▲ SEA-TROUT AFTER DARK,
An elusive quarry to be pursued after dark with military precision sounds daunting for novices – but sea-trout fishing is the most exhilarating of sports
There is nothing to fear on the river at night – other than one’s imagination
Sea-trout – the very name conjures up an air of mystery and intrigue, which can intimidate some folks who harbour a desire to see just what this fish is all about. This feeling is perfectly understandable, not least because the best of sea-trout fishing takes place at night when it is also quite possible to hook a bat. Fear is further compounded by oft-repeated rubbish about Left: wading requires a steady, stealthy approach at night. Below: almost time to start at Hartley weir on the Lyd – be patient and wait for the light to fade blundering into somnolent cows in pitch darkness. Having spent the past 50 summers walking through fields of cows in the dark, I can only suppose I am a failure having managed to avoid this experience. No wonder some rods are put off going after sea-trout and spend their days in comfort and security, pursuing instead some neutered, flabby thing in a man-made pond.
Let me assure the reader right now, that there is nothing to fear out on the river at night – other than one’s own imagination – but the sport on offer is of the most superb quality. The sea-trout is our country’s finest game fish, not only in terms of fighting ability but for the whole experience, which stimulates the senses in ways other fish simply fail to do. While an over-wintered reservoir rainbow is certainly a great fighter, remember that the thing started its life in a fish farm and is doomed to remain for the rest of its days in a man-made water. The sea-trout is as wild as the tide, as free as the wind and is often pursued in some of the most remote and beautiful places to be found in this Sceptred Isle.
So, firstly, know your fish. The sea-trout (a peal here in Devon, a sewin in Wales, a white trout in Ireland, plus many other local names) is a migratory brown trout, smolting up and going to sea normally after two years growing in the river. It will feed heavily and grow rapidly while in the salt, returning to its natal stream to spawn, possibly in the same year as it left the river, sometimes a year or two later as a much larger fish. Unlike the salmon, which is quite incapable of feeding due to the atrophication of its digestive system, the sea-trout does not completely lose the ability to feed although it does so very little while back in the river. Many sea-trout survive spawning, returning to the sea to continue feeding and growing, then running the river each year and spawning, until such time as they are taken by predators or succumb to the rigours of what is undeniably a pretty tough life.
military planning
There is no branch of the fly-fisher’s art that requires quite so much careful thought and planning as sea-trout fishing, particularly night fishing. It is good to view it as a military operation. Soldiers are practical chaps and have some worthwhile mottos, one of which is the Seven Ps Principle: Prior Preparation and Planning Prevent Piss Poor Performance. I rest my case.
The kit: if you possess a standard troutfly outfit that you use regularly on your local
stillwater or medium-sized river, then you are already equipped. A 9ft or 9½ft rod, for a #6 or #7 line, will cover you for all but the very biggest rivers. Should you be fishing a large river, such as the lower Towy, Spey or Dee, then a slightly heavier outfit, say a #7 or #8 line on a 10ft rod would be more suitable. The important thing is that it should be an outfit with which you are familiar and comfortable. On my small- or medium-sized Devon rivers I use a 9ft, #6 rod, which once landed me a 14lb salmon at about quarter to five in the morning after fishing through the night – quite a way to begin the day.
reels and lines
The reel should be a simple model with the drag set just heavy enough to prevent an overrun but light enough for your fish to take line at once – which, I can assure you, it will most certainly do as soon as it feels the hook. Lines should be full floaters, with a midgetip also useful. I prefer a white-coloured line, which is often visible at your rod tip and a great aid to correct fishing. Some folks also take a slow sinker for fishing deeper in the wee small hours – Falkus’s “second half”.
Leaders should not exceed 9ft, tapered from a fairly thick butt down to no less than 7lb or 8lb. Sea-trout will not refuse your fly due to the thickness of the nylon and the stronger leader will result in fewer lost fish and flies. Take local advice as to choice of fly – big, black and hairy works well for me at night. A big net with a light-coloured rim (some folks put white tape around the rim) and a head torch with a red light facility, so as not to ruin your night vision, complete the basics. A flask of coffee and some midge repellent top it off.
vital reconnaissance
Now, reconnaissance: essential! Remember the seven Ps. Go out and look at your water by day; early afternoon is a good time, with the light at its strongest and plenty of time for any spooked fish to settle down before
A big net with a light-coloured rim and a head torch complete the basics
you return much later in the evening. By day, sea-trout will be lying idly on the bottom in the deeper pools, often quite still, and can be notoriously hard to spot. Use Polaroid glasses, move with great stealth along the banks, using every available scrap of shade and cover. Often the first thing you will see is a cloud of silt, stirred up by a spooked fish disappearing as fast as it can go. Take note of where it (or, indeed, the whole shoal) was lying; they will return eventually to much the same place. Spotting sea-trout in the day is a thing of which I have done a great deal and there is definitely an art to seeing the fish. Many a time I have had other anglers with me, keen to see what they will be casting over that night, and despite saying things such as, “the four-pounder has his nose on that small, light-coloured pebble” and pointing right at it, they simply could not pick out the fish.
Note where you can stand to fish, what obstacles are behind for your back-cast and, particularly, the set and speed of the current, which will carry your line gently around as you work the fly back. Often you will descend from the field down the bank to your stance, so familiarise yourself with the path, if necessary removing any brambles or trip hazards. Also take careful note of your journey from the car to the beat; it is easy to misjudge distances in the dark. Having looked after night fishers for more than 40 years, I have lost count of how many, returning on their own later in the night, end up in a farmyard or the wrong field. Seven Ps again, I repeat unashamedly.
Wading is best avoided at night, where possible, but some pools demand it so by all means wade where necessary. A very slow, steady, stealthy approach will not only allow you to cast over undisturbed fish but means you will always be on balance, avoiding slips and splashes. The whole point of night fishing is to be able to put your fly over fish without scaring them out of the parish.
When to start at night is critical. Begin while there is still too much light and you
will panic the fish. Get out there again shortly after sunset, giving yourself plenty of time to reach the river, assemble your tackle and sit back well away from the pool. While you are contemplating the beauty of the evening sky and the tranquillity of the river valley, if there are some fish in the pool they will usually start to jump here and there as the light fades. Do not think this means they are ready to be fished over. Wait until, as an old boy told me many years ago up on the Taw, the “green has gone out of the grass”. Once colours have faded and all around you is monochrome, then should you oh so slowly approach the river to start fishing.
covering the pool
You will often be casting to a whole shoal of fish; to make the most of your opportunity, once again adopt a military approach, covering them methodically so that you have eventually put your fly over all of the fish within your reach. The nearest fish may be not far off your rod tip, so make your first cast with as little line as you can put out straight. Give the fly and leader a moment to settle, then gently retrieve a little line. Put this first cast pretty well straight across the river and, without pulling the line/leader connection into the tip ring, make the next cast a few degrees downstream of the first. Continue until you have varied the angles in towards your own bank, then pull a couple of feet of line from the reel and start again, straight across. In the low, clear and settled water that suits night fishing so well, the flow of the water through the pool will be slow, sometimes very slow indeed. Contact with the fly is maintained by keeping the rod tip low to the water and gently working the line back by hand. I describe the correct rate of retrieve to be “like stroking a cat”. The speed of the current will be of limited help to you here, so make sure your line lands straight in the first place and then keep in touch with your fly.
At the risk of stating the obvious, once it is dark you will not be able to see when a fish has taken your fly. The take will be felt, often as a positive pull, sometimes a more gentle pluck. Lift into the fish, which will instantly be off like a mad thing, running and leaping across the pool. This explosive reaction of a hooked sea-trout has to be one of the eternal attractions of the sport. Let it run, making sure you have no loose line around your feet, and be ready for an immediate change of direction, with it coming right back at you just as fast as it departed. Reel in fast or strip line by hand to keep contact. Sea-trout leap freely during the fight and, contrary to perceived wisdom, I do not drop the rod point as the fish jumps. I like to keep the rod up and the line tight, thus making it impossible for it to land on the line – besides which, it will
The take will be felt, often as a positive pull, sometimes a gentle pluck
complete the whole operation so fast that it will be back in the water before you can react anyway.
While it will fight and run as if all the devils in hell are after it, your fish will eventually tire. It will then turn obligingly on its side, showing a silver flank and pearly belly that are much more visible in the dark than you might imagine, and can be steered into the net. Perhaps then, the novice will realise quite how exhilarating and satisfying sea-trout fishing can be, thanking his lucky stars that he found himself beside a tranquil stream in the warm and velvety darkness of a summer night fishing for sea-trout.