| MARK WINTLE | |
He is at his happiest when he is sitting by a large pristine river watching the wildlife and dreaming of his next double figure barbel. A proud member of the Don Valley Specimen Group and keen environmentalist – with the emphasis definitely on the ‘mental‘. |
A day’s trouting on Pennine Trout FisheriesThe barbel season had finished and I was stuck for something to do. The perch had done my nut in and the temperature still made the prospect of an overnighter after a big bream seem about as enticing as a coffee enema. Then just as all seemed lost, Dan came to the rescue with the idea of a day’s trout fishing!No sun on Saddleworth MoorWe were soon pulling into the car park of Pennine Trout Fishery on’tother side of the ‘hills’ after crossing the desolate and foreboding Saddleworth moors where I have to be honest in that it’s a place where I’ve never seen the sun shine! It is hardly surprising though considering the moors’ terrible history of child murder. The place really does creep me out; It’s always cold, bleak and windswept, unlike where Myra Hindley is now, which is hot, smells of sulphur and may she burn there for all time!Anyway, less of the writhing in a vat of burning sulphur as the devil prods the meat off her bones with a red hot poker, and more about the fishing!
Pennine Trout FisheriesWe headed up the car park and into the on site shop where we were greeted by the fishery owner.“What should I use?” I enquired. The tray of mixed lures and nymphs I was faced with was threatening to stall my brain with a surfeit of choices. “Dawson’s Damsel with the bit of orange in the tail. That one will get you a few fish without a doubt!” Instantly came the answer from Lee Moran, the owner of Pennine Trout Fisheries as he pointed to the russet brown lure/nymph. “Do buzzers work?” I asked. “Yes, they work very well. I wish my lad was here as he would show you how to fish them well. He is very good at fishing buzzers.” “Can you pick me six or seven of those as well then?” I enjoy fishing something a bit more subtle than a big wedge of Marabou. “What breaking strains would you use for hooklengths?” This is a tricky one I thought. There are fish over 20lb in these lakes after all. “Use nothing higher than 5lb of high quality clear mono.” Came the reply. “Is 6lb flourocarbon ok?” I enquired; I love my flouro-carbon! “Yes, that will be fine. These fish are nobody’s fools. Some people just try to go too heavy and it will not work on here. The water is very clear.” With that and the exchange of cash I was away and ready to go. I love trout fishing, I don’t do a lot of it but I take pleasure in how different it can be from what I usually do, it’s refreshing to have to face up to different challenges. No plan but lots of questionsI usually approach my barbel fishing with all my plans (a, b, c, d and e ) already set in my mind, everything worked out and set to go, but fly fishing, well that is a different story altogether, I simply do not know enough about it.Most of the locals that were fishing seemed to be using those small foam controllers that always divide opinion as to the validity of the method. I say they work and if the owner is happy with them leave be and let people alone to fish away in peace. Even if they are float fishing for trout. Unlike barbel fishing this trout malarkey actually involves a certain amount of activity. Although I had to accept after watching a rather large trout take a ‘sight bob’ only a few feet from the bank they may well have the beatings of a barbel when it comes down to the downright stupid stakes! I chose to start with a small fluorescent green buzzer and go small and subtle but my fishing partner Dan went all in from the start with the brown Damsel lure. First cast a bush, then a Polaris missileFirst cast and I was in straight away. Well, sort of I ‘took out’ a song thrush in mid flight, the second cast resulted in a small bush being treated to a quick bit of topiary!
After a few minutes though I was ok and was managing to cast all of 7 yards. Actually that’s all I needed to cast as the fish were following a scum line straight into the corner of the lake where I was fishing. It wasn’t long before I was into my first fish of the day, a good Rainbow of no less than 5 pounds left the water like a Polaris missile! My God they can jump! The rod swept hard over and I was forced to bend into the fish; I didn’t want to take any chances as the fly I had on was barbless and any slack would surely see this fish throw the hook. Soon the fish was in the net…It looked magnificent, too good to kill in fact and even though I had forked out for the three fish ticket I chose to release this fish to swim another day. Dan was now into a fish…. and then out of it. Then he was back in… and out… and in… no… out again! “Give it some ‘tonk’ Dan,” was my technical offering. “Tonk?” Dan laughed as he hit into another fish shortly before losing it. “I will give them some ‘tonk’, whatever ‘tonk’ is!” “You know, put a bit of a bend in your rod, give them some oomph!” I tried to keep a straight face as another fish shed his hook.
Soon enough however Dan had got into the swing of it and had fish in the net. Good fish at that, the smallest being a very respectable 3lb and the largest going well over 6lb. This was fun. The fish were going mental and were hitting our casts almost every go. Pennine fishery has a very nice feel about it, it makes novices feel good and as far as I am concerned that is vital. There is little point in me forking out good money for a blank; I simply do not have that type of cash. Feeding the big girlsMr Moran the owner came round for a quick chat and it was at this time he mentioned that he would be feeding the ‘big girls’ at around 2pm and he asked if we would like to watch.By the time 2pm came around both Dan and myself were ready for a bit of a break…We had caught plenty and to be honest we were starting to attract a bit of a crowd as most of the new arrivals gravitated towards the two lads who’s rods seemed to be in a permanent state of flex! We set off down towards the keeping pond, which I thought was stocked with ornamental carp. It wasn’t until I was right on top of them that I realized that they were in fact coloured varieties of trout! I have never seen such vivid colour sports as these, they were every shade of blue and orange that you could imagine but it wasn’t the vivid flashes of colour that attracted the attention it was the darker ominous shades that ghosted beneath them. Oh my God! These fish were huge. And I really do mean huge on an epic scale! After two or three handfuls of pellets had been introduced the big girls were ‘switched on’ and they used their enormous bulk to block out the smaller more agile fish and command the feeding area. One fish in particular dominated and it was easy to see why… It was built like a bulldog with fins. Awesome! I asked how long it takes to get fish to this size as it must be a seriously ‘hands on’ job to rear them to these proportions and was stunned to find that anything from four to seven years of investment and care can go into these fish and only a very few places in the country actually have the skills or facilities to do such a thing. Something that I could see Mr Moran took great pride in, he also had little time for those fisheries that claimed they had gigantic fish but were simply living on past glories. He knows where the biggest fish are and he knows when they arrived as it is a small community of farmers that can actually rear that type of fish and so all I will say is don’t believe all the hype. There is a serious amount of bull droppings being thrown about when it comes to who has what in the way of fish stock!
After feeding the fish we decided to fish the lower lake but to be honest the swirling gusty wind was a bit too much for us and we soon beat a path back to the upper lake and into the shelter at the top of the lake. A very large cruising fish and my secret trickThat was where we came across a very large fish cruising around. Dan put a fly on its nose but it wasn’t having any of it. Then I remembered a little trick I had perfected when I was a lad fishing Dam flask for stock fish. And you know what? It still works!But it’s my secret trick and I am not telling anyone, but one thing I can assure you is, it is legal. No, I didn’t stick a worm on my hook! I asked Mr Moran if he had any problems with me taking such a large fish as a few fisheries set a size on the trout that can be removed. He laughed at me! “I have tonnes of fish come up that drive every week and I have tonnes of fish going out of that gate every week. All I ask is you fill out a return slip so that I can keep the stock level correct.” “Will it be any good to eat?” The chef in me getting curious. “Or will it be a bit ropey?” “It will be the best trout you have tasted – ever!” came the reply. “These waters are very pure. The pelleted food they eat is the highest quality we can get and the naturals that they feed on are prolific!” Strong claims I thought, the best trout I have eaten (I have eaten thousands …They were a summer staple in my house when I was a kid!). We would see, oh yes, we would see! All too soon it was time to leave for home and on the way back I was planning on what to do with my 17lbs of captured treasure. For me trout don’t need a lot of faffing around with, either fry them in butter or bake them in foil with thyme, lemon, butter (NOT MARGERINE) and a little bit of onion.
I chose the former method, with two slices of thick cut brown bread and butter and you know what? Mr Moran was correct! The fish tasted clean with not a hint of earth. I wonder what the Trent Catfish will taste like? Only time will tell I suppose :O) So if you fancy doing something a bit different with an outside chance of a fish that could well be the biggest of that species you have ever seen, get yourselves to Pennine Trout Fishery. It is truly an unforgettable experience!
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