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For the members who battled the continuing high temperatures (both water and air) the usual great variety of fly-use enabled some good sport to be had.

Successful flies last week included:

Brown trout lakes: GRHE, Sedge, Alder, Diawl Bach, BFD

River: GRHE, Silver sedge, Spent gnat, Klinkhammer, Damsel, Mayfly, PTN, Daddy, Stoats tail

Perfect weather helped set the scene for our annual ‘river evening’ yesterday (Sunday). A good number of members attended, both new and established. Thanks to Mark Temple for giving useful advice and for demonstrating ways of fishing our stretch of the river. Thanks too, to Poppett Hosp for providing wonderful refreshments once again!

Extremely high temperatures meant that not many members ventured out last week. For those that did, the cooler waters of the spring-fed brown trout lakes and the river, were by far the best places to cast a fly.

Successful flies used included:

Brown trout lakes: Shipman’s and various buzzers, Black gnat, Klinkhammer, Damsel, Spider

River: Stonefly nymph, Butcher, Woolly bugger, Adams, Sedge, GRHE, CDC emerger, Spider.

Andrew Thompson

Successful flies included:

Rainbow trout lakes; PTN, Emerger, Klinkhammer, March brown, Ally McCoist, Mayfly.

Brown trout lakes: CDC Emerger, Sedge, Hopper.

River: Beetle, Klinkhammer, Daddy, Spider, Invicta, French partridge, Green damsel.

Andrew Thompson

Unsettled weather led to a quiet week on the fishery.

The weed was removed from Luffs, Lower and Upper Figgs, using a Truxor machine (see photos). The resulting large piles of weed now on the banks will be removed and composted once they have dried out and become more manageable.

Successful flies used included the following:

Rainbow trout lakes: GRHE, BFD, Daddy, PTN

Brown trout lakes: Klinkhammer, Emerger, Orange damsel, Fritz

River: Invicta, Black/blue bucktail, Green damsel

Please note, the lane to the Little Bognor lakes will be closed from both ends for the day, on June 16th, while roadworks take place.

Andrew Thompson

The past week was unsettled, with much heavy rain – this both helped and hindered us!

The water temperature on the rainbow trout lakes dropped by three degrees, improving conditions there, whilst the on the river, levels rose and fell twice – and became coloured. Writing this on Monday morning, the river is still coloured and about 30cm above normal level, though improving. With another unsettled week forecast, do ring me for the latest water condition update.

Please be aware that all this week, contractors will be using a floating excavator to remove the excessive weed growth from Luffs and Lower Figgs, from 8am to 5pm each day. Though interesting to watch – and feel free to do so – please stay well away from the working machine!

Andrew Thompson

A slightly calmer week on the river, though some great sport was had. The rainbow trout lakes continued to warm up, making for very challenging fishing. Good rises were noted at the brown trout lakes, particularly in the mornings. Caenis have been consistently successful there over the years.

Successful flies in the past week included:

Rainbow trout lakes: Colonel Creeper, Mayfly, Buzzer, Gnat, Klinkhammer.

Brown trout lakes: Emerger, Black buzzer, Ally McCoist, Orange damsel.

River: Mayfly wet and dry, PTN, Sedge, Klinkhammer, Red-beaded damsel.

Andrew Thompson

Around the fishery – it is nest-box monitoring time, good broods of barn owls are occurring this year.

Photos by Andrew Thompson

A week that saw temperatures soar!

Whilst fish activity on the ponds and lakes remained high, the water temperatures increased significantly. In fact, it is now above 18 degrees centigrade, so we now ask you to please keep all fish that you catch on the rainbow trout lakes. Catch and release remains an option on the spring-fed brown trout ponds and the river.

It was another fabulous week on the river! The majority of those fishing used mayfly patterns in various forms, wet and dry. The mayfly are still abundant as I write this (May 25th).

Successful flies: 

Rainbow trout lakes: Mayfly, BFD, Emerger, Parachute Adams, Sedge, Viva, Klinkhammer, Buzzer, Olive nymph

Brown trout lakes: Hawthorn, Klinkhammer, Damsel, Caddis, Shuttlecock

River: Various mayfly patterns, GRHE, Black gnat, Klinkhammer

Andrew Thompson

A mayfly dun fresh from hatching

Mayfly duns, spinners and egg layers along the river, a few fish rising in the evening but the trout were mainly staying deep.

Repairing the leak at Luffs

Special thanks to Poppett for the delicious cakes

Many thanks to the volunteers who arranged the day. The members and guests enjoyed the fine weather in beautiful surroundings and a lot of trout were caught.

Whilst the lake fishing became more challenging, the large mayfly hatches transformed our stretch of the Rother! We had all been hoping for a repeat of last May’s great sport and our prayers have been answered! As can be seen from the returns above, it was an exceptional week on the river:

Successful flies included:

Rainbow trout lakes: Mayfly, Daddy, Grey Wulff, Black gnat, GRHE, Hawthorn, Buzzer.

Brown trout lakes: Gnat, Buzzer, Olive nymph, Spider, Firefly.

River: Mayfly…. White and grey Wulffs, GRHE, Klinkhammer, Olive and blue Dunn, Gold head PTN, Black gnat.

Andrew Thompson

The first half of the week saw a significant rise in water temperature on the lakes, followed latterely by some cold nights bringing the temperature back down again. Despite these fluctuations, fishing remained consistently good throughout. On the river, mayfly hatches increased, associating with some great action, particularly our wild fish.

Successful flies this week included:

Rainbow trout lakes: Klinkhammer, Daddy, Ally McCoist, Grey Wulff, various Buzzers, Mayfly: dry and nymph, Black gnat, Hawthorn, Spider, CDC emerger

Brown trout lakes: As above and Catskill dry, GRHE, Midge

River: Mayfly nymph, Grey Wulff, Spent mayfly, Gold head PTN, GRHE, wet Greenwell’s, Shrimp

Andrew Thompson

A quieter week on the fishery. Mayfly were abundant around the lakes and were starting to show on the river. One member had a great 45 minutes on the river, catching 5 wild trout in that time.

Successful flies included:

Rainbow trout lakes: Mayfly, Klinkhammer, Green dancer, Grey Wulff, Black gnat, Ally McCoist, Buzzer, Beetle, Daddy, Spider, Hopper

Brown trout lakes: As above, plus Oliver emerger, BFD

River: PTN, Brown Klinkhammer, GRHE, Shrimp, BFD, Olive nymph

Andrew Thompson

The mayfly have a civilised life cycle, the nymphs make their way to the surface around noon. The duns flutter into the air and head for the nearest vegetation. The date on which the mayfly season starts is largely determined by the length of daylight hours. Other factors play a minor role. My diary entries record mayfly hatching at Little Springs on 30 April or 1 May consistently for over 10 years. The hatches are later on the Rother and last until late June.

Nigel Rainton