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With the river on my doorstep I am generally guilty of not enjoying it enough - there always seem to be too many other things to be done, but last week I fished elsewhere on Thursday and at Wrackleford on Friday. The second day renewed my love of the sport - within a few minutes of wading gently up the river at 7 Hatches I missed a couple of fish - missed as I was guilty of enjoying everything else going on - a duck with her mature brood splashing around a little further up and plenty of fly life to keep trout regularly rising.
The Daddly Longlegs was the most successful fly I used - and helped me land several fish during the day, both on the river and on the Stillwater lake at Langford.
With water levels restored for the time being and the clarity of water superb the fishing is now as good as it has been all season.
Tony Mair has set out to catch a fish in every county of the UK, and despite an unconvincing first visit elsewhere on the Frome he returned and fished the Wrackleford Home Beat recently with an altogether different result.
"My second visit to the Frome was entirely better….memorable, fulfilling and a complete joy!"
Despite a slightly adverse condition day the river fished well and gave for a completely memorable experience, particulary the second fish :
"The second, fought like a demon, and I believe it to be the largest brown I have taken from an English river at between 2 ½ and 2 ¾ lbs….and even better"
You can find out more about his adventures around the country and read the full blog article on his visit at http://afishermansjourney.com/2011/06/05/dorset/
The has been much talk of the mayfly coming early this year with the warm weather - certainly we have seen early butterflies and sporadic mayfly however the first evening that I have seen a really proper hatch with them hanging in the warm evening air was the night before last. The first hatch was a little early, however it has only just developed with this warmer weather - that said I was on the river on Monday and the poor mayfly were being propelled by the strong wind like they carried jet engines !
The recent rain has washed through the river system leaning it clear, and the second growth of ranunculus has left the river now in fine condition.
We are seeing good late morning fly life, which drops off over lunch (opportunity to extended pub lunch !), then the main hatch developing late afternoon into the evening.
Finally we are at the beginning of May and a little rain is falling. The bright sunshine of the last few weeks has been a wonderful start to the year, but it does also bring its problems and any rain that now falls will be very welcome to top up the depleted ground waters and water the plants and crops.
The unseasonably high temperatures have brought forward the hatchings of some insects - I have heard of butterflies emerging a couple of weeks early, and even a couple of Mayfly appearing. The nights however have remained relatively cool so the waters have not warmed up comparitavely. The most unhelpful aspect of the lack of rain has been the Algae bloom that has discoloured the deeper sections of the river - hopefully this will now have the chance to clear.
Fishing reports have been mixed, with best fly hatches from lunch time onwards, so don't rush to the river at dawn ! The most popular fly seems to have been the Grey Duster, although the first Mayfly have just been spotted.
The river provided post mayfly challenging conditions, which have moved through into more sedate fishing. Best to be on the river early, and take a long lunch, then to fish late afternoon / early evening.
Finally the renunculous has grown to a level that we have done our first weed cut of the season, and now the river is running at low flows it is doing its job of holding the water back, and keeping the pools deep. The secondary benefit that I have noticed from the latest weed growth is that is it now forcing the river flows in very set channels which has helped to clear some of the algae blooms that were covering some of the river floor.
Most fishermen are reporting catching four or five fish a day, with the most proficient of 12 plus - so it can be done !!
Whilst the timing of the first show of Mayfly was about normal, the inconsistency of the weather has prevented really good hatches ...... until now. I was out on the river last night, with hundreds of Mayfly fluttering around and the fish really tucking in. If you only fish at peak Mayfly time - now is your moment !!
The weather has treated the fishing badly this year, first we had the unbroken period of cold north winds, then the bright hot sun which tipped the balance too far the other way - I am not sure I am ever satisfied.
The fish are certainly feeding early to mid morning, then dropping off until mid to late afternoon until the temperature drops too much. Last night it began to quieten down by around 7.00pm, a little earlier than recent days brought on by the stronger colder wind.
Over the winter we have undertaken a number of projects around the river to improve access and enjoyment of the fishing, some larger trees have been removed and small bridges installed. The banks are all mown, the fringes trimmed, and water levels are excellent - if you have not already then now is the time to be breaking out your rod and spending the day on the river.
Just what I dreamed of to celebrate Mum's 70th birthday. 
