3 Must Fish Boat Spots On Rutland Now !
Posted by Craig Barr on
Everyone wants to catch that 'special' fish when setting out for a days fishing. I will be revealing right now, 3 spots worth a visit when out on a boat at Rutland this next few weeks.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of sharing my second day out with Martin. Our mission was to catch a back end 'Rutland biggie'. If you are planning to go out on Rutland over this next month, don't expect to fill the boat, as it just isn't like that, 4-5 fish would be a good catch. However, the quality of fish, would probably far out way filling the boat with stock fish!
We started our day at the Sailing club,(SPOT 1) setting our boat to run alongside the buoy line. This area has been holding some really good sized fish, having seen several up to 8lb here on my last few visits.
I started with a floating line, squirrel popper fry, and olive zonka on the point. The action was instant, losing 1 fish, landing a nice brown trout, and having 4 other fish rise to the popper fry, but then came along a single man boat who came right down the drift, spun his boat and proceeded to drop his anchor, 40yds in front of us as we were drifting towards him - needless to say that put paid to that area!
*Fish the flies almost static for best results.
As we left this area we headed to Gibbets. Twenty minutes or so in, and no sign of a fish, we headed across to Spud bay, however as we appeared around New Zealand point, we noticed the anchored boat had gone, so decided for a quick return to the Sailing Club, this time going deep into the bay, in the hope the anchored boat had shifted the fish out of its way, and into the bay.
I had switched my set up now by swapping the popper fry for a Black Mamba lure, and my line to a 4' midge tip, thus to allow the 2 zonka's to drop a foot or so below the surface, in the hope of connecting with the fish, that would previously just come up and swirl at the popper fry. Just a few minutes in my line softly tightened, and that split second of uncertainty to strike, proved costly as a brown of around 7lb or so, thrashed on the surface just in front of us, and came off ! DAMN !!
With the shortened day time hours, we were off again, this time to the bank that sits directly opposite the fishing lodge, another fish holding zone(SPOT2).
We set our drift, 50 yards off the point at Spud Bay, and with the Weesterly wind, we were to drift nicely along the bank towards Barnhill Creek.
It looked good, felt good, but nothing happened, until we reached the wood, nd the road at the peninsula road end, when we saw a couple of fish move. I swapped to my other rod at this point, fishing a single popper, whilst Martin pulled with a slim line and a white humungous.
Martin struck first, whilst I had 2 offers to the popper fry, but no serious takers.
.
With this bit of action, we drifted through the spot, and wet back round to cover the same area. I had now swapped back round to my midge tip line, and the olive zonka and black mamba lure. It paid off, as within a few minutes the line was ripped out of my hands with a 3lb rainbow, consuming the olive zonka.
We headed next to a spot I have been frequenting from the bank in recent weeks, Armley Wood,(SPOT 3) by the fence on the Transformer side. I have landed some nice fish up to 5lb here from the bank, but have seen some browns bigger than this, but always just out of reach - NOT ANY MORE !!
Conditions looked perfect, overcast, and a light wind, coming off the shore. We approached our spot with caution, going round in a big loop, as to not spook the area we were intending to fish.
Just 3 casts in and my line tightened, hard ! I new I was into a good fish, as it tore off in the opposite direction. As it paddled sideways in the surface, I could see it was a good sized brown trout. RESULT !!
This beautiful grown on brown trout of around the 6lb mark took the Black Mamba lure(barbless) fished slow on a 4' midge tip line. This leads me to a conversation I overheard coming from the anchored boat earlier in the day at the Sailing Club. A colleague of his had obviously just taken a fish on a floating line, and had called to tell him - his reply was, like in shock, "A FLOATER!!" He had been pulling on a sinking line. Despite being late November, the fish at Rutland are still keen to come to the surface, so much so, this last few weeks, I have struggled to catch on any sinking line, unless I have been pulling it fast to keep the flies high !
We finished our day with 15 minutes at the mouth of Whitwell Creek. Martin latched into a rainbow this time, seizing his white humungous lure once more.
Visit these 3 areas(Sailing Club, Opposite the fishing lodge, and Armley Wood) and there is a good chance you will catch. Fish the flies slow, and keep them high in the water. With the water being crystal clear, keep your flies far apart, approach the area you intend to fish with extreme caution, and fish a short line. The fish are often in just 5-6' of water, and chucking a long line in this depth of water can spook the fish very quickly.
If you would like to book a days fishing on Rutland with Craig, then email Craig craig@flashattackflies.com
(copy the link to see the Black Mamba lure)
https://flashattackflies.com/products/black-mamba-lure-code-k105s8
tight lines
Craig