Oliver Burch's Game Fishing Monthly Report - August 2024

August began with really difficult conditions: bright sun with high temperatures and the rivers down on their bones. Salmon fishing was in abeyance, and trout and grayling fishing questionable to say the least. However, the Wye chub kept biting happily. GM from Coventry caught 25 of them at Foy Bridge. LW from Birmingham with a friend fished at the Creel and caught 60 chub, 9 dace and an eel. GW from Reigate had 19 chub and 3 dace long trotting at Upper Breinton: “nice peaceful place…we will defiantly be back.” Ah the perils of predictive text! From the North, RM from Hexham reported a dozen trout from the Tees on the Strathmore Estate. Many others had to report blanks, which is not surprising given the weather. Sadly there were signs that the sun and heat was having its effect on our gentle anglers, some of whom sounded a little emotional and confused when making their reports. Take this one from three anglers who blanked on the Usk Reservoir:

 “We have been fishing here for no of years never blanked all three of us they said the stocked the day before not one single bite. What’s going on. We paid 76 pounds not a fish. Explain please.”

Well, I think I can provide the simple explanation in this case: there was a heat wave.

And next I read another report from the small streams, from an angler who caught 12 trout in the shade, and stated that when he came out the heat hit him like a brick, quite literally. I have to tell him that heat doesn’t hit you like a brick, not quite literally. A brick is what hits you like a brick, quite literally. Forgive me, I can feel I am becoming tetchy and pedantic in the heat myself, so I shall pass on.

A lot of anglers were out on the first weekend of August, presumably to get away from the riots in the cities. Mostly the results were quite modest, except perhaps for the number of eels which seem to be very active at the moment. Some exceptions are worth highlighting: ML from Cranbrook with a friend caught 6 barbel and 33 chub at Middle Ballingham and Fownhope no 8; on a later visit they reported 7 barbel and 25 chub. CW from Swindon fished the same beat on 2nd for 4 barbel and 60 chub using all sorts of methods. Next comes a report from TH of Cranbrook with a friend reporting 90 barbel and 190 chub at Middle Hill Court on 2nd August. The mind boggles! DS from Ripon with a friend caught 10 barbel, 15 chub and an eel from the same beat a couple of days later. SW from London managed 11 trout on weighted nymphs caught at Dan y Parc. LC from Cheltenham caught 20 chub at Sugwas Court, but was upset to have to clean up the remains of some-one’s barbecue. GL from Abergavenny recorded 1 barbel and 9 chub from Lower Redbank No 1. (A couple of days later NL from Yeodil with a friend decided the same beat so overgrown as to be impossible to fish).

About this time, David Burren and I had a day on the Upper Avon at Heale House. It is a very specific landscape, that of the chalk country, never felt so strongly as when you get a view from the heights at the top of Salisbury Plain. Driving in clear weather you can see an immense distance over the rolling land. Down there across the great tawny fields are the military aircraft taking off from Boscombe Down and here closer at hand is Porton Down with that friendly-looking entrance to the chemical weapons research facility; these have all become familiar rural sights on our approach to the river. Say goodbye to the traffic of the A303 roaring past Stonehenge. Once you get off the Plain and down into the Avon valley you become enclosed in quite different surroundings, altogether a more intimate and peaceful landscape: chocolate box thatched cottages, the sunlit golden shapes of sheep grazing meadows under pollarded willows and green ranunculus waving in the stream. Time seems to be moving more slowly.

We were expecting more of the heatwave and bright sun, but this one turned out to be a cloudy day with a strong, warm breeze. Lumps of weed were still floating down from a recent cut, but not enough to be a real problem. There was almost no fly and very few rises, but if you did see a good trout move, you were in with a chance. I missed a very large fish which rolled with exquisite slowness on top of the fly under my own bank – I struck too early, I suppose, and got a fish scale back on the point of the hook. I broke on the strike with another good one, which is a shameful thing to admit. I also spent a fruitless period with a nymph trying to catch a monster trout I had seen in the depths of the pool below the Turbine hatch. I imagine that salmon-sized fish mostly lives on bits of sandwich thrown in by anglers at lunch. Still I ended up by landing a leash of excellent trout between 2.5 and 3 pounds, which made a perfectly satisfying day for me. David did better, I think, and he actually saw some natural mayfly duns lower down the river. Big dry flies were certainly still in vogue. I did most of my fishing with the Monnow Gosling pattern tied on size 10 and 12 long shank hooks, and what was prepared to rise seemed to be prepared to rise to that. A collection of such catches would count as a poor season on the Avon, although it would hardly do so elsewhere. I do believe we have been rather spoiled in the past and also that we might be using nymphs more in future.

Let’s take another break from reports with the latest video from Lyn Davies. This time our man is fishing a dry fly on a summer evening for River Towy brown trout:

Lyn’s evening on the Llandeilo Angling Association water finished at about the time we used to be tackling up for the night’s sewin fishing. Exciting times they were too, and in July and August the season was at its peak. However, the sewin season is not what it was and a rather downbeat report came this year from regular PB of Churchdown, who with a friend was fishing the Carmarthen Amateurs Association water lower down at Nangaredig. This was the night of 7th August: “…swung a small Black and Silver on floating line and a Daoni on a sink-tip…moved one fish and had a few bumps on the Daoni but no firm contact. Enjoyed star gazing during fishing interludes…finished at 0030 when mist rose off the river. Pretty well as expected.”

CW of Hereford reported a pair of carp to 18 pounds along with a big bream from Trelough Pool, taken in warm weather. AG from Taunton had an evening session on Wyebank, catching 6 barbel and 12 chub on feeder and float. CM from Keynsham led a party of 4 on Middle Hill Court and they caught 5 barbel and 20 chub. CM wanted to emphasize what a good day it was, in that everybody caught barbel, and also due to the work of keeper Stefan in opening up swims and access points, so that everybody, including a 78 year-old angler, was comfortably accommodated. A lot of reporters had plaudits for Stefan this month and I will add my own: this river keeper really can’t do enough to make sure his guests have a good day. See further praise for Stefan below. The White Lion in Ross (by Wilton Bridge) also had good marks for lunch.

AW from Salisbury took 2 trout and 11 grayling at Lyepole, using nymphs under a Klinkhammer. DD from Blakeney (not sure if that is the Forest of Dean or the Norfolk Blakeney) made a trip up to Llyn Bugeilyn, “…been meaning to come here for a while…didn’t disappoint.” The day was one of sun, cloud and rain with a temperature of 21 degrees, which sounds about right for the hills, and he caught 10 trout on Hopper patterns. AW from Salisbury also found himself fishing in a drizzle at Ty Newydd, where he caught 9 trout and 3 grayling fishing nymphs and spiders through the fast water.

The heat came back with a vengeance by the 9th, but CE from Worcester managed 9 trout from Abercynrig on nymphs, RK from Farnham had 5 trout to 16 inches from Buckland, while BG from Exeter had 4 trout to 17.5 inches from Ashford House. DCO from Redditch reported 15 trout and 6 grayling from the Wye’s Ty Newydd. SW from London caught 22 trout on nymphs at Dinas, where he found the river up a bit and slightly coloured after rain. AL from Bromsgrove caught 8 trout and 5 grayling with nymphs at Lyepole. CB from Swansea had a specimen barbel of 10 pounds 6 ounces while fishing Middle Ballingham and Fownhope No 8, along with a big catch of chub, 6 of which were over 4 pounds. He left early because of the heat. DM from Cheltenham caught 15 chub among the canoes at Middle Hill Court, mainly with the float. PS from Southam had 15 chub and an eel from Wyebank. JB from Crickhowell recorded a 1.5 pounds “shoalie” sea trout while fishing a nymph on the upper Towy at Llandovery. N from Bristol had 1 barbel and 17 chub from among the kayaks at the Creel. JG from Bristol also found himself surrounded by noisy swimmers at Glan y Cafn, but still managed trout of 1.5 and 2 pounds. AM from Dorridge with a friend had 4 trout and a big catch of grayling at Lyepole, while MH from Swansea had 14 trout to 11 inches and 11 grayling to 16 inches at Gromaine and Upper Llanstephan.    

TH from Monmouth decided to fish during the evening at Home Fishery where he caught 1 barbel and 9 chub, reporting that the infamous access track is now repaired. SB from Grimsby with a friend had 5 barbel and 32 chub from Holme Lacey 3 and Lechmere’s Ley. JP from Winchester with a friend complained that anglers booking the Usk at Dinas should be warned that there is a sewage treatment works at the top of the beat. I’m rather inclined to comment that of course there is a sewage treatment works.  Brecon town with its population lie here in this valley and where else would the treatment works be? However, the smell on this hot day was apparently very strong, so that the anglers did not wish to stay, and I have in the past seen a fairly unsavoury-looking discharge from the outfall. Looking on the bright side, I understand that this works is one of several planned to be upgraded by Welsh Water in the next year.

Below at Abercynrig, JC from Penarth caught a trout of a pound and wondered if a black stoat-like creature seen on the bank might be a mink. I suppose that is possible, although otters have a good foot-hold on this part of the Usk and otters will not usually tolerate mink on their home patch. MH from Swansea found the upper Wye at Gromaine and Upper Llanstephan to be low but also stained a sort of tea-colour, and caught 14 trout and 11 grayling. SM from London had 5 good grayling and 2 trout on nymphs upstream at Dolgau, and found that the fishing improved as rain began.

Another report came from CM of Keynsham’s group: on the 14th they fished at Holme Lacey 3 and Lechmere’s Ley for 100 chub on hemp and meat, but were unable to break through to the barbel. GB from Bristol settled for an evening session to 9 o’clock at How Caple Court and reported 2 barbel and 7 chub: “I managed to find a dozen or so barbel and got them feeding on a shallow spot. I just sat and watched them for an hour or so before fishing, it was so nice to see.” MB from Gosport with a friend fished at Thomas Wood for 10 barbel up to 8 pounds and 4 chub. “The fishing itself was fantastic…” but they had detailed complaints about the access. In response, the WUF very reasonably reminded us all that the Wye is an SAC and a SSSI, and therefore modifications to the bank are very restricted. All the same, I would be surprised if a few ropes tied around trees or to secure pegs at the top of the bank would attract much criticism and such ropes often make a cheap and welcome solution to access problems.  

By this time the weather by day was cooling and many parts of our region were affected by drizzling showers. However, not much fresh water seemed to have reached our rivers yet and water temperatures were slow to cool. I can only presume the continuing warm nights had been responsible. We thus continued to wait a little longer for an improvement in conditions for salmon fishing. JH from Liverpool reported a bumper catch of 36 trout from Llyn Eigiau. LP from London led a team of four anglers to take 17 trout during an evening session on the Breconshire Fishery. The following day two of them fished at Dan y Parc and recorded 42 trout.

KL from Bristol had a successful day on the Cannop Brook, taking 21 trout and a roach, mostly on dry flies. He was slightly discouraged by a man wandering past carrying a coarse fishing rod and stopping for a chat with him, and wondered if there might be an innocent explanation. However, believe me, a chap carrying a fishing rod along the bank doesn’t have it with him in case it rains! In the Forest of Dean, rights to all the lake and stream fishing are held by Forestry England, and what they do not keep in hand they rent out to various clubs, syndicates etc, in the case of Cannop marketing it via the WUF. Forestry England might choose to put up “private fishing” notices everywhere, but naturally enough they are not inclined to display notices on trees unless there is a genuine need. Some would say the Forest has enough notices adorning it already. As with most of the UK, there is no such thing as free fishing, and local people certainly know that. The problem is that there is free public access everywhere in the royal Forest and a lot of human activity at this season. Around 5 years ago some volunteers from Parkend took a unilateral decision to open up a path alongside the stream, which makes this thickly wooded area much more trafficked than it used to be. I am afraid we will have to live with that.

KL also noted, accurately I do not doubt, that walkers are swimming their dogs in the stream, while we anglers have to take the trouble to disinfect our tackle with Virkon. There is a long story to be told about the crayfish plague and the migration of signal crayfish into some of our Forest streams, while others still have a population of native white clawed crayfish. This has involved quite detailed negotiations with Forestry England to keep us fishing at all, so it is important that we keep to the agreement. Just to make the current situation even more complicated, as part of a flood control programme for the Cannop Valley based on lowering the level of reservoirs upstream and reinforcing the dams, there is also a proposal to carry out works on this part of the Cannop Brook. This might involve creating meanders on a section of the river which was straightened when the new motor road was built a century ago, the introduction of woody debris and building of porous dams to hold back the current. Wait a minute, you might think. Without intervention, Cannop Brook is meandering more and more after every winter flood, there are at least a dozen trees fallen into it so plenty of woody debris, and artificial porous dams are likely to hinder spawning trout moving upstream…so what need of change? In the past Forestry England have even helped us out by removing excessive amounts of woody debris during tree thinning operations. Given the current success of this small stream in breeding small trout as well as its famous mayfly hatch – KL’s catch bears witness to that - we are advising caution as it seems to us quite fine as it is, but I hope we shall find out soon what the decision is.

DB from Neath had these criticisms to make about the Usk Reservoir this month. I am really not concerned about which part of Europe anglers come from, but the alleged use of more than one rod is a clear breach of the rules:

Fly fishing the Usk Res, what a waste of time and money. Anywhere you might get room for your back cast there will be some Eastern European gentlemen sat at the water’s edge with 3 rods a piece, power baiting (all set up with Carp alarms) plus the little bit of room that’s left, what is not overgrown and where there is enough space for a back cast, they will be walking around with their 4th rod spinning. The only time they won’t be spinning will be when they are walking back to the boot of their cars to put fish out of sight into freezer boxes.Thought we would stay for the evening rise 19.30 onwards as the power baiters had left and just when you thought the fishing up the Usk Res, couldn’t be abused any more than you have already seen, cars pulled up, men get out, pull their telescopic rods out which are already set up and start spinning all around you. Place is a joke, roads are terrible, Res is unkept, Welsh Water turn up between 9am and 10.30 to check you have paid your money, anyone up to no good is either not there at that time or just stop abusing the fishing as they see the Welsh water vehicle arriving. The place is pouched and power baited to the extreme.”

NB and JB, also from Neath, were two more who were not happy with the Usk Reservoir as they also claimed the fishing is badly managed by Welsh Water: “no enforcement of the rules – it’s a free for all.” Others complained about poaching, overnight staying and the dropping of litter. It’s interesting that the complaints almost always come from anglers who didn’t catch; those who did catch either make no extra comment or tell us what a pleasant day they had. Many take their children, who seem to enjoy it too. We do get reports of successful days and enjoyable days, both here and at Llwyn On, too many of them to highlight in fact, but the chorus of complaints from unsuccessful anglers is also fairly relentless: “No catch crap nobody caught we been there and its disgusting u charge 3 pound to donit on line and doesn’t go to welsh water should bring back the cash machines u will get more people going there.” This sort of feed-back is exasperating and tends to confirm me in a personal view that any method trout fisheries are rarely successful. It might be wise to keep in mind that Welsh Water are probably not making much profit from the fishing activities on these reservoirs. Unless anglers and visitors can agree to take a more objective view of these large Beacons lakes and make an effort to respect the environment, the water company might just decide to avoid the trouble and bad publicity and close them to fishing – which many anglers, possibly even some of the complainers, would think to be a great shame. We have seen more than enough fisheries close lately.

JL from Whitney had 4 barbel and 30 chub from Fownhope No 5: “…the chub were relentless.” Nevertheless, he still found the access path in the woods treacherous. PI from Steyning reported 1 barbel, 25 chub and a dace from the same beat. FW from Swindon caught 8 barbel and 15 chub at Lower Symonds Yat, while GJ from Yate had 2 barbel and 18 chub from Caradoc. HJ from Bridgend caught 12 trout from the Teifi Pools, Llyn Teifi and Llyn Egnant. The successful flies were Sedgehog and Soldier Palmer. DT from Edgewood had 9 small trout from the River Teifi’s Tregaron AA waters. LP from London with two others caught 48 trout from the Usk at Penpont on dries and nymphs. AM from Dorridge was on the upper Wye at Doldowlod, where he caught 8 trout and 8 grayling on nymphs. The water was up a bit (to 9 inches on the Llanstephan gauge), either due to rain in the hills or dam release. On the 18th Ben Carter from Doset caught the first salmon in quite a time from Nyth and Tercelyn. This was a 12 pounder taken in the Cafn Pool on a Cascade. Perhaps this was a reflection of a cooling river, down to around 15 degrees now. There were also a few late reports of salmon taken during July: 4 from Wyesham and 5 from the Nyth.   

On the 18th MW from Ross on Wye with two friends had 2 barbel and 69 chub from Holme Lacy 3 and Lechmere’s Ley. On the 19th, the weather now a little cooler, DG from Carshalton caught 22 chub from the same beat, while AG from Hoddesdon alone caught no less than 67 chub, which I thought must be something of a record, until I read that DN from Carshalton on the 20th caught 7 barbel to 9 pounds 3 ounces and 54 chub between 2-4 pounds. There must be enormous numbers of fish here. HR from Cirencester reported 2 barbel and 22 chub from Middle Hill Court, while RD from Lindon had 1 barbel and 30 chub from Fownhope 5. IP from London was another who suspected a problem at the Brecon sewage plant which seemed to be discharging dirty water. RD from Hillingdon with a friend shared 40 chub from Holme Lacey 3 and Lechmere’s Ley, while SP from Chertsey had 16 chub and 6 dace float fishing at Foy Bridge. PV from Edenbridge had 2 barbel and 8 chub along with “loads of eels” from Lower Symonds Yat. Stuart Macoustra from Broadway caught a 10 pounds cock salmon on an Usk Grub at Newbridge; this was the first salmon from the Usk in a while. DM from Ross on Wye was delighted with his day at Middle Hill Court, catching 8 barbel from 6 to 10.5 pounds, along with a chub: “I only got back into fishing this season after decades of being away. I doubt I will ever repeat such a day.” Actually DM, I wouldn’t be that surprised if you do repeat it. Welcome to the Wye! The list of successful coarse angling days goes on: DN from Carshalton with 2 barbel, 38 chub and 2 perch from Holme Lacey 3 and Lechmere’s Ley; AG from Hoddesdon with 14 chub from the Creel; HR from Cirencester again with 6 barbel and 9 chub from Middle Hill Court; and DN from Carshalton again with 10 barbel from 5-10 pounds and 2 chub from Caple Court.     

Storms and heavy rain came at last on the night of 22nd August. For the first time in many weeks, water levels at the top of both rivers kicked up by about 18 inches, then dropped back a little. This seems to have given some encouragement to game fishers: over the next few days AD from Exeter reported 15 trout and 19 grayling from Abernant while AM from Dorridge had a large catch of grayling and 3 trout from the Lugg at Lyepole. Wyesham had a 10 pounds salmon on the fly caught on the 24th. TD from London reported 3 good carp from Trelough Pool: 16 pounds 4 ounces, 14 pounds 9 ounces, and 17 pounds 2 ounces. He had to remove another angler’s hook tied on what he thought was dangerously fine nylon from the large fish. The extra water in the Wye did no harm to the coarse fishing: NR from Cinderford was very happy with 24 chub from the Creel: “…first time fishing the Wye this season, absolutely loved it.” JY from Louth had 2 barbel and 42 chub from Upper Breinton, and GB from Bristol caught 4 barbel, 10 chub and a big perch at How Caple Court. DT from Derby reported 3 barbel and 75 chub from Holme Lacey 3 and Lechmere’s Ley while JP from Birmingham had 25 chub and a trout at Middle Ballingham and Fownhope No 8. PI from Steyning had a barbel and 15 chub at Fownhope No 5. SJ from Herefordshire with two beginners caught 17 trout and 7 grayling from the upper part of the Rectory, while NA from Gwent took 5 trout from Llwyn On.

CB from Bradford on Avon was another who appreciated Stefan’s efforts at Middle Hill Court: “I had a morning blank until Stefan the bailiff arrived to check my ticket and then very kindly walked the lower part of the beat with me and offered some solid advice…” CB ended up with 4 large barbel and 4 large chub. Note the ticket checking, which we should be encouraging everywhere. DC from Norwich also did well on Middle Hill Court, catching 5 barbel to 9 pounds 2 ounces and 2 good chub. CS from Witney was “busy all day” on Fownhope 5, catching 3 barbel and 11 chub. MG from Elsenham float fished the middle of the river with hemp and pellets at How Caple Court, and caught 12 chub and 21 dace. On the 28th AS from Blackwood fished at Llwyn On and caught 6 trout: 1 on spinner, 3 on float, and 2 on the bottom. RG from Penarth and RR from Bridgend were fishing together at Upper Breinton the following day and between them caught 4 barbel, 24 chub and 11 dace with the trotting rod. They saw quite a collection of birds: bull finches, willow warblers, the kingfisher of course, buzzards and a peregrine. I think I had better close the August catch summary there: an admittedly long account of what was a remarkably successful month, for the coarse fishers at least.

Towards the end of August we had a couple more complaints about overgrown banks. There is nothing so annoying as nettles and brambles! One came from SG from Crickhowell, who, although he caught a barbel and a chub, felt that the ticket price of 28 pounds at Thomas Wood was too high, given the steep and overgrown banks. The WUF replied to this one in detail, reminding us that the Wye is a wild river, with some fairly tight restrictions on modifications to the bank due to its special ecological status. That seems fair, although some beats will always be more accessible than others.

The second was another report from JA of Rhayader, who fished the Llynfi at Pontithel for 8 grayling and 1 trout on dry flies. Now this Wild Stream beat has been closed for around 3 years following a pollution incident and has re-opened this year. JA wrote that he “…had a ball” while catching 8 grayling and a trout on dry flies, but nevertheless found the banks too overgrown. “Why couldn’t the bankside be kept half-decent in that time?”

It’s difficult to imagine who exactly would have been maintaining banks during the no-fishing years, but looking forward I can only make the same comment as several times before. Anybody interested in the Wild Streams and young and active enough, shouldn’t be backward in coming forward! There is usually work which could usefully be done during the winter and the WUF is in a position to put small stream enthusiasts in touch with land-owners. If you can approach a farmer for permission to shoot squirrels on his land, I doubt that the same farmer or another would mind being approached for bank trimming permission – I have been doing it for three beats local to me for more than a dozen years, although I wouldn’t mind turning it over to a younger volunteer sometime soon.

Realistically we can’t be expecting farmers and landowners to be carrying out expensive maintenance work on Wild Streams, because there simply is not enough income generated by the scheme. Unless we are prepared to pay a lot more money for tickets, that is how it is likely to remain.

There was a time when I used to build my own rods from blanks, fitting cork handles, reel seats and rings, whipping and varnishing to finish. That was in the days of initially split cane and then fibre glass. When the new era of light weight carbon fibre arrived, I decided and wisely I think, that the finishing job would look a lot better if left to rod-building professionals. From then on, I relied on the excellent services of the rod repairing department at Alnwick. Imagine my shock the other day when, having detected incipient grooving of a tip ring on my much loved and much used 10ft 6 weight Greys Platinum XD, I discovered that the Hardy rod repair facility has closed. That long rod, just right for throwing steeple casts high into the gaps above our steep-banked and tree-shaded Forest Pool, has worked hard for me over more than 20 years; I can’t imagine how many rainbows it has played and I have grown very fond of it. Carbon blanks mellow a little in action with use, but they will last more or less for ever, provided you don’t tread on them or slam them in a car door. Handle corks will wear over time, accommodating themselves to the shape of your hand and back in the days of catch and kill maybe even acquiring a fish-slime patina. For all that, it’s difficult to wear out a handle unless you have that unfortunate habit of parking your fly in it. Rings, however, will start to groove sooner or later, however often the line is cleaned, and if you tolerate grooved rings for long, you will eventually damage your expensive lines also. This Greys rod had already been completely re-ringed once by Hardy; what to do now? Armed with a cigarette lighter and glue I should be able to change it myself, but my local tackle shop only has rings for coarse fishing rods.

Well, Sportfish had a solution because for rod repairs they now use the Fario Salmo firm, based in Newbury, Berkshire. David Wallace is prepared to rebuild any of the famous makes fly rods with all new furnishings if required, so replacing a grooved tip ring for a Greys was nothing to him and he has large stocks of all types and sizes. The section in a protective tube was sent by courier and returned promptly. Here is the contact if you need it: david@fariosalmo.com  10 foot 6 weight rods, by the way, have always been a favourite of mine, good for loch style fishing and very good for general purpose reservoir fishing, capable of handling sunken lines and lures or dry flies both. There would be a case for using one for sea trout fishing on certain rivers.  Trout and Salmon’s September edition carries a comparative test of the latest variants of such rods. Top marks go to the latest Hardy Marksman (£769.99) and, with a few reservations, to the Sage R8 Core (£1,049). Ouch! I will be happy to keep going for a few more years with my Platinum XD, which cost me something like 250 pounds all those years ago.

The latest Afonydd Cymru article on Welsh rivers deals with the Irfon, a fascinating and very beautiful Wye tributary once known for large salmon and especially recently for its grayling. Sadly right now the crayfish plague is causing serious problems and the river is closed.

The Paris Olympics came and went, although the opening ceremony was a bit strange. Like almost everybody else I know, Christian or not, I was pretty much offended by the deliberate travesty of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. Are the French now even more infected with woke nonsense than we ourselves? I thought they had more sense. The testing of the Seine, initially finding it too high in e-coli for safe aquatic sports, seemed very familiar. It’s not just the Thames then? And to cheer us up then came the news of an early gold medal for the UK, as Nathan Hales of Chatham won the men’s Olympic trap, beating Qi Ying of China, and scoring a record-breaking 48 points out of 50. Of the various clay target disciplines, I never think that trap shooting lends itself very well to television. The microphones don’t pick up the detonations realistically and the cameras don’t seem able to pull focus on the rapidly disappearing targets. However, with high-mounted cameras we can get good televised views of tennis, when the balls travel at similar speeds, so why not this? Still the demands on the shooter, mainly of intense concentration and the need to repeat very similar shots with never a mistake, made this contest dramatic as the score ticked up. Trap is a particular sport, carried out with specialised guns which shoot a high pattern. Outside the Olympics, Hales has scored 49/50, which is the standing world record. Amber Rutter’s silver medal in the skeet contest was also very welcome, although it would have been a gold if the call on one of her shots had been accurate.

Every time I put the news on, poor Antony Blinken seems to be making yet another trip across the Atlantic to the Middle East. A cease-fire still seems far away and I can only hope the conflict will not spread. Of course one should expect conflict resolution in the ME to be a priority for any American Secretary of State, but it would be fascinating to be a fly on the wall for his meetings with the Israeli Prime Minister, and thus to add some reality and insight to those rather optimistic press statements routinely made before he goes home again. I can’t help thinking of the reported conversation when Henry Kissinger met Golda Meir for the first time. Supposedly he said: “Madam Prime Minister, in terms of our work together, I think it’s important for you to remember that I am first an American, second I’m Secretary of State, and third, I am a Jew.” To which she supposedly replied: “Well fair enough, but you forget that in Israel we read from right to left.”

Nerma and I returned from shooting near Malvern the other day and because the atmosphere seemed so warm and muggy, I dropped my window as we drove down the hill into town. At once I could smell the volcano! The smell was reminiscent of the boiler room of a steam vessel and the element of sulphur was unmistakable. Then a light waft of wind came in from the sea and it was gone. The Icelandic eruption in Grindavik had been pouring a plume of sulphur dioxide gas over the UK for about a week, most of it above 20,000 feet, but I smelt it a couple of times more before the end of the month. It was a reminder that the land of fire and ice is really not so far away. I have never been to Iceland, although I did some business with a Rejkjavik firm many years ago. Friends go for the salmon fishing and Lyn Davies, in particular, goes there for some superb trout fishing. I’m reminded that dear old Russell, who used to be Secretary of our Forest fishing syndicate and who fished on into his mid-nineties, spent most of World War 2 in Iceland. Britain had occupied Iceland – almost unopposed – before the Germans did and Russell as a naval officer spent his time making long journeys in a Sunderland flying boat over the seemingly empty grey Atlantic, looking for, but never actually finding, the U-boat wolf packs. He also learned to salmon fish (caught a lot of salmon in fact) and got married there. I think Russell’s experience in Iceland was an example of what they used to call a “good war!”

Friends have been coming back from Scotland with the news that northern rivers have actually been experiencing quite a good summer salmon run, particularly of grilse. I suppose that they have had a lot more rain than we have, but people seem to think that there must be more to it than that. On the other hand I have also heard talk of “rivers full of salmon, but none of them takers.” That sounds familiar!          

Good luck for September.

Oliver Burch

http://wyevalleyflyfishing.com