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GREYS GR30 ROD OUTFIT
8 NOV - 5 DEC, 2017 | £3.50
ISSUE 503
Catch browns
NOW!
FLY-TYING
Deadly lures & river bugs
Enjoy an all-action winter SMALL WATERS
RIVERS
RAVENSTHORPE
GET THE EDGE GRAYLING TIPS WINTER GUIDE
Keep catching in the cold
Tempting a winter beauty
Discover the hotspots
TROUTMASTERS
WHAT A FINAL!
How Iain Barr took the title
Contents
BE INSPIRED
FLY-TYING
Make the most of sport through winter
COVER STORY How to tie an effective bead-head pattern for winter grayling
6 Fish in the freezer
Cover image by: Peter Gathercole
TACTICS
61 Pink Quill Nymph 64 Flymasters
12 The lure of Swanswater
Features editor Jeffrey Prest discusses sunshine and sparkle at this Stirlingshire stillwater COVER STORY
16 When sport is a breeze
Paul Richardson catches rainbows, tigers and browns at Ellerdine Lakes
COVER STORY Peter Gathercole judges your mobile lure patterns, and sets this month’s tying challenge
68 Flybox fillers
Russ Symons ties a Traffic Light PTN
COVER STORY
22 Fast and far off
Mike Thrussell and son study conditions and work out the day’s method at Chirk Trout Fishery
OFFERS
26 The same, only different
31 Subscription offer
Why you should never assume that two lakes at one venue will fish the same
Receive an Airflo Outlander mesh vest when you subscribe to Trout Fisherman
FOCUS ON... Quick pointers to successful late season outings
34 Target the majestic grayling
Fred Bainbridge reveals his top tips for catching the ‘lady of the stream’ through winter COVER STORY
WHERE TO FISH 41 UK waters Half-price Greys GR30 rod outfit – yours for only £119.99!
JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN Bankside
an-up Our Bankside Cle Campaign Clean-up 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.
76 Fly-tying products
Lamps and magnifiers, capes and ‘effect’ threads
OPINION & NEWS What’s new on the trout scene, plus Scottish news.
80 Investigation
Should pike in Ireland’s western trout loughs be managed or simply left alone?
81 Cockwill
Taking a break from the finished product, Peter looks at how the trout-rearing process begins.
Trout Fisherman readers have their say
44 Escape to Kodiak
No electricity or gadgetry, just you, salmon and the largest bears on earth!
84 Read on the fly
50 Spotlight on...
85 Troutmasters
ADVICE
89 Troutmasters final
COVER STORY
Hotspots for Ravensthorpe Reservoir
52 Advice squad
TF’s experts solve your flyfishing problems
56 How to...
Cope with educated trout
60 Snowbee advice
How to choose the right landing net
WHERE TO FIND US...
COVER STORY Robbie Winram reviews the latest gear including Hardy’s new Horizon fly lines
82 Letters
Four top fisheries to visit this month
COVER STORY
71 New gear
78 News
32 Winter fishing
40 Reader offer
TACKLE
ONLINE www.troutfisherman.co.uk TroutFishMag troutfishermanmag Trout Fisherman
Jeffrey Prest reviews two new flyfishing books This month’s badge winners and catch pictures COVER STORY All the results and tactics from the prestigious Draycote Water final
95 Match news
Iain Barr celebrates team and individual successes
98 Wading in
The more off-piste recollections from Jeff Prest’s latest Scottish tour...
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THIS MONTH’S WINNER
Fishing the River Tummel near Ballinluig, Perthshire for trout. Sent in by Joan Hunter
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: Rob Edmunds & Russ Symons
Fish in the FREEZER
Winter doesn’t mean we have to pack away our gear until spring. There’s some terrific fishing to be had. Rob Edmunds & Russ Symons explain... 6 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5
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BE INSPIRE D Winter off e best sport rs the fo kinds of tr r all out
www.troutямБsherman.co.uk
NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5 | TROUT FISHERMAN 7
Words & pictures: Jeffrey Prest
The lure of Swanswater On a day of blustery squalls, we somehow ended up talking sunshine and sparkle at a Scottish stillwater...
12 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5
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TACTICS Catch m
ore w early winte ith stillwater t r ips
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NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5 | TROUT FISHERMAN 13
TACTICS SMALL WATERS Words: Paul Richardson Pictures: Peter Gathercole
16 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5
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When sport IS A BREEZE
Paul Richardson isn’t put off by strong autumnal wind or coloured water at Ellerdine Lakes. Instead he’s eager to get out there!
A logical approach brought Paul success with rainbows, tigers and beautiful browns.
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NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5 | TROUT FISHERMAN 17
TACTICS SMALL WATERS Words & pictures: Jeffrey Prest
The same, only
Never assume that two lakes at one venue will fish the same. Two anglers go downhill
26 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5
www.troutfisherman.co.uk
different…
in Northumberland, and their fortunes move in the opposite direction…
Conor Metcalfe casts from the banks of Thrunton’s lower lake.
www.troutfisherman.co.uk
NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5 | TROUT FISHERMAN 27
FOCUS ON GRAYLING Words & pictures: Russell Hill
Target the MAJESTIC GRAYLING English Rivers’ Champion Fred Bainbridge reveals his top tips for catching the ‘lady of the stream’ through the winter months...
34 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5
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Grayling are a beautiful salmonid and popular with anglers in winter.
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NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5 | TROUT FISHERMAN 35
WHERE TO FISH KODIAK ISLAND Words & pictures: Martin Founds
Escape to KODIAK No electricity or gadgetry…just you, salmon and the largest bears on earth!
A leaping fish is one of those angling moments we all crave.
44 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5
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NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5 | TROUT FISHERMAN 45
A GREAT XMAS GIFT!
HALF-PRICE OUTFIT FOR £119.99
SPECIAL READER OFFER
Greys GR30 rod & lots more...
THIS month’s great offer from Glasgow Angling Centre is a complete flyfishing outfit based around the Greys GR30 fly fl rod. This 9ft 6in 7wt four-piece rod delivers a user-friendly user-friendl performance and with its forgiving action allows anglers of all casting cas abilities to achieve high line speeds with ease. Features include: ● Classy metallic olive blank ● Titanium finish reel seat ● Top quality snake intermediates ● Supplied with a protective protectiv rod tube. The offer also includes a Greys GX300 6/7/8 reel fly fl reel, a large arbor model with central twin rulon disc drag dr and full aluminium construction. Plus you also get an Airflo Super Dri Elite fly fl line, a pack of braided leader loops and a 50 metre spool of 30lb backing. The normal RRP of this outfit is £239.99, but it is available a to Trout rout Fisherman readers for half price at £119.99!
(* Plus £6.99 p&p, offer available while stocks last).
The Greys GX300 reel.
HOW TO ORDER
WF floating fly-line with precise tapered profile.
Quote ‘Trout Fisherman offer’ and code 00125TF when you place your order.
Airflo Super Dri Elite sunrise yellow floating fly line.
A pack of three easy-to-use FOG braided leader loops.
A 50-metre spool of hi-vis 30lb braided backing.
Tel: 0141 212 8880 Fax: 0141 331 6340 Email: sales@fishingmegastore.com Website: http://gac.fishing/00125TF/ Or by Post: Glasgow Angling Centre Ltd, Unit 1, The Point, 29 Saracen St, Glasgow G22 5HT
Fly-Tying In association with Veniard
trout FIRST FOR TACTICS, TACKLE & WHERE TO FISH
Pink Quill NYMPH
Peter Gathercole ties an effective bead-head pattern for winter grayling Visit our website www.veniard.com
MATCH SCENE TROUTMASTERS FINAL
TROUTMASTERS FINAL 2017
BARR STRIKES AGAIN! T
At the end of a terrific season, Iain Barr finally wins the one title that had eluded him
HIS year’s Troutmasters Final at Draycote Water had an exciting new format and with more prizes than ever before. Well organised and policed, it
was a friendly but serious competition – attracting some of the UK’s very best match fishers. Also new was the catch and release element after anglers killed their first two trout, eliminating the huge
Visit us at www.troutfisherman.co.uk/troutmasters
numbers of fish killed as in previous finals. All in all it was a storming success and full credit goes to the Draycote team, the sponsors and coordinator Samantha Toombs. NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5 | TROUT FISHERMAN 89
MATCH SCENE TROUTMASTERS FINAL
GALLERY From the weird to the wonderful, images from the Draycote Final...
94 TROUT FISHERMAN | NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 5
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