Blog — guided fly fishing

Flat Chance at Rutland !!!

Posted by Craig Barr on

Flat Chance at Rutland !!!

I am sure we have all been here - Your days fishing is on the horizon, you are all set, then the day arrives. You pull up at the venue, and you see that glazed look staring right back at you - FLAT CALM ! It is fair to say, this can be a challenge in itself, let alone it being the month of August!! I was pleased to be fishing with  Nik Tompkins, a guy I have seen on the competition circuit over the years, yet never had the opportunity to fish alongside him. Upon meeting Nik, he warned...

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Patience For Pitsford, & Barmy Blithfield

Posted by Craig Barr on

Patience For Pitsford, & Barmy Blithfield

I think it is fair to say, though to be expected, the fishing of late has not been at its best on some of our biggest waters at times, due to soaring air and water temperatures, though Blithfield Reservoir certainly did defy those odds ! Conditions were perfect at Pitsford, but were the fish reading the same book? After an hour, you just sensed it was time to role up your sleeves and get your head down, as after an hour in, neither of us had moved a fish. If the fish are "playing" you are likely to get some...

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Rutland & Grafham Water - Black Flies Matter

Posted by Craig Barr on

Rutland & Grafham Water - Black Flies Matter

A recent back to back two days fishing on Rutland & Grafham Water, threw up a very interesting tactic, enabling us to finally crack the code to success. If you have visited either of these lakes the last few days, you will be well aware there is a bit of colour in the water now - often the reason, or so we like to think, why we struggle ! Right? I was lucky enough to share a boat at Rutland, with a young angler who certainly will be a name to watch in the future, Preston's Kieron Donaghy. After hearing...

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Rutland's Mega Catch To Modest Catch In 24 Hours !

Posted by Craig Barr on

Rutland's Mega Catch To Modest Catch In 24 Hours !

Having fished Rutland for over 30 years now, I am all to aware how things can change here, in a mere 24 hours. I have been lucky enough to fish Rutland on two consecutive days this week, and what a difference 24 hours can make. Wednesday I was fishing alongside Simon, a Forest fan (good enough in itself). Simon is still learning the tricks of the trade on how to tackle large reservoirs, and today I was going to show him the pulling of a booby across the surface, as this is what the Rutland trout cannot get enough of...

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Rutland Water - A day of Two Halves

Posted by Craig Barr on

Rutland Water - A day of Two Halves

Conditions looked perfect, grey skies, and a less than moderate wind, though it was blowing from the North East, veering more from the East in the afternoon. My starting set up was a floating line with 3 dry flies, size 12 ginger Midas on the point, hares ear cube in the middle, and a size 12 big red on the top dropper. Conditions looked perfect, but were they! We started our day in the basin, after hearing it had fished well the day before. It wasn't long after we had stopped out boat, that we saw fish moving in the wind...

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