Fly Fishing Reports

Date:    Friday 31st July
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    9 fish for John Sykes
Heaviest Bag:    3 fish for 7lb Calvin Westwell
Best Rainbow:    2lb 8oz for Wendy Bush
Best Brownie:    Several at 2lb +
Best Blue:
Bank Rod Av:    1.40 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    3.43 fish per angler
Sport:  John Sykes fished the northern shallows to tempt 9 fish. John found the fish still wanting a good chase so opted for a peach blob on an intermediate line.
Paul Bebb and Ian Bowker had stacks of action first thing with numerous trout tugging at their nymphs. Gull Island and the shallows also proved to be the best spots with straight lined buzzers and nymphs doing the trick.
The weekend forecast is looking darn near perfect with 80% cloud cover a gentle breeze and slightly warmer conditions.
Tight lines Matthew

Date:    27th and 28th July
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    Several 5 bag limits
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 11lb 12oz
Best Rainbow:    3lb for Joan Lindsay
Best Brownie:    3lb for Mark Tyndall
Best Blue:    2lb for Ian Greenwood
Bank Rod Av:    1.50
Boat Rod Av:    2.50
Sport:  Although the past couple of days have been a little quiet I just thought it was worth mentioning that the fish are still up in the water chasing. Although Mark |Tyndall only had 4 fish on Monday he did get a treble hook up! Three brown trout on one cast! Mark was pulling an orange blob booby with the traditional patterns on the point.  Regular Ged Oxley had 3 good fish from Bell point all coming to black fritz patterns. Scores of 3 and four have been the norm and I’m sure that with some settled weather them averages will go straight up.
On another note another Stocks Bowlander team has qualified for an International grand final! Our Peter and the Stocks Barracudas finished 5th just piping Ben and the falcons by 7oz!!
A good year so far for Stocks on the competition scene, It is so easy to get involved and success can see you fishing at some other great venues throughout the country, not to mention more time out on our water! There is a good fun pair’s competition on the 23rd of August that may just wet your appetite. Just give me a call at the lodge for more information.
Overall though despite some lousy weather the fish are still up and chasing, and indeed still taking the dry fly.
Tight lines Matthew.

Date:    Sunday 26th July
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    10 fish for Paul Davison
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 11lb 6oz Mr Bradley
Best Rainbow:    3lb + Paul Davison
Best Brownie:    3lb 5oz Mr Bradley
Best Blue:    3lb 8oz Pete Splilsburry
Bank Rod Av:    1.50
Boat Rod Av:    3.80
Sport: A miserable start made way for a good fishing day indeed! The cloud cover remained for the day with the fish staying well up in the water.
Paul Davison was out today and netted 10+ fish, however he told me he had near 30 rises to his dries!! Paul found fish everywhere with no area standing out.
Mark Tyndall had the fish up chasing boobies across the surface with Bell Point been a hot spot. Numerous anglers reporting that the fish are keen to be up chasing.
The general rule seems to be the quicker the better! For me this is one of the most exciting ways to approach our usually sedate sport! plenty of scores of 6 plus today from the boats, With the showers that are forecast this week and good cloud cover the fish will no doubt be up chasing the flies all week long!
Tight lines Matthew.

Date:    Saturday 25th July
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    Andy Cooper 9 fish
Heaviest Bag:    Steve Macintosh 2 fish for 4lb
Best Rainbow:    3lb 80z by Keith Evans
Best Brownie:    Several at 2lb 8oz
Best Blue:    N/a
Bank Rod Av:    2.11 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    2.88 fish per angler
Sport: The day started well with full cloud cover but unfortunately this soon burnt off  and we were left with quite bright conditions which made the angling a little tricky. The best fish today was definitely from the boats with father and son season ticket holders Malcolm and Jim Hunter landing 7 and 6 respectively. Also on the boats and top rod today was Andy Cooper who landed 9 cracking trout. Andy found the causeway area the best and a cats whisker tinhead his top fly. On the bank top rod was Rudolph Quigliana who land 4 trout all his fish fell to hoppers

Date:    Monday 20th July.
Report Author:    Paul.
Best Catch:    9 fish for Steve Smalley.
Heaviest Bag:    2 fish weighing 5lb 8oz for Mr Waddington.
Best Rainbow:    3lb 8oz for Mr Waddington.
Best Brownie:    Several weighing 2lb 8oz.
Best Blue:    N/a.
Bank Rod Av:     2.37 fish per angler.
Boat Rod Av:     3.00 fish per angler.
Sport: Bright and breezy conditions did not stop Steve Smalley landing a good catch today with 9 trout falling to his flies in a short half-day session. Steve fished the east bank from a boat and found fish all the way along, right from the alders past ten-acre foot up into Blackhouse bay and up to Curry’s cast. As well as the fish he landed Steve had countless fish charge after his flies and turn away at the last moment. An orange blob pulled fast was Steve’s best tactic. On the bank today was Mr Waddington who landed 6 trout on a half-day session. Mr Waddington caught all his fish from Bell point and although he found the wind to be a bit difficult, that was where the fish were gathered so persevering in this area paid dividends. Other anglers found fish in all areas of the reservoir with Damsels, blobs and fry patterns all being effective patterns today. See you on the water Paul.

Date:    Sunday 19th July
Report Author:    Ben
Best Catch:    14 fish by Darren Booth
Heaviest Bag:    16lbs 15oz for 4 fish by Steve Bland
Best Rainbow:    11lbs 5oz by Steve Bland
Best Brownie:    Several at 2lbs
Best Blue:    3lb
Bank Rod Av:    3.0 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    3.6 fish per angler
Sport: Today we hosted the Summer Sweep. In this new fun boat fishing competition all the competitors put £15 into a kitty and at the end of the day the kitty was split between 1st and 2nd place.1st place received £10 from every entry and 2ng place received £5. The fishery also donated £2.50 from each ticket for third place and there was a tackle prize worth £50 for the captor of the biggest fish.
16 anglers took to the water chasing a top prize of £160. With all the fresh water at the end of last week and a significant rise in the water level I assumed that they would find it tricky. However its seems I underestimated the shear angling skill of the field as they finished the day with a total of 75 trout giving a rod average of 4.7.
Interestingly the top three anglers all caught on weighted cats whiskers fished a couple of feet down. Peter Andrews took 3rd place, he fished around Gull Island to take 5 trout for 12lbs 10oz; he then returned a further 3, which gave him a bonus of 6lbs and a total of 18lbs 10oz. In 2nd place was Ryan Feber. Ryan put five trout on the scales for 13lbs 4oz and retuned another five, which gave him a total of 23lbs 4oz. But it was Ryan’s boat partner and the current 2009 trout masters champion Darren Booth that once again took top honours. Darren weighed in 5 fish for 13lbs 3oz and returned another 9 to give him a cracking total of 31lbs 3oz. Darren and Ryan fished along Ben’s Beach, at Gull Island and at Curry’s Cast to meet most of their fish. They put their success largely down to constantly trying new drifts and not just covering the same water. By doing this they rested the hotspots only to return a bit later in the day. The best fish of the day was an 11lb 5oz belter taken by Steve Bland from Phil’s Flats. (See picture below)

Darren Booth (Left) Ryan Feber (Right). Steve Bland with 11lb 5oz rainbow

Date:    Saturday 18th July
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    9 fish by Jim Hunter
Heaviest Bag:    12lb 14oz for 3 fish by Dave Shore
Best Rainbow:    8lb by Dave Shore
Best Brownie:    N/a
Best Blue:    3lb
Bank Rod Av:    2.4 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    3.25 fish per angler
Sport: With heavy rain over night the reservoir rose around 3 feet. This meant it could have been a tricky day but has proved the opposite with quite a few good catches and reports of the fish being eager to chase flies. Out on the boats G-tec angler Mike Laycock had a good days fishing with 8 fish from Halsteads Hike and the Alders, Mike found a black and green double his top Pattern. Top rod on the boats goes to Jim Hunter with 9 fish Jim found the fish eager to chase his blobs and even managed to hook into his dad Malcolm who had 5 fish. Also on 5 fish were Dave Butland and glen Moody from the Copenhall fly fishers. Top bag goes to a boat angler too with a 3 fish bag weighing 12lb 14oz which included a cracking 8lb rainbow landed by Dave shore again from the Copenhall fly fishers. On the bank top rod was Anton Gaysbury with 5 fish. The rain seems to have stopped now for a few days, which means with a steady westerly the fishing should continue to improve. See you in the lodge Pete

Date:    Thursday 16th July.
Report Author:    Paul.
Best Catch:    7 fish for John Sykes.
Heaviest Bag:    2 fish weighing 6lb for Mr Crowther.
Best Rainbow:    4lb for Mr Crowther.
Best Brownie:    2lb 8oz for Brendan Ginty.
Best Blue:    2lb 8oz for Ted McGowan.
Bank Rod Av:     2.14 fish per angler.
Boat Rod Av:     2.36 fish per angler.
Sport: Todays weather was a real mix consisting of hot sunny spells followed by the odd heavy shower but this did not stop the trout moving, indeed lots of anglers said that trout were chasing, nipping and pulling at their flies for most of the day. John Sykes landed 7 nice trout. John kicked off on dries and after landing a couple of fish switched over to an intermediate line and a blob and booby combo pulled fast which saw trout racing after his flies before his line locked up. John found fish in several areas but over deep water at the dam end was his most productive spot. Ted McGowan landed 5 trout and like John, after landing his first couple of fish on dries changed over to a team of diawl bachs to complete his bag with the willows on the east bank being the most productive spot for Ted. Ray Entwistle fished the bank for a couple of hours this morning and caught 4 rainbows from two trees next to the jetty with a combination of buzzers and lures working well for Ray. When the wind dropped down this afternoon there were trout rising all over the reservoir and according to anglers today they really want to have a go, we are due a bit of rain over the next day or so and this will cool the water a touch and this might just be the thing to push the trout in to a frenzy. See you on the water Paul.

Date:    Wednesday 15th July
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    6 fish by Mike Barber
Heaviest Bag:    13lb for 5 fish by Mike Barber
Best Rainbow:    4lb Mike Barber
Best Brownie:
Best Blue:    4lb 8oz by Steve Island
Bank Rod Av:    2.00 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    3.10 fish per angler
Sport: Today started drizzly but this soon cleared leaving patchy cloud with bright spells. The boats definitely fished much better today with quite a few limits and decent bags being weighed in, top of the pile was Ray Burn with a five fish limit of 10lb 8oz most of rays fish fell to a daddy. Also on 5 fish was our own Steve Island who released all his fish to fight another day. Steves bag included a stunning 4lb 8oz blue, which left the water after taking his fly, and run Steve ragged before finally being netted and returned. Steve found a cat’s whisker booby and an octopus to be his top patterns. Also doing well on the boats was Mr Hulls who landed 4 cracking fish from the alders on a cats whisker. But top rod goes to a bank angler Mr Mike Barber who landed 6 fish for 13lb from the dam including a lovely 4lb rainbow. See you in the lodge Pete

Date:    Sunday 12th and Monday 13th July
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    10 fish by Peter Kosminski
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 12lb 8oz by Mr A Williams
Best Rainbow:    5lb by Mr Pountney
Best Brownie:    2lb 8oz by Mr Williams
Best Blue:    N/a
Bank Rod Av:    2.5
Boat Rod Av:    3.75
Sport: Before we get to the last couple of days fishing here is a NEWSFLASH!! From Rutland, Stocks Harriers consisting of Steve Bland, Bob Fitzpatrick, James Vann, Steven Lind, Andy Taylor and Phil Burgess have become the first ever Bowlander team to qualify for any international Final. 13 teams fished the northern final yesterday at Rutland with the top 4 qualifying for the international final in October. With 2 full days of practicing under their belts it was obvious the fishing was going to be tricky, but the harriers had a method that was working and on the day this made the difference with quite a few anglers struggling (me included) After 8 hours of fierce competition the Harriers came in with a team total of 20 fish for 43lb 8oz which put them in third place just narrowly behind Seighford sharks in second and Ian Barr Fly Fishing Team in first. Well Done to all who competed and we know you’ll do us proud in the final boys.
The fishing at stocks has been a lot better over the last few days with quite a few good catches. On Sunday regular Peter Kosminski was again amongst the fish with a 10 fish total for the day, Peter fished a booby on the East Bank to take his fish also on the bank Mike Towey had 5 fish also on a boobie. Yesterday also fished well with Mr Magowan taking 7 fish on crunchers from a drifting boat. On the bank Mr A Williams had 5 fish from Newclose bay on Buzzers, also on buzzers with the top score of 7 fish was Peter Atkinson, he had his fish from Beetles Drop. Again on the buzzers Mr Pountney had a cracking 5lb 8oz rainbow that put up a real fight before finally coming to the net. With more settled weather on the way the fishing is due to improve, in fact as im sat here writing this report I can see fish rising right down the middle of the reservoir. See you in the lodge Pete