Fish ‘hoard’ at Cottam

The word ‘towers’ may bring to mind Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, but to Kilton resident Mick Hill it is the key word in another story.

Mick works at Cottam, one of the trio of power stations that stands alongside the River Trent that uses water pumped from the river for the cooling towers.

The inlet from the Trent is called a ‘trash screen’ which stops unwanted material being swept up these pipes towards the cooling towers, but does not stop fish from making this journey, apparently.

The ‘sump’ area beneath these gigantic structures is breathtaking, and with a depth of around 8ft to 9ft is a good home for many aquatic species, including masses of coarse fish that have been trapped there and grown-on.

Mick is convinced there are record sized fish, bream, roach, chub and massive eels, all feeding on a diet of freshwater shrimp which is abundant in the water.

He told me of a time one of these sumps had to be cleaned-out and the huge amounts of specimen fish that were destroyed.

“They could have been removed to a lake or put in the river, but we have no equipment to move them,” he told me.

Apparently, all the power station’s cooling towers have fish beneath them and Mick would welcome someone to instigate the rescue and liberation of them all by contacting the respective station managers at each site.

“I don’t know who to approach, but I’m sure the procedure could be worthwhile bringing some revenue to the company or to a charity,” he added.
Food for thought to anyone who wishes to enquire, I’m sure.

Fly Fishing

Getting ready for the new reservoir season and having a few headaches on the right tactics to put a few fish on the bank? Or indeed any early season venue? Let me hopefully help you….

For starters, let’s get rid of the common myth that you need special flies! Presentation is the key (it took me years to work that one out, trust me) so let me start by giving you a few examples of basic patterns to use.

A good lure is a Black Tadpole ‘Long Shank’ Marabou lure (black chenille body) with a fluorescent yellow chenille head.

I like to use a black hackle ribbed down the body for extra mobility with a lead underbody or a Gold bead head.

Fish this on a slow sinking line and 12ft to 15ft leader of 6lb to 8lb working the depth.

Another set-up is a team of size 10 Black buzzers on a floating line. In both cases, look for water that has some sort of a feature like a point or bay where you would expect trout to be.

If you don't get a pull after a dozen casts using each method, move on. Don’t thrash away if nothing is happening.

You need a decent depth of water in front of you. If you have a ‘ledge’, even better.

The first thing trout do when stocked is to stick together and look for a ‘side’ - somewhere they will feel at home just as they were in the trout ponds.

Later in the season they tend to spread out as the water warms, but that’s another story.

If there are fish in front of you, you will catch. These two methods are going from one extreme to another. Firstly, you are giving them a lure, something to spark the aggressive instincts of the trout.

Another that is a natural foodstuff, which has trout feeding from the off once stocked, is the 'Buzzer' or 'Chironomid Pupa' which is the next stage up from the bloodworm.

I have umpteen samples of these, and always go for the same basic pattern.

To fish the lure method, I suggest casting a long line then allow the line to sink for roughly five seconds and start a retrieve of long steady pulls with the odd ‘figure of eight’ to mix things up.

Then, if no takes come, cast and count to 10 seconds and so on. If nothing happens, try speeding/varying the retrieve occasionally.

Buzzer fishing couldn't be simpler. Ideally on a floating line (I have fished teams of four on super fast sinkers in my time from a boat) in teams of two or three (5ft to 6ft apart using a two-turn water knot for droppers) cast a long line and allow the flies to sink, keeping in touch with them at the same time as takes can come on-the-drop (the same goes for counting down when fishing lures).

Before you start your retrieve, give the line a long slow pull to straighten the cast. Again, a reverse of lure pulling. Try a figure of eight with differing speeds and the odd long slow pull in between.

And there you are! Why not have two rods set-up with both methods, and ring the changes? No need for two licences!

To make it slightly confusing (if you like) an orange-coloured lure should work if the Black one fails and/or stick a Buzzer on a dropper!

If you are fishing in windy conditions with the buzzers, then a change to an intermediate (very slow sinking line) will prevent line drag.

If you require any fly fishing info at any venue (river or reservoir) before an outing, feel free to give me a call on 01909 472305.

The trick is to keep everything simple and to have confidence. We’ll have another look as the season progresses.

Notice Board

Apologies for last week’s error - I was not giving Ken Stevenson any rest between course dates it seems.
Ken’s course is starting upstairs at the Miners Welfare on Monday 26th April from 7pm to 9pm.

Go-Baits Angling shall be hosting a series of open matches at Langold Lake every Sunday. (match report below)
Entry fee is £15 all-in. Draw is 9am and fishing is from 10am to 4pm.
Telephone 01909 540105 for information.

Woodhouse Inn AC are up and ready for the forthcoming season and have booked 11 matches to fill their calendar.
They also have two vacancies if anyone wishes to join the club. Interested? Contact Les Coe on 01909 482225.

Round-up

Only the most hardened of anglers will have ventured out last weekend in the gale-force winds (and our wives and girlfriends think we do this to enjoy ourselves eh?)

Those that didn't get out were most probably mending fences and the likes… me included.

But Pride of Warsop AC got among the specimens when they fished the River Trent at Holme Marsh from pegs 82 to 105.

Winner was Tony Blackman (14lb 12oz) consisting of a bream, barbel and chub.

Second was Mick Sleigh (7lb) with a bream and a chub, third was Derrick Gross (6lb 2oz) with two chub and fourth was Mick Marriott (3lb) with one chub.

The winners’ method was 18 hook with red maggot on feeder to 2.6lb line.
He caught steadily but lost numerous barbel, due to light tackle. Conditions were rainy with strong to gale force winds.

If you want to get in contact with Martin to give him any results, stories or information, you can e-mail him at martintrona@aol.com

Previous Martin Introna Columns