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