Fly Fishing Reports

Date:    Monday 31st August.
Report Author:    Paul.
Best Catch:    15 fish for Paul Moore.
Heaviest Bag:     5 fish weighing 15lb 11oz for Brian Jarvis.
Best Rainbow:    6lb for Brian Jarvis.
Best Brownie:    Several weighing 2lb 8oz.
Bank Rod Av:     4.33 fish per angler.
Boat Rod Av:     6.50 fish per angler.
Sport: I know two days are never the same, and fishing can change from minute to minute but both conditions and tactics today almost mirrored yesterday and as predicted the fish were lying high in the water and whenever the breeze dropped a touch they were up on top. As yesterday there were good catches recorded with several anglers getting into double figures of fish. On the bank today was Brian Jarvis and young Joshua who landed a credible 9 fish between them. They fished around the Jetty to catch their fish with a goldhead sparkler on a floating line being their best tactic. On a boat today was Paul Moore and David Blench who landed a total of 20 trout between them. They found blobs and booby’s effective on either a floating or slow sinking line with willow isle being by far their best spot. Other anglers found both blobs and booby’s effective, as long as you did not let them sink, and although fish were caught from lots of different areas, there does seem to be a lot of fish around willow island and the northern shallows. See you on the water Paul

Date:    Sunday 30th August.
Report Author:    Paul.
Best Catch:    13 fish for Mike Williams.
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish weighing 16lb 10oz for Mike Williams.
Best Rainbow:    Several weighing 4lb.
Best Brownie:    Several weighing 2lb 8oz.
Bank Rod Av:     3.40 fish per angler.
Boat Rod Av:     4.26 fish per angler.
Sport: The weather conditions this morning were ideal for trout fishing with reasonable temperatures, a gentle ripple and plenty of cloud cover and these conditions stayed for most of the day, it was only this evening when it started to drizzle. There ware some good catches recorded today with the best of the sport falling to the boat anglers. John and Mike Williams both had a good day landing at least 18 fish to their boat. They found Bibio patterns effective with their two best areas being Newclose bay and the northern shallows. Joan Lindsay and David McCabe also had a good day landing 10 fine rainbows between them. Their best pattern was an olive nomad and like other boat anglers they found the northern shallows to be their best area. Tony Taylor and Frank Hartley landed 16 trout, this time from several marks along  the east bank with the majority of their fish falling for booby’s. There were other good catches made with a variety of patterns and tactics working well, one thing that was apparent was the fact that the trout were lying very high in the water, a point worth baring in mind should these warm overcast conditions continue.  See you on the water Paul.

Date:    Saturday 29th August
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    15 fish by Dave Flitcroft
Heaviest Bag:    11lb 12oz for 5 fish by Dave Flitcroft
Best Rainbow:    Several at 3lb
Best Brownie:    N/a
Bank Rod Av:    7.67 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    3.83 fish per angler
Sport: A strong westerly wind made the presentation that little bit trickier today but luckily it didn’t stop the fish from biting. From the bank Mr Moodie had a good days angling with 5 fish all from bell point. Dave Flitcroft had a real red-letter day with 15 fish from Newclose Bay. Dave fished a floating line with a ptn and a black and green nymph on a slow retrieve to catch his fish. Out on the boats things were a little bit tougher today but that didn’t stop Mr Court catching 8 cracking fish again from Newclose, Which has been a real hotspot over the last few days and well worth a cast. The wind dies quite a bit tomorrow so get your rods out and get fishing. See you in the lodge Pete

Date:    Friday 28th August
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    5 fish by Duncan Watson
Heaviest Bag:    10lb 10oz for 5 fish by Duncan Watson
Best Rainbow:    3lb 6oz By Des Fisher
Best Brownie:    N/a
Bank Rod Av:    3.00 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    3.75 fish per angler
Sport: The inclement conditions today made the angling a little tricky but that didn’t stop quite a few good catches of trout. From the bank Mr Foreshaw had a good days angling with 4 fish caught and safely returned to fight another day all caught on a Montana nymph from Bens Beach. But the best of the sport today was had from the boats with several decent scores John Sykes had 4 fish from various locations, also on 4 fish was Steve Davies who found a blob the fly to do the trick today and Newclose bay his top Area. In the Boat with Steve was today’s top Rod and Stocks regular Duncan Watson who had 5 Cracking rainbows again from Newclose Bay. Duncan also found a two-tone blob and a Cats Whisker lure to be the top patterns fished on an intermediate line. With the wind and rain easing as the weekend progresses the fishing should remain as awesome as it has been of late. See you in the lodge Pete.

Date:    Thursday 27th August.
Report Author:    Paul.
Best Catch:    12 fish for Mick Whiteside,
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish weighing 12lb for Tony Dryden.
Best Rainbow:    Several weighing 4lb.
Best Brownie:    Several weighing 2lb 8oz.
Bank Rod Av:     3.09 fish per angler.
Boat Rod Av:     5.38 fish per angler.
Sport  Although there were a few sunny spells throughout the day, for the most part there was good cloud cover and a warm gentle ripple, ideal conditions for trout fishing. There were some good catches made today with a variety of tactics and methods working well including blobs pulled on a floating or sinking line and buzzers and diawl bach fished slowly on a floating line but most anglers found dry flies to be their best tactic with daddys, hoppers, beetles and sedge patterns all working well. On the bank today was Mick Whiteside who landed 12 fish. The best spot for Mick was Bens beach and his fish fell to a variety of lures. On the boats two anglers landed 10 fish. Davin Maughn and Bob Fitzpatrick both hit double figures with daddys and hoppers being the main taking patterns with the northern shallows and the area around curry’s cast and Haighs hollow all holding large numbers of trout. See you on the water Paul.

Date:    Tuesday 25th August 2009
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    13 fish by Tony Dryden
Heaviest Bag:    10lb by Mr Isherwood
Best Rainbow:    4lb by David Wood
Best Brownie:    2lb By David Wood
Bank Rod Av:    3.13 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    4.00 fish per angler
Sport: With Light winds and overcast conditions today looked perfect for fishing on dries. Tony Dryden did just that and landed 13 cracking trout all on hoppers from Newclose bay. Also on dries Mr Ormerod had 8 fish all safely returned to fight another day he found a daddy long legs his top pattern. From the bank Gerry Brewer also fished a Daddy in Hollins bay to tempt 5 lovely specimens. Again on 5 fish Mr Isherwood found Barns Quarry the top area and fished a Mallard and claret to good effect. With 1500 fish being stocked today the fishing over the following days and weeks should remain as awesome as it has been of late, with the dries taking more than their fair share of the fish. See you in the lodge Pete.

Date:    Sunday August 23rd
Report Author:    Ben
Best Catch:    16 trout for Darren Booth
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 12lbs 10oz for Billy Thompson & Ryan Feber
Best Rainbow:    4lbs for Joseph Johnson
Best Brownie:    Several at 2lbs+
Bank Rod Av:    2.0 fish per man
Boat Rod Av:    5.4 fish per man
Sport: Today we hosted the Stocks Pairs and what a cracking days fishing. It was overcast all day there was plenty of fish caught. The first pair to weigh in was Ryan Feber and Billy Thompson. They started out on dries but after a quick experiment by Ryan they realised that pulling blobs through the surface was producing fish to the net regularly. They had caught their 10 fish bag limit by 1.15pm, which gave them a large time bonus and with several fish over 3lbs in their bag it was enough to secure 1st place. Most of their fish came from the east bank. The Northern Shallows produced great sport for farther and son team John Anderson snr and John Anderson jnr. They pulled hoppers fast through the surface to take 2nd place. In 3rd were Darren Booth and John Allen who caught all their fish on dries. 4th position went to Rob Denson and Matt Eastham who fished along the east bank from the Alders to Halstead’s Hike. They pulled wets and fished dries to tempt 19 trout to their boat. We gave out over £1000 in prizes and tackle vouchers. The top ten results are shown below also see photo of the winners below.
Congratulations to The Ospreys who have won the 2009 Lexus Team final on Rutland Water. Paul Davison, Hywell Morgan, Steve Smalley, Iain Jones, Scott Nellins and Ian Earl fished superbly to win the title once again.

I would also like to congratulate Stocks G-Tech for coming 7th and especially to club captain Chris Guthrie who caught well on both days in tricky conditions to become the 2009 top individual. Well done guys.

Place     Name                    No. Fish    Best Fish    Bag Wgt    Time: Bonus    Total
1st      Ryan Feber                                                                            1.15pm
Billy Thompson        10    3lbs 06oz    25lbs 04oz    9lbs 8oz    34lbs 12oz
2nd    John Anderson jnr                                                             2.03pm
John Anderson snr    10    2lbs 13oz    23lbs 15oz    7lbs 12    31lbs 11oz
3rd    Darren Booth                                                                        2:22pm
John Allen                   10    3lbs00oz    22lbs 12oz    7lbs    29lbs 12oz
4th    Rob Denson                                                               1.45pm
Matt Eastham                    10    2lbs 10oz     21lbs 00oz    8lbs 8oz    29lbs 08oz
5th    Paul Moore                                                                          3.30pm
Kevin Dinning                   10    2lbs 12oz    23lbs 06oz     5    28lbs 06oz
6th    Kevin Andrews                                                                  3.00pm
Willy Riddicks                   10    3lbs 03oz    22lbs 03oz    6    28lbs 03oz
7th    Dermot Speight                                                                 4.28pm
Cyril Procter                     10    3lbs 04oz    24lbs 00oz    3lbs    27lbs 00oz
8th    Neil Hodgson                                                                      4.20pm
Tony Nattress                  10    2lbs 12oz    23lbs 11oz      3lbs    26lbs 11oz
9th    Alec Bowler                                                                         5.40pm
Stuart Mcormack           10    2lbs 14oz    23lbs 04oz    8oz    23lbs 12oz
10th    Alec McEwan
Frank Hartley                   9    3lbs 03oz    22lbs 08oz        0     22lbs 08oz

It gives me great sadness to inform you of the death of Nigel Haigh. Nigel was a superb angler and a great friend. He fished for Masterline Stocks for many years during which time he was named British small water champion and The Trout Masters champion. He was a wonderful ambassador for both Stocks and the sport as a whole. He always fished with the up most etiquette and was willing to help everyone. In my early years at Stocks Nigel, along with Nick Halstead, was invaluable at putting the fishery ‘on the map’ with their features for Trout Fisherman magazine. When it came to naming the different areas of the reservoir Nigel had earnt his spot on the map with Haigh’s Hollow. He was never happier than at the waters edge fishing a team of small nymphs or buzzers. He was renowned for catching when others around him were struggling.
At just 52 years of age Nigel’s life has ended prematurely, he will be sadly missed by all who knew him. Our thoughts are with his wife Susan and their children.
The funeral will be on Wednesday 26th at St Charles church in Rishton at 12pm.
Ben

Date:    Friday 22nd August
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    15 fish for Grantley Bridge
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 14lb Grantley Bridge
Best Rainbow:    Several at 4lb +
Best Brownie:    Several at 3lb
Best Blue:    4lb 5oz Grantley Bridge
Bank Rod Av:    2.30
Boat Rod Av:    5.40
Sport: What a cracking day it turned out to be! After a windy start things soon settled down and the fish were keen once again to take the flies right of the top. One angler did spoon a trout and it was stuffed to the gills with the little leggy critters. The reservoir is literally crawling with insects. I have seen good buzzer hatches, daddies tumbling across the surface and of course hundred upon hundreds of those heather flies. I have just had 10 minutes by the jetty and took 4 right of the top on daddies missing numerous more.
I think tomorrow may be incredible! Watch this space.
Tight lines Matthew.

Date:    Wednesday 19th August
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    11 fish for Dave Nixon
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 14lb 1oz Dave Nixon
Best Rainbow:    4lb 8oz Chris Harrison
Best Brownie:    Frank Hartley’s stunning 1lb wild beauty!
Best Blue:    3lb 8oz Chris Harrison
Bank Rod Av:    3.00 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    4.00 fish per angler
Sport:  Another cracking day! It could stay like this forever for us anglers those heather flies are giving us some amazing sport! Along with the terrestrial insects we are getting some very good buzzer hatches so the trout are well up in the water feeding all day long. Chris Harrison had 6 fish from Bell Point with them all falling for red holographic diawl bachs on the floater. Barry Foster and his boat partner had a cracking day with 14 fish, the fish were keen to take the nymphs just sub surface and indeed those hoppers right of the top! Frank Hartley managed 5 from the east bank again on the dries; Frank found the fish keen to take black bob’s bits. On any other day that 5 could have easily been 10 plus with the fish coming short and narrowly missing the hook! Top boat today however was Dave Willacy and Dave Nixon; between them they tempted 21 fish to their boat!! Best tactics were either dries (hoppers) or Doobry’s and Bumbles they even had a few fish chasing boobies across the surface! Newclose bay was there hot spot with fish coming thick and fast all day.
If the fish went quiet they simply speeded up the retrieve and more often than not this induced a take!
Things are looking good for the next few days so book some time off work and get fishing!
Tight lines Matthew