2010 Season Report

I think most people are agreed that 2010 has been a good Season; in fact, I would say that you have to go back to about 1997 for a comparable Season, so it has indeed been a vintage year. The Season started with the usual flurry of early catches, and I said “Enjoy it while it lasts”. The following few weeks continued the same, and I said “Enjoy it while it lasts, it can’t continue like this”. To my amazement, it did continue unabated pretty much for the whole Season. I think Rob Stevens summed it up well enough when he said “We must be enjoying the best trout fishing in the country”. There was the odd day when the trout were not rising to the surface – there were a few days when the insects disappeared – but those days were the exception. For most of the Season, the trout rose with gusto to a well-presented dry fly; in fact there were days when they even rose to a poorly-presented dry fly.

Nothing sums up this Season better than the last week of Cock Fishing in October. The five days were fully booked with five Rods, and we fished a five-fish limit. There was the potential to catch 125 trout if everyone caught their limit of 5 trout each, but of course that never happens does it – it couldn’t possibly happen! Incredibly – and I can still hardly believe it – the total catch was 122 trout, with an average weight of 5.2lbs. The fishing for those five days was jaw-droppingly good; 25 fishermen, fishing on consecutive days, caught more or less 5 trout each, and no doubt could have caught more. Kerry Hudson had bought two Rods, but his Guest let him down; that was a big mistake; Kerry caught 10 and described his day as the best ever. What an end to a great Season!

Only a couple of years ago, if some Prophet-of-Doom had told me we would have the driest start to the Season on record, with unbroken sunshine, followed by just enough rain in August to wash the Top Lake into the Bottom, but not enough to wash it through the system, it would have been my worst nightmare. I can see it now:- the brook reduced to nothing, my neighbour’s cattle desperate for a drink, all standing where the stream once was, up to their necks in shit, the lakes heaving with fennel pond weed and ghastly algae slithering up the hill towards me as I lie hiding beneath the bed clothes!

The beads of sweat appear on my forehead as I think about it, but of course it did not happen! Despite the worst possible scenario, the water stayed clear, the Stonewort thrived, the insects thrived and the fishing was great. The only thing that was not in our favour was the water temperature which – not surprisingly – hit an unbelievable record of 23oC at one point. That certainly did slow us down for a few weeks. For years I have been banging on about our pristine environment, our limestone aquifers and pure alkaline water, and how one day, with the help of a few metres of fence, we would enjoy the benefits that only pure alkaline water can bring. Well, I think this Season has vindicated all that, and I think the future prospect for our lake environment is fantastic – it will go on getting better and better.

Unfortunately it has all come at far too high a price. All of those years struggling with the legal battle against the cattle pollution, and the resultant algal problems, has taken its toll, both financially and physically. The Hatchery has had no maintenance for over ten years. The Hatchery building is falling down, our nets are all rotten, and worst of all the ground is slipping under the top tank. It could all be restored, but the cost in energy and money is simply too high.

Had we not suffered all those years of cattle pollution, the Fishery would have thrived, and I very much doubt that we would have considered putting so much work into building the Holiday Let. But the fact is that the Holiday Let will immediately produce an income, while the Fishery requires considerable investment, not to mention constant hard work and commitment. It is a sad reality, I think, that a modest little Holiday Let should be economically so much more viable than a Trout Fishery, but that is the fact of it. Anything, therefore, that might jeopardise that Letting business is a problem, and we strongly suspect that the Group Days will do just that. Five or Six fishers all milling around the Fishing Lodge, right next to the Holiday Let, is not going to be compatible with the “isolated peace and tranquillity” promotional image. The Group Days, I am sorry to say, are therefore going, and if we do not need all those fish to be taken, then I am afraid the logic of breeding our own Rainbow trout has also gone.

After 26 years of breeding what, in all modesty, I think are some of the best Rainbows in the country - it is a massive decision to stop doing it. This is not something you do for the income; it has been an all-consuming passion, and as such it has rewarded me with riches far beyond anything that money can buy. But this only makes it more difficult to let it go. It is, however, hard physical work, and will we want to - or indeed be able to - do it in, say, ten years’ time? - not a chance, so now really is the obvious time to quit while we are ahead, and when there are new ventures to roll out.

So where does this leave the Fishery – what of the future? Like all big changes in life or business, the end of any era is always the beginning of another, and so it will be for the Fishery.

For next Season, the trout are already in place, so it is business as usual for the Members. The exception will be the Group Days. We have the usual full stock of trout – in fact bigger and better than ever, and so we need those Group Days to turn that stock over. The plan, therefore, is to offer Group Days until the end of May only. I know there are numerous Groups who really value their once- or twice-a-year day at Brook Farm, but I am afraid that the end of May next year really will be the end. We will squeeze in as many Days as we can, but I regret that some folks will inevitably be disappointed. Carol will start taking the bookings immediately, and we will let the available Days on a first-come first-served basis. Knowing the trout that we have in stock, and knowing how good the water is likely to be next year. I expect these Group Days to be really good, and a fitting end to an era.

The new era begins after May, when the Members will have the Fishery to themselves, and things will in some ways be very different indeed. The trout will continue the same for all of next Season – so no change there; in fact Brook Farm trout in the lakes will survive for at least another three years, maybe four years. The really significant difference is going to be water temperature.

Pete Sealey and Allan Haighton have been tracking water temperatures all of the Season 2010, and Allan has even gone to the trouble of plotting the temperature from a range of sites. Our aquatic environment should be, and is now becoming, perfect for trout fishing with one exception. During dry and hot Summers, the brook dries up and temperatures rise. The spring that feeds the Hatchery is comparatively big, about one gallon-per-second during most of the early Summer, which is far in excess of the brook, and it is a constant 10oC.

My plan for trout in 2012 and beyond is to go over to a large extent to Brown Trout, supplemented with a few Rainbows, all from Bibury. I like the idea of Brownies for Catch & Release because they live so long - it means we will quickly end up with trout in the lakes that have lived there longer than anywhere else, and so they will be wild fish by any definition that I understand. This will be helped by the quality of Bibury’s Brown Trout, because they stock most of the River Colne, and because they are all assumed to be wild fish, the quality has to be really good.

We had an unintended Catch & Release experiment this Season:- the Group Days were concentrated into the first half of the Season this year, probably to avoid the high Summer water temperatures, and as a consequence we had very little turnover of fish for the second half. Members hardly remove any fish these days, and so would the fishing suffer as a result of Catch & Release? The answer was that it didn’t – when the water temperature dropped in September, the fishing continued on in great form.

The reason, no doubt, is that we have very little fishing pressure, but it worked very well. The plan, therefore, for future Seasons is to continue the usual Membership but to keep it at a low number to reduce fishing pressure. We will fish Catch & Release as now, taking the odd Rainbow for the pot. I guess we might set a Season Limit for those fish removed but, as always, things will evolve.

While a part of me is really sad that my trout-rearing days have come to an end, the prospect of a future with constantly cool lake water is really exciting. The prospect of naturalised wild Brownies is also something I am looking forward to. We have the odd Brownie left in the lakes now, and they have been there since 2002 at least. There was that really giant Brown Trout which is in the glass case and which was over 13 pounds, but four to about five pounds seems to have been about the biggest on average. However, this had been Brown Trout competing with massive Rainbows, and was during a period when the insect life has not always been prolific. In future years, the cool water, and the more prolific insect life, will be a Brown Trout Heaven, and I have no doubt that there will be some surprises with some big Brownies.

So what are the Prospects for next Season? As far as the Group Days are concerned, I am afraid they will be very limited in number and until the end of May only, but in terms of fish and water quality it is my hope that we have saved the best for last! The Rainbows are perfect, and bigger than average; I doubt anyone will catch a better Rainbow again. Lake water quality, if this year 2010 is any guide, is going to be good, and of course April and May are the cream of the Season. So, all I can say to those many groups of fishers who have enjoyed Brook Farm for so many years is:- book now while stocks last!

Prospects for our Members are pretty much business-as-usual as far as the trout are concerned. I have retained some of this year’s Yearlings, which will go out during June, and hopefully will be around for another three or four years. It is my hope that I can have the Hatchery virtually empty of fish by, say, the end of June, and of course from that moment on we will be enjoying the benefit of spring water at 10degC entering the Bottom Lake. The lake water will already have warmed by then, but next Season will give us a good idea of what the following Seasons will offer in terms of water temperature. One thing is for sure – the Bottom Lake will not reach 23degC again!

The cold water entering the Bottom Lake will make a huge difference even though it will not start before the end of June. July and August – those “dog days” of trout fishing – are likely to be pretty spectacular. I can’t wait to see just how good it will be!

Members wishing to take a few trout should do so during the early months. It may be that there are plenty of fish left over and we might be pleased to see more removed later on but, for the moment, Members should consider the second half of the Season to be more or less Catch & Release only.

Next Season is hopefully going to be our best Season ever in terms of Brook Farm trout and water conditions. It is the end of an era, and as our one-time Glorious Leader said “I feel the hand of destiny on my shoulder” ! Most often an era ends in disarray, disaster or downright humiliation; think “Gordon Brown”. Perhaps a kinder end is the gradual fading out and disappearance of an era – think British car industry. None of this for us, however. The final year of trout which have been bred here at Brook Farm is literally the best ever, and our final Season’s fishing for them is going to be the best – we will end on a 26-year high, before we usher in a whole new era.

Membership fees for next Season will be the same as this year; the only difference will be the lack of the discount that applied to existing Members this year. The final Group Days are only available during April and May, and will be £300 per day with an additional £60 per Rod above five Rods.

In the olden days, I used to end our Season Reports with a quick word about the salmon season, but as our group catches have declined, and my personal catches have collapsed, these reports have gone the way of Gordon Brown. However, our little group of die-hards has done rather well this Season, especially this Autumn, on both the Aberdeenshire Dee and the Tweed. At Holylee, we came within a few fish of the Beat’s record week! I have to report that, on my last day of the 2010 Season, I had five salmon in two hours!! Despite the undeniable superiority of my fly tying, the superlative quality of my Spey casting and presentation, I have to admit that it was a case of being in the right place at the right time. If any of my fishing mates had been there, they would no doubt have done even better, but on this occasion I was the lucky devil in the right place! I had lost a fish in the morning, and landed another one later in the afternoon, but five salmon in two hours is a record for me, and one that I will dine out on for a long time!

Carol joins me in wishing you all a Happy and Peaceful Christmas, plus a Healthy and Prosperous New Year, and Tight Lines too!

Peter and Carol
December 2010

brookfarm.fishery@btinternet.com

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