Ten anglers gathered at the Car Park for this annual Competition with most of the opinion that the fishing would be tough today. Cold overnight temperatures combined with clear blue sky and a North to Northwest wind was unlikely to improve prospects.
The main building was still locked when most arrived, but our duo of competition organisers had planned for this and as the back of the van opened an array of biscuits, cakes kettle and cups were produced, very appreciated on this cold morning.
By 9.15 most anglers had set up in their favoured spot with roughly a 50/50 split between Stocky Bay and Two meadows, probably the 2 most reliable areas.
I fished with John most of the day and after a couple of hours we naturally assumed that as the Stocky Bay contingent were still there, then they must be catching. It turns out they were thinking the same about Two Meadows. In truth, no-one was really catching. Martin had caught one fish at Stocky but that was between about six anglers and there was a similar situation at the other end where Adam had managed one fish also.
A natural migration occurred with many eventually meeting up on the West Bank which on the day was probably the most productive area with a few fish caught to various methods. During the middle of the day the air temperature had risen several degrees and most fish were caught with floating line tactics. Some of the fish fell to Damselflies, cormorants and spiders all on floating lines.
After a quiet spell towards the end of the match everyone made their way back to where they started, hoping the fish would come on the feed later on. With an hour to go John Rumbold was probably in the lead with two fish, although Martin had remained in Stocky and Dave was still across the water on two meadows….had they been catching? I was aware of several lost fish during the course of the day
Several fish had been lost during the course of the day with Barry coming unstuck twice. However the eventual winner was Adam who landed the best fish of the day at at about 2 ½ lbs on a dry fly. This proved to be the decider as John’s two fish weighed less.
A great day, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed despite to very challenging conditions. Many thanks to Ben and Matt for arranging the competition.
