A new salmon season gets underway on Thursday March 1st. Hard to believe that winter is on its way out and in just a few weeks the first swallows and martins will be swooping low over the water. Winter is reluctant to release its grip and ice and snow is lining the river bank and it will be the hardiest of anglers who venture out. With the water temperature very low and river levels dropping the best chance of a salmon will be on the lower beats with a fly fished slow and deep.
Those wishing to celebrate the seasons start can call in for a welcome nibble and raise a glass to the new season at the traditional salmon Soiree, beer and nibbles at The Rising Sun; Umberleigh. Snow permitting of course. My guess is that an assemble of anglers will enjoy a warm fireside chat reflecting on past seasons success and renewed hopes for the coming season.
The fisher constantly is as it were in a wild garden, and this very pleasure to be found in the beauty around him he has made a part of his sport itself. It has a spirit: it is not merely the sport of taking fish.
But in England,since the time of Walton, the first thought of your true fisher is of fresh air, the glowing sunsets, the flowers and trees, the birds, and all the river loving things in furs or feathers.
On sunny mornings in some quiet valley he sees the white breasted ‘dipper’ curtsey to him from some stone ere she plunges in again to search for food upon the shallows. or the kingfisher skimming the water with his gleam of blue, or hovering, a flutter of blue and orange, over some luckless minnow. The swallow, sandmartin, water-wagtail, sandpiper are to be seen at every pool, and not seldom a great grey heron slowly and clumsily rise and flaps off at his approach
Taken from that angling Classic from over a hundred years past – LETTERS to A SALMON FISHERS SONS – 1910 – BY A. H. CHAYTOR
The above joys of angling remain unchanged that and the hope of life on the line.
Rob Winters fished up on swim 1 of Lodge Lake and landed three carp despite the low temperatures. He used Sticky baits Krill boilies and Sticky Baits signature squid.
I was just checking through my emails and found a couple of reports from Stafford Moor that I had overlooked! Apologies to Joanne Coombes and the anglers who sent their reports.
Alex Charlton fished Stafford Moor with his son Jack they caught seven fish between them 3 out of Beatties inlet swim plus Jack had 4 out of Tanners. All caught on Mainline pastel barrels, baitworks mixed with butter corn Goo.
(Below)Jason shipway caught two fish from swim one up on Lodge lake fishing with Mainline cell and Sticky Baits Manilla pop ups.
Scott Bowden fished on big fish corner on Beattie’s he had only one fish out before moving onto the summer hut swim and then landed 3 fish out up to 23lb 6oz fishing with Mainline Essencial Cell high impact great result especially in sub zero temperatures!
The South West Fly Fair has become a popular event in the Fly Fishers Calendar and is held on the last Saturday in February each year at Roadford Lake. The event coincides with rising excitement amongst anglers as another River Season approaches and anglers thoughts turn to spring days, daffodil lined river banks, silver salmon and feisty wild trout.
( Above)Ben Smeeth – South West Lakes Trust
The event is hosted by South West Lakes Trust and was sponsored by Turrall Flies and Cortland. There were wide ranges of demonstrations held throughout the day including Casting, Cooking and Fly Tying. Close to 250 attended the show making it one of the biggest angling events in the West Country Game Fishers Calendar.
(Above)Charles Jardine the Fly Fairs Patron
Indoors at the conference venue there were a wide range of displays of fishing related interests including fishing tackle, art, media and environmental interests. My wife Pauline and I managed to get a round only a short section of the many stalls as we spent time chatting with the stallholders who were all passionate about fishing and their connection with it.
Conservation Officer Mike Blackmore (Above Right) and his colleague represented the Wild Trout Trust an organisation that nurtures nature to ensure the well being of the native wild trout. The world of the wild trout is a complex one and we learned that the gene pool of the trout is extremely diverse with populations of fish showing a vast differential despite being the same species. Each river population adapts over the years to its own unique environment with variations in colour, patterns, size and even tolerance to water quality. www.wildtrout.org
(Above) Alan Riddell Rod Builder and Fly Tyer displayed his range of quality rods and quality trout and salmon flies.
Mark Underhill Fishery Manager chatted about his plans for Wimbleball Fly Fishery that is due to open on March 23rd an exciting day for West Country Fly Fishing with quality rainbows to be stocked ranging between 3lb and 6lb.
Jane and Mandi from the established Get Hooked Guide were at hand to offer advice on where to fish throughout the West Country. There excellent guides and website have been providing an A to Z of fishing venues for close to thirty years.
Pete Tyjas and Duncan from the Devon School of Fly Fishing were at hand to promote the excellent on line fishing webzine Eat Sleep Fish and offer advice on casting and fishing on the River Taw and other local rivers. On Sunday April 22nd they will be busy hosting the West Country Fly Fishing Seminar at the Fox and Hounds Country Hotel, Eggesford. Pauline and I attended this event last year and had a very enjoyable and informative day.
Other exhibitors included Fly Fishing Tackle of Crediton, British Float Tubing Association, BASC, Arundell Arms, Crayfish UK, West Country Rivers Trust/River Fly Partnership, Turral and Cortland (Show Sponsors) Robin Armstrong, Luke Bannister Split cane rods, Chevron Hackles, Weatherbys Dry Fly, Milemead Fish Farm, Torre Trout Farms, Homeleigh Angling Centre, England Commonwealth Fly Fishing Team, Crediton Fly Fishing Club and Virtual Nymph.
(Above)Charles Jardine demonstrates the art of Fly Tying.(Above)Peter Tyjas demonstrating casting and fishing techniques.
Below is the press release from South West Lakes Trust Just in case I missed anything.
Annual Fly Fair Attracts Over 250 People to Roadford
The sixth South West Fly Fair got the Trout fishing season off with a bang on Saturday (24 February) as fly fishermen from all over the region attended the annual show, held at Roadford Lake and hosted by South West Lakes Trust.
The show is always a great place to grab a bargain, watch some fantastic demonstrations from Trout fishing celebrities and speak to the many organisation and trade stands that attend. There was also a free fly casting and fly tying zone for anyone to have go.
The show was launched by Ben Smeeth, Head of Angling for South West Lakes Trust and then officially opened at 10.20am by Charles Jardine, one of the country’s most respected fly-fishing gurus and patron of the show.
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. Pete Tyjas from the Devon School of Fly Fishing also gave a great display on river fishing for all to enjoy.
More than 30 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. 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. This was a real treat on a very cold day!
There were a variety of angling conservation organisations including The Westcountry Rivers Trust, The Wild Trout Trust 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. The British Float Tube Association (BFTA) and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) were also on hand to provide information and advice.
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 2018. There were some stunning Tiger, Brown, Rainbow and Blue Trout on display for people to view. Those looking for new fishing opportunities in 2018 were able to speak to representatives from various fishing clubs throughout the region and ‘Get Hooked’ magazine who were also on hand to advise.
There was also a large selection of angling trade stands including impressive displays from the shows sponsor Cortland UK, 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.
Mark Underhill of Wimbleball Fly Fishery was also on hand to inform everyone of his intentions for Wimbleball and its future as a Trout fishery now he has taken the operation on.
The 2018 Trout fishing season on the South West Lakes Trust Rainbow Trout reservoirs starts on 3 March at Siblyback, Stithians and Burrator and has already kicked off in spectacular form at Kennick reservoir. The Brown Trout season for Roadford, Fernworthy, Colliford and Wistlandpound starts on 15 March. Full details and this year’s prices are on the Trust’s website – www.swlakesfishing.co.uk.
John Shapland enjoyed a cold days fishing at Jennetts Reservoir using quiver tip tactics to catch skimmer bream and small roach. A raw prawn bait fishing in the margins tempted this lovely perch of 2lb 9 1/2oz.
Carp anglers are a hardy bunch these days fishing right through the year. I would appreciated some carp in the snow pictures at the end of the week if the weathermen are correct.
(Above) Harry Collins ‘aka Haribo’ who had nine carp up to 21lb 5oz from swim 2 (the triangle) on Beatties lake fishing with Sticky baits Manilla boilies.
Adam Atkins and his dad John had a double take plus one more this weekend fishing with sticky baits Krill boilies and Sticky baits Buchenberry pop ups up to 21lb from swims 2 and 3 on the dam wall up on lodge lake.
As winter inflicts its final chill trout anglers can enjoy top rate sport with Blakewell’s handsome brown trout. Some fine browns have been tempted over recent weeks and their is always the chance of one of the double figure rainbows that are regularly stocked. A trip to a still-water is an ideal way to warm up for the start of the salmon season next that commences on March 1st.
A floating line fished in conjunction with a long leader generally does the trick with a damsel nymph fished on the point or even a team of buzzers and nymphs. There are plenty of flies for sale in the well stocked tackle store along with a range of tackle from West Country Tackle company Snowbee.
South Molton & District Angling Clubs AGM was held on February 20th at the Coaching Inn, South Molton. A good number of members were present to listen to reports from the clubs officers. Eddie Rand’s delivered a humorous account of the clubs year focusing on the rivers health and plans for sympathetic work to be undertaken at a suitable time to both improve fishability and fish habitat.
Roger Bray stepped into the role of secretary following the resignation of Ian Binding following many years of loyal service to the club.
Ian Binding was one of the clubs founding members and has fifty years of fond memories of his years with the club. Ian told me that the club was initially formed as a sea angling club with members enjoying excursions to local venues. They often fished from local ports aboard local charter boats including the Combe Martin boats whose skippers included Mickey Irwin and George Eastman. When fishing became available on the River Bray courtesy of the Poltimore Arms they took on the fishing and have remained tenants on the water via the Stucley Estate. The rivers are primarily wild brown trout fisheries that offer fine sport for the dry fly fisher using light tackle.
The club has room for a few new members with game fishing membership allowing access to 5 miles of fishing for just £50 per year. Social membership stands at £10. The club holds monthly meetings at the Coach and Horses, regular outings to local still-water trout fisheries including Blakewell, Bratton Water and Exe Valley. There are also boat trips throughout the years from local ports. Anyone interested in joining this friendly and active club should contact Roger Bray on 01271 371506 or via email – [email protected]
Matt Kingdon gave an enlightening talk to the membership outlying his experiences of fly fishing for Team England at various venues including the renowned Chew Valley Lake. He also gave a fascinating insight into the rules, tactics and effort involved.
Following the formalities and talks Eddie Rand’s presented trophies to Rob Kingdon for his capture of a 30lb + tope on one of the clubs boat trips in 2017.
Mike Latham won the clubs Fly Fishing Trophy with a 4lb 5oz trout.
There were of coarse plenty of fishing tales exchanged throughout the evening covering all disciplines of angling. Eddie had several tales of a recent trip to Spain’s River Ebro where he caught catfish of over 40lb and a fine carp of 37lb.
