- Exceptional sport at Grafham Water for brothers Dave and Des Burgess
Dave nets 45 fish in 5 visits and Des lands 57 fish in 7 trips
- Simon’s 6lb 2oz Brown is best fish of the week at Pitsford Water
Superb Brown for Bourne angler Simon Ashton
www.anglianwater.co.uk/leisure
Rutland Water 01780 686441; Grafham Water 01480 810531;
Pitsford, Ravensthorpe & Hollowell 01604 781350,
Taverham Mills Fishery 01603 861014; Alton Water 01473 589105
Recreation Dept Anglian Water 01572 653021
Rutland Water
Fish week 484 (Season 12,126) Returns 171 (3,247) Rod average 2.83 (3.73)
Anglers have enjoyed a good week at Rutland Water with fish being caught in many areas of the reservoir. Plenty of fish have been taken on a variety of methods, from dries, all the way through to sunk line tactics and lures. Last Saturday a good number of fish were on the surface in the low light conditions, feeding on buzzers, pin fry and daphnia.
Fish are being taken in the bottom of both arms, including Manton Bay, Cattle Trough Bay and Hideaway Bay in the South Arm around to the North Arm with Tim Appleton’s and Dickensons Bay producing plenty of fish. Another productive area was Barnsdale Creek.
Bank anglers caught off the Peninsula, Yellowstones, the Finches and Tim Appletons, whilst Whitwell front to Sykes Lane end of the Dam produced fish with a fair amount of fish feeding on pin fry. There has been very late movement in the settled evenings with fish moving to buzzers and now caenis.
Quality Browns have been showing well with many around the 3lb mark. However, the biggest lived to fight another day when season ticket holders (and long time boat partners) Malcolm Cole and Roy Rayson fished together last Wednesday and Malcolm initially thought he had hooked into weed but then realised that it was a Brown. In Malcolm’s words “it would easily have been a personal best” but nearing the boat the hook came out with the fish slowly disappearing back to the bottom.
Holiday anglers Mr S Cairns and J Munro from Scotland enjoyed some good sport at Rutland Water. The pair, fishing on the popular three day holiday boat package, recorded 49 fish with Rainbows and Browns to 3½lb and plenty of fish in the 2½lb bracket. Peterborough angler Russell Robertson netted a fine 4lb 2oz Brown. John Batter and Gordon Alleyne heard reports that the North Arm was fishing and gave the usual South Arm a miss. The pair were rewarded with some brisk sport with some good conditioned Browns and Rainbows on nymphs.
The best Brown recorded last week fell to David Frogatt, fishing on the first day of the Army Angling Championship. David’s Brown weighed in at 4lb 14oz. Leicester angler Mark Tannerhill boated a very late evening quality silvered, overwintered Rainbow around the 4½ – 5lb mark on Saturday night.
Prospects for the coming week look very good with fish being caught in many areas of the reservoir. The main basin has a huge concentration of Daphnia. However buzzers, snails, shrimp, damsels, pinfry, caenis and damsel nymphs have also showed in stomach contents of the fish taken in other areas.
Competition news
Tuesday Night Boat League
Graham Haywood of Empingham took seven fish to win week four of this popular league. Graham’s seven fish weighed 15lb 15½oz. Mick Bennett took second place, with seven fish for 14lb 3oz. Third place went to Keith Jones with six fish for 11lb 14½oz.
Fished in virtually flat, calm conditions, most of the 14 anglers headed to the main basin and netted 37 fish between them.
Keith Jones leads the league with 29 points, followed by Richard Cooper and Graham Hayward in joint second with 19 points, Ady Naylor is in third with 15 points.
Army Championships
Rutland Water hosted the Army Championships last weekend with a number of quick fire limits being taken in 55 minutes in the main basin. Anglers reported “loads of fish moving through the surface”. Plenty of fish were taken over the three days with 94 rods catching 528 fish for a rod average of 5.61. The Sailing Club, the Main Basin and Barnsdale were among the best areas.
Best methods Bank – nymphs and dries.
Boat – as for bank but also include various blobs, cormorants, boobies etc on various sinking lines and gold/silver
Best Rainbow 4lb 12oz taken by Mark Tannerhill.
Best Brown 4lb 14oz taken by David Frogatt.
Best boat areas The Main Basin, bottom of both Arms, Barnsdale, Sailing Club, Dickensons.
Best bank areas Normanton, Sailing Club, Sykes Lane, Stockie Bay, Finches to Carrot Creek.
Mid week boat winner Roger Gill of Billinghay, Lincoln.
Fish stocked 4,000.
Forthcoming events
Beginners courses 25 June;5,10 & 26 July; 1,13 & 16 August and other dates throughout the season.
Tuesday Night boat league commenced 12 May
EDFA 8 July
Anglian Water Rudder Match 11 July
Grafham Water
Fish week 1,409(season 11,463) Returns 324 (2,632) Rod average 4.34 (4.35)
Anglers have enjoyed some great sport at Grafham Water with a rod average of 4.34 and a lot of fish over 3lb.
Bank anglers have had a good week with the Dam producing the best catch rates, fishing floating lines with buzzers, shrimp patterns, Diawl Bachs and crunchers. Marlow Stones, Deep Water Point, the Willows and Hedge End have been good areas producing fish with the same tactics as those used on the Dam. Season ticket holders Dave and Des Burgess have both had exceptional sport bank fishing the Dam. Dave has caught and released 45 trout in five visits and Des has caught and released 57 fish in seven trips.
Boat anglers have had plenty of bag limits and good sport, especially from the Dam, Willows, G and D Buoys, Valley Creek, Sanctuary Bay and the Seat area. The main method for the boat anglers has been to fish floating or sink tip lines with buzzers, crunchers, diawl bachs, Fabs and Cats Whisker Boobies.
Invicta Tuesday Night Summer Fishing Club
19 anglers fished this week’s round of the boat league. Top rod on the evening was beginner Jason Holtby who caught four trout from TG Buoy on a floating line with a team of buzzers.
English Fly Fishing Association versus Professionals 17 June
32 Anglers fished this competition catching 127 trout for a rod average of 3.97. Top individual on the day was John Hardy fishing for the Professionals. John caught 8 trout for 21lb 5oz. The biggest fish of the match was caught by Mark Mathieson, a member of the Retail team at Pitsford Fishing Lodge, fishing for the Professionals – a fin perfect Rainbow of 4lb 8oz.
1st Professionals 78 trout for 171lb 14oz
2nd EFFA 49 trout for 116lb 7oz
AWAI Midland Heat 20 June
Eight teams of six anglers fished this match catching 273 trout for an excellent rod average of 5.69. Top team on the day was Rio Masters who caught 51 trout for 110lb 4oz. The top individual was Lee Henfry fishing for Rio Masters. Lee weighed in for 31lb 2oz. The best fish of the match was caught by Bart Farmer fishing for Sonik Pitsford Pirates – an overwintered Rainbow of 5lb. The following four teams have qualified for the Midland Final at Grafham Water on 20 July
1st Rio Masters 51 fish for 110lb 4oz
2nd Sonik Pitsford Pirates 39 fish for 91lb 11oz
3rd SKB Fishbums 42 fish for 88lb 2oz
4th Elinor 35 fish for 79lb 4oz
Best Rainbow 5lb 15oz taken by Mick Irons of St Neots.
Best Brown 6lb taken by Kevin King of Colchester.
Best boat areas Valley Creek, G and D Buoys, Dam, Sanctuary Bay, Willows, Seat area.
Best bank areas Marlow Stones, Willows, entire Dam, G Buoy, Deep Water Point, Hedge End.
Best methods See report.
Mid Week Boat Winner Geoff Grave of Milton Keynes.
Notice to all anglers
There are restrictions around the dam tower. These are marked by buoys. Please do not fish or anchor beyond the buoys. There are underwater pipes and equipment which need to be protected.
Forthcoming events
Grafham Water Summer Fishing Club every Tuesday to 1 August.
Beginners courses 27 June;11,17,19 and 23 July; 2,9 and 23 August and other dates throughout the season.
England Qualifier ‘Odds & Sods’ 28 June
AWAI Southern final 12 July
AWAI Midland Final 20 July
Sierra Pairs 2 August
Pitsford Water
Fish week 384 (season 7,180) Returns 83 (1,324) Rod average 4.6 (5.4)
Anglers enjoyed a great evening on Tuesday with the Summer Fishing Club producing a number of good sized fish, including a lovely 4lb plus Brownie taken by Charlie Watts. Terry Bayes and Geraldine Harris were both delighted to land 4lb plus Rainbows.
The best fish of the week was a superb Brown taken by Simon Ashton of Bourne. Simon says “I caught a nice Brown trout from the Sailing Club area on a black buzzer on Friday morning. It weighed in at 6lb 2oz”.
Bank anglers have enjoyed some great fishing this week as the fish have been well in and providing some good sport. Most have been on the buzzer still but fishing daddies, poppers and dries has also met with some success. This is great news for those of our anglers who like fishing this method. The fish have still been well up in the water so floating lines and midge tips have been the answer to finding them.
The week ended with the Julian Davies Pairs Match fished by the Mid Northants Fly Fishers.
22 Anglers caught 120 fish for a rod average of 5.4. The best fish was a fine Rainbow of 4lb 2oz taken by John Mills.
The winning pair was Ashley Cooper and Allan Harding with a bag weight of 22lb 14oz. Don Moore had most fish to the boat with 18. The best method was floating or midge tip lines with teams of nymphs.
Our predator anglers have had a good week – especially Dermot Ogle who had a 20lb Pike and 18lb Pike which he reported to be in great condition. Nathan Andrew, also had large Pike in mint condition weighing 15lb and 13lb 14oz. Kris Rolfe, a regular visitor to Pitsford during the evening, reported some good sized Perch coming to the net.
Best Rainbow 4lb plus taken by Raymond Ellis of Naseby, Northants.
Best Brown 6lb 2oz taken by Simon Ashton of Bourne.
Best boat areas The Gravels, Bog Bay, Stonebarn Bay, North Farm Bay, Brixworth Bay, Sailing Club Bay.
Best bank areas Northfields shore, Stone Barn Bay, Gravels, Duffers, Stilton Point, Gorse and Cliffs.
Best methods See report.
Pitsford Water continued
Mid week boat winner K Richens of Market Harborough.
Forthcoming events
Pitsford Summer Fishing Club
Join us at our weekly fly fishing club for an evening of boat fishing from 5.30pm until dusk every Tuesday evening until 11 August.
All anglers are extremely welcome, especially beginners.
Beginners courses 4,8,18,25 & 31 July; 8 & 22 August and other dates throughout the season.
Second Saturday of each month Pitsford will be offering fly tying tuition, casting coaching and general fishing advice. Call the fishing lodge on 01604 781350 for more information.
Ravensthorpe Reservoir
Fish week 417 (Season 9,113) Returns 69(2,114) Rod average 6.04 (4.3)
Fishing this week has been challenging for some, but there are still huge amounts of fish showing topside feeding on the masses of micro buzzers. Fish are being taken on the dry – as shown by dry fly specialists Dave Naylor and his boat partner Steve Houlton. Last Friday they caught 62 fish between them, all on the dry by drifting and covering the water and moving fish.
Other successful methods include intermediate line with damsel patterns on a slow retrieve.
Bank anglers are also enjoying good sport. The Dam is still fishing well with Ravensthorpe bank regular Alan Duffin catching plenty of good fish.
Don’t miss Ravensthorpe’s Thursday evening fishing club – 6pm to 9pm
Best boat areas Coton End, out from Platforms 13/14, Dam end.
Best bank areas Dam.
Best methods See report.
Mid week boat winner Greg Hartley of Staverton, Northants.
Fish stocked 500.
Forthcoming events Thursday evening Boat fishing club starts 6pm.
