Keith: provoked a bidding war

Eventually I managed to net the trout but not until it had separated my leader loop from the fly line, causing me to twist the leader around the rod and handline the fish for the final 10ft. It won't be doing that again; the fish smoker down the road will see to that.

Keith Arthur
Quotes of the week

Sometimes I have a really tough life.

Take this week, for example. I was offered as an auction item at a charity do: my company for two guests and a day's fishing at Dever Springs, one of the country's leading small-water game fisheries, in the glorious Hampshire countryside.

The 'lucky' bidder was Charles Garside from the Daily Mail and Monday September 1st was the date.

I thought I'd make a good impression, having never met Charles or his neighbour Geoffrey, who was accompanying him, so I arrived 25 minutes early.

Charles and Geoff were both there, tackling up 3 rods each; I'd just taken one, a 6/7wt with a floating line. I did have secret weapons though: a couple of marabou bloodworms presented to me by Jason Lewis on my recent trip to The Royalty (yet another tough job!) and some bloodworm stalking flies sent to me by a viewer. I had my own selection of flies, mostly scrounged, too.

Stormy weather

The weather was just what you don't want: bright sun and a strong wind. It didn't last long though - well the sun didn't; it was replaced by cloud but the wind remained and indeed strengthened.

We had breakfast booked in the lodge for 10.30 (really good it was too) and by then none of us had even remotely interfered with one of the many rainbows we could see swimming around, especially in the small pool; the larger pool was unusually coloured by the storms of the day before.

After breakfast I managed to snare a rainbow of exactly 7lb from the main lake and I have never ever had a trout fight as hard, even at Rutland. This thing tore the line from my hand, having taken one of Jason's bloodworms on the drop and I was forced to run (stop giggling) after it.

Eventually I caught up with it and managed to net it but not until it had separated my leader loop from the fly line, causing me to twist the leader around the rod and handline the fish for the final 10ft. It won't be doing that again; the fish smoker down the road will see to that.

Geoff had moved to the smaller lake and there were definitely more fish moving up there. I moved to join him and pretty soon caught another lovely rainbow of nearly 5lb on a small, brown nymph, again the fly being taken on the drop.

As soon as I netted it, Geoff on my right and the angler on my left, eventually identified as former England cricket captain Keith Fletcher, both hooked up, so I ran to get Charles. Well, 'ran' is a pretty loose description; 'staggered' possibly a better one.

Nightmare

Mr Fletcher went on to take his four-fish limit and I fiddled two more, too but Geoff was stuck on his one fish and Charles had a complete nightmare, not only failing to catch, but right at the end he hooked easily the biggest fish of the day - my 7lber was eventually largest - of probably 11-12lb.

He saw the fish and cast to it and it took, everything according to plan. The fish swam around under the rod tip, with just the occasional short surge into the streamer weed, with Geoff offering encouragement on one side and me standing with the net, and the responsibility, on the other. After several minutes the fish took off on a major run and, having made at least 20 yards, the line went slack.

Now here I should tell you that I had fixed the leader loop to Charles' line, tied the leader to the loop and tied the fly to the other end. Geoff had supplied the fly, a goldbead pheasant tail nymph. Charles physically sagged at the shoulders and retrieved his line.

I was dreading seeing the leader loop not there, but it was. So was the leader but on the end was a little tuft of weed. Would the fly be under it...YES! My knots were good but the hook had straightened under the weight of the weed and fly line.

I think I was possibly more gutted than Charles - but not as gutted as the trout on the way to the smokery. Charles will at least have some fish to eat.

Do you want some tips or advice from Keith Arthur? To send him a question, please click here: skysportsclub@bskyb.com

Keith answers your questions

Hi Keith, I would love to get back to my roots fishing the Tidal again, Pin 2.5 lbs line 1.7 hook length size 16/18, stick float, bait apron, waders I'm sure you have got the picture... I used to fish in front of The London Apprentice and at Richmond in the early 60's went back in the 80's but haven't been back since. It used to be best on a dropping tide, what advise can you give me regarding best times to fish nowadays. Re bait 2 pints of either maggots or caster pint of hemp would be my approach for a 4/5 hour session summer or winter what are your thoughts re bait. All I want is to catch a mixed bag roach, dace and whatever comes along roach are my main target though, can you please suggest spots to try where I can park without too much of a walk I think we are around the same age!!! Sorry about that. I've heard of a boat yard where you can hire fishing punts which could be a nice option as well as getting in with my waders which I definitely want to do, by the way I would like to complement you both for your Radio and TV programmes which I enjoy greatly. Best Regards, Howard Seder

KEITH REPLIES: Hello Howard and thanks for the compliments. My answer had better be a good one now, much depends on it, not least a reputation!

The river is absolutely sock-on at the moment with a decent flow, good colour and stacks of fish. You probably won't get quite as many dace as in the 80s but you will get roach and if you fancy some hemp-and-tare fishing, now is the time, and how! They are REALLY 'avin it'.

You can park at River Lane, Petersham or Ham Car Park at the end of Ham Street. The best swims have been in front of Ham House down to about 100m above River Lane or from River Lane through Petersham Meadow. Parking is out of it in the town: too expensive and not available...BUT...if you are prepared to go early, on an early tide, you can park for free in Ranelagh Avenue (check it on a map website) next to Twickenham Bridge. It is FULL by 7.30am at the very latest though. Walk up the stairs, cross the bridge then down the other side. If you walk towards Richmond, as the high bank comes to an end there is a set of steps. That is the famous Hempseed Corner and you will catch bundles there. The White Swan is virtually behind you - great shame eh?

The tide remains level (except November, when the whole lot runs out) for 8 hours approximately. It takes on average two hours to flood and two to ebb. Add two hours to the high tide time at Richmond Lock, or three for London Bridge, and remember to check if the table you use requires an extra hour for BST.

Beware, there are more carp, barbel, bream and big perch than there used to be so be prepared for a shock!

Who knows, I may even bump into you: I'll be the bloke chasing those barbel and carp, although I am tempted by all the roach at the moment.

Hi Keith, I'm a keen angler and I greatly enjoyed watching coverage of Fish 'o' Mania on Sky Sports this year. I'm keen to find out how I'd go about applying to take part in next year's competition. Could you advise me on the best way to do this please? Many thanks, Fred Hammerill.

KEITH REPLIES: Fred, details of how to enter will be on the National Federation of Anglers website. We will announce all the dates and venues on Tight Lines as soon as we have them. Applications for tickets usually open in January. Good luck, Keith Arthur.

Do you want some tips or advice from Keith Arthur? To send him a question, please click here: skysportsclub@bskyb.com