The Day
One of the greatest pleasures in fly fishing for me – and there are many – has always been passing on knowledge: things that might make the difference.

There is a very real pleasure in watching someone get benefit from a scrap of passed-on information and finding it works. Mind you, there are days…

It could have been May; it might have been February. Whatever, it was frigid! And not the day to use a floating line, which was, ironically, the very thing that Andrew and I had come to do at Heathcote Lakes, a short hop from the M40.

Every now and again you come across a fishery that ticks all the boxes. Heathcote Lakes comes very close to doing that. The Top Lake - opened to the public in April 2005 – has all the ingredients of a well cared for fishery. Neatly cut grass surrounds the lake, weed is most certainly present in the water but well under control, and surroundings are such that they wouldn’t snag even the worst of backcasts. Some would say it’s a bit too open but when it matures I’m sure it will be a very pleasant water on which to spend a few hours.

Today I’m fishing with Coventry’s Ray Cramp, on his first visit to a smallwater after winning the Airflo Classic Individual Championship at Northamptonshire’s Elinor Trout Fishery.

I was interested in hearing his tactics for today’s fishing. “I’ll use my usual three fly set-up on a floating line with a Fluorocarbon tapered leader 10lb down to 8lb,” said Ray. “I’ll put a weighted fly on the point probably a Draycote Damsel with a couple of Buzzers on the droppers.”

With the flies secured on the cast we set off to fish Heathcote’s Top Lake.

The prevailing southeasterly wind had been in the same direction for a couple of days so Ray figured that the fish have followed the food source to the bottom of the lake.

The Top Lake has several very substantial fishing platforms suitable for disabled anglers; in fact, one such angler was fishing on the day of our visit. It says something of the suitability of the venue for disabled anglers, when this fisherman could circumnavigate the lake on his battery-operated scooter without a problem.

Ray scanned the lake and decided to start fishing from a platform at the bottom end of the lake allowing him to cover the weed beds with a comfortable cast.

After an hour or so, several moves and even more changes of flies, we figured that this feature may be a little more tricky than we had first thought, the Heathcote fish were most certainly playing hard to get.

As luck would have it another visiting angler unwittingly offered us an escape route.

Never one to miss an opportunity Ray quickly changed to a two fly cast, a Black Buzzer on the point and an Olive Buzzer on the middle dropper leaving the top dropper fly-free.

Casting just in front of the stocking shute he retrieved the Buzzers back slowly, lifting his flyline off just before a large raft of weed. Three times the flies went out, and three times they came back without a touch. On the fourth cast the flyline straightened and he was into his first fish of the day. It had taken more than 2 hours of constant fishing to get that first offer.

Ray was now dialled in, and by fan casting an area no more than 15 yards diameter took another five trout in the next 30 minutes. I fished just one platform away and did not touch a fish. But sneaking into Ray’s spot while he released a fish, I too caught on a Black Buzzer almost first cast. The Heathcote Top Lake rainbows were shoaled up in a very small area and could only be caught form that one position. It’s strange that a throwaway remark can transform your days fishing. So I guess the moral of the story is listen to those around you, and be prepared to change if you have to.