Latest News and Information from

Week ending 20 May 2012

• Grafham Water hosts two great finals …..
Anglian Water Airflo International Individual title goes to
Jos Peters of Belgium

Chris McAllister of Scotland takes Troutmasters Title

• Ravensthorpe Reservoir retains high rod average
of 5.2
Tim Allanson weighs in the best Rainbow at 13lb 4oz.

• Pitsford Water competition news
Soldier Palmers ‘steal a march’ in ‘double quick time’ to secure victory in AMFC match

http://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 1,097 (season 10,851) Returns 412 (2,634) Rod average 2.66 (4.11)
Despite the cold weather last week the fishing at Rutland Water was hot with good numbers of fish coming out from many areas of the reservoir with boat anglers now catching down both arms away from the main basin. This area is still producing fish despite a lot of pressure with numbers of fish in the 4 to 6lb category being caught along with this season’s stock fish.

Amongst the big fish caught was Norfolk angler Bill Coppin who took the best Rainbow of the week at 6lb 12oz. Michael Connor from Weatherby took a 6lb 6oz Rainbow last Friday. Both of these fish came from the bank and fell to buzzers. Bank anglers have fared best with the mouth of Whitwell Creek down to the dam and the dam itself producing good numbers of fish with overwintered fish showing in steady numbers again. Boat angler George Geohegan managed a 6lb Brown fishing in the fire service competition last Wednesday. Local season ticket holder Paul Shaw netted a superb 6lb 4½oz Rainbow whilst practicing for the Vision Pairs match last Saturday from the South Arm.

Fish have been taken away from the Main Basin and anglers venturing away down the arms have been rewarded with fish off the Finches Bank and the Old Hall. Fish are feeding hard on small buzzers and bloodworm, though they seem to be missing out on the bigger varieties of buzzer that are also hatching off at the moment. Daphnia is showing in good numbers of fish, especially ones that have been caught from the main basin.

Bank anglers are catching more fish on nymphs now with the bung method used to great effect whilst weighted lures or boobies continue to take fish. Boat tactics have included the above methods with mini lures cormorants/boobies blobs etc with rudder anglers catching on tube flies as well.

Competition news
Tuesday Night Boat league week 2
Toff Crowther was feeling a little under the weather suffering from a cold last Tuesday, but he found the right remedy by catching 8 fish and winning the second match of this popular boat league. Twelve hardy souls fished on a cold night for a rod average of 3.75.
1st Toff Crowther 8 fish for 18lb ¼oz
2nd Ady Naylor 7 fish for 16lb 4½oz
3rd Geoff Wanless 5 fish for 12lb
The best fish of the night was a superb conditioned 4lb 6oz Rainbow.
Standing in the league so far are –
1st Ady Naylor 17 points
2nd Geoff Wanless 12 points
3rd Toff Crowther 11 points

National Fire Service 2012 Game (pairs) fished Wednesday 16 May
1st C Mallister & M Cordiner 16 fish for 45lb 14oz
2nd S Miniken & N Stainthorpe 14 fish for 37lb 4oz
3rd G Geoghegan & C Morgan 13 fish for 32lb 4oz

Best fish of the competition fell to George Geoghegan a quality 6lb plus brown.
Rutland Water continued

John Wadham Trophy
The excellent results from this three and a half hour evening bank match indicate the continuing quality of the Rutland bank fishing. 18 members of Rutland Water Fly Fishers braved overcast weather with intermittent rain and a cold strong north easterly wind. Fish were caught fairly widely with Peter Gover’s winning catch coming from opposite the Old Fishing Lodge on orange ‘blobs’. The dam was also productive with the three best rainbows coming from here. As is the trend this season most fish were caught on lures. Richard Cooper took the best Rainbow at 4lb 15oz from the dam wall on a black and green lure. Junior member Graham Hayward was again amongst the fish with the second best Rainbow at 4lb 2oz. Only one nil return was recorded.

1st Peter Gover 7 fish for 15lb 7oz
2nd Martin Blakeston 5 fish for 12lb 14oz
3rd Phil Brown 5 fish for 12lb 5oz
4th Richard Cooper 3 fish for 10lb 6oz
5th Mick Stevens 5 fish for 10lb 4oz
6th Graham Hayward 3 fish for 9lb 8oz

Best Rainbow 6lb 12oz taken by Bill Coppin of Norfolk.

Best Brown 6lb plus taken by George Geoghegan.

Best boat areas The main basin, The Finches, Old Hall.

Best bank areas Whitwell through to Sykes Lane, Normanton, the Dam, Old Hall Point.

Best methods See report.

Mid week boat winner Mrs M Curtis of Northborough, Peterborough.

Fish stocked 1,500

Forthcoming events
Beginners courses 2, 6,17, 23 and 29 June and dates throughout the season.
Pike beginners course 26 May
Tuesday Night Boat League commenced 8 May.
Anglian Water Floating line match 9 June
Mid-summer Rudder Match (leg 2 of 3) 30 June

Grafham Water
Fish week 1,483 (season 7,990) Returns 410(1,835) Rod average 3.61(4.35)
With a healthy rod average of 3.61 Grafham Water is fishing well for both bank and boat anglers. Grafham Water hosted two prestigious competitions in the match calendar during the week – the Troutmasters final and the Anglian Water Airflo Individual final – see competition news for full story.

The biggest bag of fish this week was taken by David Graham with a total bag weight of 35lb 8oz. David, from the Netherlands, caught fish of 6lb, and two at 5lb 8oz, with the rest of his 8 fish bag ranging from 5lb down to 2lb 8oz – amazing fishing.

A number of good over wintered fish are showing including a lovely bag of overwintered fish taken by Peter Hartley. Peter was bank fishing at Pylon Point and his best was a Rainbow of 5lb 8oz caught on an intermediate line and a minkie.

The most productive areas for the boat anglers have been Valley Creek, Lodge Frontage, Sanctuary Bay, Church Bay, Rectory Bay and Dam Tower. The two best methods from the boats have been either floating or sink tip lines with black, olive or red buzzers, diawl bachs, gold ribbed hares ear and Dawsons olive, or medium sinking lines with boobies or silver tubes.

Competition news
Anglian Water Airlfo Individual Final
Grafham Water welcomed anglers from all over the UK and Europe to this match on Saturday 19 May. These individuals had all qualified through fishing in the Anglian Water Airflo International team competition at various venues during 2011. The match fished very well with a rod average of 5.5. Jos Peters from Belgium became individual champion with a total match weight including time bonus of 25lb 7oz and a best fish of 3lb 15oz. The best fish on the day weighed 5lb 2oz and was caught by Martin Williams who finished in second place with a total weight of 23lb 13oz. Most of the fish were caught on the north shore and L buoy to Valley Creek.

Troutmasters final 2012
Chris McAllister won the 2012 Troutmasters title at Grafham Water on 14 May. Representing Abedeenshire’s Raemoir Trout Fishery, Chris was one of the few competitors who managed to register catches from both the bank and boat. High winds and heavy rainfall in the days leading up to the match coloured the water. Chris took six fish from the boat before lunch and then went on to take an excellent bag of eight fish from the bank during the afternoon session.

Chris took home the Troutmasters Trophy and a cheque for £500. Second place went to Caiston Trout Fishery’s Tony Lorrimer. Richard Cooper representing Rutland Water took third place.
Full results will be published in Issue 433 of Trout Fisherman magazine.

Best Rainbow 7lb 8oz taken by Kasidit Leoviriyakit.

Best Brown 6lb 8oz taken by David Deerman of Peterborough.

Best boat areas Church Bay, Rectory Bay, Sanctuary Bay, Lodge Frontage, Valley Creek, Dam Tower, Q Buoy.
Grafham Water continued

Best bank areas Hill Farm, Lodge Bank, North Dam

Best methods See report.

Mid week boat winner Peter Hartley of Hitchin.

Fish stocked 2,000

Forthcoming events
Beginners courses 24 May; 3,9,21 and 24 June and dates throughout the season.

Pitsford Water
Fish week 885 (Season 5,579) Returns 234 (1,382) Rod average 3.78(4.03)
Pitsford Water continues to fish very well with many anglers reporting catches of up to 30 fish.

Two Belgian anglers on a holiday package reported 60 fish brought to the boat, fishing teams of buzzers. Jude Tuffs, Part time retail assistant at Pitsford Fishing Lodge, took in excess of 30 fish on intermediate line and mini cats whisker.

On Sunday John and Dan Fletcher had 33 fish to the boat on buzzers. Bank anglers are also catching – the best areas have been Gorse Bank, Pitsford Creek and Gravels.

Methods worth a try have been damsels and sunburst blobs on intermediate lines or crunchers and diawls on midge tip.

Competition news
Association Major Fly Fishing Clubs
On Wednesday the AMFC held a Division 4 match, with anglers reporting Pitsford to have ‘switched on’. A rod average of over 7 was recorded with Soldier Palmers the winners. Fish were reportedly all over the water.

A full field of 30 anglers set out with most having set up on sinking lines with blobs and boobies with the occasional nymph in between. Despite the warmer weather only one or two opted to fish floating lines and buzzers. At the outset half the boats headed for the Gravels and Stone Barn Bay whilst the others headed up the Narrows to the Cliffs, Brixworth Bay and the Pines. Anglers fishing the Gravels soon found fish deep down. Using Di7’s with blobs and a slow stroked retrieve. There were plenty of rods bending very quickly as most boats found these fish drifting along the Gravels towards Stone Barn Bay.

Andy Everett of Soldier Palmers B was the first to catch his 8 fish in double quick time finishing at 11.15 (after only 75 minutes). By 1.00pm there were several boats with one angler already finished.

Pitsford Water Continued

Whilst the boats at The Gravels continued to catch the boats that had headed further up the reservoir were also having some great action on sinking lines with nymphs and buzzers retrieved slowly. The best bags were to come from Pitsford Creek and the Pines area with anglers from Greylags and Foremark coming in later in the day but with heavier bags.

At the end of the day there were 23 limits including the whole teams from Greylags and Soldier Palmers. 30 anglers caught 216 fish for a rod average of 7.2. The average fish size was 2lb 4oz. Dixie Baxter of Foremark Fly Fishers took the best fish at 6lb 4oz.

Al Gryce-Jones of Greylags took the best bag at 27lb 12oz including time bonus,

1st Soldier Palmers 48 fish for 131lb 6oz
2nd Greylags 48 fish for 127lb 14oz
3rd Invicta B 44 fish for 109lb 2oz
4th GWFFA B 41 fish for 100lb 13oz
5th Foremark 35 fish for 86lb 3oz

Best Rainbow 8lb 10oz taken by R Collins

Best Brown 5lb 6oz

Best boat areas North Farm Bay, Gorse, Sailing Club.

Best bank areas Gorse, Pitsford Creek.

Best methods See report.

Mid week boat winner John Maher of Northampton.

Fish stocked 1,750.

Forthcoming events
Beginners courses 1,16, 22 & 30 June and dates throughout the season.

Ravensthorpe Reservoir
Fish week 516 (season 4,347 ) Returns 98 (736) Rod average 5.2(5.9)
Another great week for fishing at Ravensthorpe means we retain a high rod average at 5.2 with several anglers releasing 20 plus fish. The biggest fish this week fell to a white minkie. It was caught from the Dam by Tim Allanson and weighed in at a hefty 13lb 4oz. The fish was in great condition. Another lovely fish came off the dam to season ticket holder Jim Ferguson. Jim tempted the overwintered 9lb 8oz Rainbow on one of his favourites – a hares ear nymph.

It’s busy on the boats at the moment with many anglers travelling to Ravensthorpe to take advantage of our holiday packages so please book boats early to avoid disappointment.

Most anglers are catching on floating lines as the fish are up in the water and green or black buzzers are still the fly of choice. Some anglers are having good results when adding an orange blob to the cast. Also don’t discount minkies or green peas. The flies have accounted for many larger fish this season.

Best Rainbow 13lb 4oz taken by Tim Allanson.

Best boat areas Tall Willow Bay, Coton end and Island to Catwalk.

Bank areas The dam.

Best methods See report.

Mid week boat winner John Rowe from Brixworth.

Fish stocked 250