Fly Fishing For Beginners

Mike and I arrived at Bratton Water at 8am. We were the first there and had a good look round the lake before fishing.

Mike, the owner, has been busy keeping the lake free of weed, and apart from one large patch between the island and the Club House, the lake was weed free. The water was very clear and we could see lots of Rainbows and some of the large Browns swimming around in groups.

There was a lot of fly life on the water, and the fish were taking off the top, so I started with a size 16 Dark Olive that the fish seemed to like. The fish at Bratton pull hard and punish you if you only have a light hook hold, and that was the case today with three of the first four fish hooked getting off.

Thinking that the hook was a little on the small side, I switched to a size 12 black Klinkhammer and managed to land one out of two hooked before things got quieter and the wind got up, gusting quite hard at times. I usually fish with a 9ft 6in 6/7wt Greys GRXI, but having seen the threat of strong winds on the Met Office website, I’d also taken along my 9ft 6in 7/8 Weight Greys G Series and switched to that as I find it helps my casting in a side wind.

With two fish in the bag by 11am, the fishing got harder as they day went on. What little cloud there had been cleared away, and we were fishing in bright sun which made the fish less willing to take off the top, so I tied a Bloodworm Buzzer on a short dropper ‘new zealand style’ to the bend of the Klinkhammer and managed one on that, losing a couple more, and ended the day with 3 Rainbows for just under 6lbs. I could easily have had my limit twice over if I’d hooked every take, and landed every fish I hooked.

The average size of the trout at Bratton may be less than other waters nearby, but they make up for that by being in fantastic condition, and fighting well above their weight. These are not fat stockies, they’re trout in prime condition. If you’re in the area on holiday this year, I’d definitely recommend you add Bratton Water as one of the places you should try.

Off to Bratton Water again tomorrow. After some initial success when I first fished Bratton a few months ago, I haven’t been doing so well lately.

I know the fish are in there, Mike, my fishing buddy, has caught his limit each time we’ve been recently while I’ve struggled. I know Mike has been a couple of times mid-week recently too when I’ve been at work. He’s done well on those days too so I’ve been interrogating him about how he’s been fishing.

Turns out most of the time he’s been fishing with a smallish buoyant floating fly like a Klinkhammer or small Hopper with a small Buzzer as a dropper attached ‘new zealand style’. Most of the time the fish take the Buzzer, but sometimes they take the Klinkhammer or Hopper.

He’s been fishing quite light too, with about 4ft of 4lb tippet on the end of a 9ft leader because the water is very clear at the moment and the fish are easily spooked.

Not sure how we’ll get on tomorrow, weather might be against us a bit. Forecast from mid-morning is very sunny, and the winds are going to be high too which will make casting tricky. At least the wind should put some waves on the water to counteract the effects of the bright sun.

I’m looking forward to getting on the water again whatever happens, and Bratton is such a nice well run fishery with really well conditioned fish that it should be a pleasant day out whatever the fish decide to do.

More later…