A slow start to the 2014 season

Peter, among the fallen trees, with two fish for 3lb 9oz

The Burrator trout fishing season officially opened on Saturday 15th March, though season ticket holders had a 'preview' day on the Friday. Burrator Fly Fishers'  usual opening day competition was was poorly attended by both anglers and fish. In the end returning member Paul Lee won with a five fish bag for 11lb 9oz  and a best fish of 3lb 3oz. Unfortunately he didn't take a photo, though his fish were witnessed by fellow member Jon Perry who had the trout of the day, sadly, his only fish, a rainbow of 3lb 11oz. The final results were that only nine members turned out, on what admittedly was quite a cold and blustery day, and even fewer caught fish:
1st - Paul Lee, five fish for 11:09
2nd - Jon Perry, one fish for 3:11
3rd - Peter Macconnell, 2 fish for 3:09
4th - Pat Power, 2 fish for 3:00

The two most striking features of the day were, firstly, how few fish were caught from the Longstone Peninsula and, secondly what a chaotic mess the peninsula is in. We knew from our pre-season meeting with Ben and Neil from South West Lakes Trust (SWLT) that there was to be much logging going on to remove virtually all the conifers in that area and that they were intending to stock the water from the eastern side slipway as well as the traditional spot at Longstone. We were assured that the logging would be finished before the trout season started and a clean up of the area done; burning remaining brush and so on, in preparation for reseeding with traditional deciduous trees in the long term. The fact is that the logging was still ongoing and the area is still, even now (Wednesday 26th March), a real mess, though less of a hazard than it was on opening day. How they are going get vehicular access to stock from there is hard to imagine. Below are a couple of photographs showing the current state of affairs.

By the gate

Ready for burning, presumably

How far the disturbance of these activities has affected the fishing it is hard to say. Anecdotal reports are very mixed. Alan Lawson, one of the honorary bailiffs, told me that on the Sunday after opening day a few fish were caught, and Burrator member Roy Kane had a five fish limit on the next day, Monday. By contrast five of our members fished on Wednesday 26th and all had dry nets on a bitterly cold day. It seems likely that things will improve next week when we get our first spell of warmer weather and perhaps the Trust will be able to do some stocking on the Eastern side of the reservoir.