Date                           Tuesday 31st March
Report by                   Matthew
Best Catch                 10 fish for Will Shelton and Rob Denson
Best Bag Weighed in 2 fish for 14lb 8oz Ken Whiteside
Best Rainbow             12lb for Ken Whiteside
Bank Average             5.57 fish per angler
Boat Rod Average      6.37 fish per angler
Sport: today was pretty much perfect! The boats only just had the edge today with fish now starting to cruise a little further out. Willow Island and Grindys lawn were well worth a look today and no doubt that will be the trend for the rest of the week. As you know these areas have some silty bottoms were all these buzzers are starting out life.
Out on the water today were Paul Bebb and brothers Will and George Shelton. These two young lads had a day to remember with 16 fish between them! Paul tackled the lad’s up with the washing line; the rest was up to them and boy they did them selves proud! They found fish all over with the booby and buzzer taking an equal share.
The story has been much the same for everyone else, buzzers, buzzers, and buzzers! Not forgetting a good show on the diawl bachs. Ken Whiteside had a good day with 7 on the diawl bachs all along the northern shallows including a cracking 12lb rainbow. Rob Denson and Phil Price had 16 to there boat, all over the reservoir on yep you guessed it buzzers!
Phil Harney had a success in the ever popular waters of Newclose were he took 9 trout on straight lined buzzers from the shore.
I could go on some cracking sport has been had and I’m sure this warmer weather is going to have the reservoir lifting with activity! It’s a good week to be an angler!!
Have a look at the video above, some awesome fish have been stocked today, this short video is just a taste of what’s to come. Prier to this stocking we also introduced around 400 brown trout averaging a kilo, all fit as fiddles and ready to stretch a line or two!
Tight lines Matthew
Sport: Just a quick report tonight as there were very few anglers here today which was surprising considering the near perfect conditions, I know there was a bit of drizzle this morning but when that cleared at 9ish it was quite a nice day. The best catch went to Mr Ivill who landed 9 trout in a short half-day session. He fished with a booby to take all his fish and found his best spot to be Bell point. Other anglers found fish in Hollins bay and two trees with buzzers, damsels and olive fritz lures all taking fish today. See you on the water Paul.
The beginning of April will see the first of the brown trout released into the reservoir and these fish are in superb condition. To get us off to a good start there will be a stocking of 500 fish into Hollins Bay ready for Wednesday April 1st. This stocking will include browns of 2lb+ and some spectacular specimens. Stocks could see it’s first 20lb+ brownie! We will also be stocking some cracking rainbows.
The weather this week looks brilliant for fishing, air temperature is rising rapidly to reach about 17 degrees on Saturday, the winds are light and we have plenty of cloud cover. If ever there is a time to take a day off work to go fishing this is it!
Over the course of the next week the water temperature in the reservoir will rise, this is going to have three major effects on the fishing:
Firstly it will cause the temperature inversion that has formed in the reservoir over the winter to dissipate and the reservoir water will mix. This will bring many more over-wintered fish up towards the surface and into the reach of a fly. We have already seen one big over-wintered brownie at the weekend and it is likely to be the first of many.
Secondly: The trout’s body temperature will rise with the rising water temperature and this will directly increase their metabolic rate. They will not only be able to digest more food but will actually require more food to fuel their bodies in a state if heightened activity.
Thirdly: The increase in water temperature will stimulate a plethora of aquatic larvae to emerge into their adult form. These hatches will consist largely of members of the chironomid family (non biting midges) but look out for early olives, they have a single pair of upright wings and a pair of tails that protrude from the rear of the abdomen.
As far as terrestrials go it will be a few weeks until we see the large hatches of beetles but we are likely to see a few of the early daddies. There are about 22 different species of daddy long legs in the UK. I am not sure of the exact name of the small grey variety that emerge at this time of year but their emergence, when combined with the egg laying activity of the adult chironomids, may just be enough to tempt the trout up to the surface.
Likely methods for the next week are washing lining or long lining nymphs, teams of small cormorants fished on slow sinkers or sink tips and there is a chance that you might even be able to tempt a few to dries. Watch this space!
COMPETITIONS:
A chance to represent England in the first Bank Fishing International
I would also like to draw your attention to a couple of fishing competitions that are coming up on the 4th and 5th of April. These will not affect anybody wishing to come along and fish just for the pleasure, as one will be fished from drifting boats and the other will be pegged along a short stretch of bank. So boat and bank tickets will be available to all as usual.
The first is on Saturday the 4th and is a sweepstake match from the boats. This match will be fished to international rules. It costs just £15 to enter on top of your ticket and for every entry £10 will go to the winner, £5 will go to 2nd place, we will donate £2.50 for 3rd and a tackle prize for 4th place and the biggest fish. To enter call the lodge on 01200 446602
The second competition is the CEFF Airflo Classic, which will be held on Sunday 5th. There are heats held all over the country making this the biggest international bank fishing competition in the UK. It is £17:50 to enter and each entrant will receive a free Airflo fast intermediate line worth £30. The international final will be held on Elinor Fishery in Northants.
The top qualifiers, who meet the CEFF England Team eligibility criteria, will be provisionally selected for the 2010 England bank fishing team. It is CEFF’s intention to enter two teams of three, in the first instance, to an international in 2010. Selection will be from the 2009 International final on Elinor, with the top three eligible individuals from the Individual final and the top three individuals from the Team final qualifying for England team places in the event of an International being arranged the following year. The existing arrangements for
World and European Ranking points will remain in place. For more information and competition rules call the fishery on 01200 446602
Tight Lines Ben
Date                           Sunday March 29th
Report by                   Ben
Best Catch                 12 trout for Lee Cowking
Best Rainbow             3lbs 8oz for Dave Pinner
Bank Average            3.0 fish per man
Boat Rod Average     3.2 fish per man
Sport:   It was frosty start to the day and for the most sport was a bit slow to get going. Lee Cowking however took to the water by boat and got onto a method right from the off. He fished a small black n green lure on the point with green diawl bachs on the droppers. He started out at Grindy’s Lawn where he tempted a few nice fish, he then moved to Gull Island to finish off a very productive short session. He finished with a total of 12 fine trout to the net. Al Beaumont from Lancaster was also out on the water today. Al started out on a Di5 with various lures but had little success so he started to bring in the changes. In the afternoon he switched to a straight floater with three black buzzers and this turned out to be the best tactic. He took nine fish in fairly short succession, 6 from Newclose and three from Gull Island.
From the shore there were also some good catches to name a few: Des Ashcroft took nine from two trees on a black n gold lure, Frank Hartley and Mark Wilson had six apiece from Bell Point on nymphs. The trout seemed to want the flies fished slowly today; they were surprisingly close into the margins. Al Beaumont caught most of his in less than three feet of water. Looks like a great week ahead. Tight Lines Ben
Date                             Thursday 26th March.
Report by                     Paul.
Best Catch                   7 fish for Ray Entwistle.
Best Bag Weighed in   2 fish weighing 5lb for Ray Entwistle.
Best Rainbow               Several weighing 3lb.
Bank Average              2.57 fish per angler.
Boat Rod Average       n/a.
Sport: With the weather as it was there were very few anglers willing to venture out today and the wind that we saw here made fishing tricky, but those anglers that braved the elements were rewarded with trout. The top catch went to Ray Entwistle who landed 7 fish, not as many as yesterday but a good score considering the conditions. Ray chose to fish on Bell point, probably the windiest spot on the reservoir, to catch his fish with a fritz lure being his best pattern. Other anglers also landed a few trout, with Hollins bay being the favoured area, on patterns as diverse as diawl bach, black lures and damsel patterns. Hope the wind drops for tomorrow. See you on the water Paul.
Date                             Wednesday 25th March
Report by                     Pete
Best Catch                   20 fish by Ray Entwistle
Best Bag Weighed in  5 fish for 11lb 4oz By Gary Parle
Best Rainbow             10lb est by Ray Entwistle and Alan Vickers
Bank Average             7 fish per angler
Boat Rod Average      2.33 fish per angler
Sport: Today the bank fished brilliantly. Ray Entwistle set out on a half day ticket and during an amazing 5 hour session he landed an incredible 20 trout, 18 were returned to fight another day including a stunning double figure rainbow! Ray fished with a small green and black mini lure on the point with buzzers on the droppers. He commented that the total could have been a lot bigger considering the amount of tugs he had. Also on the bank, fishing alongside Ray at Bell point, was Eric Vickers. Eric enjoyed some great sport landing 6 trout and once again his catch included a double figure rainbow! Eric found success with small black and green lures fished slowly on a floating line. Regular Wednesday Boat angler Gary Parle opted for the bank today, Gary fished buzzers and a viva to take his limit, which tipped the scales at 11lb 4oz. The boats where a little quieter today mainly I think down to tricky presentation caused by the swirling winds. That said father and son duo Ray and Steve Morley had five fish to the boat all coming from the Grindys Lawn area. Tight lines pete
Date                                 Tuesday 24th March
Report by                         Matthew
Best Catch                       8 fish for John Clegg
Best Bag Weighed in       5 fish for 11lb 8oz Mike Barber
Best Rainbow                  15lb estimate for Paul Bebb
Bank Average                  3.75 fish per angler
Boat Rod Average           1.67 fish per angler
Sport: This morning promised a nice day however things eventually got wet and cold.
First thing however Ian Ferndale Brown spotted rising fish round in Newclose, he wasted no time in putting the dries on (little black bits look-alikes). Ian soon had two good fish to the net followed by numerous misses and near takes. As the wind picked up the fish went off the surface so Ian went on the mini lures and took another 3.
Mike Barber kept the fish coming to the buzzer with 6 from Bell Point and Newclose bay. John Clegg had a good day too with 8 fish coming to his orange tadpoles along Bens beach, John fished a floating line with a steady figure of eight.
A little quieter from the boats today with the bad weather hampering efforts. Paul Bebb however is pretty used to this side of Stocks and soon switched from the buzzers in the morning to more traditional wets and Cruncher type patterns, flies that can still be presented pretty well in choppier waters. Paul was in for a treat when he hooked into a rainbow well over the 14lb mark! Paul found the fish along the northern shallows and with those shallow waters came a lengthy battle with the fish holding fast against the bottom. Anyone who has caught a big fish amongst the willows will know that it’s a tricky task keeping them from tangling round the branches! Good effort Paul!
Tight lines Matthew
Date                              Sunday 22nd March
Report by                      Matthew
Best Catch                    14 fish by Paul Miller
Best Bag Weighed in    5 trout for 20lbs 8oz by Paul Miller
Best Rainbow               9lbs 8oz by Paul Miller
Bank Average              4.4 fish per angler
Boat Rod Average        3.2 fish per angler
Sport: A stiff breeze hampered anglers today however Paul Miller had some good sport with 14 good fish all coming from Newclose Bay. Paul used an Olive tadpole on the floater and went away with five good trout for 12lb.
Elsewhere on the bank, Mark Wilson had 6 fish in but a couple of hours! Fishing 3 buzzers on a floater Mark let the wind do the work with just the odd pull lifting them back up in the water.
On the boats Dave Jones found 10 cracking fish from the top of Gull Island, Dave tempted pretty much all his fish with a Montana nymph again on the floating line.
Many good scores today with Bell point, Newclose and Grindys lawn all seeing some good action. I think buzzers are still ruling the roost generally however we cant rule out the mini lures that have done so well today.
Tight lines Matthew.
Date                              Saturday 21st March
Report by                      Ben
Best Catch                    13 fish by Mark Wilson
Best Bag Weighed in    5 trout for 13lbs 12oz by Dave Flitcroft
Best Rainbow               12lbs 10oz by Len Riding
Best Brown                   2lbs 8oz by Roy Dickinson
Best Blue                      5lbs 8oz by Harry Smith
Bank Average               3.53 fish per angler
Boat Rod Average        2.81 fish per angler
Sport: What a beautiful day. The good weather brought plenty of anglers out to wet a line and try their luck for a fish or two. Mark Wilson was the top rod of the day with 13 trout. He fished from Bell Point and his first two fish came when he stopped fishing to light a cigarette and like all good anglers he noticed this and started to fish his buzzers with no retrieve. This made all the difference; the light breeze was enough to sweep his line around into a bow shape and this brought him take after take. Also on the bank was Len Riding he too was nymphing but this time on the east bank at the spillway. Len didn’t catch the same quantity as Mark but he did catch a cracking rainbow of 12lbs 10oz (pictured below).
Amongst the boat anglers were 16 of Northwest’s best competing in the 2009 Northern Boat Masters. They fished from 10am to 5pm and between them they caught 60 trout, which wasn’t bad considering they fished through the brightest part of the day, from drifting boats when the trout wanted static nymphs. To see a detailed boat fishing report you may watch the short video above. The hotspots were Grindy’s Lawn, Bell Point, Gull Island and The Northern Shallows. Tight Lines Ben
Dam Wall Ten Acre Foot Halsteads Hike The Willows Fairbanks Cooks Creek Northern Shallows Willow Island The Saddle Grange Point Bens Beach Barn Quarry Two Trees Boat Jetty Hollins Bay Davy Jones Kettlewells
Stocking Points
Grindys Lawn The Alders The Causeway Bell Point Hollins Hurdle
