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FIRST FOR TACTICS, TACKLE & WHERE TO FISH
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NEW Airflo Forge Will it be a stillwater game-changer...?
NOV 9 - DEC 6, 2016 | £3.40
ISSUE 490
Flies & Tips for
WINTER
Catch active trout in the cold TAVISTOCK
25 TOP YEARS
A Devon water celebrates
INSTRUCTION
FISH IN A MIST Does fog affect fishing?
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Why England fail abroad
BEWL WATER
FRY HOTSPOTS Where to fish late season
ADVENTURE
MONGOLIA
Great views & lenok trout
Contents
BE INSPIRED
FLY-TYING
COVER STORY
Russ Symons visits stunning Tavistock Trout Fishery as it celebrates its 25th anniversary
Peter Gathercole ties a nymphy lure for clear catch and release waters
TACTICS
60 Easy tying
Fred Bainbridge deals with coloured water conditions at Lancashire’s Bank House Fishery
62 Flymasters
Cover image: Peter Gathercole
6 Heavenly places
57 Mobile Hare’s Ear
Step-by-step instructions for tying a Woolly Worm
12 Cracking the colour code We reveal the top winter lures from round six – and set a new fly-tying challenge
18 Haar’d but not impossible COVER STORY Does fog influence fishing prospects? Jeff Prest teams up with James Gardiner at Coldingham Loch
OFFERS
Robbie Winram looks at the latest tackle including Wychwood’s RS rods
Gareth Jones highlights the killer foam flies that have worked for him
72 NEW Airflo Forge floating line COVER STORY Robbie Winram and Peter Gathercole put this latest line through its paces
FOCUS ON...
76 Reader offer Save up to £72 when you order an Orvis Access mid-arbor reel
33 Winter fishing
74 Fly-tying products
COVER STORY
Rob Edmunds’ tips for catching in the cold on reservoirs and small waters
Three Fritz materials for all your tying needs, plus how to use the Petitjean Magic Tool
WHERE TO FISH
OPINION & NEWS
Four stillwater trout fisheries from Devon to West Lothian worth a visit this month
COVER STORY Latest stories including a potential trout record, plus the Scottish stillwater scene
37 UK waters
JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN Bankside
an-up Cle Our Bankside Campaign Clean-up 2016 campaign continues to gain momentum with more fisheries asking for the poster and creating their own bins for discarded leaders. Spread the message…we can do this.
WHERE TO FIND US...
67 New gear
24 The foam party
30 Subscription offer Save up to 43% when you subscribe to Trout Fisherman magazine
TACKLE
78 News
80 Letters Trout Fisherman readers have their say
40 Spotlight on Bewl Water
82 Cockwill
COVER STORY
We reveal the Kent reservoir’s winter hotspots
Peter Cockwill on the passing of a legend in the world of fly-tying
42 Mongolian adventure
84 Troutmasters
Globe-trotter David Lewis fishes remote freestone rivers in search of grayling and lenok trout
Are you amongst this month’s badge winners?
COVER STORY
90 Match news COVER STORY Why England don’t travel well in the World Championships
ADVICE
48 Advice Squad
94 First of the summer trout
Our panel of experts answer your questions on line memory, starter kits, leader rings and lots more...
John Glanfield reflects on an annual pilgrimage to Rutland Water that now runs to 40 years
52 How to...
98 Wading in
Paul Procter discusses the main types of bite indicators and explains how to fish them
Jeff Prest on the news that thousands of rainbows have escaped into the sea!
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THIS MONTH’S WINNER A leaping fish when being played is a sight to behold. Sent in by Alex McIntosh.
HOW TO ENTER
Shot of the
MONTH
If you have a flyfishing image that you would like to see here, please send it to us. Images must be: original size • high resolution. Email them to leigh.johnson@bauermedia.co.uk If the image is too large to go over email, send via the free service wetransfer.com (for help see wetransfer.com/howitworks). Published photographers will receive a landing net from Sharpes of Aberdeen. Browse their products at www.sharpes.net or call 01466 794415.
Enter our competition now for your chance to win a Sharpe’s landing net
Words & pictures: Jeffrey Prest
12 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 9 - DECEMBER 6
TACTICS Catch m
ore w late season ith stillwater t ips
Cracking the COLOUR CODE
We all love water clarity but maybe hungry fish see further than we think. Waiting for feeding time brings Fred Bainbridge a grand finale after a Lancashire downpour
The start of a long but ultimately fruitful day, as Fred casts in the shadow of the Bank House lodge.
NOVEMBER 9 - DECEMBER 6 | TROUT FISHERMAN 13
TACTICS MEDIUM WATERS Words & pictures: Jeffrey Prest
18 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 9 - DECEMBER 6
Haar’d but not IMPOSSIBLE
It doesn’t look one of the more optimistic weather scenarios but even as a Scottish haar or sea fog devours Coldingham Loch, James Gardiner demonstrates that the fishing can still be good. At least, we think it’s him…
NOVEMBER 9 - DECEMBER 6 | TROUT FISHERMAN 19
TACTICS FOAM FLIES Words: Gareth Jones Pictures: Peter Gathercole
24 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 9 - DECEMBER 6
The foam PARTY Gareth Jones highlights the killer foam flies that serve him well...
NOVEMBER 9 - DECEMBER 6 | TROUT FISHERMAN 25
FOCUS ON Tips,
tactics & fl ies to keep cat ching in the cold
Your best WINTER EVER! Rob Edmunds’ tips for reservoirs and small waters
W
INTER can be a challenging time for anglers, yet it also gives the opportunity to catch the fish of a lifetime. On most reservoirs stocking stops from September meaning any fish caught will be well mended or overwintered. Larger fish
have left the safety of the deep water and come into the shallows to feed, trying to maintain their body weight with fry, shrimps and snail. Weed beds are dying back and it presents us with new areas to fish and ample opportunities to catch them. On the smaller stillwaters it’s a similar story. The resident fish – those returned,
hooked and lost or those that sulked in the depths all season – will now want to sustain their body weight so they simply have to eat. Fishery managers also tend to stock the larger fish in the winter months, because they’ll be better suited to the colder water temperatures and higher oxygen levels. NOVEMBER 9 - DECEMBER 6 | TROUT FISHERMAN 33
Fly-Tying In association with Veniard
trout FIRST FOR TACTICS, TACKLE & WHERE TO FISH
Mobile HARE’S EAR Peter Gathercole ties a nymphy looking lure that will catch in clear, catch and release waters
Visit our website www.veniard.com
WHERE TO FISH MONGOLIA Words & pictures: David Lewis
Mongolian ADVENTURE Globe-trotter David Lewis takes a bus ride through vast deserted plains to ďŹ sh remote streams for grayling and lenok trout...
A bus ride through Khan country towards trout and grayling streams.
42 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 9 - DECEMBER 6
NOVEMBER 9 - DECEMBER 6 | TROUT FISHERMAN 43
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