Chris had decided that sinking lines were the order of the day. I took my slow sink and a sink tip line. In the end I only used my slow sink. We had been told that the fish were on the fry, so larger types of fly were the order of the day. We set our rods, lines and flies before getting on the boat. By the times I got in the boat Chris had snagged one of my flies on the dock and it was missing. Not to worry as it was one he had given to me. Once in the position we needed to be the drogue was put out and we started our first drift. No luck on this one or the next or several more.

I was fishing with two flies and Chris with four, it still made no difference. In the end we changed position and tried again, changed again and again still no luck. Finally Chris got a tug, then a fish was on, just a small one, about 2 ½Lbs. He put it back. By now it was lunch time.

We moved again, this time we changed to heavier flies (gold heads) so we could fish deeper. Still no luck, but on one of my casts the flies hit my rod with a resounding crack. Chris decided that going deep was not the idea and we should be going shallower. Which we both did but still no luck.

In the end he decided that maybe a larger fly, he gave me one of his Minkie's, which had eyes similar to that of a Boobie. I cast it out and he explained that the best way to fish this fly was staticly and it would appear as a dead or dieing fish. As I turned back I saw my line streaking away, fish on. At first Chris thought that it was only a small fish but as it broke the surface, he changed his mind. It took off again and again, each time it just about got to the net, off it went. Eventually he netted it for me. As this turned out to be successful for me he decided to change his flies as well. He put on two, leaving on two of his previous flies.

We moved on to a position close to the fish cages, where the young fish are fed and eventually released into the reservoir. After a short while Chris hooked into one of his small fish and this one even surprised him. It was even larger than mine. We fished on but time was getting on, we were both getting a little tired, then Chris hooked into another fish. This one was a lot smaller than the last two caught and was duly put back.

We got back to the jetty and weighed our fish. Mine was 4Lb 14ozs and Chris's came in at a monster 6Lb 12ozs. This earned him an entry into the Troutmasters competition. This was his first time he had got into it.

Some of the Flies Used

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I started fishing in the small lake, next to the lodge. There was young lad fishing at the near end and I went to the other. I started using a deer hair dry fly, as I had seen a couple of fish rising. Shortly after, the young lad walked round to my end and started fishing close by. Suddenly there there was a big shout “Grandad bring the net”. Looked but he didn't have a fish on. Grandad came and he asked why he wanted the net. The reply was he could see the fish looking at his fly and he would need it when he caught the fish. I was about to move away when he did.

I was using my 7' 3-4 weight rod with a 5 weight line and a 4Lb leader. I lost the dry fly in a tree and changed to one of my Black Rambo flies and shortly I saw a little movement on the line but that was it. I cast a couple of times more and then hooked a 3Lb 10oz rainbow. They fight very well at this time of year and having a very light rod makes it all the more difficult and much more exciting to land them.

I then moved onto the large lake, I could see the fish close in and they were all looking but avoiding the Rambo. I tried a couple of other flies and still all they did was look. I then changed to one of my Hairy Mary flies. I cast a couple of times and then I saw a fish follow, it turned away but then it came back. I saw it mouth open (enormous it was) and it took the fly, the rod bent, then the fish had gone. I found it had bitten through the line.

I gave up here and tried right in the corner of the lake. They didn't like the Rambo and I soon noticed that a few fish were taking from the surface, I changed to another deer hair dry fly. The fish kept on coming for it but then turning away and ignoring it. In the end I tried something a bit smaller, a type of 'F' Fly. First cast, a little twitch of the line and it was taken. I was very please as I had only caught a couple of fish on dry flies before. I landed a 2 ¾LB rainbow. The fly was no good after this because of the fish slime on it and it would have to be cleaned up at home.

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As usual there was the obligatory raffle. Ernie didn't have any change, neither did John (selling the tickets), so it was done to me to buy for the both of us. A fiver gave us five tickets. During the interval the tickets get drawn. I had 31, 34 and 35, Ernie 32 and 33. The first ticket was no one of ours. The second was 35, I had won, The prize had not been taken by the first winner. A days fishing on the River Avon for Grayling. Finally the last ticket was drawn, number 32, Ernie's. He got a karabiner with a knife blade, a pair of scissors and a nail file with bottle opener.

Didn't we do well.

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The one thing about chalk springs is that the water is crystal clear and you can see right to the bottom, even when it is twenty feet deep. The frustrating part is that you can also see the fish, and even worse you can see the fish come up and look at your fly and even taste it, turning away at the last minute. My first fish was caught in South lake using an Olive Rambo. I had walked around the back of the lake as there were several people fishing the 'easy side', there are trees and bushes quite close the the back of the lake. I only got caught up twice and that was not behind but from trees next to me.

Franco was at the bottom end of the lake and indicated that there were fish there and quite big ones. I had tried several flies up until I tried the Rambo, with no luck. Shortly after catching my first and largest fish about 3¼Lbs, the whistle blew and we moved on to the West and North Lakes. No luck at either of these lakes. It seemed that the fish in North Pool had no interest in anything apart from moving out of the way of our flies.

The East Lake was our last before lunch. Eventually here I tried my Hairy Mary after a few casts I had my second fish on the bank. I gave one of them to Franco, I saw that his retrieval was very fast and I said to slow it down and sure enough you could see the fish starting to follow. But you could see them turn away at the last moment. The whistle was blown again and it was time for lunch.

The bar-b-que was put on by Chris from Sussex and I can only assume that he had a lot of help. It was a excellent spread that they put on burgers, sausages, salads, puddings and drink were all on offer. After it all we were back to fishing, back to South Lake for the next stretch.

Franco and I went back to the bottom end of the lake which is also the deepest part of the whole complex. There were some enormous fish here, just cruising about. Even just letting the fly sink down to them soon had the rushing off, they were so very elusive. Maybe that's not the word as we could easily see them. Franco noticed that they were they were taking something that appeared to be orange. He changed his fly to an orange one a soon had a fish on. I had one of my Blue Flash Damsels on. I cast over the where he was still fighting his fish and low and behold my last fish was hooked.

For the rest of the day everything avoided my flies. At 4:15 the final whistle was blown and it was time for the weigh in. Mine came in at 7Lb 12ozs. The totals were 70Lbs for Sussex and 43Lbs for Surrey. Then there were some calculations as Sussex had more members than Surrey. Surrey lost. As a day's fishing everybody agreed it was very hard.

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There are four lakes, some quarter of a mile from the parking. We fished the first lake, which is also the smallest, we came to. It has an island in the centre and the fish were feeding just below the surface but not on the surface. They were cruising about with their dorsal fins just breaking the surface. I fished with one of John's test flies, bit like a mayfly. I did have one take on it but it did not hook. John, on the other hand, hooked a fish but only lightly and he did not managed to land it. I had one or two problems with the trees behind but did nor lose anything.

We both moved on round to the other side of the lake. Here I had problems with the the undergrowth in front of me and kept on getting tangled up in it. John hooked another fish but as before it was only lightly hooked and it wiggled off. He changed his fly to a weighted Invicta he had made. He hooked a fish quite quickly and landed it. It weighed in at 1 ¾LBs.

He asked me if I wanted to fish at the same spot and I did. I had put on a new leader but no fly. I suggested one which which I had made which had a foam body and should float quite well. First cast I caught the tree and lost it. I put on a new leader and John suggested a weighted fly but the only one I had was a Black Flash Damsel, not my own make. My first cast was a little short of the pod of fish on the surface, my second was right on and I hooked a fish. It weighed in at about the same as John's one.

We decided to go on to the second lake. As we started to walk round it started to rain. As we got round the corner it chucked it down. I just had a quick look at the second lake before turning back to the cars. The rain got harder and never stopped.

Apart from the weather, although short, we had a very good evening.

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I fished the day entirely on home made flies. The fish were close to the surface and there were hatches of several types of insects including hawthorn fly and sedge fly, as well as a few mayfly, coming off of the water. Most people tried dry flies and only a few had success. The fish were investigating the flies but that was all, I found. Although a couple of times I did get a break on the surface but none of them took the flies.

Starting on the big lake, I tried several flies and moved position a couple of times, did I get any response It was not until I put on a copper wire sunk spinner, did I get a single tug and that was it. I then changed to the small lake next to the Lodge. Again using the sunk spinner, I tried, but nothing. Then I swapped to a dry fly, again nothing. I finally went to a tatty blue flash damsel (I think this was one of my early attempts at fly tying). None of the colours were quite correct, instead of a flowing tails of marabou feature it had fibres from a stiff feature, it had a hackle of the wrong size, it had blue flash as a rib and to top it all the gold head was on the wrong way round.

As I drew the line, I was coming up to the leader a fish was following the fly. I could not draw more line in because I would have the leader through the rod rings and so I started to move the rod to my left. Jerking the rod a little to give the fly a twitching movement, as I watched the fish followed the change of direction. Suddenly it darted forward, the last few inches and grabbed the fly. It gave a good fight and then I realised that my net was not to hand. I called for one of the others to fetch it for me and Franco kindly responded. He landed a 3Lb rainbow for me.

I then decided to fish the top lake, here I tried my Hairy Mary, but no luck. I have to say though I have caught fish before in this lake but I think mainly I have used white flies here. I tried the cloudy lake next to it but managed to hook the trees twice so I moved on. I moved to the smallest of all the lakes which is just to the left of the top end of the large lake. After a few casts, still using the Hairy Mary I got a tug, I cast again and got a take which snapped the leader a few inches from the braided loop. I fitted a new leader and another Hairy Mary but nothing else.

I moved on to the top of the large lake and started using the same fly. Casting slowly, moving in an arc, back and forth, from my stand, after a while I noticed a fish following. This again was close in and the fish was zig zagging around the fly as it was twitched in. I thought that it had taken and struck but it hadn't. But I managed to cast (just about a leader length) to it's right, about 6" to12", as it swum away and it saw it and again followed and as before it started zig zagging around it again, but this time it did take the fly. This one was quite a strong fish and it took me a little while to get it close to my net, but as it saw it off it went again. Eventually I landed a rainbow of about 5Lbs.

It was then about 3:00pm, time for the Bar-B-Que. What a fabulous spread the club put on, burgers, sausages, chicken, a big array of potatoes and salads. Afterwards puddings of fruit salad, trifles and cheesecake. As well as wines, beers and a variety of soft drinks.

Several of us continued fishing after the Bar-B-Que. I eventually gave up when I had just put on a new leader, hooked into a fish and lost fish, fly and complete leader. I obviously, being a bit tired, had not tied the leader on properly.

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I went off to Frensham Trout Fishery in the afternoon. I started fishing in the large lake. The picture is all the flies I tried (all home made), everything above the rule produced no response whatsoever. The flies in the centre are bloodworms and I was hoping that these would have produced some sort of response but absolutely nothing whatsoever (trout are meant to adore these). These were the first three flies I tried.

I then tried the Klinkhammer, the top fly on the left, this is a dry fly but the hook is subsurface. It is a good visible fly for the angler, then I tried the fly top right. I moved to the small lake and tried it again with Klinkhammer. I then changed to the dry fly bottom left, this was the first fly to get a response. The fish unfortunately did not take it, this happened several times. I then swapped to the fly second from the left. This one is made purely from natural CDC feathers. These are from the around the oil glands of a duck and are very resistant to water, the flies produced from these float extremely well. This fly produced an immediate response but again it was not taken, the fish just rolled on it. This happened several more times. Then no more.

I moved to the bottom lake,. The dry CDC was not even looked at here. I tried the two flies on the right, above the rule. Again no response. I decided to move back to the large lake, I still had the nymph on (bottom one of the three on the right), again nothing.

As it was getting late, I decided as a last resort to try the Hairy Mary, on the right below the rule, a salmon fly. A response, what a response, first cast a fish on, which fought very well, and took a little time to land. Once unhooked, I cast out again same fly, wow, another fish on. Two casts two fish, almost unheard of. This was a larger of the two. I tried again several times but nothing more. I was starting to get dark and so I packed up Total weight of fish caught was 6Lb 12ozs.

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Last Saturday I went off to Vale End, Albury to finish my fish tickets as they ran out at the end of the month. There were only a couple of people when I arrived at about 8:45.

At the fly tying class on Tuesday we had been tying Salmon flies. I had tied some of them on single hooks, size 10, to try them out on trout. I also had tied some small Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear on size 16. The flies above the rule are the Salmon Flies and the ones below I tied on size 10 for Trout.

I started fishing with the Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear (GHRE) in the small lake but did not even have a touch. Then after I went to the large lake using again the GHRE, but still no luck. All the flies in the centre are Ally's Shrimp. I changed to the bottom fly in the centre and soon caught my first fish, but then nothing else. I changed to the bottom fly on the right, I believe this is called a Hairy Mary.

I got one tug on this one and it was quite deep down. I changed to a sink tip fly line because of this. Unfortunately, as the lake was not that deep, I kept on hooking weed on the bottom and I quickly went back to my double taper line. Still nothing, so I moved position on the lake, no luck. I moved again, nothing. This time I changed my fly to the second up in the middle, a slightly different Ally's Shrimp and was soon into my second fish. After that nothing.

I then moved back to the small lake, but not before making a cup of tea in the van. I fished at the end nearest the weir. I soon had a tug and then another. About ten minutes later I had my third fish on the bank. This was my limit, I went back and had another cup of tea and then it poured with rain for a few minutes and I went home.

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After a chat, I went off for a dabble at Weston Lakes. One chap just leaving had caught three earlier, He said that they were near the top but suspected that they (the fish) had gone lower. He had caught on (from what he described) a Blue Flash Damsel.

I started on one of my Terry's Terror and my new sink tip line, no luck. I changed fly and to a floating double taper line. I tried flies slowly getting larger and larger. Onto a Blue Flash Damsel (one of my own), Then the Brown Minkie I had so much success with the last time. Then a White and Green Cats Whisker and finally a Black Bead Tailed Zonker.

Not a sausage, or even a little tug. My only luck was that the Gillie did not stop when he drove past to collect any money, or on his way back.

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It turned out that the showground was also hosting The British Shooting Show as well and this is where most of the people were going. Initially the fishing show did not have a lot of people in it but after a bit it suddenly filled up. As people visiting either show could visit the other, I assume that the original influx to the gun show came across to the fishing show.

There were many trade stands selling everything from feathers to expensive rods and reals. There were fly tying demonstrations, as well as many renowned fly tyers, demonstrations of casting and casting competitions.

Click here for Chris Reeves Web Site

Click here for The WheelyBoat Trust

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I first tried a buzzer, I had tied, but nothing, then one one my Terry's Terrors, again nothing. But the moment I changed to Brown Minkie, first cast a tug and I struck too soon. I recast over the same spot and the fish was on. About 2½LBs. I flattened the barb and two more casts and I had another one in the net. I know it shouldn't be done here but it was released back. I cast out in the opposite direction and got a tug. A couple of casts later a third was on and in the net and that went back as well. I went back to the small lake with the Minkie and got a couple of tugs but no takes. I got one more later on but nothing else, by this time it was starting to become dusk and I left there about 6.

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One of the flies to be tied is a Terry's Terror. I played around last night and tied three, although the colours are not right the technique is there. Chris says that the body may need to a bit fatter but he will look up some references for it and look at them tonight.

My version of Terry's Terror, I think the bottom one is better because of the length of the tail. These are all tied on a size 12 hook.

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On the way the snow started to turn to sleet and by the time I got to Albury, that had turned to very light rain and arriving at the fishery, it had stopped. Off we went, I started with a slow sink line in the small lake and had also decided to fish with just my home made flies. I had one or two little nibbles but no positive takes and tried a couple of flies. So I moved to the big lake with exactly the same results and then decided to change to a floating lines, as I had see one or two fish on the surface. I went back to the van, threaded the floating line then pulled it down the tie the leader on and snapped about eight inches off the end of my rod! Fortunately I had taken my little rod and changed to using that one.

I went back to roughly the same place on the large lake and got my first positive tug on the second cast, on the third cast I hooked my first fish, a 2 ¾Lbs rainbow. After that it started to rain heavily and it stopped just in time for lunch. We all had our lunches in the hut on site. I had taken homemade Leak and Potato soup (by my own fair hand), bread, yogurt and a banana. Fishing resumed with some going off to Powdermills Fishery. As this is a 'big fish' lake it was agreed that any fish taken would count as two, for the bag count and that it would not be counted to the largest fish wager (everyone puts in £1.00, winner takes all).

I went back to fishing the small lake and after talking to Wendy (who had already caught her bag limit of four) about what she had used, I changed tactics and went for a commercial white and green Cats Whisker, which initially drew no luck. But then I stopped drawing in and suddenly got a take but it did not stay on very long at all. This continued at all most the same spot every other cast but only little tugs from then on. I then tried casting further out and more along the lake but passing the same area. And sure enough got another little tug and then a few casts on, the second fish was caught but this time only a tiddler of 2 ¼Lbs. After that nothing else for the rest of the afternoon, which by the way turned out to be sunny.

After the weigh-in the biggest bag was 11Lbs which went to Derek Peters and he also got the biggest fish but the rules say if this happens the biggest fish goes to the second largest caught. This went to Chris Billson. Eighteen people turned out on this day, miserable start or not.

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Trevor has been tying flies for over 30 years now (Trevors' Website is under construction), he teaches fly dressing and is also a qualified fly casting instructor. I myself like to go to shows with someone else, as it gives a chance to discuss what you see there and Trevor was ideal with all his experience.

I had a small list of things I wanted to buy, but it was very tempting to spend a lot more, especially with Trevor saying what about this or this. I had to be very strong on one item (a vice) £135.00, he said go on, I said no as I could not justify spending that much. It will have to be for another time but it was very tempting.

I did buy some small size flat lead and a fox squirrel skin. We also met Chris Reeves who had a stand there and is also a member of the Surrey Fly Dressers Guild as both Trevor and myself are. Chris was demonstrating Fly Tying and making flies as people requested them. We also met Chis Sandford who comes to our fly tying classes in Ripley. He had a stand showing some of his collection of antique fishing tackle. I bought his latest book a " A Wellie Full Of Water".

Trevor bought me a very clever device to hold discarded line. I does not matter how good you are in putting in your pocket, the next time you put your hand in, out comes the old line and you don't know that you've dropped it.

We met a young fly tyer from Sweden, Johan Klingberg. We didn't talk for long as he was rushing off to do a presentation. But as luck would have it he was giving a talk at the fly dressers guild on Monday evening. He gave an extremely  interesting talk  along with slides and a short film.

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I was teamed up with Ken, he was an experienced boatman with many years under his belt. We (well Ken) decided that we would fish somewhere different, all the others seemed to group together on the far side. Ken hooked two fish very quickly on a homemade green buzzer. He gave me one and I caught my first fish on it. He hooked another on the same fly.

This was the first time that I had tried to flies on the same leader I used a Mackay, that Chris gave me (these were the flies he had success with on Wednesday), as the point fly and the Green Buzzer that Ken had just given me. Ken then caught his second on the same buzzer. I then caught my first fish on the same buzzer that Ken had given me.

Later I hooked another which after a good fight, got off. We then returned to the lodge to quickley use the facilites and we were then off again. We decided to join the majority on the other side of the water. Ken hooked another here but lost it. I had no luck and we discussed it and went back to the area we had first fished. On the first drift Ken was just going to straighten the boat up when I hooked another, after a strong pull I lost it. As it turned out, I had been snapped off and lost the buzzer I had been given. Ken gave me his last one and I replaced the leader. Ken caught again and yet again on the same Green Buzzer, I found that he was using two of them as well as two other flies.

He then caught his fourth fish, again on the Green Buzzer. I then caught my second fish, this time it was on the Mackay. There was only a couple of other boats that had decided to fish the same area as we were but I only saw one other fish caught by them. I finally hooked another and after a long fight I was snapped off. The leader had gone about two foot from the top. It was all roughed up, Ken said that the fish (or me) must have managed touch the line on the boat. Ather that neither of us had any luck.

We got back to the dock just before 6pm (cut off time) and the weight in started. I all My team (Surrey) caught 29Lbs of fish. The rules were first four caught were killed and weighed. All others were returned but every one counted as 2Lbs. Surrey came about 11th, The winners were London 'A' with 79Lbs of fish. After food and lots of discussion everyone departed for home. Some had come from as far as Scotland!

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On arrival we booked in, canceled one of the boats booked and paid for the other. The shop was quite comprehensive and was worth looking around. Once the boat was loaded we got off and headed towards the dam end of the reservoir. Chris put out a drogue anchor to slow the rate of drift and control the boats' position. We then started fishing. Chris was fishing with four flies on his leader and me just one. We tried different types of line but kept the same flies. We tried slow sink and intermediate sink with no luck. In the end I changed flies and no luck. Eventually when we reached the dam after many drift I got the first tug, closely followed by a second. That was it, nothing for Chris and then it started to rain. We gave up at this point and went back for lunch, but with the size of the reservoir it took us half an hour, by which time it stopped raining.

Back on the water we headed to the far side. Chris kept on saying there's a fish but I never saw any. I changed my line again, this time to a floating one but kept the same fly, a green marabou nymph. I then got another tug and shortly afterwards I got a positive take but it did not stay hooked, on and then off.

Chris then had a take but when he pulled his line in one of the flies had been bitten off. This fly was called a Mackay (as in Mr Mackay from Porridge). He gave me one and put another one on. Shortly afterwards I caught the first fish. Chris then caught his first fish and then I got a second. This one seemed to fight as though it was a large fish but with my first site of it it was only average. Off it went again, then when I got it to the surface again I saw the reason why it fought so hard. It was belly hooked, when the fish went for the fly it missed it and probably turned catching the fly as it did so. Chris hooked another, as he pulled the fish in he saw that it was a Blue Rainbow. He got it to the boat, unfortunately he missed with the net and the fish took off again. As Chris got it back to the boat it came off. He hooked another and that got off again.

I then hooked my third fish, as I started to draw it in, Chris hooked another. We both landed fish at the same time. This was about it for me, everything was aching, my neck, my head and my bum from sitting. We decided to pack it in for the day. We had achieved what we had set out to do, learnt where the fish were, what depth they were at and what flies they were attracted to. I had picked up loads of tips from Chris, which hopefully I can remember for Saturdays' Match.

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After the food most left and there was only three people left, who fished on. I had no luck until eventually I put on a Mrs. Simpson fly, something that had been recommended some time ago but had no luck with. This time second cast a fish took it. As far as I know it was the only fish caught in the afternoon.

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Ernie had his usually spot on the large lake and I started on the small one and then moved down to the lower one. I could see the fish coming up to my flies but turning away at the last minute. This was so frustrating; it was even more obvious on the lower lake as there was a shoal of fish swimming around near the steam coming in. Eventually I got one tug on one of my homemade pearl head cats whisker flies, but that was it.

I went up to see Ernie on the main lake; he was pretty fed up, with not even a touch. I took his place and he went across to the small one. I changed fly to something that I had not planned to use from my bag, a natural coloured (grey) zonker. This did induce a take and as the line curved away I struck, it was on the line and then it wasn't. I changed to a commercial cats whisker, this induced another take, but the fish didn't take it.

Ernie came back and swapped position with me, I went back to the small lake and put on a commercial red and black cats whisker. I got one tug on this, I did see another fish come to it and saw the flash of its side as it turned away. I went back to the large lake and found that Ernie had stopped fishing. I chose a different stand on the lake but kept the same fly but still had no luck.

We left at dusk.

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I had only taken two spinners with me and with the casting being better, I managed to loose both of them. The first one, I managed to get a line tangle. The spinner got caught up on something on the bottom, nothing would make it budge, in the end the line went. The second one I managed to get hooked up on the other bank of the river.

I did clear up the rubbish that some other people had left behind. I don't know if it was other fishermen or not, but I do wish people would take their litter and rubbish home with them.

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I had been on the river for about forty minutes when this monster took the spinner. I took the photos and came back. It was so exciting that I rang Ernie from the river bank.

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Back to the dry flies. I tried many of my own and one large commercial mayfly, as I had seen a a couple of Mayflies flitting around. But no luck on any of the lakes, apart from losing more to the trees. That seemed to be the thing with my casting all evening, tree catching.

Just before dusk I decided that I had seen many fish on the surface but only heard a couple sipping (a sign of them taking from the surface). I changed to one of my Butcher flies and soon was into a fish. YeaBugger was the shout as it came out of the water and was immediately off. But about five minutes later I hooked another and managed to land it. The hook came out and was in the net. The fish was quickly placed back in the water.

About average size 2 1/12 Lbs. I left there at 10pm.

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After a very fast trip on the ferry to the other side, our boat turned up with two of the members in it. That was the last I saw of it. If you look at this
map you will see where the ferry lands. I walked all the way round to Dunsters Bay but not quite as far as the mill. In total I probably walked about a mile and a half, maybe a bit more during the day.

There was no fish activity, at all, on the surface and it also seemed none at all under it. It wasn’t until on my way back on the point of Dunsters Bay and Bewl Straight that I got any takes. In all I got six there. Five were on my own tied version of a Cats Whisker. The last was on a commercial Gold Head Daddy. Out of these I also got snapped off twice. The first about four feet from the loop end of the fly line and the second, probably bitten off (the daddy).

I left there at about 4:15 having been there from 8:30 in the morning.

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One of the lads in the Fly Dressers Guild I belong too, has given out some flies he wanted everyone to try out. This was my opportunity.

The smaller of the two (the one on the left), was the first I tried. I caught my smallest fish ever on it. I think it might have been been a two inch brownie. A bit later I hooked a larger one which managed to get off and also bent the hook. I reformed it and tried again. I had a couple of knocks and then hooked another. This again got off and then, as you can see, the hook was bent again. So I tried the other. All I managed with this one, was one knock. I then switched to own tied flies and changed lakes.

The two on the left are CDC flies dry flies and the other a nymph. My first try was with the one in the middle with the white wing. As I hadn't taken all of my gear including a fly dryer and fly floatant, so it didn't float as wel as it should have done. This meant that a lot of the time it sank below the surface, when it did this I retieved the fly very slowly, about an inch and a half at a time. This was the point I caught my second fish. I changed lakes again.

This time, I was on the smallest lake and tried the nymph. I could see the fish. I could see that each time they approached the fly they turned away from it, not even close by it. I swapped to the black dry fly and soon after caught my third fish. I changed lakes again to the largest on the site.

I picked a spot where the stream entered and changed back to the nymph. Not long after, I caught my fourth fish. I decided to have a couple of casts on the way back to the car, and managed to get hooked up in the trees and lost two flies.

I got back the the car and made a cup of coffee. I decided that was the lot for the day.

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In the end he agreed, on the proviso that if it was raining by the time we got there we would come back. As we both had plenty of fish tickets, that have to be used by the end of March, we went to Powdermills, Albury. There were only a couple of people there when we arrived, we had a chat with the first chap as we walked along. He had not caught anything but he said that the other person right at the end of the lake had.

We fished for about an hour before Ernie caught the first fish. After that there was no stopping him, he soon caught a second. I then hooked hooked my first but very quickly my leader snapped at the fly line end.

It started to rain but only a shower. Ernie said could he have the car keys to get his waterproof, I asked if he wanted to go home. No was the reply. I got the coat and we fished on.

I hooked my second fish, we got it to the landing net and then once again the leader snapped. I had been trying out a different sort of line, both times, so I won't be using that again.

The fishing went a bit slack then and I gave Ernie one of my homemade Bloody Butcher flies. First cast it was taken as it hit the water. As luck would have it, that was the only one I had with me. It was a bit chewed up but he used it again for a bit, but then gave up with it. Not long after he caught his forth.

We left about three and went back to his place. I gutted the fish and then we had a cup of tea. During that time it started to pour with rain. Good job I had to force him to go fishing!

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I walked round the lake fishing as I went but nothing else. I only saw one fish caught, others had said that they had caught initially but then it had gone dead. At this I decided to go down to Powdermills.

There not many people fishing there and therefore plenty of space. I did the same as Weston, walked all round the bank. Absolutely nothing. I did see one fish caught but that was the lot.

Unsuccessful or what?

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Sunday was a lovely day, very little wind and a bit of sun, but as luck had it the fish were not playing the game. There was no surface activity and no one else was having any luck. I just fished my own flies sometimes close to the surface and sometimes deep down. Nothing. Ernie was having just the same luck.

After putting on one of my Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear, on the second cast I hooked a fish. I had also decided just to take my 7’ 6” three weight rod with a 5 weight forward floating line. This made a few problems with landing this fish being a very light rod and a fish which was (when landed) 3Lbs 13ozs.

That was our only fish and in the three hours we were there appeared to only be one other fish caught, which meant that it was just as difficult for all the others as well.

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I picked my slow sink line but it wasn't necessary as the fish were quite close to the surface, but continued with it. After only twenty minutes or so I was into the first fish, a 2½lbs rainbow. This was on the small lake with the stream running through it.

I changed my line then to a double taper floating weight 7 and moved to the large lake. This has recently been extended, at the far end there used to be a small lake for brown trout, dry fly fishing. This has been incorporated into the large lake now. My position was only just behind where I had been on the small lake. Not long after I hooked my second fish. 2¾ rainbow.

I then moved to the end of the lake, were it had been extended. And not long after I hooked a third one. Now getting bored, I found that the hook had come out in the net and not having taken the fish out of the water; I let it recover and sent it back on its way (not really allowed here).

I went on down the other side of the lake and tried some of the others I had tied. I had no luck with these but at least I saw how they work in the water.

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These are a selection of flies I have tied.

These three flies were tied at the last lesson. They of a spent mayfly type but have no hackle. It is really the technique of the of making the tail into the three sections and making them stay there when being fished.

These three have been tied on hook sizes 14, 16 and 18. The first picture is the flies with hook down the second is with the hook up. In a real life view the size 18 is extremly small and difficult to tie the tail. The pictures were taken against a dark background only so that the tail would show. The size 18 tail can only be seen against a dark background.

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This was the first time that I fished a proper river. I have fished the Tillingbourne at Albury but this is more like a stream. The Test is a chalk river which was crystal clear, looking like tap water.

I asked the gillie what flies he recommended (Ernie had lent me one of his boxes). He suggested one of the tiny Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, the rougher looking the better.

You could see the fish flitting away when they spotted you making them difficult to approach. If you approached from downstream they were less likely to be spooked.

I hooked one and got very excited but as I drew it in, it managed to get off. I decided to move on as I thought that the disturbance would have frightened off other fish. I picked another spot and cast at another fish but it did not seem to have any interest. I did I cast again and this time allowed to line to drift down past me. As I started to draw in I hooked another. This fish was not on the line as long as the first, just a second or two. The third fish I hooked, I nearly got to the bank and clearly saw it was a grayling but just as I started to prepare to land it, off it went. I had one tug and it happened a couple more times at different; I was quite frustrated but decided to go back the Clubhouse for lunch.

After lunch I decided to go downstream and as I crossed the bridge, I spotted three or four grayling just in front of it. I carefully crossed to the other bank and started casting. Several times I saw a fish move but my fly was so small I could not see whether that was what it moved to look at. Then all of a sudden a fish was hooked I concentrated on moving upstream a bit and out of the current. The next thing was it was in the net. My first ever Grayling!

I walked on downstream and cast several times and had a couple more tugs. Then I let the line drift downstream and another fish took the fly. I had it on for a few seconds and it jumped out the water. It was a lot lager than the one I had caught and then it was off. I moved down further casting as I went. I then check the line as it seemed to be twisted up a bit, only to find that the fly had come off. No wonder I lost the bigger fish.

I tied on another fly and tried further down stream and got one more tug but nothing else. I wondered back to the car as it was turning to dusk. I found only the gillie and one other, both were interested in my photos I had taken.

All I can say is I had a very good day. I also have to say that I had treated myself to some battery operated boot warmers and I was very pleased with their first time performance. They lasted all day and my feet were only starting to get a little chilly as I decided that it was time to pack up.

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After tying the set pieces I tied a Blue Flash Damsel, which is something that we buy. Well just to see how they worked, at the end of November the club organised a trip the Blackwool Fishery near Petworth. The first three fish I caught were on my homemade flies, the last on a on a commercial white cats whisker.

The largest I caught was 7¾ Lbs the smallest about 3. All in all I caught just over 21 lbs of fish which made the largest bag of the day and left me with the prize of about £19. I didn’t catch the largest which came in at 8 ¼ Lbs.

The second largest about 6 ½, I kept for Boxing Day and the rest I smoked.

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