Blog

It is fair to say Rutland's form of late has been somewhat sporadic to say the least. However, those who know Rutland well, will know its a ticking time bomb, as sooner or later it will explode into life. On Thursday I shared a boat with Borders based Dave Moody. Having been out recently myself, I knew it was generally tough going, however there were signs it's on the turn, and therefore decided the best plan of attack was to fish the weed beds. We started at Sykes lane, armoured with two different set ups. Floating lines and a Flash...

Having fished Rutland for over 37 years, It is fair to say I have witnessed many of its mood swings, however its current mood is on a different scale, although there are ways to nick a few, if you are in the know! From hero to almost zero in a week - how can that be? I shared a boat with Shaun Jones just 10 days ago. The weather was what we anglers would describe as perfect, overcast, and light winds, though the sun did eventually break through. We headed to the dam wall, and was met with the odd...

The days of 30 fish + to the boat are fast diminishing, as normal reservoir fishing resumes at our biggest waters. The pre-season stocks are now well spread out across the water, and added stocks, with the warmer water in the margins are now, in most cases, moving right out into deeper water.  The fish are now feeding naturally on the abundant food sources, buzzers, shrimp, daphnia, pin fry, snails etc. There is a lot here for the fish to feed on, so the pulling of lures is naturally less effective, as a more natural fly approach is needed to...

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...

The long awaited sunshine and heat has finally arrived, though not an anglers favourite! However it hasn't yet dampened the fishing at Anglian Waters. I spent the day on Tuesday with local angler Kevin, who is a regular to Pitsford Reservoir. The sun was blazing, and the temperatures sored to dizzy heights, yet did the fish still want to play? - yes they did ! We started fishing in what is known as the Narrows. A light Easterly wind, combined with early warmth, allowed for a steady hatch of buzzers. This dictated our set up, as we both went for...