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Post by Pond321 on Jun 17, 2005 3:09:50 GMT -5
Cheers Bri - good to meet you as well and thanks for the beer I managed two fish last night - both stockies of 12 or 13 inches. I missed several more fish - they were rising in a very leisurely fashion and I was striking too early and pulling the flies from their mouth (I think!). All of the stockies are starting to slim down – they look rather like dieters who have lost a lot of weight very rapidly. I have noticed that they seem to start fighting harder though – one of the fish I hooked last night spent most of its time above the water. The bank side vegetation is indeed rather prolific. The river is low and this adds to the challenge. The trout keep on rising though which is the main thing….. Finally, Bri came up with idea of organising a Whitewater social evening at one of the local pubs. If we did this on a Wednesday it would not interfere with anyone’s fishing. Any takers?
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TBird
New Member
Posts: 29
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Post by TBird on Jun 25, 2005 0:34:33 GMT -5
No-one fished the river in the last week?
Was thinking of giving it a try today, but wondering if it's gone of the boil following the Mayfly and/or it's just too low at the moment
TBird
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Post by FlyBri on Jul 4, 2005 3:57:07 GMT -5
Had a three hour session on Saturday afternoon. No one else present on the river. unfortunately the bulls were merrily wading through the lower stretches of the river so I was confined to the beats from the back stream upwards. Very few fish rising and I can say I didn't notice any which looked like sizable fish (i.e. stockies). Landed 2 dace and 3 brownies which were all smallish and nicely marked.
For the first time I saw several large crayfish in some of the pools upstream of the road bridge.
I fished my local stretch of the River Wey also this weekend and it was the first time I blanked - the fish were just not taking (the few which I found!)
As this is my first season no a river I'm not sure what to expect - is there always a natural dip in the sport at this time of year?
Bri
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Post by JayP on Jul 4, 2005 10:01:18 GMT -5
Bri, the Whitewater is teaming with signal crayfish from the very top weir all the way down and beyond the Hatchgate bridge. With the damage they do noticeably for us to the spawning sites of fish i can't beleive that the FDAS don't have a trapping policy in place as. Were the ones you found dead? as for the fishing hot days equal early morning and evening fishing or shady places like the farm section during the day. Cheers JayP
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Post by FlyBri on Jul 4, 2005 12:19:23 GMT -5
Yes a few were dead but a few were zipping around... Perhaps something we should raise at the AGM...
Bri
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Post by DragginFly on Jul 4, 2005 14:46:06 GMT -5
I was out last Sunday in the morning and again last night for one hour. Plenty of fish about and had no trouble getting them to take an unweighted PTN size 16 or so. Nearly all were stockies.
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Post by Pond321 on Jul 5, 2005 11:20:56 GMT -5
Bri,
Fished the river on Thurs, Fri & Sat last week.
Thursday was interesting - it was CHUCKING it down with rain. I could not see my fly on the water and could not see any rises due to the rain drops. However, in the brief lulls in the rain I managed two fish - 1 small wildie and one pound-ish stockie. Bothe from the farm stretch. Lost a large fish above the top bridge.
I fished the same stretch on Friday. I only managed one small wildie - but I missed a couple of other rises.
On both days I was fishing blind to known fish holding areas. There did not appear to be any fish rising. However, I did see a couple of rises towards the end of the evening.
On saturday I started down below the concrete pillars in the wood (has anyone fished this stretch?) I fished all the way up to the hatchgate bridge. I lost two fish (one big, one small) and saw few rises. However, when fish were rising, they were only making tiny dimples (like dace)
Above the bridge I saw another dimple and managed a nice stockie of about a pound. I then saw a more splashy rise 20 yards upstream and managed to land that fish as well - this fish was also about a pound.
All of the fish were on dry flies - I am increasingly of the opinion that the actual fly pattern does not matter much - but I do find parachute flies easier to see
Are you on the river on thursday? - I owe you a beer
As for crayfish - there are loads of them!!! Apaparently (chatting to the farmer) they all died off a few years ago due to a chemical spill. However, they are now back with avengance - some the size of small lobsters. We should definately raise this at the agm
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Post by FlyBri on Jul 5, 2005 11:32:52 GMT -5
Hi Jon I might well be on the river on Thursday but this depends on whether the wife will let me take the family down to Christchurch to watch me cast all day on Friday Will post to let you know on Wed or Thursday. Bri
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Post by JayP on Jul 5, 2005 13:31:10 GMT -5
Maybe we should be doing something now about the signal crayfish rather than waiting for the AGM, i'm pretty sure you can get funding for the removal of signals and a licence from the EA to trap them should be straight forward. At the end of the day traps are about £15 ago and i for one don't mind shelling out for a couple. Some interesting reading and the Whitewater gets a mention. www.hampshirebiodiversity.org.uk/pdf/PublishedPlans/CrayfishjjDTP.pdfAny one up for checking crayfish traps each time they go fishing? cheers JayP
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Post by ben wynde on Jul 6, 2005 3:29:53 GMT -5
Really am missing the Whitewater now. Must admit that I haven’t a clue when I will be able to get out there again as my wife has just had some pretty major surgery. Fortunately it went well but she will be out of commission for the next 6-7 weeks. Hopefully I will be able to do a pretty decent impression of a single parent!
With regards to the AGM I think that JayP is right. Remember that we are members of a predominantly coarse angling society. From past conversations I get the feeling that the AGM is exclusively coarse oriented. Perhaps then we should make a proposal to Paul that it would be a good idea if we could have our own mini AGM to consider all things salmonid and the ongoing management of the water.
I wouldn’t have any problems at all in shelling out for a couple of traps. Pete Cockwill is knocking them out a £15 a pop. Am I correct in thinking that you only need EA permission to trap native crayfish? Assuming this to be correct I trust that if we were to trap in the Whitewater that we wouldn’t run the risk of trapping any natives or is it the case that the ‘foreigners’ will have driven them out?
There are also loads of signals in the Farnham stretch of the Wey.
Anyway certainly some food for thought – I have heard that they taste pretty good as well!
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Post by JayP on Jul 6, 2005 7:52:11 GMT -5
Ben, with the traps i think the mesh has to be large enough so native crayfish can escape as for the EA and a licence if i get a chance will call them later.... and yes crayfish are very tasty once cleaned properly. Godalming angling society have a commercial trapper operating on the Wey at Eashing but i think this would be a bad way to go on the Whitewater as its a much more delicate waterway and chucking huge traps about will not be conducive to happy trout and good fly fishing. Cheers JayP
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Post by Pond321 on Jul 6, 2005 8:39:39 GMT -5
More than happy to fund a couple of traps as well. Having had a good look at some of the specimens in the whitewater, I am not so sure I fancy eating any of them. Ben - you would be more than welcome to polish off any that I catch
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Post by JayP on Jul 6, 2005 8:46:37 GMT -5
We could always cash in and flog the crays to Gordon Ramsey and his ilk! and with the cash top the Whitewater up with 'Evian' and a few clonkers about 6lb to get the 3#s working hard.
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Alfly
Full Member
Posts: 105
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Post by Alfly on Jul 16, 2005 2:10:38 GMT -5
Hi all, had my first recce of the river yesterday and i've got a few questions. I parked on the road bridge next to holdshott farm and the only way to access the river was through the cornfield ( i hope this was ok ). the furthest i could get however was the farm crossing a couple of hundred yards downstream After this the fence is too tight to the river . How do you get further?? do you wade down or do you park at the hatchgate bridge and walk up? As a result i haven't been able to see tumbling bay or the copse. Also does anyone fish the ford section in riseley where the river meets the blackwater? Cheers. Al.
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Post by Pond321 on Jul 16, 2005 6:27:31 GMT -5
Alfly, Yup - you do need to walk through the cornfield. Just walk around the edge. You can go over/under the barbed wire fence just below the Farm bridge. I tend to lie down and roll UNDER the barbed wire. A slightly inelegant approach but one that keeps the waders intact.......... I have not fished the bottom stretch of the river by the ford. I would be very interested to hear if it holds many fish. I am finding the top stretch of the river quite hard now – the water is very low and the fish seem to be sluggish. I saw one trout acting very oddly on Thursday evening at the ford by the farm, and there was dead fish a few yards further up (a big stockie – may have been a mink but hard to tell with the crayfish damage). I hope the water is not getting too hot for them. I only managed a small chub on Thursday – it seems that a really small (size 20) dry is required to get any attention at the moment. On the plus side – I was chatting to the farmers wife the other day. She recently shot 6 mink – the mother and 5 youngsters. They were nesting in a pond a couple of hundred yards away from the river near the top farm (you can see the big orange digger which they have been using to clear out the pond they were nesting in) I think that at least one got away though.
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