Opening Fly Fishing Day at Weir Wood Fishery, Forrest Row, East Sussex, UK

With the sun shining and temperatures rising, after I had finished my mornings baby-sitting grandchildren session (my daughter has the flu) I could not resist the temptation to go and have a look at Weir Wood Reservoir Fishery on its opening day.  My fishing diary tells me I started fishing WW in 1993 but I had not fished there since 2010. I was interested to see that the water level was the highest I had ever seen with it flowing over the caged overflow (see photo).

 

I was glad that I did not get there till 2.00pm as apparently first thing the water had been iced over.  I received a warm welcome from Mike Smith the “main man” and noting that there were quite a lot of fishers on “the wall” a favoured spot, I decided to take a boat out.  The boats at WW are very stable and they have these amazingly comfortable seats, however, I always have trouble getting the seats to swivel.  I am not sure if it is me not knowing how to do it or if it calls for a drop of WD40!  Next time I must remember to ask.

The fishing was going to be a bit challenging because the water was obviously cold, the sun was bright and the water clarity was low.  However, I like a challenge, so having decided to use a big bright cats whisker fly for visibility reasons and a sink tip to get down I then asked myself “where would the water be the warmest.”  I settled on the shallows at the north dam corner and drifting in and out there eventually managed to catch the fish in the picture.

 

 

A very pleasant couple of hours, rewarded with a nice fish and a lovely sunset, what could be better?