Last Saturday morning found me on the back lanes around Cheddar speeding towards Chew Valley Lake. I was, it has to be said, a bit groggy of head and tired of eye as it was only 7am and I had had a beer or two the night before, but towards Chew I sped none the less. I pulled up in the car park at half past seven - as it is my habit to sit and look at the lake for a while before the lodge opens at eight -and if there was ever anything that clears the mind it is sitting on the second bench behind the restaurant with a NE wind blowing straight down your shirt!
Sitting there shivering gives one time to contemplate tactics - a definite advantage over just sucking and seeing, especially when it is the first time on a water for the season as was the case on this day.
The lake looked very full and very featureless. Some waters just shout their best drifts at you with the slightest of glances, but not Chew, not today.
The Welsh Ladies Fly Fishing Team were there along with some of the Welsh Men's Team - no doubt practising for some very "important" competition in the near future - and a whole host of regulars.
When the boats set off everyone headed for the island or the bottom end of the east shore. We followed, as we had immediately forgotten everything the chap in the excellent on-site shop had told us, and it wasn't long before I hooked.........................and lost..................a couple of fish. We buzzed around the place looking for some takers, but those two pulls were it for the morning. It appeared by lunch time that everyone was struggling and unfortunately that was the case for the afternoon too.
We tried the far southern end of the reservoir because, we reasoned, that that was where the food was ending up - unfortunately it was also where the wind was ending up! The swell was so bad that we soon realised why everyone had zoomed off in the opposite direction!
In the end, all I could think of to do was to move right in close to the island and fish amongst the trees and bushes around the margins - trees and bushes that would normally be well clear of the water but that today resembled the everglades of Florida. I had a three fly cast with a black hopper, to resemble the Hawthorns that were about, on the top dropper, a Diawl Bach on the middle dropper and a PTN on the point. We almost punted around the edge of the island casting into the nooks and crannies as if we were fishing for freshwater bass.
It worked and on a day when relatively few fish were caught before we left at 5 o'clock I was happy with my lovely 3lb specimen that fought like double its weight. Because of the shallowness of the place it took and all the snags it was a really exciting fight.
Chew is a fascinating water. Sometimes easy, often hard, but never boring and occasionally, like on this day, quite frustrating.
