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This update covers the last four weeks, 26 October to 16 November.

Week ending 26 October

Members visited the river on 8 occasions, caught 4 fish and returned 3.

The lakes were very busy, members made 61 visits and caught 67 trout, 41 of which were returned. A trout of 7lb 10ozs was caught together with 2 over 6lbs.

Week ending 2 November

Members made two visits to the river but caught nothing.

The lakes again performed well. During 11 visits members caught 29 trout, 4 of which were over 6lbs and 28 were returned.

Week ending 9 November

The river closed at the end of October.

Members visited the lakes on 44 occasions and caught 25 trout, 1 of which was a wild fish. One trout weighed 5lbs, 7 fish were returned to the lakes.

Week ending 16 November

Members visited the lakes on 27 occasions and caught 28 trout, including 1 wild fish, 17 trout were returned. Four trout over 4lbs and 2 over 3lbs were caught.

This update covers 5 October to 19 October.

Week 1 – Lakes: members visited the lakes on 39 occasions and caught 89 trout, 46 of which were returned. Three of the fish were over 6lbs and the biggest was 6lb 12ozs. Three other fish weighed over 4lbs. The fish were caught mainly from the rainbow lakes.

River: members visited the river on 9 occasions and caught 12 fish including a sea trout of 3lbs. Nine of the trout were returned.

This was probably the best week of the season so far, in terms of the numbers and size of trout that were caught.

Week 2 – Lakes: members visited the lakes on 34 occasions and caught 41 trout. Several fish were over 5lbs and the heaviest was 6lb 6ozs. All of the trout were rainbows, 19 were returned.

River: members visited the river on 10 occasions and caught 7 fish, 6 of which were returned. The recent rain should encourage more sea trout upstream.

The weather was kind all week and members took the opportunity to fish the river. The Estate is looking beautiful and crane flies are about in large numbers.

Lakes – Members fished the lakes on 4 occasions and caught 6 trout including 2 wild fish which were returned to Little Bognor. The successful fly pattern was the Black Gnat.

River – Members visited the river on 22 occasions and caught 21 trout, 15 of which were returned. A sea trout of 4lbs was caught near Rotherbridge.

Fish were showing in the middle Beats yesterday evening. Successful flies were GRHE, Shrimp, Olive and Black Gnat.

The Tuesday Lunch Club at Great Springs is continuing until the end of the season with social distancing rules in force. Please use the WhatsApp group to liaise with other members.

This update covers the last two weeks, from 7 September to 21 September.

It has been a good two weeks with better rod averages. Several large fish were caught on the river.  Hopefully the rain forecast for Wednesday will bring the sea trout up the river. None have been caught so far this year but they are downstream, ready and waiting for rain.

The rainbow lakes are cooling down and will be worth fishing from this weekend onwards. A member caught a couple of fish on Lower Figgs yesterday so some of the trout have survived despite the lakes having been so warm this summer.

Week commencing 7 September –

Lakes – Members visited the lakes on 14 occasions and caught 11 trout, 6 of which were returned. One fish from Little Bognor weighed 3lb 8ozs, Black Gnat was a productive pattern.

River – Members visited the river on 18 occasions and caught 13 trout, 10 of which were returned including 3 wild fish. One fish was estimated at 3lbs. Good fly patterns were Grey Wulff, Pale Watery and Copper John.

Week commencing 14 September –

Lakes – Members visited the lakes on 8 occasions and caught 12 trout, 11 of which were returned including 1 wild fish.

River – Members visited the river on 12 occasions and caught 20 trout, 14 of which were returned including 2 wild fish. The river produced four good fish estimated at 3lb, 3lb 8ozs and two at 4lb. Successful flies were GRHE, Hopper and Sedge.

This update covers the period from 25 August to 7 September.

River – members visited the river on 20 occasions and caught a total of 14 trout 11 of which were returned. Fish were caught from all Beats.

The settled weather in the next 10 days should produce good opportunities to catch, particularly in the evening.

Lakes – members visited the lakes on 20 occasions and caught a total of 9 trout only 1 of which was returned.

Trout were rising well yesterday evening at Little Bognor, taking buzzers at dusk. The fish are very spooky and a quiet approach is essential.

The next update will be at the end of the month.

This update covers the last two weeks, 10 – 24 August.

The extreme weather made it very difficult to catch trout. Now the extreme heat and storm Francis have passed, things should improve. The autumn has always been the best time to fish the river.

Lakes – members visited the lakes on 24 occasions and caught a total of 11 trout including some in the 3-4lb class. All of the fish were caught at spring-fed Little Bognor and were all returned to the lakes.

Gold Ribbed Hares Ear

River – members visited the river on 20 occasions and caught a total of 10 trout including 3 wild fish. All of the fish were returned.

Popular flies were Gold Ribbed Hares Ear (GRHE), Adams and White Moth.

I visited the river on Monday evening and caught two nice fish, over 2lbs. The water conditions were perfect but the wind was a little tricky. The trout were not rising but fishing a nymph deep under the trees or alongside the weeds produced two takes. Once the water level drops back, after Tuesdays rain, the fishing should be good.

The next update will be on Tuesday 15 September.

This update covers the last two weeks.

Lakes – during the last two weeks members visited the lakes on 16 occasions and caught a total of 18 trout including 15 from Little Bognor. Thirteen of the fish were returned.

River – during the last two weeks members visited the river on 32 occasions and caught a total of 39 trout, 33 of which were returned. A grayling and a perch were also caught.

The extremely hot weather made the fishing difficult but fish up to 4lb were tempted from the river. Successful flies were Klinkhamer, damsel nymph, grey wulff, cdc and size 16 parachute Adams.

The forecast cooler, wet weather should lower the water temperature and improve the fishing over the next two weeks

 

 

This update covers the last two weeks.

The hot weather has made the fishing difficult but now that things have cooled down a little and we have had some rain, the fishing should improve.

 

Lakes – Members visited the lakes on 28 occasions during the last two weeks and caught 23 fish mainly from Little Bognor. Fourteen fish were returned.

River – Members visited the river on 27 occasions during the last two weeks and caught 41 trout, 34 of which were returned. Five trout over 3lbs were caught and a four pounder. Two wild fish were also caught. The most popular fly was the Grey Wulff.

The lakes and river are a haven for wildlife and these photos, all taken by Andrew Thompson, illustrate the variety of fauna that can be seen on the Estate.

Main photo – Green Sandpipers at Great Springs

Top right – Reed Bunting at the New Riffle

Bottom right – Stonechat at the New Riffle

Main photo – Cuckoo at Taylors Bridge

Top right – Roe Buck, Beat E

Bottom right – male Silver-Washed Fritillary at Great Springs

The river is looking beautiful at the moment and there were a few mayfly hatching in the evenings. Olives, sedges and midges are hatching in good numbers.

The fishing hut at Great Springs was opened on 4 July but the returns boxes around the lakes and the river remain closed. Please continue to send your returns to Emma at the Estate Office.

This update covers the last two weeks.

Members visited the lakes on 46 occasions and caught 27 trout, 6 of which were returned at Little Bognor.

3.5lb from the river at Keepers Bridge

Members visited the river on 44 occasions and caught 34 trout, 22 of which were returned including 4 wild fish. Two of the wild fish were about 3/4lb.

Last week the rainbow lakes’ water temperatures hovered around 20 degrees so Little Bognor and the river coped best. On the river, most success was achieved by fishing close to or on the river bed.

Three fish over 3lb were caught at the river and a sea trout, estimated 4-5lb was lost at the net.

When the trout are rising close to the bank, use the rushes and ferns for cover.

This summary covers the last two weeks.

Members visited the lakes on 61 occasions and caught a total of 64 trout, one of which was 3lb 8ozs from Luffs. Fourteen fish were returned at Little Bognor.

Members visited the river on 20 occasions and caught 10 trout, 7 of which were returned. The river level has varied over the last week and the rain forecast for the next few days might cause further changes.

Successful flies were PTN, Grey Wulff, Montana and Black Gnat.