.......Hanningfield Reservoir - 11.05.11

Picked Wes up around 10.30 and drove to the rezzie. Always with high expectations. Now Hanningfield these days is an all method fishery which means just about anything goes. We arrived to see all the charming ducks in the car park and managed to avoid all before making our way to the lodge. Once inside the lodge one could see plenty of Wychwood Gear, which I guess is made in the far east, for sale. Now that was about it apart from the Power Bait on sale.................

This stuff always seems to send a shiver down the backs of our Northern friends but here it doesn't seem to be that popular.

We paid for our boat tickets - £70.00 to fish including a boat for two inclusive but there was no mention of the catch policy. I mentioned to the guy on the till that it would be wholly C&R and he acknowledged but the price still stood! Just how many fish are you allowed to take on this ticket Essex & Suffolk Water? We boarded boat No.0 and Wes seemed to be happy at taking the engine end. This was the first time we had shared a boat I think. Having been to the inlet and a enjoyed a drift along the eastern section with the wind coming from the West/South West it began to get choppy. Wes was looking uncomfortable so we motored back to the Lodge Bay which is mostly sheltered. We had a few spots of rain but otherwise enjoyed the sunshine (14.0C) when it came out and the clouds playing cat and mouse with the sun - perfect fishing weather.

I lost a fish just eastwards of the lodge along the south Hanningfield bank on a yellow/green gold ribbed nymph. Wes lost one just outside Lodge Bay with a cruncher. A joy however to see the swifts circling around picking off the buzzers both green and brown that I saw.

And of course they were skimming the surface providing good entertainment with their acrobatics.

Found this in the boat presumably to deter thieves.

Some sort of bag to house the anchor I was guessing.

Wes was not happy with the waves hitting the boat and jarring his injured back so we headed back to the lodge. We moored up and turned the life jackets in to one of the rangers who was chatting to a potential customer about beginners lessons (££££££££!). He appeared shortly in the car park to say how sorry he was that we had abandoned our day and gave us a signed compliments slip as a voucher for a free boat for our next visit. Now that was impressive as we had not asked for anything or explained our plight. Will be returning for sure.  

.......The Brook - 04.05.11

The Brook is a carrier of the River Loddon on the Wellington Estate at Stratfield Turges Farm. The Loddon rises from Basingstoke and flows north to join the Thames near Wargrave. The Brook is managed by one guy who lets it to a small syndicate of around sixteen. I am guessing it's just short of a mile in length. It runs from quite shallow to around chest height and flows on a bed of clay/chalk and gravel so can be milky in places and dark in the shadows. Considering we have had little rain the flow is good.

Roy called and advised that the Mayfly were 'up' and that we should pay a visit. Bags and rods were scrambled and off I went to meet him.



Not another one - had one of these the other week from Andy!



Only joking!

We started from the bottom of the South beat and worked our way up. Missed two or three fish to either striking too soon or indeed two late. Roy had one that we were spying whilst a hare in the next field came up to us for a look before bounding off. He must have been only ten yards away.

Roy managed to pick up a few I forget how many but probably four or five fish. The fish were being selective with some on the Mayfly and others taking their chances with others.

We spent probably three quarters of an hour on one fish between the high bank, the over looking trees above and the bushes on the other side of the bank casting at one fish with a whole arsenal of flies but only to see the fish come up time and time again for some other food source. Plenty of small chub nibbling away at my flies. The French Partridge Mayfly was probably the best fly of the day.
A hot day with temperatures getting up to 24.0 C and with only one bottle of squash between us it was off to the Jekyll and Hyde pub nearby for refreshment before setting off. Thanks to Roy for a great day in lovely surroundings. looking forward to the next outing.

.......River Misbourne (Misborne)

Flotti and I took a stroll along the banks of the River Misbourne a chalkstream in Buckinghamshire that rises just outside Great Missenden and flows all the way to join the River Colne at Denham. The river is a 'perch' lake according to wiki - a stream, flowing over a bed of impermeable material on top of a porous substrate. This state is only quasi-stable, since in periods of low rainfall the water table drops below the level of the impermeable layer. If ground works are then carried out which damage this layer, the river can sink into the porous substrate and disappear.

Our walk went from Amersham to Little Missenden past Shardeloes a country estate house. A bright sunny day temperatures 22.0C we did see some Mayfly (Danica) coming off the river.

The pic above was taken with a struggling Danica caught in a cobweb and we placed the Sycamore leaf behind to give the shot some contrast and left my fat thumb in for some perspective.

I now know that I am not having a grave or a bench to rot on Redbourn common - I'm having a plaque like this when they let the ashes drift down on the Ver.

The river was enchanting. And on one single stretch of about 250 yards I saw more fish in a chalkstream than I have ever seen apart from the river Test.

A 'guerrilla' raid at about 4.00am one morning is just crying out for these fish!

Nice walk about four miles after which we retired to the Hen and Chickens at Little Hay - a pub we haven't been to for nearly forty years!