Spring weather helps fishing success across region

Spring has well and truly arrived this week. The still waters are teaming with fish feeding on the surface because of the hatching insects. The lakes are being continually criss-crossed with the summer migrants. Sand Martins and Swallows are feeding on the hatching buzzers. Swans, Coots, Waterhens and Greebes are all nesting in the reeds and bull rushes.

Anglers are being treated to all this wildlife, as well as seeing the newly arrived Ospreys taking the occasional trout for a meal. Fishing has been superb sport at times. Some mornings have been a challenge, especially with a strong breeze. However, as the days have warmed up , and insects have hatched, lots of trout have fought hard.

One day when I was fishing, very few trout were caught before lunchtime, but after lunch there was far more activity and some anglers caught into the high teens of fish. Various buzzer patterns in different sizes and colours attracted many trout.

An angler fishing near me was catching fairly regularly using a blur holographic ribbed Diawl Bach. Fishing into or along a windward bank proved productive. One rod was only casting three or four lengths out and caught a dozen fish in a four hour session. At times different small dry flies had the trout tightening lines. Brown beetle patterns have been very successful this week too.

At other times, an olive Apps Bloodworm pattern was catching trout nearly every cast. The fish seem to be in excellent condition at the moment and are fighting extremely hard, snapping a number of anglers’ tippets. Salmon fishing on our local rivers continues to be a real challenge with the first spring fish still to be caught on the Coquet. Trout fishing on the river seems to be improving with a little more insect life in evidence.