Devon and Cornwall Gold
With the new Brown trout season with us I spent the first couple days of the new season on Dartmoor’s Fernworthy reservoir and then Bodmin moors Colliford reservoir. Both these venues hold a mixture of resident and stocked brown trout.
These two waters offer so much to the brown trout angler, they are rugged and wild and both stunningly beautiful in their own ways, a place to just disappear and be at one with your surroundings.
On my first outing I was greeted with a hard frost and North East winds early on opening day, but with clear skies as I travelled across Dartmoor it felt very good to be alive.
On arrival to the water I set up my 5 weight rod with a Cortland trout boss floating line, I had a 6ft tapered leader with 6ft of 8.4lb Ultra Premium tippet with a beaded blue zulu on the point and a soldier palmer on the dropper. Entering the water there was a stiff breeze and I started to fish in the usual loch style cast and move, covering water all the while.
I cast long and short to the bank and everywhere between, counting down the flies between 5 second to 30 seconds and varying the retrieves in speed. After a couple of hours, it became apparent things were not going to be easy with little interest let alone any fish to the net.
The extreme cold North Easterly winds switching the fish off, but not to give up I took a chance and replaced the flies for a single Mini Scruffy Tiger and fished close to the dam wall, third cast resulted in a hard take that didn’t stick, and after a few more cast to the left the rod bent double and a nice stamp of fish was on, after a fantastic fight I slipped the net under a colourful Brown around the 2lb mark.
Third day of the new season and it was time to have another session, this time it was the turn of Colliford reservoir on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. I certainly pick my days; it was once again a frosty start and an evil strong East wind. Unlike opening day there was a darker sky making the moor very moody.
My set up was the same as two days before and I set off once again loch style cast, walk and cover the ground. After about a mile of bank covered I had a little bit of interest, with one small stocky to the net, but the takes were very half hearted and non-committal.
I moved back nearer the starting point, made a fly change once again to a lone Mini Scruffy Tiger and it didn’t take long for a few missed takes and then a big hit followed by a very active fighting fish, after several leaps out the water and a couple long hard runs I slipped the net under another cracking fish around the 2lb mark once again.
I fished on for 90 mins having a few more takes and dropping another nice fish, but the cold was getting the better of me, so I decided to call it a day and get a hot coffee.
Both these waters are run by South West Lake Trust and season and day permits are available on their web site www.swlakestrust.org.uk/trout-fishing
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