I finally get to Dever Springs at 10.30am after 5 hours, where two of the four mates that are joining me for the next two days have booked in and are ready to go. My personal best rainbow trout is 5lbs from the pond on my dad’s farm – not bad given the fish went in at ¾ pound – but with Dever Springs stocking from 4lbs I’m confident that another PB is on the cards…
There’s two lakes and a feeder stream for the Itchen at Dever Springs to go at and it’s £60 for a four fish ticket on the lakes and a further £25 if you want to fish the river. First impressions are a bit mixed from the lads because the stock ponds surrounding the lakes are full of very impressive specimens from 4lbs to easily 10-12 lbs, but the water in the main lake is very murky while the second lake is practically choked with weed – poor form in my view if you’re paying £60+ for a ticket…
It’s minimum 6lbs leader and I’ve bought some 9ft 6lb Riverge tapered leaders from Sportfish on the internet. Not cheap at £5.99 each but coupled with a tippet of Stroft very low diameter line attached with a four turn water knot, I’m hopeful it will give me an edge. Firstly though, I had to deal with a bit of a disaster – I’ve shut the tailgate of my 4x4 on my fly fishing bag and bent the drum of my fly reel spool so it won’t turn. Magic……..no spare; two days fishing ahead and a potentially goosed Hardy Angel reel, which I treated myself to when the property market was a lot better than it is now!
Luckily I keep a multi-tool thing which I bought from a garage in the back of the car which has pliers on it. It starts of as gentle persuasion but ends in plenty of grunting as it gets more brutal and although I’ve a wavy shaped spool at least it now works and I can fish.
There are loads of damsels about so after popping on a damsel nymph pattern with some flash in the tail I pick a spot on the main lake with the wind over my left shoulder to kick off. There’s an 8 ins jack pike sitting in the margins to my left which is a bit of a surprise…
While I’ve been mauling my reel an old boy at the bottom of the lake where all the flotsam has gathered has eked out a trout of at least 5lbs. The signs look good, though it’s already starting to get very hot. The three of us try a few different flies, depths and retrieve speeds with no success before meandering down to the second lake for a look. There’s floating algae everywhere but at least we can see a few good fish cruising. After braving a big bank of nettles, I manage to flick a damsel nymph in front of a whopper which turns onto it….but then veers away…rats!
It’s just way too tight with loads of bottom weed and floating algae to fish effectively and so we’re back on the main pool just as the final two guys on the trip arrive, having also driven down from the North West. After taking just long enough to tell us all how useless we are not to have caught yet, the five of us are in each corner of the main lake and fishing hard. It’s looking like the hottest day of the year though and buying a four fish ticket could have been a bit rash.
6.30pm – we’ve not really had a pull between us all day. Only two fish have come out since our arrival at 10.30am and it’s a job to know what to do – I’ve tried damsels; buzzers; pheasant tail nymphs; mayfly nymphs; orange fritz; various lead heads; suspender buzzers; small gold heads and even big and small dries. I’ve caught on all these patterns before and after the lads report that the old boy caught jigging an orange blob fly in the edge (though the catch return book lists four very different flies!) I’m loosing faith a bit, particularly as there’s virtually no fish showing.
8.00 pm – gee whiz this is hard going. My mate Damian has lost one fish and another angler outside the team has landed an 8lber but has had to jog an orange blob 4-5 ft from the bank for an hour to catch it – desperate stuff…
9.00 pm – finally, I’ve seen some activity. Casting away in front of the lodge and there’s a big movement in the water to my front left. At first I think it’s a big dying trout floating to the surface but the Polaroids soon show the head of a big trout is being held in the mouth of a huge pike, easily a big double and probably a twenty. The pike holds the trout upside down near the surface right in my casting area like the killer whale/great white clip on You Tube before gliding across in front of me to show how it’s done and then sinking into the depths. With a minimum stocking size of 4lbs in the pool, I think I’ll be upping the size of my trolling baits for pike this winter.
9.30pm – Packing up time and somehow all five of us have blanked. Only three fish have come out in all the time we’ve been on the lake, with two to jigged blobs in the margins. In some defence of the venue, the weather has been very hot and sunny, but still this kind of water should have delivered much more. Bitterly disappointing day but at least I got to see James, my work colleague and “Purist” fly fisherman resort to jigging fritz egg flies and blobs in the edge!
Avington Trout Fishery tomorrow. After today’s duck, an unthinkable pair is now on the table...
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