My earliest memories of seeing fish in the wild are up on Dartmoor (Devon, UK). I was on a school trip and my teacher told me the fish were brown trout.
They were so cool. They spooked really easily and shot off if your shadow covered them whilst peering down at them but they looked sleek, elegant and full of beans.
Years later, once I had learnt to fish (in the sea only at this point) I saw a young man with a spinning rod on his way back to his car in Plymbridge woods. I asked him about what he was doing and he said he had been spinning for trout, and even showed me a lovely little mepps spinner he had been using. I asked him about the sizes of the fish and he said they were all really small but lots of fun to target and catch.
I didn’t really consider targetting them again for a good 12 years until after I start transitioning into a bit of freshwater lure fishing for perch.
Seeing people regularly catching trout as bycatch on rivers I was really starting to hope I would catch one but never really fished the right areas.
Then this year when the fresh water season came to a close, I decided to start scouting some of the rivers near me in Surrey. I did find a stretch which held trout but it also had plenty of chub and a few other species of course fish I couldnt catch during the close season so have decided to park that spot until opening time in June.
Then on a whim I dropped a post on my favourite fishing group on Facebook asking about spots local to my hometown of Plymouth, Devon.
A number of kind gents came forward with recomendations but the one that caught my eye was put forward by the group admin Frankie.
It was for a dammed resevior fed by a local Devon river and according to a link sent to me it was free fishing with a bag limit of 4 fish. Cant lie even catching 4 fish sounded promising. But was it too good to be true?
The following weekend my wife to be (at the time) was away with her friends on her hen do so I drove down the never ending a303. Picked up my 12 year old fishing partner (my son Owen) spoke to the legendary owners of the Osborne and Cragg tackle shop in Plymouth briefly about what to expect. We tackled up and headed out. But we didnt even make it to our venue of choice before seeing waters so wild we couldnt resist pulling the car over.
We probably werent supposed to fish the first few spots we did but as there were no signs, fences etc. we thought as long as we practiced catch and release if we caught we would be doing no harm and would move on peacefully if asked.
We started looking for any pools or slower moving patches of water and put lures through them but I didn’t even see a flash of a fish so we moved on pretty quickly to find our destination.
We arrived at a car park which I already know was a good 25 to 30 minutes walk from the reservoir but could already hear the sound I love more than almost anything else…. Moving water! We didn’t wait. Within seconds of setting up a rod I was flicking out some shiny clattering metal and whizzing it back through the levels to try and tempt out a fish from the stream you walk along back up to the dam. Then just to boost my confidence I saw a swirl behind my lure and then as I looked closer I saw a very little brown trout. It spooked and turned away but I knew instantly that I was going to catch something.
We started moving from pool to pool and we started to notice more and more fish as we got further upstream. Then I found a pool just under a tree which I was almost certain to wrap a lure around but on the first cat I somehow skimmed it under the branches and right into the back of the pool.
I allowed it to sink as long as I dared then just as I gave the rod a little sideways tap to get it moving I felt a tap I continued the retrieve and a split second later a hit and I knew I was hooked up. My first ever lure caught trout!
It is up there with my pb bass, my first fish on a fly and even my first double figure fish. I was beaming. It’s probably the most attractive fish I have ever caught possibly even seen. Fantastic colours and spots and perfect streamlined shape making it the top of the apex predator of the stream. At probably around 12cm in length it was on the very small side considering I have had brown trout on fly to around 3.5lb but the fact is was wild, from the running river and on a lure made it so much more special to me.
I could see that Owen was a little gutted as he hadn’t had one yet himself but he was so very cool about it and I think it gave him that boost of confidence too.
We doubled our efforts in getting to the planned mark but did fish a few more pools along the way and both had follows.
Once we were on the resevior Owen sat to take a drink and I made my first cast. FISH ON!
I couldnt believe it. 2 winds of the reel handle after my lure landed and i felt that same tap tap as before and I gave the slightest of strikes to set the hook and reeled in another beautiful brown trout. Whilst I released the fish I had passed owen the same rod and he cast out himself for his first cast. WHAT!!!! FISH ON! I was almost as happy for Owen as I was about getting my first his face lit up and the fish danced across the surface as he reeled it in.
2 casts, 2 fish. This was the start of something special surely? We moved around the resevior to get out of the head on wind which was really picking up and making casting difficult even with metal lures. The move put the wind behind us and helped us to land a string of fine looking brownies but nothing of any size.
A highlight reel moment was when a hooked trout leaped a clear 4 or 5 feet clear of the surface and threw the hook. It made us both laugh and was a fine display of acrobatics.
We decided to start making our way back toward where we had came from but kept casting along the way and kept hooking more fish, a few which were slightly bigger.
It was the end of a great days fishing and one I think me and Owen will always remember.
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How To Trick A Fish 