BFFA Competition at Fernworthy Reservoir on Thursday 30 May 2019

Eight Burrator members met in the anglers-only car park at Fernworthy for a 10am start.  Fernworthy is a brown trout fishery with natural and stocked fish.  The weather was cloudy with a fairly stiff westerly breeze blowing down the lake towards the dam.  The air temperature was about 19C while the water was around 15C.  The reservoir water level was was a little below the dam sill so pretty full.

I walked along the south shore towards the weedy area of Lowton Bay while everyone else fished the shore between the South Bank and the dam.  The westerly wind made casting easier for the right handers from the south bank but a bit tricky castiing into it along Potter's Bank.

At Lowton Bay I put on a Hawthorn Fly as I had seen a few of the terrestrial insects around.  There was not a great deal of fly activity though.  I did see a few sedges but only occasional trout rising in the small chop.  I had several splashes at the dry fly and hooked several more but although quite exciting the fish were small and the four I had would have probably been only just over the 7 inch limit.  I returned them anyway and using barbless hooks made it easy to slip them back into the water.  Some of the brownies were covered in red spots but others looked more like sea trout - just silver with black spots and crosses.  I could not tell which were stocked and which were native, wild brownies.

Around midday I made my way back towards the permit hut where most of the BFFA members were fishing.  Mike and Robert were  in a corner where a small stream entered the reservoir to the east of Boathouse Bay.  Mike had already landed a few and he was clearly fishing in the right spot as he was approaching double figures when we stopped for lunch and a chat  at one of the SW Lakes provided picnic tables.  TonyV had two there and Robert had the best fish of the day at 1lb 5oz narrowly beating PeteP's 1lb 4oz.

Some of us stayed on after the competition and  Don had another four while I had another two,  one  went to 1lb 4oz which I retained.

The final results of the competition were:
Anthony Waldren 2 fish retained for 1lb 9oz
Pete Phillips 1 fish retained for 1lb 4oz
Tony Vallack 2 fish retained for 1lb 2oz & 10oz
Robert Spooner 1 fish retained for 1lb 5oz (biggest fish)
Peter Shazell 4 fish retained for 3lb 5oz
Mike Ellis 13 fish none retained
Tony Hooper 5 fish none retained
Don Brown didn't retain any during the competition but had four after the finish at 3pm.

SW Lakes Trust Map of the Reservoir

The permit hut

Lowton Bay on the left

Tony Hooper's first brownie of the day

Anthony fishing below the permit hut

 Don, Peter & TonyV on the Boathouse Bank 

The Boathouse Bank

Mike with one of his 13 brown trout

TonyV had two here

Mike about to land another

Don fishing a breezy spot near the permit hut

PeterS did very well from this small point on the South Bank

A nice 1lb 4oz brownie for PeteP 

Mike & TonyV in Boathouse Bay

Robert had the biggest brownie at 1lb 5oz

BFFA Away Day Competition at Innis Fishery on Thursday 25 April 2019

After the gloriously warm 20C weather of a few days ago at the Easter weekend it was a bit of a shock when the forecasters were giving 10-12C and showers for our visit to Innis today.  In the event the southerly wind was definitely cool and gusty but few rain showers came over and in the afternoon it was more sunny at times.  The water temperature was 14C but I did not see any fly life all day and very few trout were seen rising.

Martin Winch collected our ticket monies and told us that Carbis Lake had been re-stocked the previous day.  Eight Burrator club members were fishing the competition and at the 10am start we were spread around Carbis.  At lunchtime owner Dave Johns arrived with our pasty order - what service! For those connoisseurs of traditional Cornish Pasties these were made by Pearce's Butchers in St Austell.

Don & I began by fishing the left bank of the lake (looking down from the car park) while the others were along the opposite bank.  The gusty wind increased and it became more difficult casting directly into it so eventually everyone was fishing the same shore with the wind at our backs. Peter had his three fish limit by lunchtime and I think most trout were taken earlier in the day although four of us still worked hard for our blanks!

The results:
Peter Shazell was the winner with a trout of 3lb.  Peter had 3 rainbows including another of 2lb 13oz
Dave Norman had two rainbows best 2lb 10oz
Don Brown also had two rainbows best 2lb 7 oz
Roy Whitaker had one rainbow of 2lb 10oz
Nik Tompkins, Tony Vallack, Bob Prout & Tony Hooper put in nil returns.

Above & Below Carbis was looking grey & breezy when we arrived

Don & I started on this bank but the strong gusty wind made casting difficult 

Don & TonyV

Don & TonyV stopped for a chat

Don into a two pounder 
Below Almost ready for the net

Nik lost several trout here

When we finished at 3pm it was quite sunny 

Peter had his three fish limit so got his Nikon camera out

Nik weighs one of Peter's three rainbows. 
Martin in the background while Don takes a video 

Martin took the photo of the eight of us at the weigh-in

Nik decided to carry on fishing after the competition and headed back down the lake

BFFA Competition at Burrator on 11th April 2019

A cool but fine morning greeted the 8 members who arrived for the competition. Bob and Kevin began fishing the Discovery Centre shore but found the cold wind made life difficult and later joined everyone else at the more sheltered Longstone Peninsula.

The day remained fine and sunny with a mostly light wind blowing down the lake from the north east although later in the afternoon there was a bit more east in it . As usual I took the water temperature which was 10C with an air temperature of 9C at 10am.

The recent stocking of the lake was evident in the number of trout netted and the amount of trout activity on and just below the surface during most of the day.  It was good to see so many fish over three pounds and the excellent quality of of trout supplied by Milemead Fisheries.  Anthony netted and returned the one brown trout that came to a fly during the competition.  We did note the shell remains of an invasive North American Signal Crayfish on the bank.

Kevin  won the competition and a bottle of wine with five trout weighing a total of 12lb 6oz.

Results were:
Kevin             5 trout for 12lb 6oz including one of 3lb 8oz and another of 3lb 6oz
Anthony         4 trout for 10lb 4oz including one of 3lb 11oz and another of 3lb 7oz
TonyH            3 trout for 6lb 7oz including one of 3lb 7oz
Bob                3 trout for 4lb 3oz
TonyV            2 trout for 3lb 7oz   
Peter               1 trout of 1lb 5oz
Maurice & Allan put in nil returns

Peter hooked several trout here

Anthony bending into one his four trout

TonyH into one of his three trout

Tony & Peter stop for a traditional Kelly Kettle brew

Tony with a 3lb 7oz rainbow

Anthony ready with the net

Anthony's best rainbow at 3lb 11oz

TonyV casting at Longstone Point

Maurice & Allan fishing below Longstone Manor

Bob waits with the net as Kevin brings in a 3+ pounder

Safely netted!

BFFA Away-Day at Siblyback on Saturday 30 March 2019

Eight members arrived at Siblyback for the 10am start.  We were greeted with a cool northerly breeze blowing down the lake.  I had not fished at Siblyback for some years and the sailing dinghies, kayaks & windsurfers that had previously used the water had apparently moved to Roadford.  There were still plenty of walkers and dogs around the shoreline, though!

Milemead had re-stocked with rainbows & blues on the previous Wednesday.  The air temperature was 10C and the water temp the same.  It became more sunny during the day with lots of buzzers about.  I fished the east shore but did not see many fish moving.  Some of our group headed up to the Marsh area at the north end of the lake which turned out to be a good decision as plenty of fish were landed there by BFFA competitors and local anglers.

The weigh-in was at the permit hut and Mike Ellis was declared the winner with a five fish bag weighing 9lb.  Runner up was Nik Tomkins with five fish for 7lb.  Mike won the bottle of malt whisky and the bottle of wine. 

Results:
Mike Ellis 5 trout for 9lb
Nik Tomkins 5 trout for 7lb
Kevin Sellar 3 trout for 4lb
Tony Waldren 1 trout for 1lb 8oz
Bob Prout, Tony Hooper, Roy Whittaker & Alan Bahan put in Nil returns

The slipway & boat pontoon

A cool breeze and patchy fog

Tony Waldren took his fish from the bay here

The Marsh where most of the trout were landed

Nik was runner-up with his bag of 7lb

Mike receives the bottle of malt whisky from Bob for his 9lb bag

Re-stocking at Burrator 20th March 2019

The Burrator FFA had a meeting at the Discovery Centre in the morning.  Sam LeBailly, the West Devon Countryside Warden told us that there was a delivery of rainbow & blue trout due around 1pm. Over at Longstone Sam, me and Burrator FFA Chair, Linda met Paul Evenden from Milemead Fisheries.

In the two tanks on the back of his 4x4 pick-up were 250 trout.  Paul was soon netting them into the lake and within a short time the trout were swimming about in the bay.

While we were there a scientist from the Environment Agency arrived to take samples from the reservoir.  Later she told me that she had netted a good amount of insect life including caddis & mayfly larvae.  She said she didn't net any signal crayfish in the samples but I have no doubt that they are present in Burrator and probably in some numbers.

Paul nets the trout into the water while Sam takes a few photos

Linda, Paul & Sam

A scientist from the Environment Agency takes samples

An early 2019 season boat trip at Burrator on 19th March

Quite a few things have changed at the Burrator FFA and at the reservoir since the last blog back in May 2018.

We now have two Coulam boats that have replaced the 30 year old dinghies that were simply beyond straightforward maintenance.  I booked a boat for Tuesday 19th March as the weather forecast looked favourable.

I arrived at the Discovery Centre around 10am to book in before parking on the slipway to put my gear in the boat.  I have my own electric outboard and two 80ah batteries which are more than enough for a whole day of fishing.  The boats had plenty of water in them from the recent heavy rain but that was soon pumped out.  There was a very light SW wind, sunny intervals and an air temperauture of 13-14C.  The water was much chillier at 8C.

The new safety boom installed in October last year across the lake means that we are no longer restricted to waiting for the water level to drop several feet below below the sill.

A few trout were dimpling the surface as I motored away from the pontoon and headed up the lake. In the bay under the Discovery Centre I had one blue of about 1lb 4oz on a black & green Kennick Killer on a floating line which I returned.  I fished several places along the west shore until lunchtime and had lots of light plucks which could well have been brownies. I should have perhaps changed over to buzzers as there were one or two in the air.  Nothing more landed, though, so I went ashore on a little sandy beach to brew tea and have my lunch.  Burrator was looking absolutely stunning in the spring sunshine.

Back out on the water the breeze was a little stronger and more westerly.  I anchored for  while but then decided to motor over to the ever popular Longstone area.  Several anglers were fishing from the shore and I anchored a little way along the shore towards the Sheepstor Dam but only about 70  yards from the ruined manor and not far off the shore.  The water depth was around 25 feet so I stayed with the floating line and the weighted fly.  Later I changed from the black & green to a more fritzy orange one (see photo below).

I had another three rainbows and two blues.  I kept the two blues but returned the rainbows.  I did have lots more plucks at the fly but I have found that when the water is cold the trout don't seem to hit the fly but rather 'nibble' at the wavy marabou tail.

This was my first boat trip on Burrator for two seasons and the new - to us - Coulams are very welcome.  I have a boat seat that I made for fishing Chew Valley in the early 70's and it still going strong and is still fairly comfortable!  Being raised up and clamped to the thwart it makes for very easy fly casting.

The water well up the slipway

Drifting off Longstone

A vital Kelly Kettle brew at my lunch break

One of the excellent new Coulams 

A drift up the West shore

Anchored off Longstone Manor

The two well conditioned blue trout that I kept

The successful orange fritz nomad pattern

The black & green Kennick Killer