Anglian Water Fly Fishing July 13th, 2021

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Latest News and Information from

Week ending 11 July 2021

http://www.anglianwaterparks.co.uk

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
Mixed weather conditions resulted in some varied fishing last week. Strong south westerly winds gave way to light or even no wind at all throughout the week.
Tactics of dry fly in some areas whilst lure/nymph combinations have been accounting for fish. Manton Bay, Cattle Trough and Hideaway Bay provided a fair deal of sport on dry fly, with bigger than usual size 10’s working on some days and 14/16’s working on others.
Wednesday 7 July was a good day with quality fish falling to dry fly. The aerators are as usual holding good numbers of fish with a mixture of lures/nymphs and even dries (fished down the slicks) working well.
Bank fishing is proving very rewarding as there are very good numbers of fish feeding close in on either shrimp, snails and this year’s fry. Some fish are within a few feet of the shoreline in many areas so there is no need to wade. Dries have generally worked for these fish. However, it is noticeable that Terns are feeding on fry around 1½ to 2 inches so small floating fry are worth a go. Be prepared to work the bank to go in search of these fish.

Tuesday night boat league 2021
Week 9
Gary Cooper had a great night catching a total of 15 fish. Gary also had the best fish on the night, a 3lb 2½oz Rainbow that also earned him a free boat voucher. Amassing a total of 15 points on the night Gary stands in the lead with a total of 45 points.
Fishing prospects look very good with many areas providing fish with various tactics working with surface feeding fish falling to a mixture of dry flies. Whilst nymphs, diawl bach, pheasant tail (cruncher) lures, boobies, blobs, tubes etc are working for some people.

Forthcoming events
Tuesday Evening boat league – please ask at the lodge for more details
EFFA (by invitation) 21-22 July

Grafham Water
Rod average 2.38
Grafham Water is experiencing typical fishing conditions for the time of year; with some days of bright skies and very warm weather. So with rising water temperatures the fish swim to the deeper water away from the shore. This has resulted in some challenging bank fishing. In addition a vast quantity of water has been pumped in from the River Ouse, raising the levels far higher than usual for the time of year at Grafham. This is going to influence the behavior of the fish.
Grafham experienced fantastic sport both from the bank and from boats when we re-opened for fishing in April and continued with glowing reports from the many anglers who visited, right through to May. Many high catches were reported with comments like “30 to the boat”, “28 to the boat”, “6lb Brown trout, 8lb Rainbows”; “The best period I have known at Grafham”. It’s disappointing that we aren’t currently experiencing as many red letter days.
35,000 quality trout from three highly regarded fish farms have been stocked so far at Grafham since January. Fewer matches and last year’s Lockdown mean that the water is full of fish; it’s just a question of working out which method to use, what fly to present and with a little patience you will be handsomely rewarded. One such angler took a boat out on Wednesday. He hadn’t fished Grafham in 10 years but knew the water extremely well having fished with us frequently since the sixties. He returned with 6 quality rainbows. He didn’t have a FAB in his fly box and wasn’t even sure what one was! His success was as a result of going back to his old haunts, fishing a 20 foot leader with a ptn on a single dropper and a lightly dressed damsel on the point. “It was just like it used to be in the eighties” was his comment.
So for the time being you will probably need to hire a boat and fish the deeper water with a long leader and mix it up with your choice of fly. Look for something different in your fly box and vary your choice of pattern and fly. Maybe the trout have got wise to seeing the same fly presentations, especially if they have been caught and released a few times. Don’t be despondent, work out what needs to be done and come and have some fun. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Pitsford Water
Fish week 217 (Season 7,642) Returns 45 (1,167) Rod average 4.8 (6.5)
Pitsford has fished to a rod average of 4.8 this week. The changing weather conditions have called for changes in tactics. When overcast the fish will respond well to dries. In bright, sunny conditions the fishing is more challenging. The fish have not gone deep, but a slow intermediate or neutral density line and nymphs is the best approach in these conditions.
The best areas to try are the Narrows, Main Basin, Dam and Small Half. Dries such as Big Red, Midas, Crippled Midge and Bob’s Bits are all working. Foam Daddies will catch, as will small Diawl Bachs fished on a washing line. If the wind gets up then fishing lures on intermediate lines will catch.

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