The story so far…..Innis Fishery was a result of a young boys love of fishing. Nearly 50 years ago Dave Johns was invited to have a go at fly fishing on a friends lake in Newquay. After Keith Burnett showed Dave how to catch a wild brown trout on a fly…Dave was hooked! He spent a couple of years fishing at Porth reservoir and learning his skills. Unfortunately, the reservoir closed leaving him with nowhere to fish. Dave’s father, Clarence ‘Butch’ Johns, had a small parcel of moorland which he did not use which had a spring-fed river running through it. Dave’s idea was to build a lake for his own personal use. With the help and support of his father and siblings the lake was created. Dave stocked the lake with 2000 trout and solely fished it for over 12 months with numerous people asking to fish it too. As time went on the fish were getting bigger and costing too much money to feed, so his father suggested that he started charging people to fish the lake in order to sustain it…..and so Innis Fly Fishery was born. Today, that one lake has grown to four covering nearly 20 acres. The lakes are stocked regularly with quality trout reared on site. Dave continues to uphold the same values as when it begun putting all his energy along with the help of his bailiffs into making it the best fishery it can be.
Dave entered into competition fishing and eventually the team from Innis – himself, Andy Trewin and Mark Damarell earned the right to fish for England in the European Championships in 1993. Dave has gone on to be a Troutmasters Champion and been capped for his Country twice, winning gold as part of the loch-style team competing at Lough Owel in Ireland in 2014. Dave and Theresa are very proud of his achievements but equally proud that Innis Fishery was chosen to host the inaugural International Bank Fly Fishing Championships back in 2010. One boys dream of a place to fish has become the destination for fly fisherman from all over the UK and beyond.
