Somewhere over the Rainbow, Trout!

Here I am writing the latest of my challenge blogs which was going to have a strong Spring is here theme but today its chucking it down with snow again and the War of the Bread has started. Luckily I had managed a couple of hours the previous day to attempt species 25 to bring me ever closer to the halfway point. The fish I decided upon was the Rainbow Trout and although its been a while since I got the fly rod out I was confident it would soon all come back to me, especially after I snagged a few trees and snapped some leaders. The time was limited as I only had a half day to spare and although the weather was changeable the showers were set to be light. The venue I chose was Simpson Valley fishery a complex of lakes not far from our own lakes, the venue is managed by Andrew Moore's and fellow Holsworthy Sea Angling Club member Paul Cozens. I made a quick call to Paul for some advice on which lake to target for the chance of a Rainbow Trout, and to book a space. Paul advised me to try the smaller Trout lake, Jenny Wren and on this lake during certain times you can use LRF methods which stands for Light Rock Fishing but covers much of todays lighter lure angling. This excited me as I hadn't had a chance to test out my LRF kit yet and the thought of a big trout slamming into a small lure is somewhat appealing. I asked Paul if it was okay to fish the lake catch and release, which it was and Paul went on to offer the trip free of charge to support the good cause, so many thanks to Simpson Valley Fishery for this.

The kit was packed in the car and the thing with LRF fishing its extremely compact with only a Rod, Reel, Net and Bag required, I did get the fly rod ready but left it at the last minute opting to stick with the plan. When I arrived at the lake the sun was shining and the breeze was fairly light, a fish rose only feet from where I stood signalling maybe a chance of a fish. While I threaded the line through the small rod rings I was reminded how poor my eyes are and although I had capitulated and started bringing glasses I still hadn't gone the whole hog and put them on. Unfortunately this always leads to missed rings on the threading of the line and much frustration but eventually my stubbornness got the line through and a red and white curly tail was tied to the end of the line. Some of the selection of lures I had chosen for the day are below and the plan was to start largish and scale down if necessary.

While setting up the kit several more fish had topped and they seemed to be spread fairly evenly across the lake. Before making the first cast I crushed down the barb to help with the catch and release of any trout hooked, Rainbow Trout are fairly fragile and need to be unhooked quickly. I then worked my way around the lake casting long, short and retrieving fast then slow, I cast onto topping fish and tight to the snags but with not so much as a pluck on the line. It was time for a rethink and with several fish actively feeding there had to be a food source on or close to the surface. At this point I had a wander without the rod, examining the water margins in several spots and discovered several small insects bouncing around the surface also frogs in the process of spawning. These couple of obvious food sources could be preoccupying the trout and I now had that sinking feeling when you know you should have brought along a bit more kit, in this case the fly rod. Well I needed another plan using the equipment I had with me and it needed to be a little more refined.

I decided that with the brightness of the sun and the frog element I would go with a black and green grub, I trimmed this down to fit nicely with a size 6 barbless carp hook. I then tied a 4lb fluorocarbon leader in the hope of disguising the line in the clear water, and after tying on the modified grub I pinched an AA Split shot to assist with casting. The final part of the cunning plan was to swap from the Fishtytwo winter hat to the summer peaked cap. With the changes instigated I set off to find a fish and it didn't take me long as a fish rolled 20 yards to my left, I flicked the modified grub in the direction of the dissipating ripples, positioning it perfectly just a foot in front of the fish. The first couple of turns and a bow wave broke the surface as the fish locked on to its prize, sure enough the flimsy LRF rod doubled over as the fish and lure made contact. The surface of the water erupted as the angry trout strived to fling the piece of rubber back to me, no you don't I thought and I gingerly played the fish to the margins and waiting net.

It shows that by making a few small changes you can really make a difference to your chances but more importantly you cannot beat matching the hatch, find what your target is eating and replicate it. I wouldn't say the cut down grub imitated the prey of the trout but it was an improvement on everything I had used. I took a few quick pictures of this stunning Rainbow Trout which has got me too species 25 and then ensured it swam off strongly by keeping it upright in the net for a few minutes. The time had flown by and I had a couple hours left before I had to be home, so I made the decision to leave the Trout and nip back over to our lakes and try for a LRF caught Perch. While driving the few miles over to Sanctuary Lakes the heavens opened up and the black sky deposited hail and driving rain, what a great bit of timing that was. Dodging that hail storm and catching the Rainbow made me think my luck was in and as I pulled up to the lakes it was highlighted further by the stunning pair of Rainbows now glowing in the sky above the lake, a day of rainbows. This must be an omen I thought and after a quick check of the electric fences I grabbed the LRF rod and set about jigging the little grub along the bottom of the lower lake in the hope of a Perch. Second cast and by a bed of sunken lily's the popular little grub was nailed by a very aggressive fish, not the intended Perch but a feisty little Pike. The little pike led me a merry dance and while it wallowed in the margin awaiting to be scooped in the net another much bigger Pike attempted to steal it narrowly missing the floundering fish. The sudden appearance of this bigger fish made me jump backwards and slip on the greasy grass, fortunately staying attached to the first pike.

Once I regained my composure I was able to scoop the lucky little Pike up and after checking he was unmarked and taking a picture I released him in another swim out of the sight of the bigger fish. Now I wanted to catch the bigger Pike it would be great to update my charity challenge Pike picture as that was the smallest Pike ever. I didn't fancy using my LRF rod although it would I'm sure handle a good size fish, I opted for a stronger rod and float fished Rudd. Luckily I keep spare tackle in the lock up at the lakes for just this situation, within 10 minutes I was back fishing with less than a hour to go. While watching the rod I noticed the abundant frogs swarming in the margins no doubt attracting pike to this area, I took a couple of pictures as there was Frogs spawn and Toads spawn in the same weed bed.

Being pre-occupied with the spring watch I almost missed the float moving off slowly to the right, I struck, finding out instantly this was a bigger pike as the Pike erupted out of the water. This would have been fun on the light rod but I was grateful to have a wire trace and 8lb mono to get the fish subdued with no disasters. The fish was netted first time and the single treble was just in the scissors of the fish and quickly popped out. The Pike was definitely the same fish that tried to eat its smaller brethren a short time before, it is incredible what a pike will attempt to eat they are a strike first think later predator.

The fish was in great condition and following a check over and few pictures she swam off to terrify some more amphibians. It had been a busy yet productive half days fishing spread over two venues with a few different methods and I should have returned home happy with species 25 in the bag.

Just before heading for home I received a message from fishing pal Billy informing me of the sudden death of a fishing friend of ours. Des was a similar age to me and fit and healthy and although I am not yet aware of the circumstances of his passing I am shocked and saddened. Death does come to us all but when its unexpected and of a person with so much life to live it is so much harder to come to terms with. I enjoyed my time fishing with this generous, kind, and thoughtful man, he will be missed immensely by his friends, family, and members of the SACGB, rest in peace Des mate..