More Fly Fishing Fun at Albury and another big trout

My pal Malcolm has made so much progress with his casting of the fly that I decided to take him to the lakes at Albury Estates, near Guildford.  I also wanted him to see what a real fly fishing shop was like so we visited Peter Cockwill's Albury Game Angling tackle shop.  I need some fly tying materials and I wanted to make sure Malcolm invested in some blue flash damsel nymphs as they are deadly on the lakes.

Peter Cockwill is a splendid instructor, guide, author, lecturer and tackle shop proprietor. He has been guiding trips to Alaska every year since 1988. 

Peter's shop has everything you need to fly fish and fly tie.

We started fishing at Weston on the main lake, with me wanting to sight fish, but the fish were staying out of sight so we had a go at the Wood Lodge Pool where we could see fish, especially where the water flows in through the feeder pipe.  Malcolm caught on the blue flash and I blanked so after a sandwich we drove the mile or so to Vale End and fished the river pool. Malcolm positioned himself adjacent the tail of the pool (I hadn't told him that was where a couple of years ago our mutual friend Ashok had caught a 10lb fish).  I positioned myself at the side of a large tree, hoping to use it as cover because the water was fairly clear.  Whilst I was pulling a bit of debris from my fly Malcolm called out and pointed to the far side of the lake. I looked round the tree trunk and saw a very large ring rapidly expanding on the water about 25 yards away.  I quickly worked out some line, false casting like crazy and double hauling dropped the fly at the center of the ring.  Reckoning that the fish was probably still high in the water I started tweaking the fly in immediately and was rewarded with a firm snatch.  The fish splashed and Malcolm gave me one of his "I don't believe it looks"!  Ten minutes later having been taken back onto the reel, and having steered the fish out of reeds on both sides of the lake I managed to get it on the bank. It was in perfect condition with a lovely full tail. It weighed in at 4lb 8oz.

We both went on to have another fish each and ended a very pleasant winters day so glad we had gone fishing.

I tend to fillet larger fish as it is less trouble than gutting them, but note the filleting glove under the filleting knife.

Thought for the day: Bragging may not bring happiness, but no man having caught a large fish goes home through an alley!