Blog — anglian water fisheries

So, all the rumours are that the fish are very close to the shores on, Grafham, Rutland, and Pitsford. I am a realist, and appreciate not all fish will be hugging the shores, however for the past 7 weeks, I have barely fished in water deeper than 6', and had some scintillating sport, with browns up to 5.5lb, and rainbows up to 10lb ! So what's driving this? There is one obvious reason -fish food ! There has been unprecedented midge hatches in the margins this year, followed by 1000's, if not millions of daphnia flees, and now on top...

Pre-season, there was a lot of talk of the fishing at Rutland would fish slow from the shores due to the low water levels through the winter, however the complete opposite has happened, catching some folk out, whom didn't renew season tickets, believing bank fishing would be a no-go. So, why is this? Say hello to the shrimp!! I have fished Rutland a lot this last 4 weeks, and a lot of the fish just have not shifted from the shores, no matter where I have fished, North or South. These critters seem pretty prevalent now, and the fish are...

Both Rutland & Grafham Water have experienced some fantastic buzzer fishing this last 8 weeks. What has been noticeable, is the widespread feeding activity. ! The fish can be found absolutely everywhere on these two waters. There was much talk pre-season at Rutland that with the low winter water levels, rapidly filled in the early spring, would have killed off buzzer beds around the shores, thus sending fish from the shores packing ! In fact, it has been the complete opposite. The fish just won't, as of now, leave the margins. Normanton, Berrybuts, Green Bank, Dickinsons Bay, Sailing Club, Yellow...

Rutland, however you may look at it, is a huge vast amount of water, and get it wrong and it can seem a lonely place at times. Early season stock fish are released in the same areas year in, year out, and this only starts to vary, once the water levels drop, and access becomes a problem, therefore you can get the odds heavily on your side from the off, if you know where to look ! I am about to tell you where ! We set our first drift, 80yds just off the left of the mouth of Whitwell...

Fishing our large reservoirs can be world beating at times, yet other times you can be left scratching your head doubting everything! In the space of 24 hours I experienced the extreme highs of why we love fishing, and the lows of frustration with fishing. As Martin and I headed towards Rutland's South Arm (26/10) we were faced with an increasing S/S/W wind, and bright skies, not the most perfect of conditions. We were targeting the reservoirs bigger fish, so set up accordingly with fast sinking lines, and Flash Attack perch fry lures, and Black Humungous lures. Two hours in...