I arrive at Bewl Reservoir at 7.30am, an hour early. It’s ridiculous really but I’ve been so excited about the trip that I couldn’t sleep and after waking every hour, finally decided to get up at 5.30am. It’s been a couple of months since my last day’s fishing and I’ve been really looking forward to it. It was my brother’s birthday in August so I’m treating him to a day’s boat fishing at Bewl. I’ve been doing some reading on reservoir tactics and have figured out how to tie droppers which will hopefully increase my chances.
I have a stroll down to the water while I’m waiting to check on the conditions. The fishing reports have been improving after the summer lull and the fish are apparently feeding high in the water again. The weather has been perfect all week, warm and cloudy, but the sun is already starting to burn through the clouds. Typically, it looks like it’s going to be a scorcher; good day to be in a boat but not necessarily good for catching trout.
My brother arrives at 9am and after a brief instruction on the boat from the helpful staff (it’s the first time either of us have been boat fishing), we make our way out onto the water. Although all the other boats have gone straight for the dam, we decide to tie up to a buoy at the fish cages which are a little quieter but have been fishing well. I start with a floating line with a buzzer hanging down from a daddy while my brother tries an intermediate line with a Silver Invicta and a hares ear nymph. The water is a little choppy but there’s not too much wind and the sun is shining brightly. There’s not much action for the first hour but then my brother misses a take and then gets into a decent trout on the Invicta shortly after. I’m having not luck so change to a CDC emerger on point with a buzzer and Invicta on the droppers.
After another half an hour with nothing, we decide to motor over to the dam where all the other boats are. We start off close to the dam wall and aim to drift out. It’s surprising how quickly we drift and, without a drogue, it’s difficult to manage the line. I’m stripping fast just to keep the line tight and don’t feel like I’m moving the flies much. We spend the next two hours drifting out and then motoring back towards the dam with no luck. Between us we’ve tried buzzers, diawl bachs, crunchers, hares, ears, pheasant tails, montana’s, booby’s, fritz and numerous others in my box which I can’t name. A little downhearted we decide to take a break for lunch on dry land and discuss tactic’s.
We have a chat with a few fishermen who are finishing after the morning and everyone agrees it’s tough. Although people’s definition of tough seems to differ greatly; one guy says he has only (!) caught five fish, on a floating washing line with a booby on the point and cormorants on the droppers. We decide to go back to the dam after lunch and try cormorants, after popping back into the lodge to buy some!
The afternoon passes pleasantly enough bobbing up and down in the water in the sun but with little action on the fishing. I miss a take on the booby and my brother manages to net a 2lb rainbow on a cormorant but otherwise it’s quiet. As the afternoon moves into evening and our time comes to a close, we both try a variety of dry and emerger flies to try to get into one of the few rising fish but without any luck.
With 1/2hr to go, I pack away my rod for the day. My arm is hurting and I’m out of ideas, having tried almost everything I can think of (again). The most annoying thing is that I’ve been using the same flies that have been successful for others but I’ve had nothing all day. My brother carries on fishing a hopper just below the surface and, just as we are about to go back to the lodge, misses a take. With a heavy heart, we decide to call it a day.
Chatting with the last fishermen as we tie up the boats, it seems a lot of people struggled so maybe it was just one of those days. Then someone walks past grumbling that one boat took a double bag fishing red buzzers! I thought red buzzers were an early season fly fished off the bottom but what do I know.