own two hands.
The Original Westlow Mere Web Site.
"One thing becomes clearer as one gets older and one's fishing experience increases, and that is the paramount importance of one's fishing companions"
-John Ashley-Cooper
Latest Fishing News
It's good to see even in the challenging weather that Trout Fishing venues are giving catch returns so the angler has a good understanding of prevailing conditions on the waters before venturing out.
Blithfield Reservoir Trout Fishery
During the early hours of today, 6th July, we were visited by some incredibly unpleasant people who made off with 14 boat engines from a locked storage area. Most of the engines are black Tohatsu 4 stroke outboards and there are some white Yamaha 4 stroke outboards. We have serial numbers for all engines and would like to see them safely recovered. If anyone has any information please contact Staffordshire Police quoting call ref. 123 of the 06/07/2017 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111
North Wales Country Fair
I will also do some fly tying. I had a great time over the weekend, thanks for all the good wishes to get to full heath, much appreciated. I will give a brief account of how things went when I get over the weekend and the 60 people who left their email Address, I will be in touch next week at the latest. |
Eyebrook yesterday with the surface water temperature falling anglers enjoying excellent top of the water sport with a rod average 7.6
With the cooler forecast we should see the Brook enjoy excellent top of the water sport this weekend. Call the lodge 01536772930
Blithfield.
Rod average 3.14
Blithfield Reservoir Angling Report
For the week ending 16th July 2017
Dry flies produce the best results...
As we approach the less productive period of the fly fishing year it is encouraging to report a rod average over 3.
As usual dry fly tactics are proving the most productive but specimen browns and rainbows have been seen ‘bashing’ the coarse fish fry shoals over deeper water (a tip here is to look out for gulls feeding on the injured and distressed victims of the trout’s feeding frenzy).
The weekly stocking policy has built up a considerable head of fish and with planned weekly stocking set to continue until the end of September the prospects for back-end sport are predicted to be excellent.
Noteworthy returns this week include on the 10th for Permit holders and regular boat partners Mr. Brian Jones and Mr. Graham Wood with 15 fish to their boat mainly caught on dry fly patterns. On the 11th Season Permit holder Mr. Bob Grady fished from the banks and recorded his 8 fish bag limit, mainly caught on fry imitations with his best fish being a feisty 3lb rainbow trout. Visiting rod Mr. Geoff Stanley enjoyed some good sport from a boat on the South Lake on the 12th by using a team of 4 dry flies to return a total of 10 fish, most of them caught on a Shipman’s Buzzer. The 13th saw a slight improvement in conditions with several creditable returns – Season Permit holder Mr. Trevor Horton fished from, a boat for few hours and recorded a bag of 8 fish, all caught on dry flies from the South Lake ; visiting rod Mr. Malcolm Rough also took a boat out on the South Lake and returned a total of 12 fish caught on nymphs and Daddy Long Legs patterns ; visiting rod Mr. Neil Barlow was another angler who enjoyed some good sport from a boat using dry flies with a total of 11 fish recorded ; the same day saw a group of keen anglers from the Cheshire Police Fly Fishing section (along with 2 anglers from Lancashire Police) visit the reservoir for a day out. The fish responded well to the tactics deployed and the rod average for the meeting was a very respectable 6.35. On the 14th the afternoon produced some further good sport with visiting rods Mr. Steve Cooper and Mr. Paul Hargreaves fishing together from a boat and returning a total of 14 fish. Further decent returns came on Saturday 15th ,despite the rain and humidity, with Season Permit holder Mr. Phil Sadler recording a total of 9 fish to his boat using dry fly patterns whilst rounding off the week on the 16th was Season Permit holder Mr. Pat Burton who fished from a boat on the South Lake for just 4 hours in the evening and returned a total of 9 fish, all caught on hoppers and Daddy Long Legs imitations.
A reminder this week that boat angling is currently the most popular method and therefore anglers are advised to book in advance to secure a boat for their visit.
The rod average is 3.14
Here's the full report in summary :
• Current Rod Average at Blithfield is 3.14
• Best Areas - South Lake drifts across the centre of the South Lake ; Old Man’s ; drifts across the mouth of the Concrete Bowl North Lake drifts from 100 yards off Beech Tree Point towards the causeway
• Best Dries - fiery brown , claret or red hopper ; red shuttlecock CdC ; small Daddy Long Legs ; orange bodied Daddy Long Legs ; red or orange Shipman’s Sugar Lump
• Best Wets/Nymphs - black buzzer ; emerger ; pearly Pheasant Tail ; pearly Diawl Bach ; black gnat
• Best Lures - fry patterns ; sparkle booby
• Best Fish This Week - shared, 3lb rainbow trout, a) Mr. Bob Grady, caught from the banks of the South Lake on a fry pattern ; b) Mr. Michael Cope caught from a boat on the South Lake on a Shipman's buzzer
Clair Pullinger; more here
New post on Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing
Elite Performance Programme
by teffpressofficer
For the last 12 months AT TEFF have been considering a new approach to help Team England achieve its goal of becoming the number one fly fishing nation in the world. We have developed the following proposal that would see significant changes to the current competition structure.
The Elite Performance Programme would cover the three principle disciplines of Fips-Mouche Championships; River, Boat and Bank. Fips-Mouche rules and scoring system will be adopted and placing points will be aggregated to build a league table. Our intention is to hold heats at suitable venues throughout England between November and July each year for selection into the following year’s teams.
The conclusion of the 2017/18 programme will provide AT TEFF with teams for the 2019 World Championship in Tasmania and the European Championship in Montenegro.
The proposal has been published on the website to provide anglers with an insight to the current thinking, it is for information purposes only, at this stage it is only a proposal and AT TEFF will make a final decision in due course
Thanks
Ben
Ben Thompson, Senior Competitions & Performance Manager, Angling Trust
AT TEFF Elite Performance Programme explained: Elite Perforemance Programme explained FINAL
AT TEFF Elite Performance Programme fact sheet: AT TEFF Elite Performance Programme Fact Sheet FINAL
AT TEFF International Committee (AT TEFFIC) Selection Policy: AT TEFFIC Selection Policy FINAL
Stocks Reservoir.
DATE: Tuesday 27th June
REPORT AUTHOR Pete
NOTABLE CATCHES: 6 Trout for Graham and Gary Powers, 5 trout for Colin Gibbons
NOTABLE BAG: 5 trout for 36lb 12oz for Colin Gibbons
BEST RNB: 11lb 8oz,11lb 6oz and 9lb 8oz Colin Gibbons, 11lb 4oz Gary Powers
BEST BROWN:
BANK ROD AV: 3.00 fish per angler
BOAT ROD AV: 5.00 fish per angler
Sport: A wet n windy day here at stocks but this didn’t deter some hardy anglers and for one in particular it was definitely worth the trip, more of that later. From the bank Eugene Mole was up to take part in the NW Police Bank Championships this is an informal competition where the anglers have to legs one in June one in September where they just pick a day to come fishing and weigh what they catch. Eugene managed 2 fish for 4lb. Also on the bank Season ticket holde Jeff Day had 3 fish from Bell Point on a blob fished on a midge tip. Bob Croft was out on a boat and managed 3 fish. But top rod by a clear mile today was Colin Gibbons who landed five fish for an incredible bag weight of 36lb12oz included in this haul were fish of 9lb8oz, 1 1lb 6oz and 11lb 8oz the fish were caught at two trees and Davy Jones on and orange blob fished on a di5. The best catch also came from the boats father and son combo Graham and Gary powers that landed 12 fish to the boat including another double figure fish of 11lb 4oz for Gary their top pattern was a pearly PTN and the Causeway and Two Trees were their best areas. See you out there Pete
Full Report Here.
Scierra Pairs
The Scierra Pairs carries the highest prize fund in British competition fly-fishing.
It is the competition giving value to everyone, with prizes at every heat in addition to the final.
The format allows a pair of anglers entering to fish in the same boat. Restrictive rules are kept to a minimum and the competition allows all flies permitted by the fishery.
Heat dates for Scierra Pairs.
LLY TRAWSFYNYDD – SATURDAY 29TH JULY
STOCKS RESERVOIR – SUNDAY 6TH AUGUST
GRAND FINAL LLYN BRENIG SUNDAY 27TH AUGUST!!
All heats are subject to a minimum of 5 pairs
More info Here.
This week on Clywedog
Latest Fishing News 13th July
Weekly Stock: 1000
Total Seasons Stock: 21000
Llyn Clywedog report 13th July Weekly stock 1000 Season to date 21000 Clywedog has continued to produce the goods this week when other waters are suffering from the effects of the warm summer. Last weekend we hosted the Eliminators for the senior Welsh team 488 fish were caught with a rod average 10.1 over the 2 days. Top rod on day 1 was Tim Llewellyn with 33 fish! from the cages area second was Stuart Pickard with 20 fish also from cages area. Day 2 top rod was Terry Llewellyn with 19 fish from Dinas point just ahead of Pete Thurnall also with 19 fish from the Bigga arm. Best areas were Bigga arm and the cages area tactics ranged from midge tip to Di 3 flies seemed to be small boobies or fabs with cormorants.
Full Report Here
Eyebrook Reservoir
Weekly Rod Average: 2.01
Eyebrook Reservoir
Weekly report ending
Tel: 01536 772930 Fishery Mobile: 07738 490667
Weekly Stats: 16-7-17
Number Rods: 110 Number Trout Taken:81 Number Trout Released:140 Total Catch:221
Weekly Rod Average; 2.01
A ‘Challenging’ start to the week. Bright conditions with little or no wind at times, and water temperatures of 22.5 degrees made it hard for even the most experienced of anglers. Conditions did improve into the latter half of the week and weekend. Water temperature has now fallen to a much more preferred 19 degrees and fish are in and around the surface. Nymphs fished in the top 4 feet working best at the moment, along the lodge bank. Dogwood, The Belle and Hawthorns are holding a lot of fish. There are a few fish up in the shallows around The Cow Shed which seems to produce the better fish at the moment. When conditions are right dries are catching fish. The favourite yellow Owl CDC accounting for a lot of fish this week.
Full ReportHere.
Draycote Water
Weekly Rod Average: 3.4
Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 16th July 2017
Melvin Severn with a fantastic 8lb Draycote brown caught on a pink snakes on the rudder.
Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 16th July 2017
Telephone 01788 812018
As I’m sure you are all aware, the weather has been very changeable this week. The fishing was good from the boats to start with, flattened out through the middle of the week, and then slowly improved as we headed into the weekend. The colder evenings have helped lower the surface temperature a bit, as has the odd shower or two, but the surface temperature is still hovering around 19’c. All week we have been dogged by changing wind directions. This has unsettled the fish and also spread the brown algae bloom throughout the reservoir, colouring the water from one end to the other. As I write this report visibility is around 8 feet or so. All this does not give the anglers much confidence, but again those who keep on the move and vary their tactics should finish the day having had some good sport. Generally, most fish are still being caught in the top few feet of the water, with a washing line and nymphs, or a team of dries being the best methods. The bank angling is still sporadic, (well it is July), and at this time of year we all know that reservoir fly fishing is a game of patience.The weekly rod average was 3.4.
On Monday we had a limited number of rods with very varied results. Mr N and Mr M Woolnough did really well on small CDC’s and green buzzers, netting 26 fish from a boat. Draycote regular Mr Steve Barby Had a “Great day” , catching 19 fish, again from a boat. Season permit holder Mr Ed Douglas spent all day out in the boat and netted over 50 fish, 10 of which fell to dries.
Full ReportHere
Foremark
Weekly rod average is 1.4
Foremark weekly report week ending 16th July 2017
Telephone Number: 01283 703202
Whilst the weather has significantly changed and has been variable this week the water temperature has changed from the low twenties by a few degrees to bottom at eighteen degrees centigrade. Hence the impact to the fishing has been marginal with no significant improvement and the fishing continues to be difficult.
The week saw a total of 76 rod visits with a total catch of 103 equated to a weekly rod average of 1∙4, the same as the previous week’s. It has been particularly difficult for the bank anglers and although the water level has dropped affording easier access the fish tend to be in the deeper water and hence the boat angler has recorded the highest returns; the hot spots being the aerators/’boils’ and the cascade. All anglers have been frustrated since the fish have been chasing the flies but they will not take the fly that enables an effective hook up or will just nip at the fly without effecting a connection. In the evening, the perch have been actively chasing the pin fry in the margins which bodes well for the future.
Full ReportHere
Thornton
Thornton weekly report week ending 16th July 2017
Rod Average .9
Tel: 01530 230807
70 acre
Our water temperature last Monday started high, at 7.30am we recorded a surface temperature of 22 degrees, by the latter half of the week it had dropped to 19 degrees before climbing upwards on Sunday. This morning 16th July it’s back to 19 degrees.
Our water temperature is always taken 18inch below the surface between 7.30am & 8.00am every morning.
Not surprising therefore on Monday & Tuesday of last week we advised our customers to fish Foremark or Draycote & make the most of their aerators.
Wednesday the first rods ventured out with Russ Martin fishing his wet wickhams pattern taking 3 fish by 12.30pm. Richard Price boated 3 for his morning’s session taking his fish on an olive buzzer and minky.
Saturday provided the best of the fishing with a variety of patterns and methods taking fish. Phil Mee fished a booby on an intermediate to take his 3 fish, Paul Martindale fished the washing line to take 2 and lose a further 2 fish. Mark Hunt was convinced that the drifting boat gave him the edge swapping between a dry hopper & cormorant pattern to take his 5 fish with Brian Sibley taking 4 fish to 3lb8oz
Full ReportHere.
Day Permit Loyalty Card.
At Draycote, Thornton, Foremark and Eyebrook
Pick up a Loyalty Card at Thornton, Draycote or Foremark and now Eyebrook lodges, once you have purchased 10 of the same day permit you receive your 11th visit free, our loyalty card can be used at any of our three reservoirs.
1 Fish Kill + Catch & Release £17.50
4 Fish Kill + Catch & Release £23.00
8 Fish Kill + Catch & Release £29.00
Our Popular Last 4 hour Permit, fish the evening rise
1 Fish Kill + Catch & Release £10.00
Local Weather Station 4.5 miles away Here.
Fisherman's Prayer
I pray that I may live to fish
Until my dying day.
And when it comes to my last cast,
I then most humbly pray:
When in the Lord's great landing net
And peacefully asleep
That in His mercy I be judged
Big enough to keep.
- Unknown?
