Fluff chucking in Gloucestershire

[Andy135]

Today I was lucky enough to be invited to fish a private stretch of the River Coln in Gloucestershire for wild brown trout. Not having had a dangle of any sort for the last few months due to our recent house move and associated family duties it felt great to be back with rod in hand.

The beat itself is very picturesque, and with temperatures reaching the high teens it was much warmer than expected. In fact the river has suffered a bit from the dry winter and was running about 2 ft lower than normal for this time of year.

The fishing was commensurately harder, with less water making the fish more easily spooked. My host worked hard for a blank catch return, while I managed a single brownie, taken close to the bottom on a gold headed Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear pattern. He gave me quite the run-around, diving into a thick string of ranunculus and threatened to break me off. Some careful manoeuvring and a swift single-handed netting saved the day, and he was duly banked for a quick pic before being released.

Despite the fish being sparse it was great to be on the bank again, catching up with an old friend and enjoying the sunshine. Just got to find the time to get back into the boat next... 👍

[Saintly Fish]

Sounds like a very civilised day out in a very picturesque location. 👍🏻  Your host was very gracious letting you be top angler on the day too! 

[Dicky]

That's a cracking looking Bownie. The Coln is a nice river.

[GPSguru]

On 5/8/2022 at 9:58 PM, Andy135 said:

Today I was lucky enough to be invited to fish a private stretch of the River Coln in Gloucestershire for wild brown trout. Not having had a dangle of any sort for the last few months due to our recent house move and associated family duties it felt great to be back with rod in hand.

The beat itself is very picturesque, and with temperatures reaching the high teens it was much warmer than expected. In fact the river has suffered a bit from the dry winter and was running about 2 ft lower than normal for this time of year.

The fishing was commensurately harder, with less water making the fish more easily spooked. My host worked hard for a blank catch return, while I managed a single brownie, taken close to the bottom on a gold headed Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear pattern. He gave me quite the run-around, diving into a thick string of ranunculus and threatened to break me off. Some careful manoeuvring and a swift single-handed netting saved the day, and he was duly banked for a quick pic before being released.

Despite the fish being sparse it was great to be on the bank again, catching up with an old friend and enjoying the sunshine. Just got to find the time to get back into the boat next... 👍

Kin'ell, did the Bentley chauffeur drop you off or wait ?

BTW, worms work better than flies 🙄

Edited May 9, 2022 by GPSguru

[Andy135]

11 minutes ago, Dicky said:

That's a cracking looking Bownie. The Coln is a nice river.

Agreed, it's a lovely river. I've fished the public beat just below the bridge several times over the years. Definitely worth a session if you can.

[Andy135]

10 minutes ago, GPSguru said:

Kin'ell, did the Bentley chauffeur drop you off or wait ?

BTW, worms work better than flies 🙄

I let him have the day off and drove myself as it happens.

As for worms, if I wanted to go bait fishing I can do that any time, any where 😜

[Andy135]

7 hours ago, JonC said:

Any more photos please  from your magical trip?

Here's another tempting pool for you Jon.

And here's one of the Spitfire fly-past we had. Rumour has it that it's been seen regularly over the last few days, flying out of RAF Fairford practising for the Jubilee Flypast next month. I heard it coming before I spotted it (guessing it's not just me that gets all misty-eyed at the sound of a Merlin?) but only managed to fumble my phone out of my wader pocket as it was disappearing into the clouds.

[GPSguru]

10 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

I let him have the day off and drove myself as it happens.

As for worms, if I wanted to go bait fishing I can do that any time, any where 😜

BTW, I have a couple of bass flies for you, they were in amongst a load of demo stuff that was sent to me ........... PM me your address 👍