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.)

Although No5 was not as coloured as last weekend, No4 was still on the brownish side. There was not an obvious concentration of moving fish anywhere, so a lot of moving around was done, as we all tried to drop on a few fish. A few were caught from No5 on the Causeway, where Dave had a near-five pounder towards the hut end, but most of the other fish were caught from the Railway Bank of No4, especially towards the West end where John and Kevin caught, on Boobies and Minkies. Vince caught his on a Booby at the other end but apart from another take, that was it. As long as the colour continues to drop out with maybe a few cold nights, we should be in for some good fishing, because the stocking levels are high, there are plenty of good fish still around, and they are feeding hard on the daphnia. It’s still early days, but it certainly looks promising.

This weekend we enjoyed very pleasant sunny weather, with a moderate wind blowing off the West bank of No5, which was nice and clear. No4 was a little brownish, but not bad. Buzzers on the floater had been catching for those who had got one of the first swims down the West bank of No5. The rest of us dropped in further down and eventually started getting takes on the DI7 and Boobies, although Dave had had a few chances on buzzers and bloodworm, losing a big fish, as did Frank on a Minkie on the roly-poly. Orange and Coral seemed to be favourite colours and it was noticeable how fish were taking in close in the afternoon, either because they were starting to follow the flies in, or had moved up in the water. Both Vince and Roger connected with good fish, but were unable to find another to match it. Halfway through the series it’s now got very close, with only four points separating the top three places, so it looks as though we could be for another tight finish.

Another pleasant sunny day, interspersed with just the occasional shower, again saw anglers lined up along the West bank of No5 and taking advantage of a light Westerly to get good presentation on the floater, or good distances on the 40+ DI7. Fish came from the first few platforms here, and also along the Causeway. But it was Frank, fishing the slightly more coloured No4, who got the bigger brace, over John Ferguson who concentrated on No5. Andrew and Kevin both put back smaller fish on the Booby and DI5, hoping for a bigger one which never came, while Pat had his on a Cruncher on the floater from the SW Bay. The highlight of the day was a brace of fish which went well over 9lbs from Jim Dillon (not in the competition) on the Charlie Farley. Currently there is only a couple of points between John, Frank and Kevin so it looks as though we’ll be in for another close finish.

An overcast day of light winds saw anglers lined up along the Causeway and West bank of No5, with a few on No4. Opposite the Island John Ferguson got off to an amazing start on DI5 and Booby. After having a couple of five pounders follow his fly in, he landed a seven pounder and a near six pounder. Close to him Jim Dillon (not in the competition) was also doing well on Booby and Charley Farley, while Andrew was catching on the Causeway, as was Dave when he moved on there later. Before he went onto No5 Frank had also had a couple of nice fish on No4. The weights were amazing. Everyone had at least one four or five pounder in their brace, with Dave getting a six pounder late in the day. We knew these fish were in there, but we didn’t expect them all to show on the same day. With one match, to go John looks to be in a strong position, but if Dave wins this last match he could challenge him for the overall top spot, when it would be decided on weight.

The record sheets showed that recent visitors had been enjoying some good fishing, but the forecast was so grim only the keenest of us actually made it onto the banks. Sure enough, a strong SE wind and heavy rain soon set in and lasted for the rest of the day. There were still fish to be had along the Causeway of No5, though. Andrew and Dave were catching on Boobies on the DI7 and DI5, while Frank was also getting a few to Minkies on the Intermediate. Everyone was looking for a couple of decent fish, so many good sized fish went back in the search for a lunker. Dave in particular needed a good weight to stand a chance of challenging John for the overall title, but as it happened it was Andrew who took a four pounder early, followed a six pounder further along the Causeway. Tony Fox (not in the competition) had a run of fish on buzzers from the SW Bay, while fish were also taken from the East bank of No4. John also had a good fish to come second on the day, but had done enough to take the title, just one point ahead of Andrew, who was one point ahead of Dave, a typical close finish for this series. Despite the weather the reservoirs fished extremely well, so it all looks very good for the Fur & Feather.

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Final Results