Lakes – members visited the lakes on 48 occasions and caught 35 trout, 14 of which were returned at Little Bognor. Catch and release has been suspended at the rainbow lakes because of the high water temperature.
Fish were rising at Little Bognor early in the morning. The spring fed lakes are cooler than the other lakes and the trout are feeding on midges.
River – members visited the river on 13 occasions and caught 12 trout, 8 of which were returned. Various nymphs and dry flies were effective.
Lakes – members visited the lakes on 74 occasions and caught a total of 75 trout, 61 of which were returned. An exceptional fish of 13lbs was caught from Great Springs and Luffs produced a trout of 4lbs. Once again a wide variety of dry flies and nymphs took fish.
River – members visited the river on 7 occasions and caught a total of 20 trout, 17 of which were returned. Two wild fish were caught. One of the fish caught at Rotherbridge weighed 4lbs, it was caught on a French Partridge mayfly pattern.
The warm weather and long daylight hours mean that the early morning and late evening will be the best times to fish.
The weather was better for fishing last week and the insect life was prolific, particularly at Great Springs where mayfly, olives, alder flies and buzzers all hatched at the same time. The trout rose freely at Luffs and the brown trout at Little Bognor fed on buzzers and sedges.
Lakes – members visited the lakes on 107 occasions and caught a total of 137 trout, 107 of which were returned. Great Springs produced 3 fish of 4lbs 8ozs and a 4lb trout was caught and returned at Little Bognor. The fish were caught on a wide variety of both dry flies and nymphs.
River – members visited the river on 8 occasions and caught 7 trout, all of which were returned. Mayfly nymphs and dry flies were successful.
The warm, dry bank holiday weather enabled the river to return to a normal level and hatches of mayfly should give good sport next week.
Mayfly header image courtesy of David Taylor.
The wet and windy weather is keeping the water temperature down, the lakes are full and the trout are rising.
Lakes – members visited the lakes on 113 occasions and caught 157 trout, 119 of which were returned. Fish were caught from every lake on a wide variety of wet and dry patterns. Trout of 3lbs, 4lbs(4) and 5.5lbs were caught, it was an exceptionally good week.
Mayfly, Olives and Alder flies are hatching all day but the hatch is most prolific around lunch time.
River – The wet and windy weather has not helped the fishing conditions on the river. The water level has been high all week. One member visited the river and caught a trout which was returned.
Less rain is forecast for this week and hopefully the river level will drop.
Lakes – members visited the lakes on 58 occasions and caught 120 trout, 92 of which were returned. Most of the fish were caught from Great Springs and Little Springs. Trout of 5lbs, 2 x 4lbs and 3lbs were the notable fish. Once again a very wide variety of flies accounted for the fish caught.
River – members visited the river on 7 occasions and caught 9 trout from the Keepers Bridge and Rotherbridge beats, 8 of the fish were returned.
Lakes – members visited the lakes on 90 occasions and caught a total of 140 trout, 105 of which were returned. Most fish were caught at Luffs including one at 6lbs. A wide variety of flies caught fish including Mayfly nymphs and dry flies. A 4lb trout was caught at Little Springs and a 5lb brownie was captured at Little Bognor.
The Mayfly hatch should be at its peak at the lakes next week and it would be worthwhile persevering with a dry fly.
River – members visited the river on 6 occasions and caught 5 trout, 4 of which were returned. Fishing a weighted nymph under trees and alongside weedbeds should produce a fish or two. Mayflies should start to hatch on the river next week, the hatch on the river lags the hatch at the lakes.
River – members visited the river on 9 occasions and caught 6 trout including a sea trout smolt and a wild brownie. The biggest fish was 3lb. Fishing a nymph, deep near the weed beds, is the best approach until flies start to hatch regularly.
Lakes – members visited the lakes on 42 occasions and caught 110 trout, 87 of which were returned. Great Springs produced fish of 4lbs, 5lbs and 6lbs. Fish of 5lb were also caught at Little Springs and Lower Figgs.
Mayfly were hatching at Great Springs and Little Springs this afternoon. The fish were rising well to dry flies and were also taking nymphs just under the surface.
River – members visited the river on 8 occasions and caught 4 trout all of which were returned.
The warm weather during April and the lengthening daylight hours, will encourage the Mayfly to hatch at Little Springs in the next few days.
Each year I record in my diary the date that I see the first Mayfly. Last year lockdown prevented me from fishing until 13 May, by that time the main hatch was well underway.
The water temperature at Little Springs rises quickly and this is where I have seen my first Mayfly each year for the last four years; 2019 – 29 April, 2018 – 3 May and 2017 – 1 May.
Lakes – members visited the lakes on 51 occasions and caught 64 trout, 46 of which were returned. Two four-pounders were caught at Great Springs. Fish were caught at all of the lakes except Lower Figgs. Successful flies were Mayfly Nymph, Montana, Blue Flash Damsel. A variety of nymphs and dry flies caught fish at Little Bognor.
Lakes – members visited the lakes on 61 occasions and caught a total of 111 trout, 86 of which were returned. A fish of 10lbs was caught at Great Springs together with a trout of 4lbs 12ozs. A 4lb trout was caught at Luffs and two fish at 3lbs 8ozs were caught from the top lake at Little Bognor.
A wide variety of flies were successful; Gold Head Montana, GRHE with a tungsten bead, Mayfly nymph, PTN and Black and Red Booby.
River – members visited the river on 5 occasions, one fish was caught from the bottom Beat. The recent warm weather should encourage the trout to move and next week should be more productive.
Lakes – members visited the lakes on 58 occasions and caught a total of 91 trout, 73 of which were returned. A trout of 4lb was caught at Little Springs. Half of the fish caught were from Great Springs and Little Springs. The usual variety of flies appeared in the returns; Blue Flash Damsel, Black Spider, GRHE, buzzers and Adams.
River – members visited the river on 9 occasions and caught a total of 3 fish, two of which were sea trout smolts.
A lot of the trout in the lakes have been caught and released, they are starting to shy away from big flashy flies. Nymphs or buzzers fished near the surface are more likely to succeed.
Sea trout smolts can be identified from their silvery appearance and eyes that are slightly larger than a resident brown trout. These fish, nearly all females, are migrating downstream to the sea to feed, they will return as mature sea trout.
If a smolt is caught by accident, sea trout are out of season in the Southern bylaw region until 30 April, it must be returned immediately without being handled. Slip the barbless hook out of the fish and return it from the landing net after giving it time to recover. Sea trout smolts fight above their weight and might need a few minutes to recover. These small sea trout are future 10lb-ers.
