Trout Area fishing

From Japan to Northern Ireland – a round-up of the inaugural L.Baits / Yarie UK & Ireland Trout Area League held in 2018

 Issue 22 (May-Jun 2018)  Steven Powell

We had been toying with the idea of trout area fishing for quite some time, but had never really done anything about it. Quite recently on my travels for Snapbaits  I have met some quite extraordinary fishing brands and being who we are – lure fishing fanatics – we snapped up a few companies that would bring us closer to our first area league.

Not so long ago we acquired both the Yarie UK and L.Baits UK & Ireland distribution rights, both manufacturers of highly sought after fishing equipment in terms of performance at tournament level. We needed to get the word out that these exciting brands were now available to other UK stores through our distribution network and so the idea of trout area fishing was immediately taken on board and supported.

We actually held a similar style tournament back in 2016 but due to lack of fish it was a serious flop for us. However, the competitors at the time saw the tournament as a new way forward and an addition to their own fishing, especially in the older months when the weather gets rather sour and the fish are not so easily caught on lures. Many of the same guys were more than up for another go at this interesting style of competition fishing and so the L.Baits/Yarie trout area league was born…

SO, WHAT IS AREA FISHING?

Area fishing involves the use of short rods and lightweight equipment with the target being to catch the most fish in each round of a competition. As the whole point of area fishing is to practice C&R, the use of light braids or mono, small rubber lures, spinning rods and minimal fish handling are paramount. Ultimately the focus is on respecting the fish at the highest level, incurring minimal damage and having a lot of competitive fun at the same time. Additionally, as releasing the fish with the greatest possible care is one of the core principles that underpins the practice of trout area fishing, single barbless hooks and landing nets with rubber mesh are used to minimise damage. Stiff rods, heavy lines and barbed or treble hooks are totally out of the question and are strictly not allowed.

A lot of planning and searching was done, with many phone calls and enquiries made to find the right venue. The hardest bit was explaining the process of 20 to 30 anglers using lures to catch & release on a stocked trout fishery. Many stocked rainbow & brown fisheries are open on a pay and take basis, of course, and fish are rarely released due to the damage and exhaustion landing them can cause. Their inability to recover again (particularly rainbows) after a fight usually means it is better to knock them on the head instead of waste them, and quite rightly so. After all no one wants a trout fishery full of dead trout!

However, experience and the development of lure angling for trout has come a long way in many parts of the world, but in many cases catch and release is still not practiced in the UK or Ireland. Nowadays the use of short rods, fine lines and barbless hooks are common. Trout area fishing was conceived in Japan where people needed to fish ponds of reduced size. The logic behind this was to ensure consistent catches and to allow many fishermen in one small space. It has since become a highly specific technique that sits somewhere around halfway between fly fishing and spinning.

The concept of trout area fishing with lures soon began to draw the crowds in Northern Ireland (where we are based) and many anglers adopted the idea of using hard baits, spinners, small spoons and jigheads to catch as many fish as they could in a 30 minute timeframe over 3 separate rounds.

The dates of 28^th January, 25^th February and 18^th March 2018 were carefully selected in advance as the tournament days in advance and the selected venue for all was the Rectory Lodge Fishery  near Cookstown, Co. Tyrone. The fishery was blown away by the new method and discipline of catch and release, and very supportive of the new league initiative.

The trophies for the top three league places were sponsored by both Snapbaits, with long term sponsors Barracuda Fishing Tackle, Dungannon donated a custom Dragon trout area rod and Dragon reel, along with three goodie bags full of Dragon fishing tackle. We had some excellent wall calendars and year planners from this magazine as spot prizes. Rectory Lodge also provided a voucher for a free days fishing and Dave Bowles of Fermanagh River Adventures provided a free guided trip for trout. On top of that was the prize payout for 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd places for each round with the overall league winner getting a bonus prize.

A resounding success…

On the eve of the competition, Rectory Lodge stocked an additional 400 trout on top of the hundreds already in the well-stocked fishery. This meant the competitors would get loads of action. Additionally, an extra top-up stocking of 150 trout was added on the eve of each round.

The night before the first league round saw us panicking about how well it would all go down with the anglers, most of whom had never fished this style before. Pegs were drawn (as in any match) and the competitors went to their set swim with ten minutes to set up and ready themselves.

We needn’t have worried about how it would go. As soon as the first signal went fish were being caught all over the lake and it was clear it was all going to be a huge success. The first round of the league back in late January saw over 300 rainbow trout caught and released unharmed, with a mixture of spinners, spoons and soft baits working well for most. It really couldn’t have gone much better.

Round 2 and 3 continued in similar form, with lots and lots of fish being caught. The February leg saw much cooler weather, less active fish and, due to the fact that many has been caught and released during the previous round, maybe slightly wiser trout! The same can be said for round 3 actually (what a long winter that was, eh) but still though, almost 650 trout were landed and successfully released over the three rounds.

Jacek Gorny took first place overall, having lead from the very beginning – a truly great performance. Predator Team Ireland manager Tomek Kurman placed 2^nd overall, with Aleksanders Trifonovs taking 3^rd. Almost all anglers improved on their catches and techniques throughout the league, which was great to see and the overwhelming feeling was that this certainly won’t be the last trout area league. In fact, we are already planning for a bigger and better one next year!

Thanks to all the anglers who took part and all of the supporters,

Steven Powell