DATE:                                        Sunday August 30th
REPORT AUTHOR                Ben
NOTABLE CATCHES:          13 fish for Tom Speak and Derek Moore
NOTABLE BAG:                      4 fish for 13lbs 4oz Mark Fergusson
BEST RAINBOW:                   4lbs 8oz for Mark Furgusson
BEST BROWN:                        2lbs for ?
BANK ROD AV:                      3.33 fish per angler
BOAT ROD AV:                      4.09 fish per angler
Sport: Today we held the blind pairs fund raising match in aid of the air ambulance and what a cracking day we had at here with 32 anglers taking part. The conditions were great with overcast skies and a gentle breeze and the trout were feeding. We saw a fair few anglers catch into double figures all of which were fishing dries. The washing line method also accounted for some good catches with both the nymphs and the boobies taking fish. The trout that I spooned were feeding on good sized brown buzzers and olive daphnia. The best areas were down the side of Gull Island, across the saddle to Willow Island, the buoy line, Phil’s Flats, The Northern shallows and the causeway area.
The top individual today was Tom Speak who caught thirteen trout all on dries over the before mention areas. Good angling Tom well done.
The second individual was Derek Moore who fished the same as Tom and also caught 13 trout but was pipped on weight. Steve Bland and Paul Davison also caught into double figure. But this was a blind pairs match. Each angler drew a number from a hat at the weigh in to determine who they a partnered with.
The top five results were as follows:
1st Tom Speak (13) and Mike Gadd (5) with 18 trout for 35lbs 2oz
2nd Derek Moore (13) and Stuart Halfod (2) with 15 trout for 28lbs 7oz
3rd Paul Davison (10) and Llord Edwards (2) with 12 trout for 24lbs 10oz
4th Steve Bland (12) and Roger Minshall (0) with 12 trout for 24lbs 0oz
5th Martin Griffiths (5) and Dermot Speight (5) with 10 trout for 20lbs 15oz
Best fish: Rick Nuttall 3lbs 6oz

On the day we raised £730 for the air ambulance which is absolutely brilliant. A big thank you to everyone who took part and for doing so in such a great spirit. A massive thank you to Derek Moore for organising yet another brilliant day.

The shore also fished well Andrew briggs took five fish whilst on a half day ticket. He his fish in Barn Quarry on diawl bachs and Mark Fergusson took four trout for 13lbs 8oz on daddies. Tight Lines Ben

The winning pair: (left) Tom Speak and (right) Mike Gadd. Tom was also the top individual with 13 trout on dries. Good angling fellers.

DATE:                                            Saturday August 29th
REPORT AUTHOR                     Ben
NOTABLE CATCHES:                9 fish for Derek Moore
BEST RAINBOW:                        3lbs 1oz for Rick Nuttall
BEST BROWN:                            Wild fish
BANK ROD AV:                           2.00 fish per angler
BOAT ROD AV:                           1.70 fish per angler
Sport: Today belonged to Derek Moore. Derek caught nine rainbows today and played several more. He fished a team of dry Midas patterns from a drifting boat and caught in various places around the reservoir. Amazingly there ten anglers on the water today and Derek caught over half the fish.
On the shore today all the bank anglers caught two fish each and all seemed to lose a few more. Everyone was on a half day ticket. The best areas were the jetty to Bell Point where black or olive tadpoles scored and the dam where dries were most productive. The dam was more sheltered. Tomorrow looks like a great day for dries there are very light winds and plenty of cloud cover. Tight Lines Ben

DATE:                                        Friday August 28th
REPORT AUTHOR                 Ben
NOTABLE CATCHES:            7 fish for Colin Parkin & Ken Whiteside
NOTABLE BAG:                       2 fish for 5lbs 1oz for Mathew Bracewell
BEST RAINBOW:                    3lbs 12oz for Colin Parkin
BEST BROWN:                        Wild fish only
BANK ROD AV:                       2.50 fish per angler
BOAT ROD AV:                       1.90 fish per angler
Sport: It was bright and windy today with occasional heavy showers thrown in, so it wasn’t the easiest of conditions for fly fishing.
Out on the boats the best catch came to Colin Parkin. Colin fished a floating line with an olive diawl back on the point and a Kate McLaren on the dropper. He caught seven trout to 3lbs 12oz and had the chance of half a dozen more. He used a very slow figure of eight retrieve and cast his flies right into the margins. He commented that most of his came from only a yard or two from the shore line. Good angling Colin.
From the shore, Mr consistent, Ken Whiteside also caught seven fish. Ken caught on a white UDF of his own tying fished on a floating line. His best fish was a rainbow of 3lbs and his best area was Barn Quarry and Two Trees.
I can’t finish without mentioning Mathew Bracewell (pictured below) who caught two rainbows from Hollins to Barn Quarry for 5lbs 1oz. Mathew (aged 9) caught them both on a black tadpole. Good angling!

Mathew Bracewell aged 9 caught these two rainbows on a black tadpole whilst bank fishing in Hollins Bay.

Sport: Changeable, bright and breezy today, and not ideal for trout fishing. This was reflected in the very low attendance of anglers and also in the very poor catch rate. Mr McMahon commented on leaving, ‘thanks, I’ve really enjoyed the day, it’s not always about catching’, after having spent the day in a boat in the sun with his son. Both had great tans and big smiles. Rod of the day, bank angler John Collins,took advantage of the relative calm offered by the East Bank and fished from the spillway to Halsteads Hike. Finding that windlanes were glancing the point of Halsteads John twithced a sunken daddy to catch two fin perfect rainbows af about 2.5 lbs each. Well done John, your walk and tenacity was rewarded.
Tomorrow looks far more settled, so hopefully we’ll see an improvement in sport.
Nick.

Sport: The top catch today went to the boat of Derek Moore and Bob Fitzpatrick with their 9 fish. Derek and Bob drifted all over the lake and caught fish at the causeway, the northern shallows and around gull island. They caught rainbows to 3lb and Bob had a wild brownie that weighed 1lb, a good wildie. Midas, sedge and daddies caught their trout and Derek said they had a lot more action with hooked and lost fish. Another boat angler said that there were a lot of fish rising in the corner of newclose bay, might be worth a look there if you are up over the next day or so. Syotw. Paul.