Heathcote Lakes, Warwickshire
Top Lake
Outing Information
- Date
- Start/End Time
- 08.30 to 12.00
- Best Fishing Time
- 08.30 to 09.30
- Rating
- Good
- Classification
- Public
- Water Temp
- -
- Water Clarity
- Slightly Stained - 1m to 2m visibility
- Water Level
- -
- User
- Chris White
Fish Caught
Rainbow Trout
| Caught | Avg Size | Pattern | Optional Fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4½ kg | #10 White Humungus | |
| 1 | 2½ kg | #10 White Humungus | |
| 1 | 4 kg | #10 Pink | |
| 3 | 3.67 kg |
Weather
| Skies | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudy | X | X | |
| Precipitation | |||
| Rain - Light | X | X | |
| Wind | |||
| Medium - 10 to 15 knots | X | X |
- Air Temp High/Low
- - / -
- Wind Direction
- SE
- Weather Front
- -
- Barometer
- -
- Moon Phase
- 10% Full (Waning crescent)
Other Patterns Tried
- #12 Red Apps Bloodworm
- #14 White Cats Whisker
- #12 Black and Green Montana
- #14 Hares Ear
Hatches
No hatch information for this outing.
Insect Seining
No seining information for this outing.
Fishing Partners
No fishing partners were saved with this outing.
Waypoints
No waypoints were saved with this outing.
Notes
My first time fishing the Top Lake at Heathcote and what a day to choose. The weather got progressively wetter and windier as the morning went on until eventually towards the end of the session the only viable option was to fish with the wind on my back.
Started with a slow sinking slime line, 12' of 8lb leader and a white Humungus, you can only use single fly at Heathcote. Initially it was possible for me to fish the peg that the wind was blowing directly into, this decision was made for me by a jumping trout that rather noisily caught my attention as i started to set up outside the wooden lodge, this was the only fish i saw jump or rise all morning.
As alway, the plan was to fan cast around the swim, counting the fly down to different depths and vary the retrieve untill a pull or take resulted, failing that a change of fly before moving to the next peg.
As a relative newbie to the sport, i am reliant, to a certain degree, on magazine articles, forums etc for advice, this said i am truly aware that every day is different and that there are no 'givens' and that you never stop learning and the best way to learn is through experience. Following said advice i started with a very slow figure of eight retrieve because of the time of year the fish will be less oblidged to chase a fly......wrong!!
The first fish came after a count down of 10 and the fly was pulled back at a medium/fast pace, the other 2 the same however the last i had moved 3 pegs to the right as the wind and rain had become a little uncomfortable to face.
Over the course of the morning I had tried a Hares Ear on a sink tip just for a change but not so much as a pull, same with the bloodworm. This game is all about confidence and i have none in either of these patterns yet but understand that you have to try and in return will gain the confidence as a result.
You cannot use Boobys at Heathcote so i tried a fast sinking line with an orange blob on a short leader just as an experiment, lost 2 fish and had several pulls, very slow retrieve.
Please note that recorded fish above are in pounds not kilos (I wish!!).