Must Have Flies For Rutland This Weekend.
Posted by Craig Barr on
It is fair to say Rutland's form of late has been somewhat sporadic to say the least. However, those who know Rutland well, will know its a ticking time bomb, as sooner or later it will explode into life.
On Thursday I shared a boat with Borders based Dave Moody. Having been out recently myself, I knew it was generally tough going, however there were signs it's on the turn, and therefore decided the best plan of attack was to fish the weed beds.
We started at Sykes lane, armoured with two different set ups. Floating lines and a Flash Attack popper fry, and a fast glass, or di-3 and a humungous lure.
Quite quickly I hit into fish, 2 of them! One taking the black humungous, and the 2nd one taking a white hot head fry lure. I also rose a brown estimated between 6 & 7lb's, though it turned away right at the boat.
The fish are not there in big numbers, however there are some good quality fish around. The key is to stick close to the weed - the fish are following the weeds edges !
Next we headed to A buoy off New Zealand point where recent stock fish were showing, however these fish were simply not playing, confirmed by a competition angler in a match, whom we over heard saying both him and his partner were blanking !
With other recent trips to Rutland I was becoming aware fish in open water were simply not taking, however fish near the weed beds was a different story. With this in mind we moved across the water to Spud Bay, again fishing near the weeds. My line soon pulled tight and I was into another good sized rainbow. This took a Flash Attack popper fry beautifully off the surface.
After covering this bay, we moved around to Whitwell frontage, where again we just fished the weeded margins.
Just like Spud Bay, after only 5 minutes I was into another cracking rainbow of 3lb+. This took a humungous pulled on a di-3 line.
We finished the day with 6 fish, with all but 1, 3lb + in weight.
The following day(Thursday 16/9) I was out with Steve from Loughborough, and with the weed playing such an important part in my fishing the day before, I decided I would not do any open water drifts today, but concentrate on the weeds - and it paid off !!!
We headed straight to Sykes Lane once more, funnily enough seeing Scotland's Dave Moody there as well, after our previous day out together.
Loaded once more with two rods, di3, and a floater, I opted to start with the pulling rod due to the flat calm conditions, as the floater would disturb the surface to much. Well, just like previous days, it was a matter of minutes and I was hooked into, not 1, but 2 fish at once.
One took the white beaded zonka lure, the other a black humungous. With the fish not in numbers, it soon dry's up, so keeping on the move is paramount, just keep working the weeds edges.
We shot across the lake to the Blue pipes, again keeping tight to the weeds edge. It is becoming a regular story, yes, within 5 minutes of arriving we were both into fish once more.
Steve was pulling a single humungous, and I had hooked into one on a Flash Attack Popper fry.
We continued this drift right up to Fantasy Island, just losing one more fish. We shot back across the lake once more to Sykes Lane, as we had been keeping an eye the bank, and noticed no boats had been there for the past 30 minutes or so, thus not disturbing any fish.
Amazingly, just like most of the day, it was my 3rd cast on fresh water, and the line was ripped out of my hands, followed by a huge crash on the surface - this was something a little bigger than normal !
A brown trout of approx 7lb was shortly in the net - what a beautiful fish. Was this the same fish I had risen in the exact same spot the day before whilst fishing with Dave Moody??
We continued the drift up to the dam wall and Steve picked up a further two rainbows.
.
We finished the day with 10 fish to the boat.
Rutland at the minute is by no means easy, however a little know how, and you can get some cracking fish. Quality fish are feeding, and these seem to be consistently near any weed beds. Fish tight to the weeds edges, starting your boats drift just 40yds off it and cast towards it. Once you start hooking weed, as there is plenty of it, just push the boat back out, 20yds along, and go again. It is a case of, in and out, in and out to the weeds edges, but it can well be worth the effort ! (better without the drogue)
Work the whole bank, along the weeds edge. Drift in, shift along 25yds, then drift in again, all along the bank. Once you've completed one bank, find another, just keep moving, as the fish are not there in numbers, yet !!!
Plenty of fish have gone into Rutland of late, that is no secret, neither is the fact they are not yet pulling, however grown on fish are, but I have only found this to be happening near any weed beds.
Best of luck to all in this weekends final, and I hope my last few days on the water, can help one or two of you get better catches, and hopefully a big fish or two !
The two most productive flies this last 48 hours on Rutland( follow links)
https://flashattackflies.com/products/sparkler-popper-fry-code-k104-s8
https://flashattackflies.com/products/white-humongous
Tight lines....Craig
If you would like a guided day on Rutland, then please make contact at craig@flashattackflies.com