Eggs on the Eyot…

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Anon, Artist, Brighton, Ceramic Eggs, Chiswick Eyot, River Thames

Sometime ago I wrote about the ceramic eggs by the Brighton artist Anon being found along the Thames. Having been placed in the tidal Thames a couple of years ago one would have thought these works of art would have long gone, however thus is not to be the case.

Each day I pass by my collection of these ceramic eggs as they are nestled in a wooden box in the hallway, the thought of finding any more long gone but however people are still finding the odd numbered egg here and there. It was reported to me today that a lady by the name of Linda Bloomfield found one during the weekend at Chiswick Eyot, a small island made up of weaved alder fencing and surrounded by reeds with a small outcrop of Salix (pussy willow). This Eyot is accessible at low tide from behind the Fullers Brewery. Having previously searched this location long ago I can only imaging it got trapped somehow or that somewhere up stream near Brentford one of the houseboats has moved and the trapped debris has given up a captured egg that lay amongst the driftwood,plastic bottles and other lost items.

This legacy of Anon’s work continues to cause intrigue for many a beach comber as they walk the banjos if the Thames.

So little time….

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Buzzers, Carp, Dry Fly, Farlows, Fishing, Hardy, river lea, Ultralite, Walthamstow Reservoir

With only one previous post on my blog in June and that being the first day of the month I ask myself, where has the time gone? The coarse fishing season is now under way and those longer evenings when one can fish till dusk are here, however I seem to have filled every hour with work related activity.

The weather this week has been warm and bright so fishing in the day I know would be hard so possibly I haven’t missed out too much other than the time to be free and watch the natural world and bask in the sun. I do feel though I have missed out on some classic early evening and last light dry fly action. To balance out the lost time I’m planning on a couple of hours fishing later today and try out Walthamstow Reservoir No. 5.

Having recently been into Farlows of Pall Mall, the team of highly knowledgable staff had recommended I try this reservoir out for a spot of buzzer and dry fly fishing, not usually my sort of place to fish but happy to give it a go.

I’ll probably use my Hardy Ultralite Rod, pair it up with my Hardy JLH Ultralite #6 reel with a DT6 floating line knowing that this rod will punch out enough line a good distance if I need too. I’ll also put together a box of buzzers, emergers, some hoppers and elk hair sedges a great assortment that should tempt a fish or two.

This North London reservoir complex caters for both coarse and fly fishers and offers a range of tickets to suit most needs. An evening two fish ticket will cost £17, so I find it reasonably priced.

One last thought was to pop a couple of dog biscuit flies in the fly box and have a walk on the ‘wild side’ of the River Lea and see if there were any carp to be had, worth a thought.

So with little time these days let’s see if this water is as productive as the team at Farlows report.

A repeat performance…

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Brown Ttout, Dry Fly, Farnham, Grey Wulff, River Wey

As the grey skies cleared and the sun broke through for most of Saturday it gave us a chance to head South and fish the Wey once more before the month of May drew to a close.

Throughout the day the temperature rose, dressed in my old fishing jacket I started to feel the heat and decided to cast it off, opting for my old Barbour Northumberland jacket in order to blend in with the surroundings as it is easy to spook your quarry on this small river.

Since the last visit the bank side vegetation had put on a good six inches and the quagmire of a bank had started to dry out. The edges of the river are soft and much silt has built up that the rotting vegetation gives off a terrible oder as your boot sinks into the mud.

It was an afternoon of proceeding with stealth and observing the water more than casting across it. We proceeded to the spots where we knew fish had been seen on the last visit. One of these fish held station just under a willow tree from a narrow channel, difficult to cast to and even if you could get near it neigh impossible to get the fish to the net to get it out. After several casts one hit the spot and no sooner had the fly hit the water it was engulfed in a swirl of water and the line tightened. Well, all hell broke loose with a good 2.5lb brown heading in a direction I rather it didn’t. Young Tales was soon onto the case with the net but the margins were perilously soft, unstable and deep. This little episode turned into a whole family affair with Mrs Tales hanging on to his lordship and myself struggling with a fish that just didn’t want to play ball and head into the net the straight away.

After some heart stopping moments and the silt rapidly rising up my boots I held the rod with one hand and reached for a bank side stick in order to stabilise my own exploits. Finally the fish turned on its back and it slipped into the net.

The rest of the afternoon gave reasonable sport with smaller fish taking a grey wulff fished through a reeded section of the river.

By 7.30pm we started to head back towards the car with young Tales stopping every 50 yards to fish. Within a few minutes he was into a small brown. We crossed the field and followed the path around the outer edge. There was one spot that I had not fished before, heavily reeded with tall yellow iris and flanked on the opposite side with tall trees. There amongst the shadows a ripple formed from a fish taking surface flies. Two casts later the line tightened and the rod bent sharply as a good-sized fish headed towards me in order the bury itself into the reeds. It took a good ten minutes to bring this fish under control and again assistance was required to net it.

Once in the net this 3lb brown trout glowed in the evening light, a fitting end to the last day of May and gave much to discuss at the Anchor Inn in Lower Froyle.

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