Fishing a small river in winter

[@stevepitts7998]

That brings back memories of many a happy hour spent during my teenage years fishing the Chew from Bonds Bridge at Chew Magna, Pensford, Woolard, Compton Dando, Chewton Keynsham and Keynsham. A lot of water has flown under the Chew's bridges since then.

[@williamhalliday617]

That short session was brilliant!! Bought back some good memories and made some new ones. Cheers charlie

[@Fishwish]

Loved it. I meant to show you Grayling corner as it’s totally unfishable now. It’s been 12 years since we last fished it. Fishing can be taken far too seriously sometimes.That was good fun indeed.

[@Joecoleman84]

Lovely stuff. Ive had some good grayling out of a select few swims a few fields lower down. I'd like to clear a few of the swims below the measuring station, some great pools and tree downs. Almost impossible in Summer at the moment. Worth it though!

[@Fishwish]

@@Joecoleman84 good stuff Joe. I’m trying to sort a couple of days of swim clearing. If you pm your contact details I’ll let you know when.

[@kevinoboyle685]

Lovely, only checked out this stretch on the weekend and intending to pop back up soon, especially after seeing this!

[@Fishwish]

@@kevinoboyle685 nice one. Best of luck. keynsham AA would be pleased to see more of their members fishing the river.

[@fishingmediterraneo1417]

Complimenti avete fatto una bellissima pescata delle belle catture e uno spot straordinario complimenti anche per il video amico mio un saluto dal tuo nuovo amico dall’Italia 🔔🔔🔔🤝🤝

[@Fishwish]

Grazie amico mio italiano

[@fishingmediterraneo1417]

@ 🤝🤝🤝

[@martinklein4651]

Hi, I live in Brislington and have fished the Hampshire Avon free stretch for Grayling and Dace in Amesbury. But watching this, I will have to give the Chew a go, as it's almost on my doorstep. Thanks.

[@Fishwish]

The R.Chew grayling seem to be concentrated between Pensford and Compton Dando, although I did once catch one in keynsham memorial park a few years ago. They don't seem to grow nearly as big as the chalkstream grayling, but it's wonderful to see them surviving, considering all that the river has to endure. The water between Pensford and Woollard is leased to Chew Fly Fishers, which costs hundreds to join. I was a member once and asked if they would consider a river only membership as I had no interest in the pond stocked with rainbows, but the answer was no, so I left. Short sighted of them in my opinion. It's then private land down to the Bathampton stretch upstream of Compton Dando, which is such a shame. Best of luck Martin and thanks for leaving a comment.

[@martinklein4651]

@@Fishwish Thanks for the information. I must say I was impressed more with the size of the Dace, my biggest being 9 oz. Could possibly beat that there.Regards.

[@Fishwish]

@ I think so. A few years ago, I caught one a couple of fields down when targeting chub with meat that looked well over a pound, but I didn’t have scales. Caught at dusk and the only way I could get my head around it was to assume it was a dace chub hybrid…but came home to learn they don’t hybridise so it was 100% a dace. Wish I’d weighed it.

[@mauriceharvey4476]

Great to see a local “Gone Fishing “ episode. Mortimer and Whitehouse should be getting nervous😂. Lovely fishing at Compton Dando Brought back many memories including the cycling back up fairy hill.

[@Fishwish]

🤣. He can book me some lovely accommodation and make me dinner next time, then. Thanks for leaving a comment and glad it brought back fond memories.

[@Filipiakowski]

ive been here to go pike fishing and happy new year

[@Fishwish]

Happy new year! Yes, the reservoirs only 2 miles upriver from here. I fly fished it for pike a couple of years ago and made a vid of that too. Thanks for commenting 👍

[@happydace6991]

Respect to your fish handling skills . Far too many youtubers holding fish from a standing position for a fizzog shot risking damage if it flips . Morons !

[@simonkeill857]

Fair play Charlie. Never caught a grayling but it’s on my bucket list. Out of interest, how long is the free stretch in Saltford? I’m in Combe Down and my friend is in Corston and I’m looking to fish again after a 20+ year hiatus.

[@Fishwish]

@@simonkeill857 Thanks Simon, it’s free from the shallows car park down to the cycle path, then there’s a private bit of land before it’s free again along the road at mead lane. The double yellow lines have reduced angling pressure a lot in recent years. I also fish the entire length between the two weirs on the opposite bank, but it belongs to Kelston Farm and they ask for a £5 donation to Marie Curie per rod. Lots to explore.

[@simonkeill857]

@ thanks ever so much for the info Charlie! A great help and I can’t wait to get into the coarse fish again after a period of fluff chucking 👍

[@Fishwish]

@ my pleasure. I was actually planning on doing some swim clearing on that stretch as it’s a woody mess downstream of the flume. Also add access and exit points for fly fishing. Ideally fixing some ladders. If fishing it presses the right buttons for you and you want to lend a hand, give me a shout. I also set up a river chew fly fishing group on fb. Good luck

[@simonkeill857]

@ that sounds great and I’ll definitely lend a hand if coarse fishing is half as good as I remember. I was planning to have my first outing this weekend, however, a certain storm is en route so has probably put the kibosh on that

[@Fishwish]

@ it probably will be half as good unfortunately! There’s definitely less coarse fish up there but my friend got smashed a couple of times on Monday with light feeder gear which were presumably chub. Are you on FB? If not I’ll send you a PM and can either text or set up a WhatsApp group as a couple of others have expressed an interest too.