There was an intention to visit to Thornton for this friendly match. However, Ifor generously phoned the Secretary and informed him that the water clarity was unsuitable for BFTA members to travel a long way to fish. This resulted in a late rearrangement of venue and Bushylease was the chosen water. Probably as a result of the late rearrangement and also the seriously frosty start to the day, only a few stalwarts turned up to fish. Yet again one of the hardy fenmen travelled all the way from Lincolnshire to join us, and his company was much appreciated by those present. He put to shame those fair-weather Thornton fishermen who decided that watching Leicester City was a permissible alternative!?
The temperature gauge fluctuated from -5C to -6C degrees when we set out, and it rose to a positively balmy -1C by the time we launched. The sun was shining brightly and there was a hint of an East wind rippling the surface of the water, (not the ideal conditions for catching trout according to those that know about these things - but most of us are too busy or illiterate to have read about it). Fortunately the ice had disappeared from the margins by 9.00am when we undauntedly headed for the middle. It was quickly obvious that the water was very much colder than it had been three weeks ago. Ian however still claimed to be hot in his one layer of thermal underwear and breathable waders – damned hardy types these Eastern England boys!
It was interesting to see rabbits feeding on frozen grass, both on roadside verges and on the driveway to the water – some BFTA members with diverse sporting interests might note that this may hint of a year of explosion in the rabbit population, as they normally keep well out of sight in these conditions - (a bit like the Thornton BFTA members)! Loads of blackthorn blossom was also in evidence and looked slightly out of place against the frosty surroundings.
Tim Small had assured us that the water was still fishing well and that there had even been substantial afternoon rises for olives and small sedges during the last week or so. Floating lines were therefore chosen by most, but Ian plumped for a sink tip to see how we got on. Tony soon found the fish in the west bay and the entrance to the ‘forbidden arm’ area, and drew first blood by proceeding to catch a couple of very hard-fighting 3lb + rainbows. The Secretary quickly followed suit and hooked a couple; then Ian joined this group and rapidly proved that the fish were not all at the very top of the water by fishing a buzzer a few feet down and landing some equally hard fighting fish. The area in front of the ‘forbidden arm’ was obviously the centre point of a large shoal of rainbows, and also a few browns which Ian managed to connect with and carefully return. One of these gave him a particularly tough fight and tried to wrap itself round one of the boat buoys several times. Having found the fish, this small BFTA group then moved to other parts of the lake and tried different flies and methods to see what worked. Buzzers, daiwl bachs, cormorants, pheasant tails and wiggly black marabou jobs all seemed to do the business for the float tubers, although it was discovered that the fish were definitely not as widely distributed as on the last occasion we fished. The bank fishermen were having a more difficult time until midday, when the shoal obviously moved nearer to their casting range and they then started to catch regularly.
All BFTA members bagged their six fish by lunchtime and then left the water for coffee and an agreeable chat, deeply satisfied in their accomplishment. In the meantime the kit dried out in the very pleasant sunshine which had now reached a tolerable level of warmth. The tame robin in the car park gratefully shared Kevin’s bacon sandwich and sang cheerfully in return. There was nothing outstanding in fish size by Bushylease standards in any of the bags – all weighed in about 19 to 20 lbs total weight, but this has to be better than satisfactory fishing at any time of the year!
