£550.00
With the awful weather we've been having I haven't been able to get out fishing for a while and I haven't been to Blakewell for several months, so when Mike suggested we have a go on Saturday, and the Met office promised a dry day without too much wind and good temperatures for the time of year, I jumped at the chance.
We arrived about 8am and had the pick of the swims apart from the popular point swim that was already occupied by the only other angler on the bank.
The weed of the summer months has all but gone, and the lake is carrying extra water following recent rain, which has added a lot of colour to the water. I've learned from past experience that in these conditions a white fly works best, presumably because the fish can see it better in the murky water, so I started with a size 10 goldhead white and yellow Cats Whisker on a floating line with 3ft of 6lb fluorocarbon tippet attached to a 9ft floating leader.
I've been using fluorocarbon tippets exclusively for a while now and I do seem to get more takes. Apparently fluorocarbon is harder for the fish to see that mono and I'll take any advantage I can get!
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By varying the amount of time I gave the fly to sink before starting the retrieve, I was able to fish at different depths, and after about half an hour I started to get takes on a steady retrieve with the fly fishing from just sub-surface to a couple of feet down. I missed a few pulls before I got the first one on the bank - a rainbow of about 2lbs.
After some trial and error, I found that a slow retrieve worked best and I had to look for the takes - these showed as a slight tightening of the leader and it was one of those days when you had to avoid striking until you got a definite pull, which was usually after the fish had followed the lure and 'had a go at it' 3 or 4 times before committing itself. On a few occasions I struck too soon, realising I should have waited almost before the strike, but after a couple of hours or so I had 4 of my 6 fish on the bank, and a very ragged Cats Whisker on the hook!
Time to change the fly as there wasn't much left of it, so this time I tied on a white goldhead nomad for a change and soon had another rainbow in the net. the best of the day at about 3lb. I finished by bag of 6 fish with another 2lb+ fish about half an hour later for a total of just over 13lbs in about 3 hours of fishing.
Mike took a little longer to get his 6, and included a fish of 4lb plus in his bag on a day that saw everyone catching fish, including a nice rainbow of about 9lb to the angler on the point.
I'm told that there are a lot of Browns in the lake now - legally catchable all year following the recent change in byelaws, but I didn't catch any or see any caught on the day. Maybe next time.
If you live in the area Blakewell is definitely worth a visit at the moment - the fish are in good condition with a good average size and some monsters among them. The fishing is challenging enough without being too hard, and although the locals definitely have their favourite swims, its possible to catch all round the lake so even on busy days you can get among the fish.
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