Flinging some Fluff

After basking in the glory of my first successful Pike session, my fish itch was starting to twitch. Another day on the bank was needed, and brimming with confidence I decided to try another discipline of our sport that I am not so familiar with, Fly Fishing. I have been fly fishing twice before, both times to a small lake in Hampshire, a private water that requires booking well in advance and has a maximum of 8 rods per day. On the two occasions that I have been with Dan (my brother), my father, his friend and seasoned fly fisher Keith and my granddad, we have had the lake to ourselves. Both sessions were successful, with lots of 3-5lbs rainbow trout being caught. But now it was time for me to have my first try at a commercial trout fishery. A quick search on Google found a decent looking place about 20 minutes up the road. The lakes looked well kept, the fish stocks looked healthy and the catch and release ticket was reasonably priced. So on Friday morning, off I went to Woolaston Court Trout Fishery, Lydney.

Woolaston Court with the main lake in the background

  The Fishery

When I arrived I stood in the car park and looked down over gin clear waters nestled between beautifully mowed grass and my expectations were met.  There are 3 lakes at the fishery. 1 Novice lake around three quarters of an acre stocked with rainbows around the 1-2lb mark, and 2 larger lakes, one at 2.8 acres (main lake) and another at 1.7 acres (bottom lake). Both contain rainbows and blues between 2 and 10lbs, and brown trout between 2 and 5lbs. There is a cabin with great views of the lake from where you purchase your ticket. Here they sell a small selection of tackle, including flies, rods and reels, as well as having tackle for hire. There is also a small snack shop from which you can grab a cup of tea and a bacon sarnie.

The Cabin

A Tough start

After paying for my ticket, (£18.50 catch and release full day) I set my rod up next to my car and wandered down to the lake. As I headed for the far end of the main lake, a guy who had paid for his ticket just before me was already netting a fish! This filled me with confidence and as I arrived at my starting location (as recommended by the guy in the cabin) my confidence grew further with regular sightings of fish. However, 30 minutes of constant casting with my single beaded cats whisker fly saw a nil return. I could see the fish but the fish could see me. I spent the next 3 hours moving from swim to swim between the main and bottom lake, trying different flies on different retrieves but all to no avail. This was tougher than I thought and at 1 o'clock I retreated back to my car for a spot of lunch and to reflect on the morning that had just gone. My confidence was some what diminished, and all I could think to do was to just keep casting that fly in hope that a trout would nail it.

Check your Tackle

My set up for the day consisted of a very basic rod and reel (A TF Gear fly fishing kit, a start up kit if you like), a Hardy's 8 weight forward intermediate line and a 9 foot 7lbs fluorocarbon leader fished with a single fly. As I eluded to previously, I'm not overly familiar with the world of fly fishing and my basic tackle reflects this. A very good, well balanced rod and reel set up can see you into quadruple figures, a quick flick through a fly fishing catalogue will tell you this, and it was my basic tackle that partly let me down during the day. My reel comes with 1 spool (many of the quality reels come with 2 or more to hold lines for different conditions) and as I pointed out, I had it loaded with intermediate line. Having spoke to a few people who were catching around the lake, it was quite evident that they were all catching on floating lines fishing dry flies, something I would be unable to do. I have no doubt that in the future, and with more experience, I will be investing more into a decent fly fishing outfit, but for now, my starter kit will have to do!

Hardy's 8 weight forward intermediate line

Success!

After my lunch, I resumed with the fishing and after another biteless half an hour on the main lake, I decided to move back onto the smaller bottom lake. I could see fish rising frequently into the area I was casting, and a guy just up the bank from me was netting fish on a fairly frequent basis. With this, my confidence picked up again. After ten minutes, the guy up the bank began to pack up (he was on a 4 hour ticket). He stopped on his way past, "there's a big shoal of trout up there mate", he said. "Sitting about 20ft out from the aerator, I've been flicking small dry flies at them and they're going nuts for 'um!". Although I couldn't present them a dry fly, I didn't need inviting twice and I hot footed it up the bank to where the aerator was. By this time in the day, my casting was really improving and I was now landing the fly where I wanted it with ease, but again another 30 minutes went by without a touch and with this, I decided to change my fly. Now, although I started on a cats whisker for the first half hour of the day, I had spent the rest of the day on small black flies, mainly buzzers, based on the recommendations of the guy in the cabin and other regulars. But these were just not working, so I decided to go to the complete other end of the scale, and pick the biggest, greenest, shiniest fly I could find in my granddads fly case (I don't own any flies myself). I cast it out and with one short pull of the line, a trout hit it, hard!  A short but enjoyable fight saw an immaculate 3lb rainbow in the net and I was overcome with Joy. All my persistence had paid off, and the unwelcoming feeling of coming away with a blank that had been on my mind since mid morning had drifted away.

The winning fly

I slipped the trout back straight away, (being on a catch and release ticket I wanted to get the fish back in the water with as little stress as possible, which is why I did not take any photos) and recast my fly. On only the third cast with the new fly, another trout slammed into it seconds after it landed on the water. This one fought harder, and I enjoyed playing it for every second. After struggling so much in the morning, the feeling of a bent rod and a thumping fish on the end of the line was magnificent. A few minutes past before I slipped the net under another rainbow of around 4lbs. I had found the fly that was doing the business, and it certainly was not small, or black!
My very next cast saw another bite, I lifted the rod firmly but felt no resistance on the end of the line. The next cast was like deja-vu, with another missed bite. The trout were definitely there and hungry for my fly, and on the next cast this point was proved when I had my strongest take of the day. I lifted the rod firmly and felt a solid weight on the end. The fish ran straight towards me into the shallow water and I stripped the line through my hands as fast as I could. It was a big rainbow, of at least 6lbs. My heart skipped a beat, this would be my biggest trout by a long way! It kicked away from the shallows and ran to my right, straight under the power lines running from the bank to the aerator! I dropped my rod parallel to the water and gave it as much side strain as I could to try and turn the fish. I thought I had won when the fish turned to face back towards me, but with that, the line went slack and the fish was off. As is always the case with fisherman's tales, the biggest one got away.
And that was it for the day. I spent the last hour casting to the same spot, there was the odd pull here and there but no more fish. It wasn't until I began to pack away when I realised why I'd lost that big trout. Naturally I thought the hook had pulled from the fishes mouth, but when I went to untie the fly, the point of the hook was gone! All that remained was the shank. After a bit of thought I came to the conclusion that as it was one of my granddads old flies, the hook must have been weakened and although it looked perfectly fine when I tied it on, it could not cope with the pressure of a big fish. I was, however, comforted by the fact that it was a barbless hook and had no doubt the fish would be fine. Come to think of it, maybe that's why I missed all the bites after it!

Reflection

There are a few things I am going to take away from my first trip to a commercial trout lake. The first is most definitely check your end tackle after loosing a fish! It is something I have always done when course fishing, but I never considered it whilst fly fishing. I most certainly will now!
The second is the improvement of my casting. It's not such an easy skill as seasoned fly fishers lead you to believe as they cast their line seemingly effortlessly with the fly landing perfectly in the water. It took a good few hours for my casting to reach a standard I was happy with, and by the end of the day my inexperience was unnoticeable as I shot my line with the best of them. There's a certain rhythm to it, but one that is hard to teach, you just sort of feel it and when the time is right you know that this is the one to let go. If you've ever tried fly fishing, you'll know what I mean.
But finally, and most importantly, the thing I will take away most was the friendliness and willingness of the other anglers to come and have a chat with me and share a few tips. It must of been evident to them by my tackle and my first initial casts that I was nowhere near their level of fly fishing expertise, but every single one came and spoke to me to offer their assistance, something that I was truly grateful for. Woolaston court trout fishery, I will most certainly be coming back.

Tight Lines,
A R Howorth