Several months of waiting had ramped up the anticipation levels considerably. Will’s incredibly generous £100 bid had topped the auction and added a bit of trepidation to my planning.
The aim of the day was to stalk the double figure trout that inhabit the three crystal clear lakes and hopefully put one on the bank! They are always there; it’s just a matter of finding them and then getting one to show a bit of interest. Good weather conditions, bright and sunny with light winds are essential for this type of fishing. Casting blindly will usually result in a limit bag of stock fish which usually average around 6lbs, but our target was their bigger brethren.
So, the day arrived, we met in a narrow country road in the middle of Hampshire at around 7am. A short drive later we turned down the entrance track, alongside the upper Itchen and into the fishery. The formalities were quickly completed, tackle assessed and set up and we were off down to the lakes. It was my intention not to fish in the morning, but to show Will how I approach the challenge and hopefully target specific fish. It was weird to walk down to the first lake, full of anticipation, but not have a rod in my hand!
A slow walk along the first lake soon revealed several good sized trout, but nothing beyond the normal stock size. However, each of those trout exceeded Will’s heaviest trout to date and looked very tempting! So with a four fish limit to work with, why not?
It could be a nice little taster and might just give Will a good idea of what to expect if one of the big girls comes along later. 
So after a few casts, a few follows and nervous twitches (from me, Will and the fish), a good sized rainbow finally grabbed the fly. At first it didn’t seem to fight too hard and was being a bit “quiet”. But then it woke up and proceeded to give a fine display of power that made Will think a bit harder! Finally a nice rainbow of approaching 6lbs was in the net and the day had really started.
Moving on to the second lake we slowly made our way to the far end where we finally spotted a big double. It was only a couple of rod lengths out and cruising a fairly well set route. There were several other smaller trout in residence and they would occasionally chase each other around. Despite this, the “target” always came back to the same area and continued it’s routine.
Now, Will fished hard and well for this one for quite some time. Never really spooking it and sometimes eliciting a response only to see it always turn away. Even better, Will became expert in whipping the fly away from the entourage of smaller fish. Quite a feat of mental toughness as each and every one of those trout would have added a pound or two to his PB. The trout had clearly not read the script. It finally went off to sulk and we reluctantly decided to start breathing again and go and have a cup of coffee.
Several hours had already passed and things were not quite going to plan. A few weeks ago I had put two fish on the bank by 9:30am for a total in excess of 30lbs and then managed a third big double for good measure. A quick look in the weighing room revealed several anglers had been and gone, completing their limit very quickly, but no fish above 8lb/9lb. Suitably refreshed, I decided to get my afternoon ticket and join the quest for the elusive doubles. Very generously, Will forced me to accept his payment for my ticket!
The afternoon turned out to be just as frustrating as we saw several really good rainbows, sometimes fleetingly, sometimes with enough time to give them a concerted go. But although they showed some interest and occasionally responded positively to the plop or sight of the fly, every one of them just fell short of actually taking the fly. Will did manage two more excellent rainbows which like the one I ended up with, attacked from the “blind side”, whilst we were targeting bigger fish.
Then in sheer desperation, Will tied on one of the ragged, frankly ugly, creations fashioned and donated by “Morespiders” and proceeded to hook and land a superb brownie. Not just any old stocked brownie but this nigh on 5lb of muscle was an interloper that had found its way into the lake from the adjoining River Itchen, wild and untouched by pellet feeding hand, definitely not an Avington bred fish!
No doubles but limit completed we adjourned to the nearby Fish Inn for a pint or two of Ringwood Best Bitter and a natter about things that might have been. We hadn’t succeeded in our quest for a really big Avington trout but the day had been very enjoyable and fun.
Thanks for your excellent company and generosity Will. I will definitely take you up on your offer of “barbeling your way”.
