Strong winds made things difficult as many people scoured the lake in search of fish.

Froggies Fly Fishers took 1st place with an outstanding performance, with  46 fish between the 6 man team.

Conditions forced most, if not all anglers to fish the dark side (sinking lines) for the day. using a combination of blobs and boobies.

I took my 8 fish to the Mini bite tequila booby and tequila blob fished on a di-7 line. Boat partner, Renegades’ John Hardy took his 8 fish(an hour before me!!) on boobies.

Mike Dixon fishing in the Church Bay took his 6th fish at 17.51pm – this fish took us (Seighford Sharks)into the next round !! Every minute counts!!

http://flashattackflies.com/boobies/735-flash-attack-black-fritz-booby.html

The killing pattern !!

Tight Lines

Craig Barr

www.flashattackflies.com

The bank fishing remains in hot form, with fish being caught on all banks. Buzzers have been the main menu for the fish, although a lure on the point has been very productive too. The tower bank has been producing some of the lakes biggest fish recently, many of which have been over wintered. Lorenzo Serrano, a season ticket holder, has had fish up to 7lb off the tower bank, using damsels and buzzers on a sink tip line.

Draycote Fly fishers club member Brian Froggat landed his biggest fish of the season, a cracking 9lb 12 oz rainbow. He also landed a 7lb rainbow in his haul of 19 fish !! Mr G Hunter had a fish of 8lb.Andy ball stole the show with the weeks best of 10lb. The rainbow was taken off the bank at Toft Shallows.

The boats too have been in excellent form, with many anglers landing in excess of 20 fish.After the long spell of cold weather, the previously stocked fish have finally come to life and are feeding and making up for lost time. Mr T West landed 13 fish, 2 of which were over 6lb.

Sinking lines have still been the first line choice from a boat, however on calmer days buzzers have out fished the lures.Draycotes  renowned buzzer hatches are now here, and the fish are feeding hard on them, especially at Rainbow Corner and Toft Shallows. The buzzers are still small, so make sure you have some size 12’s and 14’s to hand !

Spaces are still available for our boat pairs matches on Draycote –

Rio Pairs match – international rules, floating line only. Entry pp £25 + fishing fees on the day. 1^st place £1000 tackle. Prizes to 10^th place.

£1000 cash pairs match – August 4^th – floating line only. Entry £25pp + fishing fees

£1000 cash Autumn pairs match 13^th Oct – reservoir rules. Entry £25pp + fishing fees

Total number of fish killed 516

Total number of fish released 1416

Total number of anglers 182

Rod average 10.61

Why not take advantage of our last 4 hour ticket at only £10 !! 1 fish then catch and release

Car access to the pontoon and car parking around the reservoir  is allowed.

Water clarity – very clear

Tight Lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

Another brilliant week’s fishing at Ravensthorpe with a number of big fish caught. The best fish of the week was a 9lb 12oz Rainbow for Mick Griffin. Mick took this fish on a buzzer as part of a 37 fish catch. Tom Gamble landed a 9lb 1oz Rainbow on an orange lure. Mr Kilner was delighted with his 8lb Rainbow taken on a black/green lure, his “biggest ever” fish.

On Saturday England Youth enjoyed a training session at Ravensthorpe. The day started with a breakfast barbeque. The rod average for the day was seven fish with everyone catching and having a great day out. The training day started with a morning session on lures. Following a lunch interval the young rods fished buzzers and nymphs in the afternoon.

As the weather warms up fishing will continue to improve for bank anglers. Last Saturday afternoon Jim Ferguson took six fish off the dam.

Best Rainbow 9lb 12oz taken by Mick Griffin.

Best methods See report.

Best boat areas Island to Coton Car Park, Clay Pits, the Clumps.

Best bank areas Dam, Platforms 11-12.

Fish stocked 253.

Mid week boat winnerMr R McCann of Northampton.

Fish week 529 (season 1,311) Returns 174(452) Rod average 3.0 (2.9)

The improved weather conditions and change in wind direction have resulted in Pitsford’s trout waking up and beginning to feed. There have been reports of large bags of fish from all around the water.

Anglers have been catching as many as 20-30 fish on teams of buzzers and bloodworm and spoonings of fish have revealed large numbers of bloodworm, black and green buzzers.

Ed Smith caught and returned a pristine Brown estimated between 8 and 9lb. Ed, who fished a plain cruncher, was bank fishing in Stone Barn Bay and commented that this was by far the best condition Brown he had seen.

Boat anglers continue to find fish around the margins with the best areas being the Pines, Brixworth Bay and the Causeway.

Best Rainbow 8lb taken by Bill Valentine.

Best Brown Estimated 8-9lb and returned by Ed Smith.

Best methods See report.

Best boat areas Pines, Brixworth Bay, Stone Barn to Causeway.

Best bank areas Gravels, Creek, Sailing Club and Cliffs.

Fish stocked 2,011

Mid week boat winnerRay Linnette of Creaton.

Fish week 849 (season 2,926) Returns 197 (616) Rod average 4.3 (4.75)

Grafham Water has fished very well this week with an excellent rod average of 4.3.

Bank anglers have had a good week’s sport even with the high winds that were experienced earlier in the week. The most productive methods for the bank anglers have been floating or sink tip lines with black crunchers, montanas, black buzzer and cats whisker booby fished slowly. The main areas for the bank anglers have been Gaynes Cove, South Dam, Harbour Arms and G bank.

Boat anglers have also enjoyed good sport this week on a variety of methods. Floating or sink tip lines with black buzzers, black crunchers, Pitsford Pea and cormorants, also fast sink lines with orange blobs, cats whisker booby, black buzzers and humungus booby have had consistent catch rates. The main areas for the boat anglers have been Valley Creek, Savages Creek, G, Q and A Buoys, Sanctuary Bay, South Dam and Point of Gaynes Cove.

Competition news

Troutmasters fish off 20 April

Rob Edmunds won this year’s fish off which was a bank only match. Robert caught 8 fish for 18lb 6oz; he will now go on to represent Grafham Water in the final which will be held at Grafham Water on Monday 2 September.

Best Rainbow 4lb 6oz taken by Don Bowyer of Bedford.

Best Brown 3lb 4oz.

Best methods See report.

Best boat areas G, A and Q buoys, Valley Creek, South Dam, Savages Creek, Sanctuary Bay.

Best bank areas G buoy, Harbour, South Dam and Gaynes Cove.

Fish stocked 3,249

Mid week boat winnerJames Bolton of Harverhill.

Fish week 1,847 (season 5,309) Returns 342 (885) Rod average 5.4 (5.99)

Rutland Water is in outstanding form this season with another excellent week for both boat and bank anglers.

Gordon Anthony from Peterborough recorded the best Rainbow of the week at 7lb 7¼oz. The fish fell to a black pheasant tail fished off the bank. Fish are being caught in many areas and on many methods with an overall rod average of 5.4 for the week. Numerous limits have been recorded.

Season ticket holder Mike Barratt from Sheffield netted the best Rainbow off the boats with a buzzer caught 6lb 10oz fish. On the same day Peter Gover, of Empingham, recorded his personal best Rainbow at 6lb 2½oz whilst fishing in the Spring Rudder match last Saturday.

The best Brown weighed 3lb 10oz and was recorded by Steve Crowson of Leicester who was fishing in the Army Angling Association’s Spring Boat competition last Saturday. A number of overwintered fish have been coming out with fish in the 3lb to 7lb category. The popular Tuesday Night Boat League commences on 7 May and runs for 15 weeks. Meet at the Lodge and book in from 5pm for a 6pm start. Open to all with a valid day/evening permit and season ticket holders. Relax with a drink afterwards and the option to purchase food delivered from Sid’s Fish and Chips, Stamford.

Competition News Anglian Water Spring Rudder Match 20 April (leg one of five). This was a good match despite very little wind for this method. First back to the pontoon were match winners Al Owen and Graham Pearson who weighed in 16 fish for 40lb 1oz. Jim Watts and Martin Hearth took second place with 16 fish for 37lb 7¼oz. Alan Taylor and Wayne Windsor took third place with 16 fish for 36lb

5¼oz. The best Rainbow of the match, 6lb 2½oz, was taken by Peter Gover. Another Rainbow worthy of mention was the 5lb ½oz specimen taken by Dan Perks. The best Brown weighed in at 1lb 15oz for Mick Atkinson. 24 Anglers caught 123 fish for a rod average of 5.1.

Army Angling Federation Spring match The Army Angling Federation Spring match took place over two days last weekend. 46 anglers battled for the prizes with Paul Kitchen coming out on top overall with a cracking weight of 48lb 9oz over the two days, well done Paul. The anglers caught well at various areas around the reservoir with Barnsdale, Fantasy Island and the mouth of Whitwell Creek featuring heavily. Sinking lines with lures did the most damage with nymphs and buzzers also taking fish. Rutland Water is the place to be with some anglers claiming the fishing is too easy. Settled conditions should see a few fish on top with fish feeding on many items from Buzzers, corixa, shrimp, hog louse, fry and Zebra Mussels.

Rutland Water continued

Best Rainbow 7lb 7¼oz taken by Gordon Anthony of Whittlesey.

Best Brown 3lb 10oz taken by Steve Crowson of Leicester.

Best methods Bank – Nymphs/buzzers, small lures. Boat – As for bank with various sinking lines with mini lures.

Best boat areas Normanton, Sykes Lane, Barnsdale, Old Hall, Church Bay, Sailing Club.

Best bank areas Normanton Church to Fantasy Island, Sailing Club, Barnsdale, New Zealand Point, Barn Hill Creek.

Fish stocked 3,500.

Mid week boat winnerP McKie of Chadderton, Lancs.

The fishing has remained overall very good, however one or two signs now showing the fish are starting to spread out a bit more, and no longer sitting in tight shoals 15 yards from the bank.

The West Mids Police force had their first match on Draycote Water on Wednesday and 15 anglers managed a rod average of 7 fish per angler, with Rich Watkins weighing in the biggest at 41/4lb.

Mr English had a cracking bag from the bank with two of his four fish being over wintered rainbows weighing 4lb+. J black band recorded the best fish from the bank, a nice rainbow of 5lb. Thirteen bank anglers recorded in excess of a dozen fish each from the bank this last week !

The boats have also continued to fish very well. Mr L Jones had a fantastic day landing 25 fish to the boat with the best two weighing 6lb4oz and 4lb 8oz respectively.  Regular visitor Colin England also had a great day with 20 fish to the boat, the best being 4lb.

The best bank areas have been the North shore, dictated predominantly by the consistent wind direction. Toft Shallows has also produced some big catches, towards the bird hide corner. The tower bank is consistently producing over wintered fish each week.

Boats have produced fish all over the lake, though predominantly Toft Shallows and the North Shore, due to sheltering from the cold winds.

The best methods remain with the lures, however this week has seen a noticeable increase in fish being caught on buzzers, especially red ones. In the more sheltered bays reports of good buzzer hatches have been coming in.

Forthcoming events –

July Saturday 13^th – Rio Master Boat Pairs(fish with your chosen partner) – £1000 tackle prize for 1^st place. Prizes to 10^th place. Entry fee £25 + fishing fees. Friendly competition – everyone welcome. The match will be fished to International Rules.

August 4^th – £1000 pairs boat competition. This is a floating line only match and boat pairings will be drawn on the morning of the event. The winning combined partner’s bag weights will win £1000 cash. Entry fee will be £25pp + normal fishing fees.(Prize fund will be determined by number of entrants)

Sat & Sun 27^th & 28^th July – Lexus Individual International competition. Open to anyone. This is a friendly event and is an ideal icebreaker if you have ever wanted to fish a competition. The individual overall winner at the final wins a top of the range Lexus 4×4.

October 13^th   – £1000 pairs match. This competition will be fished to reservoir rules. Entry fee will be £25 + fishing fees.

To book into any of the above events please call the fishing lodge on 01788812018

The cafe above the fishing lodge opens on Saturday the 27^th, however is opening at 10am, so lunches and snacks will be available throughout the day.

Total number of fish caught 362

Total number of fish returned 878

Total number of rods  184

Rod average 6.7

Tight Lines

Craig Barr

Fish week 129 (season 574) Returns 56 (203) Rod average 2.3 (2.8)

The best fish of the week went to Mick Foster, a fine Rainbow of 8lb 10oz.

With the recent improvement in weather conditions anglers are enjoying some good fishing at Pitsford Water.  Over 10,000 fish have been stocked to date and it will only take a slight rise in temperature to get the fish on the feed and anglers will have a bonanza.

There have been many limits from the bank with Duffers, Stilton,BogBay, and the Cliffs all producing.  The best methods from the bank have been intermediates with black and green lures or black buzzer.  Boat anglers have also been taking good bags of fish with several overwintered specimens in the 4-5lb bracket.  The best boat areas are the Causeway down to Stone Barn and the Pines.

Peter Hartley, Anglian Water’s Head Coach, took four Beginners out to fish the bank at Stone Barn and was delighted that everyone on the course caught a fish, including one gentleman who had a nice Rainbow of 4lb 12oz – not bad for a first trout!

Best Rainbow           8lb 10oz taken by Mick Foster.

Best Brown             4lb plus caught and returned by Mr M Kirkwood.

Best methods           See report.

Best boat areas         Causeway, Pines,FarmBay.

Best bank areas         Cliffs, Rigbys, Stilton.

Fish stocked            2,000.

Grafham Water

Fish week 713 (1461 season) Returns 123 (288)  Rod average 5.79 (5.09)

With a change in the weather over the weekend large numbers of anglers have enjoyed some good fishing at Grafham Water.  The fish are still in fairly close to the bank so the bank anglers along the North shore are having good sport.  The fish are lying quite deep at around 8 – 10 feet down, with the best flies being lures in black and green.

Boat anglers are also enjoying good sport in the same areas along the north shore as well as the Seat and Q buoy.

If the weather continues to warm up the buzzer fishing will start with a vengeance, there have already been some small hatches on the warmer days.

Best methods           See report.

Best boat areas         G Buoy, Willows, Seat and Q Buoy.

Best bank areas         Willows, G Buoy, Deep Water and Pylon Point.

Fish stocked            2,000.

Fish week 86 (season 502) Returns 26 (173) Rod average 3.3 (2.9)

Those brave enough to tackle the weather conditions have been rewarded. Local angler Nick Bartlett fished from a boat at the Coton Car Park area and landed 13 Rainbows. Nick used an intermediate line and a black and green lure.

Mark Hunt decided to fish the buzzers on Sunday and landed five superb Rainbows. Mark fished to the right of the Island, all his fish fell to the point fly. The best fish of the week fell to Steve Tomalin of Kingsthorpe, Northampton. Steve fished from Platform 13 with floating line and a red buzzer and landed a Rainbow of 6lb 8oz – a personal best for Steve.

Best Rainbow 6lb 8oz taken by Steve Tomalin of Kingsthorpe.

Best boat areas Island, Coton Car Park.

Best bank areas Platforms 13 and 4, Dam.

Mid week boat winnerN Bartlett of Bugbrooke, Northants.