AUGUST LAKES REPORT

Hello Members,

 

Thank you for your reports and catch returns. It makes life a lot easier for me to calculate when to restock our lakes when your returns by email give me the facts that I need. What a difference this month has been to last year. The weather as usual plays tricks on us and the rain has kept the lakes at remarkable levels as opposed to last year when WZ was just a puddle!

 

A huge thankyou must go out to our volunteers who work so assiduously on removing weed from the lakes. Yet more work has been carried out on Chapmans by Bob and his team.

Some of your reports for the month are below:-

 

• I went to Rawlsbury yesterday evening with my friend Tim Earl arriving around 1730. I tried Chapmans first. There were one or two rises but I couldn’t get any offers. Then went up to Cowleaze. You could see fish cruising along but again I couldn’t get them interested in spite of trying a range of dries and nymphs as well as my usual Apache. Had supper in the hut as it was raining and then tried Chapmans as it was getting dark up by the second platform.

 

There were a couple of fish moving and at last I got a savage take on a white Apache which proved to be a 4 3/4 pound rainbow that fought like a seatrout and Tim kindly netted it for me in the weed.

It certainly made the trip worthwhile and the evenings at Rawlsbury are magical with owls hooting and Tufted duck and Mallard flying about.

 

• Just returned from WZ having planned a trip there today for several days - only to realise that it has just been stocked! Lovely water in a sunny 25 degrees & a strong breeze from 3pm to 4.30pm. Very bright & lots of fish visible on the West bank - but oddly none at all on the south, north or east banks! I used a size 10 leaded gold head brown bug and was inundated with visible 'group' follows, snatches, takes & darting passes immediately. I could have taken my brace in 5 minutes.... but managed to eek it out for 90 mins and took a leisurely stroll before the 2nd fish. Both 3lbs 4oz in great condition & scrappy.

 

• Gareth and myself arrived at Zelston about 9.30am this morning in blazing wall to wall sunshine with just the odd gust of wind sufficient to put a slight ripple on the water from time to time. Water was crystal clear and weed free in places.

I opened the batting with a very nice fully finned fighting,  4lb 5oz rainbow. Gareth had tried all around the lake but clear fishable water was hard to find. I then hooked another rainbow that raced off across the lake, burnt my finger with the line and didn't stop until it was almost under the platform next to the lake outfall and I was standing on the west bank platform. Good fish of 4lb 6oz.

 

Gareth stepped up to take my spot, hooked into a fighting fit 4lb 1oz rainbow by this time, about 12 noon it was very hot and very little breeze, Gareth hooked and landed another rainbow of 2lb 13oz. An excellent morning's fishing given that the sun was very hot and we expected to struggle a little more than we did. The successful flies were, olive damsel, a nymph and a small orange weighted stalking bug.

 

• Very windy so fished the downwind end.

Hooked one on the standard tiny buzzer, but it came off. (Hook didn’t set – just a flash of white underwater and gone) Hooked another on a muskins, and was broken in the weed. Only a small buzzer with an orange beard – just A different offering in case the same fish saw it!

Then all went quiet, so switched to a white Apache. 2 in 2 casts.

Spooning out, neither fish contained anything – just one very small water flea, so for whatever reason, they were not feeding.

 

• Fishing at Winterborne Zelston on Wed 16th. I caught 2 fish one of 5lb and one of 4lb, both in v good condition. I lost 2 more in the weed (not broken just came of with the weight of weed). All on a small pearly daddy between 5.30pm and 7.30pm. Very warm still evening with very few fish rising but plenty of sub surface activity. All fish I had on were fish I could see and cast to in gaps in the weed. A very enjoyable evening.

 

• I took my grandson to Winterborne Zelston this afternoon. We identified a group of fish to the right where the drain came in during the flood and had great excitement trying various flies in front of them. We ended up with one each at 4 pounds and 5 pounds on a white Apache and a gold head daddy.

 

• Return from Sunday evening. Chapmans two Rainbows 3.5lb and 4lb. Both caught using black dry fly. Viners three browns using damsel pattern.

 

Thankyou for sending me your reports of your fishing experiences. They are favourably received by all and give me the chance to put something in the newsletter that’s of interest every month!!

 

Tight Lines.

Paul.

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