Birthday Special! Last cast of the day a large salmon hits the mepp 3 with so much force that the reel breaks off the rod making the battle and landing incredibly difficult! Filmed by PGTV with music provided by bensound.com
That was some nail-biting birthday gift scenario there!! What a fight! Glad you you managed to land her and you had the prize to show for it ... belated Happy Birthday and best wishes
Charlie Neilson thanks Charlie! The grille are currently in the system and hopefully making there way up to us. I'll keep you posted with any further action!
Well done to get that in, certainly a handicap with the reel not attached! Really should have replaced it with a Daiwa and left Shimano to making bike gears!
What a nightmare! I've had a fly spool drop out and watched it float downstream whilst playing a fish. I just had to hand line it in and then pull a great deal of line in afterwards! Well done for bungling your way through that though. There wasn't an easy way of doing it. Great you got it in though. Great fish. Happy birthday!
cheers Salmon ninja! that must have been a nightmare too! I guess these things happen and you have to think fast on your feet! I've seen so many fly reels jam and nut screws come off in the middle of the fight! Some end in disaster and others you manage to get over. Howz your year going?
I've had a pretty good season so far. The low water has sometimes worked in my favour as it's slowed the fish down on the lower river. My main problem is that when the water is perfect, I always seem to be at work! We've had a good bit of rain this week so the fish should be nicely spread up the system now. I need to get a few early mornings in and get some serious fishing done! My outings recently have been a few hours here and there but luckily I've been catching! I've had a bit of a disastrous season with equipment. Two broken rods and some holes in the waders! I think that's a record for me! More expense!
salmon ninja I agree the low water can have some positives as long as there is enough water for them to enter the system. I find that the fish hold longer in the deep runs and that gives us a chance to present a small fly or spinner into the zone. I hope you get the chance to get out when conditions improve. I get through a set of Simms each year. I git a good value combo from sports fish for 299. The year prior I paid 749 and they were worn out within a year. I do fish hard and can walk up to 6 miles a day! Keeps me fit and I enjoy the wildlife in the Avon valley!
My waders take a hammering too! I walk a good bit, through pretty rough brambles and bushes. I've never had a pair of Simms but they sound really good. I've always stuck with Orvis as they always give a good deal when I inevitably have to change them every season! I think the anglers who say they have had their waders for years without a problem, probably get out twice a year and fishing from freshly mown banks!
Hi Paul love the videos! Do the salmon run on the Hampshire Avon whatever the water levels? You seem to have fresh fish when my beats are on their bones down here in South Wales?
jaroold the Hampshire Avon salmon benefit from the deep chalk stream water reserves which store water from the tributaries above Salisbury. The river levels gradually decline as these reserves are released into the system even in dry weather. In the summer months the flow of water is slowed down by the weed growth. These create faster channels for the salmon to run up. Many of the pools have deep undercut banks for the salmon to tuck in as they wait for rain and water levels to rise. Most of the fish caught on the Avon are taken during a spring tide coupled with low pressure and water temp of 8-16 degrees. The average size of spring run fish is s about 17 lbs.
