THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

A TROUT IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Bucket List status – result
I don't really know why I added a double figure trout to my 'must do' list, as my favoured aspects of
still-water fly fishing are loch styling on the bigger reservoirs such as Rutland; fishing a suspender
minkie in some quiet reservoir back water, or working through a selection of fry patterns around the
jetties and boat moorings in August and September on Draycote.
Appreciating that while any of those
three approaches could theoretically turn
up the odd bigger fish, it would not be the
path I would deliberately choose for
shortening the odds of a double figure
trout. But sometimes in this life you have
to do what you have to do, and with the
challenge set, I needed to go about
finding a resolution to it.
When I first started dabbling with fly
fishing it would have been easier to get a
double figure trout than it is today.
Expensive, but given time, fairly readily
achievable at fisheries such as Avington, Dever Springs, Lechlade, and right on my own door step,
Pennine, which were all competing with each other to grow on and be responsible for huge, occasionally
even record rainbow trout.
Not so much brown trout though, as these were more difficult, or should I say, more money and labour
intensive to grow on, and would invariably sulk for weeks after being introduced, making them
frustratingly harder to catch. But of course, a far greater prize when one is persuaded to take.
Dever Springs seemed to have the monopoly on that particular score. Big rainbows on the other hand
would often not see out the day.
I'm not sure where I actually sit on this particular issue. Growing on these huge fish is an art form in
itself. Catching them has also developed a tactical approach all of its own.
Some were undoubtedly caught by simply casting blind. Pennine for example wasn't clear enough to
spot and sight cast to fish in the way that both Avington and Dever Springs are.
My problem comes from the fact that it wasn't always a level playing field, with big fish often being
stocked on press days, or for the potential benefit of some celebrity big name, and reputations were
most certainly enhanced as a result.
If the management team had nominated undisclosed random introduction dates at the start of the season
and stuck to them giving everybody a 'raffle' chance, I might be persuaded. But they didn't, so I'm not.
I have done sight casting, jiggling, and all the rest in the gin clear waters of both Dever Springs and
Avington. Graeme Pullen and I made a number of YouTube video's at both fisheries where we were
guests, and while we weren't unfortunately in a position to target the monsters of historical legend,
mainly because by that stage the ultra big fish bubble had burst, we none the less had some very good
fish thanks to the high quality general stocking policy at both fisheries.
Graeme had a targeted sight cast sixteen pounder at Dever which was quite a nice fish, and we both had
quite a few around the eight pound mark at Avington jiggling tiny weighted nymphs on their noses
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