Fly Fishing Reports

Date:    Wednesday 28th July
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    6 fish for David Watson
Heaviest Bag:    12lb 4 oz David McCabe
Best Rainbow:    Several for 3lb
Best Brownie:    2lb 4oz David Watson
Bank Rod Av:    2.5
Boat Rod Av:    2.0
Sport:  Well the reservoir certainly seems to be settling down now after the influx of water.  A drift down the middle of the reservoir is still a good bet with daddy long legs and hopper’s doing the trick.
David and Joan were on the water with Pete, between them they managed 8 good fish up to 4lb. All the fish came early on with the Dam and Grindy’s lawn producing the goods.
Paul had a cracking day too with Rob and Will Shelton. Although only 4 fish came to the net a total of 12 were hooked and played before loosing grip.
The weather seems key to how well it’s fishing at the moment and the forecast looks promising indeed.  Ben is doing a double stocking this week with hundreds of quality browns blues and rainbows.
Tight lines Matthew.

Date:    Sunday 25th July
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    9 fish for Lee Cowking
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish weighing 10lb 40z by Peter Kasminski
Best Rainbow:    3lb 8oz by Ian Shaw
Best Brownie:    Several at 2lb
Bank Rod Av:    2.25 trout per angler
Boat Rod Av:    2.93 trout per angler
Sport: It looks like the fish are definitely back on the feed with several good returns today. Peter Kasminski led the way on the bank with 7 fish and a 5 fish limit of 10lb 4oz. peter found all his fish on Bell Point and used a black Booby to tempt the majority of them. Also on the bank was Ian Shaw who tempted 5 fish including a stunning 3lb 8oz rainbow from Hollins bay, again the Booby did the trick but this time it was the cat booby.  Out on the boats the fishing was a little better with several anglers with good catches. Paul Banister came up far and an afternoon session and had 5 fish all on dries from the east bank and Newclose bay with a Wickhams fancy fished dry as his top pattern. Top Honours though go to Lee Cowking who struggled this morning but was really on fire this afternoon landing 9 fish in a but a couple of hours all his fish came from the east bank and the majority were taken on a UV  Straggle Cat. Lee commented that the fish all seemed to be at the end of calm lanes and were popping their heads up everywhere. This definitely bodes well for the following days. See you in the lodge Pete.

Date:    Saturday 24th July
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    5 fish for  Stuart McCaughey and Steve Bland
Heaviest Bag:    3 fish for 7lb 8oz by Pete Williams
Best Rainbow:    3lb 8oz by Ray Whittle
Best Brownie:    2lb 8oz by Harry Smith
Bank Rod Av:    1.00 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    3.14 fish per angler
Sport: The Fish are starting to come back on the feed after the torrential rain earlier in the week. The day started tricky but improved as it progressed. The bank was a little quieter though with top rod going to Harry Smith and Dennis Duggan both with 2 fish. Dennis took both his fish with dries from Grindys Lawn. On the boats things are definitely on the up with Lee Cowking taking 4 fish by mimicking the same method Darren Booth used last week. Namely a booby on the point followed by two Dabblers and another booby on the top dropper, Lee commented on the fact that he had countless follows and bow waves after the flies that just came short. Top Honours on the boats today though are shared between Steve Bland and Stuart McCaughey. Steve started out the day pulling blobs but changed over to dries to finish the day with 5. The story was very similar for Stuart. With more settled weather on the way the fishing will improve day by day. See you in the lodge Pete.

Date:    Thursday 22nd July.
Report Author:    Paul.
Best Catch:    Several anglers caught 3 fish.
Heaviest Bag:    2 fish weighing 5lb 8oz.
Best Rainbow:    Several weighing 3lb.
Best Brownie:    Several weighing 2lb 8oz.
Bank Rod Av:    2.20 trout per angler.
Boat Rod Av:
Sport:  Today the bank anglers had the best sport, after the rain over the last week it seems that the trout have headed straight for the margins. It is amazing how close to the shore the trout will lie and in such shallow water, bank anglers can take advantage when this happens by casting along the bank instead of straight out in front of them and the boat anglers can cast right into the bank, i kid you not when i say you can cast your point fly onto the bank and catch a trout on your middle dropper!  Ben made a big stocking this afternoon with his usual superb quality trout. As well as the usual 3-4lb fish there were also some giants released, watch this space! See you on the water Paul.

Stocks is looking real good for the weekend! The water has raised a huge amount; this in turn should see the fish back in the margins feeding over the freshly flooding ground.  All over the reservoir there are gully’s and trenches were water has been rushing in and over the next few days these will be key features holding many feeding trout.  The wet weather has also seen many insects coming out after the down poor with daddy’s and beetles surely on the trout’s menu.
From the shore New close bay along with Ben’s beach should be a good bet. The boats should find plenty of action drifting the margins right the way along the east bank and indeed around Gull Island.
Top patterns are sure to be the daddy long legs right off the surface or even a team of buzzers fished in the margins on the washing line method, maybe a cat’s booby on the point.
The weather is looking a lot more palatable for the weekend with some excellent fishing conditions forecast.
Also Ben will be stocking some cracking trout for the weekend that should in turn stir up the more resident fish.
It should be a good weekend!!
Tight lines Matthew.
If you are in the market for some new waterproofs we have a cracking offer in the shop at the moment, buy one item and receive the second half price!!
Example: - Greys weather shield Jacket and over trousers for only £125!!

Date:    Saturday 17th July
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    8 trout by Darren Booth
Heaviest Bag:    4 fish weighing 9lb 13oz by Darren Booth
Best Rainbow:    3lb 1oz by Darren Booth and Chris Guthrie
Best Brownie:    3lb 10oz by Mark Tyndall
Bank Rod Av:    2 fish per angler
Boat Rod Av:    2 fish per angler
Sport: Today saw the last of the four days of the Lexus Open European Fly Fishing competition and the second day for the team event. This saw 7 teams taking to the water with three qualifying spots up for grabs in the international final. With strong gusting winds again today the fishing was going to be a little tricky. at the end of the day the top individual was Greys Team Stocks angler Darren Booth with 8 fish Darren fished a four fly setup with a cats booby on the top dropper followed by two dabblers and a mini Dennis the Menace booby on the point. Darren reckoned the key to his success today was to never repeat a drift he caught a fish on and to rest for about 45mins before drifting it again.
The biggest fish of the day went to Stocks Hawks angler Mark Tyndall which wins him a pair of Maui Jims Sunglasses, Mark landed a stunning 3lb 10oz brownie from Newclose bay on a cat booby. the results for the teams are below
Total          Total
Fish           Weight

1st     Greys team stocks       20           41lb 10oz
2nd    Stocks Harriers            14           27lb 5oz
3rd    Peregrines                    13           24lb 11oz
4th    Stocks Hawks              11           24lb 1oz
5th    The Weasels                12           22lb 2oz
6th    Chatton trout fishers    10           21lb 7oz
7th    The Top Droppers        3             7lb 3oz

Well done to the top three teams for qualifying and to the rest of the field for a great performance on what was a testing day. See you in the lodge Pete.

Date:    Friday 15th July
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    6 fish for Steve Smalley and Mark Howard
Heaviest Bag:    6  fish weighing 8lb 11oz
Best Rainbow:    6lb 12oz Paul Davison
Best Blue    3lb 5oz Ryan Feber
Bank Rod Av:    1.5 trout per angler
Boat Rod Av:    2.43 trout per angler
Sport: Today we hosted the first heat of the Lexus 6 man team events. Conditions started out tricky with the first couple of drifts often bringing the bulk of the days catch.
The results are as follows:-

1st Place The Ospreys with 26 fish

2nd place Stocks Barracudas with 18 fish

3rd place Stocks Falcons with 13 fish.

The top two teams qualify for the final on Rutland in September so the best of Luck to those.

Tactics remain dries early on with traditional wets and lures coming into their own during the afternoon. The heavy rain has coloured the water slightly and that should start to settle for the weekend.
Tight Lines Matthew.

Date:    Thursday 15th July
Report Author:    Paul
Best Catch:    Steve Bland 7 fish
Heaviest Bag:    Rob Denson 4 fish weighing 9lbs 1oz
Best Rainbow:    3lb 4oz Jim Tuck
Best Brownie:    Several for 2lb 8oz
Bank Rod Av:    2.0 trout per angler
Boat Rod Av:    2.8 trout per angler
Sport: Today we hosted the 2nd day of the Lexus European Open and the conditions took a turn for the worst. We had strong winds and heavy down pours which made the fishing much tougher than yesterday. Steve Bland was top rod with 7 trout caught on mini lures fished on a slow intermediate. Jim Tuck also caught on mini lures to tempt six fine trout and Rob Denson used a team of wets to take the best four fish bag weight. We saw trout caught all over the reservoir today and with the conditions set to improve tomorrow and on Saturday we should see some good sport.
See you on the water. Paul

To find one of the qualifying places, you had to finish in the top 7 to do so.
The results are as follows.
1st Steve Bland                            7 trout for 13lb 2oz
2nd Jim Tuck                               6 trout for 12lb 6oz
3rd Rob Denson                           5 trout for 11lb 1oz
4th Mark Howard                        5 trout for 10lb 7oz
5th Laurie Taylor                         5 trout for   9lb 10oz
6th Bob Fitzpatrick                      5 trout for    8lb 14oz
7th Bob Cooper                            4 trout for    8lb 8oz

Date:    Wednesday 14th July
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    Carl Malpass 10 fish
Heaviest Bag:     fish weighing
Best Rainbow:    3lb 5oz Sam Montgomery
Best Brownie:    Several for 2lb 8oz
Bank Rod Av:    1.5 trout per angler
Boat Rod Av:    4.6 trout per angler
Sport: Today we hosted the first day of the Lexus European Open.
The heat was on to find one of the qualifying places, you had to finish in the top 7 to do so.
The results are as follows.
1st Carl Malpass                           10 trout for 19lb 114oz
2nd Carl Nixon                              9 trout for 19lb 10oz
3rd Billy Thompson                      10 trout for19lb
4th Eddie Forster                           9 trout for 18lb 1oz
5th Phil Burgess                            9 trout for 18lb
6th Laurie Taylor                          9 trout for 17lb 8oz
7th John Hood                               8 trout for15lb 15oz
Biggest fish (wild card Qualification) Sam Montgomery 3lb 5oz.

Tactics for the day were well spread with some of the top placed anglers fishing traditional wet flies. The washing line method played a big part also with cat’s boobies and cormorants bringing the fish in.
Outside of today’s competition regular Lee Cowking surely deserves a mention with a stunning Rainbow of some 8lb 8oz.
Heres to the good sport continuing.
Tight line Matthew.