Fishing Report on 30^th June 2025

For the period of nearly the whole of June, we have seen 201 visits by the persevering few members who have braved the wind and scorching conditions to produce a catch of 162 trout.  Of those that were caught, 48 were returned to fight another day. Both floating and sinking lines continued to be used with varying degrees of success.  In addition, 3 brownies and only 1 of the big rainbows were also caught and released.  Luis de Souza was the fisherman who caught that only big one recorded for this month.  Congrats!  It looks like the rising water temperatures have probably adversely affected the feeding patterns of the big trout. They like us humans, most likely decided that siesta in the deeper parts of the lake would be a better idea than mooching around for food. However, for those days when they felt like feeding, boobies and different nymphs like damsels and diawl bachs have managed to entice them. As to where they might be, try the southwest bank adjacent to the Haul Road, south bank and east bank. When in doubt, just ask fellow members who are catching.

As for the clarity of the water, it has been surprisingly good and quite clear still despite the few warm spells. However, I foresee clarity will begin to suffer as green algae blooms start spreading as water temperatures begin to soar with the long periods of hot and dry days. It’s Summer! Remember UV protection!

Tight lines!

Lynne

Fishing Report on 3rd June 2025

Surprisingly, the water clarity of our Club Lake is incredibly gin clear! After our last report, the water clarity was looking quite bleak and murkier by the day. However, to everyone’s surprise, the Lake has suddenly improved so much that presently it is a joy to fish buzzers and other small, natural dry or wet flies. One of our members Stuart Marshall had the excitement of catching on the same day and swim, two big trout (10lbs and 7lbs respectively), one after the other on buzzers. He was a very happy man!

The productive swims have been on the banks that are situated on the West, Southwest (bay by near the Haul Road), South and Northwest. It is advisable to make sure your leaders are long and strong enough (at least the breaking strain of about 7lbs). There have been many stories by fellow members, of tippets being broken off by aggressive takes! As for lines, some have favoured the intermediate flyline, while others the floating line with or without a sink tip. In any case, all these lines seemed to be just as effective at producing catches.

There has been a total of 218 visits in the last 3 weeks, producing a catch of 454 fish, of which 176 were returned. To date, this makes the total season’s catch to be 2,970, of which the total returned being 934.

As for those who have caught “the big ones”, special mention has to go to Stuart Marshall for catching 3 of them (10lbs being the biggest), A. Gibb with 1, A. Griggs with 1 and Roger/Pat Gibbons with 1. Congratulations to all!

Finally, the usual Summer coarse fishing will begin on Sunday, 15th June till it ends on Saturday, 13th September 2025. Please remember that only NFC members who have been in the membership for at least 2 years, are eligible with their partners or junior family members to take part in this.

Tight lines!

Lynne

Fishing Report on 13^th May 2025The trout fishing stats of our lovely lake for the preceding three weeks showed no slowing down of members catching fish. Out of 262 visits, 638 trout were caught and 213 returned. From the previous report, 600+ trout and 200+ of them were returned. C&R rate seems to be at least a third of the fish caught. As for the fish, they have been fighting fit and in great shape, save a few that show the familiar signs of cormorant or pike injury.Despite the murky water conditions caused by green algae, fishermen have still been successful in catching fish. No doubt, the sunny, warm days have driven fish to about two to three feet under the surface, though some some cloudy days have made them more active just under or on the surface. Early mornings and early evenings might see more fish on the top mooching for fallen insects and insect hatches. In any case, sinking tip and intermediate fly lines have been most successful, teamed up with damsels, cat’s whiskers, small gold beaded black nymphs, appetisers and/or small wet flies. All banks have been fishing well, but recently, more so on the north and east banks! Very recent experiences of some members pointed to the fish feeding on the surface, but ignored what has been by the fishermen, be it dries or subsurface flies. Buzzer fishing too has had not much success this season, so I’ve been told. The good news is that there will be a last stocking this month, before the summer season.As for “big news” this time around, only four “big ones” weighing around 6 – 7lbs each, caught respectively by J. Tyree, M. Harvey, J. Hogarth and J. Newton. Congratulations!Well, the summer dry and hot days have come earlier than usual this year. It will be interesting to see how this is going to affect our catch rate. Just “fish food for thought”: Remember to offer a hand of help to a fellow member near you, who might not be having as a successful day with catching as yourself!  

Fishing Report on 22^nd April 2025

There’s been great fishing especially during the last two weeks because of dry, sunny days. Those who have fished with buzzers, have been doing well. As the fish were just about a foot under the surface, the nymph flies did great too. For those favouring dry fly fishing, they also saw a good catch, especially during early mornings and evenings. Unfortunately, the water clarity has progressively been turning murkier and cloudy, making fishing challenging. With this poor visibility, I suspect that this will affect the catch rate, in the days to come.

The stats show that the last three weeks saw 310 visits producing a great catch of 659 fish (including 210 returned). Spring has really brought on the insect life, especially with such sunny weather. The North and West banks have proven to be quite productive due to the many days of southerly and southeasterly winds.

Big trout (the Big Ones) continue to be caught in exceptionally good condition! In fact, ten were caught, each by the following happy fishermen: L. de Souza, J. Holliman, A. Howard, R. Howes, C. Howlett, R. Garwood, R.&P. Gibbons, D. Piper, B Naylor and D. Willis & J.Ford.

The biggest ones of the lot were 10lb plus! Congratulations to all!

A special mention goes to Chris Mitchell, who caught a big brownie in good condition weighing 4.8lbs! It’s lovely to see past stocked brown trouts faring so well, gaining in weight and size!

Tight lines!

Lynne