Grafham Water week ending 10 November

Grafham has been consistently producing high numbers of stunningly conditioned fish. The number of happy anglers reporting good catches with average sizes of fish in the 3lb mark has been astonishing.

On Saturday afternoon Ranger Andy Moat spoke to one bank angler who had just finished a two hour session in which he managed to bank five quality Rainbows, all of which were over 3lb. He achieved this by retrieving a two inch snake no less than two feet beneath the surface. G mark is still the best spot from the bank and boat, again if you are prepared to use lures and snakes this method has been unbeatable. However, if you prefer the more traditional approach hares ear is always a trusty fly to use. Shrimp patterns are also continuing to catch fish.

The dam wall has started to fish better again during this last week with shrimp the best method. From the boat it’s G mark again as well as Gaines Cove, also there has been some very good reports reaching us that Pylon Point is not to be ignored.

Chris McLeod has kindly sent the following report on Grafham Shrimpmasters One

The first in the six match series took place this Sunday 10 November with twenty three anglers kicking off this popular winter league.

Grafham is filling up rapidly after heavy rains over the past few weeks, and levels are perfect for bank fishing, but the water clarity is still superb. Although the marginal shrimp are not in the usual numbers yet they are starting to build and the fish are obviously making the most of them. Plenty of snails are also on the menu as are the perch fry. This all adds up to fantastic fishing with Grafham really back on its highest Autumn form. Good numbers of fish are being caught every day and they are in brilliant condition.

Sunday was a strange day though. It was very bright which was a contrast to the gloom of the previous few weeks, and chilly to start. There are fish all around the banks, on all the north shore, from the Stumps to the Willows and on the Dam. Although Sunday’s wind was Northerly, there are plenty of fish on the South, in Plummer, the Seat and around the Lodge. Because it had been fishing so well, getting bigger ones was the key to a winning bag and those who fish regularly had been finding the better fish in a number of places, but on Sunday these seemed to have moved. So it wasn’t easy to locate them - and some didn’t.

Favoured flies at the moment are the, now inevitable, snake and large minkies. A few did fish shrimp patterns and it’s likely that these will figure more as the shrimp increase in the newly covered banks close in.

G, as usual, held a lot of fish, but they were on the small side. Probably more recently stocked. For lumps you needed to be off Deep Water Point where Paul Wild and Chris Bobby started. Although it is often better to catch later in the day, when the bigger fish get a chance after the more eager smaller ones have quietened down a bit, this wasn’t the case. They both had 6 fish limits in the morning and came respectively second and third. Adi Humphries took over where they left off and got into the bigger ones putting together a good bag to win the day.

There were ten 6 fish limits with a total of 94 caught, giving an average of over 4 fish a rod, which is fantastic for a five hour match.

Thanks to David Moore for organising the day as usual, and to the Grafham rangers for doing the weigh-in.

The next, and second, match is on Sunday 17 November.

It is a series of six, but the winner will be decided on the best four results, so you don’t have to fish all to become Shrimpmaster 2019!

The predator fishing continues to be on good form, with zander and perch being caught consistently by the deeper areas in front of the dam. The amount of water that has been pumped into the reservoir over the last couple of weeks has been incredible, the high volume of water and the disturbance brought thousands of fry into the deep areas, bringing with them plenty of zander and perch in good numbers. Zander have been caught up to 13lb, a great fish by anyone’s standards.

There have been rumours that large pike have been caught from the deeper waters opposite G mark, this may well be worth a try as the north tower has slowed up due to the fish being heavily targeted in recent weeks.

Day boat prices are now reduced for the winter – the Winter boat is available from 9am to sunset £21, single man £15.

Anglian Water Fur & Feather (bank) 24 November
Grafham Shrimpmasters bank series commenced 10 November then 17 & 24 November; 8 December (possibly Pitsford tbc), 22 December; 12 January.

Beginners courses: 7 December; 5 January 2020.