DATE:                            31/7/13
REPORT AUTHOR    Dan
NOTABLE CATCH:     5 fish for Ricky Newbolt & Karl Davies
NOTABLE BAG          4 fish weighing 8lbs for Karl Davies
BEST RAINBOW:       3lbs for Ricky Newbolt
BEST BROWN:            N/A
BEST BLUE:                 2lb for Karl Davies
BANK ROD AV:         5.0 fish per angler
BOAT ROD AV:          2.7 fish per angler.

SPORT:

It felt different here today with the atmosphere feeling clearer and much more settled. With overcast conditions and a slight ripple we saw a lot of fish moving in Newclose, around Gull Island, along the East Bank and of course, up at the Dam. This rain that has fallen has done two things for certain. It has cooled down the reservoir by a significant amount and has also freshened up the top few feet of water without discoloring and affecting the clarity of the water. As a consequence we have had fish seen on the surface throughout the day and even the dry fly has made an appearance and worked for a few anglers! This is a real positive for us all and hopefully this will continue. As I type this the rain is falling and it is meant to do so for a few hours yet, but tomorrows weather is set to heat up again and be dry for most of the day but with a threat of rain later on. My prediction is that we will see a lot more surface action going on tomorrow than what we have already had today and with a bit of luck, the rainfall we are having now will continue to freshen everything up and encourage a lot more insect life on to the water, especially if we experience a bit of heat over the next few days. Today we saw a lot of bright red soldier beetles on the water. These will have been blown on to the water and anglers have seen trout taking these off the surface wherever they have been. Derek Moore who was out today spotted lots of fish moving all over the reservoir and although he only tempted 2 fish to the boat he played lots and lots and was seeing action throughout. Great to have some real positive observations to report back to everyone.

BANK

In other news, Karl Davies who fished from the East Bank today had 5 fish in total and cited it as a great day. Now Karl didn’t tell me what method he was using for we missed one another when he was weighing in, but boat anglers who drifted nearby said it looked as though he was fishing a floating line with a daddy on the point. Forgive me if I have got this wrong Karl but naturally we are chuffed to have heard this and this is a welcome signal of things to come. Well done either way and nice angling!

BOAT

Top rod from the boat today was Ricky Newbolt who also had 5 fish. Ricky was up at the Dam and took 4 of his fish using a sinking line with a black/gold sparkle lure and 1 on a diawl bach using a floating line after seeing fish rising and covering them. Ricky also reported seeing a lot of fish about. Nice work and thanks for the info.

So lets hope we see another increase in fish activity over the next few days.

Tight Lines….

Dan

Sport: Thursday 30th July. Not many anglers about today so just a quick report tonight. As the hot weather continues the trout are still lying in the deeper cooler water. The best catch today went to Steve Frakes who landed 5 fish on a half day ticket. Steve fished up near the dam and caught on a variety of flies including green pea, Montana and a sparkler booby. His best line was a di5 which allowed him to fish deep and as well as the fish he landed he lost others and had a number of pulls which didn’t get hold. Included in Steves catch was the biggest fish of the day which was a blue trout weighing 5lb. Good effort Steve. See you on the water Paul.

Getting the ‘Hang’ of Black n Gold
Tony Taylor had the best catch of the day with five trout for 15lbs 3oz. His bag included a 4lb 6oz blue and a 4lb rainbow. What makes his catch interesting that he fished for quite long period with little success but once he found the method he caught the five in short order and had a lot of other action. After trying the fast sinkers and boobies that have been working of late he switched to an intermediate with an Ironman Sparkler on point (pictured below) and a sunny days diawl back on the dropper.
He cast out and fished it back with a very slow figure and regular pauses, as he reached the end of his retrieve he hung the flies for a good 5 to 10 seconds before lifting and recasting. He found the bigger fish near to the dam wall (within casting distance of the dam) but he also caught further out. There he was surprised how once he was on the method how much action he got. Tight Lines Ben

The Ironman Sparkler. Tony's was tied on a size 14 double.

DATE:    Thursday 25th July.
REPORT AUTHOR    Paul.
NOTABLE CATCH:     6 fish for Peter Andrews- 5 fish for Stuart McCahie.
NOTABLE BAG    N/A.
BEST RAINBOW:    5lb for Peter Andrews.
BEST BROWN:    N/A.
BEST BLUE:    4lb+ for Neville Pinhero.
BANK ROD AV:     N/A.
BOAT ROD AV:    2.30  fish per angler.

SPORT: Although it was still very warm today we saw some cloud cover and some heavy rain this afternoon but this did not cool the air temperature down. As in previous days the best lines to use were sinkers from di3-di7. Most of the fish caught today were lying deep so these lines were needed to get down to them. Peter Andrews and Stuart McCahie were out on a boat today and caught 11 fish between them. They both found a di3 line effective with buzzers and nymphs on the droppers and a booby on the point. They caught from several areas including the deep water around the dam and right out in the middle of the main basin. Derek Moore and Neville Pinhero caught 5 fish between them, once again on boobys and sinking lines and like Peter and Stuart  found the deeper water in the middle of the main basin their best spot. It is the heat and the bright sunshine that is driving the fish deep and the fact that there is a lot of daphnia in the water at the moment. These tiny water fleas move up and down in the water depending on the conditions and the trout will follow them as they are a rich food item. This is where a fast sinking line comes in as you can put your flies at the same depth as the daphnia and the fish. The best way i find is to cast out and count your flies down, you can start with a count of 5 seconds, then 10 seconds, then 15 and so on until you start to get some interest then you have found the depth the trout are lying. A good tip is to figure eight your line back as you are counting down, this way you are keeping in contact with your flies and should a trout bite at this time you will be able to feel the take. Another tip is to pay particular attention to the hang and take your time with your lift as often a trout will follow your fly up from depths and take as your fly is “on the up”  See you on the water Paul.

DATE:   24/07/13
REPORT AUTHOR: Dan
NOTABLE CATCH: 4 fish for Derek Moore
NOTABLE BAG
BEST RAINBOW: 2lb + for Derek Moore
BEST BLUE: 3lb 8oz for Derek Moore
BANK ROD AV:
BOAT ROD AV: 2.3 fish per angler

A warm day here today with on and off sunshine all throughout making it tricky out there on the water. .

Mr Davies and Mr Solomon had 3 fish to their boat up at the Dam, but Derek Moore was top rod today with 4 fish. Its worth noting that Derek was using a DI7 sweep and fishing using a woofter booby on the point with a smaller booby on a dropper. Derek was also up at the Dam and he said that he had lots of other takes  and dropped a few playing them.

Tight Lines

Dan