Week by Week reports

Reports of the fishing in the weeks leading up to this event had not been encouraging, and sure enough, the record sheets were full of blanks, with just the occasional bag of up to 3 fish. But we’d also been told they had stocked 4 & 5 with 700 fish the previous Thursday, and were hoping these would liven sport up a little. Not long after most of us had started along the Causeway fishing No4, a fish was taken on an Orange Blob by someone not in the competition, so they were catchable. This chap also went on to take another fish later in the day, so was obviously doing something right. With reasonable cloud and the odd spell of rain, conditions looked favourable and indeed, good fish were seen moving, often at distance, along the Causeway and elsewhere. After looking at No4 and the SW bay of No5, John Ferguson tried casting into the wind in No5 from the Causeway with two Boobies on a DI5 and was rewarded with a couple of grown-on 3lb+ fish. Andrew had moved round to the Houses Bank on No5 which was relatively quiet, then the SW Bay where he found more moving fish, including stockies, plus a couple of cormorants looking to take advantage. Having had a couple of knocks on floating line and a Minky, he switched to buzzers for the last half hour, missing one and landing another in the last five minutes, also a nice grown-on fish. The water has that brown tinge which slowed sport at the start of the season, but should this clear, there are enough decent fish evident to give us a back-end bonanza should they really start to feed. (For the possible effect of any zebra mussel treatment, see the report and press release elsewhere in the News section.)

With John Ferguson unavailable and Frank Daley fishing Grafham, numbers were down again this weekend, but we still managed to scrape out a few fish nevertheless. A look at the records sheets showed that the more experienced season ticket anglers were catching, even if the occasional day ticket visitors were finding it tricky. Drago Kucera had had three out one day during the week on an Orange Blob and a big black leaded lure fished on a floater. Warm sunny conditions earlier in the day gave way to a more overcast afternoon, but apart from the odd crashing trout there seemed to be less fish feeding on buzzers than last weekend. One or two were caught off the Causeway from No4, while Gerry had an early fish from the North East corner fishing into the wind with a DI5 and Booby. Drago had missed a fish in the South East bay of No5, but started to get fish on the first platform down the West bank on the Booby. Andrew had his first on Booby from the third platform down, adding his second with twenty minutes to go from Drago’s spot. You’ll be pleased to hear the trout are doing their own bit to deal with the zebra mussel problem. Although one of Andrew’s fish had very few stomach contents, the other had at least two to three of these stripey molluscs inside it. Andrew takes a nine point lead but it’s still early days, and we expect to see more in contention when the fishing improves.

With the oppressive hot conditions continuing into the weekend, we might have expected even more difficult fishing, but although fish were deep in the morning, they were still active. Andrew had a quick couple of fish out on DI7 and Booby from the first platform down on the West bank of No5, as well as one on a deep fished buzzer. Gerry also had takes here, losing two or three before landing a better one. Others were seeing action off the Causeway, where Drago (not in the competition) finished with five for the day, and John managed to get one from No4 and another from No5, finding a 4-12-0 fish, one of the better ones we know are still in there. Some slight haze in the afternoon probably encouraged the fish to move up in water before we finished, with Andrew losing a better one on buzzers on the Houses bank, before landing one on an Orange Booby. This series takes a one week break while some of us compete in the Greys Bank Finals, then returns for the fourth and fifth matches. It look likes the recent stockies have settled in well and started feeding. It’s also noticeable that, if you’re in a good spot, you’ll see plenty of fish moving, with some decent fish amongst them.

Another hot, bright day, but thanks to the better water clarity, the fishing had improved greatly, with good fish showing again. No5 was slightly clearer, and was where a lot of us finished up. After getting a run of smaller fish on No4, John moved to the SE bay of No5 and connected with a run of four pounders on the intermediate, and also on floater and buzzers. Despite losing one which flipped out of his net, he struck into another of a similar size soon afterwards. Andrew was enjoying a similar run on the Houses bank, to Booby on the DI7 and DI5, but couldn’t match the size of John’s fish. Gerry had a frustrating day, losing the only fish he hooked in the SE Bay, but nearly everyone else bagged up, Phil on the Causeway, with Brian and Frank on No4. Although Andrew is hanging onto his lead, John now has a run of three firsts, and only needs another 10 points from the last two matches to get a perfect score. More to the point, the reservoirs are now fishing, on a variety of methods, so we could be in for a very good couple of months.

A sudden drop in the water level, along with murkier water conditions, especially on No4, may have slowed the fishing up. John managed a few from the East bank of No4, but found these were on the small size. At the same time, Andrew was finding fish on the Houses bank of No5, on the DI7 and Booby, but also put these back, looking for something bigger. Takes slowed up between 1.00-2.00pm, after which Andrew moved to the SW bay of No5, where he landed a reasonable fish on a Black & Green Booby on the DI5, along with a smaller one for his brace. After moving between both reservoirs, John found a fish to weigh in from the North East bay of No5. With one match to go, John’s second place puts him one point ahead of Andrew, who needs to win the last match to tie with John on points, at which stage the series would be decided on overall weight.

There had been reports that, following the recent stocking, the fishing had improved greatly, with catches of half a dozen common. The word was that the better fish were coming out of No5, which was where Andrew headed. But after a slow couple of hours in the SW Bay and the Houses Bank, things weren’t looking good. Meanwhile, on the SW Corner of No.5, Jim Dillon (not in the competition) was going great guns, landing around a dozen fish, with another half dozen added in the afternoon in the NW Bay. Gerry had had a fish on the West bank of No5, next to Tony Fox (not in the competition) who’d returned a couple of 4lb fish on a Black Minkie. Andrew moved in next to Gerry and eventually returned one fish, keeping a better one, followed by a make-weight with half an hour to go. John and Vince meanwhile were catching from No4. Andrew took the 10 points, putting him level with John for the series, but a couple of pounds behind on overall weight. Congratulations to John for a remarkably consistent performance, and thanks to all who took part, and for sticking with the competition during what has sometimes been tricky fishing.

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