Christmas Cup outing with the lads for the Cheddar Trophy (awarded to the biggest fish of the day)!

Picked up the other 3 up at about 6.15 and off down the M5. Temperatures on the journey fell to around minus 4 but it was about minus 1 or 2 by the time we got to Barnstaple. Stopped for some breakfast at Subways (as the Tesco café didn’t open till 8) and so arrived at Blakewell about 8.20.
As we were first to arrive we bought tickets and headed down to the main point and tackled up on the bank.

Conditions were quite still and there was plenty of ice in the margins, out about 10 to 12 feet in front of us, as well as filling a fair bot of the smaller end of the lake.

Roger was first in, quite quickly, but pulled out of a smaller fish. He was soon in again as were Jim and I in quick succession.

All the others were on intermediates and damsels. I started on the midge tip with a small olive dancer on the point and a Nemo on the dropper. This was because the Lodge had said that they weren’t too deep and would come up to nymphs and even dries as it warmed up in the sun.

Despite ice on the lines and in the rings (a first for most of us I think) we all picked up fish at regular intervals. After I had 3 on the bank two to the dancer and the third to the Nemo (which told me that they were probably not too deep) I decided to move round, partly to try fresh water and partly to go for a nymph approach in an effort to find some bigger fish as we all had similar sized fish so far.

So I worked along the bank opposite the main point. I did pick up a smaller fish on a shrimp pattern on the point as I strived for a larger specimen rather than numbers. I tried Apps bloodworms and buzzers too with no pulls. But it all went out of the window when Jim hooked in to a real beauty and managed to land it through the ice, despite Rogers’ very best efforts to show everyone how not to use a landing net! He went off to weigh it and it turned the scales at 9lb 9oz.

I did move around to the far side of the point as the sun was up above the hills and on that part of the lake. But a combination of intense glare on the water, a rising easterly wind and the extent of ice made that hard and I moved back on to the main point.

By now Jim and Roger had bagged up from the same spots. Moving back in my original spot and with a Black Dancer on the point I had my last 2 in quick succession. Interestingly, the bites had not been strong all day for all of us and on the dancer they were plucking at it several times before you could get a solid hook up – quite exciting actually. Strike too early and they weren’t there. Also, we all found that the retrieves had to be slow to very slow to get any interest.

JC moved to the end of the point to complete his bag and we were all done by just after 12 to 12.15. Roger even managed to hook another one as he put his line out just to clean it!

My 6 fish weighed in at about 20 to 21 pounds, a good average, and we all had about the same apart from Jim’s winner, which he went on to enter for Troutmasters.

Great day, and good fish despite the icy conditions and frozen rod rings.
Funniest moment, apart from Roger trying to net Jim’s fish, was again Roger, going to land one of his fish and finding his landing net frozen hard to the ground!

On the day artificials outfished nymphs, although I felt vindicated in using the mini dancers to get at least half my bag. The Apps bloodworm never got a touch and neither did buzzers. However the sun was warming the water as we left and there were a few fish showing so nymphs may have worked in to the afternoon. The intermediate lines found the fish quicker earlier, although they definitely moved up in the water during the morning and I didn’t feel disadvantaged on the midge tip or on the smaller flies.