SPORT:  Totally different weather today than we have seen over the last week, cooler and wet, at least the rain will do the garden some good. Despite the weather the fishing remained exceptional with some great catches recorded. Out on a boat today was John Sykes who caught 10 trout. John found fish all over the water and utilised dry flies to take his fish. Tom Lynch was another angler who recorded a good catch with 9 fish. Like other successful anglers Tom found his fish eager to take dries right off the top. Ian Ross and David Mackay tempted 11 fish between them with all areas being productive. Once again flies fished right in the surface did the trick. Phil Burgess and John Calvert had a red letter day landing a staggering 31 trout between them! They caught fish where ever they fished and you guessed it, their best patterns were various dry flies. To round the day off the biggest trout of the day fell to Phil who landed a super 10lb 12oz rainbow. Phil’s super fish was caught at the dam and fell to a cats booby. The weather is supposed to not be as wet tomorrow so I should think the superb fishing will continue. See you on the water Paul.

Phil Burgess caught this beautiful 10lb 12oz rainbow on a cat booby whilst washing lining on a floating line at the Dam. This was part of a bumper catch, most of which fell to dries. Between Phil and John Calvert they landed over 30 trout!

DATE:                              Wednesday May 30th
REPORT AUTHOR        Ben
NOTABLE CATCHES:    27+ to the boat for John Calvert and Mike Laycock, 21 to the boat for Paul Bebb and Andy Ross and 10 fish for Derek Moore
BEST RAINBOW:    8lbs 8oz for Mike Laycock
BEST BROWN:       Ian Ross 1lb 8oz (wildie)
BEST BLUE:            3lbs 8oz Derek Moore
BANK ROD AV:      2.5 fish per angler
BOAT ROD AV:      5.0 fish per angler
SPORT: What a cracking day. Those anglers that cracked the code early on were really able to build a good tally of trout. The code was dries the areas were pretty much all over, although the dam fished particularly well as did Blackhouse Bay and Hollins Bay. Some anglers tried dries then changed to other methods when it brightened up a bit but it was the anglers that stuck with them that scored highest. The best patterns were daddies, black bits, hoppers, sedges patterns. Paul Bebb was guiding today and he found that if the flies weren’t taken within the first few seconds of landing on the water then twiddling them back often induced a take. Covering rising trout also worked very well. John Calvert and Mike Laycock found that covering a rising trout quickly was usually rewarded with a take. Lastly key to all the successful anglers today was that fished from drifting boats. It is crucial to drift onto fresh water when the fish are feeding so near the surface. Any noise in the boats can scare feeding away, thus anchored boats are at a disadvantage. Tight Lines Ben

DATE:    Tuesday 29th May.
REPORT AUTHOR    Paul.
NOTABLE CATCH:    9 fish for Mick and Ken Whiteside.
NOTABLE BAG    2 fish weighing 5lb 8oz for Gerry Brewer.
BEST RAINBOW:    4lb for Mick Whiteside.
BEST BROWN:    Several weighing 2lb.
BEST BLUE:    2lb 8oz for Tony Taylor.
BANK ROD AV:    3.20 fish per angler.
BOAT ROD AV:    2.00 fish per angler.
SPORT: Although this morning was warm there was plenty of cloud cover and rain looked like it was on its way but by early afternoon we were back to the usual clear blue skies and scorching sunshine. There were plenty of trout caught but several anglers commented on the number of pulls and follows they experienced without the fish taking hold properly. On the bank this morning were Mick and Ken Whiteside who caught 9 fish between them. Mick and Ken stalked the bank and caught trout all the way from Hollins, past two trees and along Hartley’s with various lures attracting the trout. Other bank anglers caught in similar areas with the exception of Ron Daniels who took a trip to the buoy line in Newclose where he caught on daddy long legs. Out on the boats various dry flies were the best including daddy long legs, olives and hoppers with Willow island, Newclose bay and Blackhouse bay all producing fish. Tomorrow there is supposed to be more in the way of cloud cover so I would expect the good fishing to continue. See you on the water Paul.

DATE:    Monday 28th May
REPORT AUTHOR    Matthew
NOTABLE CATCH:    8 fish for Andy Galbraith
BEST RAINBOW:    Andy Galbraith 4lb
BANK ROD AV:    3.00
SPORT: The weather as you know has been scorching once again. That coupled with a brisk breeze this afternoon has made things pretty tricky. A trip up to the dam for Andy Galbraith paid off with 8 fish on the day. Andy fished a floating line with a team of nymphs, with a pheasant tail nymph doing the most damage. With the breeze helping the line the fish hit the nymphs hard almost ripping the rod from his grip.
The cloud is moving in over the next few days so the fishing will be fantastic for sure.
Tight lines Matthew.

DATE                              SUNDAY MAY 27TH   Report by Ben Dobson
BEST CATCH               15 trout to the boat for Richard and John Hood, 7 trout for Billy Thompson
BEST BAG OF 5          18lbs 9oz for Ian Ritchie and Ian Gaskell
BEST RAINBOW        10lbs 2oz for Ian Gaskell
BEST BROWN             3lb 8oz for Ian Ritchie
BEST BLUE                  A few around the 2lb mark
BANK ROD AVERAGE    3.33 fish per angler
BOAT ROD AVERAGE    3.00 fish per angler
SPORT: Today we hosted the first of four heats of the Stocks Pairs. This is a great comp that allows the competitors to fish with their partner in the same boat. Between them they have to try a catch 10 fish, it doesn’t matter if one angler catches one fish, and the other catches nine, they work together to and complete their bag. It is fished to fishery rules with regards to flies but they do have to fish from a drifting boat. The winners of the final will receive £1000 in cash and the coveted Stocks Pairs trophy. Today saw nine pairs competing for a place in the final, the conditions weren’t good: very bright with a strong north easterly breeze. As the saying goes: bright n breezy, never easy.  I have to say, because of the adverse conditions, I was surprised to see Richard and John Hood back at the lodge at 12:15 after just 2 hours of fishing with their 10 fish bag completed. Richard and John fished DI5 lines with two orange fusion blobs. They fished along the willows on the east bank and took 5 trout on their first drift after that they completed their bag in Black House Bay. After weighing in they returned to the water to take a further five fish……good angling. At 2:30pm Derek Moore and Billy Thompson were also in with their bag they caught in similar areas on the washing line and on dabblers fished on intermediate lines. The only other pair to complete their limit was Paul Davison and Ryan Feber. They finished at 5:45pm with a cracking haul that tipped the scales to 27lbs 1oz. In fourth place were Steve Ainsworth and Pete Navin who took 8 fish for 18lbs 2oz. Just missing out was Isle of Man anglers Dave Howe and Gordon Simpson with 8 fish for 17lbs 5oz. They caught their fish on black nomads and caddis patterns. The wild card for the biggest fish went to Ian Gaskell and Ian Ritchie for the capture of the best rainbow of 10lbs 2oz. If you fancy a go at this competition the next heat is on July 1st. Just call the lodge on 01200 446602 and we’ll book you in. Also on the water today was The Border Bears Fly Fishing club having their annual meet at Stocks. Taking top honours in their club was Jim Youngman with 3 trout for 7lbs 8oz and the best fish was caught by James Inkpen who caught a rainbow of 4lbs. It was great to see you guys, always a pleasure. We also had some English youth hopefuls on the water today being coached by the angling trust scheme and if today is anything to go by I think we will see some great anglers emerging from the northwest region. If you know a youth between the age of 10 and 17 that could benefit from this training scheme then please contact me, and I’ll get them signed up for the next course. I can highly recommend it, the coaches are great guys and are really experienced. Call me on 0789 6000 939. The wind is due to die almost completely tomorrow and we have cloud cover coming our way so the fishing should be great off the top. Let’s hope! Tight lines Ben

Border Bears FF