Rod average 6.83
What a busy week we had down here at Rutland, and some fantastic sport enjoyed by anglers throughout the week!
With the Airflo Spring invitational coming up at the weekend numbers of anglers took to the water practicing, of course understandably tactics were being held close to the chest of competitors. What a fantastic 2 days of competition we had, with 126 anglers catching 1,585 fish and a combined rod average over the 2 days of 12.58!
Mid week boat winner: Barry Vaughan.
Fish stocked: 2,000 stocked 20 May.
Water temp: 12 Celsius at 1m; 11C at 3m.
June also promises to be busy ......
An evening with Hans Van Klinken at Rutland Fishing Lodge Cafe on Friday the 7 June
Hans will be available for meet and greet from 6pm and then will talk from 7pm for around an hour and followed by a chat. The fishing lodge will also be open for purchases after his talk.
There aren’t many people in the fly tying world who do not know of Hans Van Klinken – one of the most prominent fly tyers in the world, developer of superb flies, writer of stunning articles with stunning photographs and of course one of the best lecturers/teachers be that to children or adults. Hans demonstrates fly tying globally. Indeed, he is very rarely at home these days – more a frequent flyer on many airlines off to share fly tying joy!
Teas and coffees will be free of charge, with the cafe open to purchase drinks and snacks etc.
Breakfast club fishing Saturdays 8,15,22 & 29 June
This year at Rutland we are hosting some unique early morning events we are calling ‘Breakfast club’ . The idea is to get out on the water early at the time of year when the water temperatures are starting to get quite high and have some sport before the sun gets right up. You will be able to enjoy a chat and share your success with other anglers over a coffee and a cooked breakfast (included in the price). Fishing will commence at 5am until 11am with breakfast served shortly after.
Full details and booking please call the fishing lodge on 01780 686441.
Competition news
Airflo Invitational Match 18-19 May
Congratulations to FNF Nymphomaniacs on winning the 2019 Airflo spring match at Rutland Water! After leading after day one they managed to hold off Change Fly Fishers who kept up the pressure, but ultimately just fell a few pounds short, despite both teams catching 102 fish each. Third place went to Iain Barr Costa A with 97 fish. Team Flash Attack Reservoir Dogs lay in 12th place on day one and performed well on day two to come back to a respectable 4th overall.
Day 1 Saw the majority of the boat fleet fishing from Barnhill Creek on the end of the peninsula all the way to the transformer! Floaters and tip lines were the order of the day with nymphs in the form of diawl bach’s and crunchers on the majority of competitors’ casts. Fish were taken in very close proximity to the bank in a number of areas, well worth taking note of for you bank anglers. Pulling tactics did take a few limits on Day 1 but did not prove as consistent a tactic.
Day 2 saw anglers with a distinct lack of ripple, this resulted in anglers having to work hard to convert pulls into solid takes and fishing as static as possible in many cases.
Top rod across the two days was Flash Attack's Craig Barr. Craig caught his 12 fish bag on both days beating FNF Falcons’ Sean McCaffery who finished 2lb behind in overall second place. Craig also released a huge Brownie on day one. Craig was delighted “It was brilliant to be "top rod" over the 2 days, as there were many top anglers in the field.”
There were no less than 6 double figured browns caught, and Ireland’s Robert Reilly had four browns around 7lb! All these fish were returned. Across the two days the biggest fish on the scales was a 7lb 2oz Brownie, caught on day two, by Pablo Mullins fishing for the Renegades.
Thank you to Airflo and all the competitors for making the event a huge success. 126 anglers caught 1,585 fish across the two days, including some proper lumps.
1st FNF Nymphomaniacs 102 fish for 233lb 7 4/16oz
2nd Change FF 102 fish for 229lb 6/16oz
3rd Iain Barr Costa A 97 fish for 215lb 2 2/16oz
4th Team Flash Attack/Res Dogs 87 fish for 201lb 7 14/16oz
John Seaton’s match
On Monday 13 May Rutland Water hosted retired Head Warden John Seaton’s Hunt Match. This is now the longest standing competition at Rutland Water with the first taking place in 1985! In bright conditions with very little wind the anglers were faced with some challenging fishing. The 34 anglers recorded 72 fish between them with Ben Farnsworth leading the way with an 8 fish limit of 19lb 1oz. Ben took advice from Head Ranger Andy Ainscough and ventured down the North arm where he fished deep buzzers on the Finches bank to record his limit. Ben and boat partner Guy Miller were also best boat on the day with 12 fish for 28lb, good angling gentlemen.
The best brown fell to Mark Bailey at 5lb 2½oz and not to be left out John Seaton took the best rainbow of the day at 4lb 3oz, John only fished for a couple of hours spending most of the time as ghillie for the day and was delighted with his fine rainbow. The anglers then enjoyed a meal and presentation in our very own Waterside Café to end what was a very enjoyable match fished in good spirits.
John Wadham Bank Match
Thirteen members fished on a cold evening with a moderate north-north easterly wind and overcast skies. Fishing was from 6 pm to 9:30pm followed by a fish and chip supper.
A four fish limit was imposed. Jake Waterman, the RWFF Chairman took first place with four fish for 9lb 1oz. These fish were caught into the wind in Pontoon Bay at Normanton. Second was Adi Humphreys with four fish for 7lb 14oz. Frank Daley came third with three fish for 6lb 5oz. He found rising fish at Sykes Lane.
The best fish prize went to Roy Taylor with a brown 3lb 10oz caught from the dam. Two other Browns were caught and returned and thus, are not included in the rod average of 1.4 fish. In view of how difficult the bank fishing has been this season, this was quite a good result.
Tuesday Night Boat League
Week 2 of the Tuesday Night boat league proved tough for a number of anglers with the fish only switching on at 8pm onwards. Making the most of this was Vince Sparrow with 5 fish for 9lb 10oz, 2nd Tom Davis with 4 fish and Rick Cooper 3rd with 4 fish. Best fish of the evening fell to the rod of Sean Hillaby with a fine 2lb 13oz rainbow.
Forthcoming events
Bob Church Classic 2 June
An evening with Hans Van Klinken 7 June
Breakfast Club Fishing 8,15,22 & 29 June
Anglian Water Over 50’s Match 15 June
EDFF 3 July
EFFA 4 July
Scierra Pairs 6 July
England Qualifier 7 July
Anglian Water Airflo International – North of England Final 15 July
Beginners courses: 25 & 29 May; 7,16 & 29 June; 2,14 & 20 July and throughout the season.
Boat handling courses: 30 May; 5,10,17 & 24 June ; 5 & 9 July and throughout the season.