Only for the hardcore and criminally insane!
At last the 15th of March- open day for brownies. Our original intention was to hit the rivers and have a do for wild fish. But due to the bad weather that all of the country had been experiencing, our rivers were shot so we decided to try for some over-wintered fish on one of our local lakes in the SW. Pete had decided that it would be good to tackle Colliford Lake. A nice water of around 900 acres, bang on the moors. We thought if that the weather started to pick up a bit, a least we would still get wet! Im sure Ive have been wet since last March, when I moved down here from up north. Move down south everybody kept telling me. The weathers always sunny and warm. Yeah right!
Always eager as ever, Pete turned up early. I was still cleaning my teeth as he knocked on the door. I should of known to be ready half an hour before the arranged time. When it’s brown trout fishing, Im sure Pete is awake half the night with excitement. Tossing and turning and most probably wearing his waders in bed. I hobbled outside with rod in one hand and trying to put my boots on with the other. We climbed into the truck and set off down the A30, arriving at Colliford by 10am. We sat in the truck eating sweets and having a natter, waiting for the weather to ease. By the time it had settled to a steady gale and driving rain, we quickly got set up and made our way down the waterside.
There wasn’t going to be anything fancy involved in the fishing. It would have been nice to try for them with light rods and dry flies, but we opted for a team of tadpoles and an intermediate line. We chose to start with the wind blowing into our bank, expecting the fish to move in, on the wind. We began to cast and fish along the huge expanse of water in front of us. Within minutes- nothing! Apart from the driving rain blowing into my hood and running down my neck. Pete asked why I thought nobody else was fishing on open day? Err I don’t know I thought. Maybe it had something to do with the weather!
By the time my boots were squelching and my back was sodden, we decided to move around to the far side point where it would be more sheltered. We found a nice sheltered bay where we expected to find a few fish. It was good to be fishing in comfortable conditions whilst watching the Whitehorse’s roll across the lake. It wasn’t long before Pete was into the first fish of the day. A real stunner. It looked more like a sea trout. Pete was lucky to hook into a few more fish, but unfortunately they didn’t stick. I went through the same problem. I starting having takes but kept pulling out of the fish. Oh well, at least we knew they were there.
We soon got to grips with them and started to bank a few. We both had some nice fish up to about 2lbs. It turned into one of those times, whenever you cast your fly into the water you either expected a take or better still a fish. Well for Pete anyway! He was doing the business. Even the fish had moved into the sheltered area and we enjoyed picking them off, as the milled around looking for food. By lunch we had landed about 15 between us from this small area. So deciding to get out of the weather and grab a sandwich we waddled our way back to the truck. I was gutted. No brew and we had eaten all the sweets. Pete had been kind enough to supply lunch again.
After a quick bite to eat, we decided to grab the bull by the horns and stand and fish in the teeth of the storm. Squinting through our rain covered glasses we could pick out a few wind-lanes and the odd fish moving down them. It needed a good cast of around 80 feet to reach some of them. But I suppose this is why we tend to cast most days, to make sure we are ready for these eventualities. Or are we are just casting nerds? Again we were into a few more fish. I think Pete had four takes in four casts. I had a couple more fish in the process.
By mid afternoon things started to slow down a bit, so we decided to call it a day. We had managed a respectable amount of fish and had to make the drive back over the moors. How would I sum up the opening day of the season? Cold, wet, windy, foggy, but most of all AWSOME!
Tags: Devon Fly Fishing, Fly Fishing, Fly Fishing Devon, Fly Fishing Instructor, Fly Fishing tuition, Mark Bailey
