Fly Fishing Reports

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:                                         Thursday to Wednesday
Best Catch:                             11 trout for Mr Ian Rigby from Morecambe
Best Rainbow:                        8lbs 0z Mr Arnott from St Albans
Best Brown:                            10lbs+ Mr A Lonsdale from Barnsley
Best Blue:                                 3lbs 8oz Mr N Chapman from Liverpool
Rod Average:                         2.9 fish per man
Sport: Bank House has produced some good catches over last week but it has also been pretty testing at times. This is probably due the mixed weather conditions that we’ve experienced. We’ve seen a really good size of fish caught with the average trout weighing 2lbs 14oz. The best catch of the week was caught by Mr Rigby from Morecambe who fished Harry Potter dries to tempt eleven trout. He found that Bridle bank was the most productive area. The best rainbow of the week tipped the scales to 8lbs and fell to Mr Arnett’s team of nymphs. He caught well on a variety of nymphs including, diawl bachs, montanas and buzzers. We’ve seen quite a few blues caught this week the best weighed 3lbs 8oz and was tempted to a red buzzer, attached to the other end was Mr N Chapman. The best Brown went to Mr A Lonsdale it was at least 10lbs but it wasn’t weighed it was quickly returned to fight another day. To top it all it ‘head and tailed’ to take a Klink Hammer off the surface. I don’t know the stuff of dreams! Tight Lines Ben
(The picture below shows farther and son team Johny and George Wilson with an 11lb 8oz rainbow taken from the Lodge Pool. This was caught during the week prior to this)

Johny and Gorge Wilson with an 11lb 8oz rainbow.

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.

Date:                                          Sunday August 8th
Report Author:                     Ben
Best Catch:                              9 trout for Billy Thompson
Heaviest Bag:                         5 fish for 11lbs 5oz Jim Tuck
Best Rainbow:                       5lbs 5oz Pete Navin
Best Brownie:                        Several at 2lbs 8oz
Best Blue:                               3lbs 1oz Dave Morris
Bank Rod Av:                        3.0 trout per man
Boat Rod Av:                         2.6 trout per man
Sport: Today we hosted the Greys Dry Lines and 38 anglers took to the water to try and become the 2010 Dry Lines Champion. The day was split into two sessions: A morning session followed by a break for lunch and then an afternoon session. We gave prizes down to third place and for the biggest fish in each session and then a special prize for the champion angler who was ranked highest over both sessions. Hardy Greys were really generous with their sponsorship and we were able a total of eight prizes with a total value of nearly £1000!
In first place with six fish in the morning and three fish in the afternoon earning him a 1st and 6th place the new 2010 Dry Lines Champion is Billy Thompson. (Pictured below) Billy fished a black and gold double close into the margins to catch 9 minnow feeding browns and rainbows. He won a Greys Platinum Comp Special 10” 7# fly rod with a G-tec reel loaded with a Greys Platinum Floating line.
That meant that Bob Cooper was winner of the morning session with 4 trout winning a Platinum Comp Special 10” 7# fly rod. In second place winning a Grxi reel was Pete Navin who caught a cracking 5lb 8oz rainbow and in third was Dave Morris who had a nice trout in bag, this time a 3lb 1oz Blue trout.
The afternoon Greys Platinum Comp Special rod was won by Peter Andrews with six trout. They all fell to a red headed Damsel pattern once again fished tight into the margins. In second was Jim Tuck who had 7 trout to an olive apps worm. Jim covered rising fish then twitched the fly back past them to induce the take. Jim also generously sponsored the match by supplying a cracking goody bag with accessories worth equal to the entry fee! In third place was Neil Thomas 4 fine fish. The best fish prizes went to Rick Nuttall and Kenny Miller. (See Picture Below)
Fishing on the shore at Bell Point, and not involved in the dry lines match, Peter Kosminski was having some great sport. Peter tried sinking lines with no success so switched to a floater and a team of hoppers. At first things were quiet but as soon as he started to twitch the flies back the water erupted with a lively brownie firmly attached. After a great morning session Peter had landed 5 browns, 3 rainbows and had many more crashed over his flies without connecting. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. Tight Lines Ben

Back row from left to right: Dave Morris, Jim Tuck, Bob Cooper, The 2010 Champion Billy Thompson, Peter Andrews, Kenny Miller and Neil Thomas. Front Pete Navin with his 5lb 8oz rainbow

Date:                             Friday August 6th
Best Catch:                 14 trout Phil Burgess
Best Rainbow:            ?
Best Brown:                ?
Best Blue:                    ?
Rod Average:            ?
Sport: As the internet connection is down at Stocks and I am writing this from my computer at Bank House I’m afraid that I do not have all the stats for the day. I can tell you that Phil burgess fished big lures to take 14 trout and caught fish all over the reservoir. Bob Fitzpatrick and Derek Moore had 9 to their boat they found dabblers fished high in water to be the most effective method. On the shore Bill Orrell took 7 fine trout on Black lures from Hartley’s and Bell Point and did this on just a half day ticket. The trout really started to show today all over the reservoir so hopefully we will have a good weekend ahead.  Tight lines Ben

Date:                             Thursday July 29th to Wednesday August 4th
Best Catch:                 14 trout for Dave Butcher
Best Rainbow:          15lbs Dennis Tallentire
Best Brown:              10lbs Dave Butcher
Best Blue:                    6lbs 8oz Roger Preston
Rod Average:        2.5 fish per man
Sport: There are some cracking trout coming out of Bank House at the moment. There are lots of blues around the 3 to 4lb mark, browns into double figures and some colossal rainbows. The water is teaming with life, caddis larva, damsels, buzzers, corixa, fresh water shrimps not to mention the shoals sticklebacks.  The trout are spoilt for choice and this has made the fishing quite testing at times but the fish are feeding, its often just a matter of getting your flies noticed. Brightly coloured buzzers like hokey dokeys or small red holographic diawl bachs have scored well. The best catch went to Dave Butcher who took 14 trout. His bag included rainbows, blues and browns, the best of which tipped the scales to 10lbs. Dave found that a black beetle twitched fast through the surface was enough to tempt the trout off the buzzers that they were feeding on. Ken Whiteside had a very productive half day session. Dave caught 7 trout two of which were double figure rainbows he lost a third double at the net. Ken found a black and green lure his most successful pattern. Farther and son duo Roger and Alex Preston took 9 trout on okey dokeys they had blues to 6lb 8oz and rainbows to 4lbs. Bank House is well worth a visit at the moment. Tight Lines Ben

Date:                               Wednesday August 4th
Report Author:           Ben
Best Catch:                    7 trout for Phil Burgess
Best Rainbow:             4lbs 8oz Steve Bland
Best Brownie:              Several at 2lbs
Bank Rod Av:              4.0
Boat Rod Av:               2.9
Sport: It was definitely a day of two halves. This morning fished well to the washing line on a floater with a cats booby and nymphs both taking fish. Phil Burgess and John Calvert had twelve trout by 2pm but then the trout seem to just switch off and they could add no more to their tally over next couple of hours….funny old game! Fish were caught during the afternoon but it was noticeably harder. Ted Ashworth took five from Bell Point whilst fishing a floating line and damsel pattern. Other anglers found success with buzzers and Diawl bachs. The best areas were Bell Point, the main Basin, The Dam Wall and the Causeway. Tight Lines Ben