Fly Fishing Reports

Date:    24th And 25th August
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    17 fish Tony Dryden
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 9lb 8oz Mike Barber
Best Rainbow:    Several for 3lb +
Best Brownie:    Pete Scholes 3lb 8oz
Bank Rod Av:    2.60
Boat Rod Av:    4.70
Sport: Despite some nasty weather over the past few days the fishing has gone from strength to strength. The fish are well up in the water in fact as I write this report the lake is lifting with rising trout! Yesterday Tony Dryden fished Newclose bay from the boats with a team of black wets. Tony landed a staggering 17 trout! Today he is back fishing the hoppers from the shore and he has managed 10!! Two days fishing for 27 fish good going Tony!!
Mick Barber has had a good session today with 10 fish in total all coming to the bibio from Bell point!
Many scores of 3 and 4 with traditional patterns standing out along with the odd mini lure such as the cat and cormorant.
Top spot from the boat has to be New close it has produced some awesome sport over the past few days. From the shore the dam wall and Bell Point seem to be the spots.

THIS COMING WEDNESDAY SEES OUR SEPTEMBER BULK STOCKING OF SOME NEAR TWO THOUSAND   FIT RAINBOWS!!

In the past this has made September’s fishing electric and can stir the resident trout into feeding and some cracking scores duly follow!

Tight lines Matthew.

Date:                                  Sunday August 22nd
Report Author:            Ben
Best Catch:                    13 trout for Peter Hill
Best Blue:                      4lbs Ged Whitehead
Best Rainbow:             7lbs Daniel Richmond
Best Brownie:              Several at 2.2lbs
Bank Rod Av:              2.0 fish per man
Boat Rod Av:               2.3 fish per man
Sport: Today we were visited by Horwich Fly Fishers and 26 anglers took to the water to try and build a bag of five trout to put on the scales. Top Horwich rod with six trout (one returned) was Mr P Healey in second place was Mr B Grey in third was Mr B Jones. Mr Healey caught most of his fish on a bibio stripped back through the surface whilst drifted over deep water off Bell Point. He said that one of his trout spewed out masses of big green beetles. Stuart Whalley also found that a fast retrieve was working well; he took five nice trout from Newclose Bay this time a blob did the trick. However the top honours today go to Peter Hill who took 13 trout whilst fishing the washing line from a boat over by the boulders. Peter had a booby on the point, a green tinsel ribbed cormorant with orange cheeks on the middle and a daddy on the top dropper. Peter caught nearly all his fish on the cormorant, which got me wandering if they were taking it for a beetle. Whilst I was on the Jetty refuelling the boats this evening there was quite a few large shield bugs on the water and more on the boats. When eaten by trout they do lose their brown back and become light green. The underside of this big beetle is a mosaic of olive and orange. Tight Lines Ben

Date:    Saturday 21st August
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    10 fish by Ryan Feber
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish weighing 10lb by Bernie Mcbride
Best Rainbow:    3lb 10oz by Andy Holden
Best Brownie:    Several at 2lb
Bank Rod Av:    2 trout per angler
Boat Rod Av:    3.2 trout per angler
Sport: When i arrived this morning the reservoir was covered in rising fish and it looked like a perfect day for dry fly fishing but as the morning progressed the wind picked up and this made presentation a little tricky. On the bank things were quiet and the best return of the day went to José who landed two striking rainbows from Bell Point on a daddy first thing then as the wind speed increased the fish seemed to switch off.
The same can be said of the boats with many anglers struggling this morning but as the afternoon moved on the wind began to drop and the fish came back on. Regulars Steve Smalley and Bob Cooper had 7 fish to the boat this afternoon with bob taking his fish on cormorants and Steve returning 5 on a variation of Blobs and Boobies. Top boat today though goes to Ryan Feber and Bernie Mcbride who finished the day with 17 fish to the boat. Again this morning was quiet but this afternoon they found a large wind lane opened up from the valve tower right along to the alders, once in this the sport really kicked off with Ryan taking 10 trout in short order on various dries but the now essential Foam Daddy was the most productive.
This evening the wind has once again died away to a mere whisper and there are clouds of pond olives hatching off around the banks which bodes well for a good days angling tomorrow. Just another quick safety tip make sure you wear your sunglasses. See you in the lodge Pete.

Date:    Friday 20th August
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    Several anglers for 4 fish
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish Greg and Philip Earnshaw 15lb 13oz
Best Rainbow:    7lb 15oz Greg Earnshaw
Best Brownie:    Several for 2lb
Bank Rod Av:    N/a
Boat Rod Av:    2.00
Sport:  A very muggy wet day today here at Stocks, much likes the rest of the North West no doubt! This in turn makes the fishing tricky I think as I have seen it before in the past.
Never the less fish have been coming to the washing line fished from the boats with the boobies and buzzers taking their fair share of fish. Top areas seem to be a drift on to Hartley’s along with Bell Point and the top of Gull Island.
The weather looks a little more settled for the weekend so the fish should be back on the top for sure!!
tight lines Matthew.

Date:    Thursday 19th August.
Report Author:    Paul.
Best Catch:    7 fish for Chris Draper.
Heaviest Bag:    8 fish in comp weighing 16lb for M Cooper and R Hood.
Best Rainbow:    Several weighing 3lb.
Best Brownie:    Several wild brownies.
Bank Rod Av:    2.57 fish per angler.
Boat Rod Av:    1.96 fish per angler.
Sport: The weather was all over the place today with warm bright conditions one minute and rain the next, typical British summertime. Despite these changeable conditions there were some reasonable catches made but this said the best of the sport came when there was cloud cover present as you might expect. Today there was a competition between Cheshire police and Greater Manchester police. As a change this comp was held as a pairs match with each boat being a team. After a hard fought battle for top spot the winning team was Mick Cooper and Richard Hood who landed a total of ten trout with their first 8 fish weighing in at 16lb. Close behind was Dave Allen and Gary Fowles with 7 fish weighing 14lb 9oz and if a big fish would have stayed on! Well done to all who took part and we will see you again soon. Incidentally one of you guys left your hat and sunglasses in the lodge, please call to claim. On the bank the best catch went to Chris Draper who caught 7 fine trout. Chris took a hike and headed to the east bank and caught fish all along from Blackhouse to Grindys with black buzzers accounting for all his fish. See you on the water Paul.

Date:                                                  Sunday August 15th
Report Author:                             Ben
Best Catch:                                      6 trout for
Heaviest Bag:                              13lbs 4oz Mick Ashcroft
Best Rainbow:                            10lbs+ Mr Dee Knigge
Best Brownie:                             11lbs 4oz Mick Ashcroft
Bank Rod Av:                             2.5 fish per man
Boat Rod Av:                              3.4 fish per man
Sport: It was beautiful day at Stocks, perhaps a bit too bright, but the wind was light and air was warmer than of late. John Sykes had a superb half day session fishing from a boat over the main basin. He took six trout on dries, had the chance of more and said that there were fish rising everywhere. Al Beaumont and Paul Nutter had nine to their boat. They also caught on dries but they caught slightly more on the washing line rig. Like John they too pulled out of a few and had plenty of chances. They said that at times the Northern end of the reservoir was wick with rising fish. We had three big fish caught today (pictured below) the first was an 11lb 4oz brownie that fell to Mick Ashcroft’s black n green fritz in Barn Quarry, The second was a rainbow of 10lbs+ that took Dee Knigge’s cats booby whilst boat fishing along Ben’s Beach, and finally, this evening Mr Wright returned from the bank at Ben’s Beach with a cracking 9lb 12oz rainbow. Also pictured below is a shot of the water surface if you click on it you see a lager image. The picture shows the amount of fly life on the surface this evening. It was littered!  The trout were swimming with their noses out mopping up the drowning insects. This was not a buzzer hatch but a massive fall of terrestrials including several species of ants, beetles (particularly green leaf beetles), heather flies, daddies and the aquatic needle sedges. The trout are definitely looking up. We also stocked once again today with some lovely blues and browns so the fishing this week should be good. Tight Lines Ben

Massive fall of terrestrial insects

Date:    Saturday 14th August
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    5 fish for Terry Baron
Heaviest Bag:    4 fish weighing 8lb 4oz for Terry Farrell
Best Rainbow:    6lb 11oz by David Smith
Best Brownie:    8lb By Glen Whiting
Bank Rod Av:    2.44 trout per angler
Boat Rod Av:    4.00 trout per angler
Sport: Bright conditions combined with a swirling wind hampered the fishing today but there were still some really good catches. From the bank season ticket holder Glen whiting had a stunning Brownie of 8lb from the east bank and a couple more in all but 3 hrs. Also on the bank with a full finned brace including a well mended 6lb 11oz rainbow was David Smith. David fished from bell point back to the jetty with mini lures to take his fish. The boats were a little quieter today but regulars Peter Andrews and Stuart McCaughey had 8 fish between them on Diawl Bachs form the Northern Shallows. See you in the lodge Pete.

Ben Stocked some awesome fish today, 40+ Double figure Rainbows along with tonnes of blues and browns between 5 and 8lb!! All the fish looked stunning and are sure to be yanking a few lines this weekend!
With some pretty dismal weather today Stocks hasn’t been to busy. That said a good few did venture out with the morning proving most productive. Anton Gysbers took 4 nice fish on a short session with Montana’s doing the trick. Anton fished Barnes Quarry on a floater.
From the boats Chris Stanley had 5 good fish with Newclose bay proving to be the top spot. Chris also had a super blue of 3lb 8oz in his bag.
I still believe that all we need is some settled weather and it will switch on fantastic; the weekend is looking spot on so it should be a good one!
Tight lines Matthew

Date:    Wednesday 11th August
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    10 fish for Tony Dryden
Heaviest Bag:    N/a
Best Rainbow:    3lb + Tony Dryden
Best Brownie:    2lb John Clegg
Bank Rod Av:    1.00
Boat Rod Av:    6.00
Sport:  A pretty miserable day weather wise kept most anglers away today. However Tony Dryden braved the conditions and caught 10 fish from the boat in Newclose bay! The fish were high enough in the water to be tempted by little black spider patters fished slowly on a floater just sub surface. Newclose bay hasn’t seen much action over the past few weeks and Tonys score shows that the fish are there and well worth fishing for. From the shore a little quieter    although its worth mentioning that Frank Hartley played 4 fish this morning with them all throwing the hook at the net! Oh well Frank you can’t win them all and to be fair you have had your name in lights on this page far more than most!! That said Frank did hook the fish and in a stiff wind from Bell Point he still deserves a mention!! The weather forecast does look to be more and more settled over the next few days and towards the weekend so I do think them fish in Newclose will move right up to the surface.
Tight lines Matthew.

Date:    Tuesday 10th August 2010
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    15 fish by Dennis Dougan
Heaviest Bag:    4 fish weighing 8lb 8oz by Tony Dryden
Best Rainbow:    7lb 4oz by Lee Miller
Best Brownie:    5lb by Dennis Dougan
Bank Rod Av:    7.00 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    3.17 fish per angler
Sport: With changeable weather conditions today the fishing was a little challenging but the fish really came on this afternoon with the boats getting the best of the action. Tony Dryden had a good days sport landing four fish for 8lb 8oz. Tony fished Newclose Bay and found sunken hoppers retrieved just under the surface his best method with lots of pulls and swirls that just didn’t stick. Also on the boats John Hill and Lee Miller had some cracking sport with 10 fish to the boat including a stunning 7lb 4oz rainbow. Both anglers found Hot Head Damsels fished tight in to the bank and tweaked back the way forward.
On the bank Regular Bill Orrel had 3 fish on his home tied Tadpole pattern from Hartleys. Also on the bank and again with 3 fish was Edwin Murgatroyd.  And Just as im writing this report this report the last bank angler Dennis Dougan has just walked into the lodge with a smile from ear to ear. After starting out at the Dam and struggling Dennis deicided to call it a day but changed his mind and decided to give Bell Point a try, what a difference! Dennis fished dabblers and a Gosling through the wave to take 15 fish in all but 2 hours including a brown trout of 5lb. Just shows what a little patience and keeping on the move can do, Great angling Dennis!! With the temperatures starting to creep up and Heather flies starting to show theres a really good chance of some electric surface sport in the coming week. See you in the lodge Pete.