Day and season permits

Permit rooms are closed until further notice. Please purchase your day and season permits here or call one of our team on 01566 771930.

Reminders and requests

• Please send me any photos of your catches, lakes or any nature or wildlife pictures that we could utilise for press articles or social media posting. It would also be great to have some clear and close up photos of some of the flies used, and we would be very keen to see flies tied at home as well, so if you have any photos to hand please send them to [email protected]
• Please complete catch returns online - this will enable us to gain a clearer picture of our lakes and stock levels which of course in turn will help us to continue to improve our anglers' experience.
• Any Roadford Brown Trout with adipose removed as part of the project study please record and send any photo/details of these Brown Trout caught.

Bag, Catch & Release limits:

• Rainbow Trout- Bag Limit is 5 fish. Catch & Release limit is 10 fish per day – we would kindly ask that all anglers purchase a further ticket if they would like to continue fishing.
• Brown Limit– Bag Limit is 4 fish. Catch & Release is unlimited (if you’re lucky enough to catch good numbers of our Brownies then we feel it’s well deserved!) 

Boats

We currently have four boats available at Kennick, three at Roadford and one at Stithians. The two boats for Siblyback will be available soon.

To book a boat for the fisheries please click here.

News and highlights from the week

Anglers have enjoyed some good sessions this week despite some challenging conditions, and have used changing techniques to suit the varying weather and levels of activity in the water at any given time. No competitions this week, however many of the fisheries were restocked with some great quality fish arriving.

There are still plenty of spaces left for qualifying for the Best of the Best Competition:

The qualifiers have a maximum of 12 people per heat with the top 6 qualifying for the £2000 final at Kennick on 17^th October. 

Places still available for the dates below - to book in please call our office on 01566 771930. Don’t delay!

Burrator – 18 September (New date)

Kennick – 25 September (New date)

Kennick – 2 October

All the information and rules can be found here: https://www.swlakestrust.org.uk/best-of-the-best

The full list of qualifiers will be posted on our Best of the Best page on our website (link above).

Please keep the catch reports coming in - we really do appreciate the depth of information they offer and it’s a great help to us. Thanks also for the great photos and videos we’ve received so far.

Kennick

Rod Average: 2.79

Another good week at Kennick, with a fair rod average. The fish have probably had a shock with the volume of fresh rainwater filling the reservoir in one go! Geoff V had 2 good days with 10 fish and 4 fish, rainbows up to 3 1/2lbs. James S found 5 rainbows 2-2.5lb at Smithacott; Brian P had 8 at Poplar bay and in the narrows, taking damsel nymphs high in the water; SImon F had 5 rainbows and 2 browns caught on Damsels and black booby. A few browns starting to be caught now too which is great news!

View the full Catch Report here

Check out the Kennick fishing map here

The Kennick fishing guide is here

Siblyback

Rod Average: 3.50

Some great sessions for anglers, particularly when able to dodge the worst of the wind and rain. Oliver H had a nice 26cm rainbow, Ron W and John R had a great day, thanks to John for his report (below), and also to Phil M-R for another report (also below). We really do appreciate the detail and time taken to write these. George H had 8 fish to 2lbs, Neil B had 5 rainbow.

Phil M-R

Well. That was a really interesting day. We had bright sunshine and flat calm (with trout rising all over the place) followed by heavy rainstorms, followed by hail with stones as big as processed peas - then sleet with temperatures dropping to 6C and finally a full on gale. Whereas the weather was somewhat challenging, the fishing most definitely weren't! In the early flat calm I tried buzzers (there were lots around earlier on) under the bung with a weighted Sunrise blob to take it down but got such a hit on the blob that I simplified the rig and just put the blob on fished about 50cm down. It was devastating and within an hour, 4 fish were banked with many missed - the takes were lightning quick and savage. Then the hail started and the wind picked up, with fish still picking flies off the surface. I tried the dry fly but apart from a couple of short offers that swirled just short of the fly - no positive connection. The wind started to swing round from the south west (which it had been all morning) through westerly, and the fetch on the waves from the direction of the dam forced another change of tactic. A long leader and a Tequilla Sunrise blob with a tungsten bead were fished on the drift - so basically carrying on with the same flies earlier - and it was still as devastating as before. Before long I had four more with one fish smashing me on the take! A superb days fishing with fish in tip top condition and fighting really hard. We were all done by 11:30 - a great morning sport yet again, but it was good to get back in the car though as by this time the temp had dropped to 6C and the wind chill on the hands was almost painful. Cant wait til next week! Maybe get some sun and warmth and perhaps see some of those hawthornes?

 

John R

The weather forecast was looking promising for Saturday and after a phone call from Ron on Friday evening, we very quickly decided on a morning fishing at Siblyback. But had we made the right decision? I arrived at Siblyback at 9.00am shortly after Ron. The weather was overcast with a moderate north westerly wind and light rain. Looking at the conditions, we decided to fish Stocky Bay. When we reached Stocky Bay, George Prout, a regular day ticket fisherman was just landing his 4th rainbow of the day. He was using a floating line with a Orange Gold Head Nymph. (see picture).

I started fishing using a floating sink tip line with two flies, an Orange Blob on the dropper and Black & Green Gold Head Nymph on point. Ron was using a floating line with a couple of Nymphs on droppers and a Orange Blob on point. Shortly after I started fishing, George caught his 5th rainbow and then headed back. I moved to the same spot he had been fishing. I changed to an Orange Gold Head Nymph on point but didn't get a touch, now we all know what that feels like! With the wind the picking up I decided to move further around stocky bay to make the casting easier. Ron was getting a few nips so decided to continue fishing in the same spot. It was so much easier to cast with the wind than against it in those conditions. It worked - after a few casts bang, I was into a hard fighting rainbow around 2lb, I thought I had it under control but suddenly the line went slack and I'd lost the fish, nothing's more frustrating! I continued fishing and it wasn't long before I was in again with a very hard fighting rainbow just under 2lb in excellent condition. After a couple more casts I was landing my second fish, another great fighting rainbow in excellent condition. Ron noticed what was happening so decided to move and come over to join me, and he wasn't disappointed. After only a few casts he had also caught 2 fish. We both continued getting lots of of nips and pulls. It was really exciting and definitely kept us interested. It continued until about 12pm, when the weather started to improve and became brighter, then it all went quiet for a while. That's until Ron changed fly and caught a nice rainbow on a Damsel so I did the same. This was definitely the right tactics as the action started again. The fishing was so good that we decided to continue until 2pm which was a lot later than originally planned but well worth it for a fantastic morning fishing at Siblyback. Ron ended the session catching 10 fish, I caught 8 fish with my best 2lb 6ozs. The fish were between 1lb 4ozs to 2lb 6ozs. They were very hard fighting rainbows in excellent condition and were all safety returned back into the water to live to fight another day.

      

View the full Catch Report here.

Read our guide to fishing at Siblyback here.

Check out our Siblyback fishing map here.

Burrator

Rod Average: 3.18

A very wet and windy week, but plenty of surface activity showing, particularly during the morning and late afternoon.

Here we have a couple of catch reports:

Jonny M -

Sunny spells with fair wind. Fished from 09.00-11.00. Coming into contact with fish on nearly every cast using a floating line and long leader. Really hard fighting rainbows all returned safely. Best about two and a half. 

Stuart M -

Most fish including largest brown and rainbow on dries very close to the Discovery bank where hawthorns and beetles were being blown onto the water. Fish only rising during cloud cover. Lots of fish showing on the fish finder including one or two at 40 feet deep. Lots of very small buzzers. The blue trout had a large crayfish in its stomach and was extremely fit, leaping out of the water several times before being bought to the net.

View the full Catch Report here.

Read our guide to fishing at Burrator here.

Check out our Burrator fishing map here.

Stithians

Rod Average: 3.5

A great week's fishing despite some challenging weather. Lots of Hawthorn hatching and lots of surface action at the weekend. Stocking this week from Rainbow Valley Trout Fishery - 700 Rainbow Trout upto 3.5lbs. Warren C had 7 fish to 2lbs 9 and another 6 at a later session. Steve T also had 7 on the surface, Graeme C had a couple of successful sessions with three each time, Tony C had 10 rainbows to 2lbs plus two browns, John H had 10 rainbows and a small brown.

View the full Catch Report here.

Read our guide to fishing at Stithians here.

Check out our Stithians fishing map here.

Fernworthy

Rod Average – 6.73

Another good week at Fernworthy with some good bags as usual. Fish up to 2lb and some lovely wild 10inch fish caught too. Andrew G had 2 good days, one day with a bag of 6 and the other day with a bag of 20. Father and son duo Gus and Charles J had 4 fish between them on 16/5. Johnathan C had 6 fish on 19/5, Thomas A had 6 fish on 19/5 to 1lb 4oz, Andy W had 10 fish to 2lb on 19/5, 16 fish for Mick J, and 2 fish for N Hawkins. The permit hut bank was fishing well, as was the North inlet (tucked out of the wind to some extent!). Zulu, spiders, black nymphs, gold head hares ear and hoppers were working well with the wind blowing the natural insect life out of the woodland and into the reservoir.

View the full Catch Report here.

Read our guide to fishing at Fernworthy here.

Check out our Fernworthy fishing map here.

Colliford

Rod Average: 2.0

Cold cloudy evening with light winds. Cold NW strong breeze, very few fish moving. Well done to Chris T who fished two sessions during this week and caught two brownies each time on static dry flies.

View the full Catch Report here.

Read our guide to fishing at Colliford here.

Check out our Colliford fishing map here.

Roadford

Rod Average: 1.56

Weather was changeable with some heavy showers. We moved all over the lake and caught in all locations. All fish were taken on a sinking line with a slow pull retrieve. Not a huge amount of insect life but we did spot a few hawthorns! Floating "Super slow retrieve Buzzer suspended under dry. A couple takes on dry too" - Dean L. Duncan K had 7 fish to 1.5lbs and Mike S had 4 browns.

Below: a Brown Trout with adipose removed as part of the project study on Roadford. Please record and send any details of these Brown Trout caught.

View the full Catch Report here.

Read our guide to fishing at Roadford here.

Check out our Roadford fishing map here.

NEWS……here is our 2021 pre-season trout fishing newsletter

Hope to catch up on one of our waters in the very near future.

Tight lines!

Dil