Tobago - Sun, Sea and plenty of Fishing!

Over Christmas and New Year, my family and I enjoyed a great holiday in Tobago. We stayed in the small, friendly fishing village of Castara, located midway along Tobago's mountainous Caribbean coast. Whilst there, we explored the island as much as we could with our lure and fly gear, and fished some incredible looking coral bays, beaches, ponds and mountain rivers.

Most of our fishing was either from the shore or wandering up the many rivers that empty in to the bays. We also had 3 half days fishing off shore  - 2 of those were with a guide called Roachee and his daughter. We had a great time - our best fish with them was an Albacore Tuna around 35lbs that my Dad caught. Unfortunately though, we didn't get a picture, as when we were holding the leader and about to gaff it, the fish fell off! We did catch some smaller Albacore though and a few other colourful, interesting species - some we hadn't caught before.

Our third half day trip was with a different guide, Kester Herbert. We came really close to hooking a Wahoo when fishing with Kester - he is known as one of the top fishing guides on the island and extremely knowledgeable. When trolling a dead Ballyhoo at about 30ft deep, we had a good whack and reeled it in to find the Wahoo had bitten the bait cleanly in half and missed the hook by millimetres!

Our good friend, Jack Simpson, was also staying in Tobago whilst we were there, and had half a day fishing with Kester too. He fished for Permit and unfortunately lost one. I think he did well to get a take as it was a really rough morning when he went out and the sea was very coloured - not the best of conditions for spotting Permit. Jack was staying about an hour from us and one afternoon we went to meet him at his hotel. It was great to see him and his wife, Mavis, out there, but quite strange seeing them in another country!

Apart from the 3 half days with guides, my Dad and I spent the rest of our time exploring along many miles of beautiful, untouched coastline and mountain streams. Puddingwife, Hairy Blenny, Whitespotted Filefish, Bigeye, Palometa, Bigmouth Sleepers, Mountain Mullet, Tilapia, and Black Durgon were just some of the species of fish that we caught.

 

On most days, from our balcony looking over Castara Bay, we could see large schools of baitfish (see photo below) being attacked from birds, bigger fish and fishermen with their nets. I felt quite sorry for them as they were being bombarded from all angles!

There was one particular bay that was quite difficult and a little dangerous to get to about an hour's walk from where we were staying. Here, we saw some huge Jacks that patrolled the coast. One particular group was enormous - about 30-40 of them came racing by, and most of them looked over 20lbs. Fishing from the rocks, I cast a homemade white bucktail jig to them and instantly hooked one of the larger fish around 30lbs - and I could not stop it. I had the drag fully locked and this fish was ripping off braid as if there was no drag at all. In the end I had to clamp down and break the shock leader as it was going around a huge rock - I would have lost well over 200 yards of braid if that had cut, plus it wouldn't have been fair on the fish.

We returned to the same cove a few days later with some stronger spinning gear and, after missing a powerful slam on one of his first casts, my Dad hooked in to a really good fish, this time from the beach. From the way it tore off, we were sure it had to be another big Jack - the first run was insane!! We really didn't think he was going to land it! After nearly losing it on the rocks and an exhausting 20 minute battle, he landed a fantastic Horse Eye Jack that was getting on for 20lbs. What a fish, especially caught from a tiny coral beach with lots of hazardous, sharp rocks!!

Many of the fish we caught were on Sébile lures and a couple of our favourites were the Sébile Stick Shadd and Magic Swimmer. Unfortunately though, I lost the Magic Swimmer half way through the holiday on a Tarpon, but I caught many different species on that lure.

We did manage to land a Tarpon in the end though - a fish of around 25lb. It was on a great morning's fishing where we hooked and jumped 3 or 4 Tarpon and also caught 16 Snook between us - only small fish but awesome fun on light lure and fly tackle!

Whilst fishing, we saw plenty of wildlife - the bird life in particular was unbelievable. A couple of my favourites were the Mot Mot and the Rufous Vented Chachalaca. For such a small island it has over 240 species - a real bird watcher's paradise. Some other animals we saw were Armadillo, Red-rumped Agoutis, Turtles, Iguanas and Snakes.

 

Tobago is covered in tropical rainforest, and on some nights we had some torrential rain - there were many waterfalls and mountain streams that carried rainwater down to the sea. Unfortunately, this did have a bad effect on the fishing as it quickly coloured up the bays and pushed many of the saltwater species further out to sea - with the exception of Snook. One day, whilst fishing around the mouth of an estuary, I'd just caught a small Fat Snook (an unusual but smaller, rounder species of Snook) when my Dad decided to try the same spot with his fly rod. He soon had a good take, but the fish quickly came off. When he checked his fly, he found a Tongue Eating Louse hooked on it, which had been ripped clean off the fish's tongue. It's an ugly looking parasite which we found in quite a few of the fish we caught, especially the smaller Jack species.

We also enjoyed wandering up some of the many rivers and streams, that lead to some amazing looking waterfalls. Using an 8wt fly rod (as that was the lightest we had) and using small Bonefish and Permit flies, we caught a couple of unusual freshwater species, such as Mountain Mullet, and an odd Bullhead-like fish called a Bigmouth Sleeper. We caught quite a few of these, even when the water was coloured.

Although we were a little unlucky trying to catch Wahoo, as that was one of our main aims, we did manage to catch 28 different species, nearly all on lures or flies - 15 of which I hadn't caught before, and now looking forward to add to my species list. I don't care how big there are - I just love catching different types of fish!

We really enjoyed our stay in Tobago - spectacular views, fascinating wildlife, winter sun and plenty of fishing. I must admit we're missing it already - I've just checked the thermometer outside our door and it is well below zero. I'd better start saving!!

Personal Best Perch filmed on Tightlines

Is it just me or has everyone had, or has, the flu at the moment? I only got over it about a week ago, and most of my fiends and family have been infected with the dreaded lurgy too! Unfortunately, it's messed up quite a lot of our fishing this month, which has been very frustrating.

I always enjoy flyfishing Elinor, and 3 weeks back, this is where the Pitsford Pirates had a team get-together and a BBQ. It was a great day and we all caught plenty of fish, on various methods and flies. Some of the fish were so close to the bank we were able to roll-cast to them! Unfortunately, I lost a huge rainbow, which at first I thought was a Pike. It would certainly have been a P.B if I'd landed it, and I'm pretty sure it was over 10lbs! Even Charlie saw it and he reckoned it was a right lump! Bart's Lemon Chicken on the BBQ was really tasty too!

Our next session was along a local stretch of the River Lea, which, lately, has been slow compared to the same period last year. I managed to catch, what my Dad and I call, a Lea 'Grand Slam' - a Pike, Perch and a Chub in the same day. The Chub was around 3lb 8oz and took a drop-shotted Berkley Power Minnow.

That same evening, we had an e-mail from Keith Arthur, asking us if we'd be up for a day's fishing in front of the Sky Sports cameras on the Lea for Perch. It was a no brainer - but we were a bit worried and explained the fishing had been very difficult there. Despite this, I was still confident one of us could hit our target and land a 3lb+ Perch. So a date was penned in the diary…

It was going to be a busy couple of days as I'd also planned to fish with Dr. Paul Garner on Rutland vertical fishing for Zander the day before fishing with Keith. By the time these trips came around though, the flu had really set in and I must admit, I was feeling quite groggy. The weather was forecast to be much windier, but luckily this held off until the last couple of hours when fishing Rutland. My first fish of the day was actually a lovely Brownie, that we estimated weighed around 6lbs, taking a drop-shotted Berkley Gulp soft bait.

 As the day progressed, we hooked plenty more fish but lots of them just didn't seem to stick!  We all caught though and I really enjoyed the day - it was great to meet and spend a day out fishing with Paul, and I'm really looking forward to fishing with him again in the future.

As soon as we got home from Rutland we prepared our gear to fish the next day with Keith along his old stomping ground - the River Lea. We met Keith and the camera crew early in the morning but, by the time we'd chatted and got miked up for the cameras, we'd already missed one of the best times of the day, so I was a little concerned!! The river was very clear but the conditions were near perfect as we had plenty of cloud cover, so I was still hopeful.

It took around 3/4 of an hour until I had my first bite, and minutes later I had a Perch to show to the camera - not a massive fish of around 1lb 10oz, but we were off to a good start!

About 20 minutes later, whilst talking to Keith and the cameras were rolling, I cast tight to the far bank and after a couple of jigs I had a bite on the drop. It didn't feel big at first, as it had swum towards me, but then it started to feel as if it had some weight to it, and I thought that it might have even been a pike, but as it boiled, I could see it was a very big Perch. When I got it in the net, it was a massive relief as I knew it was a good fish, well over 3lbs! As I lifted it on to the bank though, I could see that this fish could be extra-special. Keith weighed it on camera and at 4lb 4oz it was my biggest ever from the Lea, and a new P.B. I couldn't have asked for better timing!

From then on, the fishing became very quiet. I had one good whack soon after releasing that fish in the same spot, and that was it. Even a change of tactics to the Drop-Shot - the 'clean up' tactic as it's nicknamed in America - failed to produce. Even though my Dad was watching most of the time, he did have a few casts and caught a fish of around 2lb. I can't thank Keith enough for the wonderful opportunity to fish with him and be filmed by his brilliant camera crew!

Since that day, we haven't ventured far as we've still been getting over this nightmare flu/cold - I just hope I didn't give it to Paul or Keith! The only places we've fished since are a few sections of the Lea. We've caught plenty of Pike but the Perch haven't put in much of an appearance - until recently…

Fishing one afternoon/evening session a couple of days ago, my Dad had a great result. He had four bites - 3 of those were Perch over 3lb (3lb 3oz, 3lb 7oz, 3lb 9oz) plus a nice Pike of around 8lb!

I'm looking forward to watching Tightlines on Friday - I just hope I come over alright in front of the camera.

Pure Fishing!

Never in a million years, when I first started fishing, would I have imagined that one day I'd become a consultant and be part of the predator squad for one of the world's largest chain of tackle companies - Pure Fishing. Not only that, to be working alongside Dr. Paul Garner and some of the country's leading anglers still feels a bit surreal - or a bit Sébile - sorry, I've got lures on the brain at the moment! It's a massive opportunity and I'm really looking forward to working with the team.

With the exciting new ranges of lures that are continually coming to the UK, lure fishing is enjoying a renaissance, so it's interesting times for the artificial angler and I feel very lucky that Pure Fishing have chosen me. Feeling and sometimes watching a fish take a lure or a fly is nothing less than electrifying and very, very addictive.

A few years ago, on returning from a trip to Florida, my Grandad brought back some soft plastics designed for Bass, Walleye and Crappie. At around the same time, my Dad was teaching me how to lure fish with spinners, plugs and spoons. To be honest, I wasn't too sure about using those weird looking plastic baits, but tried them anyway and, to my surprise, soon started catching fish on them.

It didn't take too long before I caught my first 4lb+ Perch, which was, coincidentally, 5 years ago yesterday - and that's when the lure fishing bug really set in. I was very lucky to land that fish as, during the same cast I'd hooked a snag but managed to retrieve my jig. I then let it fall to the bottom again straight after I'd got it out, and continued jigging. The fish had followed it out from the snag and took a Berkley twintail - somehow though I'd managed to land it on a hook that had completely straightened!! It seems unreal that the Perch fell to a Berkley bait and now I'm a consultant for them.

Anyway, that's roughly how I got in to the exciting world of lure fishing, and over time my fascination for all other kinds of artificials has grown too.

Since joining Pure Fishing's Predator Squad a fortnight ago, not surprisingly, I have been fishing a few times, mainly on my local rivers. With so much rain, and river levels fluctuating, sport has been patchy.

We rarely catch double figure Pike from the River Lea, so it was a nice surprise landing a fish of 13lb 3oz. It took a 2" Berkley Ripple Shad I'd been trying out, intended for Perch, that also fooled a couple of other smaller jacks. That afternoon my Dad also caught two reasonable Perch and a Pike.

On another afternoon trip a couple of days later, when the river had settled down a bit, my Dad landed a cracking Perch weighing 3lb 7oz that took a Texas rigged shad. Texas Rigging is a method that both my Dad and I have had quite a lot of success with recently, especially when fishing in and around snags and branches.

Our last outing was a venture to Rutland, our first time predator fishing there this season. Although it was sunny, there had been a hard frost and combined with the wind, made it bloomin' cold! But we still managed to catch quite a few Zeds each, plus a lovely Brownie that was probably over 5lbs!
 

The drop-shot was outfishing jigs - split tails and Berkley Split Belly Shads were doing the business. We probably would have caught more fish if we hadn't had gone off exploring - the days are so short now it's hard cramming everywhere in on such a big water! Before we knew it the sun was setting -  but we didn't want to go in as it seemed like the zander were really starting to switch on.

The following evening was a Rib Valley Flyfishers meeting with guest speaker, Keith Arthur. Keith is such a good speaker - he told us all how he got to where he is in the broadcasting business, fishing the Lea Valley and many other interesting stories. It was a fantastic night.

On Sunday I'm off with the Pitsford Pirates to fly fish Elinor - it will be my first time fishing with the team which I'm really looking forward to. Hopefully, we'll all catch a few fish!

Perch on Plastics and the Pitsford Pirates

It's that time of year again when we begin to feel the first frosts, and leaves are falling in all their golden colours. The fish that sums up Autumn most of all, for me, is the magnificent Perch and it's hard to beat targeting them on lures and flies. The weather this past month hasn't been very kind though. If the rivers haven't been carrying too much coloured water, it's been blowing a hoolie, making reservoir fishing hard going. My Dad and I have had to cancel quite a few trips because of the wind, and I seem to spend so much time checking the weather, I think it's turning in to a new addiction! Second to fishing, of course...

It hasn't completely stopped us though from catching quite a few Pike and Perch on the better days, including some cracking stripeys over the 3lb mark. The biggest of those I caught last weekend on the River Lea. It was my first bite of the afternoon, and weighed 3lb 8oz, taking a liking to my Texas rigged shad fished in a snaggy area.

 

That same afternoon, my Dad lost a fish that looked bigger than mine, and may have even been a 4lb'er. He had the fish on the surface but just as it was going over the net it shook it's head and threw the trebles on his crankbait. We were both absolutely gutted!

Another place where we have caught some nice Perch recently is Grafham. We've fished it twice since I got back from Italy marshalling at the World Carp Classics. My Dad also fished it with Jack Simpson at the beginning of September whilst I was away, on the opening day of the predator trials. He had 3 zander to around 8lb and one perch, and said it was a difficult day. Even on the two days I fished it, the fishing was challenging but I managed to boat some good Perch and a couple of Zander, caught mostly drop-shotting split tails. We also had a couple of hours throwing big lures for Pike, but we only had one or two frustrating follows.

Back in August, at the EYFA Captain's Day match, I won a prize in the raffle. It was a ticket for two to fish Chew Valley from a boat. I'd never fished Chew before, so my Dad and I decided to make the 6 hour round trip last week and try flyfishing for the Pike.

Within half an hour of venturing out in to the 1200 acre reservoir, my Dad was playing his first Chew Pike - only a small one of around 8lb, but it was a good start.

We were both feeling really confident, and fished hard all day, covering as much water as possible. Apart from my Dad losing another Pike, and me catching a couple of greedy Rainbows on big Pike flies, that was all the action we had. The conditions seemed perfect, and we weren't sure what we'd done wrong, but talking to a couple of locals when we arrived back at the lodge, it had apparently been fishing poorly for a few days. But that's fishing and I'm still really looking forward to trying it another day.

One afternoon we took our lure rods to a local gravel pit. Luckily, there weren't too many bivvies, so we were able to move about. It was gin clear and we had to wait until the last hour before the fish switched on, when we landed some nice Pike to low doubles on spinnerbaits and jerkbaits. Watching them follow you in and inhale your lure is exciting stuff!

Fishing in Ireland with the England Youth Flyfishing Team a couple of months ago was, sadly, to be my last Youth International as I'm now too old. I really enjoyed being part of the team - it was a great experience for me. Not only did I fish with, and make good friends, but I learned much faster, and so much more, than I would have done fishing on my own.

I was really hoping that one day I could join another team, but I didn't think anything would happen for a while, if at all. However, Charlie Abrahams, a member of the Pitsford Pirates, phoned me with some brilliant news that they would like me to join their team. I already know four of them as they are also members of the Rib Valley Flyfishers Club, and I'm now really looking forward to fishing with them in matches next year.

Talking of the Rib Valley Flyfishers - on the 29th September, the Club had an open day on the Millennium Lake at Rib Valley Fishing Lakes. It was free for anyone who wanted to learn or improve their skills in flyfishing, pick up tips or even try and catch their first Trout. A few members, including me and my Dad, were there to help and give advice. Sadly, the conditions were almost identical to last year's Open Day - it was almost cloudless with bright sunshine, and the fishing wasn't easy, with few trout being caught. Apart from not catching many fish though, I think most newcomers went away learning something new about flyfishing.

To sum it up, the fishing's been tricky lately - but chopping and changing methods and using different lures and flies have kept a few bites coming. Hopefully, there'll be some good fishing to come in the next few weeks, before the Winter really sets in!