Start with Booby (8-10) on a fast strip on floating line or static on sinking. Rainbows respond to more active retrieves — try short strips between pauses. If that does not produce, switch depth or speed before changing the pattern entirely. In the ripple, a bushy searching dry (Hopper, Shipman's, Elk Hair Caddis) outperforms flush emergers — it stays visible and holds the surface tension.
If the main plan stalls, drop to a size 14–16 midge — switch to a washing-line or suspender rig and change drift line before you change food group.
Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.
Good ripple suits both bank and boat. Bank: work inflows, dam walls, and points. Boat: broadside drift covering wind lanes.
Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.
A reasonable day here, though temperature isn't quite in the sweet spot.
A 150-hectare reservoir on the edge of Exmoor with a wild, moorland character. Boat and bank; the sheltered arms provide good bank fishing. Stocked with rainbows and brown trout; wild browns from feeder streams add quality. The Exmoor setting means clean water and genuine solitude. Buzzer and olive hatches from April; mayfly in places. Managed by South West Lakes Trust.
Wimbleball Lake, Exmoor
Lewis Clarke - CC BY-SA 2.0
A 150-hectare reservoir on the edge of Exmoor with a wild, moorland character.
Start with Booby (8-10) on a fast strip on floating line or static on sinking. Rainbows respond to more active retrieves — try short strips between pauses. If that does not produce, switch depth or speed before changing the pattern entirely. In the ripple, a bushy searching dry (Hopper, Shipman's, Elk Hair Caddis) outperforms flush emergers — it stays visible and holds the surface tension.
If the main plan stalls, drop to a size 14–16 midge — switch to a washing-line or suspender rig and change drift line before you change food group.
Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.
Good ripple suits both bank and boat. Bank: work inflows, dam walls, and points. Boat: broadside drift covering wind lanes.
Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.
A reasonable day here, though temperature isn't quite in the sweet spot.
A 150-hectare reservoir on the edge of Exmoor with a wild, moorland character. Boat and bank; the sheltered arms provide good bank fishing. Stocked with rainbows and brown trout; wild browns from feeder streams add quality. The Exmoor setting means clean water and genuine solitude. Buzzer and olive hatches from April; mayfly in places. Managed by South West Lakes Trust.
