Dam Busters At Rutland Water.

As I headed out on Rutland Water Once more, surely the consistency of the last few weeks would have slowed down somewhat? 

It was a bright, and a pretty warm day, with a 10mph SW wind.(Saturday) I had invited a friend along, whom had only fished Rutland twice in the past, with his best ever catch being 3. I had talked him into fishing here, as it had been fishing so well...No pressure!!

We headed to the dam wall, as I was aware there was a good concentration of fish there, though they have been here for several weeks now. I set up with 4 flies, a tequila booby on the point, a red pseudo diawl bach, a UV cruncher, and a size 12 jelly fritz tequila booby on the top dropper, fished on a DI-3 line.

As like my trips before, it didn't take long for the fish to show themselves, as they raced behind my bouncing booby on the point, as I pulled it fast across the surface.

. A hard fighting fish heads under the boat.

The fish kept coming, however they noticeably slowed somewhat, which I put down to the bright sun, and probably the movement of another 12 boats in close proximity.

My friend Richard decided to switch to a fast glass, and as eagle eyed as ever, I noticed he seemed to be catching quite consistently, so off came the Di-3, and I too switched to my fast glass line.

.Richard with a 3lb plus Rutland Rainbow.

When using the Di-3, I pulled the flies the second they landed, causing the bigger eyed booby on the point to create a wake across the surface. This was often when the fish appeared, indicating the fish were high in the water. The fast glass allowed my flies to fish even higher in the water, and with two boobies still on my cast, I knew they wouldn't drop too deep. I started to fish my flies slower, now that I had came up in the surface. What a difference this made. A slow figure of 8 was exactly how the fish now seemed to want it. I took 6 fish in pretty quick succession. As I watched those anglers that were still pulling their flies, they barely caught. One angler, as he passed by, shouted across to ask what I was doing. I told him a fast glass, with a figure of 8 retrieve, with the Tequila booby on the point. It wasn't long until his rod was bending too!

How many times have you thought, after you have finished fishing, " I wish I had done this, I wish I had done that"? Well, as I have been fishing alone in the boat, and not fishing with my normal "competition" fishing head on, I have been very relaxed with my approach. After netting around 9 fish on the fast glass line, I decided to go even higher in the water again, so switched to a midge tip line, as I was convinced the "taking" fish were in the top few inches, therefore my choice of a midge tip, would keep the flies right in that top foot or so, just where I felt they needed to be.

I positioned my boat approx 200m off the dam wall, to position myself behind all the boats in the area, as the fish had had a lot of pressure for the last few hours. My first cast, and my flies had only been in the water less than 10 seconds, and it pulled tight. These fish were very high, despite the bright weather.

.

Yet again, the Tequila booby was the fly of the moment. You may have realised there is no mention of the 2 nymphs I had started with. Well, these had only accounted for just 1 fish, so had removed them from the cast, as the fish just wanted the colour combination of the Tequila Booby, both on the point, and the dropper. 

I continued to fish the midge tip, enjoying the more static approach, and the fish kept coming.

For the last 2 hours of our day, we headed for the South Arm, where in my previous trips I had enjoyed some superb sport. As we approached New Zealand Point, we could see numerous fish chasing pin fry, however they were very tight to the bank, and any approaching boat would have spooked them for sure.

I drifted from the point, and the drift took me across the lake, heading towards Yellowstone(the opposite shore). I was still fishing with my midge tip line, and 2 Tequila boobies, and basically just keeping in touch with them - was feeling a little lazy now!

I took a further 3 fish on this drift, though not as prolific as the dam area. As so often is the case with the South Arm, all three fish were of a better quality, and bigger.

.

Yet another great day on Rutland. My friend Richard enjoyed his day too, landing 12 fish, with his best ever previous catch on Rutland, being 3. The vast majority of fish, also came to the Tequila booby. The fish are still very high in the water, and it pays to get your flies higher in the water at times, as it became obvious, with the speed the fish were onto my flies as they hit the water, that they were cruising close to the surface. As the fish showed signs of slowing, to the pulled flies, try a more less spooky approach, and fish them near static, let the fish pick them up at there own pace. 

The productive two booby cast can be seen by clicking the two links below.

https://flashattackflies.com/products/tequila-booby-s10-code-b113

https://flashattackflies.com/products/jelly-fritz-tequila-booby-code-b105-s1012

Rod -RS Comp Wychwood

Leader - 9lb Wychwood Ghostmode.

Remember, what happens one day, won't always happen the next !

tight lines

 Craig

 This Saturday, I am heading to the banks of Rutland Water. Something tells me this could be a bigger test, but lets see aye ! Read all about the day here early neat week.