Fly Fishing Reports

Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    12 fish for John Calvert
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 14lb Phil Burgess
Best Rainbow:    4lb Phil Burgess
Best Brownie:    N/a
Bank Rod Av:    1.5
Boat Rod Av:    2.9
Sport:  It felt as though summer paid us a late visit today with blue skies and some nice sunny spells. The fishing has been pretty hit and miss. John Calvert and Phil Burgess however got things just right with 21 fish to their boat! They found that the fish were pretty tight in be it around submerged willows or over flooded ground. Nymphing and pulling lures were both tactics responsible for their success. What made the difference today was taking advantage of the light breeze and drifting the margins. The weather is perfect for a while now so its going to be a good spell of nymphing I think.
Remember fish the features and keep on the drift over the freshly flooded ground that’s were the fish are feeding. Red Diawl bachs and buzzers will produce the goods, just ask a member of staff to point out the right flies.
Tight lines Matthew.

Date:    Sunday 6th September
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    9 fish by Chris Harrison
Heaviest Bag:    10lb for 5 fish by Tony Taylor
Best Rainbow:    3lb 8oz by Chris Harrison
Best Brownie:    N/a
Bank Rod Av:    2.13 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    5.00 fish per angler
Sport: Well the fishery continues to fish superbly but in a total reversal of yesterday the boats fished much better than the bank today. From the bank Chris Harrison did it again with 9 fish on a half-day ticket fishing a black fritz lure from bell point. Also on the bank today was yesterday’s top rod Tony Taylor who was once again amongst the fish with 6 cracking rainbows. Tony’s top tactic for today was a booby fished as part of a washing line on a floating line in Hollins Bay. Out on the boats David and Joan McCabe had a bumber days wishing with 14 fish to the boat, David just beating Joan with 8 fish to her 6. They found that willow island was the place to be and midge tip lines with various lures and boobies. With the weather looking a lot more settled and the temperatures on the rise over the next week the fishing looks like it can only get better and better. See you in the lodge Pete

Report by Ben     Date: Saturday 5th September
Best Rainbow    3lbs John Taylor
Best Catch    11 trout for Tony Taylor
Best Bag    5 trout  for 10lbs 12oz Paul McDonagh
Bank Rod Av    4.0 fish per man
Boat Rod Av    2.2 fish per man
Sport: The reservoir fished really well today and there were plenty of good catches especially from the shore. Tony Taylor was top rod with eleven fine fish, eight of which came from Hollins Point and the other three from around Two Trees and Barn Quarry. Most of his trout fell to his own home tied diawl bach called the T T buzzer. Tony has often done well on this pattern which is a size 10 diawl with a medium silver flat tinsel rib and orange goose biot cheeks. Bell Point was also fishing well for Paul McDonagh who used a black fritz to great effect to take 8 trout and the five in his bag tipped the scales to 10lbs 12oz. On the boats the top rod was John Taylor who also found Diawl Bachs effective. John fished them slowly on a floating line over the Northern Shallows to take seven trout to 3lbs.

The conditions tomorrow look good so hopefully the good sport will continue. Tight Lines Ben

Date:    Friday 4th September
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    7 fish for Bryn Hart
Heaviest Bag:    3 fish for 6lb 8oz Henry Philips
Best Rainbow:    3lb Chris Harrison
Best Brownie:    N/a
Bank Rod Av:    3.30
Boat Rod Av:    N/a
Sport:  Well over the last 48 hours Stocks has gone from summer level to winter level! Remarkable amounts of rain and strong winds have been making things somewhat unpleasant!
As a general rule when the level is on the up the fishing can be pretty tricky, I was simply amazed when Bryn came in having 7 fish on a half day session with 3 coming in the first few casts!! This is fantastic news the fishing is still excellent and with calmer conditions due as of the weekend things will only get better and better.
The northern shallows will all be freshly flooded and the amount of food around those submerged bushes will be staggering. In fact right around the reservoir fish will be back in the margins feeding over all this fresh ground.
Patterns to try should be little fry patterns green peas, Montana’s, Cats whiskers and cormorants. Not forgetting the success a nice team of nymphs can produce!
If your out on the boats try casting daddy’s and beetle patterns under the bushes along the shallows, this is were good numbers of fish will be lurking. Drifting the margins right along the willows will also be productive with mini boobies and lures doing the trick. Bushy wets and dabblers will fish well if the wind picks up. Don’t be hasty to drop anchor keep on the move because those fill will be cruising up and down the margins.
I think that last weeks stocking of near 2000 fish have spread very well indeed with most areas of the water producing good sport, and surely we are going to see some of those double figure browns soon there is still potentially a new record fish out there somewhere!
That nasty spell of weather is behind us now and by lunchtime tomorrow things are looking very fishy indeed.
Tight lines Matthew.

News Flash: Stocks Bowlander Falcon Ian Gaskell has just won the Lexus European Individual Championship at Chew Valley. Ian has beaten well over 500 anglers to claim the top prize in the world’s biggest individual fly fishing competition. As well as the prestige that goes with such a victory Ian has won the use of a luxury Lexus car for a year and, as he caught the biggest fish as well, he has also won a weeks salmon fishing in Norway with John Horsey……..Good angling!
This is an amazing year for Stocks competition anglers, earlier this season we saw Ian’s fellow Bowlander Falcon Bob Cooper take the top Individual trophy in disabled home international. Stocks G-Tec angler. Darren Booth became the 2009 Trout Master Champion and his team has made both International finals in the six man events. The Bowlander Harriers also made both international finals and they were joined in the Lexus team international final by the Stocks Bowlander Barracudas.
The overall 2009 Lexus Team Championships was won by The Ospreys and although they are not a Stocks sponsored team they do have several Stocks regulars as members especially ex-Bowlander Steve Smalley and dry fly maestro Paul Davison and they still could pull of the double as they still have the Anglian water final to come. Good luck guys.
Good luck to all those Stocks anglers who have qualified for the CEFF final on Rutland Water. If current form is anything to go by we should see Stocks well represented on the England team!
Stocks and Bank House Fly Fishery are both currently fishing really well. Stocks is fishing to flies pulled through the surface and to big black dries when the conditions suit. The best areas are the East Bank and The Northern Shallows. Bank House is fishing well to small black CDC dries and washinglined buzzers and when that’s not working Cats whiskers are producing good catches. Bank House has seen several large trout over 15lbs caught over the last fortnight and there are some colossal brownies teasing the anglers as they charge about feeding on sticklebacks.
Tight Lines Ben

Ian Gaskill 2009 Lexus Champion

Date:    Tuesday 1st September
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    8 fish by Mr Coulthard
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 11lbs by Mr Coulthard
Best Rainbow:    3lb 8oz by Graeme Carruthers
Best Brownie:    N/a
Bank Rod Av:    3.33
Boat Rod Av:    3.67
Sport: The weather looked perfect this morning with a overcast sky and mild conditions with just a good breeze. The boats out fished the bank today but only just with the top rod on the boats being Mr Coulthard who landed 8 cracking trout with a 5 fish limit bag of 11lbs. He caught all his fish from around Willow Island on a home tied green diawl bach variant. Also on the water today was Petra and Vince Connell who landed 9 fish between them. They were on the water with Stocks resident Guide Paul Bebb.
On the bank today top Honours are shared between Graeme carutther who also caught the largest fish of the day and Stocks season ticket holder Chris Harrison. They both had 6 fish. Chris had all 6 of his fish in the last hour and all on a black Diawl Bach from Bell Point. See you in the lodge Pete