It’s still early spring, and the weather is very changeable, but follow our trout fishing expert Jonathan Tomlinson’s advice in this video guide, and you could be enjoying your best stillwater Easter trout sport yet.
Easter means we may all have a bit of extra leisure time to spend fishing and at this time of year, with the days lengthening and the clocks going forward, there is the opportunity to get out fly fishing for an hour or two after work when the holidays are over too!
Weather is always one of the key factors at this time of year and it really does pay to monitor the forecast carefully and to pick your weather window accordingly. Early April can be a cruel month in the UK and we can see anything thrown at us from blizzards and hard frosts to gales and driving rain, yet there are also those glorious days of sunshine and gentle warmth when every trout in the lake seems to be rising to hatches of buzzers and small gnats.
TROUT FISHING VIDEO GUIDE: “JT”, presents this practical guide offering his top tips and advice to help you have a fantastic Easter weekend fishing!
In the event of an overnight frost, it can pay to have a bit of a lie-in, enjoy a leisurely breakfast, and head to your water later in the day. This is when the water will be at its warmest and any time from late morning onwards should see your chances of a fish increase dramatically, with prime time often late in the afternoon. If you can only snatch an hour or two at the end of the day don’t despair, a nymph or lure pulled through the margins at dusk accounts for a lot of fish at this time of year.
This is still the time of year to keep on the move though, taking root and flogging away at the same piece of water in front of you is unlikely to bring rewards. Search your way through the water column by using the countdown method to work your fly at increasing depths, and vary your pattern and retrieve too, but if there are no signs of fish after 30 minutes or so it’s definitely time to move.
As far as the patterns to use at this time of year are concerned much of your work will still revolve around nymphs and mini lures with the Viva, Zonker, Cat’s Whisker or blob all essentials in your fly box. But scan the water at all times and if it warms up and the odd fish begins to move don’t be scared to try a dry fly such as a shuttlecock. Make sure you speak to the fishery bailiffs too; they know the fishery better than anyone and will always advise on what is likely to work best on any given day.
One of the best techniques to try at the moment, if you can get your timing right and be on the water when there is a gentle breeze, is to fish a floating fly line and allow a buzzer or nymph to swing around on the breeze. It’s an almost totally natural movement through the water and a very slow figure of eight retrieve – just enough to keep up with the slack line – will ensure you get it right. Watch the end of your line for the take, you will always see it move before you feel it! If you don’t get your weather timing right, or the wind picks up, then small stillwaters usually call for an intermediate line.
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If you are short on time have a couple of fly rods set up to cover both scenarios: go for a floating line with a buzzer or nymph on one rod and an intermediate line with, if your fishery rules allow multiple flies, a nymph on the dropper and a mini lure on the point on the other.
Top 5 Tips for Easter Trout Fishing
- Aim to fish during the warmest time of the day (11am-2pm)
- Fishing in the margins later in the day into dusk can prove successful
- Keep moving
- Nymphs, buzzers and lures can work well
- Fish from a boat if there’s one available
Easter Trout Fishing in the South
The Sportfish Game Fishing Centre is located in Theale, Reading and offers prime stillwater trout fishing. Open year-round Tuesday-Saturday 9am-5.30pm, the Centre is home three lakes:
- Haywards Farm Lake is an 11-acre spring-fed, crystal clear water boasting abundant wildlife and insect life and featuring landscaping that affords both excellent access and unimpeded casting. Not by any means a featureless ‘bowl’ Haywards Farm Lake has character in the form of bays, reed-fringed margins and promontories and the depths vary from 3 to 15ft offering a range of fishing opportunities.
- Hobby Lake is a 5-acre private hire water for parties of 2 to 10 anglers – the perfect venue complete with lodge and BBQ facilities is ideal to share with friends and family, for corporate or small gatherings.
- Kingfisher Pond is stocked with young trout and ideal for kids learning to fish.
If you are heading to the bigger stillwaters a boat will always give you an advantage simply because of the amount of water it opens up to you and, at this time of year a lot of the fish will be feeding close to the shoreline so bank prospects can be excellent too. A set up offering a large bushy pattern on the top dropper, a winged wet on the middle and a weighted nymph as the anchor is likely to bring reward.