Burrator Update - Mid August

As many of you will know Burrator was not at its best during most of July. However, in the last week or two things have started to pick up quite a bit. Whether it is all the rain and consequently fresh water flushing into the reservoir or some other reason the trout have started to be more active.

Pat Power and John Jeffrey have reported bags of four or five fish taken more or less at the surface using a floater and the 'washing line' technique of three buzzers on droppers and a booby nymph on the point They have taken fish during the middle of the day on at least a couple of occasions.

I had my best rainbow of the season so far last week. I fished a floating line and two nymphs, the point one slightly weighted, and in bright breezy mid-afternoon conditions landed a fish of almost four pounds. Then last Saturday, in thunderous and eventually torrential conditions, the fish kept feeding at the surface on small black flies and I took three rainbows and lost a couple of others by tempting them with a size 12 Black Klinkamer dry fly.

Peter's 3lb 12oz  Rainbow

Later I had a very interesting email from new member  Andrew Brewer, who lives in Dousland. He wrote:

"...I had a great evening at Burrator on Tuesday. I fished from 5.00 until 8.45pm. I had eight or nine good fish up to three pounds. Initially I fished a size 14 black nymph with a mid green tail and then switched to a Bi Viz black ant (winged). They were going mad at it!..."

Andrew's Black Nymph

Now we have got terrible rainy and windy weather all week, but once it clears up a bit September fishing should be very promising. It will soon be time for the Daddy-Long-Legs!

A few days at Fernworthy

A couple of brownies about a pound each - taken on a dry fly

During most of  July the fishing at Burrator has been quite poor. It is not only my blank returns but those of numerous other anglers that show this to be the case. Those of you who get Neil Reeves' weekly returns will have seen how dour things have been. Only the cormorants have been bagging up!

A fish in in the net in calm conditions

By contrast the brown trout fishery at Fernworthy has been very much worth a visit or two. I have been on five occasions in the last six weeks and have only blanked once. Both during the day and in the evening the brownies have been up in the water and fishing for them with dry flies or 'emergers' has been possible and productive. On my visits I have met a couple of other Burrator members, so I am not the only one seeking a change

A smaller one -about to go back

My other reason for going to Fernworthy was that the water levels, though drawn off to an extent, are much higher and consequently it looks much less 'drought' stricken and without the difficult muddy edges that are a problem on some parts of the Burrator banks.

My wife Gill also likes a trip out to Fernworthy so on a couple of occasions she and Honey the golden Retriever came along also and we made a picnic of it. She (Honey the Golden Retriever) is very well behaved and doesn't go in the water, unlike some of the dogs, and their less civilised owners, at Burrator.

Honey finds fishing very interesting