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