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Rutland Water
Fish week 396 (Season 23,347) Returns 151 (5,176) Rod average 2.62 (4.51)
A number of limits were caught last week with the boat anglers catching the majority. 4,000 more fish were stocked last week, bringing the total stocked so far this season to 60,000.
The main basin saw good numbers of fish caught, mainly around the aerators. Although a lot of fish taken around the aerators are stock fish, some are over wintered fish. Andy Clarke from Pickering, Yorkshire, returned to the lodge early afternoon with eight Rainbows weighing 22lb 12oz and the best of these was a 4lb 13½oz beauty.
Good sized fish were caught down the arms again. Peter Blythe fished with his regular boat partner Tony Nattrass down the South Arm, catching some good fish, including a Brown estimated between 5½lb-6lb which was safely returned to the water. Robbie Winram also returned a Brown of similar size last Friday whilst drifting off the end of the peninsula.
Keith Jones of Peterborough fished with Cameron Neil and the pair caught quality fish from Manton Bay with Rainbows to around 4½lb with Keith also returning three Browns all around the 4lb mark.
Toff Crowther of Oakham boat fished the top of the North Arm, catching 8 fish and returning to the lodge with a brace of Rainbows for around 7½-8lb.
Bank anglers have not been out in great numbers. There are still plenty of fish around the shoreline; Tim Appletons, Armley Wood, through to Barnhill Creek, along with the Normanton Bank to Fantasy Island and Whitwell frontage to Stockie Bay.
The amount of food in the reservoir this season is amazing with snails, corixa, fry, sticklebacks and shrimp showing in stomach contents. There have been good hatches of small buzzer in late evening, but so far little evidence of fish feeding on them.
Competition news
Tuesday Night Boat League – week 12
13 Anglers fished last Tuesday, recording 65 fish, including many of the recently stocked fish. Top rod on the night was Ady Naylor with 11lb 9¼oz. Ziggy Lesiakowski was second with 11lb 7½oz and Gary Cooper took third place weighing in at 11lb 6oz. Rob Teasdale won the free mid week boat prize with the best fish of the night weighing 3lb 9¾oz.
The current league leader board is
1st Richard Cooper 74 points
2nd Ziggy Lesiakowski 55 points
3rd Adi Naylor 36 points
=4th Keith Jones 31 points
=4th Gary Cooper 31 points
6th Chris Evans 25 points
Rutland Water continued
Prospects are very good. The fresh winds throughout the weekend have broken down the loose weed around the shoreline giving bank anglers a better opportunity in areas such as the Normanton bank.
There are plenty of weed beds around the edges for boat anglers to explore. Dries, nymphs and fry patterns are proving the most effective.
Best Rainbow 4lb 13½oz taken by Andy Clarke of Pickering.
Best Brown Two at 5½-6lb safely returned.
Best boat areas Main basin (aerators), bottom of both arms.
Best bank areas Normanton, Sykes Lane, Armley Wood to Barnhill Creek.
Best methods Bank – Dries, nymphs, fry patterns.
Boat – As for bank but include various lures, blobs, boobies and snakes over the deeper water.
Mid week boat winner Paul Johnson of Sleaford.
Fish stocked 4,000.
Forthcoming events
Sizzling Summer Sale 30% off all rods, clothing and reels* at Rutland, Grafham and Pitsford tackle shops
*Offer does not apply to items currently within a multi buy deal; items showing a reduction greater than 30% will be sold at that offer with no further discount; offer excludes Hardy reels
Beginners courses 13,25 & 28 August; 11,17 & 25 September and other dates throughout the season.
Tuesday Night boat league
Fly fishing for Pike from 16 May (subject to boat availability).
Anglian Water 4 man team Loch Style 17 August
Lexus European Team Final 18-21 August
Predator lure fishing 1 – 30 September
Anglian Water Rudder Match 17 September
Grafham Water
Fish week 176 (Season 16,830) Returns 46 (2,960) Rod average 3.83 (5.69)
Grafham’s rod average is 3.83 with plenty of fish showing closer to the banks. The weather is a little unsettled making fishing more challenging than expected but very rewarding with the right tactics. One angler who really stood out from the crowd this week was Tom Adamson who caught 8 fish, released 7 and landed a lovely 4lb 12oz Rainbow.
Popular areas on the boats this week are Sludge Point and Gaynes Cove, although the Dam, the Middle (drifting), the Seat, West Bank and the boils and bubbles are producing fish. Methods fishing well include tubes on intermediate lines, di7 and di8’s (counted down deep), diawl bachs, lures and floating lines (washing line style) with buzzers or diawl bachs (fishing long leaders). Dry flies are particularly popular over the weedy areas and are a must have from 6pm onwards. These, fished on top of, or just outside the weed, seem to produce more fish than many other methods.
The Dam is again our most popular bank spot. Anglers can get a line into relatively deep water on a short cast to produce those fish feeding on the Dam wall. Shrimp patterns and hares ears are the best flies to use, although patience certainly is the main aim of the game at the moment whilst bank fishing. Wyndams Way pathway has been cleared to allow easier access to Sludge Point. This area is well worth a go if you have your waders with you as casting is tough without them.
Not many fly predator anglers have visited this week, although the few who did caught some nice Zander to double figures. Look for the deeper water to land one of these beauties; they are in numbers and waiting to be caught. There are reports of large pike milling around, but these are playing hard to get at the moment.
For those who enjoy a good breakfast before fishing you must try ours at the Harbour View before you start your day. This can be found above the fishing lodge at Mander car park.
Please bear in mind, particularly during the hot weather, that fish may struggle to go back straight away when released. Please take your time when releasing to ensure fish are safely returned to the water alive.
GWFFA Casting Skills Coaching/ Boat Fishing Skills
Saturday 27 August 1.30pm at Grafham Water Fishing Lodge
Grafham Water Fly Fishers (GWFFA) is hosting a free skills refresher afternoon on Saturday 27 August at the Grafham Water Fishing Lodge. In addition to GWFFA members the club would welcome interest from previous Anglian Water Beginners course attendees who would like to refresh their skills, and members of the public who are interested in taking up the sport.
It’s a great opportunity for those new to the sport to learn the basics of how to cast. Improvers can enjoy coaching on casting style and technique. Mark Brinkman of GWFFA says “We will also have a selection of rod sizes, weights and line styles for you to try your hand with. Different casting styles are often needed to get the best out of the rods and lines. If you have your own tackle please bring it as we can complete a line/balance check for you. It is also good to try out new techniques on the equipment you normally use”.
There may be an opportunity to go out with an experienced GWFFA member for an afternoon’s boat fishing skills coaching. This will be on a limited basis with a small charge of £5.00 as towards the cost.
As GWFFA wishes to give personal tuition in small groups the numbers are limited.
Please book your place by emailing chairman@gwffa-grafham.co.uk with you name, contact details and if possible give an idea of the skills coaching you would like.
Best Rainbow 4lb 12oz taken by Tom Adamson.
Best boat areas West bank, Sludge Point, Gaynes Cove, the Dam, Willows, B Buoy to G Buoy (drifting) and the Seat.
Best bank areas The Seat and north and south Dam, Plummers.
Best methods See report.
Mid week boat winner Richard Anniss of Ingateson.
Fish stocked 2,000.
Forthcoming events
Sizzling Summer Sale 30% off all rods, clothing and reels* at Rutland, Grafham and Pitsford tackle shops
*Offer does not apply to items currently within a multi buy deal; items showing a reduction greater than 30% will be sold at that offer with no further discount; offer excludes Hardy reels
Beginners courses 14 & 21 August; 4,18 & 28 September and other dates throughout the season.
Fly fishing for Pike from 16 May (subject to boat availability)
Predator lure fishing 1 – 30 September
Lure Anglers 1 September
Lure Anglers 4 September
EYFA Youth National 11 September
Troutmasters Final 19 September (no bank or boat fishing available for non competitors
Lure Anglers 25 September
Pitsford Water
Fish week 222 (Season 12,116) Returns 55 (2,078) Rod average 4.0(5.8)
It’s proved to be a memorable week at Pitsford with the best Rainbow of the season falling to Phil Jordan. Phil has been fishing Pitsford regularly and was rewarded with a superb 11lb 8oz Rainbow on Sunday (pictured). This weekend was also the inaugural Pitsford Kayak Grand Slam which was a great success – see Competition News.
Pitsford has been in fantastic form for August with a rod average of four. Phil Jordan’s 11lb 8oz Rainbow was a stunning specimen and the best of the season so far. Phil has been fishing Pitsford regularly and concentrates his efforts on picking out the better fish. He was rewarded on Sunday with a 30 minute battle and a fin perfect monster Rainbow which he returned to the water alive. The fish was tempted by a Hares Ear pattern fished on a floating line.
Other notable catches this week included Mr Middleton and Mr Vincent-Piper who both enjoyed a great day bringing 21 fish to the boat on small orange blob and sawyer buzzers. Mark Draper had great success with his antique rod, bringing 30 fish to the net.
The best of the fishing is to be had by boat from the main reservoir basin and by the dam. Anchored and drifting boats have both scored and the fish are mostly up in the top three feet or so.
The bank fishing has been more difficult but fish can still be caught in the right conditions. It is best to set the alarm clock early and attempt to arrive at sun rise as this is the time when the fish are feeding in close and they can be tempted on dry flies. Try the Gravel Bank and Sailing Club bank.
Best methods have been washing line or straight line; crunchers, hares ear and diawl bachs with some type of attractor such as orange blob or mini booby. In the right conditions fish are also being taken on dry flies such as crippled midge or hopper tied parachute style.
The predator fishing has been a challenge this week and only a few smaller pike are coming to the lures. The best tactics are to keep mobile and work as many weed beds and features as possible. Perch have also been quite elusive with mainly small fish or under 1lb in weight being caught regularly.
Competition news
Pitsford Kayak Grand Slam 6-7 August
Saturday and Sunday saw the first Pitsford Kayak Grand Slam event which was a great success.
Some fantastic prizes were up for grabs with the winner claiming a brand new Predator 13 Kayak which was very kindly provided by Bainbridge International. The event saw 28 kayak anglers take to Pitsford Water in a quest to catch, measure and photograph three predatory species; Pike, Pitsford Water continued
Perch and Brown or Rainbow trout. The longest combined length of the three species won the slam.
Good kayak fishing conditions on Saturday meant the anglers got to grips with most species, fishing mainly with spinning, jigging and drop shot tactics. Sunday brought some windy conditions which made paddling quite a challenge but most soldiered on to the end.
Although no monster fish were caught eight anglers managed to achieve the slam with many others catching two species. This was a great result and we look forward to establishing this as an annual event at Pitsford.
Dates for your diary include Pitsford’s popular Evening Summer fishing club which runs every Tuesday up to 9 August.
Mid Northants Trout Fishers Association meets at Pitsford Lodge on the second Saturday of the month with fly tying, casting tuition and friendly advice on all fishing matters.
Best Rainbow 11lb 8oz taken by Phil Jordan.
Best Brown 4lb approx.
Best boat areas The Dam, Main Basin, mouth of Pitsford Creek
Best bank The Gravels, Sailing Club bank, Cliffs.
Best methods See report.
Mid week boat winner Mark Draper.
Sizzling Summer Sale 30% off all rods, clothing and reels* at Rutland, Grafham and Pitsford tackle shops
*Offer does not apply to items currently within a multi buy deal; items showing a reduction greater than 30% will be sold at that offer with no further discount; offer excludes Hardy reels
Pitsford Water continued
Forthcoming events
Evening Summer Fishing Club – Tuesday evening
Lure fishing and fly fishing for Pike from 16 May
Lure fishing for trout (boat only) July & August
Beginners courses 12 & 27 August; 3,16 & 21 September and other dates throughout the season.
EFFA Match 1 September
Round 5 AMC Group 1 4 September
EFFA Match 8 September.
East Midland FF Match 11 September
Polish Lure Anglers Match 17 September
Lure Anglers Society Match 8 October
MNTF Match 9 October