Dennis Toleman and John Vaughan are well pleased with their brace of Blakewell browns.
Triple Hook Club members enjoyed good sport at Blakewell landing both brown and rainbow trout. Dennis Toleman won the competition with a four fish bag totalling 10lb 4oz. Runner up was John Vaughan with four for 9lb 12oz. The biggest trout caught was a rainbow trout of 3lb 2oz to the rod of Bernie Scoines.
Blakewell Fishery is undoubtedly the water to head for if you want to land that coveted double figure trout as Duncan discovered when he landed this personal best scaling 10lb 14oz.
Well Meteorological Spring is officially here, but I feel we can see the signs for ourselves, primroses, daffodils and snowdrops are in abundance and Magnolia trees are starting to blossom. The last few weeks have been kind to us, the weather has been reasonably mild and the water temperatures are at ideal spring levels.
The lake itself is looking superb, the water is crystal clear and the trout are cruising just below the surface, nymph activity is increasing so now is the time to dig out those nymph patterns.
Eric Battison recently proved the point with a double 6 fish ticket; nymph fishing a damsel with a blue flash was by far his most popular fly. But don’t be tempted to stay big, on another day buzzers will be equally as deadly, in fact we are witnessing some good early season buzzer hatches with red’s and blacks being the favoured colours along with gold head and bloodworm patterns.
With the mild end to winter, don’t confine your tactics however to the nymph, as well as the buzzer many other species of fly have been hatching including some pond olives so keep a keen eye in the margins and if you can match the hatch you may be in for some bonus dry fly fishing.
The South West Fly Fair got the Trout fishing season off with a bang on Saturday (25 February) as fly fishermen flocked from all over the region to attend the annual show, held at Roadford Lake and hosted by South West Lakes Trust.
This was the fifth year for the show and it keeps going from strength to strength. It’s the perfect opportunity to grab a bargain from the leading suppliers in the South West, talk to the organisations involved in running the fishing the Westcountry has to offer or get in some casting or fly tying practice before the season kicks off.
The show was opened at 10.30am by one of the country’s most respected fly-fishing gurus, and patron of the show, Charles Jardine and featured fly-tying demonstrations from both local and nationally renowned experts, with a chance to ‘have a go’ as well as the opportunity to pick up useful tips and valuable advice.
Activities throughout the day included casting demonstrations with Charles, who gave an entertaining and impressive display with the Trout rod, and Gary Champion, a local expert who travels worldwide teaching people to fish and give demonstrations.
Over 40 people took advantage of the free fly casting lessons and clinics for both newcomers to the sport and experienced anglers feeling a little rusty after the closed season. There was also the opportunity to try float-tubing with the British Float Tube Association. The chef from the local angling hotel, the Arundell Arms, gave a fantastic demonstration on ways to prepare and cook your Trout once you have caught it with samples to taste.
There were a variety of angling conservation organisations including The Westcountry Rivers Trust, The Salmon and Trout Conservation Trust UK and two local custom rod makers, Alan Riddell and Luke Bannister, who has built up an international following for his beautiful hand-crafted split cane rods.
South West Lakes Trust’s Trout suppliers, Milemead Fisheries and Torre Trout Farms Ltd, were on hand to talk to anglers and show a sample of the fish they could expect to catch in
There was also a large selection of angling trade stands including impressive displays from the shows sponsor Turrall, with the opportunity to handle, try and buy this year’s latest equipment as well as an astounding selection of fur, feathers and specialist fly-tying equipment from suppliers based all over the country.
With 250 visitors to the event, it proved to be as popular as ever and South West Lakes Trust are already looking at a bigger and better show in 2018.
The 2017 Trout fishing season on the South West Lakes Trust Rainbow Trout reservoirs starts on 4 March and Brown Trout on 15 March. Full details and this year’s prices are on the Trust’s website – www.swlakesfishing.co.uk.
Anglers are enjoying some great sport at Exe Valley Fishery where a new catch and release ticket has been embraced by numerous anglers who appreciate the option of a days sport without having to pack up because they have caught their quota or have more than enough trout in the freezer. Below is Nick Harts latest report on one anglers visit to the water.
Perhaps it is the mild weather but I have been out with a fair few anglers already this year and today it was Andrew Avery from Bristol. He had been having a mare and landed just one fish in his last 3 trips, so it was time to get his mojo back. After an hour tuning up his cast this morning we got straight down to business and found pretty quickly that the fish are very podded. If you catch and then it goes quiet it is time to move! That’s what we did and using Tungsten Buzzers Andy banked 9 fish in total, often reacting to the line moving rather than feeling for the take.
South West Lakes Trust are holding their annual Fly Fair at Roadford Lake on Saturday February 25th. This popular event is an ideal curtain raiser for the Spring Season with a range of tackle and Fly Tying equipment on display along with casting demonstrations, Kayaking, Float-tubing, cooking and plenty more to interest the angler. Special guests on the day include Charles Jardine, Mike Weaver and Gary Champion.
There is also the opportunity to purchase season tickets for local waters at a discount of 5%.
Wistlandpound Fly Fishing Clubs winter challenge match at Blakewell fishery saw twelve members competing . All members caught their four fish limit by early afternoon with those who bagged early enjoying socializing with fellow members. Winner of the event was David Eldred with four for 10lb 1oz. Matt Kingdon was runner up with 9lb 10oz and Colin Combe third with 9lb 3oz. David Richards landed the biggest fish a quality brown of 3lb 5oz. Biggest rainbow weighed 3lb 3oz to Colin Combe.
Whilst it is still winter and we may get an icy blast or two before the spring arrives it was hard to believe that spring was not starting to arrive as we walked to the water. Green shoots of blackthorn on the hedge and daffodils emerging from the soil. The sound of a song thrush drifted through the mild air. I chatted with fishery owner Richard Nickel about the forthcoming salmon and sea trout season. It will soon be upon us once again daffodil lined river banks, summer migrants swooping over the water and with luck that tightening of the line as a salmon seizes the fly!
With mild conditions it was never going to be a challenging day and most anglers caught easily. I caught my bag using a bead headed black and green tadpole, a varied retrieve proved effective. After completing my bag I took a stroll around the lake chatting with fellow club members. I was also shown a few fascinating behind the scenes projects including a project to restock freshwater pearl mussels into the Torridge. We were also shown future generations of stock fish. A 2lb rainbow takes around 15 months to rear and a 10lb fish 3 years.
That’s tea sorted; Andy Facey heads for home after a successful day at Blakewell.
Its a busy time at Blakewell as families descend to select their Christmas trees and perhaps chose a tasty goodie from the popular farm shop.
The still-Water trout angler combines a few hours casting for hard fighting trout with taking home fresh trout for tea. Andy Facey above landed six trout to 4lb 8oz in a bag totaling 16lb.
A well marked brown trout of 2lb 8oz for Trevor Whyborn tempted on a green and black gold head montana.
The South West Fly Fly Fair has become a very popular fixture on the game fishing calendar and is eagerly anticipated each year as a seasons eve event show casing everything Fly Fishing including Fly Tying, Fly Casting and Fly Fishing.
Blakewell Fishery continues its fine winter form for rainbow trout with Michael Featherstone travelling from Axeminster to land a fine brace weighing 10lb 4oz and 9lb 4oz.
