Date:    Saturday 14th November
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    7 fish for Rick Nuttall
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 8lb 8oz Rick Nuttall
Best Rainbow:    Rick Nuttall 4lb Returned
Best Brownie:    Several at 2lb +
Rod Av:    1.4 fish per angler

Sport:  Despite a pretty nasty weather warning of which not much materialised, the fishing has been pretty good! Rick managed 7 trout and with each fish bringing a £15.00 share of the pot he managed to haul £105.00. Rick fished from Bell point with a floating line and a damsel lure, a fly that can really do the trick this time of year.
Both Ian Gaskell and Pete Kirk managed 2 fish, with pretty much the rest of the field managing a fish each.
Regular Lee Cowking correctly guessed the total number caught and received a £60.00 tackle voucher.
Over all a cracking little competition fished in Great Spirit.
A better weather forecast this week ahead should see some good sport for the last couple of weeks of the season.
Tight lines Matthew.

The Stocks n Shares fishing competition.

This Saturday (14th of November) Stocks Reservoir is holding a fishing competition with a difference called Stocks n Shares.
The idea is that everybody puts £20 into a pot and then every fish you catch throughout the day will earn you one share of the pot. Also for each entrant we will donate a £5 tackle shop voucher that will be won by the angler who most closely predicts the total amount of trout that will be caught in the match.
With this format the harder the fishing the more each fish will earn you. For example 20 anglers entered it would give a pot of £400 if they only caught 4 trout between them each fish would be worth £100. However if they caught 80 trout each fish would be worth just £5 and you would need 20 of them to win £100. In both scenarios someone would also win a £100 tackle voucher.
It will be fished to fishery rules and you may fish from either the bank or boat. Boats may anchor up and will cost just £10 (£5/ angler) to hire for the day. You must take the first five rainbow trout you catch after which you must debarb and carry on fishing catch n release.
This is the last open competition of the 2009 season it should great fun and it is a good chance to have a final fling on Stocks before we close on November 30th. The competition will run from 9:30am to 4pm. If you would like to enter you can do so by e-mail or by calling stocks on 01200 446602.

WIN A SEASON TICKET FOR NEXT YEAR.
If you have caught a double figure fish this season on Stocks Reservoir then you can enter the doubles club fish off which will be held on Sunday November 29th. Amongst other things you can win a season ticket for the 2010 season! There is no entry fee you just need to purchase a full day ticket from the lodge and weigh in by 4pm. Please call the fishery on 01200 446602 or email us to register your place.

Tight Lines Ben

Date                                Saturday October 31st to Friday November 5th
Report by                    Ben
Best Catch                   10 trout for Chris Guthrie
Best Bag                       5 trout for 11lbs 4oz Chris Guthrie
Best Rainbow            4lbs 13oz for Bob Fitzpatrick
Best Brown                  Several at 2lbs +
Boat Rod Average    2.25 fish per man
Bank Rod Average    2.00 fish per man
Sport: On Saturday we hosted the 2009 Rio 4s Championship and 10 teams of four took to the water to make their bid for the 2009 title and the eight hundred pounds worth of tackle that goes with it. The weather was good with a light westerly wind and overcast an sky, the only factor that threatened to dampen the sport was the recent increase in water level. However, soon after the competition started at 9am, we saw a couple of rods bent over as lively trout tried to bury under the boats of the anglers and the match was well and truly under way. Scottish international and Stocks G-tec team member Steve Welsh took an early lead and by lunch time he had completed his bag of five fish. Steve was the first competitor to debarb and start releasing fish. He fished a two fly cast with minkie on the point and a claret booby 10 feet away on the dropper. Most of his morning’s catch came from in and around Hollins Bay. Fellow G-tec angler Chris Guthrie followed team orders and started out on dries with little success, but after a quick chat with Steve he switched to plan b with almost immediate results. Chris and boat partner Pete Scholes fished their way along Ben’s Beach where Chris took three nice trout. They then moved over to the west side of Gull Island where Chris tempted a further two. At this point Chris offered Pete some of his special fruit cake and told him that it would change his fortune, Pete happily accepted. The cake did seem to do the trick and Pete was now matching Chris fish for fish. We will have to get the recipe! They landed a further five trout apiece which lifted Chris’s tally to 10 and earned him the title of 2009 top individual.
Jock Kettles from The Hungry Trout team was also amongst the trout, he was fishing close into the Willows along the east bank with a cat booby, Jock landed six fine trout with many other tugs and pulls. The fish are currently well spread over the reservoir and we saw some good catches from The Northern Shallows, Willow Island, Curry’s Cast and Barn Quarry as well as the previously mentioned areas. At the end of the match the 40 competitors had caught 90 trout, not bad considering the influx of new water and the earlier than usual finishing time of 4pm.
The results were as follows:

Team Results
1st.  Stocks G-Tec:         Darren Booth, Chris Guthrie, Steve Welsh and Carl Nixon
2nd. The Hungry Tout:   Alec McEwan, Jock Kettles, Derek Keenan and Gus Shepherd
3rd. Ayr Travellers:       Daniel McCormac, William Reddicks, Alec Bowler, Kevin Andrews
4th. Stocks Barracudas:  Peter Scholes, John Hood, John Sykes, Paul Moore
5th. Fishing Buddies:     Rob Denson, Phil Burgess, Billy Thompson, Richard Hood
6th. Stocks Harriers:      James Vann, Steve Bland, Bob Fitzpatrick, Steve Lind
7th.  The Fluff Chuckers: Ian Gaskell, Tom bird, Tom Hayes, Ryan Mathews
8th.  Ayr  Travellers A:    Peter Edge, John Anderson, Simon Littlejon, Stuart McCormac
9th.  The Pie Eaters:         Andy Cooper, Phil Green, Ryan Feber, Rick Nuttall
10th. Jet2.com:                 Peter Jones, Simon Chatman, Steve Chatman, Mark Foster

Top Individuals
1st.  Chris Guthrie with 10 trout
2nd. Steve Welsh with 8 trout
3rd. Jock Kettles with 6 trout
4th. Peter Scholes with 5 trout

A big thank you to RIO and Guide Fly Fishing for their generous sponsorship of this match, the total prize fund exceeded £2000!

On the shore the bank anglers were also catching trout with Bell Point, Hollins Bay and Ben’s Beach being the hot areas. Like the boat anglers, success was found with minkies but they also caught on dry daddies and long lining nymphs. Since Saturday the adverse weather conditions kept all but the hardiest of anglers away. However we have continued to have good catches to fry patterns and some good catches to nymphs along the East Bank.
The weather next week looks good for fishing with the wind dropping away and a lot less rain. Tight Lines Ben