Fly Fishing Reports

Date:    Thursday 11th March
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    Pete Scholes 4 fish
Heaviest Bag:    Mick Whiteside 2 fish for 8lb 8oz
Best Rainbow:    Ken Whiteside 6lb 4oz
Best Brownie:    Na
Bank Rod Av:    2.00
Boat Rod Av:
Sport: The morning brought yet more ice, however that soon cleared by lunch time leaving a pretty mild overcast day. In turn the fishing in the afternoon has been pretty good indeed. Buzzers are starting to account for their fair share of the fish with Two Trees round to Bell Point producing the goods. Pete had a few hours this afternoon down by the jetty returning 4 good fish up to 3lb with either a green pea or an orange blob doing the trick from the shore line.
I am hoping we have seen the last of the ice (touch wood!) and with these milder nights it should make for an excellent weekend.
tight lines Matthew

Date:    Wednesday 10th March
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    5 fish for Lesley Sam and G Caradice
Heaviest Bag:    3 fish for 7lb 8oz Joan Lyndsey
Best Rainbow:    4lb Ray Bird
Best Brownie:
Bank Rod Av:    1.6
Boat Rod Av:    2.5
Sport: A very bright day meant that the fishing was probably a little trickier than anticipated. However one thing’s for sure buzzers are starting to come off in their droves and spring is certainly in the air. With the reservoir now fully thawed out New close bay will start to produce some excellent sport, Mr Caradice had five from there in all but 4 hours with black and green lures doing the trick. Lesley Sam led the way from the boats with 5 fish and numerous chances from the top of Willow Island all on buzzers!
Top lady today was Joan Lyndsey with 3 good fish all falling for cormorants along the shallows. All in all a slower day but I am certain the more settled weather ahead will have the reservoir lifting with life and some excellent sport.
Ben is stocking tomorrow and as is often the case the fresh fish just may stir up the resident fish from the seasons start. It should be a bumper weekend!
Tight lines Matthew.

Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    5 fish by Neil McCallum
Heaviest Bag:   3 fish for 6lb 3oz by Neil McCallum
Best Rainbow:    3lb 6oz by Steven Meynell
Best Brownie:    N/A
Bank Rod Av:    N/a
Boat Rod Av:     3.5 fish per angler
Sport: The reservoir was again iced over  partially this morning but with a good breeze blowing  it did start to clear, unfortunately not quick enough to allow boat fishing. But the intrepid anglers who fished the bank had some success when the cloud came and the water cleared this afternoon. Top rod was Steven McCallum with five fish. Steve had his fish from Bell point and used a cochy-bhondu  to best effect with diawl bachs also working well. Also on Bell point Alex Blore had 3 fish on a variety of flies. With good cloud cover tonight let’s hope the temperature stays above freezing  tonight then the fishing should be electric for the rest of the week  with the Northern Shallows sure to be a hot spot. See you in the lodge Pete.

Date:    Monday 8th March 2010
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:
Heaviest Bag:
Best Rainbow:
Best Brownie:
Bank Rod Av:
Boat Rod Av:
Sport: Unfortunately ice has once again stopped play today with the reservoir fully iced over this morning. The ice is again retreating and with a bit more cloud forecast from tomorrow it should remain ice free. But please ring the lodge on 01200 446602 for updates. see you in the lodge Pete

Date:                                      Sunday march 7th
Report Author:                Ben
Best Catch:                         6 trout for Andy Hulls
Heaviest Bag:                    4 trout for 15lbs 8oz John Watson
Best Rainbow:                  7lbs 8oz Derek Moore
Bank Rod Av:                   0.82 fish per man
Boat Rod Av:                    1.32 fish per man
Sport: What a difference a day makes! This morning reservoir was almost frozen over, but the ice was very thin and by 9:30am the boats were out and fishing on the rapidly growing stretches of open water. It was a glorious day, crisp, flat calm and not a cloud in the sky.
On the bank we held our Trout Masters fish off and the competitors set out to find ice free stretches where they could wet a line. It was very hard going and the fish were thin on the ground. However, Andy Hulls (pictured below) was in fine form and soon settled onto a winning method. Andy fished a medium sink line with a single gold humongous booby on a short leader. He found Two Trees to be a hot spot and said the key was to fish the fly back very slowly. He landed six fine trout winning the match and the opportunity to represent Stocks in the final on Grafham Water. We wish him the very best of luck as he follows in the footsteps of Darren Booth who was last year’s representative and went on to win becoming the 2009 Trout Master Champion…..No pressure there then!

Out on the boats the trout weren’t playing ball either, whether it was the bright sunshine or the cold start to the day, but they proved very tricky to catch. Derek Moore was top rod with five fish and his bag included a beautiful 7lb 8oz rainbow. Derek also fished a sinking line with a booby and blob. Paul Bebb was out guiding today with John and Tracy Watson who were also catching big trout. (Pictured below) John landed a cracking bag of four fish that tipped the scales to 15lbs 8oz. Tracy also caught well and they found medium sinker with black and green lures to be the order of the day. Although the trout did switch off today, there was a period around 3pm where they took to the surface. It was mainly along the edge of the ice in the Northern Shallows as they rose to take emerging black buzzer. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come. Let’s see what tomorrow brings. Tight Lines Ben

John Watson had a great day with Guide Paul Bebb to take this 7lb rainbow and the best bag of the day

Andy Hulls won the Stocks Trout Master fish off and will now represent us at the final at Grafham Water. Tight Lines

Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    19 fish by Paul Williams
Heaviest Bag:   5 fish for 18lb 8oz by Brian Cassidy
Best Rainbow:    9lb 4oz by Brian Cassidy
Best Brownie:    N/A
Bank Rod Av:    4.93 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:     8.65 fish per angler
Sport: The reservoir was again ice free this morning and with a good breeze and cloud cover the chances of catching looked good. Fishing the bank today, Geoff Court was the first to put in a return  he landed and returned 15 fish mostly from Newclose Bay, we new it had to turn on soon and it looks like today was the day. Also in Newclose Frank green landed 6 fine trout on a mixture of Buzzers and Lures on a Floating line. Hollins Bay has also fished well today with Clint Waddington taking 11 trout to 4lb 8oz on a sinking line with an orange booby on the point and a damsel on the dropper, the fish wanted the flies fished deep and slow. Top catch today though goes to Paul Williams with 19 trout from Hollins Bay with an orange fritz lure.
On the boats the fishing remains as hectic as ever with plenty of double figure bags again coming from the northern shallows. Kevin Smith was top rod with 17 fish his top pattern was the Green pea fished on a sinking line, a deadly technique this time of year. Stuart morgan, Pete Slinn, Paul Gaskell, Marcus Goodsin and Brian Cassidy all had catches into double figures. Brian also had the biggest fish of the day with a cracking trout of 9lb 4oz.
Stocks Guide Paul Bebb was out on the water guiding with stocks first timer Alex Parrot They had 11 trout between them from Newclose Bay on a black double, this was Alex’s first day fishing and his first trout, and I’m sure by the cheesy grin across his face when he came in it wont be long before he’s back! With more mild conditions on the way the fishing is only going to get better. See you in the lodge Pete

After a very cold night Stocks was covered in ice this morning. By 2.30 in the afternoon there was no ice to be seen anywhere! A very mild day and a good breeze soon shifted and melted the remaining ice and all being well tonight’s milder temperatures should see us firing on all cylinders in the morning.
The Northern Shallows will be a real hot spot tomorrow and should pick up were it left off earlier this week. Black and green fritz patterns, green peas and indeed buzzers should all see some stellar performances.
I will be manning the phone from 6.30am so anyone with ice concerns can contact me at the lodge on 01200 446602; however with a milder evening and a bit of a breeze forecast we should be good to go!
Here’s  to a good weekend, tight lines Matthew.

 

Sport: We had another lovely day here again with very little breeze and bright sunshine all day, great after all the weather we have had over the last few months. As with previous days there were some spectacular catches made with the boats scoring very well. The best boat catch today went to George Brown and Shane Kelly who landed over 40 fish between them. They caught all their fish along the northern shallows with cats whiskers and blobs fished on sinking lines being their number one tactic. Shane also landed a rod, the same one lost by our very own Pete last year! Also landing a good catch was Peter Andrews and Andrew Bently who caught a total of 19 fish between them. Like other successful boats they also found the northern shallows particularly productive and various lures to be the best patterns. There really are a lot of trout up in the northern shallows and around willow island, bank anglers why not treat yourself to a boat on your next trip out? As you can see the fishing can be spectacular. See you on the water Paul.

Date:    Wednesday 3rd March
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    Several anglers 15 plus!! Andy Holden 26 !
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 14lb Neil Parkinson
Best Rainbow:    12lb 4oz Gary Paurl
Best Brownie:    N/a
Bank Rod Av:    2.00
Boat Rod Av:    10.70 yes 10.70!!
Sport: The reservoir is coming alive with some colossal scores and spectacular fishing! Paul Bebb took to the water with Neil Parkinson and they had 26 fish to their boat. Fishing the Northern Shallows with small black doubles on a Di 3 seemed to bring the most pulls. Malcolm and Jim Hunter finished a short days session with 34 to the boat, once again the fish seemed to come from the Northern end of the reservoir, this time it was little olive mini lures doing the trick on midge tip lines. Andy Holden took his friend Will Bell fly fishing for the first time, and I bet my bottom dollar he’s hooked! Will managed a staggering 24 fish! They had a fantastic day with 50 plus fish to the boat once again the northern Shallows was the place to be with green peas doing the damage.
The sport from the bank has been a little quieter however Gary Paurl did manage a stunning 12lb 4oz Rainbow from down by the jetty. Gary had 4 fish altogether all on black buzzers.
I don’t think there has been any better time to try a boat on Stocks, as you can see the sport can be phenomenal and here’s hoping it lasts for weeks to come.
Very tight lines Matthew

Gary Parle 12lb 4oz Rainbow caught on buzzers from Two Trees