A fine, but very cold, day greeted us at Chaylebeate for the Reg Littlechild Cup

After breakfast rolls, 11 members started fishing. Keith "Sqirmy Wormy" Nicholson was first of the mark soon catching 3 fish and after his first move bagged up. Close on his heals was Keith "the Blob" Lawrence who also bagged up before lunch

After lunch us mere mortals carried on and eventually everone caught fish

Full results are as follows:

• 1 Keith Lawrence total weight 14lb 2oz
• 2 Keith Nicholson total weight 13lb 12oz
• 3 Nick Cox total weight 13lb 4oz
• 4 Andy Sawyer total weight 11lb 2oz

A total of 33 fish where caught and 10 of these returned to the water

A welcome beer was enjoyed on the way home

A Hard Day’s Night!!

An intrepid group of 6 Society members headed north on 17th October to visit three Midland lakes in three days. Not quite the 3 Peaks Challenge, but maybe the angling equivalent!

All three days were hard work, but perseverance paid off on each occasion, with all members catching fish every day, and at least one angler excelling at each session

At Draycote, our first outing was the Club Competition which a couple of members sadly had to miss – points on offer and no Mr Burt shock horror!! The morning session was pretty quiet in calm conditions with anglers catching in one’s and two’s. For most it was no different after lunch, but Ian Watts found the fish in the afternoon on north shore coming off the bank. No prizes for guessing his method – yes he promptly rolly pollied in 9 beauties on a floating line with minkies and hoppers going at a fair speed!

We used the same method as last year of measuring the fish before returning them, with the only controversy arising when Ray and Graham allegedly hooked (and netted??) the same fish and then agreed to share the spoils!!

The final table as a result was as follows:

• 1 Ian Watts 12 fish 200 inches
• 2 Bob Holland 4 fish 82 inches
• 3 Ray French 3.5 fish 63.5 inches
• 4 Mick Priest 3 fish 53 inches
• 5 Russell Bell 3 fish 50 inches
• 6 Graham Morgan Plumb 2.5 fish 48.5 inches

There was a 3 way tie for biggest fish on 21 inches between Bob, Ray and Graham, so lots to discuss when we retired to the Court House Inn at Thrapston for excellent steaks and ale

And so on to Rutland where again conditions were good but the fishing was tough, mainly because of a cold north wind. Most anglers managed one or two fish in the morning with Mick netting a lovely brown by Normanton Church

We didn’t venture far beyond the main bowl but in the afternoon Ray and Ian found some serious lumps further up Normanton shore and Bob got into a feeding frenzy (or rather the fish did) around Yellowstone Bay. Top rod on the day was Mick Priest with 4 good fish caught mainly on his weighted minkies

Monday morning took us to Grafham where Richard Lovett sub’d in for Ian, and again good conditions (maybe on the calm side) saw fish moving by the Willows but showing little sign of wanting to be caught

Bob led the way with 5 fish in the morning on a drift out from the dam while others managed one’s and two’s from well up in the water mainly pulling minkies or minky boobies

Bob’s stock dried up completely in the afternoon though and he was (almost) caught up by Richard who after raising a lot of fish unsuccessfully in Gaines Cove, came back to the dam and by resorting to pulling minky boobies on a DI5 managed to take 4 fish on the day. Mick caught the best fish of the day, around the 5.5lb mark in the middle off Sludge Bank

So a great weekend. Good fishing, good food and beer, and great company. We’re on for next year!

Six Society members attended this visit to Essex. The fishery is a few miles outside the attractive Essex town of Maldon, renowned for its culinary sea salt and its fleet of spritsail Thames barges. Only one of the two main trout lakes was open for fishing due to recent high water temperatures and all of the stock fish usually spread between both lakes had been put in Rook Hall lake just over a week before our visit

Fishing on this occasion were:

• Chris Ball
• Ray Burt
• Alan Dean
• Martyn Gray
• Micky Heasman
• Peter Thomason

The day started with fish coming to Buzzers and wet Hoppers fished on floating lines with a Booby or FAB on the point to keep the flies up in the water. However, takes quickly diminished and by lunchtime many of the bank areas appeared devoid of fish. After a welcome break for refreshment, we discovered the area of bank where most fish seemed to be concentrated (only just within casting distance). The fish, probably from the recent stocking, had stayed together in a large shoal which could be seen as a black shadow just under the surface. If a fly could be cast near to a moving fish, there was a good chance of a take, although not all of them resulted in a good hook hold

The size of the fish varied from around 2lb to nearly 4lb and all fought well

The end of the day produced a total of 41 fish for the six anglers, nearly all returned. Ray Burt was easily the most accomplished on the day with 14 fish and many more takes that did not result in hook-ups

A pleasant day was completed with a good pint of local Adnams bitter in an attractive pub at Maldon Quay, overlooking the Thames barge moorings

The Society’s annual pairs competition was held at Bewl Water with a total of eight members, making four pairs which were drawn at random on the morning:

• Mark-Tremain Coker & Bob Holland
• Andy Hope & Bob Shaw
• Ray Burt & Mick Priest
• Ian Watts & Graham Morgan Plumb

Conditions were favourable with light variable winds. In previous weeks the fishing had been difficult due to the presence of brown algae but this had started to clear and fish were caught mostly in the main bowl and in the area between the landing stage and Belgrano Bay. Most were caught using either floating or intermediate lines and successful flies were Hoppers, Blobs and Boobies, fished slow or static

A total of 33 fish were caught, giving a rod average of just over 4 fish with an average weight of 1lb 13oz. The heaviest fish of the day was taken by Mark Tremain-Coker and weighed 2lb 6oz. The only bag limit of eight fish was taken by Bob Holland

The results were:

• 1 Bob Holland & Mark Tremain-Coker 12 fish 21lb 4oz
• 2 Ray Burt & Ray French 9 fish 17lb 6oz
• 3 Andy Hope & Bob Shaw 6 fish 11lb 6oz
• 4 Ian Watts & Graham Morgan Plumb 6 fish 9lb 8oz

Congratulations to our new Society Pairs winners and runners-up!

The day was suitably ended with celebratory beers at The Chequers in Lamberhurst

12 TWFFS members attended the 2nd 3 Fly Challenge. The weather was overcast and cool with a blustery SW wind. The fishery looked in top condition, as is usual, and again our thanks go to Jim Streeter our host for the day

No competition at Chalybeate can start without the super breakfast rolls prepared for us by Cathy and Jim - again our thanks. Competitors drew for their starting pegs and were given one of each of the Fulling Mill flies, one Green Damsel with pearly flash tail, one gold-head off-white bodied Daddy Long Legs and one CDC Shuttle Cock

Fish were showing themselves all over the lake and with overcast conditions many were tempted to try the CDC to gain an early points advantage but the fish were not to be tempted. It soon became evident that the fly to use was the gold-head daddy with Micky Priest hooking into a fish very quickly but it was Ray Burt and Ron Lewis who were putting down early markers to win the competition. Other competitors were getting regular takes on the Daddy but only picking up the odd fish

After lunch fish were still moving but catching remained hard and slow - again plenty of takes but fish were not sticking

Ray Burt bagged his 3 fish and his 2 catch and release, Ron Lewis was chasing hard with 3 Fish and 1 catch and release. Then things got lively James Dench picked up his 3 fish and started to chase down his 2 catch and release fish. Graham Morgan Plumb all of sudden quickly picked up 3 fish and then unfortunately lost 2, one of them a nice looking fish that escaped by charging under an overhanging bush - what might have been

Whilst all this was going on Martyn Gray was quietly picking up fish and before we all knew it he had caught his 5 fish and along with Ray Burt was wondering if he'd done enough to gain first place

The competition finished at 4.30pm and the weigh-in was a tense affair. Points were awarded for the weight of the fish and then multiplied up depending on what fly was used to catch the fish. Interestingly all of the 32 fish caught on the day were taken on the gold head Daddy - thank goodness one of the fly's worked or I would have been lynched

Best fish of the day went to James Dench with a nice 2lb 15oz rainbow

A very closely fought contest as can be seen by the results below

• 1 Martyn Gray 5 fish 468 points
• 2 Ray Burt 5 fish 462 points
• 3 Mick Priest 4 fish 375 points
• 4 James Dench 3 fish 315 points
• 5 Ron Lewis 4 fish 308 points
• 6 Graham Morgan Plumb 3 fish 294 points
• 7 Russell Bell 3 fish 288 points
• 8 Micky Heasman 2 fish 183 points
• 9 Alan Dean 1 fish 108 points
• 10 Mark Tremain-Coker 1 fish 102 points
• 11 Scott Benton 1 fish 72 points
• 12 Allen Martin unfortunately didn't score points on the day points

We all had a good day despite hard conditions and the points system went down well, as last year keeping everyone guessing the victor. Very well done to Martyn Gray

Thirteen members fished this popular and attractive reservoir at Seddlescombe. The weather was bright with occasional cloud cover coupled with a variable breeze which in the reservoir's wooded valley often shifted between several quarters of the compass

Powdermill is known for the willingness of its trout to take imitations of the plentiful local insect life, which includes a good mayfly hatch. Our visit coincided with a low level but fairly constant hatch of the Danica variety which tends to be darker than the more common Ephemera Vulgata. The occasional fish could be seen rising but not sufficient to temp most members to fish dry flies (although the Chairman managed to tempt one fish to an olive Klinkhammer Special). Most of the party chose to fish from the boats and found that pulling Irish wet mayfly patterns was fairly successful. Ray Burt did very well with a damsel fly pattern which proved to be a good imitation of a mayfly nymph

For those that selected to fish from the bank (mostly from the dam), wet mayfly patterns fished on a floating line also proved successful

We were pleased to see a group of Hobbies performing great aerobatics above the tress when feeding on insects. As well as small birds, these uncommon small hawks include a large amount of insects in their diets which they catch in their talons whilst flying, transferring the prey to their mouths whilst still on the wing: a great feat of avian dexterity!

Although the catch rate was modest, the day was greatly enjoyed in this peaceful setting. The group landed a total of 28 trout with four blanks recorded. The best bag of the day went to Ray Burt with five fish weighing a total of 8lb 12oz. Three other members succeeded in bagging four fish each. The best fish of the day was caught by Keith Nicholson and weighed 2lb 7oz. At the end of the day, members took their ease at the Queen's Head in Seddlescombe which serves a selection of well-kept real ales

Eight TWFFS members had signed up for the first of two society trips to Powdermill Reservoir. Unfortunately, on the recent trip to Corrib one of the attending members was carrying a virus which ran rife through the men. This led to several cancelations due to outbreaks of "Russellitis". Four members confirmed they would attend and a last minute signing by Brian Beeney brought the number up to five

On arrival at the fishery it was decided that we would take two boats (Bob Holland/Brian Beeney and Robin Starkie/Alan Dean) and James Dench would fish the bank in the morning and swap with someone in a boat for the afternoon

The boats don't have engines at Powdermill and the rowing was somewhat haphazard but we eventually got to roughly where we wanted to be. Bob Holland opened the batting for the day when he hooked into a fish on his very first cast. He successfully landed a cracking fish weighing 4lb 11oz. This turned out to be the best fish of the day

There were a lot of fish rising throughout the day. They seemed to be fixated on the mayfly and were pretty good at telling the difference between a real one and an artificial one. However, fish were caught by all and nobody blanked. Unsurprisingly, most fish were taken on mayflys

The bank fishing proved to be such good sport that James stayed on the bank in the afternoon

The results were as follows:

• 1 Bob Holland 6 fish 14lb 7oz
• 2 Robin Starkie 4 fish 7lb 10oz
• 3 Alan Dean 2 fish 3lb 13oz
• 4 James Dench 2 fish 3lb 10oz
• 5 Brian Beeney 2 fish 3lb 3oz

Seventeen stalwart members turned up at Bewl to be met by blustery and very wet conditions

The lake hadn’t been fishing too well, so there wasn't a great deal of optimism around, but the usual banter abounded as Russell and others huddled in the weigh-in room to execute the draw for boat partners and extricate subs and raffle money from soggy members queuing outside the lodge

There seemed to be a roughly even split of boats heading for Bewl and Hook Straights and both sets were rewarded with some very good fishing. Tactics varied from intermediate lines and buzzers when the wind abated a little, to pulling blobs and woofters on DI3’s when it didn't

In the end, the adverse conditions seemed to have enlivened the fish, and a number of members had bagged up or were close to it by lunchtime, at which point the weather eased, the sun came out (for a spell) and we dried up a little, but so did the fish!!

By close of play, 10 members out of 17 had their 8 fish, with a few others close to it, and the final results were as follows:

• 1 Bob Holland 8 fish 16lb 12oz
• 2 Martyn Gray 8 fish 16lb 4oz
• 3 Bob Shaw 8 fish 15lb 14oz
• 4 John Hancock 8 fish 15lb 12oz
• 5 Mick Priest 8 fish 15lb 11oz

The biggest fish was caught by Mark Tremain-Coker at 3lb 4oz

Due to an administrative error on the part of our organiser, Martyn was missed out when the results were announced, so I’m afraid that Dave Crouch dropped to 6th place and out of the points, which in the bar afterwards, Mick Priest seemed to find even funnier than pipping Dave by just one ounce!!

Fourteen TWFFS members turned out for the Society’s annual bank competition at Bewl Water, a points event where the winner receives the DC Cup. A few members mistakenly thought it was a boat competition and either didn’t attend, went out on the boats or went back home to get their bank fishing gear

Breakfast was taken at the Sailing Club where we discussed the weather conditions to decide which bank would be best for us

The wind was blowing east north-easterly, with gusts up to 20-25 mph. Very bright sunshine with the odd cloud. We decided to go to Goose Creek. Not many fish showing and talk was of the fishing being quite hard. So, we split up and some walked to The Oaks area and others to Hatherell's Bay. James and Gary were up for a good walk and proceeded to Chingley

Not many fish came out in the morning, just the odd one or two, and also pike and perch

Lunch was taken back at Goose Creek, where the general consensus was that fishing was indeed hard. Most members tried various tactics and the most successful was a team of buzzers, static and waiting for the odd fish to come along

The winner of the DC Cup was Ray Burt and the best fish of 2lb 12oz went to James Dench. Out of the 14 members who fished, 9 caught. In total 17 fish were caught, with an average weight of 2lb 0oz

The results were as follows:

• 1 Ray Burt 4 fish 7lb 13oz
• 2 Andy Stoner 3 fish 6lb 4oz
• 3 Peter Thomason 3 fish 5lb 8oz
• 4 Gary Collins 2 fish 5lb 0oz
• 5 James Dench 1 fish 2lb 12oz

The first round of this years' Chalybeate Pairs Challenge took place on Sunday 15th of March. Unfortunately 4 pairs had to fish a single angler as their partners were unable to fish. The rule is that each pair can fish as a single angler in one round only during the competition. It is always worthwhile representing your pair as one fisherman as can be seen in the results below. Five full teams were present on the day

As usual the lake was pegged with 10 swims and a rotation of swims took place every 45 minutes. This ensures that each pair fishes all 10 pegs during the day so that all have an equal chance of success

Chalybeate once again provided us with some very good fishing. There was a catch and kill 3 fish bag with a further 4 fish allowed as catch and release. All returned fish were awarded 0.8kg each and were added to the weight of the 3 fish bag

Methods for the day were either a floating line or an intermediate line with lure patterns or buzzers. Black and green lures seemed to be the most successful although the ubiquitous Cats Whisker also produced well for some

Thirteen competitors reached their 3 fish catch and kill bags and some went on to take the additional 4 fish allowed under catch and release. The average bag per angler was an impressive 5.3 fish

Results:

• 1 Peter Thomason and Keith Nicholson (14 fish)
• 2 Ray Burt and Mark Tremain-Coker (13 fish)
• 3 Andy Sawyer and Chris Ball (10 fish)
• 4 Andy Stoner (single angler) (7 fish)
• 5 Ray French and Bob Shaw (7 fish)

There is one team place still available so, if you are interested in entering, and can fish the next 2 rounds, then please contact Keith Nicholson. Remember – the competition is based on the best 2 results out of the 3 rounds so it is quite possible to win by fishing the last 2 rounds