Ravensthorpe Reservoir
Will be the first of our fisheries to open on Saturday 27 February. Stocking is well under way with 2,000 fish put into the water to date.

Other opening dates to note

Pitsford Water Friday 12 March
Grafham Water Friday 19 March
Rutland Water Thursday 1 April

Warm welcome at Pitsford Water Saturday 20 February

Anglian Water’s Open House was a great success attended by more than 70 anglers with hot drinks and sausage sandwiches very welcome on a cold day.
Anglers wanting to brush off the winter cobwebs could join Peter Hartley casting outside in the snow! A popular indoor attraction was a fly tying demonstration presented by Kevin Rowley, Vice Chairman of Mid Northants Trout Fishers.
Season permits were in great demand and are now on sale at all of our fishing lodges. One of the day’s highlights was Anglian Water’s season ticket draw. All the 2009 catch returns were entered in this draw with the lucky winner receiving a Gold season permit. The winner was Peter De Kremer of Oakham who can look forward to fishing the 2010 season for free!

Opening times Rutland & Grafham tackle shops

Closed Monday and Tuesday from 30 November to 28 February

Pitsford Water tackle shop

Closed 30 November to 11 February 2010 inclusive

Re-opens 12 February 9am to 2.30pm

Pitsford Water tackle shop is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday only from 12 February until opening day of the new season at Ravensthorpe.

Michael Dollan with the 22lb Zander he caught at Grafham Water last week – this magnificent specimen has been submitted as a British record.  Michael, from Walsall, West Midlands, was fishing with his wife Jane.  It was his first visit to Grafham Water and he fished mackerel dead bait in 46 feet of water at the dam tower.

Week ending 22nd November 2009
Bank anglers are enjoying some very good fishing with plenty of trout between the Harbour and Sailing Club, Gaynes Cove and Plummers. Best methods are floating line and buglers, daddy long legs or diawl bachs.

A group of Scottish anglers visiting Anglian Water reservoirs had a good day at Grafham Water catching fish whilst anchored just out of the Harbour.

Forthcoming events - Huge reductions in our Tackle Sale 14-29 November
Pike fishing 12 October to 29 November
Boat fishing with lures and dead sea fish over 18cm (excluding lamprey)

Week ending 15th November 2009
David Hoppe of Northampton had a brilliant weekend pike fishing at both Grafham and Pitsford. David says “I caught what I believe to be the season’s largest Rainbow trout at Grafham. The warden informed me that the heaviest so far this season weighed 7lb. My trout weighed 7lb 8oz and was taken on a dead bait by the valve tower. The fish was weighed then returned to the water.”

Forthcoming events - Huge reductions in our Tackle Sale 14-29 November
Pike fishing 12 October to 29 November
Boat fishing with lures and dead sea fish over 18cm (excluding lamprey)

Week ending 8th November 2009
Fish week 268 (season 23,994) returns 101 (6,527) rod average 2.65 (3.67)

Grafham Water has continued to fish well this week with once again the vast majority of trout being caught in the top three feet of the water. The fishery has had some exciting news this week with a potential British record – see the predator report below.

Bank anglers have had some excellent trout fishing this week mainly at Mander car park frontage, Harbour, Perry Point, the Seat and Gaynes Cove. The main methods for the bank anglers have been floating lines with buglers, minkies, boobies, cormorants, crunchers and diawl bachs generally fished with a slow figure of eight.

Boat anglers have also had some cracking sport this week mainly from fishing floating and di 3 lines with boobies, friendly tubes, minkies, diawl bachs and crunchers. The main areas for the boat anglers this week have been the lodge frontage, W buoy, Perry Point, Sludge Bank and Gaynes Cove.

Predator fishing

Michael Dollan, from Walsall, West Midlands, fishing with his wife Jane, visited Grafham Water for the first time on Saturday 7 November. On the advice of top predator angler Mick Brown from Market Deeping, Michael fished mackerel dead bait in 46 feet of water at the dam tower. Michael, having just landed a 4lb trout, twitched his other rod and experienced a vicious take followed by a tremendous fight which resulted in Michael catching his first Zander. Amazingly this turned out to be a record breaking Zander of 22lb. When Michael weighed the specimen the scales fluctuated between 22 and 23lb but he was happy to settle for 22lb. At the present time Michael is waiting to see if this Zander will be classed as a new British record. All of the Fisheries team at Anglian Water pass on huge congratulations to Michael for this amazing achievement - it’s no secret that Grafham Water has some huge specimen Zander.

Best Rainbow 3lb 10oz taken by P Grundel of Ware, Herts

Best boat areas Lodge frontage, Gaynes Cove, Perry Point, W buoy, Sludge bank, Gaynes Cove

Best bank areas Mander car park frontage, Perry Point, Harbour, Seat, Gaynes Cove

Forthcoming events - Huge reductions in our Tackle Sale 14-29 November
Pike fishing 12 October to 29 November
Boat fishing with lures and dead sea fish over 18cm (excluding lamprey)

Week ending 1st November 2009
Fish week 545 (season 23,726) returns 149 (6,426) rod average 3.62(3.69)

The winter fishing at Grafham is going from strength to strength with the fish now moving from the central areas of the lake towards the margins with the bank anglers reaping the benefits of these fish that have fed all summer, they are feeding predominantly on the fry and also corixa.

The bank between the lodge and the sailing club has been the most prolific with the lodge bank, the seat and Gaynes Cove not far behind in productivity.

With the winter restrictions now in force the western end of the lake has now closed for fishing, but the boat anglers can continue to enjoy phenomenal sport along the face of the dam and about 100 metres off the southern shore fishing mainly fry patterns, but with some anglers having great fun with dries still especially on the milder less windy days.

Competition news
Grafham Water hosted the annual Rudder match on Saturday with 11 boat pairs competing. The winning pair, from Oakham, were Jon Marshall, Anglian Water’s Fisheries Manager, and his brother in law Pete Bell. After heading out with the rest of the fleet to Perry’s Point, Jon and Pete soon broke away from the fleet to look for the legendary Grafham torpedos and it wasn’t long before they found these marauding Rainbows feeding along the face of the dam wall. Jon soon put the biggest fish of the match into the boat at 3lb 13oz, followed by a good second soon after that. While Pete and Jon were enjoying fishing for these fish the pair had to return 6 browns up to 4lb. It was ironic that a large number of Browns were reported – the day after they went out of season. However, this bodes well for some quality browns next season. On the same day Steve Battle boated and returned a colossal Brown of 9lb 6oz from the Seat area around the lake.

1st Jon Marshall & Pete Bell Best brace 6lb 15oz
2nd Clive Morgan & Gary Morris 6lb 13oz
3rd Lee Henfrey & Nigel Keeble 6lb 8oz

Best boat areas L and H buoys, west end, lodge frontage, Gaynes Cove

Best bank areas West bank, Mander car park frontage, Perry Point

Forthcoming events
Pike fishing 12 October to 29 November
Boat fishing with lures and dead sea fish over 18cm (excluding lamprey)

Just in case anyone is in my neck of the woods this weekend I thought I'd pass on the following..

Rutland:-
Boat
East Creek,Sailing Club, Normanton, Blue Pipes, Fantasy Island....Fast Glass - Di-3 up to 20 seconds down with Minkies, Hummungus and Hummungus Boobies pulled back at a steady pace.

Bank fishing in the same area's, and Carrot Creek - Barnhill Creek with Minkies and Floating Fry

Grafham:-
Boat
Savages, Valley Creek, Lodge, Nature Reserve, Gaynes to Dam
Floating line and dries, or crunchers
Intermediate and Minkie boobies and hummungus slow figure of 8 retrieve

Bank
Perry Point, Seat, Gaynes, Corner of Dam(gaynes end) same methods as above

Pitsford:-
Boat
Dam to Sailing Club,Pines, Narrows, Pitsford Creek, Gravels

DI-3 or DI-5 with Hummungus boobies best

Bank
Gravels, Stilton Point, Cliffs, Pines

Floating line with minkie booby (or suspender minkie) top dropper and hummungus or minkie on the point with a figure of 8 retrieve.

All reservoirs are fishing very well, Grafham and Pitsford especially with a lot of 2.5lb - 4lb fish. The fish are on Fry, Corixa and buzzers when the weather is warm and very close to the weed-beds and bank.

Rutland is fishing OK...the bigger fish 3lb+ just don't seem to be showing now (like they were...it's just the odd nice fish about now)..i think it'll take a really good cold snap now to get the big fish at Rutland close to the bank again and on the 3" roach fry - which will probably be the end of November now at the earliest.

Rob Edmunds

Week ending 25th October 2009
Fish week 407 (season 23,181) returns 120(6,277) rod average 3.39(3.69)

Grafham water has continued to fish well this week for both bank and boat anglers with the vast majority of trout being caught at the surface on buglers, sparkler boobies, minkies, cats whiskers, diawl bachs, crunchers, hares ears and cormorants.

The best rainbow and also the biggest bag caught this week fell to bank angler Kevin Appleton from Perry. Kevin caught 8 fish for 24lb 13oz on a floating line with a green hare’s ear. The best trout in the bag was a cracking over wintered rainbow of 5lb 1oz. Kevin caught these fishing from the Harbour to Perry Point.

Boat anglers have had tremendous sport this week by fishing floating lines with minkies, cats whiskers, sparkler boobies, crunchers, diawl bachs, hares ears and cormorants mainly on the western end of the reservoir (L and H buoys, Mander car park and Lodge frontage). Other areas that have produced consistent fishing have been Gaynes Cove and the southern end of the dam.

Bank anglers have also had some superb fishing this week with once again the Lodge bank being the most productive bank on the reservoir. The main tactics this week have been floating lines with buglers, minkies, cats, crunchers, hares ears and diawl bachs.

Pike and zander anglers have been catching around the inlet on jerk baits fished close to the bottom. Other areas that have produced good catches have been from the inlet to the dam tower, with the predator fish being caught at 50 feet in depth.

Best rainbow 5lb 1oz taken by Kevin Appleton of Perry

Best Brown 4lb taken by Willie Haycox of Hemingford Grey

Best boat areas L and H buoys, West End, Lodge frontage, Gaynes Cove.

Best bank areas West bank, Mander car park frontage, Perry

Mid week boat winner James Woodruff of Fenstanton

Forthcoming events
Anglian Water Rudder match 31 October
Beginners course –1 November

Pike fishing 12 October to 29 November
Boat fishing with lures and dead sea fish over 18cm (excluding lamprey)

Week ending 18th October 2009
Fish week 1,105 (season 22,774) returns 210 (6,157) rod average 5.26(3.69)

The fishing at Grafham Water this week has been fantastic. This week the rod average has gone through the roof to 5.26. On top of this 20% of the trout caught are weighing over 3lb. Throughout the week trout have been rising throughout the day at almost every spot on the reservoir making Grafham Water a fly angler’s paradise.

Bank anglers have had some great sport this week with the west bank and Mander car park frontage producing consistent fishing on floating lines with diawl bachs, crunchers, buglers, minkies, bobbies, hoppers and klinkhammers. Hill Farm and the G bank areas have also produced some excellent fishing when the wind direction has been favourable.

Boat anglers have been having the time of their lives this week with trout rising everywhere all through the day. Most boat anglers haven’t got much further than the lodge frontage as moving past rising trout goes against their instinct. The best areas beyond the lodge frontage have been L,H,G,Q and A buoys, Savages Creek, Sanctuary Bay, Hill Farm, Hedge End, Church Bay, Gaynes Cove, Seat and the Dam. Most anglers have been using floating or sink tip lines with red or claret hoppers, klinkhammers, sparkler boobies, pheasant tail nymphs, cats whiskers, minkies, cormorants and buglers.

Competition News
Fry Bashers Day 1 Grafham Water

This is an invitation match which is fished over two days at Grafham and Rutland Water.

The first day at Grafham Water was exceptional with the 100 anglers catching 526 trout with the average weight per fish of 2lb 7oz. Most of the anglers fished floating lines with boobies, cats whiskers, minkies and cormorants. The most popular areas were the West bank, Hill Farm, Gaynes Cove and the G buoy area. Top rod on the day was Carl Nixon with 8 fish for 24lb. Carl won the match overall.

Best rainbow 5lb 4oz taken by M Cartlidge of Stoke on Trent

Best Brown 7lb 8oz taken by Gary Reeves of Wollaston

Best boat areas Q,A,G and L buoys, Savages Creek, Sanctuary Bay, West Bank, Gaynes Cove, Dam,

Best bank areas West bank, G bank, Hill Farm, Mander car park frontage.

Mid week boat winner P Powell of Ely

Forthcoming events
Anglian Water Rudder match 31 October
Beginners course –1 November

Pike fishing 12 October to 29 November
Boat fishing with lures and dead sea fish over 18cm (excluding lamprey)

Week ending 11th October 2009

Due to technical problems with our IT we have been unable to produce this week’s issue of Fishery News.

I apologise for this – next week’s report will have the latest news from all of our fisheries including the results from the very successful Anglian Water Airflo International at Rutland Water.

Regards

Sally

Week ending 4thOctober 2009
Fish week 770 (season 21,049) returns 197 (5,793) rod average 3.9 (3.63)

Grafham Water has continued in excellent form. The majority of trout are being caught in the top three feet of the surface on either small nymphs or fry patterns from most areas of the reservoir. Fish are feeding on snails and stickleback fry.

Bank anglers have found some excellent sport by fishing the west bank and Gaynes Cove on floating lines with boobies, cats whiskers, cormorants, diawl bachs, crunchers and floating fry. Most of the bank anglers have said that they have been catching their fish close in to the weed beds. Boat anglers have enjoyed the cream of the sport this week with plenty of limit bags being caught on floating or sink tip lines with cormorants, cats whiskers, boobies, minkies, diawl bachs, crunchers and black and peacock spiders. The main hotspots for the boat anglers have been G,Q and A buoys, Savages Creek, Sanctuary Bay, West bank and the bowl and south dam.

Competition News
English Fly Fishing Association B C Hall Day 1 October
The competition was fished to an eight fish limit with no time bonus. Top rod on the day was Andy Linwood from Perry. Andy set off to Savages Creek in the morning hoping to catch the larger trout but found the going a little too slow so in the afternoon he headed off to Q and A buoys where he immediately started to catch good quality Rainbows on a floating line with cormorants and boobies.

1st Andy Linwood 8 fish 20lb 8oz
2nd Ian Peberdy 8 fish for 20lb 4oz
3rd Chris McLeod 8 fish for 18lb 5oz

Rod average 5.7
Best fish Andy Linwood 4lb 1oz

Grafham Water continued

Best rainbow 5lb 2oz taken by Steve Milton of Biggleswade

Best Brown 3lb 8oz taken by M Hollingshead of Rushden

Best boat areas Q,A and G buoys, Savages Creek, Sanctuary Bay, West Bank, Gaynes Cove, Bowl and south dam.

Best bank areas West bank, Gaynes Cove, G bank.

Mid week boat winner B House of Letchworth

Forthcoming events
Beginners courses –10 & 24 October; and 1 November
Fry Bashers Saturday 17 October all boats booked

Pike fishing 12 October to 29 November
Boat fishing with lures and dead sea fish over 18cm (excluding lamprey)

Week ending 27th September 2009
Fish week 663 (season 20,279) returns 178 (5,596) rod average 3.72(3.62)

The fishing at Grafham Water this week has been superb with 20% of the trout caught weighing over 3lb. These trout have generally been feeding on corixa, snails and Sticklebacks. Both bank and boat anglers have been enjoying very consistent sport mainly on floating lines with most fly patterns doing the business.

The best fish and also the best bag caught this week were taken by season ticket holder Norman Rushton from Fowlmere. Norman caught 8 fish for 28lb 10oz with his best fish a cracking over wintered Rainbow of 5lb 2oz. Norman caught this bumper bag by fishing the washing line method with most of the fish taking a cormorant. Al Owen who lives near Grantham caught and released 38 trout in three visits this week by mainly fishing cormorants on a floating line from Savages Creek, Sanctuary Bay and drifting between Deep Water Point and G Buoy.

Bank anglers have had some excellent sport this week at a number of different bank spots. The Stumps, North dam, G bank, West bank (Lymage), Harbour and Gaynes Cove have all produced consistent fishing mainly on diawl bachs, crunchers, minkies, cormorants, cats whiskers and red dries fished as close to the weedbeds as possible.

Boat anglers have also had some incredible fishing with most areas around the margins producing some arm wrenching sport. The main areas have been Savages Creek, Sanctuary Bay, Hill Farm, Hedge End, Deep Water Point, G Buoy, north and bowl of dam, Gaynes Cove and Valley Creek/West bank. The main method of attack has been floating or intermediate lines with red dries when it’s overcast, floating fry, minkies, boobies, cats whiskers, cormorants, diawl bachs and crunchers are also working best when fished near the weedbeds.

Best rainbow 5lb 2oz taken by Norman Rushton from Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire

Best Brown 3lb 11oz taken by Martin Campbell of Newport, South Wales

Best boat areas Savages Creek, Sanctuary Bay, Gaynes Cove, Deep Water Point, G Buoy, North and bowl of dam, West bank.

Best bank areas G bank, willows, Hill Farm, north dam, west bank, Harbour Arms.

Mid week boat winner Dave Newing of Wadebridge, Cornwall

Forthcoming events
Beginners courses –10 & 24 October; and 1 November
Fry Bashers Saturday 17 October all boats booked

Week ending 20th September 2009
Fish week 515 (season 19,616) returns 155 (5,418) rod average 3.32(3.62)

The west end of the lake continues to produce results with small red or fiery brown dries doing well in the mouth of Savages to Sanctuary Bay and also cormorant boobies fished around L and H buoys. Gaynes Cove is holding a lot of fish too, especially around the weed beds. Anglers fishing in this area are finding that the fish are on fry, so minkies or large diawl bachs for the stickle backs are producing.

The sport on the bank has now really picked up with the bank anglers doing well around G Buoy and also in front of the willows at the north end of the dam, fishing floating lines and minkies or fry patterns.

Best rainbow Several 4lb plus

Best boat areas Savages Creek, Sanctuary Bay, Gaynes Cove, L and H Buoys.

Best bank areas G bank, Willows, Hill Farm, Savages Creek, north dam

Mid week boat winner Ian McKenzie of Baldock

Forthcoming events
Beginners courses – 27 September; 10 & 24 October; and 1 November

Week ending 13th September 2009
Fish week 507 (season 19,101) returns 157 (5,263) rod average 3.22 (3.62)

Anglers at Grafham Water have enjoyed some excellent fishing this week. Bank anglers have been catching consistently from most areas along the north shore with Hill Farm and G bank producing the most consistent fishing with floating lines with minkies, cats whiskers, vivas and red dries. The North dam, Deep Water Point and Savages Creek have also produced good fishing by the same methods.

Boat anglers have enjoyed some tremendous sport this week by fishing floating lines with red dries or crunchers, or intermediate or Di3s lines with minkies, cats whiskers, humungous boobies or silver tubes from Savages Creek, Hill Farm, G,K,A and B buoys and the whole length of the dam.

Best rainbow 4lb 12oz taken by Gary Barston of Northamptonshire

Best brown 5lb 2oz taken by R Appleton of Rugby

Best boat areas Savages Creek, Hill Farm, B,K,G and A buoys, entire dam.

Best bank areas G bank, Hill Farm, Savages Creek, North dam

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner N Cameron of Newmarket

Fish stocked 1,000

Forthcoming events
Beginners courses -23 & 27 September; 10 & 24 October; and 1 November

Week ending 6th September 2009
Fish week 317 (season 18,594) returns 110 (5,106) rod average 2.88 (3.64)

Fishing steadied last week because of the strong winds, but with settled weather forecast fishing will pick up. There are still plenty of fish in the middle of the lake around B,K and G buoys. These fish are fairly close to the surface and are feeding heavily on the daphnia still in the lake.

Anglers have found fish in Gaynes Cove around the weed beds taking either snails or the ever growing numbers of sticklebacks. The mouth of Savages Creek is still fishing mainly on snail patterns or on red dries. Some anglers are reporting some good sport on Daddy Long Legs fished just sub surface.

Grafham Water hosted the annual John Watts Trophy match last Saturday. The match is open to all members of the Fly Dressers Guild. The event is run as a four man team competition with the first four fish being retained and up to a further 8 being returned. The match is firstly calculated on the number of fish caught per team then by weight if there is a tie on numbers.

The pressure was on the other 13 teams to stop London A from retaining the trophy for the fifth consecutive year! At the weigh in the first team to come to the scales recorded 22 fish and it looked like the Ayrshire Team could be heading to Scotland with the title but it wasn’t to be!

1st London A 26 fish for 53lb 1oz
2nd Ayrshire 22 fish for 47lb 11oz
3rd Luggie Bank A 17 fish for 41lb 11oz

Top rod of the day was Neil Thomas of Congleton with 12 fish for 24lb 15oz and best fish of the day went to the first man to weigh in - John Anderson of Ayrshire.

Best boat areas Western end, south dam, Hedge End, north tower, K and G buoys.

Best bank areas Gaynes Cove, south dam

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner Bob Wallinger of Nuneaton

Fish stocked 1,600

Forthcoming events
Beginners courses -23 & 27 September; 10 October and throughout the season

Week ending 30th August 2009
Fish week 417 (season 18,277) returns 151 (4,996) rod average 2.76(3.65)

The biggest fish of the week was caught by season ticket holder Roland Dean from Cambridge. Roland caught a superb conditioned brown trout of 6lb 4oz from a drifting boat off Hedge End on a sink tip line with a red diawl bach.

The best bank fishing this week has come from the south end of the dam. Season ticket holder James Woodroff from Fenstanton has been consistently catching fry feeding rainbows on minkies early in the morning.

Boat anglers have had some very good consistent fishing from the western end of the reservoir mainly on floating lines with either red or claret dries or snail patterns close to the weed beds from Valley Creek to the mouth of Savages. Gaynes Cove/Plummer Park, north tower and Hedge End have also produced some cracking sport on slow/medium sink lines with either orange blobs or minkies fished at a steady retrieve.

The weed growth around the margins of the reservoir and consistent south westerly winds has made fishable bank spots very hard to find.

Best Rainbow Several at 4lb

Best brown 6lb 4oz taken by Roland Dean

Best boat areas Western end, south dam, hedge end, north tower, K and G buoys.

Best bank areas Gaynes cove, south dam

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner Bill Scott from Histon

Forthcoming events
Beginners courses -23 & 27 September and throughout the season
John Watts Trophy 5 September

Week ending 23rd August 2009
Fish week 344 (season 17,860) returns 129 (4,845) rod average 2.6 (3.69)

John Sears and Mick White, both season ticket holders, shared a boat on Friday and had a cracking bag of 13 fish all taken on Minkies from Plummers and Gaynes Cove, just off the weed bed drifting towards the dam.

The Tuesday Night Boat League was won by Mick Facey of Bedford with 44 points. Junior and rising star Kieran Bonas took second place with 36 points.

There have been a lot of fish showing throughout the week at Grafham Water on the calmer days with the main areas being the west end of the lake especially on red/claret dries. The fish are feeding on the snails that are floating off the large under water weed beds around July bank, the mouth of Savages Creek and in Sanctuary Bay.

Best Rainbow 6lb 4oz taken by C Allen of Hertfordshire.

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner Mr R Taylor of Chingford, London

Forthcoming events
Salmon & Trout Association sponsored tuition for juniors
Thursday 27 August at Grafham Water 9.30 – 12.30 and 1.30pm – 4.30 pm
Only £10 per head - for information or to book please call Peter Hartley on 07922 126154 or email Hartley.p@btconnect.com
Beginners courses -30 August; 13, 23 & 27 September and throughout the season
John Watts Trophy 5 September

Week ending 16th August 2009
Fish week 319 (season 17,516) returns 134 (4,716) rod average 2.38 (3.71)

John Timothy is enjoying the good fly fishing at the moment in the Savages and the west end of the lake with two bag limits this week all taken on dries/emergers. This was topped off with the best fish of the week with a stunning rainbow of 5lb 3oz taken on a red emerger.

Bob Wallinger had the best bag of the week with 8 cracking Rainbows for 23lb 14oz taken from the central part of the reservoir all on large lures fished about four feet down.

The fish are still well up in the water with the majority only a couple of feet down. They are feeding on the floating snails that are drifting around or on the still hatching red buzzers. But there seems to be a definite move towards them feeding on the ever growing fry that are now populating the margins of the reservoir.

Best Rainbow 5lb 3oz taken by John Timothy of Milton Keynes

Best boat areas L,H,S,G,D,Q and I buoys

Best bank areas Gaynes Cove, South Dam

Best methods see report

Mid week boat winner R Hudson of St Neots

Forthcoming events
Salmon & Trout Association sponsored tuition for juniors
Thursday 27 August at Grafham Water 9.30 – 12.30 and 1.30pm – 4.30 pm
Only £10 per head - for information or to book please call Peter Hartley on 07922 126154 or email Hartley.p@btconnect.com
Beginners courses -30 August; 13, 23 & 27 September and throughout the season
John Watts Trophy 5 September

Week ending 9th August 2009

Fish week 505 (season 17,197) returns 144 (4,582) rod average 3.5 (3.75)

With the weather becoming more settled the fish are moving freely on the surface. The fish are feeding on the now fast growing fry from around the weedbeds or on the floating snails that are drifting about, especially in the Sanctuary Bay and the mouth of Savages Creek area.

There has been the usual annual hatch of red buzzers from the west end of the lake so carrot flies and red emergers are doing well, with bob’s bits and claret hoppers taking a lot of fish. The fish towards the dam are feeding on the vast daphnia bloom in the lake which is going on. So there are fish feeding all over the lake.

Best Rainbow 6lb 4oz taken by M Chance of Sawtry

Best boat areas L,H,S,G,D,Q and I buoys

Best bank areas Gaynes Cove, south dam

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner N Cameron of Newmarket

Fish stocked 2,000

Forthcoming events
Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses -16 & 30 August; 13, 23 & 27 September and throughout the season
John Watts Trophy 5 September

Week ending 2nd August 2009

Fish week 715 (season 16,692) returns 172 (4,438) rod average 4.15(3.76)

Grafham has continued to fish well this week with the majority of trout still being caught in the top three feet of the water on floating to Di3 lines with blobs, boobies and claret hoppers or dabblers.

The boat anglers have had some tremendous sport this week by fishing boobies or blobs on the washing line at a steady retrieve on either floaters or Di3’s or by fishing red or black dries on floaters. The main areas producing the best sport this week have been L,H,S,I,Q,D and G buoys. Bank anglers have once again found the fishing a little challenging due to the brisk westerly winds but Gaynes Cove and the South dam have produced some good sport mainly on dries or small vivas.

Best Rainbow 4lb

Best brown 4lb 12oz taken by John Timophy of Milton Keynes

Best boat areas L,H,S,G,D,Q and I buoys

Best bank areas Gaynes Cove, South Dam

Best methods see report

Mid week boat winner A Coates of Bishop Stortford

Competition News

Grafham Water inter club floating line competition

On Sunday 26 July Grafham Water Fly Fishing Association held the annual inter club floating line match with teams representing GWFFA, Invicta, Mid Northants and the England Ladies Fly Fishing Association. All competitors had to fish with a floating line but were able to use weighted flies. The main areas where the angler fished were G and D buoys and the western end of the reservoir L,H and S buoys with either blobs or boobies or red or black dries.

1st Invicta 42 fish for 90lb 2oz
2nd GWFFA 2 38 fish for 88lb 15oz
3rd GWFFA 1 36 fish for 79lb 2oz
4th ELFA 34 fish for 77lb 6oz
5th Mid Northants 23 fish for 52lb 10oz

Best bag Richard Kesek of GWFFA 2 8 fish for 20lb 5oz.
Best fish 3lb 14oz taken by Kieran Bonas fishing for Invicta

Invicta Tuesday Evening boat league
22 Anglers fished this week’s boat league catching 74 trout giving a rod average of 3.36.
1st Andy Newman 8 fish
2nd = Mark Searle, Peter Waterhouse, Gary How, Mick Facey, Chris McLeod all with 7 fish

Forthcoming events
Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 9,16 & 30 August; 13, 23 & 27 September and throughout the season

Week ending 26th July 2009
Fish week 962 (season 15,977) returns 291 (4,266) rod average 3.3(3.74)

Grafham Water has continued to fish well this week with the majority of trout being caught in the top four feet of the water. The best fish of the week was a superb fly caught Pike taken by Richard Sewell. Richard, fishing with his 11 year old son Robbie says, “It weighed in excess of 25lb. My 25lb scales bottomed out – I estimate it weighed about 26-27”!

The main method for boat anglers fishing for trout has been floating to Di3 lines with an orange blob on the top dropper followed by a viva and a diawl bach and a booby on the point fished at a steady retrieve. The best boat areas this week have been H,J,M,G,D,Q and I buoys, Gaynes Cove, the south end of the dam and the Willows.

Bank anglers have found the fishing a bit challenging this week due to the strong westerly winds that have made most of the best bank spots very hard to fish, but there has been some good sport from Gaynes Cove and the south end of the dam on small nymphs and vivas.

Best Rainbow 4lb 2oz taken by Stewart Watkins

Best boat areas H,J,M,G,D,Q and I buoys, Gaynes Cove, the south end of the dam and the Willows.

Best bank areas Gaynes Cove, South dam

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner Norman Rushton of Royston

Fish stocked 2,500

Competition News
Invicta Tuesday Evening Boat League

19 Anglers took part in this week’s evening boat league, catching 41 trout, giving a rod average of 2.15. Top place on the evening went to England Youth angler Kieran Bonas with 5 trout.

1st Kieran Bonas 5 fish
2nd = Adam Worker 4 fish
Danny Boatfield
Alan Briggs, Mick Facey, Kieran Caulfield and Chris McLeod weighed in three fish apiece.

Fish week 473 (season 15,015) returns 151 (3,975) rod average 3.13(3.77)

Freddie Brown took the best bag of the week with 8 Rainbows. Freddie (aged 82) lives in Espo, Finland. He caught his 8 rainbows weighing 22lb 6oz from Gaynes Cove by fishing a floating line with a diawl bach and a damsel nymph fished almost static. Fishing Grafham for four days earlier this season Freddy took 8 fish limits every day.

Aspiring anglers of all ages from juniors upwards can get a taste of fishing in one of the many free ‘learn to fish’ sessions promoted by Anglian Water during National Fishing Week – from ‘Just for Juniors’ to ‘Have a go flyfishing’ - see Forthcoming events for full details.

Grafham Water continues to fish well with the majority of trout being caught in the top three feet of the surface. The main tactics this week have been floating to Di 3 lines with either diawl bachs, pheasant tail nymphs, damsel nymphs or vivas on floating lines Tequila blobs, pink boobies and orange blobs on a Di 3 line. Trout are feeding on very small green buzzers, snails and pin fry.

The main areas that have been producing the best sport for the boat anglers this week have been the Boils, Gaynes Cove, L,H,S,G,M and J buoys.

The most successful area for bank anglers this week has been Gaynes Cove which has produced some good fishing on small nymphs and vivas on floating lines.

Best Rainbow 4lb 8oz taken by Keith Hazell

Best boat areas L,H,S,M, G and J buoys, Gaynes Cove

Best bank areas Gaynes Cove and Lodge bank

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner Michael Love of Bedford

Fish stocked 2,000

Competition News
Invicta Tuesday Night Boat League

25 anglers took part this week, catching 77 trout for a rod average of 3.08. Top place was shared by brothers Adam and Ryan Worker of Oakley, Bedford who both managed to catch 13 trout each by fishing on the boils with Di 3 line with sparkler lures. Adam, Ryan and Kieran Bonas are promising young international anglers.

1st= Adam & Ryan Worker 13 fish
3rd              Chris Williams 7 fish
4th = Kieran Bonas, Dave Burgess, Tom Angel 6 fish

Forthcoming events
Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 24 & 29 July; 2,9,16 & 30 August and throughout the season
GWFFA Floating line match - 26 July
National Fishing Week
Just for Juniors – have a go fly fishing at Grafham Water Thursday 30 July Taster sessions of one hour with experienced fly fishing coach Peter Harley. Suitable for youngsters aged 10 upwards. Pre booking essential – please call Grafham Fishing Lodge on 01480 810531
Fly fishing for trout at Grafham Water
Individual coaching sessions aimed at casting technique. Each session lasts 45 minutes. 27 – 31 July. Please call Grafham Fishing Lodge on 01480 810531

Week ending 12th July 2009

Fish week 841 (season 14,542) returns 264 (3,824) rod average 3.18 (3.8)

Competition anglers turned out in force this week with Grafham Water hosting both the Midland final of the Anglian Water Airflo International and the England Youth National. See competition news for a full report on both matches.

The arrival of cooler weather at the beginning of last week initially made fishing very challenging. As the week went on fishing picked up with plenty of anglers catching on the washing line method, floaters, intermediates and sink tip lines with orange blobs, pink boobies, diawl bachs, crunchers and pheasant tail nymphs fished with a steady retrieve. The best areas for the boat anglers have been Central Drifts, bowl of the Dam, H, G and J buoys.

Bank anglers have had some success at the end of the week along the lodge bank with Perry Point giving the most consistent fishing on small fry imitations and diawl bachs.

Best Rainbow 4lb 3oz

Best boat areas Central drifts, bow of the dam, G,H and J buoys

Best bank areas lodge bank, Perry Point, bowl of dam

Best methods see report

Mid week boat winner Mr Lawson Wight of Cambridge

Fish stocked 2,000

Competition News

England Youth Flyfishing Association
EYFA National
This proved to be a very exciting match with an incredibly close finish between first and second. Josh Fenton of Tyne & Wear was off the water by 1.25pm with his eight fish limit. Josh’s fish weighed in at 18lb 14 3/8oz giving him the England title by the slimmest of margins in front of Matthew (son of Simon) Kidd who weighed in at 18lb 13 5/8oz! Ashley Gillies took third place in his first English National, having taken up competition fishing very recently. All of the top placed anglers fished in the middle with orange lures. The top ten will go on to fish for England in the Junior International at Grafham next July.

Local anglers and Invicta club members in the top 10 included Oscar Boatfield, Kieran Bonas and Ryan Worker with Adam Worker placed 14th. Sixth placed Matthew Holroyd of Newcastle is a GWFFA member. Thanks go to all of the anglers who acted as boatmen.

1st Josh Fenton 8 fish for 18lb 14 3/8oz
2nd Matthew Kidd 8 fish for 18lb 13 5/8oz
3rd Ashley Gillies 8 fish for 15lb 11 5/8oz
4th Carl Malpass 7 fish for 15lb 10 7/8oz
5th James Atkinson 7 fish for 13lb 12½oz
6th Matthew Holroyd 6 fish for 12lb 13½oz
7th Oscar Boatfield 5 fish for 11lb 9 7/8oz
8th John Macintosh 6 fish for 11lb 8 7/8oz
9th Kieran Bonas 4 fish for 9lb 14 ¾oz
10th Ryan Worker 4 fish for 8lb 15 ½oz

Anglian Water Airflo Midland final
6 July 2009

Ospreys FFC took top spot at the first English regional final, with 14 fish for 29lb 11oz.

The forecast didn’t bode well for match day with sunshine, showers, strengthening westerly wind and a chance of a heavy thunderstorm all on the cards. However this did not deter sixty-six of the best Midland anglers who arrived on the pontoon for what turned out to be a hard fought very close match.

The boats nearly all headed towards the south end of the dam where the fish were known to be deep down. A few boats opted for the west end in front of the nature reserve. From the previous practice weekend, all the anglers knew that they had to make the most of the first couple of hours after which, the fish seemed to go off the feed.

The anglers that stayed at the west end of the water started on the washing line method with the fish only a couple of feet down from the surface, whilst the anglers heading towards the dam and the central areas were armed with Di7s or Di8s.

Paul Davison the Captain of the Osprey FFC had recorded blanks on both his practice days with not even a pull to inspire him. After a short time Paul brought his first fish to the boat and things continued well from there with Paul taking 5 five in all for 11lb 11oz to become the eventual top rod of the day. Two other outstanding performances both with 5 fish were Si Gaines (Fish Hawks A) and Tony Hoggart (Soldier Palmers).

The winning tactics for all of the qualifying teams was to fish deep with a single booby on a short leader of about 6 to 8 foot and just keep up with it only moving it on occasions as the boat drifted.

Only 95 fish made it to the scale for a rod average of 1.44
Best fish a 3lb 7oz rainbow went to David Hoppe of Team Rio Draycote Flyers
Best bag of 11lb 11oz was taken by Paul Davison of Ospreys FFC

The top four teams have qualified for the International Final at Rutland Water in October.

Team Results
No. of Total Weight
Fish lb oz
1st Ospreys FFC 14 29 11 7/8
2nd Loop UK 12 27 6 5/8
3rd Fish Hawks A 12 25 11 3/4
4th Greenwell Persuaders 'B' 10 23 2 3/4
5th Greenwell Persuaders 'A' 9 23 1 1/8
6th GWFFA 8 18 5
7th Soldier Palmers 8 18 3 3/8
8th Draycote Flyers 7 17 5 7/8
9th Hot Rods 7 16 0
10th Orvis Team Rutland 6 14 0
11th Fish Hawks B 2 4 10 7/8
No. of Fish Caught 95
Rod Average 1.44

Forthcoming events
Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 18, 24 & 29 July and throughout the season
Anglian Water Airflo International Midland final - 20 July
GWFFA Floating line match - 26 July

Week ending 5th July 2009

Fish week 185 (season 13,701) returns 98 (3,560) rod average 1.88(3.84)

Fishing at Grafham Water has become rather challenging with the fish feeding mainly on the abundant pin fry that scatter the whole of the reservoir. The hot weather combined with the pin fry feeding has meant anglers are finding it rather hard going. However, there have been plenty of fish showing throughout the day. The quality of the fish that are being caught is excellent and with the arrival of cooler weather the fishing should improve. The bank anglers that fish early in the morning and late evening are being rewarded with fish that move in close to the banks.

Fish are taking daphnia deep out in the middle as well as green aphids off the surface. Dries are well worth a go especially when you can see fish rising as they will come to these, a booby walked across the surface is also taking fish.

Best Rainbow 4lb 5oz taken by Damian Paddon

Best boat areas Central drifts, bowl of dam, west end

Best bank areas G buoy, bowl of dam, west end

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner Ken Moore of Potton

Fish stocked 2,000

Forthcoming events
Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 18,24 & 29 July and throughout the season
English Youth National - 12 July boatmen required
Anglian Water Airflo International Midland final - 20 July
GWFFA Floating line match - 26 July

Week ending 28th June 2009

Fish week 837 (season 13,516) returns 226 (3,462) rod average 3.7 (3.9)

Grafham Water has continued to fish well this week with the majority of anglers catching their trout in the top two feet of the water on small nymphs, blobs and olive hoppers fished just below the surface.

Bank anglers have had some good sport this week mainly by fishing the bowl of the dam and the G buoy area on floating lines with diawl bachs, crunchers, pheasant tail nymphs and olive hoppers fished slowly just below the surface.

Boat anglers have had the best of the sport this week by fishing floating or sink tip lines with diawl bachs, crunchers, pheasant tail nymphs, blobs and olive hoppers once again just below the surface with a slow retrieve. The best boat areas this week have been dam tower, G,H,I,X buoys and drifts through the middle of the reservoir.

The biggest bag of the week was caught by Milton Keynes angler and birthday boy John Timophy. John caught eight trout weighing 22lb 10oz by fishing a floating line with diawl bachs and olive hoppers fished slowly in the top of the water.

Best Rainbow 4lb 6oz

Best boat areas G,H,D and I buoys, central drifts, dam tower

Best bank areas G buoy, bowl of dam

Best methods see report

Mid week boat winner Colin Brett of Cambridge

Competition News
Federation of Midland Fly Fishers
Grafham Water Round 2, 21 June
53 Anglers took part in this event which was fished to an 8 fish limit with a 1lb time bonus. The majority of anglers fished the eastern end of the reservoir with floaters or sink tip lines with small nymphs.
1st Richard Slater 8 fish for 23lb 6¾oz
2nd Colin Bradley 8 fish for 22lb 8 1/8oz
3rd Stewart Thomson 8 fish for 22lb 8oz
Best fish went to Roger Hurren at 3lb 10½oz. Rod average 5.43 with an average fish weight of 2lb 3oz.
The top 15 anglers going through to the next round are:
Craig Barr, Ron Gent, Frank Sumnall, Martin Watson, Ed Foster, David Lang, Martin Introna, Paul Abbott, Martin Rowson, Steve Cullen, Roger Hurren, Gareth Tilley, Brad Gifford, Clive Morgan and Ian Donaldson

Forthcoming events
Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 5,18,24 & 29 July and throughout the season
Anglian Water Airflo International Southern final - 6 July
English Youth National - 12 July boatmen required
Anglian Water Airflo International Midland final - 20 July
GWFFA Floating line match - 26 July

Week ending 21st June 2009

Fish week 871 (season 12,679) returns 233 (3,236) rod average 3.73 (3.91)

Once again the fishing at Grafham Water this week has been outstanding with plenty of anglers catching their limits in the top 8 inches of water. The most productive method for boat anglers bas been floating or sink tip lines with diawl bachs, crunchers, pheasant tail nymphs, cormorants, tequila blobs and boobies fished almost static. The most productive areas for the boat anglers were south dam, gaynes cove, G, T and D buoys, rectory bay, hedge end and church bay.

Bank anglers have also had some cracking sport this week by fishing floating lines with diawl bachs, pheasant tail nymphs, crunchers and cormorants at gaynes cove, hill farm, deepwater point, bowl of dam and G buoy.

The biggest trout of the week was caught by local angler Ian Heading from Great Staughton. Ian caught a fin perfect over wintered rainbow of 5lb 2oz from the bowl of the dam on a red hotspot pheasant tail nymph.

Best Rainbow 5lb 2oz taken by Ian Heading of Great Staughton

Best Brown 4lb taken by C Witt

Best boat areas G,D,T buoys, central drifts, hedge end, deep water point, south dam, gaynes cove, rectory bay.

Best bank areas G buoy, deep water point,

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner Darren Wright from Hertfordshire

Fish stocked 1,800

Competition News
Invicta Tuesday Night Boat League

Twenty-six anglers took part in this week’s boat league, catching 41 trout.
1st Mick Facey 8 fish
2nd Chris McLeod 6 fish

Forthcoming events
Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 28 June; 5,18,24 & 29 July and throughout the season
Anglian Water Airflo International Southern final - 6 July
English Youth National - 12 July boatmen required
Anglian Water Airflo International Midland final - 20 July
GWFFA Floating line match - 26 July

Week ending 14th June 2009

Fish week 1,401 (season 11,808) returns 297 (3,003) rod average 4.71 (3.93)

The fishing at Grafham Water this week has been excellent with the vast majority of trout being caught in the top three feet of the water, mainly on diawl bachs, pheasant tail nymphs, crunchers, hares ears, buzzers, tequila blobs and cats whisker boobies. The main lines that anglers have been using this week have been floaters, fast glass and sink tips.

Boat anglers have caught plenty of bag limits this week from most areas of the reservoir with Hedge End, deep water and pylon points, G,D,P,I and Q buoys, Rectory Bay, Savages Creek and the Sludge bank being the most consistent areas on the reservoir.

Bank anglers have also enjoyed a cracking week’s fishing with most points along the north shore producing good catch rates. The Stumps, Hill Farm, Deep Water Point, G Buoy and the north end of the dam have all produced consistent catch rates on floating lines with diawl bachs, pheasant tail nymphs, hares ears and buzzers fished almost static.

Competition News

Invicta Tuesday Night Boat League

22 Anglers took part in this week’s boat league catching 107 trout giving a rod average of 4.86. Most anglers were fishing small nymphs on floating lines off the north shore. Top rod on the evening was Pete Dighton from Pidley. Pete caught and released 13 trout.

1st Pete Dighton 13
2nd Mick Facey 10
3rd Kieren Bonas 9

Best Rainbow 4lb 12oz taken by John Gamon

Best boat areas G,D,Q,A,I and P buoys, central drifts, Hedge End, Deep Water and Pylon Points, Savages Creek, Sludge Bank

Best bank areas North Dam, G Buoy, Deep Water Point, Hill Farm, the Stumps

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner Pete Dighton from Pidley

Fish stocked 2,000

Forthcoming events Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 24 & 28 June; 5,18,24 & 29 July and throughout the season
21 June England Eliminators second round
6 July Anglian Water Airflo International Midland final
12 July English Youth National boatmen required
20 July Anglian Water Airflo International Southern final
26 July GWFFA Floating line match

Week ending 7th June 2009

Fish week 1,167 (season 10,407) returns 292 (2,706) rod average 3.99(3.84)

The fishing at Grafham Water this week has been very good for both bank and boat anglers with the eastern end of the reservoir producing the main percentage of the trout caught.

Boat anglers have had the best of the sport this week with blobs, boobies, cormorants and diawl bachs taking the vast majority of trout caught. At the beginning of the week during th warm and bright days the trout were being caught from 3 to 10 feet down and when the dull and overcast weather came at the end of the week the trout moved up in the water and the anglers started catching in the top three feet of the surface. G,D,A,I,Q and P nuoys have all produced consistent fishing this week and the central drifts in the middle of the reservoir are now starting to hold large shoals of trout.

Bank anglers have also had some excellent sport this week mainly from the north end and bowl of the dam and G buoy on floating lines with diawl bachs, crunchers and cormorants fished slowly.

Competition News
Anglian Water Airflo International Midlands heat
Nine teams fished in this heat. Competition was keen for one of the top five places to qualify for the Midlands final at Grafham Water on 20 July. The match fished to a stunning rod average of 6.63. Mal Bruce fishing for Fish Hawks A caught the best fish at 3lb 13oz. Best bag was taken by Stewart Thomson of Pitsford Pirates who had 8 fish for 25lb.

Winning Team was Loop UK, with 45 fish for 118lb 12oz, captained by Gareth Headland. A delighted Gareth described his team’s day “After a slightly damp start to the day the conditions became almost perfect with overcast high cloud and a gentle easterly breeze. The majority of the boats headed towards the north shore especially Church Bay and Deep Water Point where on the practice day most anglers had found the quality fish Grafham is renowned for feeding heavily on the buzzer. Team Loop had all their anglers in this area with three anglers starting with four straight lined black buzzers all four feet apart on a floater. Two anglers were on the bung as the water was not too rough and the sixth team member started on the pull, but soon changed to the bung, after seeing a team mate take three quick fish on the first drift.

The fish during the day moved up in the water and so the anglers changed from floaters with deep fished buzzers, to buzzers fished on the midge tip washing line style with two tone booby on the point.

A few other boats headed off towards the Dam and Gaynes Cove area, fishing two boobies 10 feet apart on a Di5 forty plus or on a Di5 Sweep with pink boobies being the main colour the fish in this area also moved up in the water and with a change to a fast glass the fish were soon caught.”

1st Loop UK 45 fish for 118lb 12oz
2nd Ospreys FFC 45 fish for 114lb 8oz
3rd Fish Hawks A 46 fish for 109lb 3oz
4th Rio Draycote Flyers 44 fish for 105lb 15oz
5th GWFFA 44 fish for 103lb 4oz

Invicta Tuesday Night Boat League

26 Anglers took part in this week’s boat league. Top rod on the evening was Mick Facey from Bedford. Mick caught 5 trout with a tequila blob and cormorant doing the business.
1st Mick Facey 5 fish
2nd Alan Taylor/Dave Burgess 4 fish
3rd Mark Searle/Chris Williams/Fen Oakley 3 fish

Best Rainbow 5lb 2oz

Best boat areas G,D,Q,A,I & P buoys, central drifts

Best bank areas North and bowl of dam, G buoy

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner H Shirley of Woking

Fish stocked 2,830

Forthcoming events Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 24 & 28 June; 5,18,24 & 29 July and throughout the season
21 June England Eliminators second round
6 July Anglian Water Airflo International Southern final
12 July English Youth National boatmen required
20 July Anglian Water Airflo International Midland final
26 July GWFFA Floating line match

Week ending 31st May 2009
Fish week 759 (season 9,240) returns 248 (2,414) rod average 3.06 (3.82)

The biggest bag of the week was caught by Gary Barstow of Towcester. Gary caught 8 trout for 20lb 12oz from Savages Creek and G buoy by fishing a Di 5 with diawl bachs and blobs. The biggest trout caught this week was taken by Chris Whitford from Watford. Chris caught a superb over wintered Brown of 5lb 10oz from Gaynes Cove on an intermediate line with a white and yellow gold head lure.

Fishing at Grafham Water has benefitted from the settled weather conditions this week. Boat anglers have once again had the cream of the sport with plenty of anglers catching good bags of fish mainly from the north shore and the sludge bank. The best method for the boat anglers has been the washing line with a blob on the top dropper followed by a diawl bach or cruncher and an orange blob on the point fished at a gentle pace. Boat hot spots have been G and Q buoys, Hedge End, Hill Farm, Savages Creek and the Willows.

Bank anglers have found the fishing a little more challenging but with the recent north easterly winds G buoy and Hill Farm and the bowl of the dam have fished well, but only in the early morning and evening. The main method for the bank anglers has been floating lines with diawl bachs, crunchers, buzzers and cormorants.

Competition News
Association of Major Flyfishing Clubs Group 2, round 2

Five 6 man teams fished this event with a rod average of 3.7. The main method on the day was the washing line on a Di3 or 5 with most of the competitors fishing the north shore, G buoy, Hill Farm, hedge End and the Willows.

1st Royal Navy & Royal Marines 28 fish for 69lb 15oz
2nd Grafham Water Fly Fishers 27 fish for 67lb 6oz
3rd Bristol Reservoirs FA 21 fish for 53lb 10oz
4th Queen Mother FF 20 fish for 47lb 1oz
5th Iver 17 fish for 43lb 13oz

Both Louise Callow and Charles Bowers recorded the best fish weight of 3lb 10oz.

Invicta Tuesday Night Boat League

13 Anglers took part in this week’s boat league in very breezy conditions. The top rod on the day was youth angler Oscar Boatfield from Cambridge with two trout.

Best Rainbow 4lb 6oz

Best Brown 5lb 10oz taken by Chris Whitford of Watford

Best boat areas G and Q buoys, Hedge End, Hill Farm, Sludge Bank

Best bank areas Bowl of dam, Hill Farm, Sludge Bank

Best methods see report

Mid week boat winner W Nash of Newmarket

Fish stocked 2,600

Forthcoming events Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 7, 24 & 28 June; 5,18,24 & 29 July and throughout the season
6 June Anglian Water Airflo International Midland Heat
10 June Pro Am boat match
21 June England Eliminators second round
6 July Anglian Water Airflo International Southern final
12 July English Youth National boatmen required
20 July Anglian Water Airflo International Midland final
26 July GWFFA Floating line match

Week ending 24th May 2009

fish week 616 (season 8,481) returns 325 (2,166) rod average 1.89 (3.91)

The recent extreme fluctuations in weather conditions, from strong southerly winds early in the week, to red hot flat calms at the end of the week, have made fishing challenging. Boat anglers have enjoyed the best sport on a mixture of methods from floaters with buzzers and small nymphs (mainly from the western end of the reservoir, Savages Creek, Rainbow Point and Valley Creek) to fast sunk lines with blobs and boobies from Gaynes Cove, bowl of the dam and G,Q and I buoys. Bank anglers have had some good sport this week mainly at the back end from G buoy, Hill Farm and the bowl of the dam mainly on floaters with buzzers and small nymphs.

The biggest bag of the week was caught by local season ticket holder Ian Heading from Great Staughton. Ian caught 8 trout for 25lb 7oz on a Di5 line drifting between Q and I buoys.

Competition News
Troutmasters
Grafham Water hosted the Troutmasters with 150 anglers competing. The weather last Monday was not ideal with strong south westerly winds and boats restricted to within 300 metres of the south shore and the north shore unfishable from the bank. Anglers who qualified for this match had done so through their own fisheries by catching a large fish and then competing in a fish off against all the other big captors on that water. With 150 anglers competing the field is split into two with half boat fishing and the other half fishing from the bank. Following a mid day weigh in the two halves swap over and the results are worked out on a points basis depending on individual placings in each session.

The winner this year was Darren Booth representing Stocks Fly Fishery. Darren was the only angler to catch in both sessions taking two fish in the morning from the bank and three in the afternoon session from the boats. Mark Sturgess representing Packington Trout Fishery took the best fish prize with a stunning 4lb Rainbow from along the lodge bank.

1ST Darren Booth
2nd Mark Sturgess
3rd Richard Lansbury
4th David Franklin
5th Graeme Bell
6th Richard Cooper
7th Jack McCue(Jnr)
8th Dave Morris
9th Liam Simpson
10th Bob Shaw

Invicta Tuesday Night Boat League

18 Anglers took part in this week’s boat match catching 25 trout.
1st Dave Newing 5 fish
2nd Kieran Bonas/John Vincent 3 fish
Dave was top rod this week by fishing diawl bachs and crunchers on a floating line from Sailing Club Bay

Best Rainbow Two at 4lb 4oz taken by Richard Kesek and D Jones

Best Brown 6lb 1oz taken by Steve Battle of Bedford

Best boat areas Savages Creek, Gaynes Cove, Rainbow point, The Seat, G,Q and I buoys

Best bank areas Gaynes Cove, bowl of dam, the Seat, Hill Farm, G Buoy

Best methods See report

Mid week boat winner James Woodroff of Fenstanton

Fish stocked 2,000

Forthcoming events Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 7, 24 & 28 June; 5,18,24 & 29 July and throughout the season
28 May Fly-fishing for Juniors.
Sponsored by the Salmon and Trout Association. Three hours of tuition 9.30am to 12.30 or 1.30pm to 4.30 pm. All for just £10. For more information please contact Peter Hartley on 07922 126154
2 June Inter Services
6 June Anglian Water Airflo International Midland Heat
10 June Pro Am boat match

Week ending 17th May 2009

Fish week 721(season 7,865) returns 206 (1,841) rod average 3.5 (4.27)

The biggest bag of the week fell to boat angler Phil Hambly from Harrogate who caught 8 trout for 25lb 8oz and released 20 more. This excellent bag was taken by fishing at G buoy with a floating line and with a diawl bach on the dropper and a gold head pheasant tail nymph on the point. Phil said it was a cracking day’s fishing.

Boat anglers have enjoyed the best of the sport this week, wind permitting, with most anglers catching good bags of trout from most areas of the reservoir. The Seat, Sailing Club Bay, Gaynes Cove, G Buoy, Hill Farm and Savages Creek have all produced some arm wrenching sport on either floating lines with buzzers, diawl bachs and pheasant tail nymphs fished slow and near the bottom of the reservoir or fast sink lines with boobies, blobs and diawl bachs which also need to be fished slowly.

Bank anglers have also had some tremendous fishing from G Buoy, Hill Farm, Gaynes Cove and the Seat mainly on floating lines with buzzers, diawl bachs and pheasant tail nymphs.

Best Rainbow 4lb 4oz taken by Malcolm Foster of Somerset

Best Brown 4lb 8oz taken by W Foster of Ealing

Best boat areas Savages Creek, Gaynes Cove, Rainbow Point, The Seat, G Buoy

Best bank areas Gaynes Cove, South dam, The Seat, Hill Farm, G Buoy

Mid week boat winner E Bowen of Leighton Buzzard

Fish stocked 2,000

Forthcoming events Tuesday Evening Boat League
Beginners courses - 27 May; 7, 24 & 28 June and throughout the season
Thursday 28 May Fly-fishing for Juniors.
Sponsored by the Salmon and Trout Association. Three hours of tuition 9.30am to 12.30 or 1.30pm to 4.30 pm. All for just £10. For more information please contact Peter Hartley on 07922 126154
2 June Inter Services
6 June Anglian Water Airflo International Midland Heat
10 June Pro Am boat match

Week ending 10th May 2009

Fish week 1,026 (season 7,144) returns 226 (1,635) rod average 4.53 (4.36)

The fishing at Grafham Water this week has been very good despite the strong westerly winds which have influenced the areas fished. Boat anglers have had the best of the sport with plenty of anglers catching their limits, mainly from Rainbow Point, Savages Creek, Valley Creek and Gaynes Cove. There have been two main methods of attack, floating lines with black or olive buzzers and diawl bachs or fast sink lines with blobs or boobies.

Bank anglers have found the fishing a little challenging with Gaynes Cove being the only consistent bank spot to fish due to the strong winds, but there have been some good bags caught mainly early or late in the day.

Best Rainbow Various at 3lb

Best boat areas Savages Creek, Gaynes Cove, Rainbow point, Valley Creek, the Seat, Gaynes Cove

Best bank areas Gaynes Cove, South Dam, The Seat

Mid week boat winner Roland Hudson of Offord Darcy

Fish stocked 2,750

Forthcoming events 12 May Tuesday Evening Boat League commences
18 May Troutmasters (reservoir closed to all non competitors, bank fishing from 5pm onwards)
Beginners courses - 27 May; 7,14, 24 & 28 June
28 May Fly-fishing for Juniors.
Sponsored by the Salmon and Trout Association. Three hours of tuition 9.30am to 12.30 or 1.30pm to 4.30 pm. All for just £10. For more information please contact Peter Hartley on 07922 126154

Week ending 3 May 2009

Fish week 1,152 (season 6,118) returns 196 (1,409) rod average 5.87 (4.43)

Fishing at Grafham Water is superb with a rod average well over 5.87. The fish are now feeding heavily on the vast buzzer hatches which are happening throughout the day. The best method seems to be straight lined buzzers, either black or olive fished slowly back. Fish are well spread out in most areas, especially at Savages Creek, the Seat and Sailing Club Bay and Gaynes Cove.

Competition News
The English Disabled enjoyed an outstanding day’s fishing last week when they had their annual get together with Grafham Water Fly Fishers and some of the other local clubs as well as the English Ladies. The get together/match is fished to reservoir rules. Fishing conditions were near perfect with bright, broken cloud and a gentle warm south westerly breeze and a rod average of over 5.

1st Harley Smith & Roy Palmer 16 fish for 36lb 6oz
2nd Cyril Proctor & Chris Lane 16 fish for 35lb
3rd Danny Peet & Jayne Cutting 16 fish for 34lb 9oz
4th John Roberts & Steve Ellerbeck 16 fish for 33lb 8oz
5th Don West & Kevin Appleton 15 fish for 32lb 12oz

Chris Lane had the best bag of the day with 8 fish for 19lb 14oz. Andy Newman took the best fish with a typical Grafham over wintered fish of 4lb 1oz.

England Ladies Flyfishing Association held a very successful mixed pairs competition at Grafham Water on 2 May. Sixteen pairs fished this match which was sponsored by Wychwood.

1st Martha Thompson & Rob Edmonds 16 fish for 44lb 6oz
2nd Sue Hunter & Dave Kidby 16 fish for 43lb 6oz
3rd Scarlett Hodgson & James Hunt 16 fish for 40lb 11oz
4th Kate Royce & Stewart Hume 16 fish for 34lb 15oz

Best boat areas Savages Creek, Gaynes Cove, The Seat, Sludge Bank, Hill Farm, Hedge End

Best bank areas The Stumps, Hill Farm, G buoy, Deep Water Point, Plummers

Fish stocked 750

Forthcoming events 12 May Tuesday Evening Boat Leagues commence
18 May Troutmasters (reservoir closed to all non competitors, bank fishing from 5pm onwards)
Beginners courses - 9 & 27 May; 7,14, 24 & 28 June
28 May Fly-fishing for Juniors.
Sponsored by the Salmon and Trout Association. Three hours of tuition 9.30am to 12.30 or 1.30pm to 4.30 pm. All for just £10. For more information please contact Peter Hartley on 07922 126154

Week ending 26th April 2009

Fish week 1561 (season 4,966) returns 320 (1,213) rod average 4.87 (4.09)

Anglers have enjoyed a fantastic week at Grafham Water with the lake really switching on in the warm spring sunshine. Most areas have fished well throughout the week, especially the south shore around Gaynes Cove, the Seat and Sludge Bank as well as Perry Point. The stable water levels over the past couple of years have allowed the vast buzzer beds to re colonise. Fish are gorging themselves on buzzers – especially olive or black.

The most popular methods are floating or midge tip lines with epoxy or super glue buzzers, mainly straight lined or a few anglers are fishing the bung. Some anglers are finding a slow glass fished washing line style is effective.

Steve Battle, a season ticket holder from Bedford, had a fantastic week boat fishing. He hired three boats in total and took limits on all three days using buzzers on a floating line from Hedge End. His last fish was a cracking Brown of 6lb 1oz.

Father and son Alan and Andy Bayford of St Neots had a good afternoon last week with Alan boating a fine over wintered Rainbow of 6lb from the bowl of the dam on a damsel pattern. Freddy Brown, who is 82 and lives in Finland, enjoyed four days fishing at Grafham Water during a recent two week holiday. He was rewarded with four limits from different parts of the lake. Most of the fish fell to a damsel pattern or diawl bachs.

Competition News
On Sunday 19th and Monday 20 April Grafham Water hosted the Lexus Individual and Team heats. Expectations were high following practice days.

The individual heat was won by season ticket holder Richard Kesek from Stevenage fishing in Gaynes Cove with super glue buzzers.
1st Richard Kesek 8 fish for 23lb 8oz
2nd Bill McIlroy 8 fish for 23lb 4oz
3rd Lindsay Barrie 8 fish for 22lb 13oz
4th Phil Shaw-Browne 8 fish for 22lb 9oz
5th James Britten 8 fish for 21lb 13oz
These five anglers qualify for the individual final, with Paul Haskey of Rugby taking the wild card draw with a Rainbow of 4lb 1oz.

The Team event was very closely fought with only 10lb separating all six teams. Coming out on top were Team Loop UK with the two Hanningfield teams in second and third place and Draycote Flyers taking the final qualifying spot in fourth place. Steve Ellerbeck from Grafham Water Fly Fishers was the overall top rod on the day with eight fish for 23lb 14oz. Steve also took the best fish –he had two Browns each weighing 4lb 8oz.

Best Rainbow 6lb taken by Alan Bayford of St Neots

Best Brown 6lb 1oz taken by Steve Battle of Bedford

Best boat areas Gaynes Cove, the Seat, Sludge Bank, Perry Point, Hill Farm, Hedge End

Best bank areas The Stumps, Hill Farm, G Buoy, Deep Water Point, Plummers

Mid week boat winner Mike Bachini of Cambs

Fish stocked 2,000

Forthcoming events 3 May Mixed Pairs
12 May Tuesday Evening Boat Leagues commence
18 May Troutmasters (reservoir closed to all non competitors, bank fishing from 5pm onwards)
Beginners course s - 9 & 27 May; 7,14, 24 & 28 June and throughout the season.
28 May Fly-fishing for Juniors.
Sponsored by the Salmon and Trout Association. Three hours of tuition covering elementary casting, fly tying, tackle and tactics. 9.30am to 12.30 or 1.30pm to 4.30 pm. All for just £10.
For more information please contact Peter Hartley on 07922 126154

Week ending 19th April 2009

Fish week 1032 (season 3405) returns 306 (893) rod average 3.37 (3.81)

A good week at Grafham with both bank and boat anglers catching plenty of fish, especially from the Stumps to Hill Farm area. Boat anglers are finding increasing numbers in the central parts of the lake towards the dam, from G buoy to the Seat.

David Martin was delighted with the 7lb plus Brownie he caught off Savages Creek. “Having caught plenty of nice Rainbows we decided to try for an overwintered fish and hey presto this one decided to take the fly. It took a home tied Montana variant fished deep and slow on a fast sinker. It made two fast deep runs before surfacing and coming to the net. I’ve hooked several good fish in this area before but never managed to land one as they have all thrown the hook. This is my best ever Brownie and was in pretty good condition”.

Most fish are now being caught on buzzers either straight lined or under the bung. Fish are quite high in the water only about 4-5 feet down. Gordon Anthony proved this by taking a fine Rainbow of 7lb 8½oz from the Willows on a straight lined black buzzer on a floating line.

Competition News
GWFFA held its first bank match of the season on Saturday with a mixed bag of results. Mark Brinkman enjoyed a good day fishing buzzers from near the Stones at Hill Farm and caught his 8 fish by lunch time.
1st Mark Brinkman 8 fish for 15lb 12oz
2nd Andy Linwood 6 fish for 11lb 14oz
3rd John Vincent 5 fish for 9lb 7oz
4th Harley Smith 4 fish for 7lb 9oz

Best Rainbow 7lb 8½oz taken by Gordon Anthony

Best Brown 7lb plus returned by David Martin

Best boat areas Hedge End, G Buoy, Deep Water Point, Bowl of Dam, Main Bowl

Best bank areas The Stumps, Hill Farm, G Buoy, Deep Water Point, Plummers

Mid week boat winner Michael Benyon of Tadley

Forthcoming events 26 April EDFF & GWFFA 01480 810531
3 May Mixed Pairs
12 May Tuesday Evening Boat Leagues commence
18 May Troutmasters (reservoir closed to all non competitors, bank fishing from 5pm onwards)
Beginners course s - 26 April;
9 & 27 May and throughout the season.

Week ending 12th April 2009

Fish week 708 (season 2,373) returns 186 (587) rod average 3.8 (4.04)

Grafham Water is fishing well again this week with plenty of anglers catching their limits from both the bank and boat. The bank anglers have continued to catch from the usual hotspots from along the North shore e.g. The Stumps, Hedge End, Deep Water Point and G Buoy as well as Plummers and Gaynes Cove when the wind has allowed access to these banks.

The boat anglers have also caught in these areas on buzzers or nymphs, the same as the bank anglers have. Boat anglers are reporting that the over wintered fish and the early/pre season stock fish are now feeding out in the central areas of the main basin.

Buzzers either straight lined or under the bung seem to be the most effective methods.

Best Rainbow 4lb 15oz taken by W Timms of Oldbury

Best Brown 7lb returned by T Blazey of Thetford

Best boat areas Hedge End, G Buoy, Deep Water Point, Bowl of Dam, Main Bowl

Best bank areas The Stumps, Hill Farm, G Buoy, Deep Water Point, Plummers

Mid week boat winner Michael Facey of Bedford

Fish stocked 2,000

Forthcoming events 19 April Lexus European Individual Qualifier
01761 490367
20 April Lexus European Team Qualifier
26 April EDFF & GWFFA 01480 810531
3 May Mixed Pairs
12 May Tuesday Evening Boat Leagues commence
18 May Troutmasters (reservoir closed to all non competitors, bank fishing from 5pm onwards)
Beginners course s - 26 April;
9 & 27 May and throughout the season.

Week ending 6th April 2009

Fish week 699(season 1,665) returns 171 (401) rod average 4.08 (4.15)

Grafham Water has continued to fish well this week with plenty of anglers catching their limits from both bank and boat. Anglers on the dam wall and the north shore have benefitted from light north easterly winds. G buoy, Hill Farm and the bowl of the dam have all produced very good consistent bank fishing mainly on floating lines with black buzzers, diawl bachs and Montanas, but also black and green or orange boobies on fast sink lines.

Boat anglers are now enjoying good sport with plenty of bag limits being taken from most points along the north shore. Boat anglers are finding the majority of their fish around the margins where fish are feeding heavily on daphnia. The best boat areas have been G buoy, Hedge End, Deep Water Point, Church Bay and the bowl of the dam. Most anglers are taking their trout on fast sunk lines with black and green or orange boobies. However, anglers are reporting that they are starting to catch on floating/sink tip lines with black buzzers and diawl bachs fished static.

Competition News
Trout Masters fish off (bank) 29 March
Craig Barr won the Troutmasters fish off at Grafham Water this year. Craig won by fishing a black and green booby on a Di8 line from Deep Water Point. He will now represent Grafham Water at the final which will be held at Grafham on Monday 18 May.
1st Craig Barr 8 fish for 14lb 13oz
2nd Robert Edmunds 8 fish for 13lb 13oz
3rd Louise Callow 5 fish for 10lb 8oz
Junior Troutmasters
Sam Edmonds from Ware in Hertfordshire won the junior match at Grafham. Sam caught five trout for 10lb 12oz from G Buoy on a Di7 line with an orange booby – he also caught the biggest fish of the match a Rainbow of 2lb 13oz.

Police Match 2 April

This was a four man team match fished to fishery rules.

1st Essex A 32 fish for 71lb 5oz
2nd Norfolk A 26 fish for 59lb 15oz
3rd Cambridge 20 fish for 34lb 8oz

Bob Church Open for the Frank Cutler Memorial Trophy – 5 April
58 Anglers caught 259 fish in this popular match, achieving a rod average of 4.47. Laurie Taylor was top rod with 8 fish for 26lb 7¼oz. Gary Edmunds weighed in the best fish at 4lb 5¼oz. All boats fished in the Hill Farm, Hedge End, Church Bay and G Buoy areas. Most popular methods were fast sink lines, black and green or orange boobies, blobs or sink tip lines, buzzers and diawl bachs.

1st Laurie Taylor 8 fish for 26lb 7¼oz
2nd Graham Willis 8 fish for 22lb ¾oz
3rd Lloyd Pallett 8 fish for 21lb 14 1/8oz
4th Gary Edmunds 8 fish for 21lb 12¾oz

Best Rainbow 7lb 5oz taken by Paul Cooper of Brentwood

Best Brown 4lb 6oz taken by Andy Gunn of St Neots

Best boat areas Hedge End, G Buoy, Deep Water Point, Bowl of dam

Best bank areas The Stumps, Hill Farm, G Buoy, bowl of dam

Mid week boat winner Mr T Blazey of Wretham, Thetford

Fish stocked 2,000

Forthcoming events 19 April Lexus European Individual Qualifier
01761 490367
20 April Lexus European Team Qualifier
26 April EDFF & GWFFA 01480 810531
3 May Mixed Pairs
12 May Tuesday Evening Boat Leagues commence
18 May Troutmasters (reservoir closed to all non competitors, bank fishing from 5pm onwards)

Week ending 29th March 2009

Fish week 330 (season 966) returns 88 (230) rod average 3.75 (4.2)

The fishing at Grafham Water last week was influenced by the strong north westerly winds which made the fishing challenging. However, some intrepid anglers braved the conditions and had some superb sport mainly from the bank as boat fishing was restricted by the strong winds.

The best bank areas have again been the Stumps, Hill Farm and Gaynes Cove with only the latter being fishable all week. The Stumps and Hill Farm have been the best areas by far. The best method was fishing floating lines with black and green boobies and nymphs fished almost static and also diawl bachs, black buzzers, and damsel nymphs. Gaynes Cove has also produced some good sport but it hasn’t fished as consistently as Hill Farm and the Stumps.

With the strong winds restricting boat fishing, Gaynes Cove has been by far the best area for boat anglers as it has been the most sheltered spot on the reservoir. Best tactics for boat anglers have been fast sink lines with black and green boobies or nymphs fished slowly from an anchored boat.

Anglers are reporting that most of the trout caught are feeding heavily on daphnia with some trout feeding on tiny black buzzer.

Best Rainbow 4lb 8oz taken by Andy Bayford of St Neots

Best boat areas Hill Farm, Hedge End, The Stumps, Gaynes Cove

Best bank areas The Stumps, Hill Farm, Gaynes Cove

Mid week boat winner Dennis Hunt of Luton

Fish stocked 2000

Forthcoming events 5 April Bob Church Open
(Frank Cutler Memorial Trophy) 01604 661133
19 April Lexus European Individual Qualifier
01761 490367
20 April Lexus European Team Qualifier
26 April EDFF & GWFFA 01480 810531
3 May Mixed Pairs
Beginners course s - 11 & 26 April;
10,24 & 27 May and

23rd March 2009

Fish week 525 (season 636) returns 120 (142) rod average 4.37(4.47)

Grafham Water has continued its fine form since opening day. Plenty of anglers are catching their limits on both bank and boat. The North shore has been the most productive accounting for a massive percentage of the 525 trout caught this week.

Bank anglers are enjoying some cracking sport with the Stumps, Hill Farm, Pylon Point, Deep Water Point and G buoy all producing consistent catch rates throughout the day. Best methods have been floating lines with black and green lures, nymphs and boobies, damsel nymphs, diawl bachs, pheasant tail nymphs and black buzzers also catching well generally fished very slow or static.

Boat anglers are also having some tremendous sport in the same areas as the bank anglers with Hill Farm and Hedge End marginally being the best spots from an anchored boat with sinking lines and black and green lures, nymphs and boobies, also black buzzers fished totally static are producing very good catch rates.

P Roland and F Chapman shared the biggest fish of the week. They both caught Rainbows weighing 4lb and Mr Chapman also caught and released a Pike of 9lb. John Timothy of Milton Keynes caught a Brown trout of 5lb 3oz – this was released as out of season until 1 April.

Best Rainbow Two at 4lb taken by F Chapman and P Roland

Best boat areas Hill Farm, Hedge End, the Stumps, G buoy, Deep Water Point, Pylon Point

Best bank areas The Stumps, Hill Farm, G Buoy, Pylon Point, Deep Water Point

Mid week boat winner Tony Holmshaw of March

Fish stocked 9000

Forthcoming events 5 April Bob Church Open
(Frank Cutler Memorial Trophy) 01604 661133
19 April Lexus European Individual Qualifier
01761 490367
20 April Lexus European Team Qualifier
26 April EDFF & GWFFA 01480 810531
Beginners course s - 29 March; 11 & 26 April;
10,24 & 27 May and throughout the season.

16th March 2009

Opening day at Grafham Water saw plenty of anglers taking their limits, undeterred by strong north westerly winds. The New Lodge Trophy was won by a bank angler – Jeremy Jacobs of Little Staughton in Bedfordshire. Jeremy caught a Rainbow of 4lb 7oz from the Seat early in the morning on a floating line with a green nymph fished slowly followed by another Rainbow of 3lb 11oz - all before 9.30am. Jeremy won £50 in Anglian Water gift vouchers as well as having his name engraved on the New Lodge Trophy.

Bank anglers enjoyed the best sport on the day with the best area being the Stumps with most anglers catching their limits on floating lines with black and green nymphs or lures. Hill Farm, Gaynes Cove and the Seat also produced consistent fishing with plenty of anglers having some excellent catches. This was hardly surprising as the trout have been feeding very close to the margins.

Boat anglers found the fishing more challenging due to the North Westerly winds, reaching 17 m.p.h., which made boat fishing conditions uncomfortable. However, they still had some cracking sport off Hedge End, Hill Farm and the Stumps on medium to fast sink lines with black and green boobies, lures and nymphs, cats whiskers and diawl bachs.

The best bag of the day was caught by boat angler Tom Davis from Leicester. Tom caught 8 trout for 18lb 8oz and also released two more trout by fishing a fast sink line with cormorants and two toned orange blobs drifting from Hedge End into Church Bay.

Best Rainbow 4lb 7oz taken by Jeremy Jacobs

Best boat areas Hill Farm, Hedge End, The Stumps, G Buoy, Gaynes Cove, The Seat

Best bank areas The Stumps, Hill Farm, Gaynes Cove/Plummer Park, The Seat

Mid week boat winner John Syson of Spalding

Fish stocked 9000

Forthcoming events 5 April Bob Church Open
(Frank Cutler Memorial Trophy) 01604 661133
19 April Lexus European Individual Qualifier
01761 490367
20 April Lexus European Team Qualifier
26 April EDFF & GWFFA 01480 810531
Beginners course s - 29 March; 11,22 & 26 April;
10,24 & 27 May and throughout the season.

16th February 2009

Season tickets will be available to purchase from the lodges from 21 February onwards
Trout Fishing with Anglian Water
Having had a great season in 2008 we are all looking forward to a new season’s trout fishing at our reservoirs.

Trout Stocking – contracts for next three years
Orders have been placed with nine fish farms to maintain catch rates and quality at all of our fisheries and we are confident of a very good start to the new season with plenty of over-wintered fish. In 2008 most trout caught were over two pounds at all of our four fisheries and we plan to maintain this performance, plus of course the big fish which make Ravensthorpe so popular.

£100,000 investment in new Pontoons
Anglers visiting Ravensthorpe last summer will have seen the new pontoon, manufactured by Walcon Marine Ltd. Rutland Water took delivery of a new pontoon in December. This popular design of pontoon using a galvanised steel frame with a hardwood deck and supported on fibre concrete floats has been especially designed to accommodate our fishing boat fleet and should make coming on and off the boat with all your fishing tackle a lot easier.

Boat Replacement Programme nears completion
The replacement of our fishing boats, making them all CE compliant, continues. Grafham now has a new rescue boat.

Season Permit prices held for 2009 and available to purchase from the lodges from Saturday 21 February
We are retaining our popular range of permits at the same prices as 2008

Gold £709 - for 300 days of fishing freedom. For those who want to fish two, three or more times each week and expect to catch a lot of fish. It allows catch & release plus the fishery day limit. Valid to 31 December.
Silver £549 - great value for the frequent angler who fishes more than once a week and expect to catch up to 300 fish in a season. Valid to 31 December.
Blue £419 - catch & release with a bit extra. For anglers who prefer catch and release most of the time plus 8 nominated days with an 8 fish bag limit. Valid to 31 December.
Green £459 - value for money for those who fish one or two days and evenings each week, and whose annual catch totals less than 160 fish. You can select any eight months from March to December or pay an additional £35 for 10 months fishing.
Economy £349 - for those with less time to fish or new to the sport and not catching many fish. This permit gives you one day catch & release at Ravensthorpe only but unlimited visits elsewhere providing you catch less than 75 trout over the season. You can select any eight months from March to December.
Starter £199 - for anglers who have completed one of our day beginners courses. Limited to two seasons, you can choose to fish any 8 months.

Paul Knight, director of the Salmon and Trout Association caught a 4lb 7oz rainbow from the harbour bank at Grafham in a gale last week.

Paul and David Moore (recently retired from his position as Anglian Water’s Recreation and Development Manager) had planned a day’s boat fishing at Grafham but were blown off. Paul’s fish took an appetiser, although it was completely stuffed with snails. Paul said '' What a fantastically conditioned fish, it gave a great fight after I hooked it 20 yards out, the fish here at Grafham are really exceptional.'' 4lb 7oz was the best weight for a Rainbow this week with B Arnold of Whittlesford, Cambs, also recording a Rainbow at this weight. The best bag of the week weighed 18lb 15oz and was taken by Mike Watson of Stevenage.

picture of Keith Nicholson of the winning Kent &  
Sussex Fly Fishers catching a fish at the AWFMI Midland Final at  
Grafham Water. The team went on to win the match with 48 fish, all of  
the team caught their limit. Picture thanks to www.fishypics.co.uk

In June 2007 Anglian Water said goodbye to David Moore and wished him well for a long and happy retirement. David worked with Anglian Water for over 30 years and was involved at Rutland Water from the time it opened in 1977. 12 months on David fished for England Fly Fishers against the Professionals last week at Grafham and was top rod on the day with 8 fish for 16lb 10oz. He also caught the best fish of the match, a superb over wintered Rainbow of 4lb 13oz “The eight fish included my personal best trout of 4-11, largely thanks to a great practice day with Grafham Water Warden Ray and then a very skilful boat partner, Richard Slater who lead the way and I just copied but got the bigger fish.” Said David modestly.

D.Moore 4lbs 11ozs.

Grafham Water is continuing to fish well for both boat and bank anglers with the majority of fish being caught in the top five feet of water on a mixture of small nymphs or lures, buzzers, diawl bachs, damsel nymphs, crunchers, boobies and blobs.

Top rod on the day was Roy Palmer with 8 fish for 22lb 6oz and the best fish went to Dave Waters – a typical Grafham over wintered specimen of 5lb 5oz taken on an olive buzzer from the Sludge bank.

Photo taken at the English Disabled match at Grafham Water last weekend.  Mark Andrews is on the left and Chris McLeod on the right.  

Dominating the headlines is a 16lb brown - the biggest at Grafham in nearly 11 years. This superb fish was one of a number of double figure fish caught at Grafham Water, especially browns with three double figure fish from the Harbour alone.

Last Saturday, Bob Wallinger, from Sharnford, Leicester, was persuaded by warden Simon Dance to try bank fishing the Harbour Wall following a fruitless boat session. All seemed quite normal to start with as Bob took 5 fish including two browns over 4lb (returned). Then, on almost the final cast of the evening, he saw a fish taking fry close to the boom. Matching the hatch and putting on a large deer hair floating fry he soon found himself hooked into the season’s best brown. This superb 16lb hen fish was the best for almost 11 years. This fish beats Bob’s personal best, caught in 1994, by over 2lb.