February Fishing Report

Following on from the colder weather in January, February started off just as cold with a good amount of snow settling around Wiltshire, and we here certainly appreciated the benefits of the lodge log fire! However many keen anglers braved the cold spell in the first few weeks of February and had some good winter fishing when fishing deeper, with plenty of 3-5lb brown trout caught on smaller lures.

As the temperature started to increase in the back end of the month, more and more anglers emerged from hibernation.  Notable catches were; Mr Buler with a 7.10lb brown,  with Mr Harris following with a 6.10lb brown. Mr Johnston landed a 7lb rainbow, and Mr Fernfield with a 6.5lb rainbow.

Successful flies for the month were; goldhead blue flash damsels, cats whiskers, vivas, black buzzers, diawl bachs and freshwater shrimp patterns.

The final week of February provided some welcome warm weather, with the lake seeing many fly hatches and plenty of rising fish. This provided some superb surface sport for those willing to persevere with small emerger patterns  and delicate presentation. We also ran a half term offer for that week, where under 16 juniors could share any day ticket  with a paying adult. This proved successful, with many juniors coming to learn to fish and expand on their skills. We are looking at potentially providing this offer again in the future; so keep an eye on our facebook and instagram pages for updates, and bring the kids along to introduce them into our sport!

Malcolm and myself have been busy as usual, preparing the fishery for spring. Our entrance field to the fishery has been cleared up considerably, removing fallen branches and brush from the winter and plenty of strimming to revert much of the land back to grassland. However, one of our largest jobs has been constructing sturdy netting and fencing around our fry raceways to further protect our younger stock from avian and mammalian predators. This work will extend to the “grow-on” stock pond netting, to further secure that area. A constant rotation of stock is in motion as usual, with a recent order of 30 gram fry growing well and soon to be moved out into our grow-on ponds.

We hope that your spring time fishing is successful, and plenty of buzzer action is to be had and taken advantage of!

Tight lines,

Fen