Trout Fisherman 482 (Digital Sampler)

NEW SEASON SPECIAL Tie new Blobs Learn boat fishing skills l Discover secret waters l

FIRST FOR TACTICS, TACKLE & WHERE TO FISH

GEAR TESTS ISSUE 482 £3.40 MAR 30 - APR 26, 2016

l Snowbee waders l Redington reel l Zephrus rods

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DRY FLY ADVICE

Steps to better ho hook-ups

Catch resident

RAINBOWS Tactics to land the better quality fish No.1 .1 FLIES FOR APRIL

How to tie a deadly Cruncher & Black Buzzer

FISH THE STREAMS Winning methods for the Wharfe & Tees

THIS MONTH: AFFORDABLE SPECIMENS Words: Peter Cockwill Pictures: Peter Gathercole

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TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

A hidden

WATER Peter Cockwill and Keith Arthur find quality fish at West Pond on the Sutton Bingham site

What a stunning rainbow trout from West Pond Fishery.

TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

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THIS MONTH: THINK LARGE Words: Craig Barr Pictures: Peter Gathercole

Give them WHAT THEY WANT Sometimes enjoyable fishing methods and actually catching fish are poles apart.

Craig Barr explains…

The fish preferred super large lures like the Snake.

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TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

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FOCUS ON: BOAT FISHING

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TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

Boat

FISHINAGL SPECI

Cover MORE WATER

Reservoir expert Rob Edmunds provides early-season tips for going aямВoat

Boats offer easy access to more water and more fish!

TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

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THIS MONTH: RESERVOIR BANK SKILLS Words: Gareth Jones Pictures: Peter Gathercole

Fry-feeders in April?

BELIEVE IT!

When fishing at Farmoor, Gareth Jones knows that fry-feeding isn’t limited to the traditional late season frenzy

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TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

During early season trout will feed on sticklebacks.

TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

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THIS MONTH: NEW BLOBS Words & pictures: Ceri Jones Pictures: Oxoxoxoxoxxoxo

Jelly BLOBS Ceri Jones and friends put the new Translucent Blobs to the test at Llyn Fawr

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TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

Translucent Blobs

Hook: Size 10 short shank wide gape The Fritz is new from Flybox and called T15 which stands for ‘translucent 15mm’. Create your own versions.

The new translucent Fritz looks gel-like under the water.

TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

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THIS MONTH: EARLY SEASON RIVERS Words & Pictures: Jeffrey Prest

Early bird: Fred Bainbridge presses on along the Wharfe.

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TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

The big GAMBLE

It’s a time for daffodils, bunnies and rejuvenation but trout don’t always get the memo.

Stick with early season fishing, though, and you could get the best river brownie you catch all year

TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

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ADVICE SQUAD: Q&A

Key places to find fish will be behind, by the side, or in front of boulders.

Referred to as ‘pocket water’, clusters of boulders generally create a turmoil of conflicting currents. Such places provide shelter and food for trout without them having to move far. That said, the confused water can be intimidating, though once you get a grasp on where trout might be stationed, suddenly things don’t seem so bad, especially if you remember to use short drifts that vastly reduce the odds of your fly dragging. Your attention should focus on places where small areas of slack, or soft water occur.

River watercraft The river height and conditions will have a bearing too. For example, during a drought when flows become depleted, trout and grayling often seek out fast, oxygenated water at the head of a pool. Another advantage here is that the water’s surface remains broken, which creates a curtain to obscure the trout’s presence, making them virtually invisible to potential predators such as birds on the lookout from above.

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TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

Fish often seek out areas close to a bank where fallen debris (tree boughs for example) create slack water on their downstream edge.

Colder water temperatures in spring (trout) and during winter (grayling) often push fish to deeper areas which are likely to be a fraction warmer.

Grayling in particular might reside for several days in the same hole while periodically feeding. Trout however tend to use this abyss for resting and are more likely to head out in to shallower water and feed for a short period before returning.

The insides of bends in a river are another classic spot to find fish.

The water at the head of a pool in a raging flood could be extremely powerful and might well wash fish away, so instead they seek sanctuary tight against banks where flows become tempered.

How can I find river hotspots? the best way to judge where to Q What’s fish on a river that you’ve never fished before?

Mark Wilson PAUL PROCTER REPLIES: Obviously, fish

feeding at the surface give their position away by creating a disturbance when they rise. Seeing this we are able to pinpoint them and hopefully take advantage.

Unfortunately, it’s not everyday we can expect to find dimpling trout. In the absence of surface activity we either have to rely on

TROUT FISHERMAN MARCH 30 - APRIL 26

past experience, or any inkling on where fish might care to station themselves due to the topography of a pool, or run.

Known as ‘watercraft’, reading a river and understanding a trout’s movements is pretty much an ongoing skill that is constantly revised on every outing. Even with nearly 40 years' river fishing under my own belt, I’m still learning at every turn, which is very much part of the attraction for those who prefer the draw of running water.

On a new stretch of water many uncertainties exist, but we can call on our

account of other rivers to provide some pointers and perhaps an idea on where best to start.

As you can see from the situations mentioned above the possibilities of where fish might decide to feed are endless. That said, if you approach each section of water slowly and spend a few minutes accessing flows then you won’t go far wrong. Above all, try to identify quieter areas, or where more sedate currents form away from the main flow as this is where the bulk of fish are likely to be under normal circumstances.

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