Weather cycles are all part of outdoor life: hot, cold, wet, dry. Then there are the more complex patterns which may favour a boom of one kind of trout food, or maybe a bust of another. Often these are all but indecipherable to us anglers, no matter how much we might wish otherwise.Through the range of conditions, we are fortunate that Millbrook trout are always there and can be caught… although how that plays out is the question!
2026 at Millbrook started quite hot (by our standards) and dry, although a deluge in February gave valuable respite. Then, since the start of May, the rain has come down consistently: roughly 230mm worth so far for May, June and the beginning of July. The timing of this rain is ideal, falling when evaporation is at a minimum. The result has been significant rises in the levels of all our lakes, and in some cases, they are now full and spilling.
Full lakes don’t guarantee great fishing, just as low lakes don’t mean it’ll be tough. BUT to state the bleeding obvious, the Millbrook Lakes fishery requires water to operate, and after two drier-than-normal years, it’s good to be banking decent quantities of the stuff.
To the actual fishing, and two standouts in recent months have been smelters eating finger-sized galaxias, which have boomed for reasons we don’t really understand (see above!) and good old midge feeders. Floodwater feeders are a thing at times as the lake edges rise over long-exposed shores, flushing terrestrial food like worms and beetles. Once a given lake fills, this exciting if sporadic fishing fades with no more ‘new’ food being flushed, but it’s fun while it lasts! Also, these circumstances (like abundant galaxias) do wonders for trout growth and condition.
When it comes to mayfly, there were some light hatches in autumn, although you couldn’t bank on them. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the mayfly this spring.
As always, we don’t know exactly what the coming months will bring weather-wise, but in the short to medium term, we do know there will be plenty of water, and lots of fat trout.
2026 at Millbrook started quite hot (by our standards) and dry, although a deluge in February gave valuable respite. Then, since the start of May, the rain has come down consistently: roughly 230mm worth so far for May, June and the beginning of July. The timing of this rain is ideal, falling when evaporation is at a minimum. The result has been significant rises in the levels of all our lakes, and in some cases, they are now full and spilling.
Full lakes don’t guarantee great fishing, just as low lakes don’t mean it’ll be tough. BUT to state the bleeding obvious, the Millbrook Lakes fishery requires water to operate, and after two drier-than-normal years, it’s good to be banking decent quantities of the stuff.
To the actual fishing, and two standouts in recent months have been smelters eating finger-sized galaxias, which have boomed for reasons we don’t really understand (see above!) and good old midge feeders. Floodwater feeders are a thing at times as the lake edges rise over long-exposed shores, flushing terrestrial food like worms and beetles. Once a given lake fills, this exciting if sporadic fishing fades with no more ‘new’ food being flushed, but it’s fun while it lasts! Also, these circumstances (like abundant galaxias) do wonders for trout growth and condition.
When it comes to mayfly, there were some light hatches in autumn, although you couldn’t bank on them. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the mayfly this spring.
As always, we don’t know exactly what the coming months will bring weather-wise, but in the short to medium term, we do know there will be plenty of water, and lots of fat trout.
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