- Fantastic season continues
Pitsford Brown of 9lb
Ravensthorpe rod average is 8.8
Grafham rod average 7
Rutland rod average 6.6
- Tuesday Night Boat Leagues coming soon….
Rutland
starts 9 May call 01780 686441
Grafham (in conjunction with Invicta) starts 16 May call 01480 810531
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 2,151(season 10,402) Returns 322 (1,346) Rod average 6.68(7.72)
It’s been another fantastic week at Rutland Water with fish being caught in many areas, from the bottom of both arms right through to the main basin.
Multiple catches are being reported every day. Anglers seeking overwintered fish, rather than catching in large numbers, have been rewarded with fin perfect Browns and Rainbows of over 6lb and 5lb respectively. One angler doing just that was Toff Crowther who netted 8 fish for 27lb 4oz, including Rainbows up to 5lb 2oz. Toff has had seven fish over 5lb already this season.
Keith Jones is another angler experiencing a great season and has landed three fish over 6lb so far. This week Keith netted a Brown of 6lb 4½oz (returning another even bigger Brown) and added seven quality Rainbows for a bag weight of 29lb 12oz. Boat angler Iain Barr returned a Brown estimated around 6½oz. Both Keith and Iain boat fished the bottom of the Arms.
On the bank Nigel Savage caught and returned a 5lb 2oz Brown which fell to a slowly fished fry pattern off the Dam wall. Big Browns have been found in many areas plus there are good Rainbows in the 3-5lb range starting to show.
Fish are feeding hard on the heavy hatches of buzzer. However, some of the big fish are feeding in great numbers on snails.
Anglers are travelling from far and wide, including Aberdeenshire, the north east, Lancashire and Wales. Recently a group from the Leeds Fly Dressers Guild enjoyed a great day at Rutland with plenty of fish. Our three day boat packages are very popular. Six members of the Fly Tiers Club of Flanders travelled from Belgium and enjoyed three days of top fishing at Rutland with some superb Browns and Rainbows. Rutland Ranger Nigel Savage met up with the group organiser, Bruno Jannes, and offered some topical tips on fishing Rutland. Bruno said his group were very impressed with the fishing and they plan a return trip in September.
Last weekend the reservoir was busy and it was very rewarding to know that all 80 boats contained pleasure anglers, with no competitions whatsoever, a great testament to how well Rutland is fishing.
Many areas of the reservoir are producing fish with boats accounting for fish from the bottom of the Arms, Old Hall, Yellowstone, Sailing Club, the Main Basin, Church Bay and Barnsdale. Bank anglers caught fish from Yellowstone, Old Hall, Sailing Club to New Zealand Point, Barn Hill Creek, the Dam and Normanton.
A reminder that the popular Tuesday Evening Boat League starts on 9 May. Please call Rutland Fishing Lodge on 01780 686441 for more information.
Best Rainbow 5lb 2oz taken by Toff Crowther.
Best Brown 6lb 4½oz taken by Keith Jones.
Best boat areas Bottom of either arm, Yellowstones, Old Hall, Sailing Club, Barnsdale, the Main basin, Church Bay.
Best bank areas Normanton, Sykes Lane, Peninsula, Old Hall, Yellowstone, Barn Hill, Carrot Creek and East Creek.
Best methods Bank – floating lines with buzzers, nymphs and dries on calm days.
Boat – as for bank, include midge tips, some using various sinking lines with large and small lures.
Fish stocked 2,000.
Midweek boat winner Martin Blakeston of Corby.
Forthcoming events
Beginners courses 22 & 27 April; 7, 13, 19 & 26 May;3, 14 & 18 June and other dates throughout the season.
Tuesday Night boat league commences 9 May
Dave Hodgson Memorial 7 May
Bob Church Classic 14 May
Anglian Water Rudder Match 20 May
EFFA 6 June
Anglian Water Floating Line 10 June 01780 686441
EDFF 5 July 01780686441
Grafham Water
Fish 1,338 (season 8,682) Returns 191 (849)Rod average 7.0(10.2)
Anglers have enjoyed another cracking week at Grafham Water with a rod average of 7 and many anglers are catching their bag limits.
The buzzer hatches at Grafham have been incredible this week and buzzers are the best method for catching your bag. Black with orange cheeked have been deadly fished on washing line as well as on straight droppers, on both floating line and midge tip. Olive buzzers and diawl bachs have been very effective and on calmer days bung fishing has also been very successful.
Boat anglers are achieving great results fishing all along the North shore, both drifting and anchoring. Large numbers of fish are being caught in Pig Bay, Hedge End, Church Bay and Deep Water Point. Towards the end of the day it is also worth heading up into Savages, or just off Mander Car Park where the fish have been switching on in those last couple of hours. Fish are being caught at various depths, from surface to 12 feet down.
The bank has been a bit tougher although there are still plenty of fish to be had. With the Stone Jetty at Marlow fishing very well, also the north end of the Dam, the Harbour Arms and the bank west of G Buoy fishing extremely well.
Once again we have had reports of fantastic fishing from anglers. Some of these names will be very familiar – Steve Jones continues to have a fantastic season catching 59 fish over two days. Chris Bobby is also in excellent form, landing the best fish of the week, this time a 5lb 15oz Brown caught in the floating line match which was fished last Saturday. Other great bags came from William Crawford, who also caught a 5lb Brownie, and Stan Studdick who had a stupendous day catching 26 fish.
Competition news
Snowbee Floating Line match organised by Invicta.
18 teams of four anglers supported this match, catching 397 fish for a rod average of 5.5. Well done to Paul Mitchell who took top rod with a bag weight of 22lb 4oz, including time bonus. Congratulations to Greenwell Persuaders who won the match.
On Friday 28 April Grafham will host the Angling Trust England National final qualifier. This promises to be an exciting day with the finals being held at Rutland Water on 2 and 3 September. The Bob Church Open will be fished at Grafham on 30 April – some places still available – please call 01480 810531 to find out more.
Grafham’s Tuesday Night Boat League will run again this year in conjunction with INVICTA. Starting on 16th May and finishing on 15th August there will be 14 weeks of evening boat fishing (every Tuesday – 5.30pm start – 10pm finish). The retail shop will also be open for an extra 30 minutes for any anglers wanting to purchase any tackle
Grafham Water continued
Best Rainbow 5lb taken by Mr Turner.
Best Brown 5lb 15oz taken by Chris Bobby.
Best boat areas Pig Bay, Hedge End, Deep Water Point and Church Bay.
Best bank areas Harbour Arms, Stone Jetty, North of the Dam and the bank West of G Buoy.
Best methods See report.
Mid week boat winner Joe McGuire.
Forthcoming events
Tuesday night boat league in conjunction with Invicta
Starts 16 May and runs to 15 August. 5.30 pm start – 10pm finish
Beginners courses 30 April; 21 & 25 May; 4, 10, 17 & 29 June and other dates throughout the season.
England Eliminator 28 April 01480 810531
Bob Church Open 30 April 01480 810531
Anglers World Individual 13 May John Horsey
Sport Fish Team Heat 14 May John Horsey
EFFA ProAm 15 June 01480 810531
Anglian Water Airflo Midland Heat 17 June 01572 653021
Scierra Pairs 8 July Phil Dixon
Pitsford Water
Fish 684 (season 3,074) Returns 135 (561)Rod average 5.06(5.47)
Pitsford’s anglers have had a fantastic week. It’s unlikely that any other water is producing quality grown on fish of the stamp that is coming out at Pitsford. Following the capture of the 14lb Brown last week, the water has again produced Browns of 9lb and two between 5-6lb (all returned). Rainbows up to 5lb are also being caught in good numbers. The rod average for the week is 5 with the season average at 5.5.
Notable catches include a great three days for Dave Jarvis who enjoyed our holiday package. Dave caught over 67 fish with Rainbows up to 4lb, fishing buzzers around Stone Barn and Gravels.
David Hoppe fished the Troutmasters Fish Off on Saturday and won with 8 fish for 19lb 10oz. He fished a practice session on Friday and landed possibly his biggest ever reservoir Brown trout. Although Dave didn’t weigh this fish he estimated it to be around 9lb. Soon after Dave caught his big fish season ticket holder Graham Hutchings caught a Brown of around 5-6lb, from a stretch of Sailing Club Bay, close to where the larger fish was taken. Both fish were returned.
On Thursday the English Fly Fishing Association had a boat match. 32 anglers caught 185 fish for a rod average of 5.7. Gordon Alleyne caught 185 fish for a rod average of 5.7. Gordon had the best bag with 8 fish for 17lb 12oz. Phillip Church caught the best fish of the match a Rainbow of 3lb 10oz.
Mid week boat winner Mr McCann
Forthcoming events
Anglian Water rudder match 6 May 01604 781350
England Eliminator 28 May 01604 781350
Anglian Water Airflo International Midland heat 3 June 01572 653021
Beginners courses 11,14 & 20 May; 11, 24 & 30 June and other dates throughout the season.
Ravensthorpe Reservoir
Fish 475 (season 5,144) Returns 60 (586)Rod average 7.7 (8.8)
Ravensthorpe continues to fish well with another week of superb fishing. Buzzer fishing continues to be the top method. Anglers fishing static or a really slow retrieve, are finding black or olive buzzer is the best colour.
Mr Heseltine and his boat partner had 29 fish to the boat on Thursday using black buzzer and floating line.
Charlie Watts had 30 fish to the boat, again on black buzzer.
The bank is producing some nice fish with buzzers and nymphs working well. Mike Osgood had a nice Rainbow of around 4lb from Platform 14.
Best Rainbow 4½lb taken by K Daykin.
Best boat areas Coton End, Causeway.
Best bank areas Platforms 11 and 12.
Best methods See report.
Mid week boat winner Chris Young of Northampton.
