|
||||||
 |
||||||
The October 2000 edition of the popular UK premier monthly publication Trout Fisherman printed an article on Tavistock Trout Fishery by its contributor, Russ Symons, who visited us to compile his report, which is reproduced herewith by kind permission of this excellent magazine. "Star" ratings from 1 to 5 stars, categorise facilities. Tavistock Trout Fishery is listed as a "5 Star" venue, their highest award. Trout Fisherman describes its rating for 5 stars as "Fantastic - everything you could want and more."
Trout Fisherman's summary states, "Tavistock Fishery deserves the accolade of Five Star Fishery. Besides being very well run with quality fish, some large, there is a comfortable lodge offering food to order. If help is needed, advice and tackle can be easily found at the lodge."
Rattling across David's Bridge at the entrance to Tavistock Trout Fishery, I notice that Abi has been at work again, plant pots spilling over with a profusion of delicately-coloured flowers decorating the austere steelwork of the ex-MOD bridge. An immediate and upfront indication that this is a fishery with a difference. Abigail Underhill, who owns Tavistock Fishery, is a lovely lady who runs this superbly successful fishery with a truly professional, yet very feminine touch.
There are a band of anglers fiercely loyal to Tavistock, who rarely fish anywhere else, because they say that "Tavy" has everything. Coffee and tea free whenever you want, brilliant fishing, wonderful scenery and good company..... in fact, to the anglers, Tavistock Fishery has a club-like atmosphere, without the hassle of membership or politics.
If I can, I park up with the car facing down the valley so that I can sit silently for a few moments enjoying the atmosphere, getting my head in order, calculating the conditions and making decisions about what will be the front line tactics for the day. A warm gentle wind from the south west made the choice of my five weight easy. I had all day to fish. There was no subconscious time-driven agenda, so my floating line and box of "Ford" buzzers went into my pocket - you know the ones, any colour you like so long as they're black.
There are three main lakes at Tavistock, the first one you encounter as you walk towards the lodge is Kingfisher, which at a little before eight in the morning was like a mirror, reflecting a deep green from the surrounding woodlands. As I stood and looked against the far bank, I saw an "S" shaped bow-wave from a fish swimming at speed just inches under the surface. I could almost hear the brain cells click. The fish were chasing damsels, my kind of fishing. It took a couple of minutes to walk back to my car and put the intermediate spool and another fly box into my waistcoat pocket.... just in case. In fact, thinking about it, I changed to the intermediate, putting on a 9 foot monofilament tapered leader with a three foot length of 6lb fluorocarbon as a point with an unweighted green marabou tailed damsel tied on a size 12 sproat Tiemco. I like my Damsels to imitate a damsel and not a monstrous green lure! By half past eight I had cracked it. The fish wanted the Damsel pulled fast, very fast, just under the surface. A hump of water materialised behind the fly, followed by a smash take that put some serious strain on the rod and line. With a limit from Kingfisher and a naughty cholesterol-rich breakfast under my belt, the big fish in Osprey lake beckoned for the rest of the day. Tavistock held the rainbow record for a while a few years ago with Big Bertha, a 30lb plus fish which I was privileged to see stocked. I have got to say that she had lost at least three or four pounds by the time she was caught, weighing 30lb 12oz.
The minimum size in Osprey Lake is 3lb, but there is always at least one fish skulking amongst the weeds that will be a conversation stopper! Osprey is a deep, dark lake. Some would describe it as a moody lake, because there is little doubt that on occasions the fish become difficult to catch. But what actually happens is that the fish become very specific in their feeding, focussing on a particular colour of buzzer or type of nymph. As at many big fish lakes, moat anglers pull lures such as marabou-tailed Montanas, Cat's whiskers or Fritzies, to the point where most of the long-term residents disdainfully ignore the multicoloured concoctions that whiz around the lake. On this day, the foxgloves were out around the margins and that meant one thing to me.... Mayfly! Osprey Lake usually has an intermittent hatch of yellow-winged Mayfly which sail like little galleons down the middle of the lake, sometimes with total impunity and other times to disaster. The morning sunshine backlit two or three of these lovely insects fluttering over the margins, but there was little movement on the dark flat surface of the lake. The fish were deep, not showing themselves at all. Mayfly nymph seemed logical. It would be good to say that Dick Walker's creation produced, but it didn't. So an hour and a half later, on went a single Ford buzzer, allowed to fish on the drop for minutes at a time. That took fish.
Don't be fooled by Osprey. You can take fish on nymph and dry fly as well as lures. Usually the nymph-caught fish are the overwintered resident fish. But it isn't easy. This is an "A" level water for the nymph and dry fly angler. The third lake, called Heron, contains normal stock fish like Kingfisher. Normally the fish will be two pounds and upwards, but Abi will sometimes play one of her little jokes and put in a couple of doubles. Heron has a distinctive character of its own, with weed beds at the north end feeding a lot of damsels into the food chain. Buzzer is good, but my favourite time of the day on Heron is after 4 o'clock when I've found that dry fly and emergers give some wonderful sport on five weight tackle.
© Text &
photographs by courtesy of Russ Symons
All about Tavistock Address: Parkwood Road, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 9JW. Contact: Abigail Underhill on 01822 615441 Season: All Year Ticket Prices: (effective from 1st August 2003)
Osprey big-fish lake £50 (6 fish) £44 (5 fish) £37 (4 fish) £29.50 (3 fish) £21 (2 fish) Extra Fish £10.50 Kingfisher & Heron Lakes £27.50
(6 fish) £23.00 (5 fish)
£18.50 (4 fish) £15.00 (3 fish) £12 (2 fish) Extra fish £6. Rod hire £5.00 incl. net, glasses, priest, flies & leader line Children's Lake Ticket to fish £2.50 +
£1.80 lb or £3.96 kilo An E.A. Rod Licence is required - available from shop at Fishery Cost from £3 per day to £23 for a full year. Species Stocked: Rainbows; Browns.
Fishery Records: Rainbow 31lb 11oz caught by Kevin Blamey from Mevagissey on a "Mayfly Nymph" on Sunday 22nd June 2003 Brown 14lb caught by Alf Maynard from Weston with a "Green Skipper" Average
throughout Summer Season 2000 Other Facilities: Trout & Tipple Pub with meals; Free tea & coffee, tackle shop & lodge. Farm shop selling trout. The farmhouse is now rented out as a holiday let, 'phone for details & availability. Fish Gutting, Filleting & Freezer Service A fish gutting service is provided for anglers staying in our holiday cottages. We have now completed our on-site gutting hut, where anglers may gut their fish for a small charge. Club members will of course enjoy the use of this facility completely free of charge. Tuition: There are two tutors available at Tavistock Trout Fishery. If you would like some help or instruction, just call Abigail on 07970 608890 and she will make the necessary arrangements for you. Recommended Flies: Try Shuttlecock Buzzer; F Fly; Adams; Black Gnat; Klinkhammers; all in size 12 & 14 or smaller if the fancy takes you. Location: From Tavistock, take the new road over the River Tavy, towards Okehampton. About a mile outside Tavistock, just past the Kelly College grounds, the Trout & Tipple will be on your left. A car park for the fishery is on the right.
|
||||||
| For
Superb Fly Fishing & Comfortable Holiday Accommodation
|
||||||
|
I now have a mobile 'phone number for last minute holiday accommodation bookings only. You can contact the fishery owner, Abigail on 07970 608890. For more details & availability
|
