The trout pool, Fordwich, Kent

The trout pool, Fordwich © Peter Gander

Many an evening I have stood here as dusk takes shape, my favourite time of the fishing day when trout make ripples as a rise begins to take place after a usually slow and challenging afternoon. This is my local fly-fishing lake, Fordwich trout pool, owned by my local club, The Canterbury & District Angling Association. Only a few acres at the most, but a peaceful haven a long walk from any houses, sitting next to the river Stour and alongside two much larger (coarse fishing) lakes. Fordwich, or rather its trout, were actually mentioned in Izaak Walton’s Compleat Angler too. The ones I catch aren’t wild ones, but the next best thing we have in the 21st century. Now the days are longer I find the evening my most fruitful catching time but even then one has to be very subtle. A small black hawthorn fly or buzzer perhaps. Just to the right of the scene out of view is a small wooden shed where catch returns are kept and a log book reveal the recent working methods, if you’re really stuck for ideas. As for catching a likeness of the scenery, the lovely textured character of this paper honestly makes the work much easier than it looks when a large dry brush is employed and dragged across the tooth of the surface. I use a Renaissance blue squirrel mop. Winsor & Newton half-pan watercolours on Daler Rowney The Langton Prestige 100% cotton Mould-made (forme ronde) 300gsm watercolour paper.