Time To Go Deep At Toft Newton.

Toft Newton Reservoir, Lincs, has recently been under new management. One thing that has been apparent very much across social media, is the number of fish that has been going in, reflected by very healthy rod averages of late.

With this in mind, Jim Doyle and I decided to go fishing there, as he came down South from Scotland for a weekend. There just so happened to be an organised bank match, so this was the perfect tonic to dust myself down and get out there fishing.

I have only fished Toft Newton once in the last 5 years, so my approach was, lets say, a little uncertain.

I set up with 3 rods, a fast glass line, a slow glass, and 12' slow tip. A combined fly set up of, a fab with 2 buzzers, Blue Flash Damsel and a oranage blob, and black leech and red worm.

Thirty minutes in and I was scratching my head as I hadn't touched a fish, though I wasn't to concerned as I was stood next to regular Toft angler Neil Deakin, whom like me, hadn't had a pull. Anglers 50m along from us were steadily catching, and it was already becoming a game of catch up. I got round to my fast glass with the trusted damsel, and true to my instincts I caught a fish, soon followed by a 2nd one.

My 2nd peg I drew a blank, however was still remaining positive as regular Neil was still to register.

During the lunch break I had heard of scores of 7 and 5, and a couple of 3's. I was now feeling a little dejected, however always the optimist, there was still another 3 hours to go, as I was now fishing a different area for the last 3 hours. News 8 anglers had blanked along this area(thanks Martin Introna!!) my hopes of doing well were dampened, but as fishing friend Andy Axon and I always say to each other, we are in the "Never give up club" so i was going to give it a go.

I have to thank Andy Hutson for the lunchtime tip. Andy, having had 7 in the morning session, told me two boobies on a di-5 was the way forward. With only 2 fish myself, I just had to give it a go - i'd be daft not to !

Though I didn't set up the two boobies I was advised(Biscuit, and tequila boobies) I did choose the same line, as I had previously in the morning session, tried the di-7 and 2 boobies, but with no luck.

I set up a 14' leader, Gremlin booby on the point, and a cut throat cat booby on the dropper (Barbless boobies on Fasna Hooks)- both size 12. 6' to the first fly, 8' to the point. My first cast, and boom, I was in, the gremlin booby. It wasn't long, and I was into my 2nd. I finished with 5 in 1.5 hours before I moved to my last peg. 

(Barbless Gremlin, and cut-throat cat booby -Fasna Hooks, available at www.flashattackflies.com)

An hour went by, frustratingly I hadn't touched a fish, only 80 meters down the bank from my last spot. I rang the changes, trying all 3 lines, but nothing. I figured the fish were not really chasing anything, and to think the top bag at half time(Andy Hutson) with 7 was fishing boobies deep, I went back to the di-5 for the last 30 minutes. A mad 15 minutes saw me take 3 more fish on the two boobies, taking my days tally to 10, with 8 coming in the afternoon.

On reaching the car park, I was surprised to hear Andy Hutson had only managed 1 in the afternoon, taking his tally to 8. Martin Rowson, who had 5 in the morning session, had pipped me to 1st place by landing 11 fish, putting me 2nd overall. After the mornings very slow start, I'm very happy with the overall result. A good long cast, combined with the tip from Andy at half time was all I needed to swing into action and start catching fish.

The fishing generally was slow across the board in the morning, however this wasn't helped by bright sun and a fresh wind. The afternoon was much better, as it clouded over a little and the fish appeared to come on the feed as more fish were caught.

Both boobies used are tied on barbless Fasna hooks. Follow the links below to see the flies.

TIP - When playing fish on barbless hooks, play the fish with an angle on the rod, rather than behind your head. Having the rod at an angle to your side, and keeping a tight line at all times, you'll rarely drop fish. I played 8 fish in the afternoon on barbless boobies, and landed them all.

https://flashattackflies.com/collections/barbless-boobies/products/cut-throat-cat-booby-bb11

https://flashattackflies.com/products/barbless-cat-booby

I hope you enjoyed the read. I will be publishing all my fishing trips this year, here at Flash Attack Flies' blog page. 

www.flashattackflies.com