Blog — Flash Attack Flies

When you fish Clywedog reservoir in early June, there is probably one thing on your mind - the Coch-y-bonddu beetle. When this beetle falls onto the water here, it really is something else ! People travel the length and breadth of the UK, to fish here in June, for this spectacle, and I was no different this time round. The first couple of days were windy, and there was very little sign of any beetles on the water. Armoured withy 3 rods, a floating line with a black beetle, and size 12 black daddy, another floating line, with a fab...

  There’s something about early May on the Lake of Menteith that always holds promise—but this year, the weather turned the dial well past “unseasonal.” Hot, still, sun-baked days stretched across my week, accompanied by little more than a whisper of wind. For most, these conditions might spell a challenge on stillwater. But the Lake, with its unique ecology and abundant fly life, turned up the volume on surface sport, as the fish took advantage of the consistent flies hatching all throughout the days. Upon arriving, each morning by the boat dock, fish could be seen rising, right across the...

Having fished Rutland Water now for over 38 years, I sure know how moody the place can be, and how the slightest change in wind direction, cloud cover, and temperature change, can have you in heaven one minute, then what feels like hell the next !  On Wednesday, conditions were perfect, overcast, 21 degrees, and an 8mph wind, and as the book tells us, the fish were on song too, and plenty of them. We started our drift, just down from X Buoy, with our set ups being pretty similar. I was using a Flash Attack Tequila booby, and Tequila Fab(both...

It is not that often I get to go out fishing with my dad, however we we determined to have a great day on Rutland together. Rutland is still only showing glimpses of its normal potential for this time of year, however saying that, if you know where to look, there are some superb fish to be caught ! This last few weeks I have being focussing on fishing the weed beds, and today was no different. Despite the introduction of plenty of stock fish this last few weeks, nothing can beat a grown on Rutland Rainbow or Brown, so...

As the UK basked in its first high temperatures of the year, many anglers may wait for that next "perfect day's conditions" to venture out again. My first day out recently was with Peter Scholes, based in Lancashire. Peter has never really got to grips with Rutland on previous visits, and wanted to see how I approach this huge expanse of water. The warm weather bought out the midges, and this just had to get the fish on the move, and it did. Peter and I headed to the Old Hall Bay, where, as predicted, we were met with rising...