my box, all with no success.

Jason had a nice trout on a buzzer to save us from a total blank, but even he had to really persevere.

All in all it was quite hard work. My casting was as per usual quite hit and miss which again left me feeling I would benefit from some tuition.

First trip to Hawkridge Reservoir

I’ve heard good things about Hawkridge reservoir – that it is a charming, picturesque small reservoir, and that it’s well maintained and stocked. My first trip here with my mate Jason who has fished here a bit over the last year or two certainly left me with a good impression of the place. What I liked, is Hawkridge is small enough so as to not feel too intimidating but big enough to have some space to explore.

Hawkridge is run by Wessex Water, and situated not far from Bridgwater and Taunton. A small number of rowing boats are available for hire, and a selection of ticket options to suit most requirements. Jason and I opted for an afternoon ticket that allowed us to fish from 3pm onwards with a two fish bag, all for £15. The only downside to my mind is that there wasn’t an option to hire a boat with an electric engine which I would have definitely gone for had it been.

We met promptly at the lodge and headed off to a spot just a short walk away that had proved successful for Jason in the past. I set up quickly in my usual rush of excitement and got a good few casts in before Jason had managed to wet a line. It felt good to be back waving the fly rod around again. It wasn’t long before Jason was into a fish. This first fish turned out to be a very spirited rainbow trout.

At this point I was expecting us to hit our bag limit pretty quickly – but as it turned out I needn’t have worried. We had to work for it in the end. Neither of us had any interest for quite a while after that first fish. I had one take that I didn’t connect with after casting to a rising fish but other than that things were pretty quiet for quite a while.

Out of the blue I hooked into a lovely fish that went absolutely ballistic! It was only a rainbow of about 2 and a half pounds but it spent more time doing acrobatics out of the water than in the water and put up one hell of a fight. I was relieved to land it, more to give my arm and wrist a rest than for any other reason.

A second fish followed much later, from down in front of the lodge from pretty much my last cast. This fish again went crazy before we eventually landed it. A memorable way to end a session!

I came away from Hawkridge with a desire to come back very soon. I think this has to be one of my favourite trout fisheries in the area for sure. Next time I’d like to take a boat out to explore the reservoir more fully and to make up for my less than impressive casting distance.

Fly fishing for Bass

A weather forecast predicting almost no wind tempted me to try my luck at fly fishing for Bass. A bass on the fly would be a first for me. I knew from recent experience of catching bass on lures that I’d at least be in the right vicinity so felt I was in with a chance.

I managed to persuade the family that they should accompany me to Budleigh Salterton beach for dawn, which happily coincided pretty much with a high tide. Sadly upon reaching the beach no-one seemed to appreciate the difference between night, nautical twilight or civil twilight. “It’s just dark” was the general opinion. To make matters worse, there was a stiff breeze to greet me which wasn’t in the plan.

I tackled up at the car and before walking down to the shore. The family decided that watching me flailing around with a fly rod in the darkness wasn’t going to be much fun and decided to while away their time building rock stacks and doing yoga, to much hilarity.

I fished a two fly rig, with an epoxy sandeel fly as the point fly and a cheap silver mackerel feather repurposed from a set of mackerel feathers on the dropper.

I struggled with the casting in the wind, and darkness, having to rely on feel alone. I have no idea how far my casts were going, but after half an hour I had a small school bass hit the silver mackerel feather so I guess I was casting far enough.

The little bass may have been diminutive but I was absolutely elated all the same. It’s always nice when you set out with a specific target in mind and succeed. Having caught my target species on the fly rod and not having any more bites in the next few casts I decided to head home for breakfast. A great start to the day – a new species on the fly rod and back home by 7:00am. Result!

 

IOS 2020 – Year of the Wrasse

A weeks holiday in the Isles of Scilly this year felt like the height of privilege, especially given that all other holidays & trips away this year had been cancelled due to the pandemic. We stayed on St Mary’s this year again at a lovely cottage right behind Porth Mellon beach. Got to say I loved hearing the sea from my bed at night.

We were blessed with pretty good weather all week, starting off sunny for the first half and grey and misty in the later half. Wind wise, wasn’t so good as it was pretty consistently breezy, forcing me to search for shelter from the northerly winds whenever I wanted to head out fishing.

I came equipped with my usual trusty multi-piece light lure rod, the Shakespeare Agility EXP Spin and light reel loaded with braid. Love this rod! It was not very expensive, packs down into 6 sections (7 if you include the butt) and is light, fun to fish with and has a great action. Can’t fault it. Would buy a spare if I could find another! To compliment the lure rod I also purchased a new multi-piece fly rod just before the trip. I’ve struggled with and not enjoyed using my previous #8 fly rod so treated myself to a Shakespeare Agility EXP fly rod. If the Agility spin is so good I reasoned the fly version, which on paper, fitted my requirements exactly should be a safe bet. Being 7 sections and with a choice of butt sections, this again made travel easy.

Given the windy conditions, I found myself reaching for the lure rod most days. However, I did manage to ‘christen’ the fly rod one of the days by catching a decent wrasse on it. I’ve caught tons of wrasse, but what made this special was that it was the first one on a fly rod and something I’ve been wanting to achieve for a while. To top it all I was sight fishing for them amongst the rocks and watched this particular fish follow and take the fly. Prior to this I’d had several small wrasse following different sandeel flies but without managing to tempt them into biting. A switch to a Colin Macleod flexi-worm mullet fly produced the results on the first cast with it. A great result in my book and a quite spectacular fight. I have to say the rod is soft and forgiving in casting action but had plenty enough backbone to bully a large wrasse out of the rocks at close quarters. Happy with that purchase!

Aside from my brief foray into fly fishing, I otherwise concentrated on lure fishing. My father and I had a couple of trips fishing some of our usual deeper water marks where I would usually expect to catch some pollack. This year to our surprise we caught no pollack at all of any size! Pretty stunned by that and couldn’t explain it. It wasn’t as if we didn’t put in the effort either! Whereas usually I’m all for fishing a spot for half an hour then moving on, we actually put in considerable time and effort but to no avail.

With the pollack not playing ball, it was the wrasse that were the saviours. I fished most days and targeted the shallow rocky marks for wrasse.

Using soft lures with weedless hooks and cone leads I managed to land plenty of fish over the course of the week. Nothing massive but all fun nevertheless. My go-to lure, the 4.5″ Megabass X-Layer as ever proved deadly. It could be that I caught most the fish on it because I used it the most, being the case that if you have confidence in a particular lure and know that it catches fish, then why change?

Other than staying on St Mary’s for most of the week, we did make a day trip out to St Agnes. I snatched an hour and a half fishing before we adjourned for lunch in the Turks Head and a further hour after lunch. 5 wrasse in that time again all on the X-Layers seemed a satisfactory result.