Opening Day Pitsford

Still a bit cold and muddy for me at the moment but there seemed to be a good number of people out today catching fish. The banks are restrictive for two main reasons. It would be good to get the bank erosion works out of the way and open up Brixworth bay and the Pines. Other than that it is only inside the bays themselves that are restricted due to the soft mud however the points of the bays are the most productive this time of year.

The Gravels and North farm shore seem to be the most productive.

Mike Martin Passes away

I was sorry to hear that Mike Martin passed away yesterday. I think recently he was a big force in the Northampton Branch of the fly dressers Guild who met at the Cardigan Arms in Moulton, but hadn't seen him for a while.

Mike worked for many years at Barclaycard and I remember a good number of fishing chats in the Greyfriars house office when he was working with the early PDQ terminals.

A number of years ago I fished quite often with Mike especially in the Barclaycard North team in the Barclays National. One that sticks in my mind was that we were fishing together at Pitsford and while he wouldn't stop fishing the dry fly he did have 4 fish up one end of the boat while i was fishing with a Black dog nobbler and had 7 at the other end. A strange combination but with us and the other boat we managed to win that year.

Fondly remembered!

Only 2 weeks to the start

I don't think I am going to be ready this year for the start of the fishing season especially after seeing Pitsford and Ravensthorpe this morning. Only 2 weeks to Ravensthorpes opening day and i couldn't even find the holes in the ice where they have stocked the fish!!

Ravensthorpe above is completely iced over today. Add this late winter weather to how low the water level is and i am sure this will change the behaviour of the fish. For a few seasons now Cotton End has fished well but i wouldn't be surprised if the Dam is going to be more productive.

In addition Pitsford above was also mostly frozen. I guess they are going to have an extra week and should be different. I think it will be the low levels that affect Pitsford more. The Erosion works are very welcome and look to be coming to a conclusion but i am sure there is no point raising the levels until that is complete. When the levels come up then there may not be too much food close in. in the meantime it is going to be a muddy affair getting to the waters edge. If it's still still frozen it will make the mud easy to walk out on!

2012 opening days

You may have received your letter from Anglian Water like me today but they have confirmed the opening days as:
Ravensthorpe Sat 3rd March
Pitsford Fri 9th March
Grafham Fri 16th March
Rutland Sat 31st march

The season ticket prices are out as well with a Gold setting you back £785, silver £610, Blue £479, Green £510, Economy £385 and starter £230.

There is also an open day at Pitsford on satuerday 25th Feb if you want to have a chat with the wardens and seems they have a few tackle demos etc.

The water level is massively down at pitsford at the moment and they are still shoring up the the banks to stop the erosian. Hopefully this will all change by the start of the season, if not we might be fishing for mud crabs!

Hardly a Toil

With not too much holiday left for this year i didn't think i would have another trip to the River Arrow but after working flat out in October i decided to take a TOIL day (Time Off In Lieu).

A few conference calls and e-mails from the banks of the river couldn't stop me relaxing and enjoying a lovely day on the Court of Noke beat of the River Arrow.

When we arrived it was a cloudy but still quite warm. The river was running well not at all coloured but as autumn has been late this year there were a lot of leaves in the water that had not rotted down yet. We walked down to the start of the beat and dissapointly didn't see a fish rise but we did pick out loads of pools and likely fishing spots.

As we started fishing the farmer turned up and had a good chat to Phil giving us some good tips to handle the electric fence and good spot to try. I tackled up with a gold head hares ear and a black buzzer under a site indicator and trotted down the edges on both the near and far bank with good optimism.

I had a conference call at 11 and just as i was sat on the bank listening, Phil shouted out that he was in so i walked over hoping to christen my new net. Wow what a fish! Phil was stillplaying it when i got there and as it came up to the surface and turned over it was cracking. Precariosly balanced part way down a steep bank with Phil talking me through it in one ear and the team discussing key activities in the other I could just imagine a slip and i would be swimming. However the fish just managed to tip into the net and it was on the bank.
It was the largest grayling i had seen and at the time we were sure it must be close to 2lb. It was taken just in the spot the farmer had pointed out on a pink goldhead trotted up the inside line.

We continued upstream but the fishing didn't really pick up. Phil saw only 2 fish rise but i didn't see any and it felt that with no food and the leaves hiding the food on the bottom the fish had just gone to sleep for a while.

With my interest waning a little i went for a wander to see what wildlife was about. A sparrowhawk came down the tree line and wizzed through the trees, a great spotted woodpecker perched on a dead tree, a kingfisher sped up the river at low level and as i was crossing the river a dipper came down stream and at the site of me stopped in mid air, turned and headed back upstream almost in slow motion, magic!

Phil managed to pick some field mushrooms and at that point i could wait for my tea - Mushroom sandwiches.

we managed to mark the fish on the rod and Phil confrmed it was 42cm in length and just over two pounds confirmed. good enough to make a nice day out.

BOS Barclays match

Once again another great event as Barclays took on the BOS at Grafham.

This time favouring the Scots who managed to fish in a number of different conditions and also found an apricot blob that consistently pulled fish. The Scots won convincingly - what could be called a hammering!

Practice day was very enjoyable with fish feeding on naturals especially red daiwl bachs and crunchers on a midge tip or slow glass. For some it was more laid back than others!
It was a warm day with extremely light winds and at times flat calm. The fish were mainly around the dam and down past the willows. They were a little unpredictable but if you were in the right place at the right depth there were plenty to be caught. We tried everything we could and kept away from the main areas building a plan for the next day.
On the day the weather had changed and it was now overcast, decent wave and blowing off the dam hopefully this would make them feed better.

The first hour was team orders and the lures were on - primarily cormerants - and being pulled on a fast glass. This proved to be the correct order of the day but i couldn't buy a take. I was fishing with Ronnie who by contrast was on the Di5 and had a blob that was not only attracting fish in but taking them too. As we went through fish he consistently picked up and 6 fish fish for the day was a great result.

I however kept up my confidence but could tell i didn't have the fly even after trying many variations. A last ditch effort at the end with a gold head on the point of the midge tip and I managed a consolation. 1st fish on your last cast shows it has not been a great day.

Unfortunately it was a similar result across most of the team with perhaps their consistent tactics making the difference. The only bright light in the day and Mike had managed to wake up at the right time and catch 7 fish for an honourable draw in the boat with Derek Purves. These managed to win him best bag, heaviest fish and the best boat trophy!

At long last

Yes at long last i have been out again. I seem to have lost interest for a while but i really enjoyed a nice evening boat on Pitsford this week.

I was meeting Matt at half past 5 and turned up early before the lodge closed and to get the boat kitted out ready so we could use the most time available fishing. The water was a little low but coming up i believe as I had a walk around I quite liked this photo of the iconic dragonfly.

As Matt arrived we headed straight for the pines and the rods had been set up with golden Graham tubes and di7's - nothing subtle then. I turned the boat in and faffed about get the boat set up while Matt cast out. It wasn't a minute and bang he was in.

After a tough fight behind the boat he landed great fit 3 and a half pond peak condition rainbow. What a start!

I managed a fish on the next drift and then Matt another on the following one. However from here it went quiet. The wind calmed down and a shower of rain seemed to divert the fish to something else. We came up in the water a little but as we motored home I saw 8/10 fish boil on the top so maybe not as high up as we needed to.

However with a few cracking fish, great company, a awesome sunset in the background and a pint in the swan after it was was summer evenings were made for!

Must do that again soon!