It was with much excitement and a hint of nervousness that I arrived at Ladybower on the opening day of the fly fishing season yesterday.

The weather at Ladybower was pretty terrible with gale force winds whipping up huge waves and spray. I didn't see anybody out in a boat. I am not sure if the fishery office were even allowing boats on the reservoir!

Taking the wind direction in to account I took the decision to drive round the track to Rasberry Bay. When I arrived there were quite a few people already fishing and I saw a gentleman landing what looked to be a decent rainbow trout. I started to fishing using an orange booby on a very short leader and sinking line. My thinking was that the severe weather would be sending all the fish to the bottom and with the winding blowing a gale in to the bay, I was hoping this would move some fish towards me. Sure enough I had a take on my third cast but it was so close in it caught me off guard and I lost the fish.

I then fished for a solid four hours with not so much as a sniff. The gales was making casting difficult and when a shower broke it was a sheet of horizontal rain that stung your face. No one seemed to be having any joy with just a couple of people landing the odd fish here and there.

So after four hours or so of fishing, feeling cold and wet I decided that I would move round to the other side of the reservoir. I hopped in the car and travelled back round the track to Millbrue. When I arrived there were a couple of chaps who had been there since seven ad hadn't had as much of a touch.

They were fishing with long leaders and orange lures so I figured that I should stick to boobys on shorts leaders and selected and green and black booby and attached it to the short leader on my medium sinking line.

The wind wasn't as bad round this side and casting was easier. First cast I twitched the booby back - nothing. Second cast I let the line sink right to the bottom and started a really slow retrieve just gradually twitching the lure back. About 10 feet out BANG! a ferocious take and after a good fight a nice rainbow in the bag. And then the miracle - On the next 3 casts I hit a fishing every time, bagging up in just under 15 minutes. The two gents who I was fishing next to couldn't believe it. One of them came over to ask what fly I was using and I showed him the booby. He couldn't believe how short by leader was - only 12 inches but I explained that this was enough just to keep the lure of the bottom. He didn't have any in his box so I gave him one of mine to fish with.

So having reached my four fish limit. I packed up and travelled home thinking of a bottle of Sheffield Ale and a Trout supper.

Cheers

Dave

http://www.myanglinglife.com

Glad to hear you enjoyed your 1st day out and had some success, what condition were the Trout in as I've heard previously they are mingers which puts me off when I come round to fancying a trip there. locals tell me its good early season but I have concerns - what say you?

Mick

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"I will give him seven feet of English ground, or as much more as he may be taller than other men"
http://derbyshireonthefly.blogspot.com/

Hi,

I am not an expert when it comes to the conditioning of fish but I have seen far worse. These four looked ok. They didn't have the biggest tails in the world but they were not split or damaged and the condition of the scales were fine.

They put up an ok fight too with plenty of acrobatics. The thing I like about ladybower is that the fish taste great. The water is so fresh and the reservoir is so big that there is not a hint of muddiness. I have eaten them sushimi style (raw) with soy sauce and some wasabi and they taste great!

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http://www.myanglinglife.com

Looks like I'll have to give it a go in the near future, thanks

Mick

__________________
"I will give him seven feet of English ground, or as much more as he may be taller than other men"
http://derbyshireonthefly.blogspot.com/

Good report, cheers. Have only looked down on Ladybower whilst walking in the hills, but I can see I'm going to have to wet a line there sometime.

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Fished Snake Meadow for 3 hours this afternoon 11.30-2.30 in sunshine and showers - not too blowy though.

Used exactlly the same method as Dave described - Sinking Line, short (2ft) leader and a Booby - connected with 8 fish, 2 hook pulled out, 2 released and 4 taken home for the neighbours

Thanks for the tip Dave

Andy

Hi Andy,

I took a friend out in a boat on the same day and we really struggled finding fish from the boat. I think we would have had a better day from the shore!

Glad you had a good day.

Dave

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http://www.myanglinglife.com

I have heard that the fish are in better condition this season. On previous visits I have caught fish that have had fins missing which is never a good thing to see. The other thing that puts me off personally is the fact that there is no C&R.

i fish there most weeks and for the price it costs it as to be one of the cheepest waters around.yes the fish are better and bigger this year.

went today very windy but had a great day.got 11 Rainbows on a orange fritz .went on olive l8r but no pulls. What a great place and good value for money. Tight lines.