Firstly I would like to thank David from West House Trout Lakes for his
sound advice and the information he gave me today, the place is really
going to take off and there are some great plans for 2006 onwards. Good
luck and for what it's worth, everyone who was there today said you'd
made the right decision changing from the Coarse scene!!

OK...Got there at 8:30ish, country roads and my sense of direction
don't mix, we were a bit later than we thought, me and the father in law
(Ian) were ready to go.

The Lakes

"Horseshoe Lake" and "West Lake" are fairly small, but don't let
that put you off, there are a maximimum of 10 anglers allowed at any one
time, which leaves plenty of space!

Both lakes viewed from the Car Park!

There are no amenities as yet, West House plan to have a lodge with
toiliets as soon as weather permits, early spring seems to be the target
date. There are also plans for a 5 acre lake adjacent to the above 2
lakes!

The Fishing

Being a bit chilly I started on a lure (Cats Whisker) as did Ian, first
cast wallop, 2lb Rainbow in fin perfect condition, Ian was into one now
too, I spoke with Wally for a while and gave him a Cats Whisker, he
tied it on and I think he more or less landed his next fish straight away.
Over the morning I tried every lure I had, most of them I either landed
a fish or had at least a tug, that's not saying I'm a great angler,
it's just that the fish are damn hungry as everyone found out on the
day, they do seem to favour white and bright green lures on a fairly fast
retrieve. One fish that I landed had Bloodworm crawling on it, so I
tried the bite indicator and various types of Bloodworm at every depth,
nothing, back to the lures!!

Each fish landed were between 2-2.5lb, and in good condition, very good
fighters too, as soon as they see a landing net they're off!

That'll be me with a West Lake Rainbow

Another take!

Opinion of West Lake

As far as the fishing goes, the place can\'t be faulted, David was
really helpful and as I've said in a previous post, he has big plans for
2006, with a lodge for certain and plans for a new lake...All the fish
were in good condition and put up a decent fight.

The only thing to be wary of is the access to the lake, down a fairly
steep bank that I would expect to be difficult for the unfit angler (I
won't say old as some of you lot are fitter than me:wink:) Disabled
access would be nigh on impossible and wet weather could make it a bit
slippy, don't let it put you off though!

To be completely honest it was a great day and a great place, 10
anglers max leaves you enough room to shift pegs, I finished with 20 fish as
did Ian, there were returns in the book of 30+ for the day, I did\'nt
check all the catch scores but at a guess there were 200+ fish landed
between 8 or 9 anglers on the day.

Pay them a visit, but I would ring first, especially on the weekends!