Banish those winter blues and get off to a flying start this year!
- Buy A Rod License
You can’t go fishing in England and Wales without a Rod license, well, you can if you’re under twelve, so you make sure you have one.
These can be purchased online or from your local Post Office, some fisheries even sell them. There are a few ticket options available to suit most anglers needs!
- Bank Fish A Reservoir
The fishing at this time of the year can be out of this world.
All the recently introduced stock fish will be holed up in the bays and creeks where they were stocked, so make the most of it by fishing from the bank.
These trout can be easy to catch and they fight incredibly well, they really do provide the angler with a bit of a bonanza, you’d be mad to miss out.

- Early Bird
Reservoirs can become hectic in April, everyone is competing to get to the known early season hotspots, so you need to get yourself there early doors.
- The Dam Wall
The great thing about the dam wall is that it often offers anglers access to deep water without them having to cast to the horizon. The fish are often close in and they will move up and down the dam wall throughout the day, so if you stay in one spot they are likely to head your way sooner or later.
It’s a popular area though, so see suggestion number 3!

- Try A Bung
When it comes to early season deadly fishing methods, then the Bung is right up there. Not only will some nice shiny Superglue Buzzers suspended mid water tempt those – I’m not stupid enough to take a lure – stockies, they have the added advantaged of picking up the better, over wintered fish.
A bung enables you to fish your impressionistic flies at various specific depths in the water column so that you can search out where the fish are more effectively.
- Black and Green
If there’s one colour combination that you must try at this time of the year it has to be the lethal black and green. There’s something very special about these two colours for cold water. Look to try flies like, Concrete Bowl, Viva and Black Cats.

- Bank On Boobies
There’s something about Boobies that trout just can’t seem to resist.
On large waters, use a fast sinking line and a leader of around 12ft with one or two Boobies spaced an equal distant apart, one on dropper around 6ft from the end of your sinking line with another on the point. This will allow you to cover the depths and find where the fish are in the water column.
ALWAYS keep in touch with your flies.

- Try Fishing A River
To many of us are quite happy to sit it out on small waters or reservoirs and we don’t make the effort to cast a fly in running water. This is a real shame as some of the best fishing you’ll ever experience will be on a river. There’s nothing quite like it.
It takes a lot more time and patience to get results but once you get into the why wherefores of river fishing, you’ll become hooked.
- Spot A Riser
This is the best when it comes to river fishing, searching the water for signs of feeding fish, or a riser! Nothing gets the heart pumping faster than a big early season trout coming up for Olives!

- Try That Dry Fly
On rivers a dry fly is often the best line of attack when the trout are up. Keep it simple with pattern choice as they won’t be too fussy just now. Focus on size and colour and you shouldn’t go far wrong. The key is making sure it behaves naturally, so no drag.

When did you write this what you say is true.But Fisheries closed
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I know buddy, it was written a while ago, but all good info, IF we ever get out!
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great
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