NOVEMBER LAKES REPORT

Hello everyone,

Christmas will soon be upon us and there seems to be no time to stop and take stock of what has happened over the last year. What with Covid and new variants on the horizon I am not sure what new rules will be imposed upon us so please if you do feel sprightly why not enjoy a day’s fishing. We all know its benefits.

Rawlsbury

On November 14th. The season ended at Rawlsbury and although we have had some testing times with high rainfall and murky water the seasons catch rate has been close to 80% which compares favourably with last year.  I also want to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who stepped up to help clear the lake of weed and also keep the margins cut. The farmer also helped this year in clearing a lot of the reed mace which has made our life a lot easier looking forward to next year.

WZ

During November the rains have restored lake levels and the clarity of the water has enabled excellent fishing conditions. We have also restocked with great quality fish. WZ is a lake that is at its best during winter months particularly on cold clear days, sight fishing around its margins is an absolute delight.

Below are some of your comments about your days fishing.  They are incredibly helpful as a record of how the lakes are fishing. Thankyou.

• I arrived at 2:25pm and fished to 4pm. Low light levels and the wind once again made it hard to spot fish. Luckily if you spot no fish you can establish the areas where there could be! I managed to catch two rainbows both on a size 16 PTN. Both fish were the same size, around the 3 and half pound mark. There appears to be a lot of changes to the Wildlife at Zelston this time of year. Plenty of mallards about with moorhens and even a couple pheasant (who I am sure are avoiding the local shoot! ) On a more serious note, I did spot a cormorant on the water upon my arrival who was in the north eastern corner of the lake. My arrival moved the bird out, however, there were a couple of flyovers from the same bird during my time fishing. I understand that we need to report these sightings. Would this be done on the website? Your advice would be much appreciated.

• Had a great morning at Rawlesbury. Very windy there, so all caught from the margins.

Two from Chapmans within 1/2hr from arrival. 3lb and 3 1/2lb’.

Catch & Release. Two at Viners including a beautiful Brownie est about 4lb. Five at Sandys

All really good condition and fought hard.

All caught on a couple of ugly flies I made the night before! Mix of Damsel, nymph, and more!!

• Perfect weather, a blend of sunshine, cloud, calm and a light breeze and the water in fine fettle- crystal clear. The weed is dying back and the water level just about optimal.

Slow start in the morning with nothing showing but presumably due to the low temperature overnight but after lunch as it warmed up the fish appeared particularly in the shallows. Started to chase surface daddies and cdc elks but they often missed them or were trying to drown them. Eventually landed two beautiful fish who didn’t give up without a struggle and had tails more akin to Salmon 5.10 and 6. 9lbs. Definitely a red letter day and thankyou to all concerned for their contribution.

• Sorry for the late return, one for yesterday at WZ, the nice gent who weighed it for me said 5lbs on his guess. I dropped it in the scales and he said “cwoah no she’s heavy” as if he’d under estimated it. He thought a moment, and said 5lbs on the nose without showing me, so perhaps it was a little bigger and he lied but I’ll believe him!

• 2hrs 15mins session starting at midday. Gorgeous long, lean, golden fish within an hour to an hour and a half and a half I’d say. Perfect for the cold smoker. Taken on a 1inch black/white hackled Wooly bugger type thing, with a dark yellow tail and some gold Mylar flash in it, more tail than hook. Sunk 10 seconds(about mid water I estimate, I don’t know how deep it is there), then retrieved very slowly. On a 4wt, it was quite the battle, down to the backing 4 or 5 times with 3 good jumps.

If I don’t get the opportunity to write to you before, have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Best wishes.

Paul