March 2008

One of the most important and exiting events of my angling life was to occur this month, as I had invited Mr Ron Holloway from AAPGAI to visit my local stillwater, Hodbarrow. The purpose of his visit was not to fish, but to offer sound advice based on his life long experiences of fishery management and conservation. The owner of Hodbarrow lagoon had in a previous meeting allowed me to stock the lake and promote the fishing side of things for the future, and therefore given that Ron is a good friend that is prepared to help if he can, why not then seek and take heed of some of the best advice available, even better coming from someone of whom I fully respect and also trust. Remember ive fished here since childhood, and to have such an authorative figure such as Mr Holloway come down to the old stomping ground gave me many sleepless nights, I had too many stories to tell. As wrote in the relevant article, the fish currently in the lake really do speak for themselfs, however we need more of them, and the importance of Rons visit from his perspective was to ge a feel for the place, see the lakes potential, and without upsetting the balance of nature, advise on the right amount of fish. A suitable way forward and stocking policy for Hodbarrow was discussed and will be implemented carefully over the coming seasons, utilising the same supplier as in days gone by.



This month was always going to turn out to be quite hectic as the preparations for our impending AAPGAI Masters Trout Examination also continued, myself and my freind Paul Proctor are taking this exam on the same day and have been meeting up regularly over winter to bounce questions off each other in mock examinations, and we also ensured the level of casting we are at, was up to the mark, however the final call is again simply down to the assesment team on the day.


"Proki working on refining the cast I demonstrated to him that day, the Aireal Double Spey"

Many Happy days were spent with my daughter Millie down at Hodbarrow again not fishing, but "Bugging". Seeing her little face light up as we searched through weed samples was a delightful expereince. On one day with camera in hand we were able to discover no fewer than seven food items which are on the menu at this time of year.


"Hoglouse, Corixa, Damsel Nymphs, Snails, Lake Olive Nymphs, Bloodworm"


"And of course the staple diet of the bigger fish, the Three Spined Sticklebacks"



My first 5# distance casting practice session of 2008 kicked off on the school field following some settled weather, and this first dream session saw me surpass all practices in 2007 regarding consistency in good measurements. On that day I was able to reach 116.5, 117.3, 117.9, 118.2 and a 119.1ft. I returned to the car for the video camera thnking this was to be the day that my first 120ft on video would come, however once the record button was pressed I failed to reach 110ft! What a funny old game this is.......


"please excuse the poor image taken on my mobile phone camera, the fly is near the top at just over 117.3ft"



Towards the end of the month my good friend Peter Varring Jensen from Denmark came to stay. On the day he arrived I took him for some casting practice down at Hodbarrow after we devoured a late tea, after a couple of hours we began seeing a couple of rising fish. Whilst still using my 6# Sage XP he quickly replaced the practice wool for a damsel nymph and much to my amusement proceeded to hook the biggest Brown Trout of his life thusfar. The initial run saw the fish empty the full flyline from the spool, pause momentarily and then take off another 15-20 yards, only to then come out of the water like a marlin somewhere out in the middle of the lake. Peter went on to explain that even Danish Sea Trout he had previously caught dont fight like this, and I could sense the concern in his voice as the fish refused repeatedly to play ball despite his efforts....



"It was about now when he explained in broken english "my legs are shaking!.....haha"




A Beautiful Hen fish of around 4-4.5lbs, well on the mend of which he dutifully retruned, Well Done Peter!
Given now its the last day of March, it wont be long before its onto Kenmore for the AAPGAI examinations gathering.......



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