The first few days of March were glorious! The sun had real warmth to it, the winds were light and we were back to fishing here at Brick Farm in T-shirts and shades. Anglers arrived in their droves and moved the furniture out onto the deck of the lodge to enjoy the fantastic views and the warm spring weather. The diggers and ‘dozers arrived back on site to finish the last of the shaping of the new third lake and the anglers appeared with their rods polished and tackle ready to begin a fresh season of fishing with enthusiasm and happy, smiling faces, isn’t it amazing what a little sunshine can do to moral! The fish were very obliging, still lively and fighting hard in the cold water resulting in the vast majority of anglers catching their bags.

On that first warm Sunday I came fishing here with my Husband and made a new friend – a Gold Head Marabou Bloodworm! (I know I need to get out more). It may sound strange to all you experienced fishermen out there but I’ve never caught a fish on one of these before. I’ve been a little scared to follow my own advice and venture away from my trusty flies and use a new pattern. I was unsure when and how to fish with these red devils but armed with a little knowledge from my bedside reading I took the Bloodworm by the horns so to speak and decided to have a stab at it at last. So, with an intermediate line set up with a six foot leader, shorter than I would normally fish with, and with a new “Caroline” retrieve I have called “slow, slow, quick, quick, slow” I began. All it took was about thirty minutes for me to catch my two fish and, as Hubby was still to get off the mark, he kindly brought me back to the lodge for tea and cake and another two fish ticket so I could keep him company and I suspect quiet. It didn’t work! I soon caught my next two fish. My Bloodworm and I were now soul mates, joined at the hip, never to be parted and friends for life. As I was now jumping up and down and hurling unwanted advice from the touchline Hubby begrudgingly put on a red and white fly of vague description (he wouldn’t let me see it) and I wandered off. Around the corner I bumped straight into our neighbour who had come fly fishing for the first time, another convert from the maggot drowning fraternity. His casting I have to say was excellent but his rod was a bit on the heavy side and he had a floating line so I asked him if he would like to try my set up and line to enable him to feel the difference in the weight and balance. He jumped at the chance and caught almost on the next cast! I left him to it and he carried on and caught his next fish on my rod and fly. I have to say, my Husband (eventually) caught on his red and white creation as well so it may indeed have been more about the colour than anything that day but it was still a brilliant afternoon’s sport and left me a little more confident once more. I now have a renewed enthusiasm to try the next goal in my fishing education, that is to catch on a Buzzer and a session I had thought might turn into a disaster resulting in a blank day was the complete opposite and hopefully I managed to help a “new recruit” along the way.

At Brick Farm this last month we have had a total of 266 anglers, which, considering the time of year and weather conditions is, all in all an excellent turn out. Of these over 90% have caught their bag of fish, proving winter really is a productive season if you are prepared to wrap up and venture out. With the warm, lakeside lodge in which to take refuge for a hot coffee and some delicious homemade food, we aim to make your fishing experience here a memorable day’s sport. This month we have had the pleasure to welcome a group of sea anglers for a day on the fly and a course fishing club for a friendly get together so, if you belong to a group of like-minded folk who fancy a change of fishing talk and tactics then give us a ring. We can arrange a breakfast, lunch and tea to suit all budgets and can arrange tackle hire and tuition if needed. Please call Sophie or Keith at the lodge or send us an email for details.

Signing off for another month, we would like to wish you all a Happy Easter and hopefully Mother Nature will give us a break from the cold and wet and bring us some wonderful, warm spring sunshine once more.

*Elhard Crossman on a cold February Saturday with his 3lb 14oz rainbow reward.*

Tight lines for April…

March 2013 fishing report