maybe it is because I am so keen on top

Of all times to get so many bookings one would have imagined that May and early June would have presented me with the cream of top-of-the-water sport, but for a variety of reasons that has just not occurred.April and the first half of May was brilliant! The fishing was as easy as I can ever remember it and no great amount of skill was required to cast out a team of nymphs or superglue buzzers and retrieve it as slowly as possible: eventually a trout would grab hold! Then, over the course of the next week, the fishing slowly went downhill.The wind had been from a predominantly northerly direction, but it went round to our more usual south or south-westerly, and from then on it seems to have become colder and colder. This is quite odd as the prevailing wind is normally a warm one, and often accompanied by rain or drizzle. You dare not go onto the lake without at least one fleece, and that is generally worn as well as a coat! One of the other factors has been the early algal bloom that we have experienced. As the weather changed so did the alga in the lake. First there was a pretty heavy green bloom: this was a short period when people started to worry that there may have been some of the toxic blue/green stuff about! Following that the usually much later brown alga took over and we have been stuck with it since. Visibility has been as poor as twenty inches and it is this that seems to have turned the fish off! There are plenty of buzzers hatching and swifts work the water for hours each day. Many of the fish being caught have contained only daphnia, in spite of the big buzzer hatches, and surface feeding fish are rarely seen. An exception to this is certain shallow areas in the middle of the lake where any sort of wind lane acts as a magnet to surface feeders Ė but only in ideal (gentle wind) conditions. So, all these factors have meant that the guiding has been extremely tough. One or two of my clients have failed to catch a single fish. Even on the poorest of fishing days though, I have managed to find the odd moving fish in the wind lanes mid lake for clients to try their luck on! Thankfully these fish prove to people that some trout have been stocked!It is hard work keeping relatively inexperienced anglers enthusiastic about their fishing when things are not going too well. It is also difficult persuading people that there really is little to be gained from continually changing flies! It is rarely the fly that makes the difference on poor days (I donít believe it makes much difference on good days, but that is another subject altogether!); far more relevant is to find an area where trout are actively feedingThe evening rise often proves to be the saviour on such days. Even though after many hours an angler may be weary from flogging the water, the sight of rising fish soon gets the pulse rate up! It also confirms (hopefully) that you have been fishing in the right areas. In spite of the recent weather and water conditions there has still been a good rise on the lake most evenings. My friend Lee Sennington, who now works at the lodge, has had some great evening trips this last few weeks. Last Monday he went out for a few hours, and along with John Braithwaite. brought in six trout for exactly 18 pounds.Evening trips on the lake do present the best opportunity to catch a few fish, especially if you enjoy casting at those rising ones. Unfortunately it is not possible to book an evening boat in advance; you have instead to telephone the office (01275-332339) after midday and see if there are spare boats available. I like taking clients out for evening trips: maybe it is because I am so keen on top-of-the-water sport, or perhaps it is because it is such a magical time to be out fishing. I have a few days still available should anyone wish to book my services. You may call me anytime on 07747-843548; I would be pleased to discuss terms then.Tight lines,

Martin Cottis