Interesting to see Beardy Neils post on winter reservoir fishing, although quite different to my experiences this winter. I’m somewhat fortunate to be able to fish most weeks (unless the beast from the east is upon us like it is this week!) at a private 7 acre lake and the fishing there this winter has been fantastic.
The fish have never been deep, don’t seem to have been put off by the cold or the low winter sun and have been very active. The last stocking was back in October so the fish aren’t stockies. I’ve caught plenty of rainbows and some beautiful browns with most catch rates hitting on average 6/7 for a 4 hour morning session. I even had a 10 fish morning a few weeks ago.
So what have I caught most of these fish on? Well, I’ve had some on my trusty FAB, some on buzzers a few weeks ago, quite a few on cats whiskers back in November but, the majority of fish have been caught on a small black scruffy looking nymph/lure with a green bead head. This exact fly to the left caught me 6 fish last week when everyone else struggled with 1 or 2. Variations of this fly have also caught. Smaller ones without a bead if the fish are higher up fished slowly or this one left to sink and pulled a little quicker depending on the day and what the fish want. I’m not entirely sure what its called as its something I’ve tied myself (on a size 12 heavy hook) but it could be a small tadpole type lure or a big black nymph or something in between. Maybe I’ll call it a ‘Tad Lymph’.
I’ve tried it in a team with a FAB and buzzer and on its own as a single fly and it always seems to catch. I know black and green are classic winter colours but I don’t remember having a fly catch so consistently over such a long period of time before.
This is now my go-to fly and seems to never fail at the moment. I’ve now completely jinxed it and the next time I get to the lake it won’t catch a thing!