Trout FishingWe extend a warm welcome to all trout anglers. The range of fishing we offer ensures excellent sport for all abilities. Our still water fisheries are among the best in the west and vary in size from around 50 to over 900 acres! Our fisheries are picturesque and atmospheric lakes, including countless secluded bays, weedy shores and tree line margins to explore. We boast rainbows, browns and a large number of blues of the highest quality. Traditional fly fishing is the rule at our stocked fisheries, although other methods can be used at our free wilderness trout waters. Young People and Newcomers We are working hard to encourage young people and newcomers to take up the sport. Under 18 fish for free with a paying adult and part of their bag limit. Throughout the season, we host open days and events where we offer free fly fishing tuition for all. Boat Fishing Boats are available at most of our waters which provide an alternative to bank angling. These must be pre-booked, either by calling 01566 771930 (8.30am - 5.00pm 7 days a week) or online by scrolling to the bottom of your chosen lake page. You will need to sign a disclaimer before you can take a boat out. Once a year you will need to complete a boat induction – please watch the induction video here. Access for All Most of the waters benefit from facilities designed for disabled or wheelchair anglers, either by platforms or Wheelyboats. These boats must be booked at least 48 hours in advance. Clubs A number of the fisheries have associated local clubs. These are a great way to meet fellow anglers, as well as participating in competitions and social events. We run several competitions during the season - more details of each of these are available on our competitions page. Environment Agency Rod Licence Anglers on all our waters must have a valid Environment Agency rod licence which are available from post offices or via the Environment Agency. The only exception may be when attending a bona fide course or a coaching session with a qualified coach – please check beforehand. South West Lakes Trust South West Lakes Trust is the managing charity of SW Lakes Trust Fishing. The charity is a member of The Angling Trust. In 2014, the South West Lakes Trust fisheries hosted the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships; Scotland took gold and England won silver. Reporting an Incident: South West Lakes Trust manages a portfolio of nearly 50 lakes and other natural resources so it is not always possible for our wardens to be on the scene when issues occur. The very remote and rural nature of our estate, the thing that makes them so special, also means that modern mobile communications don’t always cover the areas we would like them to. This makes getting an immediate response to ongoing incidents very challenging. Please use this form to report any incidents of poaching, illegal fishing or any other form of antisocial behaviour to the management team so that we are able to take appropriate action. Complete Form Waters Prices Competitions and Events News and Results Catch Returns About us Contact 2021 Trout Fishing Pre-season Newsletter Introduction A new season is upon us already. Having closed our Rainbow waters at Christmas it’s been a short turnaround this winter. I’m sure you can’t wait to wet a line again, especially with the current health crisis. One thing I have found during the current lockdown is that having something to look forward to is absolutely vital at the moment and I cant wait for the trout season to open! I’ve bought some new waders and some new wellies and I will be spending as much time fishing as I can this year. I hope that you enjoy your season, wherever you fish.Ben Smeeth Covid-19 Update We are opening and stocking our fisheries as planned but please remember, when visiting our trout fisheries, you must read and adhere to the information below which highlights the restrictions in place so we can continue to fish. Fishing is allowed as exercise so long as participants adhere to the rules of staying local, gathering limits, social distancing and limiting the time spent outdoors. (DCMS 06/01/2021) Only local travel is permitted for the purpose of daily exercise as set out in the Government’s travel guidance. The local area is specified as the town, village or part of the city in which you live. There is recognition that there will be a need to travel for outdoor exercise, this should be done locally, but you can travel a short distance within your area. Anglers will need to apply judgement in defining their local area. Boat fishing can continue and the boat fishing rules and regulations during Covid-19 remain in place. You can only fish with members of your own household, your support bubble or with one other individual. You must adhere to social distancing measures: Hands, Face and Space. Competition fishing, or any other organised fishing event, is prohibited by law during lockdown.For further information on local exercise please visit the Angling Trust website or the Government website. 2021 Pricing and Dates Our prices for all day and season tickets have remained the same as 2020. All of the prices can be found here.The opening dates are as follows:Rainbows:Kennick and Siblyback – 13 FebruaryStithians and Burrator – 6 MarchSeason ticket holders for the Rainbow waters can fish one day earlier than day ticket anglers.Browns:Roadford, Colliford, Fernworthy and Wistlandpound – 15 March New Trout Website Launched We have launched a new trout fishing website which has all of the information you need for your trout fishing with us this year.We have made buying your ticket easier with the new ‘buy a ticket’ option on the homepage.All of the weekly catch reports and summaries, along with the latest news, are all displayed prominently making them easy to find.We have also made completing a catch report much easier with the catch return tab on the homepage. Season Tickets Season permits can be purchased directly from our website. Alternatively, please give our head office a call on 01566 771930 or drop me a line on 01288 321262 and we will be more than happy to help you purchase your ticket over the phone. Why buy a season permit? You can fish a day before our day ticket anglers at the Rainbow waters You can fish as many times as you would like throughout the season as long as weekly bag limits are not exceeded It gives you the flexibility to fish for an hour or the whole day Boats are £10 per day instead of £15 We have multiple lake season tickets with our all waters and castabout (brown trout) options If you are a member of the Burrator Fly Fishers, Siblyback Fly Fishers, Kennick Fly Fishers or CAST fly fishing club (Stithians) we will give you 5% off your season permit If we extend the season to the end of November your ticket will be extended without charge You won’t have a to buy a day ticket every time you fish Stocking Our stocking in 2021 will be done by two suppliers with our Rainbows coming from Mark Underhill at Rainbow Valley Trout Farm.In 2020 the Rainbow’s supplied by Rainbow Valley were extremely hard fighting, quite often stripping line to the backing!The Browns are coming from Richard Howe and his team at Torre Trout Farms.We know all the fish will be of high quality and be sure to give you some great sport as always. Day Permits Our permit rooms on sites will be closed until further notice with the coronavirus situation.Permits are only available through our website or by calling our main office on 01566 771930. Please note, the office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30am – 4:30pm.Tickets can be purchased days in advance of your visit. Castabout Ticket I want to highlight the value for money with the Castabout ticket. This ticket covers all four of our brown trout waters, three of which are stocked (Colliford, Fernworthy and Roadford) and Wistlandpound where the fishing is for previously stocked and wild fish. At £250 for a full season, or £212.50 for concession, the value for money is outstanding. Roadford in particular fished absolutely superb last season with 110 browns to 3lb being caught in the last week of the season by just 11 anglers! Colliford showed glimpses of returning to its former glory and, although we are not there yet, we are working towards it. Numerous fish of 2lbs were caught with the majority being released to fight another day. Fernworthy wasn’t its usual self in 2020 but still provided plenty of pulls. I’m expecting the fishing to be great this season when we stock more fish into the lake. Poaching and Illegal Fishing During the winter we have been working with the Angling Trust, Police and the Environment Agency with a view to signing up to Operation Leviathan. This is a joined up approach to tackling poaching and illegal fishing. I'm delighted to say that we are signing up to this and, moving forwards, every incident that is reported to us will be logged and used to build up records of problem locations so we can work together to stop this activity and protect our fish stocks. We are in the midst of arranging training for our staff and bailiffs so we can tackle this head on. I will be sending out more information in due course on how you can help us by reporting any incidents you see at our lakes.Being an official partner of Operation Leviathan is great news for our fisheries moving forwards. Siblyback News Fantastic news from Siblyback with the removal of the old pontoon from the middle of the lake which was being used as a cormorant perch! This will reduce the number of cormorants we see at the lake and ensure there is more fish for our anglers to catch. Staff Update As part of our commitment to trout fishing, we are appointing a new lead person to take the fisheries forwards.It is hoped the successful candidate will be appointed and in position before the end of March. More news to follow on this…. Fly Fair Cancelled Unfortunately the South West Fly Fair at Roadford Lake has been cancelled for 2021. We anticipate it will return in 2022 with another great show to kick start the season. Competitions 11 April - The Snowbee team of four competition at Siblyback 2 May – Kennick bank pairs 23 May – Cornwall v Devon at Siblyback 20 June – Kennick Peninsula Classic single 17 October - Best of the Best final at Kennick The Best of the Best competition, sponsored by Snowbee, has a £2,000 prize fund for the final. Here’s how it works: There will be 6 heats of 12 anglers maximum 6 will qualify for the final from each heat leaving 36 anglers in the final at Kennick on 17 October The dates for the heats are: Siblyback – 6 March Kennick – 20 March Stithians – 24 April Burrator – 8 May Siblyback – 29 May Kennick – 2 October If you would like more information on any of the competitions please visit our website. If you would like to book onto one of the heats please call our office on 01566 771930. Did you know we have a Facebook page? It is called ‘Trout Fishing South West Lakes Trust’ Around the Clubs There are fishing clubs located around our waters - if you are interested in finding out more, or would like to get involved as a member, here are the details: Kennick Fly Fishers Association [email protected]Siblyback Fly Fishers Association [email protected]CAST Fly Fishing Club (Stithians) [email protected]Burrator Fly Fishers Association [email protected]If you are a member of a club we offer 5% discount on your season permit. Help us protect our fisheries from Invasive Non Native Species (INNS) Are you concerned about invasive plants blocking waterways or signal crayfish impacting our lakes? We can all help protect the lakes and the activities we enjoy by following some simple steps. Biosecurity means taking steps to reduce the risk of spreading invasive species through good hygiene practices. Sometimes small and hard to spot, they are easily spread on damp clothing and equipment. Once established, they become extremely difficult and expensive to eradicate so it is important to prevent their spread in the first place.Whenever you leave the lakes, remember to Check, Clean, Dry Check your equipment and clothing after leaving the water for mud, aquatic animals or plant material. Remove anything you find and leave it at the site. Clean everything thoroughly as soon as you can, paying attention to areas that are damp and hard to access. Use hot water if possible. Dry everything for as long as possible (ideally 48hrs) before using elsewhere as some invasive plants and animals can survive for two weeks in damp conditions. Volunteer Site Guardians, alongside our Invasive Species Officer, Nicola Morris, are helping to monitor the lakes and actively encourage visitors to carry out effective biosecurity. For more information on biosecurity and invasive non-native species at the lakes, or for more details about becoming an AQUA Site Guardian, please contact our Invasive Species Officer, Nicola Morris – [email protected] Manage Cookie Preferences