It seems quite a while since I had a proper day out & of course since I last fishy blog, but as I fumbled about for my lucky fishing cap, I'm still half asleep.
I feel very lucky to be traveling to these lakes to fish this morning with my old angling pal Michel (a crazy & fanatical Frenchman)
As his guest I'm heading to Clandon park lakes, a beautiful stately home & over 100 acres of picturesque English countryside with three spring fed lakes of varying sizes from 1 acre to around 10 acres.
So I arrive spot on time & Michel is nowhere to be seen, eventually he turns up 30 minutes late looking rather worse for ware, this man loves a good quality whiskey almost as much as his fishing.
Anyway we drive for a mile through thick forest on a dirt track, thankfully it wasn't too muddy from last nites crazy rain & hale storm
We pull up in a small car park of sorts & unload the gear.
I say unload the gear but in reality that took all of a minute, we were very much ready for a day of roving & keeping on the move, so a small bag, stalking jacket, Polaroids, rod/reel & landing net was all that was needed.
As we walked past the thick vegetation a clearing appeared & there was the first small lake, an acre in size & beauifully crystal clear & shallow water with plenty of bays, overhanging trees & weedbeds.
In fact the weed covered the whole bottom of the lake, thus meaning a floating line was the only option with a longish 6ft hooklength of 6lb.
My one & only fly rod was a Sonik SK4 9ft 5/6 weight rod & reel. Fly wise, I was very much in the hands of Michel & this is what he dug out for me below.
The wind had picked up while we set up I noticed plenty of bankside obsticals, casting this fly any kind of distance will be a huge challenge for a novice fluff flinger like me.
Never a truer word spoken as over the next 30 mins I skilfully managed to depost 3 of Michel's favourite flies high in the tree tops behind me, now that takes real skill, hahaha.
After another 30 mins had passed I had improved 10 fold & was casting a hell of a lot better but was still not getting maximum distance, this could b a problem as I hadn't seen any fish in the margins.
Not many fish were showing on the top either, but I'd seen a few zooming about mid water, I just couldn't get my fly on his nose quick enough (or even within 20 yards hahahah).
A change of swim with a few less bushes & trees was the order of the morning for me. I found a few fish halfway across in the slightly deeper water. I should b able to cast three or four rod lengths out. Creeping down the bank & cast was made just past the small shoal, as the weighted green headed fly sinks nicely, I start a slow figure of eight retrieve as the fly moves between two fish.
One spooks & heads off to the santuary of a weed bed, the other smaller fish turns & hovers on the spot with eyes fixed on my fly, almost seeming to be thinking it through, "Should I stay or should I go now ???"
I kept the slow & steady retrieve with my hands shaking, he can't resist....
With minimal movement he zooms up to the fly & with a shake of his head, he takes the fly, just as the line twiched & I set the hook.
It was a surprisingly gentle take really.
I've had a few trout over the years & I love the way they scrap, jumping, changing direction in a split second & long hard runs especially in shallow water.
These text book trout movements were all witnessed with this salmonid.
As I worked hard to keep him under control, a couple of minutes later he was in the net & just call me Hywel Morgan........ not.
But all jokes aside is very pleasing to see your thoughts put into action & eventually work out.
The next few fish for me & Michel were caught in the deeper water of the far right swim, not sight fishing which was a shame but you have to follow the fish when you find them.
We decided to move onto the next lake, the medium sized one, about 2.5 acres & just as beautiful as the first but much deeper in places & with that the possibility of a better stamp of fish.
As we both made a few casts, no signs of fish at all but Michel was casting right to the middle of the lake, I decided to creep about & find a few margin fish by the reeds.
Moments later a fish surfaced in Michel's swim & he quickly & skilfully placed his fly on a sixpence, right into the ripples of water where the fish had showed itself.
Two twitches later & he's hooked into a nice fish.
The fish realised he was hooked & shot off to the other side of the lake, Michel is on to the backing already.
He turned the fish eventually but he's stays in the deep water, this is a much better fish than we've had so far.
I started to ask lots of questions like an excitable little boy, Michel answered a few & then he replied with "Mark shut up, I've gotta concentrate", not another word slipped from my mouth, hahaha
It's a very powerful fish & Michel can't get the trout's head up as he takes him on a tour of every single snag all the way along the margins of this bank.
At this point my estimations in my head are about 6lb as it flaps around & tires slowly.
I made a move for the fish & I make a complete hash of it as the trout gets under the net.... Sorry !!!
A few more hairy minutes passed but I finally got him in the net, he only just fitted by the way, as I lifted the fish up, my word it's heavy, I underestimated the size hugely.
After dispatching the monster we got it on the scales & they ticked down to 9lb 12oz.... What a magnificent example of a big trout
The next couple of hours I failed to get my casting to the distance where the fish were hiding as Michel caught a few more fish in the 2 to 3lb mark, although nothing close to the size of the near 10lber.
A touch of frustration came over me at this point, my casting isnt good enough really, but I kept at it.
I made a cast under an overhanging tree in the margins to my right hand side, I didn't see any fish but after two or three long pulls a rainbow made a mistake.....
I had a fish on.
After short-ish but very spirited fight I had him close in & I though it could be a pb.
As normal the nerves kicked in & for once my instinct kicked in too, I loosened the clutch & took my time.
As my French pal netted the trout I couldn't wait to weight it, 4lb 6oz & another pb has been beaten.
I don't care what anybody says, u can't beat that feeling of a pb.
2014 has been a beaut so far & long may that continue.
With that, we have our maximum quantity of fish & it's time 2 go.
As I write this just after I gutted all the fish & I really do stink of fish guts now, lovely.
Time for a hot shower & guess what's for dinner
Many thanks to Michel for an exciting & very enjoyable day, I can't wait to be invited back, hint hint 😜
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