Blog — guided flyfishing

Sweet As Candy At Rutland

Posted by Craig Barr on

Sweet As Candy At Rutland

As many of you may already have been aware, I have set up camp at Rutland Water this last week, fishing there 4 days of this last week. First up was Essex based Martyn who had never fished Rutland before. It is no secret that the North Arm of Rutland has been in scintillating form for the whole of April, so this was our starting point for the day. We started at the dead tree in the water at the Transformer. It was just moments later that Graham hit into fish, pulling on a fast glass line. I too got...

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Rutland Continues Its Rich Form Fishing Buzzers

Posted by Craig Barr on

Rutland Continues Its Rich Form Fishing Buzzers

"My best day's buzzer fishing ever" claimed Alan Telford. Read on to find out why.... As we meandered  eagerly along the pontoon, I told Alan it was a floating line only day; his response was one of joy. Buzzers, buzzers buzzers! We headed to Hideaway Bay in search of a Rutland biggie. An hour in, and we had managed just the one fish, fishing buzzers on our floating lines. My instincts were telling me the fish were not playing, so we decided to move on to hunt out the seemingly elusive fish that we knew were there.   The next stop...

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Rutland's Early Season Hot Spots, Lines, & Flies

Posted by Craig Barr on

Rutland's Early Season Hot Spots, Lines, & Flies

 So, the big day looms –   Known as the “Midlands’ Mecca”, Rutland Water opens  tomorrow, since “lock down” struck last November. This 3000+ acre reservoir can be daunting to the first time visitor, and even those who fish it maybe several times a month! For me, Rutland offers it all, a sense of wilderness, a challenge, and hit it right, world class fishing. So, where do you start on a lake so big? I will tell you the known areas, drifts, recommended lines, and suggested flies to use for the opening months right here and now…. The water is full...

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A Priceless Moment When a 5lb+ Brown Engulfs Your Fly 3' Away

Posted by Craig Barr on

A Priceless Moment When a 5lb+ Brown Engulfs Your Fly 3' Away

Rutland Water offers such a diverse way of fishing at any one time. Whether you want to fish a dry fly, or fish a DI-8 with a tube fly, the odds are you will catch a fish, and as some people have found out this last week, it could be 2lb, or even 10lb !! My first day of 3 in a row, was with Warwickshire's Andrew Wheildon. Andrew had visited Rutland 3 previous times, and hadn't landed a fish. We were greeted with a bright day, and at times, flat calm conditions. . We started at C3 Buoy, located 200...

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RAF Raid On Rutland

Posted by Craig Barr on

RAF Raid On Rutland

It was a pleasure to share a boat with Drew Mcintosh recently on Rutland, however the weather on the day was not so pleasurable, blue skies, accompanied by a strong Easterly wind. This certainly wasn't going to hamper our enthusiasm. Drew is part of the RAF fly fishing team, and wanted to learn a trick or two.....though the conditions restricted the presentation options, I'm sure he picked up a tip or two. It is no secret that the basin at Rutland at this time of year tends to hold a big number of fish, and this was recently aided by...

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