AUTUMN TROUT FISHING
Fishing at this time of the year can be exceptionally good; I always look forward to October and November because, based on experiences of previous years, I am confident of exciting fishing and good fish.
This week I paid an overdue visit to Raygill Fisheries in Lothersdale, West Yorkshire. Raygill is a pretty and welcoming fishery in the Dales and comprises two coarse lakes and two trout lakes. Bernard, the bailiff, is always ready to offer advice on fish behaviour and “flies of the moment” to all comers and it is advice worth heeding for it can make the difference between a blank day and a good one.
I had not been to Raygill since Easter and it was a refreshing change after some of the more isolated waters I have fished in recent months; no long walks or over-exposed and bleak locations. Here, everything is compact and comfortable including the new fishing lodge which can be a warm refuge on a chill day.
The Top Lake
I tried the top lake first. Reports have been good over the months and I enjoyed fishing this lake in April. The breeze, carrying light rain, was coming in from the East and there was some colour in the water. I decided to fish a gold headed Dawson’s Olive on a fourteen foot, straight-through Maxima leader of four pounds breaking strain. I worked my way down the right hand bank, just letting the fly sink through the surface film and retrieving steadily. I had a take every third or fourth cast so eager were the fish to feed. One or two escaped but the rest came to the net and there was not a fish among them under four pound. After the first two of these battling rainbows were landed I upgraded my leader to 6lbs. I had eight fish in about forty minutes and then switched banks to where I had seen some surface activity.
I did not have even one polite tug in the next half hour and when I returned to my previous beat the takes had dried up so, after ten minutes of fruitless casting, I decided to walk down to the Quarry Lake. Except that instead of going on to the popular pathway, I scrambled down the grassy banking that leads to the stone ledge at the far end. The wind and rain were blowing straight into the ledge but it was not strong enough to deter casting.
The Quarry Lake
Bernard had reported that an early morning angler (on holiday from Birmingham) had taken at least ten fish on a small Muddler. I had the place to myself and decided to try a size 10 Muddler with a lovely flashing white tail that I had received as a free gift with a recent order from www.sportflies.com. I changed my leader to Fulling Mill fluorocarbon 6lb because the water was so clear and previous experience tells me that this would give me an extra advantage in this lake.
The results were spectacular. I cast out some twenty yards and dragged the Muddler back through the ripple with a retrieve that varied from smooth to erratic, fast to slow. Big rainbows materialised from God-knows-where to queue up for the fly. The fish made their attacks from several yards away and hurtled on to the Muddler with speed and ferocity.
It was exciting to watch and reminded me of an old film of wartime submarines torpedoing a small and defenceless tramp steamer. Unfortunately for them it was the trout that fell into the trap. Each cast drew a marauding fish and most of them were hooked and landed.
Then I watched with apprehension as a monstrous rainbow suddenly appeared behind the fly. It was so big that I was, for a moment, unsure about whether I even wanted to hook it. The fish made my mind up for me and took the fly with an almost carefree surging twist of its head.
I have read accounts of ‘everything going solid’ but had never experienced this before. I hooked the fish and tried to play it on the reel. It did not run far but just kept up a solid counter-pressure to my rod which was bending dangerously into a ‘U’ shape. It reminded me of an instance many years ago at Toddbrook Reservoir in the Peak District when I was fishing with light tackle for Winter roach and hooked a very large bream on a size 18 hook and a pound and a half breaking strain hook length. Near impotence!
Eventually I managed to get the fish close to the net. This was now dangerous work as I had, without thinking, shimmied my way down the rocky ledge to the water line and had very deep water immediately under my rod. The fish had tired and I managed to steer him into the net. I had the net in my left hand and I found that I had not the strength to lift the net out of the water. I had to place my rod behind me on the ledge and use both hands before I could safely land my catch.
He was a very big male with a gape like a salmon. I was fishing in an isolated part of the fishery away from the lodge and with no other anglers in view. Nor did I have scales or camera so you’ll have to take my word for it. Last year I landed a rainbow of 10lbs 2oz from Raygill and this one was appreciably bigger; at least another pound.
It was a struggle to get him out of the net and I almost fell into the water myself when easing him back. He immediately turned over on to his back. Down the ledge again and I grasped him as gently but firmly as I could and began to move him to and fro to get water through his gills. Thirty seconds can seem a long time and I thought he was not going to make it. I continued to move him and then pointed him down towards the deeper water and, thank goodness, he began to come round and then gave a flick of his tail and was gone.
There was, however, no one there to revive me. I sat down on the ledge in the rain for a good ten minutes before my breathing and pulse returned to normal and then I packed up and went home early. Nothing could replicate what I had just gone through; anything else would be an anti-climax.
I am hoping to take our Editor, Graham, along to Raygill in the next week or two. He’s not been trout fishing for ages and, if these rainbows are still in the same feeding frame of mind, we might have a convert on our hands. The fishing here this week was THAT good.
Contact Information:
Raygill Fisheries, Lothersdale, West Yorkshire
Bailiff: Bernard Clements
Telephone: 01535 632500
Tight Lines!
Eddie Caldwell
