Hello all,

Up to now I have been fishing in moderate sized waters up to about 200 acres. I would like to fish a water (Colliford in Cornwall) that is much larger about 900 acres. It is bank fishing only and it is stocked with semi-wild brown trout (they are stoked as fingerlings and allowed to grown on). I had a walk around a part of it today and there was plenty of insect life sedges, midges and cow dung flies. Didn't see any fish rising. Any suggestions on how I should go about tackling it?

Best bet is a intermediate line and a black tadpole.

Then you need to keep moving when fishing to find the fish.

As the evening comes fish will start to move on the surface and then stick on a dry and if possible find the wind lanes and fish them as the trout will move up and down them looking for food.

Its a lovely place to fish so good luck.

WCB

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Thanks for the reply wcb.
Are there any known hotspots that are worth trying first? I drove around the perimeter and it appears a bit of a daunting task to tackle on foot!

I parked in the small car park that is half way between the tavern and the dam and I walked from there towards the tavern, from what I could make out the other direction (towards the dam) looks deeper but has steeper banks.

hello there,

Colliford is a beautiful water, I've fished there more than a dozen times and I've always picked the bank with the wind in the most favourable direction (that is either across me or coming from behind) as I have great trouble casting into the wind.

My best catch was when we parked on the second car parking space coming in from the A30 and walking up the bank on the left of the carpark, this being my favourite spot. It was a really spooky evening in mid august with a heavy fog rolling in and hardly any wind.

All the fish I've caught there have been on sedge pupa for the early morning rise (ie 4-8 am) and horned sedges in the evening rise. I have never caught during the midday hours, but then again I only fished with a dry line.
Oh - as said in the previous reply KEEP MOVING and avoid the horses!- enjoy

Thanks for the advice chicken,
The sedge pupa is not a fly I am familiar with, do i fish it in the same style as a buzzer or do use a more constant retrieve?

One more thing, I know you get permits for Colliford at Jamica inn but is it open early? Would like to get there as early as possible so I don't miss the morning rise.

Conicidentally there is a report in this weeks local paper that the fishing at Colliford has been good due a large buzzer hatch. Just wish this weather would improve a little dying to fish there.

I believe you can get tickets from reception at the Jamaica Inn if you want to start early, otherwise it's the gift shop.
I think Colliford is a superb fishery. I've fished it once or twice each year over the last ten or so years but each visit has been well worth while. It has some superb browns and they are well distributed. All the banks seem to hold fish at times.

Pete

I used to camp at the camp colliford tavern camp site (you drive past the entrance on the left after you've come off the A30) and I always got my tickets there usually the night before as I like an early start, though if I remember rightly you can get a ticket after 8am. Telephone number I believe is 01208 821335, email info@colliford.com, as I don't know if they still do fishing tickets.

Yeah, I fish the sedge pupa similar to a buzzer method with a little twitch every now and then, it sits just under the water surface. Not sure if this is how it should be used but it works for me. I have two variations, one which will sink slowly and fish the top 12inches or so and the other which has a little cdc fluff all on a size 14 or 16. Daddys/hoppers are another good fly to use on the water there.

Have fun - always enjoyed it there

Fished Colliford yesterday evening.
Landed 2, lost one and missed a further 3 takes. Caught on a black shipmans buzzer but had takes on a black gnat as well. My mate had one on a horned sedge. After spooning the fish I found they were full of earthworms, large maggot type things, cased caddis, waterboatmen and black and green buzzers. The fish were feeding so close in I had to cast so most of my line was on the bank and make sure I kept well back from the water. All in all I really enjoyed my first visit to this water, its a really beautiful place to spend an afternoon. Wish I done the whole day now but had to compromise by taking the other half out for lunch first.

Great results, well done. Further to fishing at Colliford, has anybody fished Roadford this year, which is quite near. This too is a lovely water containing grown on Browns plus the added distraction of Perch. I love fishing here if I can but have found it a difficult water at times. I wonder if anybody can compare the two waters as I have yet to fish Colliford.

Yesterday was my first session at Colliford and I have only had a brief walk around Roadford, but I would have thought the same approaches would work at either venue. I have started a thread on west country stillwaters in the stillwater update section, there maybe someone on there who could give you some advice. I got talking to a local who has fished Colliford for years and he reckoned that the best time to fish it is when it gets really warm and sunny, exactly the opposite of most waters and he seemed to know what he was talking about.