A couple of days after Coronavirus lockdown was relaxed and we could go fishing again, I booked a day out on Farmoor. After eight weeks with no angling pressure and being prime time for buzzers I was hoping it would be a good day. But to be honest, it was just so nice to be out on the water again after so much time stuck in the house.
It was a hot, sunny day with a light northerly wind but there were clouds of buzzers everywhere. I decided to fish F1, which is the catch and release part, thinking there might be some good size overwintered bows.
The day surpassed my expectations in all ways – lovely to be out, lots of fish feeding hard on buzzers and some absolute monsters. Hope you enjoy the video:
Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to capture the best fish of the day. The beauty below took a size 14 black diawl bach with an arm-wrenching take. As soon as it felt some pressure it shot off, taking me quickly down to the backing and then down to the end of the backing. I had to run down the bank after it to stop it snapping off when I ran out of line. Unfortunately, I don’t carry scales and the picture doesn’t do it justice but it was the biggest rainbow I’ve caught and I would estimate it at 6-7lb.
Great video, nicely shot and clearly a really good day. Which was the most successful fly? I had a short session at my local lake (where Beardy Paul is also a member) and had 3, including a 9 and a 5. I noticed that all yours were very fit and strong – so were mine. The 9 was stronger than any rainbow I can remember. It had me down to the backing 3 times, the first time the backing was at least 2 yards outside the tip.
Definitely the Grey Boy buzzer. It just seems o perfectly represent the large buzzers which hatch from Farmoor in April/May.