Bewl Reservoir

Monday the 26th October saw Chris Reeves (fishingclass.co.uk) and me off to Bewl Reservoir. Apparently it had fishing really well recently. We got there about 10am, booked the boat, got our gear out of the car and loaded up the boat. After some motion sickness tablets, off we went.

Chris had decided that sinking lines were the order of the day. I took my slow sink and a sink tip line. In the end I only used my slow sink. We had been told that the fish were on the fry, so larger types of fly were the order of the day. We set our rods, lines and flies before getting on the boat. By the times I got in the boat Chris had snagged one of my flies on the dock and it was missing. Not to worry as it was one he had given to me. Once in the position we needed to be the drogue was put out and we started our first drift. No luck on this one or the next or several more.

I was fishing with two flies and Chris with four, it still made no difference. In the end we changed position and tried again, changed again and again still no luck. Finally Chris got a tug, then a fish was on, just a small one, about 2 ½Lbs. He put it back. By now it was lunch time.

We moved again, this time we changed to heavier flies (gold heads) so we could fish deeper. Still no luck, but on one of my casts the flies hit my rod with a resounding crack. Chris decided that going deep was not the idea and we should be going shallower. Which we both did but still no luck.

In the end he decided that maybe a larger fly, he gave me one of his Minkie's, which had eyes similar to that of a Boobie. I cast it out and he explained that the best way to fish this fly was staticly and it would appear as a dead or dieing fish. As I turned back I saw my line streaking away, fish on. At first Chris thought that it was only a small fish but as it broke the surface, he changed his mind. It took off again and again, each time it just about got to the net, off it went. Eventually he netted it for me. As this turned out to be successful for me he decided to change his flies as well. He put on two, leaving on two of his previous flies.

We moved on to a position close to the fish cages, where the young fish are fed and eventually released into the reservoir. After a short while Chris hooked into one of his small fish and this one even surprised him. It was even larger than mine. We fished on but time was getting on, we were both getting a little tired, then Chris hooked into another fish. This one was a lot smaller than the last two caught and was duly put back.

We got back to the jetty and weighed our fish. Mine was 4Lb 14ozs and Chris's came in at a monster 6Lb 12ozs. This earned him an entry into the Troutmasters competition. This was his first time he had got into it.

Some of the Flies Used