A few days before the cold arrived in earnest the jingle
jangle of the phone startled me, just as I was ribbing
another Diawl Bach, ready for Blagdon in a few months
time... it won’t be long!!
It was Paul Cozens from the Simpson Valley Fishery, a
new Trout Masters water up at Holsworthy, just on the
Devon side of the border with Cornwall. “its fishing well”
he said “you want to get up here before this cold
weather clogs in”, how right he was. As this is written
the local TV news is showing North Devon and Cornwall
with deep snow drifts the like of which we don’t see too
often in this neck of the woods... thankfully!!
Driving up and across Devon the biting wind that had
stripped most of the Autumnal colour from the tree’s had
eased to a gentle breeze, the sky had that rich deep
azure blue colour that the onset of Winter often brings. With that level of brightness it
wasn’t going to be an easy day to find the fish.
My pal Charles opted to fish an
intermediate line, whilst my thoughts
were that a floating line and long
leader would be good, then wait to
see if any fish were showing on or
near the top before reaching any
decision regarding how deep I
wanted the fly to swim. Besides I
wanted to see what the local
anglers were doing, after all, they
know their own fishery far better
than casual visitors like us.
Parking up we were surrounded by
water, lakes for carp, silver fish and
other coarse fish, with the Trout lake
just over the hedge and looking
good. Paul Cozens came through
the gate beaming a welcome smile,
and promptly gave us the run down
on what had been catching, his
bubbly enthusiasm all too evident.
Best of all he told us that a few days
previously he had caught a 17
pound Carp on fly. But “today was a
Trout day” I said to him “the Carp
will have to wait till the Spring!”
I have to say I am quite looking
forward to that, something different
to put my string!!
The only other angler on the fishery was Gavin Colwill who lives locally at Bude.
Gavin told me that he fishes Simpson Valley nearly
every week sometimes for a few hours, but often for the
day, he said with a slightly perplexed look “the building
trade is not as busy as it was”. He told me that buzzer
was a favourite with the floating line anglers and that
green damsel was a reliable year round fly. Here was a
good source of information, so I put him to the question,
as the inquisitors of old would have said!! This was his
summation of the year round flies for Simpson Valley.
Best all year flies are green/black montana(I think the
Westcountry is the only place they breed!) Olive Damsel
and the locals favourite beadhead bloodworm and black
buzzers.
Spring flies were PTN, GRHE, stonefly nymph, boobies
on short tippet. A good hatch of Hawthorn in the late
spring heralds the start of dry fly fishing on the lake.
Early summer mostly nymphs with buzzer, Diawl Bach
and PTN firm favourite on the nymph front. Olive
Damsels with a touch of blue flash material is good . The lake has a small but
significant Mayfly hatch which can give some superb top of the water fishing...
High Summer when the water is warm and the conditions are challenging, local
anglers use teams of orange and red beadhead buzzers fished off 15 feet plus
leaders. Black buzzer fished with and without sight bobs will also find fish in these
conditions. Late on Summer evenings a few of the knowledgeable local anglers fish
size 14 to size 18 black gnat dries on light leaders for some superb evening sport.
In the Autumn corixa and bead head daddies fished off long leaders catch well as
does dry daddy which last season took a number of fine brown trout. Buzzers also
fish well into the colder months, but with so many coarse fish around the lake there
are always fry. Cats Whisker and Humongous lures are amongst the favourite lure
patterns when the fish turn on to the fry. Then comes Winter... just like today...
What I found interesting was that Gavin was fishing a goldhead with an orange body
“bloodworm”. Now Bloodworms come in all manner of colours between a bright red
through to a sombre green grey colour, but this was the first time I had encountered
an orange coloured “bloodworm”, but after watching him catch several fish on the fly,
it was very evident that it worked well. He was using a long 15 foot leader and
allowing the fly to sink for a good thirty seconds, by which time by my reckoning the
fly would have been in weed snagging country had it been summertime. Then with a
slow figure eight retrieve the fly was trickled back just above the bottom, which when
you think about it is where the fish were most likely to be under this cloudless blue
sky. The hard light at mid day had pushed the fish way down and the bloodworm and
black buzzers were not doing anything, the lures and bead head damsels had a
swim to take
another
couple of
fish. But by
this time a
cold
easterly
wind had
started to
cool the
proceedings
even more,
we had
enjoyed our
mornings
fishing,
caught a
few fish, a
pint on the
way home.
Can’t think of a better way to spend a Winters day...
Simpson Valley Trout and Coarse Fishery.
Simpson Barton,
Holsworthy,
Devon.
EX22 JW
Contact Paul Cozens
Phone: 07855413672
Simpson Valley Trout Lake. The Jenny Wren Lake is stocked with Rainbows from
2lb to 15lb, with average size 2 to 3lb. There are a good number at 5 to 7lbs and a
handful from 9 to 15 lbs. Also stocked with Brown Trout from 2 to 6lb and Blue Trout
from 2 to 9lbs. When the lake is busy there are two time slots at 7am till 4pm and 4
pm till dusk. Six anglers maximum. £15 for 2 fish. £20 for 3 fish. £25 for 4 fish.
Also a beginners Trout Lake which is any methods stocked with table size Trout with
a few surprises. This lake is intended for beginners and juniors.
Situated one mile out of Holsworthy on the Hatherleigh/Okehampton, A3072 road.
Published Trout Fisherman. 2010.
