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The Beauty & The Beast Of Rutland Water

Posted by Craig Barr on

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...

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Wind, Sun, Tequila & 25 Fish ! Not A Rutland Aerator In Sight.

Posted by Craig Barr on

Wind, Sun, Tequila & 25 Fish ! Not A Rutland Aerator In Sight.

We all know this time of year can be tough going at times. The waters warm, the sun shines, and flat calms can be a regular occurrence - though this year the wind has been more of an issue, and yesterday was no different !! Sunny spells, 16mph winds, and already warming waters, and rumours of the fishing being tricky at times. With all this in mind we remained upbeat, and set off on floating lines and nymph set ups - UV Crunchers. We opted to get out of the wind and joined 3 other boats already in the Sailing...

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Big Grafham Water Secret Revealed !!

Posted by Craig Barr on

Big Grafham Water Secret Revealed !!

  My latest Grafham adventure saw me set afloat with regular guided friend Gary. I had heard Grafham had been fishing well, therefore switched our planned Rutland trip, to Grafham instead - would it pay off? We started our day along the West bank, an area I had heard had been holding some good quality fish, feeding on the pin fry, and snails. This particular corner repeats this quality fishing each year, you just need to catch it at the right time when the fish move in. As word gets out, and boats park there for the day, it soon...

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Frustrated With Pin Fry Feeders? Two Deadly Tactics Revealed To Snare them.

Posted by Craig Barr on

Frustrated With Pin Fry Feeders? Two Deadly Tactics Revealed To Snare them.

Pin fry feeders can leave many of us frustrated, as they are notoriously difficult to catch. However, I am going to share some tactics I use to catch them, as I have done this last week on Rutland. On Monday Simon Robinson and I headed down to the South side of the dam,(150 yds out) and were greeted with many fish cruising through the surface, often at speed. This is an immediate tell tale sign they are chasing the minute pin fry through the surface. The first thing to note is when these fish are on the pin fry, they...

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Check Out The 3 Flies Used To Bag 15 Grafham Beauties !

Posted by Craig Barr on

Check Out The 3 Flies Used To Bag 15 Grafham Beauties !

Firstly, apologies I haven't been able to deliver more regular updates of my fishing ventures - I do not know where this last month has gone - It has been a busy one. As we head into June, our big waters start to change. The buzzer fishing can slow, and nymphs and dries can really come into their own - as we discovered yesterday on Grafham. (30/6/22) Grafham is a real gem of a water at this time of year, hit it right and you'll get a day to remember. The weather conditions were some what perfect, light cloud, light Southerly...

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