Fishing Report – John Gamon at Grafham

Fishing Report – Grafham Saturday 25th November 2017

I fished in the Army/RAF v Grafham Locals bank fishing match at Grafham on Saturday, 25th November and decided to put to the test the advice Martin Webster gave us in his talk after the 2017 AGM.  I set up with a Buzzer (midge-tip) line, an 18ft leader with white Snakelet on the point, killer shrimp on the middle dropper and the red cheeked Diawl Bach pattern, that we tied at the Led Workshop on 23 November, on the top dropper.  The [...]

November 28th, 2017|

Speaker Evening – Chris Skillen

Chris Skillen is a fly tying instructor who provides professional fly tying tuition courses for beginners through to advanced. He has developed and built his own sophisticated design of rotary fly tying vice the features of which he demonstrated during the evening.
The theme for the evening was fly tying techniques. Chris concentrated on tying parachute, klinkhammer, and Crippled Midge patterns based on the “Big Red”, soft hackle for spider and cruncher patterns, and the use of CDC for bodies and head hackle.

November 12th, 2017|

Speaker Evening – Al Owen

Al Owen is an experienced fly fisherman, professional fly tyer and a guide on Rutland Water. He has a particular expertise in the tying of the most common food of trout in lakes – the buzzer. Al not only demonstrated the tying of several highly successful buzzer patterns but also discussed the various aspects of fishing this nymph and its presentation. He extended his talk to include the Diawl Bach, cruncher and the FAB – the two tone version and the options for fishing it.

Al gave the benefit of [...]

October 20th, 2017|

Bob Sharp’s River Report for 2017 Season

River Lambourne : 4 May.

Arrived at the river to find the water level very low and a strong crosswind making things doubly difficulty. Dry fly was not safe so upstream nymphing, but lack of water and my lack of skill, conspired to allow only one, 18’’ Brown on a #14 PTN.

River Kennett, Benham Estate : 9 June.

Arrived to find a fierce downstream breeze, making fishing upstream very difficult. Finding sheltered areas through until around 5pm allowed a couple of wild fish to be caught, both on #14 GRHE’s. Early [...]

October 18th, 2017|

Day Out at Farmoor II – 12 August 2017

Seven intrepid fly fishers arranged to fish Farmoor II in a “fun” competition organised by John Pearce. Those fishing in addition to the organiser were Dave Dalby, Geoff Darby, Stuart Foulds, John Gamon, John Goldie and John Reid. Everyone was pleased to see Dave Dalby out on the water again. The weather forecast was for bright conditions with some sunshine and moderate westerly breeze (10 -12 mph) – more like 15 -17 mph on Farmoor II. The advice from the lodge was to fish well away from the bank [...]

August 15th, 2017|

Annual Trip – Eyebrook and Rutland, 6 – 8 June 2017

The annual trip for 2017 was organised for fishing Eyebrook and Rutland reservoirs. Unfortunately an unplanned for spell of high wind (upto 40 mph) and heavy rain (2ins/h) arrived which ensured that no boats were permitted to venture out.

After a hearty breakfast at the Holiday Inn, Corby, we all arrived at Eyebrook Reservoir and took the opportunity for some retail therapy at the excellent, predominantly fly tying material, shop in the lodge. Whilst the majority of our party decided to return home directly and cancel the trip, Keith Allison [...]

June 8th, 2017|

Ray Bull Trophy Competition and Annual BBQ, 27 May 2017

The annual competition for the Ray Bull Trophy (heaviest bag) was held at Farmoor 2 on 27 May 2017. The day also included the annual BBQ providing a brief interlude from fishing.

A total of twelve fishermen entered the competition and departed from the marina at 8.30am in six boats to try their luck. The weather was cooler than on previous days and there was a strong breeze from the south. Most boats headed initially for the south bank, which offered some shelter from the breeze, or the south-east or [...]

June 5th, 2017|

Keith and Geoff Visit Farmoor II

Report of Keith Allison’s and Geoff Darby’s Visit to Farmoor II on 11th March 2017
The weather and wind speed was perfect for our first trip out this year. However when we arrived at the reservoir we thought we had made a big mistake as the car park was full and there must have been at least 100 anglers tackling up! Luckily for us they were in a bank competition on Farmoor I.

We were on the water by 8:35 am and Geoff had his first fish of the New Year on [...]

March 13th, 2017|

Grayling Fishing Weekend at Wherwell – 22/23 October 2016

Twelve Chiltern Club members gathered at Wherwell for the annual grayling fishing weekend, and to enjoy the excellent food and hospitality provided by Hughie and Eileen O’Reilly.

The weather conditions were incredibly mild for the time of year, and really warm and bright towards the end of the Saturday morning, with just a light easterly breeze – at least until the Sunday afternoon when the wind started to pick up a bit and made casting – and particularly up-stream nymphing – very difficult.

But the fishing conditions weren’t easy at any [...]

November 1st, 2016|

24th September 2016: The Martin Grant Memorial Trophy (Heaviest Bag)

This competition was held at Farmoor 2 reservoir and was an afternoon boat fishing contest using only the flies tied previously in the morning’s fly tying session. The winner was to be the heaviest bag consisting of upto four fish.

The morning dawned bright but windy and upon arrival at the venue we were advised that the wind exceeded the limits permitted for boats to go out on the reservoir. Nevertheless, fly tying commenced in the faint hope that the wind would moderate by lunch time and permit boats to [...]

October 3rd, 2016|