Motoring up from Plymouth, it was an easy drive of 94 miles almost diagonally across the county, but such is my regard for Blakewell that it is a trip that I make with a willing frequency through each season.

This morning had dawned as a welcome messenger of Spring, driving into Barnstaple at a little after 9 o’clock, the hedgerows were alive with daffodils and huge clumps of butter yellow primroses. Already the temperature gizmo indicated an outside temperature of 15 degrees, this was going to be a floating line and baby buzzer day….excellent!!!

Russ Weston and myself chuckled as we walked through the gateway because there was my pal Richard Nickel involved in a mating dance with a pair of chestwaders, it must be said that this is a fairly common sight around fisheries and fish farms in this neck of the woods. Sighting us he threw them to the ground and was soon telling us about his latest trip to New England fishing for Striped Bass. Oh yes! this is one of those fisheries where you can believe the advice given because Richard loves his fishing as much as any of us and not only that he is a good angler by any standard.

"Buzzers and emergers, especially Klinkhammer" was Richards advice.

Passing through a small lichgate into the fishery proper we paused for a moment or two to absorb and appreciate just how well the Blakewell lake blends into the valley bottom between rolling hills of the green and pleasant Devon countryside.

Our momentary reverie was rudely interrupted when the water a yard or two from the bank humped and swirled as a silver flank blinked a "catch me if you can" message.

That was a fish taking buzzer from an inch or two under the surface. My philosophy in those circumstances is very clear. If that’s what they want, then that’s what you give’em!!

We were both tackled up with 9 foot #6 weight rods and floating lines. We had considered taking the #5 weights, but there was a bit of wind and the #6 weights seemed to be the tool on the day. I am sometimes amused at myself when I think back to the days when I took one rod and that was the rod I fished with all season because it was the only one I had. Nowadays so many of us have a tube of rods that we have almost become like a golfer choosing a club to make an awkward shot. Hell….its all part of the fun, horses for courses and all that!

Soon we were both laughing like kids in an ice cream factory. Wait for a fish to show and see how close we could get to the centre of the circle with the slim epoxy buzzer popping a little splash to mark the accuracy of the cast….wait… wait, twitch the rod tip and watch the line slide away as another of the magnificent overwintered Blakewell rainbows piled on the power so that the bright orange backing line zipped up through the snakes.

The fish wanted the buzzers fished less than six inches down. So we used a 12 foot tapered leader with 3 feet of 5 pound breaking strain fluorocarbon to the buzzer. The tapered leader was greased up so that it floated and the fluorocarbon left to sink, pulled under by just the weight of the single buzzer. After a minute or so just mending the line and making up any slack would lift the buzzer almost to the surface, so that it could be left to sink under its own weight again. Fishing a near stationary buzzer high in the water is almost as visually exciting as fishing dry fly, because the bite indicator is the tapered leader floating in the surface film. Just watch for the leader to straighten and instinct takes over.

Gradually the morning warmed up and the buzzer started to hatch through the surface film, a fact not unnoticed by the fish. Klinkhammer's and CDC shuttlecock buzzers got their first dunking of the season, three fish later and we were both up to our limits, but then Richard came down to see how we were getting on. Before we knew it he had the new #6 weight rod from me. "just to have a few casts". An hours gillie’ing later, it was time for a pint and catch up on the winters gossip.

Blakewell is well known and appreciated by local anglers, but its reputation for the quality of its fish is starting to attract anglers from far and wide to this quiet corner of Devon. If you are in to salt water fly fishing, talk to Richard and he will point you toward some of the best salt water opportunities in the country.

Brothers Richard and John Nickell started Blakewell fishery with their father David almost as a sideline to their well known trout farm.

Such has this Troutmaster fisheries reputation for the quality of its free rising fish grown in the passing years, that now much more attention is being focussed on maintaining and enhancing the Blakewell fishing experience.

This year will see the opening of a well stocked tackle shop and a comfortable lodge, which will offer food. (Now open and working well!)

Unusually the 5 acre Blakewell lake is horseshoe shaped, the incoming water going up one leg and discharging through the other. That’s right, it is a moving water fishery with a complex system of slow moving currents and counterflows, especially so when the wind is brought into the equation.

Through the season Blakewell is similar to most other small Westcountry fisheries in that small dark nymphs fished on long fine leaders will catch fish all year round, especially during a mild Winter. What is also interesting about Blakewell is that most of the nymphs that you would tend to think of as warm weather flies, such as buzzers, olives, Pheasant Tails, Gold Ribbed Hares Ear, Damsels and Stick Fly, will work right through the Winter months with only minor modifications to their tying. They need to be darker and sizes need to be slightly smaller. Where you might tie a PTN on a #10 hook during the warmer months, for use in the colder months at places like Blakewell, the same fly should be tied on a size #12 or #14.

Instead of the natural Pheasant Tail, tie PTN’s using black died or melanistic Pheasant Tail, with maybe a fluo yellow thorax to make a micro montana.

Fish these smaller flies on long fine leaders, to a three foot length of 5 or 6lb fluorocarbon.

It would be wrong of me not to mention that lures work as well at Blakewell as at any other fishery, Montana, Nomad, Tadpole and Cats Whisker are local favourites, fished on floating or intermediate lines.

During the warmer months, the fishing is something else, especially early mornings and during the lovely balmy evenings that this part of Devon is famous for.

These are the times when 4 or 5 weight outfits are such a joy and a pleasure to use.

Such a lightweight outfit is ideally suited for fishing the tiny dries and nymph fishing, but beware the clear water and dress accordingly. Avoid disturbing the water too much, let the nymph fish on the drop all the way to the bottom, then retrieve at half the speed your mind tells you is right.

Dry flies such as the Daddy, Hawthorn, Hopper and Klinkhammer patterns can give some fantastic sport for those with the patience to get everything absolutely right. It is essential in such clear water, that the deception is perfect. The last two feet of leader must be sunk, right up to the fly, fluorocarbon with its slightly negative buoyancy works best.

Traditional running water dries as the Grey Duster, Grey Wulff, Black Gnat and Rough Olive in small sizes, will also work well, particularly for the Browns.

The Sedge hatch starts in April with clouds of Grannom mixing with the Hawthorn. Through the season expect to find Black Sedge, Cinnamon Sedge, Longhorns and Great Red Sedge. Needless to say Stick Fly, Sedge Pupa and all the other sedgy flies are always worth a try.

Facilities Rating. *****

What we thought.

Excellent quality, free rising fish in a scenic and peaceful environment. A top class fishery well managed and thoroughly deserving of its Troutmaster status. I like this fishery a lot!!

Recommended Flies.

Green and black epoxy buzzers. Bloodworm. Olive nymphs, Pheasant Tails, Gold Ribbed Hares Ear, Damsels and Stick Fly.

Daddy, Hawthorn, Hopper and Klinkhammer style emergers.

Black Sedge, Cinnamon Sedge, Longhorns and Great Red Sedge.

Montana, Nomad, Tadpole and Cats Whisker.

Location.

Barnstaple is not difficult to find. If you are coming down the M5, come off the motorway at Junction 27 and take the A361 all the way into Barnstaple.

Once into Barnstaple keep going around the endless succession of mini roundabouts, following the signs for the A39 to Lynton. Once over the bridge you will pass a Fire station on your right, keep going till you pass the Hospital, again on your right side. Continue onward for a short distance until you reach a junction on your left side for the B3230 to Ilfracombe, take this turn. Blakewell Fishery is about half a mile down the B3230 on the left.

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