Bev Perkins Remembered

I heard yesterday that unfortunately Bev Perkins had died on Tuesday. Bev was a big character who fished Pitsford and Ravensthorpe for many years.

He was part of a generation of Northampton anglers that revolutionised trout fishing with techniques and flies that were extremely effective for large waters but also applicable to all fly fishing whether small water or river. He was a great fly tyer and had a large number of articles published in the UK angling press. Here's Bev at home in Northampton with his his Fly Tying kit.


He had been ill for a while and on oxygen for a good part of it and unfortunately couldn't tie however he was not short of visitors and anglers stories.

His fly tying was exceptional and he had loads of clever methods and approaches, a real innovator.

I managed to scan in a few of his articles he wrote recently. I don't think they had been published although the flies have. This is one relating to Pitsford and flies are fantastic fish catchers, guaranteed!!

Cleanup at Pitsford

The next meeting of the AGM and will be on Thursday March 12th at the Old Northamptonians in Northampton and Nathan Clayton and John Marshall will be there to share their plans for the forth coming season.

Additionally at the last meeting I was reminded about the Pitsford litter pick so I have now set Sunday morning 15th March. There is already a person that does the cycle track every week but it is surprising how much is around the water's edge and that you can tie back to Fishermen.

It is our opportunity to give something back and show AWA and others that we do care about the facility and the surroundings we fish in. Anyway it is a great excuse to get to the water and fish afterwards.

If anyone would like to join us please let me know on kevrowley@live.co.uk the more the merrier.

Pitsford Beginners Courses

This year Peter Hartley is going to be running all the beginners courses at Anglian Water. He will undoubtedly be supported by other instructors. He has set up a new website so if you are interested in an fishing courses you should find something here to suite your needs at http://www.bsff.co.uk/

I have just agreed over the weekend with Peter that I will take the lunchtime slot on Pitsford courses for half an hour and give a talk on trout food and fly tying.

Just been talking to one of the instructors Anthony Williams while he is out in New Zealand. Weathers not great but the country is fantastic. It takes me back 20 years when I spent 9 weeks out there with a rucksack on my back-fantastic times. Anthony has managed to do a bit of fishing and this picture just shows the quality of fish and surroundings-lucky devil!




He'll not thank me if I don't give you link to his website at http://www.flyfishingacademy.co.uk/. Anthony is regularly at Pitsford and Ravensthorpe teaching or guiding.

Elimators and tickets

I have just sent off my entry for this years England eliminators and the Midlands heats are to be held on 10th May at Rutland, 21st June at Grafham. The National Final if I make it is on 19th September at Rutland. They are all fairly local this year however the Midland heats must be one of the toughest routes. I have made it through these into the National Final three times now and it is extremely rewarding when you do.

It has been a good number of years now since I competed so I don't expect to make it through this year but you have got to start again somewhere. I feel it has been a while since I have done any serious competition fishing so looking for this year as an introduction to make sure I know the ropes have the gear etc. There you go got the excuses in early!

I was reading my AWA letter today reminding me that season tickets can be purchased after 21st Feb. Looks as though all prices have been held for this year with starter at 199, economy 349, green 459, blue 419, silver 549 and gold 709. Loyalty discounts are 25 for renewal and 50 for upgrade. I was going to go for the economy this year again but I already know of 5 competitions so think I will retain the catch and release blue ticket with my 8 nominated days.Opening dates this season are 28th Feb at Ravensthorpe, 7th March at Pitsford, 14th March Grafham and 1st April at Rutland. Think I will get my ticket early and then fish Ravensthorpe once or twice before Pitsford opens. Lets hope it warms up quickly as I am getting fed up of getting around in the snow and certainly don't fancy fishing when it's this cold. And certainly not with Pitsford looking like this:

They still haven't opened the gates to the car park due to health and safety you know! Worried about cars getting stuck. The crazy thing is that cars are all parked on the Dam and twice as likely to cause an accident but this isn't there responsibility so who cares? Rules gone mad!!! I did manage to find a nice photo across the fields and up the narrows - a bit white though!

The shops and offices are open from 8am this year and on Monday, Tues and wed they have bought the evening boat latest time out till 8.30pm. I was going to have few more boats this year but will take care on which days at which time of year. Hooked will out in Mid Feb! The shop was open today but they haven't got a great lot of stock yet and should be better for next week.

Craig Barr's talk thoughts

It was the MNTFA February winter programme night last night and Craig Barr was our speaker. He gave us some great stories about his competition exploits, raised some interesting views and gave me some food for thought for the forthcoming season.

A few topics of interest were:

Should you practice for competitions?
All he needed was the fly and location. I would whole heartedly agree with that but the key is how do you get it? Other team members practicing is one, inside information is another but there seems to be no substitute to being on the water. This just seems to change the knowledge experts from the people who practice to the ones who fish the water regularly. Most of the competitors do practice so you can get away with it occasional but you need to be brave to be the first to do it regularly.

He felt that venues get over fished by two days practice before competitions! More people now are catch and releasing on practice day to save the fish. The pressure of fishing definitely moves the fish on and even more markedly puts them down. How many times have we seen the fish go off when the pressure of boats increases? It does pay to have a strategy to move too fish and away from boat pressure.

No two days are the same! I would agree with this from a weather perspective. I have looked at the barometer regularly and it is up and down a few times a day. The insects and food sources do remain a little more constant however which would mean that your flies can be used more often from one day to the next. How often do the fish move around? They do move and quite long distances quickly but with many of the reservoirs stocking regularly they tend to initially run the wind and then find the nearest holding spot. Once here in my experience they quite often remain for a while.

Do rods and reels just do a simple job?
Craig felt the reels just hold the line and I agree that this is the only feature they do. For me a starter with Rimfly regulars because they were cheep and when wide arbours came in I changed to a greys GLX for similar cost reasons in that the cartridge system is simple and cheap. They need to be robust do the job well they are supposed to but I find it best to do your homework for what you want and stick with it.

He had a similar view on rods and when you find generally what you need this will do. Would this be your view?

Overall it gave me some good thoughts for the season you may here from me in future trips using two tone blobs, crunchers and practicing for a few competitions.

Barclays Bank National Organiser

I have started to receive a few enquiries about the Barclay's Bank National over the last few weeks so sent out a quick update:

"Mike Philpott and myself have agreed to take over the organising this year from Paul to ensure that the tradition continues as I know it is a great occasion that everyone thoroughly enjoys. We are a bit behind Paul’s usual superb organisation and playing catch up but never the less it will still be all in time. We would like to see in future years if we can move the organising secretaries platter around again similar to previous years so that it doesn’t become too onerous. Therefore we are are still looking for volunteers if you are interested?

As Mike is out of the country again currently getting some sun in South Africa while I’m in dreary Coventry working too hard (Ahhhh!), arrangements will begin in earnest when he returns. We have agreed though that this year will again be on the tried and trusted “Draycote model” and we are hoping to book similar dates at Draycote and accommodation in Dunchurch. Let’s hope there’s loads of fish in there again this year!

It shouldn’t take too long to tie up so we will come back to you again later in February with the dates and invites."

This is going to be a busy few weeks but looking forward to them. I will update more of the arrangements here over time.

Pitsford closed by the snow

The fishing lodge was supposed to be open yesterday and today so i thought I would brave the weather and go and buy a few hooks. However it is all locked up as the included picture shows. Northants seems to have come off worse around the country with around a foot of snow falling and about 6/8 inches still lying on the ground.

As Nathan has to come from near Rutland and Kay from the villages I am not surprised that they are all snowed in. They have been working hard though getting ready and while the boats are not in the water yet as a while to go, they have been all repaired and maintained and are ready to go. From the photo's below they do seem a little strange upturned and covered in snow.

The car park at Holcot also remained locked up today and cars littered the causeway verges as the army, of dog walkers, runners and cyclists relished the challenge and scenery that that the snow has provided. I didn't make it around to the Pitsford picnic area but that reminds me of many enjoyable childhood days sledging down the slope of the car park towards the reservoir. It doesn't seem too steep now but it did then.

The Start

Every year I write a fishing diary to remind me of tactics and flies that have been effective. However this year thought I would get up to date and keep a blog throughout the year of my fishing trips, thoughts, activities and opinions. Share some knowledge in the hope it may get reciprocated!

A busy job and home life doesn't see me out much more that a couple of times a week but I am looking forward to an Anglian Water Season Ticket allowing me to fish mainly Pitsford and Ravensthorpe but also a few trips across to Rutland and Grafham.