this week I fished with Anne Woodcock at Cow Green reservoir, Cow Green is surrounded by the north Pennine grouse moors. even if you don’t go to fish you will be in for a treat just for the views and some of the wildlife that lives in and around the moors.

the trout that you will find at cow green are all wild having lived in the streams that surround the reservoir before the it was built. another thing you will find when you fish here is that you will know when you have a fish on. the trout here like to give you a good fight!

we were suppose to have a couple of other anglers joining us however unfortunately they couldn’t make it on the day. we arrived at around 10:30am to near perfect conditions. over cast and a light wind. it didn’t stay that way, but more of that later!
We set our rods up both with floating lines and a single fly on the end, I was using a 6lb tippet line and size 18 foam beetle and Anne a 3lb tippet line and the same fly, a size 18 foam beetle. our plan was to walk up the shore line and try and fish as much water as we could throughout the day. so we set of and started just below the car park. then the heavens opened, heavy persistent rain carried on for the majority of the day. but that didn’t put a downer on our day.

Anne told me that if we were to catch fish they would be quite close into the shore feeding off the insects that are coming off the banks. none of us had seen a fish or had any nibbles. so we changed tactics and took a walk to the dam wall to fish our way back up. as we reached the dam wall it was near enough dinner time so we sat down and took in the views of cow green. just as we had finished our lunch Anne had seen a fish jump clear of the water which made us eager to get on and fish so we did just that.

Before we started to fish we changed flies to small pheasant tail nymphs (PTN) and gold hares ears.

Anne fished close to the dam wall whilst I fished just up from her, before I had even started to fish Anne was into her first fish of the day. the fish was putting up a good fight but was soon in the net.

the fish was caught on a small PTN which was fished close to the shore with a very, very slow retrieve. it wasn’t long before I was into my fist fish, shouting over to Anne that I had one on and then seeing her running over with the net only for me to say that it had come off 😦 this made me more hungry to go on and catch my first and I didn’t have to wait long.
I had soon hooked a second fish, Anne was on her way with the net shouting keep it on, keep it on! this time the fish wasn’t going to get of and I had soon landed the beautifully coloured and marked fish.

As you can see from the pictures the rain was hammering down near enough all day, it was defiantly a day to give the waterproofs a test.

it looked like we had found a pocket of fish with Anne netting another two trout just up from the dam wall, but the further we moved back up towards to car park the trout switched off, we discussed the drop in temperature which could of had something to do with it however we carried on but nothing much was happening. I think that me using a 6lb tippet switching to a 5lb tippet and Anne using a 3lb tippet was the difference on the day, however i will know for next time to bring my lighter gear!
our time was coming to an end as it was around 4pm ish and with the rain we decided to call it a day and make the walk back to the car.

I would like to visit Cow Green again, maybe not when its raining but if that’s the case then let it be im sure the waterproofs will be packed and ready! thank you for a brilliant day Anne :]

you can find out all the information you need if you would like to fish at cow green at https://www.nwl.co.uk/your-home/leisure/wild-brown-trout-fishing.aspx and at http://www.fishpal.com/England/Stillwaters/CowGreen/?dom=Pal