The Perfect Afternoon …

England international Simon Kidd visits Exmoor’s Clatworthy Reservoir during beetle mania…

- Simon Kidd

For a few weeks of the year in midsummer the beetles at Clatworthy Reservoir, on the edge of Exmoor National Park, literally invade the place like a plague and the fish can go mad for them. The same occurs elsewhere as the summer months yield the Coch-y-Bonddu beetle and they take to the wing and provide the fish of many lakes with a summer feast to gorge upon.

There have been many patterns for this little beastie and colourful member of the Coleoptera beetle family and known widely as the garden chafer beetle (Phyllopertha horticola). It often appears sat on the fronds of bracken and the most traditional pattern is a simple hackled fly with a peacock herl body, red cock hackle and small gold butt at the bend of the hook. The name Coch-y-Bonddu itself has a Welsh origin and translates roughly as ‘red of the back’, which describes perfectly this characteristic and distinctive creature that tends to visit our bankside and lakes after the hawthorn flies have largely departed.

Already At Lunch

As I arrived, Danny confirmed the timing was good. It had been sunny on the drive up but cloud had started to appear and the air temperature was noticeably cooler. There were not many insects hitting the windscreen on the drive up, as there can be on good summer days, so I was a bit sceptical but still hopeful. With the threat of rain showers later in the afternoon we didn’t want to be too late getting onto the water.