Blowing Off The Winter Cobwebs

Top competition angler David Hoppe shares the magic of the start of the reservoir season on an early trip to Draycote Water.

- David Hoppe

I enjoy fishing throughout winter. For those of you who follow me on social media, you will have seen that I have been fortunate enough to experience some great winter fishing, catching some big and beautiful fish. However, I am secretly relieved when these long, cold and dark days are almost up. There are definitely only so many numb-finger days an angler should experience and I’m sure that I have exceeded my quota for the year! Finally, the days are lengthening and weather is warming which means to important things; numb finger days are nearly behind us and our beloved reservoirs s art opening their doors, allowing anglers to sample some early season reservoir fly fishing.

I absolutely love early season fly fishing.

After some challenging winter fishing it’s a time to enjoy, dare I say it, some relatively easy fishing! For anglers who have had a well deserved seasonal break, early season fishing provides an opportunity to dust off those winter cobwebs and catch some fish, safe in the knowledge that if a fish is missed or lost due to ‘rusty’ techniques, then usually another opportunity won’t be too far away!

Early season also provides anglers who have been busy tying over the winter or taking advantage of January fly sales, an opportunity to try out their new patterns. Even though I fished through the winter, I have been building my reservoir fly boxes up and have been counting down the days until I get to give my new flies a swim.