No.1 Wed 2nd June

first of our Wednesday Evening matches. Water clarity on No4 had improved over the previous week, while on the Causeway of No5, fish could already be seen moving just beyond the ripple-edge. John Ferguson had a fish first cast here on the popular floating line, bung (or yarn ‘moustache’) and buzzers method, and put it back, thinking this would be another prolific evening. Round in the South East bay, however, both Frank and Gary were more cautious, and kept their first two medium-sized fish. The light Northerly wind, which had been helping presentation on the Causeway, swung round to an Easterly, persuading Andrew, John and Ian to join Gary and Frank in the bay. More fish were caught here until it all went quiet towards dusk. Meanwhile, on the boils on No4, Brian was having a tremendous evening, landing a 4lbs+ brownie to go with a 4-8-0 rainbow. Vinnie, after breaking off on buzzers, switched to Boobies on the DI7 to get two nice rainbows, the second casting his team of three in front of the fish as it moved, just before the end. A promising start to our 2010 series, with everything to play for, plus an East Warwick season ticket for the overall winner.

No.2 Wed 9th June

lined up along the Railway and East banks. Vinnie got off to a good start, returning a fish on his second cast, before moving round to join the others on the East bank. The South East bay of No5 was less crowded, but slow to get going, so much so that Lucian Pop and Gary were already moving off when Andrew hooked his first fish, on deep fished buzzers. Takes did start to come, with fish to Gary, Lucian and Kevin, who’d found it slow on No4. Andrew managed to land another half an hour before the end, while on No4 Vinnie had a couple on Diawl Bachs. John also picked up a couple on buzzers, while Brian was unlucky to bump a couple, not realising he’d turned the point over on his fly. Andrew’s bag included a fish of 4-5-0, with Vinnie also getting a 4-2-0 specimen. Vinnie and Andrew are now on 19 points each, but it’s very much early days. The reservoirs are fishing well on the buzzer at the moment, but a spell of hot weather could make things tricky, so we’ll need to be versatile.

No.3 Wed 16th June

tricky fishing. Although Frank, Richard and Andrew tried the South East bay by the Houses on No5 again, an awkward wind direction made presentation on a long leader difficult and, apart from an average sized fish to Andrew and a missed take to Frank, that was it. Vinnie and John were doing rather better over on the Railway Bank and the top of the East bank on No4. Vinnie got a four pounder on Cormorant fished with Boobies on a DI7, with a smaller fish on a Diawl Bach later, while John put back a good brownie on buzzers, keeping a similar sized rainbow. As the sun went down, fish were seen moving along the Causeway of No5, where Kevin took a couple on dries near the boils, with Roy Fox and Lucian Pop also catching. Another consistent performance from Vinnie sees him take a three point lead ahead of Andrew and Kevin, but with five matches to go, and conditions changing the way they are, the outcome is far from certain.

No.4 Wed 23rd June

though a stocking of No4 and No5 the day before had livened things up a bit. Fish had been seen rising in good numbers during the week but, apart from carp cruising the margins of No4, all we saw was the occasional splash, often some distance out. Andrew had a quick brace from the South West bay of No5 on the deep buzzer, before that went quiet, maybe as the fish came up in the water. Elsewhere, it was pure slog. Kevin had a fish from No4 along the Causeway in the final half hour, while Vinnie made the most of a late move to a platform on the Railway Bank to put some more points on the board. Frank reported good numbers of fish showing in the boils further down this bank, but these daphnia-feeders proved tricky. We know there are still good trout in the reservoirs – Vinnie had a couple of four pounders on buzzer during the week – but they weren’t playing ball tonight. We can only hope the recently stocked fish acclimatise and weather gets less oppressive. Vinnie’s late fish was enough to keep him one point ahead of Andrew, while Kevin is not far behind.

No.5 Wed 30th June

rainbow on a CDC dry at the last knockings. Despite a week of soaring temperatures, the fish were up and rising. Most of the fish were taken on dry, or nymphs fished near the surface. You had to be in the right spot though, as they were localised. The middle to end of the Causeway (furthest from the Hut) is where John, Vinnie and Kevin were fishing. Vinnie had half a dozen apparently. The South West bay of No5 is where Frank and Lucian Pop (not in the competition) scored: Frank actually having a double hook-up at one point. Once again, dry and nymphs the effective patterns. Vinnie has now taken a 10-point lead from Kevin and Andrew, but with only your five best results counting, the others will be looking to catch him up.

No.6 Wed 7th July

fish showing. We weren’t disappointed, but they weren’t easy. People came back from the South West bay of No5 saying there were fish moving all over the place, but they wouldn’t touch anything. On the Causeway of No4, Brian hooked a fish first cast on the buzzer, but got broke off. With a drastic drop in water levels since the weekend, the weed was proving even more of problem, with up to 12 feet in front of you in places. Vinnie had a following fish take his Diawl Bach, only to plough straight into the green stuff from where it couldn’t be shifted, while Gerry next to him also lost a fish in the weed. Frank took an early bath trying to clear some of it, then put a couple of fish back hoping for a bigger one. In the South West corner of No4 more fish were active, maybe chasing the pin-fry. Andrew got taps on a Minky, but the best approach appeared to be dries, as Kevin and John later demonstrated, although buzzers and the washing-line would also produce takes. A good fish to Kevin pushes him into 2nd place overall, 5 points behind Vinnie, but there are still four of us in contention, and a couple of good results could make the outcome very different.

No.7 Wed 14th July

Frank to clear himself a space in the North West bay, while we tried No5 where you only had a rod-length of green stuff to fish over. Apparently the Houses bank had seen plenty of moving fish until some heavy rain, just before the start. One area where fish were continuously active was the South West bay, even if we weren’t sure whether these were feeding, or just restless from fish-lice. Richard did well to break a run of blanks with his brace, which included a 3-11-0 fish. John, Kevin and Gary moved here off the Houses bank when that slowed, with Kevin managing to avoid a blank, making him the only one to achieve this throughout the series so far, and putting him just three points behind Vinnie. Back on No4, Frank got a couple on dries, finding daphnia inside them when they were spooned. If you do the maths, either Andrew or Kevin could still tie with Vinnie next week for first place, in which case the overall winner would be down to weight. Will the recent wet and windy weather improve things? Let’s hope so, because this has been a well supported event, and it would be nice to see it finish in style.

No.8 Wed 21st July

weed rake to drag out a few channels. Once again, the SW bay of No5 saw plenty of moving fish but, whether they were on fry or daphnia, getting them to take was another matter. Roy Fox (not in the competition) had a knock on the bung, while Andrew had a quick fish on a deep buzzer, dragging this in together with a large ball of weed. Kevin had a couple of plucks on the Booby but eventually recorded his first blank of the series. Vince, aware that he could sew it all up with one or two fish, was trying any likely spot on No4, but finding it equally tough. Andrew’s 10 points may have put him level on points, but Vinnie’s heavier total weight got him the shield, and an East Warwick season ticket. This has been a popular, and hotly contested, series – even if at times the fishing proved exasperating. Aside from the weed problem, though, we’ve often seen plenty of moving fish, including some really good ones. For the record, Andrew’s fish was stuffed with big olive green daphnia (like Frank’s the previous week), so at least they are feeding. A spell of wind and rain to freshen the place up a bit, and raise the levels, and these reservoirs could really switch on. 

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