Lechlade Trout Fishery

May 6, 2012 Fly Fishing, Trout Fisheries No comments
Lechlade Trout Fishery

Getting up early and hauling my ass across the country has become easier and easier, continuing this series of visiting “Bucket list Trout Fisheries”.  The gentle plod of the van down motorway and lane knowing that there is beer and big trout at the end of the road, makes it worth it.

Lechlade Trout Fishery, I don’t know how old it is, how it started or anything – all I do know is that it’s about 10 acres, a former gravel pit and right beside a larger gravel pit that I know as the Carp Society’s Horseshoe Lake, in near Fairford, Gloucs.

My somewhat late by local terms arrival, 3hrs from Dover, to get there for 8am, wasn’t bad.   I pulled into a well signposted, clean car park.   Beside the small ponds of the trout farm, you first come to their ample and well stocked tackle shop – where I had the pleasure of meeting Rob, I guess one of the fishery/farm managers.

Rob was kind enough to introduce me to their fishery, give me a loose map of where to head to; I paid my £60 and headed back to the van to get the toys together.   Rod #1 7-8wt with a 7wt floater, with varivas FC tapered leader, to a small ring, then a tippet of 8lb, to a small orange bung fly, then a kiwi style tippet to a small black weighted buzzer, on 6lb, say 2′ down. Rod #2 6-7wt with a 6wt clear intermediate, with the same tippet, but with a small hometied D&D damsel nymph.

Off I strolled, down to the lake, excited and nervous, knowing that I could hook a fish of a lifetime, or waste £60.

I spied fry moving in the house pool, but carried on past, knowing that I wanted to get a couple of fish in the bag, before I had a pop at the bigger browns – if I saw one.    I went across their little ferry – a setup I haven’t seen since I fished a famous gravel pit in Denham called Savay!  Access to the swims was good and a moveable wooden raft on ropes provided a quick method of reaching the other side. The lake was well cared for, making it a very pretty looking natural lake. The water was gin clear.

I chose my spot, one because of the fish moving, but, so I could look over the two lakes, all beit joined, they had completely different water colours. One algae-green, the other gin clear.

Starting with the clear intermediate setup, fishing a good distance out, but waiting for the count to get me to say 2′ down, I started a good speed F8 retrieve.    fourth or 5th chuck, bang… it seemed like I was attached to a missile.  I have never had a trout lead me such a merry dance!  Pulling pulling and pulled some more, I eventually lost that take, giving it side to keep it away from a fallen willow.

I tied on another damsel, but placed the rod down – knowing that the other rod had “heavier” gear,  reaching a little further toward moving fish.   Second cast the indicator bung, dipped below the surface, the sharpness of the rod lifting the line and setting the hook into another turbo charged ‘bow that took off like an exoset.

Some 10mins, probably more, it came to the net – my first Lechlade trout!  Huge, full finned, and still fighting on the bank!

I carried on with the buzzer and bung – getting my full back weight by 12.  All immaculate fish, a total bag of 29lb. Crazy.

So, in for a penny in for a few more quid, I paid Rob more, and swapped out the rods for a lightweight, 3# rod and told to head and do a bit of stalking – something I must admit is completely foreign to me.

I wandered round, ending up in the top bays, reaching for moving fish – I am a sucker for moving fish – catching a couple of larger beasts, that took me a good time to retrieve with the lighter gear, but oh so much fun!

Ending up with a net of big trout, feeling tired, and done – I loaded up and headed out – On leaving I kicked myself that I didn’t fish the house pool, pushing a zonker or something fry like to the fish I saw in there…

Conclusion
This is a top class fishery that I fished in mixed conditions – some were struggling – some made it way too complicated for themselves.   I saw big browns, they are in there, I just needed to focus. Ignore the splashies.  I am pleased that this place isn’t more local, I’d be skint. I will be back. You should too.

special thanks to Rob for the hospitality and welcome.

Lechlade Trout Fishery – Burford Road,  Lechalde,, Gloucestershire GL7 3QQ  01367 253266

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some random pics

March 25, 2012 Creativity No comments

Canterbury and District Angling Club Trout Pool

March 25, 2012 Trout Fisheries No comments

Canterbury and District Angling Club Trout Pool

Canterbury and District Angling Club Trout Pool is a small, 2 or 3 acre shallow former gravel pit that is part of the Canterbury & District Angling Club permit.   Run as a semi independant project with in the club, self funding, from the permits (top-ups for the fish), provides a trout fishing for all members of the club.

I joined Canterbury and District Angling Club Trout Pool for the larger gravel pits, and their reservoirs in east Kent, being a bargain £100 year – the trout fishing being an added bonus.

So, if you’re a trout angler in the CT post code catchment, pay your £100 and then you just pay £10 for ticket beforehand at their club house, and you get to keep two fish.    Fishing is dependent on the stocking – sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s hard.

The water is a brown hue, canadian pond weed and silt form the bottom and the greenery.    But, don’t let that put you off.    Pegs are far enough appart to give everyone a good chunk of interesting water to cast too.

Again, I approached this with a small water set up – 8’6 #4 and a clear intermediate, tapered leader and a 4lb tip.      I tied on a faithful slim tied cat-x-nymph with a orange hot head bead.   Think, size 12 B170, a chartreuse body, pinch of white marabou, and the flame hot head, nothing too nasty big.

There is a half mile walk from the car-park to the lake, so bear that in mind, when having to make meetings, after your fishing!

The saturday I fished, I was one of three anglers enjoying the locale.     I find a roving aproach to the lake pays well,   fan casting each swim and then moving.      I started where when I was surveying the water, I saw a couple of fish jump and shoals of fry scatter… a sure fire sign if there was one.       Casting to them meant pulling a semi-double haul with a dash of silicone on the line.   The heavy-ish fly pulling the tippet over.

A couple of casts in the vecintity of the moving fish, brought a thumping take.  The fun rod bent in the direction of the fish, line following.      A thumbing hard fighting rainbow of 2lb+ came to the net.    Now that was a contrast to the last visit, where I walked the lake twice round and just one feint tug to show for it.

I cast, after de-sliming my fly, toward the area where the fish came from… retrieving slowly, and the red shrink tube I use for sealing the butt end of the leader to the fly line hit the tip guide – and the line tightened up, and moved off.     Another pea in the pod ‘bow screamed off to the middle of the lake.

I walked round, moving past one of the other anglers, giving them a chance to cover the water, where I was.    I tried a swim that covers an island end an a fallen tree.   Nothing… nada, not even a tug.    The hanging trees hindered the long cast, chancing my nose or eyes, using a funky roll cast to keep try to reach the margins of the island, but still nothing.

I moved round over the causeway bank, that backs on to one of the most picturesque lakes you ‘ll ever see, round to a deep corner that had a good scum line.   Working the small fly round the margins, pitching the fly as close as I dare toward the margins.   Allowing the fly to fall, counting to 5, and a fast Fo8 to bring the fly back.     Then, like and exocet, a silver bar launched from the lake, my fly dangling from it’s jaw. Splashing back down, this larger than the other fish, bent the rod tip and took line, making a far better account of itself than the other two.      Slowly I got the fish back in my half of the court, where I hate the fly line swinging around and attached to a big fish on the other end.     I looked round for my landing net, spying it 25′ up the bank.   Oopsie.    Doing the let-the-line-slide, walk-back-to-get-it thing – picking up the handle and moving back to retrieve the fish that had decided to take more line.

Hauling the line back to floor, retrieving the fish, finding that weight down throwing up water ruffles – lifting the fish toward the net, the length of the fish became apparent, the net spooked it into another run.   Allowing the fish to kite back to me, it holding like a river fish I curved the fish back to the net, a shorter line, brought the I guess 5-6lber over the rim of the net, then the hook pulled.  The fit looking, probably over wintered biggie drifted back into the depths.

I tidied up my line, pulled it through a damn tissue, removing all the mud from where I had been standing on the line, checking for nicks and the tippet for fraying – all A-OK.

I walked back toward the entry gate, fishing a bay at the near end of the lake, fishing the margins that people cast across too normally; instead I was to cast along the margin, roll casting the now chewed to hell “nymph” I was fishing.

Third cast, that confidence building thump tension, brought the rod to a fightig curve, another pea in the pod stocky came to the net.

All in all

Canterbury and District Angling Club Trout Pool is a lovely spot, yes, talking to a regular said that the lake is not the best in the summer, and needs some desilting work.    I’d agree, I’d love to see some TLC work on the place, but, I think it’s worth remembering that this is a club, and it’s soley survives on it’s permit take.    If you live in the Canterbury area, I would join, having it as a back of the wallet card to use when you want a couple of hours of un-fussy fishing for £10, it’s a bargain!

Canterbury and District Angling Club Trout Pool

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