There’s nothing quite like catching a few trout with flies you’ve tied yourself for making a birthday boy very happy. That’s why Rob and I recently headed for the Bransford Game Fisheries http://www.bransfordgame.com/ near Worcester with celebration in mind. Two of the fishery pools are fed with water from an underground reservoir of Malvern Spring water and are well stocked with fish from Bibury Trout Farm. A pre-trip look at the weather forecast and predicted temperature had caused us to think the fish would stay deep and we chose some hand tied lures and wet flies with this in mind.
Leaving the motorway, it was as if the Malvern hills presented themselves to us, a low wintery sun throwing the undulations of their geological structure into stunning relief. The countryside looked welcoming but the car radio predicted blustery winds, not good for fly casting especially for a beginner like me!
The forecast proved correct and on leaving the car, I put on as many coats and warm accessories as I could manage while still retaining the ability to move. Those of you who have read my previous post “Sea fishing, frost and lemon cake” will recognise this as a recurring theme!
We waddled over to the Anglers Rest Room – the best one I have found so far in my short fly fishing career. A modern brick built building with kitchen, kettle, microwave, weighing area and even carrier bags to take your catch home in. Add to that the picnic table, barbecue and separate ladies and gents toilets and it makes a facility acceptable to any lady angler no matter how genteel their upbringing! Quite a contrast to the small camping toilet at the beautiful Loch Sherup in Scotland but the less said about that the better! On the other hand, I’ve since been to rural India becoming well acquainted with a variety of their official and unoffical toileting arrangements. Imay well view the dear little Loch Sherup toilet with great affection this coming summer!
Our friend James soon arrived bearing homemade scones. He really is a good baker, taking great care over the creating process with yummy results. The scones along with bacon butties would make up our lunch.
Once we had set up our fishing gear we ventured onto the far lake having worked out how to position ourselves so that the strong wind blew from behind us. Out there, the sound of the wind was earachingly relentless and stole the words and breath from our mouths at times. I was able to stand leaning into the support of the wind (always fun until it suddenly dies down and leaves you stumbling backwards)and at times, I crouched down suddenly to avoid being blown over.
We adapted a version of back casting and holding the rod low when retrieving to avoid the wind blowing the line into a knotted up mess. It was certainly not text book methodology! God must have looked on me with favour as I experienced hardly any line tangles as I cast and got my hook caught on the bushes behind me only once or twice.
I spent the next hour fishing while admiring the winter shapes of the reeds and a pair of black swans that often frequent the pools, their bright red beaks making a striking contrast against the black waterproofed feathers.
After a while, I felt the eagerly awaited tug of a trout sampling the colourful lure that had sunk deep into the water. I pulled the rod up to secure the hook firmly in the fishes mouth and played the trout successfully for a while until, inexplicably, the line came loose and the trout got away! As still quite a beginner in training, both catching and losing the fish are equally inexplicable to me. No doubt seasoned fishermen and women will have explanations of what I did or didn’t do correctly but at the moment it’s all fun and I’m enjoying the learning process. The fish had a few more bites at my lure but none obliged by allowing themselves to be caught.
Rob and James went on to catch their quotas of fine looking rainbow trout and even a brownie which was returned to the pool.
One or two of the fish were female, full of eggs.When we gutted and filleted them later, the eggs spilled out, bright orange pearls worthy of any authentic sushi bar.
As it was so windy and I was recovering from a virus, I decided it was time to retreat to the Anglers Rest to cook the bacon sandwiches. This attractive plan was thwarted by a broken microwave. The scones became the main course accompanied by a cafetiere of freshly ground coffee. The jam was delicious and a pot of clotted cream with a thick crust completed the picnic which we ate at the wooden picnic table overlooking the lakes and the valley.
If you value good flyfishing, excellent facilities, beautiful views and an array of natural phenomena to wonder at while you relax why not give this fishery a visit 🙂 If you don’t know how to fly fish, why not try a new hobby this coming Spring?
katrinacoleman 