Week by Week reports

Our 2018 Autumn Series opened with overcast conditions, a Fresh NE wind, and rain which, once it had set in, didn’t leave up for the rest of the day. Having said that, following a recent stocking, we were still confident of sport, with most people choosing the Causeway of No5 to kick off, although John and Andrew first looked at the Railway Bank of No4. Fish were taken on floater and nymphs, as well as on the DI8 and Boobies, with a hot spell in the last hour when the fish seemed to switch on and were active in the upper layers. John’s brace was just three ounces up on Peter’s two fish, while Barry came unstuck putting back fish in an attempt to find something bigger, only for takes to dry up. Matt was also unlucky, hooking two at once on the floater, but was rewarded with a nice 3-4-0 fish. Recently dropping temperatures may have slowed sport but we though that once the trout had adjusted, good fishing would return.

The mild weather continued, with a Fresh South to South West wind and thin cloud covering. Storm Callum might have wreaked its worst elsewhere in the UK but Walthamstow appeared to have come off lightly. The Causeway of No4 and the South West Bay and Houses Bank of No5 saw the most attention, with Peter getting a brief hot spell on nymphs on No4, even though it was showing a little colour. Elsewhere Barry was doing well on the West bank of No5, getting a dozen fish, even though he came unstuck again looking for that one big fish, as some of the others did. Andrew plugged away on the Houses Bank to finally get a brace on the Fast Intermediate.

A clash of dates with some grayling events on the Southern chalk streams saw a reduced attendance on our next couple of matches, but those who couldn’t make it missed some exceptional fishing. Both Barry and Peter landed good fish, with Barry’s brace going 4-6-0 and 4-2-0. You might think that a recent stocking would make it harder to catch fish of this size. No so, which was promising, both for our forthcoming Fur & Feather and also the Final Fling match in January.

Another grayling event again saw a few of us on the chalk streams, but there were still good fish to be had, with Barry taking the opportunity to secure another 10 points, and making a serious challenge to the overall Series title. However, with many of us able to make the last two matches, nothing was cut and dried, and it would be interesting to see whether any more of those four pounders would show in the run up to the Fur & Feather.

Excellent clarity on both reservoirs greeted us, as well as a bright blue sky and a Moderate E/NE wind. The consensus was that while No5 would give you plenty of takes, the better fish were to be found on No4, which saw most of us lined up along the East bank. Fish were caught on Snakes on the Intermediate, as well as on the DI8 and Booby, and appeared to feeding on a mix of Olive Daphnia, Fry and Bloodworm, a good high protein diet to see them through the winter. While the fishing on No4 was steady, with some nice fish round, those who moved to No5 reported spectacular fishing with bags of 20 and 30 fish. In the end, Andrew’s brace just pipped Barry’s by a couple of ounces, but with one match to go there was still all to play for.

The same Easterly wind direction as last weekend, but a much colder day, which may have slowed up sport along the East bank of No4 where most of us started. Some nice fish were taken, but it was noticeable that the fish coming out of No5 were just as good a range of sizes, with some of us finishing off our brace on the East bank or the South East Bay. Daphnia appeared to be the predominant item on the menu, although we did see the odd fish crashing after fry and quietly taking buzzers off the top in the morning. With good clarity and fish being caught on both reservoirs, things looked extremely promising for next weekend’s Fur & Feather. Barry weighed in another couple of good fish to take the series with a very consistent three firsts and a second, ahead of John and Andrew, who tied on 36 points each. Thanks to everyone who took part this year, and helped prove that Autumn is the time when Walthamstow can really switch on.

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Final Positions