Sport: The top story today is about one fish, a stunning 20lb 8oz rainbow caught by Darren Booth. Darren was fishing near Willow Island with fellow Masterline Stocks member Nick Halstead when his sinking line locked up. At first Darren didn’t realise just how big a fish he had hooked into and started to play it quite hard. Nick was first to see it as it swam past the boat then stripped Darren’s line down to the backing. Nick was quick to tell him to take it easy it’s a big un! Darren finally managed to get it back to the boat and he caught his first glimpses of the fish, unfortunately it then stripped him down into the backing for a second time and he feared that this was a battle he was not going to win. After about 15 minutes it did come to the net and after a quick photo it was returned to fight another day. Both Nick and Darren said that they have never seen such a strong fish, even when it was returned it thrashed the water with its tail and sped off to the depths (The Pictures are below.) Darren and Nick were also top boat even though Nick had to leave early. They had a total of 19 trout to the boat and caught on a variety of lines and flies. The big one took a damsel but they also caught well on buzzers and other lures. Fishing in a similar area were Husband and wife team Gary and Michelle Mills they too were amongst the fish, they had a total of 14 fish which all fell to buzzers. The results on the boats today were mixed and we saw a wide spread of methods that seemed to be working from dries to Di5s so its hard to pick just one out. The best areas were Newclose, Willow Island and Hollins.

On the bank the best catch went to Stuart Appleby who took 7 trout on lures from Ben’s Beach. Tight Lines Ben

Darren Booth with a monster Stocks rainbow of 20lbs 8oz

Sport:   Firstly an apology for the late report but Saturday was the Water Industry Game Fishing Championships. A bright hazy day at stocks made for some challenging sport for the 120 wigfic competitors on the bank. But the fish were there and some good bags were recorded especially from Newclose bay where Andy Preece took 8 fish for 17lb 13oz, which was the biggest bag of the day and won him the individual title. Well-done Andy. Paul Shaw came a close second as he had had 7 fish by 11:30 but struggled to reach his limit till 15:30.The overall team champions were EA North West Region with 73 points and 36lb 6oz of trout so well done North west good to see the local boys take the title. The biggest fish of the day also taken in the competition was a 9lb 14oz rainbow by Adrian Evans. The majority of fish taken succumb to blobs, boobies or lures on sinking lines. The best boat return of the day came from Jim and Malcolm hunter who landed 17 fish to the boat, Malcolm had 10 fish on cats whisker and Jim had seven on the blob.Tight lines pete

Andy Preece indivual winner & WIGFiC team champions EA North West

Sport:            Another rod busting day a Stocks reservoir with near perfect conditions there was bound to be some good returns. The best fish of the day from the bank was eventually landed by John keeley after it stripped him half way into his backing and put up a monster struggle. John eventually landed the leviathan, which weighed in at an approximate 15lb and was returned safely to the water. Similarly the best fish from the boat was also returned and weighed approximately 15lb also. Robin Crawshaw caught the fish on a size 14 black buzzer and 5lb tippet so well landed Robin. The best bag of the day goes to Mr Southern with a net busting 15lb 2oz for a five-bag limit. A team of seven from Anglian Water had an impressive 51 fish between them but were playing their cards close to their chest as they were practising for the wigfic competition tomorrow. On the fly front, a good fall of hawthorns was seen today as well a good number beetles. Just a reminder that there is no bank angling tomorrow sat 10^th may because of the competition. Also all boats are already booked. Tight lines Pete.

John Keeley 15lb rainbow

Sport: Another lovely day here at Stocks with glorious sunshine and a better rod average! Philip King was on form once again in his float tube with a good catch of 15 fish! Philip mainly fished Hollins with Damsel lures to tempt some cracking fish including a lovely 6lb blue. Top guys on the boats today were John Sutton and Doug Oldfield. John and Doug had some good sport with 18 fish to there boat slow buzzers was the key with four fished on a cast of around 22 foot. They found the best spots to be the Dam and Newclose with all the fish taken in the top couple of foot of water.

Once again those Damsels did the business for Keith Landless with 8 fish returned in all but 5 hours. Lets not forget those Diawl bachs; Nick Taylor sure didn’t with 10 fish to them! Nick fished right along Ben’s beach just letting the wind bring the flies round.

Martin Dearden had a fish of a lifetime, in fact it was one of the prettiest brown trout I have seen this season! Mark landed the 13lb 9oz Brownie down in Hollins only a couple of casts shy of calling it a day!

Although the cloud cover never really came today the sport has been fantastic with fish still topping in the bright sun.

P.s there are still a couple of boats available for Saturday. Don’t forget the bank will not be able to be fished this Saturday due to the water industries competition.

Tight lines Matthew.

 Martin Dearden who caught this gorgeous 13lb 9oz brownie and the sun!!

Sport:   Well a bit tougher today compared to the top sport we have seen.

Steve Smalley however managed 13 fish off the boat. Steve took all his fish straight lining buzzers. No one spot stood out for him with fish coming from all areas drifting tight in. Good angling Steve!            Elsewhere top patterns seem to be little tadpole lures fished a little deeper than usual due to today’s blearing sunshine.

A little earlier than usual this year we have an unusual abundance of minnow around the edges of the water, this in turn has some larger fish hitting the fry, one to watch out for on a quieter day.

Fish were still coming from around Gull Island and the Northern shallows, with buzzers still the top choice. The temperature is due to keep up, the wind is set to drop, and the cloud cover is coming! That rod average is going to climb significantly over the next few days.

Tight lines, Matthew

Sport: Todays conditions looked perfect: very light winds, overcast skies, high temperatures and the rings of rising fish could be seen over the water. It seemed dries would be the call of the day as there were plenty of buzzers, alder fly, beetles and the odd olive on the water. However these rising fish proved tricky to tempt and surprisingly some of the best catches of the day fell to long lined buzzers and lures. In the top boat were fishing buddies Dermot Speight and Mike Gadd who found their best method was to target rising fish with lures. They quickly covered the fish then drew the fly back and more often than not this resulted in a chase and a take. They finished the day with 20 trout between them. Nearly all their fish came from Newclose Bay. David Manning was putting Paul Bebb’s buzzers to good use at Willow Island landing a very credible 13 fish catch. He said that the trout preferred them absolutely static. Tony Taylor had 12 fish to his boat at the Willows; he found both static nymphs and drawing lures past rising fish to be working well. Tony had many other takes, follows, nips and pulls. Fishing both the Islands was Mr and Mrs Kirk who landed 14 trout to their boat on almost static green peas and diawl bachs.

We saw some belting fish caught from the shore today. The best bag came from Newclose and was caught by Mathew Colley. He fished a team of olive buzzers on a floating line and 5lb tippet, although he caught the best catch today with 15 trout that is only half the story. Mathew’s buzzer was snatched up by the best blue of the season so far. The fish tail walked across the surface and made several high leaps for freedom. The only way he could stop himself from being broken was to drop his rod every time it left the water. He did very well to land it and said that it was more like tarpon fishing than trout fishing! He then added an 8lb rainbow and 3 other cracking fish to his bag that tipped the scales to 30lbs. Good Angling. (Mathew is pictured below) Peter Whittle ventured up the east bank, he fished a bung and buzzers to take 14 trout and in Hollins bay Paul Williams also took 14 trout sweeping orange lures just under the surface. The best rainbow went to Rudolph Quigliana and weighed 8lbs 4oz (pictured below). He also took another 6 fish from Ben’s beach. Incidentally this is where Paul Every also caught the best brownie. Paul also had other good fish in his bag, which totalled 18lbs 8oz. The weather looks settled for the week ahead so we should see good catches continued. Tight lines Ben

Left: Rudolph with an 8lb 4oz rainbow. Right: Mathew Colley with a 12lb 4oz blue trout and an 8lb rainbow.  (part of a 30lb 5 fish bag.)

Sport: The morning fished well and most of the anglers were straight into fish. Then the heavens opened and didn’t close until late afternoon. During the heavy rain the fishing was much more difficult. But as always some anglers managed some very good catches. Unfortunately I didn’t get to talk to some of the most successful anglers. For example Jim Pickford and Ray Sanders had 18 trout to their boat and Peter McCormick and Jim Thornley had 19 but I am afraid that that is all I can tell you. I do know that Dawson’s Olive fished very slow over the Northern Shallows worked well. James Inkpen had 10 to the net; his best fly by far was the Dawson’s fished slowly on a floating line. Yellow Dancer also took some good catches; David Ould caught a cracking 10lb 14oz rainbow on this pattern whilst fishing by Willow Island. (Pictured below) Fishing on Phil’s Flats was Husband and wife team Jane and Anthony Brindle, They caught nine trout on fast sinking lines tweaking boobies back along the bottom. Amazingly they both landed a beautiful over-wintered brownie. Jane’s weighed 5lbs 12oz and Anthony’s was 6lb 4oz (pictured below). On the whole lures took the majority of the fish from the boats and most of the fish that were caught on nymphs were caught before the rain started. However on the bank Mark Wilson was at it again with seven fine fish from all around Hollins and the points. Mark’s best patterns were buzzers and black and green lures. But the best bank story belongs to Angus McPherson who turned up to the fishery at 7pm to wet a line for the last hour. Angus was fishing in Hollins Bay close into the shoreline among the shoals of mountain Minnows. Suddenly the shallows erupted and Angus was into a big predator. After a cracking fight a stunning 12lb brownie was brought to the net. It was quickly photographed and safely returned. (Picture below) Angus said it was the best hours fishing he’d ever had. Tight Lines Ben

From left to right: Jane and Anthony Brindle with two over-wintered brownies, David Auld with a 10lb 14oz rainbow and Angus McPherson with a 12lb minnow eating brownie.

Sport: It’s been a fine warm day at Stocks Fishery, which has led to some cracking fishing from both boat and bank. The largest bag from the bank came from Mark Wilson who landed an impressive 17 fish from Hollins Point just off Davey Jones, mark was fishing a floating line with a Green and White Nomad on the point with two Diawl Bachs on the dropper. His 5 fish limit weighed in at 11lb 8 oz well done Mark. Cyril Proctor and boat partner landed 14 fish to the boat with Cyril’s partner Stuart landing 11 fish from the Northern Shallows with a Black and Gold Humungus. Nick Halstead again found the fish with a day’s total of 12 fish on damsels with his best fish being a rainbow of 6lb 8oz from Grindys. Mel Forsyth of the Ashington Kingfishers had the biggest fish of the day with an impressive 9lb brownie from the Northern Shallows (pictured below) the fish took a blob and really fought to the net. Mr S Bird and boat partner J Pullman found the Green Pea to be the fly to use and landed 8 and 7 fish respectively. The best rainbow of the day was landed by John Sutherland and tipped the scales at 7lb. The biggest bag of the day goes to steve welsh who landed a very impressive bag of twenty fish from the northern shallows including an 11lb Rainbow that was safely returned to the water. Tight lines Pete