Fly Fishing Reports

Date:    Friday 3rd September
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    3 anglers 5 fish Dave O gradey, Steve Hilton and Lee Cowking
Heaviest Bag:    Dave O Gradey 5 fish for 12lb
Best Rainbow:    12 year old Alex Dakin 2lb 8oz
Best Brownie:    Steve Hilton 2lb
Bank Rod Av:    1.50
Boat Rod Av:    1.50
Sport: It is amazing how the conditions have dictated success today. The reservoir was crawling with fly life all day long; however the bright sun and changeable winds have made things tricky indeed.
That said Young Alex Dakin landed a super rainbow trout on a daddy long legs from the boat. This was Alexi’s first fish on Stocks and on a tough day tempting fish on the surface requires real skill! Well done Alex.
Regulars Dave O Gradey and Steve Hilton managed 10 fish to their boat with various mini lures doing the trick. the guys found fish in Barnes Quarry and around Gull Island. Lee Cowking had 5 fish too with buzzers, dries and lures all accounting for fish.
The weather is showing periods of good cloud cover tomorrow something today has desperately needing for productive fishing. So the weekend is looking good, the trout are certainly looking up for their food, and to me that spells some good sport on the dries.
Tight lines Matthew.

Date:    Thursday 2nd September.
Report Author:    Paul.
Best Catch:    20 fish for Keith Charnock.
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish weighing 13lb for Keith Charnock.
Best Rainbow:    5lb for Andy Hulls.
Best Brownie:    Several weighing 3lb.
Bank Rod Av:    3.00 fish per angler.
Boat Rod Av:    5.09 fish per angler.
Sport: The weather was super here today, bright blue skies and hot sunshine, just like summer! Even though it was so bright there were some great catches made today with fish being caught all over the water. The thing that surprised me was the amount of trout rising in such bright conditions, when i went out on the safety boat there were rising trout all the way from the dam wall right the way up to the limit of fishing, an amazing sight. On the bank the best catch went to Brendan Ginty who landed 7 fine trout. Brendan fished along the bank from Hartleys to Bell point to take his fish and found a goldhead Montana fished on an intermediate line to be his best tactic. One thing a lot of the bank anglers said was the amount of takes they had without fish sticking, some days they do and some days they don’t. Although there were several good catches from the boats the top rod today goes to Keith Charnock who landed a total of 20 fish. Keith found his trout tight to the bank and keen to take his gold head daddy fished slowly on a floating line. The scene of the action was down near the dam and like other anglers Keith said that the number of takes he had was quite incredible. With the weather forecast set to remain settled the good catches should keep coming and if we saw a bit of cloud!  See you on the water Paul.

Date:    Tuesday 1st September
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    9 fish Bill Orrell
Heaviest Bag:    3 fish for 8lb Mick Whiteside
Best Rainbow:    3lb Nick Burman
Best Brownie:    N/a
Bank Rod Av:    4.67 trout per angler
Boat Rod Av:    2.00 trout per angler
Sport: Another glorious day at stocks with blue skies and literally no wind, great if you after a suntan a little trickier if your fishing. The day started slow but got better as it went on travelling angler and avid fly dresser Mr Hild found a home tied shield bug pattern worked taking 4 good trout and missing many more. Also on the boats Nick Burman had 2 fish including a stunning 3lb rainbow which led him a merry dance. On the bank regular Steve Macintosh had a busy afternoon session taking 8 trout in all but 4hrs great angling Steve! Steve had the majority of his fish from Bell Point. Also on the bank Bill Orrell and John Clegg had a fruitful afternoon with 17 fish between them all on home tied tadpole patterns. The majority of their fish came from Barns Quarry and Hartleys. With the bulk stocking in now and a cloudy but warm forecast for tomorrow i can see it being a bumper days fishing. See you in the lodge Pete.

Date:    Sunday 29th August
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    7 fish by Mark Tyndall
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish weighing 13lb Mark Tyndall
Best Rainbow:    3lb Stuart Whalley
Best Brownie:    2lb 8oz Mick Ashcroft
Bank Rod Av:    3.00 trout per angler
Boat Rod Av:    1.44 trout per angler
Sport: Today we held the final heat of the stocks pairs with the chance of a place in the final with £1500 cash up for grabs. all the  Pairs took to the water in less than perfect conditions. We had high winds and sparse cloud cover and as they say bright and breezy never easy! Luckily though the winds did ease in the afternoon and first boat to the 10 fish limit was Ian Greenwood and Mark Tyndall, because of the bright conditions they opted for a Di5 line with boobies to take the majority of their fish. Most of the fish were caught from Barn Quarry out to Bell Point
At the end of the day when all the anglers had weighed in the qualifiers results were
1st    Ian Greenwood — Mark tyndall
2nd   Paul Bebb –  Bob Fitzpatrick
3rd    Steven Lind –  Steve Bland
4th    Terry Wilson – Tony Taylor
5th    Gordon Swain – Ralf Hymer
6th    Jim Tuck – Tracey Davison
and with a wild card entry of the biggest fish was Ray Bentham and Brian Adams
All these anglers get the chance to fish in the final on the 19th September for the £1000 cash first prize. Well done to all that qualified. See you in the lodge Pete

Date:                                              August 21st to August 28th
Report Author:                         Ben
Best Catch:                                15 trout for Gordon Swaine
Heaviest Bag:                            4 trout for 11lbs 12oz to Bob Levey
Best Rainbow:                           7lbs Gordon Swaine
Best Brownie:                          12lbs Mike Hobman
Best Blue:                                    4lbs Gordon Swaine
Bank Rod Av:                            3.52 trout per man
Sport: The water has cooled down slightly over the past week and the fishing has livened up. We have seen many good catches the top three were Gordon Swaine from Stanley in County Durham with 14 trout, David Harrison from St Annes with 11 trout and Norman Chapman with 12 trout. Included in Gordon’s 14 fish haul were rainbows to 7lb, blues to 4lbs and browns to 5lbs. He caught this great bag of fish whilst competing in the Aiflo Classic on Saturday 28th. His best methods were bloodworms and yellow eggs under a bung. David Harrison was not competition fishing when he caught his 11 trout. David moved around the lake with a small white buzzer presented under a bung.  Norman caught his 12 on buzzers, eggs and small black nymphs fished static.
We saw two more big browns caught and both were safely returned to fight another day. The first weighed 9lbs and was caught by Mr F Murray from Chorley on a Black JC Diawl Back whilst fishing from the island. The second was caught from the same area by Mike Hobman this was a cracking fish of 12lbs and fell to an egg fly fished static.
As previously mentioned on Saturday we hosted a heat of the Airflo Classic. Only one of the three teams competing could go through to the final. That team was The Midgeliners from the Northeast who between them caught 16 trout. Three individuals also qualified in first place was Barry Hutchinson with 7 trout. He caught most of his fish white n green tinnys (tin head eggs). In second place was Mike Hobman with 6 trout and in third place was Graham Bell who also landed 6 fish.
Although I have mentioned eggs quite a lot there are many other methods working well. Other great methods were dries, of which daddies, klinks and CdCs produced great catches and another was traditonal wets with Bibios and Kate McClarens scoring well. Tight Lines Ben

Date:    Saturday 28th August
Report Author:    Pete
Best Catch:    10 fish Robert Bradley
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish weighing 14lb by Steve |Jennings
Best Rainbow:    5lb By Steve Jennings
Best Brownie:    4 lb by Robert Bradley
Bank Rod Av:    4.50 trout per angler
Boat Rod Av:    1.75 trout per angler
Sport: With Strong winds and intermittent heavy showers interspersed with bright sunshine made the angling a little challenging to day. Out on the boats the anglers were keeping tactics very close to their chests with the final heat of the Stocks Pairs tomorrow. I can tell you however the fish were tight in the margins and looking up for their food. Neil Hodgson and Peter Crowe had a good days practice returning 11 fine trout to the boat. Regular Ryan Feber also had a good days fishing returning 4 fish but missing just as many with acrobatic splashy takes that just wouldn’t hook up.
On the bank the angling was a little easier with several anglers getting a full 5 fish limit. Steve Jennings had 5 fish from Two Trees and Barns Quarry. Steve found that because of the strong winds hampering his cast he had to wade and the cast parallel with the bank and found the fish keen to chase his Black and Green Mini Cats Whisker. Also on the bank with todays top catch of 10 fish was Robert Bradley Again Bell Point back to the Jetty was the hotspot and Robert took all his fish on a black lure.
With the wind easing overnight the outlook for tomorrow is really promising. See you in the lodge Pete.

Date:    Friday 27th August
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    6 fish for Frank Hartley
Heaviest Bag:    3 fish for 8lb 12oz Glenn Wooler
Best Rainbow:    Several for 2lb 8oz
Best Brownie:    Frank Hartley 3lb 8oz
Bank Rod Av:    2.00
Boat Rod Av:    2.00
Sport:  A changeable day saw the wind change direction throughout the day with sunny spells making things tricky indeed. Frank Hartley fished from a boat at Curry’s cast and bell point. Frank found the fish keen to take the dries in the morning and had them chasing boobies on a di 3 in the afternoon.
Frank commented on how well it seems to be fishing considering the unfavourable conditions.
From the shore a similar story, however Brendan Ginty had the fish coming to the dries all day. If the fish stopped short on the rise Brendan fished them back just sub surface. Hoppers and Hawthorns seemed to be the business! David Reece had some good sport too with 5 fish coming to little black spiders.
Not a bad day at all to be fair and the conditions are looking good for the weekend.
Tight lines Matthew

Date:    Monday 26th August.
Report Author:    Paul.
Best Catch:    13 fish for Tony Dryden.
Heaviest Bag:    4 fish weighing 8lb 8oz for Steve Horrocks.
Best Rainbow:    Several weighing 3lb.
Best Brownie:    Several weighing 2lb.
Bank Rod Av:    2.00 fish per angler.
Boat Rod Av:    4.00 fish per angler.
Sport: Despite the bright and breezy conditions there were some good catches recorded today, especially from the boats. The best catch of the day went to Tony Dryden who landed 13 fish. Tony caught his fish in Newclose bay and found various traditional wet fly patterns effective with a steady retrieve on a floating line being best. Steve Horrocks landed 7 fine trout from several spots around the reservoir with an orange cats whisker doing the trick for Steve. It was a shame it was so bright and windy as i am sure had we seen overcast conditions these catches would have been even higher. We will see what conditions are like tomorrow. See you on the water Paul.

Date:    24th And 25th August
Report Author:    Matthew
Best Catch:    17 fish Tony Dryden
Heaviest Bag:    5 fish for 9lb 8oz Mike Barber
Best Rainbow:    Several for 3lb +
Best Brownie:    Pete Scholes 3lb 8oz
Bank Rod Av:    2.60
Boat Rod Av:    4.70
Sport: Despite some nasty weather over the past few days the fishing has gone from strength to strength. The fish are well up in the water in fact as I write this report the lake is lifting with rising trout! Yesterday Tony Dryden fished Newclose bay from the boats with a team of black wets. Tony landed a staggering 17 trout! Today he is back fishing the hoppers from the shore and he has managed 10!! Two days fishing for 27 fish good going Tony!!
Mick Barber has had a good session today with 10 fish in total all coming to the bibio from Bell point!
Many scores of 3 and 4 with traditional patterns standing out along with the odd mini lure such as the cat and cormorant.
Top spot from the boat has to be New close it has produced some awesome sport over the past few days. From the shore the dam wall and Bell Point seem to be the spots.

THIS COMING WEDNESDAY SEES OUR SEPTEMBER BULK STOCKING OF SOME NEAR TWO THOUSAND   FIT RAINBOWS!!

In the past this has made September’s fishing electric and can stir the resident trout into feeding and some cracking scores duly follow!

Tight lines Matthew.

Date:                                  Sunday August 22nd
Report Author:            Ben
Best Catch:                    13 trout for Peter Hill
Best Blue:                      4lbs Ged Whitehead
Best Rainbow:             7lbs Daniel Richmond
Best Brownie:              Several at 2.2lbs
Bank Rod Av:              2.0 fish per man
Boat Rod Av:               2.3 fish per man
Sport: Today we were visited by Horwich Fly Fishers and 26 anglers took to the water to try and build a bag of five trout to put on the scales. Top Horwich rod with six trout (one returned) was Mr P Healey in second place was Mr B Grey in third was Mr B Jones. Mr Healey caught most of his fish on a bibio stripped back through the surface whilst drifted over deep water off Bell Point. He said that one of his trout spewed out masses of big green beetles. Stuart Whalley also found that a fast retrieve was working well; he took five nice trout from Newclose Bay this time a blob did the trick. However the top honours today go to Peter Hill who took 13 trout whilst fishing the washing line from a boat over by the boulders. Peter had a booby on the point, a green tinsel ribbed cormorant with orange cheeks on the middle and a daddy on the top dropper. Peter caught nearly all his fish on the cormorant, which got me wandering if they were taking it for a beetle. Whilst I was on the Jetty refuelling the boats this evening there was quite a few large shield bugs on the water and more on the boats. When eaten by trout they do lose their brown back and become light green. The underside of this big beetle is a mosaic of olive and orange. Tight Lines Ben