February 2022
February has been a very changeable month weather wise! The recent storms have of course brought some challenging casting conditions. We even took the decision to close on the Friday due to the red and yellow weather warnings! Thankfully though our regular anglers have been sensible with where to fish during these windy days – Brick Lake has been producing some lovely fish, particularly in “snake cove” where the fish sometimes tend to be for shelter and a good amount of food.
Generally speaking Cats Whiskers are still proving fruitful as are Damsels, but we are seeing an increasing number of fish being caught on the more natural looking flies such as buzzers, particularly when the sky is clear and the day is bright. We will always offer advice in the Lodge and the log book is available for your perusal.
There have been many incredible “Brick Farm Biggies” caught of recent, including Mark Baker who was rewarded with a lovely 10lb 3oz rainbow during our Brick Farm League. Regular angler Peter Clarke had a beautifully coloured rainbow of 9lb 12oz, Leigh Fullager caught a 9lb 4oz Brownie on a self-tied green fritz yellow lure, Tim Tyrrell had an 8lb 4oz Brown from Spring lake whilst braving the strong winds. In the days after the storms the lakes really came alive, possibly due to the ‘rest’ they had had due to the reduced angling. Scott Morley had a brilliant 10lb 8oz Brownie on a Cats whisker, Richard Carter used the ever reliable BFD and bagged himself another lump of a brownie weighing in at 11lb 13oz! Simon had a fin perfect 12lb 12oz Brown (our new Brick Farm record) and finally Graham Jenner was rewarded with a Rainbow that had eluded several anglers over the past few weeks which weighed in at 11lb 14oz. These are just the top of the weights with many others being caught on a daily basis.
We are now coming into the prime season for fly fishing for trout, so if anyone is thinking of taking up the sport, we would suggest a lesson with one of our recommended qualified coaches – details of whom can be found on the Coaches page. The Spring months and early Summer are a fantastic time to learn as the conditions are really suitable with cold water and an abundance in natural food to mimic with the fly.
We recently held the 49th Annual General Meeting for local club Eastbourne & District Fly Fishers Club – the group of keen anglers have a vast breadth of knowledge and are always happy to give advice to newbies. They offer a good annual programme of events throughout the year at various venues which are popular – the social side of fishing with other like-minded anglers partnered with the friendly competitions mean it is a great club to be a part of, and with full membership being only £15 for the year (reduced for juniors) it’s great value. Please contact the club if you are interested in joining them – we are proud to be their home venue for another year and look forward to the year ahead with them. Email: edffc2016@gmail.com and give their Facebook page a Like to be kept up to date.