A days fishing at Tavistock Trout Fishery

Location: On the A30 towards Cornwall turn on to the A386 towards Tavistock. The turn-off from the A30 is virtually opposite Oakhampton. About one mile from Tavistock on the A386 is the entrance to the fishery. This is opposite the “Trout ‘n’ Tipple” public house.Address: Tavistock Trout Fishery, Parkwood Road, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 9JWContact: Abigail Underhill Phone: 01822 615441

Web site: www.tavistockfishery.co.uk” This is an excellent web site with all up to date information.

E-mail mailto:abigail@tavistocktroutfishery.co.uk

Facilities: Wheelchair access, Troutmaster venue, fly fishing tackle shop, free tea and coffee making facilities for anglers, snacks, chocolate, canned drinks, microwave, tuition by prior arrangement, W.C., dinner for groups by prior arrangement, similar arrangement for all day breakfasts, tackle hire, gift vouchers, group bookings and on-site accommodation.Season: Open all year.Fishing times: Both Summer and Winter 8 a.m. till dusk. In Summer it is possible to book in advance an early morning session.The fishery: Osprey Lakes are the specimen lakes stocked with trout ranging from 3lb to very large. The best rainbow recorded is 30lb 12Oz whilst browns run to 9lb 9oz.Kingfisher and Heron Lakes are stocked with trout ranging from 1.5lb to 141bs.There is a junior lake that is any-method except livebait. Rod hire including sweetcorn, priest, bag and landing net costs £3 for this lake.Tickets: The Osprey Specimen lakes tickets are; long day five fish limit at £40, traditional day with a four fish limit £34, 8 hour ticket with a three fish limit £26.50 and a two fish evening ticket or 5 hours costs £19. Extra fish can be purchased at £9.50.The more traditionally stocked Kingfisher and Heron Lakes tickets are; long day five fish limit at £20.50, traditional day with a four fish limit at £16.50, 8 hour ticket with three fish limit £13.50 and a two fish evening ticket or five hours costs £10. Extra fish can be purchased at £5. An alternative method is to buy a five hour ticket at £5 and pay at £1.50 per lb for fish caught.The Junior lake is priced at £1.50 to fish plus trout at £1.60 per lb. Note: children under 14 years must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

A days fishing at Tavistock Trout Fishery

When we arrived in Devon to see the New Year in with John and Wanda Ray at Clawford Vineyard, everywhere was covered in fairly thick snow. It had been a difficult journey and there was no sign of a thaw. The lakes at Clawford had ice on them and I thought there was little chance of carrying out the review of Tavistock booked for the 2nd January.Fortunately a thaw started on New Years Eve and when we woke up after a terrific New Years party at Clawford, all the roads were clear. We knew we would at least get to the fishery, across Dartmoor.As we travelled to Tavistock, we crossed over flooded streams and rivers that all had plenty of colour. We eventually arrived and were greeted by Abigail who told us that despite the conditions the lakes had fished well. We were even shown photographs taken a few days earlier of big double figured trout taken with snow still on the ground.We decided to have a two fish limit (five hour) ticket on Osprey Lakes as I prefer to pay the extra to fish for bigger fish. These lakes have a minimum stock size of three pounds.I walked around the fishery before starting to fish, to photograph all the lakes for this part of the review. I think that readers will be able to tell from the photographs that conditions were rather poor!As I arrived back to fish the main Osprey lake, I sat down to set up when a lovely black and white cat jumped up onto my shoulders. It was an exceptionally friendly cat. Virginia could not resist taking a photograph of it, adding a comment to the effect this is was an omen to fish with a cats whisker.I set up with a 8’6″ A.F.T.M. 4/5 rod with a WF5S line with a 61b b.s. leader with – you’ve guessed it – a cats whisker lure on a size 12 normal shank hook. The water, normally very clear, had turned rather coloured with all the heavy rain and melted snow.I tried various depths with different retrieves but had no takes for an hour. Others nearby had taken several trout that had all been between 3lb to just over 41b. I was thinking that the cat had lied to me when I had a take on the drop. This put up a very spirited fight in the cold water, clearing the water several times. When I eventually netted it, I was surprised at the excellent condition of the 4lb 2oz fish.However I wanted something far bigger for this review. Because the water was fairly coloured stalking was out of the question. There were plenty of three and four pound fish being caught but no sign of any bigger fish. I changed fly to a mini gold-head viva to walk round looking for a bigger fish. Then I saw a large wake on the surface at the far end. Naturally I moved around to try to cover the fish. Then after what appeared to be an eternity, the big fish rolled in front of me. I covered it straight away and gave a short sharp pull. The rod locked up as I had hit into a large rainbow. I kept up steady pressure but on such a light outfit there was no question of being able to bully the fish to the net. The fish kept deep and never went for a really long run. It just stayed deep using its weight to full advantage. After what appeared to be a long time, I felt the fish starting to lift off the bottom. Slowly but surely I was bringing it to the surface. When it eventually broke surface directly under my rod, it dived straight back down to the bottom. There was no doubt it was a double and I was pleased that I had not used a fast actioned blank – I would most likely have been broken up as the fish was right under the rod top. Again after several minutes I bought the fish to the surface and this time it was beaten. I netted it first time. It was later weighed at 12lb 8oz which made it the first double of the year for the fishery.I was very impressed with the days fishing particularly under such difficult conditions. Under more favourable conditions, you should be able to target those bigger fish.

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