Boldly Does it

With wetter autumn and winter weather, the aquarium clear water loved by trout fishers can quickly become muddier. In fact, with virtually all of our small stillwaters stream fed, this is not so much a possibility as inevitable. So what can you do, other than give it up as a bad deal?

The obvious answer is to give the fish something they can't miss. And with this end in mind, I've been field testing patterns with plenty of colour and disturbance value at Goodiford Mill- a venue which is often a little coloured hence a fair testing ground. At least the fish have been cruising the upper layers, where I always feel your chances are better than deeper down in the murk. Some tricky fishing was anticipated, but in actual fact the going proved pretty hectic with large lures- a good pull and a healthy dose of colour too much for the rainbows to resist.

For the sake of experimentation I also tried duller hues and even small nymphs. The results spoke for themselves; still the odd touch, yes, but nothing like the frequency or sheer violence of hits on those larger, altogether uglier flies. Motion comes into it too though, I'm sure, with materials like rabbit strip or rubber legs greatly aiding the trout in locating the fly. Finding the clearer corners of the lake also helped- but perhaps some extra muddiness in the water isn't such a crisis after all?

Meanwhile, I've also been chasing perch at Luccombes, with mixed results. Something like forty perch came my way to chopped worm, but absolutely nothing over about half a pound. Even whole lobs and even small deadbaits didn't gain a bigger surprise- but such is perch fishing. Amazing how the better fish can disappear, even in the smallest pond. Hopefully the best is to come and at least when it cools down properly you know pretty damn well they'll be slap bang in the deepest water.