There hasn't been much rain lately and the bones of the river are showing. I fear we may be heading for a summer drought which seems to be the new norm. So in search of better fishing I decided to try one of the local reservoirs. Killylane Reservoir is located in high moorland between Ballymena and Larne and for me only a 20 minute drive away. There is a healthy population of wild brown trout which DAERA supplements with regular stocking.
My first outing was a couple of weeks ago to check out the territory and not being an experienced stillwater angler I just took one of my river rods, a 10ft 4wt. Fortunately distance wasn't an issue as good sized trout were rising close to the sloped wall pictured here.
A mix of traditional Adams and Klinkhammers produced several decent fish with a couple around the 10 inch mark, but a few brutes broke the surface farther out.
My second expedition was this morning 22/5/19 and I arrived about 10AM to find loads of surface activity all along the wall although I couldn't see what they were rising to. This time I toted a 10ft 6/7wt to try for more distance if I needed it but I'm not one of those talented anglers who can cast to the horizon. Anyway, on went the trusty Adams - nothing, and the Klinkhammers - nothing. Then a caddis landed on my hand and I saw a few more on the stones. Aha! On went the caddis patterns - nothing. A humpy produced a couple of strikes but no hook ups. I tried a selection of nymphs and wets. Zilch. Then another bloke wandered past and declared forlornly that he'd been there since daybreak for the sake of one fish. On the way back to the car another two despondents admitted they had also blanked. So it's not just me then.
I'll go again soon. The fish are there; big ones too and I've always thought that if fly fishing were easy it would be no fun at all.
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