• Chalybeate Pairs Challenge 2013

    6th October 2013 · Report by Keith Nicholson


    Due to the lifting of a publicity embargo by Reuters, the winners of the Chalybeate Pairs Challenge competition can now be revealed

    The 2013 winners of the new prestigious Chalybeate Pairs Challenge shield held at Chalybeate Springs are the highly acclaimed pairing of: Gary "Buff" Collins and Richard "Little legs" Lovett with a fantastic and incredible total of 70 points! It was one huge effort and needed them to both fish at the same on one occasion to achieve such immortal fame

    The trophy was fished for over 3 separate rounds with the winners overcoming the strong challenge of young upstarts Andy "Gonad" Sawyer and Reg "Pocket Rocket" Littlechild who achieved 67 points which was a real feather in the cap for our Youth Development scheme!

    Late entrants Mick "Minnow" Priest and Russell "Ding Dong" Bell achieved a creditable 3rd place with 63 points much to the surprise of everyone

    The wooden spoon winners and in bottom position (ooo-er) with a dismal and embarrassing total of 21.5 points were Scott "Mr Leaky" Benton and Chris "The Sting" Ball

    Congratulations to you all (except Mr Leaky and The Sting)

    Places are filling fast for the 2014 Pairs Challenge shield so get your entries in to avoid any disappointment

  • Lower River Itchen

    Grayling Fishing 27th November 2013 · Report by Keith Nicholson


    The Society made its first ever fishing trip to fly fish for Grayling on Wednesday 27th November. The chosen venue was the Lower River Itchen near Southampton which is one of the Southern chalk streams and is famous for its Salmon and Sea Trout fishing as well as Brown Trout

    From October to March the trout fishing ceases and the Trout beats become available for Grayling fishing. Grayling used to be seen as vermin by the old school Trout fisherman but has now become a popular quarry for many fly fishers. A couple of beats lower down the fishery are also available for coarse angling

    The Society booked all 5 Trout beats and 10 members, plus guest Bill Rankin, made the trip. On arrival at the fishery we enjoyed some bacon rolls cooked by Keith Nicholson in the Fishery main lodge. We were greeted by the fishery owner and the river keeper who allowed us to visit their mini museum of this famous fishery and the historic Mill

    To get to the Trout beats we needed to drive over a mile up a track which runs along the side of the river. Once there we all began tackle up ready to start fishing. Some of the party who had fished the river many times before were helping set up leaders, and selecting flies, for those of us who had little or no experience of river fishing. Our guest Bill Rankin is a regular visitor to the rivers Test, Itchen, and Avon and was busy demonstrating leader make up and how to fish the flies. Ray Burt, who has fished for England in Rivers International competitions, also offered help and advice

    The river splits into 2 carriers at the top of the beats and they re-join as one nearer the bottom of the beats. This gives around one and a half miles of bank to fish so plenty of room for everyone to fish. The fishing is from the bank and wading is not allowed or even necessary

    The "experts" mostly fished the French leader style and but as this was a method for the more experienced they advised the novices to fish the Czech nymph method which was easier to control

    The river varies in width and depth and has some gravel glides and faster flowing sections with many deeper pools to try. We all spread around the beats to ensure we had plenty of space between us. Some found the fishing relatively easy and others struggled to catch but by the end of the day nearly everyone had caught Grayling. They ranged from smaller undersized fish up to circa 2lb which is a good size for a Grayling. Ray Burt showed that there is no substitute for experience and managed to catch the best bag of 21 Grayling during the day

    Some had the opportunity to catch other species and some good Brown Trout were caught. Ray Burt hooked into a good Salmon but unfortunately it threw the barbless hook. Vince Brooks, on his birthday, managed to land a 3lb Salmon and Jim McGonigle caught a 2.5lb Sea Trout. Bill Ranking caught 2 Good sized Chub with the best going around 4lb

    The less experienced learnt a lot about river fishing and the various techniques and will feel more confident the next time they visit the river. They will be able to put their new found knowledge to good use and hopefully increase their catch rate

    We are visiting the Lower River Itchen again on the 14th of December and all places are currently taken. As these two trips have proved well attended and successful days, we have already booked the fishery for four days next autumn. So, keep your eyes out for the dates when the 2014 fixtures are announced early in the New Year and book yourself a place

  • Chalybeate Springs Trout Fishery

    24th November 2013 · Report by Keith Nicholson


    An early winter fishing event is always keenly anticipated as there is always the chance of some good fishing and our visit to Chalybeate Springs on November the 24th didn't fail us

    We were all greeted by Jim Streeter (Fishery Owner) who kindly cooked us all an egg and bacon roll for breakfast. The fishery is always maintained to a high standard and it is always a pleasure to fish there. Jim also keeps a good stock of fish in the lake with regular stocking of quality Rainbows and recently he has introduced more Brownies

    There were 14 members taking part in the penultimate Still Water event of our fishing year and the last of our Championship points events. Everyone was eager to get started and were given free reign where they fished on the 14 pegged swims. We were fishing to a 3 fish limit then catch and release 4 further fish. People would be awarded 1lb 8oz per fish released. The only other stipulation was our customary "catch 2 and move" rule thus giving other an opportunity to fish any hot spots

    Andy "Gonad" Sawyer shot into an early lead and was the first person to catch his 3 fish to weigh-in. However it wasn't long before fish were being caught regularly all around the lake. John "Sooty" Hancock caught a superb Brownie which he estimated to be in the region of 6 - 7lb. The fish was returned alive and well. Others were now catching Andy up and Reg Littlechild put the pressure on by catching a very good Rainbow. Keith Nicholson set the pace being the only one to catch his 7 fish before lunch

    The successful method in the morning was to fish a slow intermediate using mainly black based lures dressed in the "Gonad" style. Some caught fish on green and white Cat's Whisker style lures amongst other things

    The afternoon saw the fishing slow a little but Andy Sawyer quickly took his 7th fish. Sooty was doing a fantastic job imitating a Gnome while fishing from his seat but was the only other person to catch his 7 fish. Reg Littlechild and Russell Bell both ended the day with a creditable 6 fish and were clearly in the frame for Championship points

    The weigh-in clearly put Andy Sawyer into the lead followed by Sooty and Keith Nicholson. The only one who could realistically overtake him was Reg Littlechild as all disepended on how much his big fish actually weighed. As Reg put his fish onto the scales it was obvious that the result would be close even though he had one fish less that Andy. Andy was desperate for Reg to win as it would save him buying a round in the pub afterwards. Unfortunately Andy wasn't that lucky as you can see from the following results:

    • 1 Andy "Gonad" Sawyer 7 13lb 11oz (Including bonus)
    • 2 Reg Littlechild 6 fish 13lb 6oz
    • 3 John "Sooty" Hancock 7 fish 12lb 9oz
    • 4 Keith Nicholson 7 fish 12lb 1oz
    • 5 Russell Bell 6 fish 11lb 2oz

    We caught 35 fish and 20 more returned to fight another day which included at least 5 Browns that were all returned and not included in the results. The average for the day was 3.9 fish per angler which represents a very good days fishing

  • Elinor Trout Fishery

    9th November 2013 · Report by Andy Sawyer


    Eight members attended Elinor on Saturday 9th November. The day dawned with a bright clear morning as we arrived at our breakfast venue, but by the time we arrived at the fishery we had full cloud cover

    Owing to the rain in recent days the water was very coloured which had a bad effect on the fishing. By lunch time Russell was in the lead with 5 fish with Peter snapping at his heals with 4 fish

    The afternoon saw a bit of sun and the fishing, for some improved. We finished at 4pm and weighed in with everyone catching at least one fish

    Peter Thomason won the day with 6 fish for 13lb 12oz - A good bag on a difficult day

    Full results as follows:

    • 1 Peter Thomason 6 fish 13lb 12oz
    • 2 Russell Bell 6 fish 13lb 2oz
    • 3 Andy Sawyer 5 fish 12lb 8oz
    • 4 Keith Lawrence 6 fish 10lb 11oz
    • 5 Ian Watts 3 fish 8lb 6oz
    • 6 Reg Littlechild 1 fish 2lb 8oz

    Best fish of the day was Ian Watts with a rainbow of 4lb 10oz

  • Farmoor Reservoir

    23rd October 2013 · Report by Keith Nicholson


    The Society organised day at Farmoor Reservoir near Oxford was eagerly anticipated as the news from the fishery was that the reservoir was fishing well with the fish on or near the surface

    Members Micky Heasman, Reg Littlechild, Andy Sawyer, Chris Ball and Keith Nicholson travelled up from Kent and met up with member John Lewis and his guest Mike Perrin who both live near Tewksbury

    For those who are unfamiliar with Farmoor - it is a 400 acre man-made reservoir that is split in two by a long causeway. The two parts of the reservoir are known as Farmoor I and Farmoor II. Both are well known for their rich insect life where fish grow on quickly. As they are man-made, deep water is in easy reach from the banks and are both ideal for boat and bank fishing. We chose to fish Farmoor I as usual, which is about a third of the reservoirs surface area, where catch and release is allowed and one fish can be killed and taken. This part of the reservoir contains some very large fish and an average weight of around 4lb. It is ideal for all types of fishing from dry fly and nymphs to Minkies depending on the time of year. Often the fish are right in the margins so long casting isn't necessary

    In previous visits we have managed to extract fish in up to 9lb and regularly taking hard fighting fish in the 4 to 5lb region. This trip was no exception. We had heard that the fish were feeding on fry as well as daddies and snails and some were feeding on daphnia in the open water. As we were bank fishing our main line of attack was to use fry patterns or daddies. The choice of flies proved to be correct as fish were taken on Gonads and Minkies. The problem of fishing these long tailed flies is that fish often nip at the tail without taking the hook of if they do then sometimes only just being hooked and consequently lost during play. Fortunately, a fair number were intent on taking the fly properly and provided some excellent sport. Not all the fish were caught using lures as Micky Heasman caught using a gold head Daddy and a pearl Damsel Nymph. In fact it was these flies that accounted for the seven fish Micky caught which included four Rainbows, two Blues and an excellent 6lb 4oz Brownie which I believe is the largest caught this season in one of our events

    Andy Sawyer also caught seven fish on variations of his favourite Gonad style lures. Reg Littlechild and Chris Ball also had good bags on Minkies and Chris had the largest Rainbow of the day at 5lb 8oz. There were several instances of lost fish and break off's but that is expected when targeting larger specimens. The party caught a total of 27 hard fighting and well-conditioned fish

    An excellent day out was completed with a few apre-fishing beers by the Kent contingent when we arrived back in the principality

    We are all eagerly awaiting for our trips to Farmoor in 2014

  • Grafham Water

    12th October 2013 · Report by Russell Bell


    The Fab Four Face Force Fives

    With perfect timing, four intrepid TWFFS members chose the very day (10th October) when our Indian summer changed for the worse, to venture north to take advantage of the Anglian 3 day ticket. Meeting first at Grafham, Peter Thomason, Mark Tremain-Coker, Jim McGonigle and Russell Bell had a false start when not allowed to fish because of the 30-40 mph gusting winds. Diverting to Elinor, where conditions weren't much better, the team made the most of a foul day with some good fish caught and Russell taking 6 fish caught on Red Holo Cormorants and Bibios

    Next day at Ravensthorpe, conditions hadn't improved much, but the reservoir is more sheltered, and the team, not at all down-heatened by the most depressing bailiff ever met, set out to prove his gloomy predictions wrong. and that they did, with Jim McGonigle taking 7 fish on Red Ribbed Diawl Bachs and Red Holo Cormorants, and Mark Tremain-Coker hooking 5 on a clever mixture of Boobies early on and Nymphs later

    Back to Grafham on Saturday, joined by Ian Watts and Andrew (no-one ever wants to fish with me at Grafham) Hope, but losing Jim to a bad cold, and with the forecast predicting perpetual rain, the team enjoyed a perfect day weather-wise with everyone catching (Ian showing how to put the roly into roly poly, using that method all day!) with the following results:

    • 1 Ian 8 fish 19lb 5oz (Best fish 3lb 6oz)
    • 2 Russell 3 fish 9lb 6oz (Best fish 3lb 12oz)
    • 3 Peter 2 fish 4lb 10oz
    • 4 Mark 2 fish 4lb 7oz
    • 5 Andy 1 fish 3lb 8oz

    Biggest fish: Russell 3lb 12oz

    All competitors to attain championship points

  • Bewl Water Reservoir

    Nigel Turner Cup 29th September 2013 · Report by Andrew Stoner


    Fifteen members attended the Nigel Turner Memorial Cup at Bewl Water Reservoir on Sunday 29th September - This is a floating line only competition

    The weather was a day of two halves with sunshine and a light breeze coming off the dam in the morning and after lunch cloudier with stronger and cooling winds

    Out of the 15 that fished 9 caught their 8 bag limit. A few members caught on the dry and successful patterns were Daddies, Hoppers, Boobies and Minkies. Fish were showing in pods around the cages and the dam

    The six who received points were:

    • 1 Brian Beeney 8 fish 15lb 15oz
    • 2 Peter Thomason 8 fish 15lb 12oz
    • 3 Ray Burt 8 fish 14lb 2oz
    • 4 James Dench 8 fish 13lb 8.5oz
    • 5 Richard Denney 8 fish 13lb 7oz
    • 6 Joel Beeney 8 fish 12lb 14oz

    Best fish went to Peter Thomason with a Rainbow of 2lb 12oz

    Congratulations to Brian Beeney on winning the Nigel Turner Cup and my thanks to all the members that turned out and also helped raise some funds towards TWFFS

  • Spring Hill Trout Waters

    14th September 2013 · Report by Peter Thomason


    The change from summer to more typical autumn weather came in good time for the Society's visit to Spring Hill. The previous evenings had been cool and the day was overcast with occasional light drizzle: all good portents for small waters which can suffer in prolonged hot weather. Seven members enjoyed the warm welcome at the fishery which was accompanied by hot bacon rolls, tea and coffee

    Plenty of fish were seen near the surface and Keith Lawrence and Peter Thomason took their four fish limits well in advance of the lunch-break using small Cat's Whisker goldhead flies on floating lines. As is often the case, the fishing proved more difficult as the day progressed but James Dench also managed four fish by the end of the day

    This was a Championship event and points were awarded to the first five places:

    • 1 Peter Thomason 4 fish 11lb 3.5oz. Best fish was a splendid rainbow of 4lb 12.5oz
    • 2 Keith Lawrence 4 fish 9lb 14oz. Best fish was an equally splendid brown trout of 3lb 8oz
    • 3 Reg Littlechild 3 fish 8lb 3oz
    • 4 James Dench 4 fish 8lb 1oz
    • 5 Alan Dean 3 fish 6lb 1.5oz

    Keith Lawrence's brown trout was equal weight to one caught in a recent Society event by James Dench. Currently, these are the two best brownies so far this season and are contenders for the Society's Brownie Shield unless overtaken by a better fish

    Another enjoyable day at this friendly and productive fishery!

  • Bewl Water Reservoir

    Pairs Cup 1st September 2013 · Report by Peter Thomson


    The competition was held at Bewl with twelve members participating. Pairs were drawn and where possible, inexperienced anglers were partnered with more experienced competitors

    Warm water temperatures after weeks of sunshine resulted in challenging fishing. On the day, plenty of fish could be found in in the top few feet of water of the main bowl of the reservoir. They could be attracted by pulled Boobies and Blobs but were frustrating in following and not taking. Members who persisted or experimented by fishing static were rewarded with a few fish

    As the fishery rules require all brown trout to be returned, a new rule was applied to this competition where a nominal 1lb 8oz weight was awarded for each brownie taken and returned by a member. This resulted in four members having their total weight augmented by a returned brownie. This innovation proved popular and can be considered in all future Society competitions at Bewl or other fisheries that require the release of brown trout

    The total catch and rod average for the day provide evidence of the difficult conditions: the twelve participants caught a total of 29 rainbows plus 4 brown trout giving a rod average of 2.75 and an average weight of 1lb 12oz

    Winners of the Pairs Cup for 2013 were Bob Shaw and Gary Collins with Bob having an excellent catch of 7 rainbows and 1 brownie and Gary landing 1 rainbow and 1 brownie. Bob also landed the biggest fish of the day - a rainbow of 3lb 1oz

    Runners-up were John Hancock and Dave Crouch who landed a total of 6 rainbows and 2 brownies

    Congratulations to Bob and Gary and to John and Dave!

    Thanks are also due to Gary who arranged the sale of unwanted fish and donated the resulting £48 to Society funds

    Another challenging but enjoyable day for all who participated

  • Bewl Water Reservoir

    27th July 2013 · Report by Russell Bell


    It's drifting Jim ...

    At the beginning of the day we weren't sure how many members would be fishing - 6, 7 or 8, but in the end we had 11! - A very good turnout bearing in mind the commitment of other members at Grafham and elsewhere. The forecast had been for thundery rainstorms for most of the day, but as usual the Bewl ecosystem confounded all predictions by staying gloriously sunny and hot until 3.30pm

    At that point heavy rain, thunder and a flash or two of lightning drove us off the water but by that time most of us had had enough for the day and we retired to the Brown Trout to quench some torrid thirsts

    The fishing was very interesting. Most people with the skill and determination to drift no more than 6 inches from the towers caught fish, those who couldn't or didn't fancy that, didn't! This resulted in some fascinating sights - Dave Crouch maintaining his connection with the tower by waving a single oar around for most of the day, Gary Collins wedged to the concrete and bagging up by 11am then reluctantly letting James Dench have sight of the deadly fly fished at 25 feet, Andy Hope getting stuck under the tower and hoping the tide would go out, Sooty focussing on perch (13) for most of the day, and Ian Watts saying "This isn't fishing but it's fun!"

    Some relief from the heat was provided by lunch at the lodge when Richard Denney Snr won the raffle, and on the resumption of hostilities, some naughty any method chaps seemed to have nabbed the best "drifts" so catches were a bit more restricted by the time the storm struck. So in all a very enjoyable day with the following top 5 results:

    • 1 Andrew Hope 8 19lb 12oz (With the biggest fish 5lb 13oz)
    • 2 Ian Watts 8 fish 17lb 4oz
    • 3 Gary Collins 16 fish 14lb 8oz
    • 4 Sooty Hancock 5 fish 10lb 3oz
    • 5 Richard Denney Snr 4 fish 9lb 1oz
  • Bewl Water Reservoir

    26th June 2013 · Report by Mick Priest


    Eight members attended this midweek event. After breakfast at the Waterside Restaurant, we set off with high expectations as the conditions were ideal with a gentle NW breeze and overcast skies

    From the off fish were moving high in the water but proved hard to tempt as they were preoccupied on Jelly Fry and Green Midge

    We lunched at the Chairman's Seat with the main topic of conversation being the "finicky fish" with only John Hancock and Mick Priest finding a few fish

    After a hard afternoon session, 23 fish had been caught for a rod average of 2.8. The best bags of the day went to Mick Priest, with 8 fish for 19lb 8oz, and John Hancock coming in with 6 fish for 16lb 8oz. The best fish of the day went to our Chairman, Peter Thomason, with a superb Blue of 3lb 10oz

    All in all, a hard but enjoyable day with good company rounded off by a few of us with a few beers in the Brown Trout

  • Bewl Water Reservoir

    Corrib Cup 15th June 2013 · Report by Peter Thomason


    The water at Bewl continues at record high levels for this time of year and in most places is clear. This unusual state of affairs is matched by equally unusual weather patterns with the coldest spring on record continuing into cool and windy early summer weather. Saturday's event was no exception with winds increasing through the day and gusting up to over 30 mph. Despite this, the Society had an excellent turnout for the event with a total of 19 participants

    The weather conditions affected the fishing and were reflected in the catches. There is no doubt there are plenty of fish in the water and they are of good average size. Those that are caught are in excellent condition and fight very hard - a lesson learned by some members who lost fish through breakages. One experienced member has now resorted to using 15 lb breaking-strain fluorocarbon for his leaders

    Most of the fish were taken from the more sheltered areas of Bewl Strait although fish were also found in The Nose and along the bank around our Chairman's Seat. Despite the weather, fish appeared to be at various depths with some showing on the surface. Most success was with sinking lines (DI3 and Hi-D) pulling small Boobies, Cormorants or Blobs

    The day was won by Ray Burt with an excellent catch of six fish for a total weight of 16lb including the heaviest fish of the day weighing 3lb 9oz. As he took the prize for the best bag, the prize for the heaviest fish was consequently awarded to the second heaviest fish of the day - a good 2lb 15oz landed by Russell Bell. The top six places gained points for the Society's Championship and will be shown on the website table

    The top six were:

    • 1 Ray Burt 6 fish 16lb 0oz
    • 2 Keith Nicholson 5 fish 10lb 13oz
    • 3 Ray French 4 fish 8lb 8oz
    • 4 John Hancock 3 fish 7lb 4oz
    • 5 James Dench 3 fish 7lb 2oz
    • 6 Peter Thomason 3 fish 6lb 8oz

    A total of 33 fish were caught giving a rod average of 1.7 and the average weight was 2lb 6oz

    A challenging but enjoyable day was rounded off by a beer and a chat in the recently re-invigorated Brown Trout pub

  • Chalybeate Pairs Challenge

    Round 2 1st June 2013 · Report by Keith Nicholson


    The second round of the new Chalybeate Pairs Challenge took place on the 1st of June. The original 7 pairs that attended the first round were joined by 2 more teams for this round

    The teams:

    • Scott Benton and Chris Ball
    • Graham Goddard and Marc George
    • Keith Nicholson and Peter Thomason
    • Richard Lovett and Gary Collins
    • Micky Heasman and Alan Dean
    • Andy Sawyer and Reg Littlechild
    • Ron Lewis and Keith Lawrence
    • Mick Priest and Russell Bell
    • Simon Gregory and Alan Martin

    The day started as usual with the customary egg and bacon rolls with tea or coffee kindly provided by fishery owner and Society member, Jim Streeter. This was the time for a bit of banter and gentle wind-ups between the teams

    Andy Sawyer and Reg Littlechild were the winners of the first round and fancied their chances of a repeat performance. Hot on their heels were the Heasman/Dean and Nicholson/Thomason partnerships. Unfortunately the Nicholson/Thomason team were unable to fish this round

    It was a bright day with a gentle breeze across the lake which tended to swirl around at times. There were a few fish rising which gave hope of a good day's fishing. A few early fish were taken on differing techniques as the competitors searched for the successful method of the day. As time went by it became apparent that either a buzzer or shuttlecock dry fly were the two main flies to catch

    The competition is a pegged match where each team has 45 minutes in each of the 10 swims. The finish of each session was on the sound of a whistle and each pair headed to their next allocated swim

    There was a fair amount of secrecy between the competitors as they battled for the prestigious trophy. Clever tactics were being performed by several teams to ensure maximum "fly in the water" time. Some were leaving their partner to finish their session in one swim while they walked smartly to the next to be ready to fish in their next swim as soon as the whistle was blown

    It was becoming a very tight affair, as it was in the first round. The Lovett/Collins combo' enjoyed some success and were seen to be pushing the rules to the boundary. There were suspicions of the pair having both their lines/flies in the water at the same time but this remained unproven

    Alan Martin gave a superb exhibition of dry fly fishing by demonstrating his new technique of looking in the opposite direction to where his fly was. Now, as we all know, you are supposed to keep an eye on your fly when fishing dries. Not Alan! As he looked away a fish sipped in his dry and headed for the depths which led to a neat little jig of excitement as he played the fish

    Carrying on with the dancing theme, Russell Bell gave us a master class of Scottish country (did I spell that right?) dancing by running backwards up the bank as fast as he could as a fish grabbed his fly while he was fannying around with his tackle

    The competition entered a new phase as more cloud appeared and the fish became more willing to take the dry fly. This lasted a hectic 15 min minutes before the sun popped its head out again

    It was becoming obvious that the tournament leaders and master lure bashers Sawyer and Littlechild couldn't cope with fishing naturals and were definitely struggling. The dynamic team of Lewis and Lawrence were creeping up on the day's pacesetters Lovett and Collins and new comers Priest and Bell were sneaking up on the rails. The dark horse team of Goddard and George began to make headway and were making a serious challenge. First round contenders Heasman and Dean fell by the wayside and didn't really get over the first hurdle

    First to cross the finishing line were bookies favourites Lovett and Collins. Mick Priest caught the heaviest individual bag which gave debutants Priest and Bell a respectable score. The Other notable performance was by the other newcomers Gregory and Martin duo who also scored well to stay in contention

    The final round will be held on the new date of the 6th of October where the winners and runners up will be presented with their prizes as will the team that finishes in 5th place

  • Bewl Water Reservoir

    19th May 2013 · Report by Colin Findley


    Sixteen anglers turned out on a nice bright day at Bewl. The water gin clear and enough wind to ensure there were plenty of sailing crafts, canoes and rowing boats out on the reservoir

    Fish could be seen in most areas with the favourite places such as Canoe Club Corner, Hook Straight and Bramble Bay producing the best results. However getting the fishing to take proved to be hard with only 22 fish caught in total. John Hancock managed to winkle out 5 to win the day and Keith Nicholson caught a nice 3lb 15oz fish

    Results:

    • 1 John Hancock 5 fish 8lb 15oz
    • 2 Dave Crouch 3 fish 6lb 14oz
    • 3 Vince Brooks 3 fish 5lb 14oz
    • 4 Keith Nicholson 2 fish 5lb 11oz
    • 5 Richard Lovett 2 fish 3lb 12oz

    Best fish: Keith Nicholson 3lb 15oz

  • Bewl Water Reservoir

    Dave Clark Cup (Bank) 21st April 2013 · Report by Andrew Stoner


    This event was the first bank competition by TWFFS to be held at Bewl Water

    Twenty members turned out for the event and most of us met at the clubhouse for breakfast which was provided by the Society

    We were taken over to ferry point by Vince Brooks. The fishing was to take place from the nature reserve round to Dunsters bay. The weather in the morning was sunny with a light breeze. In the afternoon the wind picked up and was blowing onto ferry point but round the corner out of the wind was quite pleasant

    Out of the 20 who fished 18 caught fish with 7 catching their limit. Fish were caught on various methods and flies

    • 1 Nicolas Harrison 8 fish 17lb 14oz
    • 2 John Hancock 8 fish 16lb 15oz
    • 3 James Dench 8 fish 16lb 11oz
    • 4 Andrew Hope 8 fish 16lb 10oz
    • 5 Peter Thomason 8 fish 15lb 12oz
    • 6 Richard Lovett 8 fish 14lb 14oz

    Biggest fish went to Nicolas Harrison with 3lb 3oz

    My thanks to all who made this a successful bank competition at Bewl and we hope to make this an annual event

  • Bewl Water Reservoir

    7th April 2013 · Report by Colin Findley


    Fourteen anglers attended the 7th April Bewl Water boat trip, it was a cold but bright day and, in all the years I have fished Bewl, the first time I have seen it frozen

    After setting off in the boats we had to run around a little to break up the ice to allow the flies to sink, however by 10.30AM the sun had melted most of it

    Most of the action was in Canoe Club Corner and along by the Sailing Club with most boats avoiding the deep water. Inevitably it got a bit crowded in these locations especially as some boats were anchoring up, Ray French could be heard politely telling them the errors of their ways

    The winner on the day was Ian Watts with a great bag of 19lb 5oz, he also caught the heaviest fish of 3lb 10oz

    In all a good days fishing with 78 fish caught in total

    Results:

    • 1 Ian Watts 8 fish 19lb 5oz
    • 2 Vince Brooks 8 fish 16lb 5oz
    • 3 Mick Priest 7 fish 16lb 2oz
    • 4 Peter Thomason 8 fish 16lb 1oz
    • 5 Richard Lovett 8 fish 14lb 3oz
    • 6 Ray French 6 fish 13lb 10oz
    • 7 Keith Lawrence 6 fish 11lb 2oz
    • 8 Robert Holland 6 fish 11lb 0oz
    • 9 Martin Wright 8 fish 10lb 0oz
    • 10 Gary Collins 4 fish 9lb 4oz
    • 11 Andrew Martin 5 fish 9lb 0oz
    • 12 Russell Bell 3 fish 6lb 4oz
    • 13 Alan Martin 1 fish 3lb 6oz
    • 14 Colin Findley 0 fish
  • Bewl Water Reservoir

    23rd March 2013 · Report by Peter Thomason


    This was the first boat fishing outing of this season's programme. Bewl was at maximum water level but also at minimum temperature level. Cold easterly winds had been blowing for the preceding week and the wind-chill factor dropped air temperature to two or three degrees below freezing! The twelve hardy anglers who participated are to be congratulated on their dedication which fortunately was well rewarded

    Due to the extreme cold . and to avoid twin risks of hypothermia and frostbite, the unusual decision was made to abandon any break for lunch and to finish at the early hour of 3.00 p.m. Participants favoured two main areas: Rosemary Lane and around Bramble Bay. Both areas fished well to a variety of methods, most successful being goldhead Tadpoles on floating or intermediate lines, Cormorants on intermediate lines and Boobies on DI3 or DI5 lines. Everyone caught fish and four out of the twelve boated their eight-fish limits

    There was a good number of blue trout in the bags and the size and quality of most of the fish was excellent. A total of 67 fish was taken, giving a rod average of 5.6 and an average weight of approximately 2lb. The best fish of the day was landed by Robin Starkie (guest angler) and weighed 3lb 7oz. The best bag of the day was landed by Andrew Martin with eight fish for 18lb 7oz

    The event also was the first to count towards the Society's Championship and championship points were awarded to the top five rods

    The overall results were:

    • 1 Andrew Martin 8 fish 18lb 7oz
    • 2 Ian Watts 8 fish 16lb 14oz
    • 3 Richard Denney Jnr 8 fish 15lb 4oz
    • 4 Bob Shaw (Guest) 6 fish 14lb 4oz
    • 5 Andrew Hope 8 fish 13lb 5oz
    • 6 Ray French & Peter Thomason 6 fish 12lb 6oz
    • 8 Mark Tremain Coker 5 fish 8lb 5oz
    • 9 Robin Starkie (guest) 3 fish 7lb 3oz (Best fish of 3lb 7oz)
    • 10 Bob Holland 3 fish 6lb 11oz
    • 11 Keith Lawrence 4 fish 6lb 6oz
    • 12 Richard Denney Snr 2 fish 4lb 12oz

    A good but very cold day rounded off by conviviality in the warm recesses of The Brown Trout!

  • Chalybeate Springs Trout Fishery

    Pairs Challenge Round 1 17th March 2013 · Report by Keith Nicholson


    The first round of the new Chalybeate Pairs Challenge was fished on a cold and blustery day on the 17th of March. This just happened to coincide with St Patrick's Day, which is close to the hearts of several Society members, and during the day most participants were "encouraged" to enjoy a nip of John Jameson in recognition of our any Irish friends

    The day, as usual, started with the now famous "Jim's breakfast rolls". The Society paid for the ingredients and a hearty thanks goes to Jim Streeter for cooking the breakfast for us

    There was a reasonable turn out for this new event and 7 pairs took part. A couple of members who booked in on the website didn't turn up for whatever reason which unfortunately lets the Society and, subsequently the fishery down. We have to book the fishery for our sole use for events like this and when a member doesn't turn up it puts the Society in a bad light and could cost us money

    Once the grub was consumed and the draw for starting pegs had taken place we all headed for our positions. The format was to fish a swim for 45 minutes, sharing the fishing time, and then move onto your next allocated peg. The 45 minute sessions ensured that every pair fished all 10 of the available swims during the day making the competition fair for all

    As said earlier, it was a cold and blustery day which affected the fishing somewhat. The early sessions were the best and as the day progressed things became more difficult but the odd fish did show an interest

    There was much banter as we all passed each other several times while moving to our next pegs which made the day sociable and very enjoyable

    A keenly contested competition resulted in the pairing of Andy Sawyer and Reg Littlechild taking top spot with Peter Thomason and Keith Nicholson finishing in second place. Micky Heasman was top rod on the day and with partner Alan Dean supporting him well they ended up in third position

    This is only the first round of three and . there are vacancies for 3 more pairs to join in the next event of the series which will be held on the 1st of June. Hopefully we can have a full house which will only add to the fun we have just enjoyed

  • Chaleybeate Springs Trout Fishery

    27th February 2013 · Report by Keith Nicholson


    Our first mid-week event of the new season saw nine members visit Chalybeate Springs Trout Fishery near Eridge. We were warmly welcomed by owner, Jim Streeter, who provided us with Egg and bacon Rolls which set us up for the day

    It was cold and blustery so expectations of a good fishing day were somewhat tempered to begin with although, there were reports of individuals catching well in the preceding days. Most opted for either a floating line with a 15-18ft leader or an intermediate line with a 12-15ft leader. Almost from the start fish were being caught on both methods

    Depth of fly was quite important and generally the fish were deep. A Black Gonad on the intermediate scored well as did a gold head Yellow Dancer on the same line. Those using floating lines opted to fish a black buzzer but very slowly to allow the fly to get down to where the fish were lying. The fish were taking very gently and concentration on watching for any line movement was the key to success with the floater

    Fishing slowed after lunch but we ended with a total of 52 fish caught between us giving an average of 5.77 fish per person. Andy Sawyer was top rod with 12 fish with 9 being returned

    For those unfamiliar with the Yellow Dancer, here is the recipe:

    • Hook: Kamasan B830 size 10
    • Head: 3.5mm Gold Bead
    • Thread: Yellow Uni-Thread
    • Tail: White Marabou
    • Rib: Silver wire
    • Body: Lureflash Mobile in Mosaic
    • Body Hackle: Flourescent Yellow Cock Hackle