GOALS
FIRST FOR TACTICS, TACKLE & WHERE TO FISH
FOR 2017...
Ways you can
l Be more daring l Improve your skills l Travel the world
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Battling
'BOWS Advice for great sport COMPETITION
£1000 WORTH OF
NEW GREYS FLY-LINES UP FOR GRABS
JAN 4 - JAN 31, 2017 | £3.40
ISSUE 492
GET OUT THERE
Tips for 11 top waters
SMALL WATERS
WHEN TO FISH The best times for action
RESERVOIRS
FISHERY MAP
Eglwys Nunydd hotspots
RIVERS
RIVER WHARFE
Stunning fish on a £4 ticket
TACKLE
GEAR TESTS
Our reviews help you buy
Contents
BE INSPIRED
FLY-TYING
Trout Fisherman contributors share their angling goals for the new year
Peter Gathercole ties up a weighted bug for grayling
6 Think global in 2017
59 Weighted Bugs
COVER STORY
Cover image by: Jonathan Tomlinson
62 Flymasters
TACTICS
Peter Gathercole judges the weighted bug entries and selects a new challenge
Peter Cockwill goes small to tempt wily fish at Woolaston Court fishery
66 Flybox fillers
18 The Prince Nymph
TACKLE
12 Scale down for success
One Scottish angler still flies the flag for this almost forgotten pattern
OFFERS 30 Subscription offer Get 3 issues of Trout Fisherman magazine for £5 when you subscribe
WIN £1,000 worth of Greys fly-lines in our great competition COVER STORY
69 New gear
24 Dig out your lures
COVER STORY Robbie Winram tests the latest gear including a travel rod and neoprene waders
COVER STORY On the hunt for a winter specimen at Haywards Farm
74 Fly-tying gear Reviews of a new dubbing, barbless hooks, synthetic fibres and yarn
FOCUS ON...
OPINION & NEWS
32 Prime time
COVER STORY Plan your visits carefully to get the most out of your winter trout fishing sessions
76 Reader competition
Russ Symons ties a Winter Damsel
78 News
All that’s new on the trout scene and Ian Muckle’s Scottish news page
77 Reader offer
80 Investigation
Get a Stillwater cassette reel for £30 plus a Stillwater fly-line for £10!
36 Retrieves Nick Hart discusses the retrieve options available when trout refuse to chase
What can be done to help angler numbers grow in 2017?
84 Letters
WHERE TO FISH
Trout Fisherman readers have their say on line twist, fly scent and fishing on a motorcycle
Four stillwater fisheries worth visiting this month
86 Book reviews
42 Spotlight on Eglwys Nunydd
Making Better Flies and The Healing Stream – a book about the River Wharfe and the River Eden
39 UK waters
COVER STORY
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...
Winter and early-season hotspots
88 Cockwill 44 River Wharfe Fred Bainbridge sings the praises of a £4 day ticket stretch of Yorkshire river COVER STORY
There’s a new trout species to go after in 2017 – the sparctic trout
90 Troutmasters
ADVICE
Are you amongst this month’s badge winners?
50 Advice squad
95 Match news
Our experts answer your questions on tail-nipping, smutting, vice choice, gutting your catch and more
Iain Barr starts his new, hard-hitting column all about competition flyfishing
54 How to...
98 Wading in
Paul Procter explains how to make the most of winter trout fishing
Jeff Prest compares two types of angler – the home boy and the nomad!
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THIS MONTH’S WINNER Sunset at Grafham Water. Sent in by Alan and Maggie Ward
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
Think global
Begin the New Year with angling goals to renew your excitement. Four contributors share
6 TROUT FISHERMAN | JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31
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in 2017
BE INSPIRE D
Ideas to m a an incredibke 2017 le year for you
their intentions...
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JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31 | TROUT FISHERMAN 7
Words: Peter Cockwill Pictures: Peter Gathercole Peter scales down his flies and leader for success at Woolaston.
Scale down Peter Cockwill visits a water he’s never fished before and
12 TROUT FISHERMAN | JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31
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TACTICS Catc
h more with winte stillwater t r ips
FOR SUCCESS goes small to tempt wily fish. Copy his methods...
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JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31 | TROUT FISHERMAN 13
TACTICS WINTER SMALL WATERS Words & pictures: Jeffrey Prest
The glaringly OBVIOUS...
They argue over what it is, yet many anglers call the Prince Nymph crucial to their fly collection. High above the helicopters at Woodburn, one man shows us why…
18 TROUT FISHERMAN | JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31
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As the day dwindles, John Shaw makes a few final casts at Woodburn.
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JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31 | TROUT FISHERMAN 19
TACTICS SMALL WATERS Words & pictures: Jonathan Tomlinson
Now’s the time to fish the ‘fluffies’ for stillwater trout.
24 TROUT FISHERMAN | JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31
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g i D t ou R U O Y RES U L
d n an winter e d l tt Ho nt for a arm... a M sh’s son hu ward’s F fi t r Spo Tomlin at Hay than ith lures a n Jo en w im spec
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JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31 | TROUT FISHERMAN 25
WHERE TO FISH RIVERS Words: Russell Hill Pictures: Peter Gathercole
THE RIVER WHARFE
Fred Bainbridge sings the praises of a Yorkshire river where you pay £4, park up and walk a few yards to find stunning grayling
44 TROUT FISHERMAN JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31
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The Yorkshire Wharfe is a noted grayling river with good browns too.
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JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31 | TROUT FISHERMAN 45
Fly-Tying In association with Veniard
trout FIRST FOR TACTICS, TACKLE & WHERE TO FISH
Heavy METAL
Peter Gathercole ties a weighted bug for winter grayling ďŹ shing Visit our website www.veniard.com
New Gear
Independen tt Robbie Win ester r puts the lat am e gear throug st h its paces
Everything from rods to jackets & indicators
The six-piece Quest V2 makes an ideal travel rod.
On the move with the multi-piece Quest Wychwood Quest V2 rods from £124.99 www.wychwoodgame.co.uk THIS new rod series covers six models from an 8ft 6in 4wt at £124.99 to a 10ft 7wt at £134.99. I had the 9ft 6in 7wt and 10ft 7wt rods on test. All are six-piece rods so are going to appeal to the travelling angler who wants something compact and easily stowable, either to keep in the car boot or to take on board an aircraft. If your fishing session involves a lot of walking the rod tube can also be slotted into a rucksack pouch. When picking up the rods for the first time they did feel heavier than some standard four-piece rods I‘ve tested over the last few months. But these are 7wt outfits, which I consider at the heavy end of the spectrum anyway so their weight doesn’t really become an issue.
“The middle to tip flex makes it a good choice for casters of any ability.” Initially I thought they had a fairly ‘steely’ action, which I put down to them having six sections. The increased number of joints does stiffen the rod’s action. However, once I started putting the 10ft 7wt through its paces with a matching 7wt floating line the action changed more to a middle to tip flex, which makes it a good choice for casters of any ability. At short and medium range the pick-up was nice and clean. It produced a good stable back cast with tight loops, and the subsequent forward cast and line shoot was controlled with good presentation onto the water. As I worked on extending the casts with a longer and longer head length outside the rod tip, my casting arm stroke had to become longer to get the very best when striving for distance. Even with difficult side winds, putting out a straight line was a fairly straightforward undertaking for this www.troutfisherman.co.uk
rod. It has a fair bit of backbone and I could call on its reserves of power, useful with double hauling, when I wanted to really punch the line out. The rod performed continuous motion casts such as the roll and switch well, but I did need to push the tip slightly further forward to get a good clean turnover. The 7wt rating is about spot on although I felt I could go slightly heavier with both floating and intermediate lines. When it comes to medium to fast sinkers, a 7wt or 7/8wt rating matches it very well. And although you feel the rod loading deeper it puts the lines out with no complaint. The deep black blank has matching fittings.
Quick tip recovery You would think the 9ft 6in 7wt would almost mimic the 10ft 7wt but this isn’t the case. Straight from the off it felt a lot livelier and it certainly has a much quicker tip recovery. Everything feels more compact and at short and medium range it can generate incredibly fast line speeds with tight loops leading to pinpoint accuracy on touch down. I didn’t feel as though it had quite the same amount of power in reserve as the 10-footer, but it still went about its job very well and I really enjoyed fishing floaters and intermediates on this rod as it gave me a great fell for what the lines were doing.
VERDICT: The 10ft model is perfect for larger stillwaters and reservoirs from both bank and boat when you have to cope with exposure to wind and the elements. I would also have no problem taking this rod to the coast for some light saltwater fishing, and equally onto a larger river to tackle sea trout and grilse. It has the power and versatility to cope with all these scenarios. The 9ft 6in 7wt rod makes for a lovely bank rod with its lively action and its ability to present the line accurately and with good presentation.
TECH-SPEC MODEL: QUEST V2 10FT 7WT Price: £134.99 Weight: 162gr (5.7oz) Sections: 6 (each one about 22-inches long) ■ Full wells cork handle with reinforced black cork mix top and bottom; 1.25-inch cork/rubber mix fixed fighting butt; anodised saltwater-proof double ring uplocking reel seat. ■ Black gloss blank with matching whippings and silver highlights; alignment dots. ■ Two lined stripping guides, eight dark chrome snake rings, tip and keeper ring. ■ 24.5-inch zip top cordura rod tube with carry handle and partitioned inside. MODEL: QUEST V2 9FT 6IN 7WT Price: £134.99 Weight: 150gr (5.3oz) ■ All other tech specs the same except it has seven snake rings and a 23.5-inch case.
JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 31 | TROUT FISHERMAN 69
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