Reports 2024 Season
Page Contents:
Click to Jump to Tuesday Evening Social fishing reports
Click to Jump to Norman Shippey report
Click to Jump to Carr Cup report
Click to Jump to AMFC match reports
Click to Jump to Snowbee Floating Line report
Click to Jump to The Pilgrimage match report
Click to Jump to The Maitland Trophy Interclub match report
Click to Jump to The Bob Ayres Dry fly match report
Click to Jump to Hinckley Shield match report
Click to Jump to Arthur Sexton Trophy match report
Bank trip to Elinor. The Norman Shippey Memorial
March 2025
The first day of our 2025 fishing calendar and apart from a nip in the air, conditions were good. A nice turn out of seventeen enjoyed a gentle breeze with broken sun, although the lake itself was still fairly coloured after all the dreadful winter weather. Brad was very welcoming as usual and we all expressed our sympathy for the huge amount of rain, and cold temperatures that have been a feature for most of his tenure. But he’s doing a great job and the place is looking great and well cared for. We should perhaps organise an afternoon and evening there in the summer?
Most turned up well in advance of the nine-thirty start but fish caught before then didn’t count. and there were quite a few – prospects were good.
Now it is a strange thing but trout in small waters must behave differently to those in large reservoirs. Invicta do have some small water specialists – including Tony Smith just back from England duty where he had a great week – but we do most of our fishing on reservoirs and, for many, Elinor is tricky. Location and knowledge of the water is key anywhere and it’s certainly true here.
The morning produced fish for most, although the numbers dropping off indicated that they weren’t really ‘having it’. Ray Storer lost 6 played fish without landing one of them, and others had similar tales at lunchtime. The ubiquitous bung was popular, but even that produced the dreaded ‘air shot’ where it disappears out of site but there is no contact.
It was good to see new members and sons of old members at sociable but short lunch as members were keen to get a good session in before the three thirty finish time.
The afternoon proved tough for some – Paul Heavens had 6 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon, while Matt Collerson built on his 4 in the morning to reach 15 for the day. Simon Peck had another good day with 8 in total, and Alan Briggs managed 6.. The rest of the field caught steadily for an average of over 4, and no blanks. Some decent fish came out as well, with at least 3 over five pounds. Matt’s catch proved he really knows Elinor this being his third win in a row, SImon was second and Paul third.
A lovely day out whatever we caught, and, as is becoming traditional, munching on Tony’s birthday brownies and Ray’s delicious Buckden pie. We also had a raffle thanks to Mel Parrott who is recovering from his cataract operation.
The season really gets going on 2 April for the first of our Carr Cup days, on Pitsford as usual. Let’s hope for good conditions. And please remember to make yourself known to new members and welcome all.
Chris McCleod
Carr Cup 2025
Reports will appear here following each match.
Invicta Carr Cup Round 1 at Pitsford 2nd April 2025
‘Grueller’ (dictionary definition ‘extremely tiring and demanding’) is a word used to describe a difficult day on the water. And, despite everyone’s hope for a day on the buzzers, with a rod average of precisely one, a grueller is exactly what we had on Invicta’s first outing of the season.
Although the lake had been fishing well, a horrible cold wind and 100% blue sky killed it. What do fish do in these circumstances? Do they just mooch about uninterested in eating anything, or do they sit motionless on the bottom getting covered in leeches? There was certainly food around as buzzers, albeit small ones, were hatching in the calmer spots and had been in profusion in the days before. Pitsford seems to be the first of Anglian Water’s reservoirs to suffer in adverse conditions, possibly because it is relatively shallow, but there was no doubt that the fishing had switched off.
But, armed with a variety of tactics from fast sinkers to bungs, twenty-seven members ventured out full of expectation, fishing for Carr Cup points and the Graham Williams Trophy. This was soon dampened by the lack of action. In a water that has been reasonably well stocked, it is very quickly obvious that it’s not going to be a great day when no rods bend, and no pulls are forthcoming, let alone a fish or two being netted. Eventually one or two did get caught but it was a bit of a lottery. Fraser Junior was leading the day for a while with two to the humungous pulled on a Di7, and a number of singletons came to shrimp patterns. I mention Fraser because his dad, Fraser senior, was blanking until 4.20pm when his snake was suddenly grabbed by a suicidal stockie, followed by three more in a few minutes. And this was the winning bag, and Trophy winner. Sue Potts, with a huge smile on her face, was delighted to catch three for second place, while six anglers were on two fish. Not surprisingly, there were eleven blanks. Alan Briggs had two but one of them was a lovely brown of four pounds plus. As always, a number of pike were caught which created a little bit of interest on a generally frustrating day.
So ‘grueller’ it was indeed, but still great company and all rounded off by sausage and chips in the White Swan arranged by David Moore. An excellent, sociable initiative to bring us all together at the end of the day, rather than all just dribbling off home. And, of course, thanks to Neil Potts for organising the day so efficiently as always.
On we go to our next outing on 3 May – a new venue for the club, Blithfield Reservoir, which is renowned for its ‘top of the water’ sport. Here’s hoping.
Chris McCleod
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AMFC (Association of Major Flyfishing Clubs) 2024
The AMFC (Association of Major Flyfishing Clubs) is a series of club based matches. Invicta like to encourage as many members to get involved as possible, and runs 2 teams. There are 3 groups and we have our A team in Group 2 and the B team in Group 3.
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Results – TBA
Spring Round, Chew Valley, 12 April
A Team: Jeff Hickson cptn, Neil Potts, Terry Bayes, Keith Gilchrist.
B Team: Joan Russell cptn. Sue Potts, Andy Trafankowski, Allan Sefton
We took a squad of ten members for these back to back competitions, eight in Teams A and B competing on Chew Valley and the A team of 6 on Blagdon Lake, starting with all of us practicing at Chew Valley on Friday 11 April.
Most of us had fished these reservoirs once or twice before but few more frequently so practice was important. We were joined by Allan Sefton’s son Dan and Joan Russell fished with local expert John Horsey so we were able to cover all of the reservoir during the day. It was a warm, sunny and flat calm, bringing thick areas of green algae to the surface in parts, however, we found fish in most places even if they needed tempting to take. We met up at midday but the main planning was later over a drink in the Chew Stoke Inn and excellent Chew Raj restaurant.
Jeff and Keith had netted 13 mostly off the reed beds behind Denny Island, Spring Bay and North shore areas where David and Terry had also found catchable fish in the morning. The buoy line across Stratford Bay had been a hot spot the previous week and produced fish for Allan, Roger and Andy who also found fish on Moreton bank. Joan had stayed out a bit later and located newly stocked fish along the dam. There were plenty of options and FABS, buzzers and diawl bachs had taken most fish, surprisingly, Terry had caught two on green buzzers in the algal areas.
On match day the boats mainly split between the Dam or the Stratford buoy line and Moreton bank, with a few boats sneaking away behind Denny island.
By mid day the boats that started at the Dam had filtered away to Moreton and behind Denny, this build up of boats slowed the catch rate in the North shore area, so some boats moved to the quieter Hollow brook area where the fish were less pressured and still being caught.
Floating lines were the order of the day, strong leaders (at least 10lb) to avoid being broken by the large strong fish. Flies were small pink fab/blob and dark nymphs.
All of our 8 rods caught trout with great individual results by Jeff (10) top rod in Group 2 and Joan (9) 2nd and Sue (6) 5th in Group 3.
With all fish being returned it was a count-up rather than a weigh-in with every fish counting 2lbs with a time bonus for a 12 limit, which was achieved by only one rod so it was numbers which won the day for local team Bristol Reservoir Fly Fishers (28) in our Group 2 followed by Royal Navy (19) with Invicta A (17) a respectable 3rd place.
In Group 3 Derby County FF had 23 fish and Invicta B were a very close second with 20 fish so a good result for the club on a ‘foreign’ water.
The only disappointment was that the Match Organiser Andy Stones had found 17 competitors using barbed hooks, so many that he felt unable to disqualify them, none of our team members were among them and it was made clear disqualification would be automatic in future.
David Moore
AMFC Group 2 Round 2: Blagdon Lake 13 April
A Team: David Moore cptn. Terry Bayes, Jeff Hickson, Roger Swain, Keith Gilchrist, Neil Potts
The same A Team from Chew Valley plus David and Roger who had practiced on Blagdon Lake while the team fished the match on Chew Valley fished in very different conditions after overnight rain and a cloudy day with cold NE wind.
David and Roger had found all the fish near the surface at the top end of the lake and mostly on the east side of this scenic lake taking small dark nymphs and this was the plan. However, there was a surprise when the Bristol team all headed back towards the dam. Although Keith’s boat found fish there all the others gradually moved to join the fleet at the top of the lake and found fish behaving similarly to the previous day.
While Keith was our top rod with 11 in a bay near the Lodge Terry caught 10 at the top. The fish were in fantastic condition, mostly 3lb-5lbs and David netted one estimated at 7lb taken on a #14 muskins. Fish here are raised in raceways rather than ponds, and effectively lived on treadmills and gave great fights.
Our team of 6 caught 46 fish, enough to win most matches but locals Bristol Reservoir FF caught 64 with 3 limits earning time bonus to easily win from promoted Walthamstow(51) and so we were 3rd again.
After two rounds for Group 2 teams Invicta A is in 2nd place behind Bristol and 1pt ahead of the Walthamstow and Navy teams.
We all agreed the 3 days had been a great experience both from fishing and socially angles and well worth the effort and expense!
David Moore
Carr Cup 2024
Reports will appear here following each match.
Invicta Carr Cup Round 6 on Rutland Water 7 Sept 2024
Lower water temperatures and recent re-stocking combined with heavy cloud and mist were a cause for optimism for the 22 members as we left the harbour. There was a bit of info from Sue Potts who had caught well the day before and most boats headed for open water between Bog Bay and the Sailing Club, buoys 12 to 18. The flat calm was going to be a challenge but fish were showing on the top and a few fish were taken quickly before they became steadily more elusive.
Terry Bayes was catching on his favourite Fast Glass with two bright blobs towards the sailing club. Mark Searle was getting lots of action with fresh fish after several changes to his set-up – midge tip with booby on top dropper and FAB on the point being the best, although several breaks from double hook-ups kept him busy, before a quiet afternoon.
Lee Cartmail and David Moore were struggling for a pull in this area and eventually opted for a move to the Monument where they found quality fish rising and caught on boobies and nymphs in short bursts casting to moving fish every time there was a ripple between 2pm and 4pm. Lee’s fish were mostly 2.5lbs to 4lbs with very few stockies to the boat.
Inevitably there were lots of hard luck tales in the harbour but overall it was a good day with an average of 3.1 and Lee was top with 7 fish followed by Terry and Mark with 6 fish. A big thank you as always to Neil for organising the day.
The Carr Cup leaders are unchanged with Fraser Duffy Jnr on 215, Gary How 205 and David Moore 185, but with 50 points at stake in the final round and the best 6 results of 7 to count, there are several more in with a shout.
The final round is our last club boat day of the year at Grafham Water on Tuesday 1 October and we hope to see lots of members there.
David Moore
Invicta Carl Hunter Bowl and Carr Cup R5, Pitsford Water 3 August 2024
Following two very hot weeks when trout had been difficult to catch anywhere 18 members set out on a cool cloudy Pitsford hoping the fish would switch on.
All the boats headed for the dam drifting off in a steady cool breeze and the water temperature was a tolerable 20.5C in all areas of the main bowl.
There was no fly life but the odd fish showed and encouraged most to start with dries, floating or slow tips and Dave Currie, Mark Searle and Pete Eville all took a fish in the first hour. but as time wore on most switched to D5 or D7 in search of deeper feeding fish.
Fraser Duffey Snr. was in his element casting a cat booby on a short leader and Di7 as far as he could and letting it sink as much as the drifting boat allowed before slowly raising the fly to tempt the trout on he lift. Fraser’s best fish was a perfect silver 4lb rainbow which gave him 8lb for the 3 fish weighed plus his returned fish for 10lb total and well ahead of Fraser Jnr, Dave Currie and Pete Eville all of who caught 2 fish.
Only half of the 18 rods netted a fish and the total of 14 for 18 rods was a disappointment but we are getting used to this tough summer fishing.
Thanks to Neil and Sue Potts for organising the day and for welcome refreshments to end the day.
With such low catches the Carr Cup table didn’t change much but Fraser Duffey Jnr takes the lead (180), Gary How 175 and David Moore 150.
Next round is at Rutland Water on 7 September
David Moore
Round 4 Grafham – 6th July (President’s Cup)
Organiser Neil Potts arranger for us to start at 9am to avoid the AMFC G1 match which was the same day. 24 anglers set up, heavy overnight rain meant that flooded boats needed bailing before we could set up but we got out well in time. The weather didn’t improve much during the morning with plenty more rain but with the advantage of good cloud cover however there was a very brisk westerly.
Following recent stocking at the sailing club and the hope of a bit of shelter, most boats headed for the area between the sailing club and sludge bank although some continued to the dam in the hope of larger fish. We were fishing to a three fish kill and then release 5. Thankfully Grafham fished very well after what has been a lean period in recent weeks. 4 anglers bagged their 8 limit with 3 more just one short.
Paul Heavens and boat partner Andy Newman initially decided to avoid the busy sailing club area and fished more open water beyond sludge bank but after an hour of only one fish could see boats busy further back between the seat and sailing club. Sometimes you just have to join the armada which by this time had been made worse by AMFC teams. At one point around 16 boats were repeat drifting this stretch.
Fish were close in and by midday Mark Searle, Pete Eville and Gary How had been catching well. Mark was on 7 fish and as is often the case number 8 was proving elusive, not helped by the appearance of the sun early afternoon. Gary continued fishing and had 10 fish.
Paul found a couple of hot spots, one very close in just outside the sailing buoys and then at the end of the drift at the drop off of the seat. By 3pm fishing a Snowbee buzzer1 line washing line style he had bagged up and decided to go back to the lodge early and have coffee, 7 of his fish fell to the tequila FAB on the point with one taking a GRHE middle dropper. His boat partner had already decided it was not to be his day and was more than happy to go in.
Pete Webb caught the fish of the day with a 5.58lb rainbow taken on a diawl Bach only 20 feet from the seat bank. Most fish today were taken on blobs, hare’s ears or Diawl bachs in the top few feet.
Winner -Paul Heavens won the Presidents Cup with 3 weighed for 6lb-9oz and 5 returned.
2nd Mark Searle runner up 5lb- 6oz + 5 returned
3rd– Pete Eville 4lb-9oz + 5 returned
Next round is on the 3rd August at Pitsford for the Carl Hunter Bowl.
Round 3 at Pitsford 7th June
We didn’t have great expectations of big catches as a Group1 AMFC the previous weekend had been very tough although some of us had practiced and found a few fish on the flats responding to dries but difficult elsewhere.
Not surprisingly nearly all the fleet started near the dam where the strong NW wind was manageable and it was good to see so many starting with dries and getting some action even if it was just a swirl.
Some got off to a good start, Gary had two in the first hour and Terry was picking up fish regularly with 5 in the morning, all on CDC yellow owls, which are the ‘go to’ dry at the moment.
It was a bit crowded on the Flats so it’s a good job we are friends and everyone motored with care to minimise disturbance. With few being caught boats moved elsewhere, Neil caught a brace in Brixworth Bay and Jonny and Rob both caught near the Sailing Club corner.
Keith stuck to his dries and picked up the odd fish through the day to net 4 all on dries on the Flats.
At 3pm David and Graham only had 2 fish in the boat and were about to try the Causeway but decided on one last drift in the overspill corner as it had been left in peace, it was a good decision and buy 4.30 Graham had two and David had his 8 after switching to a booby on the point and 3 small,skinny nymphs which took 2 or 3 each fished almost static.
Davids last fish of 2lbs had 6ft of fine leader hanging out of its mouth and an autopsy revealed a small yellow owl well down but free in its stomach and as the photo shows it matched the hatch of olive buzzers exactly with the addition of a large beetle. Asking around in the pub it has been identified as the fly lost when Keith was broken 6 hours earlier.
15 of us went to the White Swan where Neil announced the results:
David Moore 8, Terry Bayes 6 and Keith Gilchrist 4
29 rods had taken 42 fish, an average of 1.4 but it was telling that 76% were caught by 35% of the rods and nearly all in a very small area of the reservoir so a very hard day for nearly everyone.
The next round is at Grafham 0n the 6th July which is also the Presidents Cup.
Round 2 at Grafham 4 May
What a shock to arrive at Grafham on a warm sunny morning with a light breeze and so surprised we kept our fleeces and waterproofs on!
Pete Eville success on his first day with Invicta
A great turnout again 34 rods including President Bob and a welcome to Pete Eville fishing his first club day with us.
Most of the fleet split between the Gaynes and Marlow areas although a few started at Hill Farm and the Seat based on experience in last weekend’s successful Snowbee Floating Line.
As usual a few fish were taken early in most areas but then with increasing difficulty in spite of pods of rising fish which looked so inviting. Gary How, Mel Parrott, Fraser Jnr and Allan Sefton were catching close into the Gaynes corner with others drifting out across Sludge Point but with less success.
Steve Harding, Graham Bodsworth, Roger Swain and Alan Briggs caught well, mostly on washing line in the G-Buoy to Marlow area and Keith Gilchrist nipped over there later to take 6 fish in the afternoon.
Nearly all the fish fell to diawl bachs and muskins but Neil Potts tried a black snake near the willows and took 3 in rapid succession.
Fraser Jnr was easily the top rod with 13 trout taken steadily straight lining his nymphs while nearby Gary stuck to the bung for 8 fish as did Steve Harding and Roger Swain.
The catch was lower than expected at 3 per rod a reflection on the wariness of the fish. There are obviously plenty in Grafham and a good size too but fishing pressure has meant that most of the stock have now been caught at least once so it’s vital that we only kill what we need, fish barbless and release with care to maintain a head of fish. Better to have wary fish than not enough.
Fraser Jn.r leads the table with a maximum 100 pts, followed by Gary How 95, Alan Briggs 80, Keith Gilchrist 75,
The next round is 8th June at Pitsford Water
Round 1 match, Pitsford – 3rd April 2024
At last, after a long wet winter, Invicta’s first boat trip of the year arrived with thirty two of us venturing out on to a very full reservoir in damp, blustery winds.
Thirty plus is an excellent turnout for any club and congratulations to Neil Potts and David Moore for organising such an enjoyable day. Enjoyable despite the, at times, difficult conditions. Fishing is good in settled weather and a low pressure system driving its way across the UK with squally winds, showers and a dropping temperature were not what we wanted. But that’s early season fishing and, hopefully, lots of freshly stocked fish compensate for the discomfort. We were briefed by Neil and the target was 3 killed fish plus 5 catch and release.
Most of the boats headed for the far end of the lake and spread themselves from Pitsford Creek, along the Pines, round Rigby’s Point and along Sermon’s. The odd fish was getting caught but most rods refused to bend, unlike in Stone Barn Bay where Alan Briggs and Tim Thompson had stopped. All alone, and without any boat pressure, they started picking up fish. Alan initially fished a fast glass but gradually came up in the water with a variety of flies to catch his 8 while Tim had the pleasure of watching. Alan has been in form all year – deservedly as he certainly puts in the hours.
Meanwhile elsewhere others were slowly putting together decent scores, with the snakes playing a big part. Fraser junior, Gary How and Dave Currie were catching but also losing fish. Sadly it was a day when as many came off as were caught. For no apparent reason, a seemingly well hooked and played fish simply dropped off meaning that many who would have had their 8 only caught half that number. Dave Currie was one of a few who also caught good brownies, but these only counted if 3 rainbows had already been taken. Dave sets a high bar for the biggest brownie caught in a club event this year, 6lb 11oz.
Jon Allen, for some reason, managed to see his rod, reel and line disappear over the side, only for Pete Webb to hook and land it later – unfortunately with no fish on the end.
One warning re newly waxed jackets. These can be so efficient at repelling water that pools of it can gather in the folds of a jacket as experienced by Chris McLeod when half a hoods worth of rain ran down his neck and back, entered his underwear circulating the nether regions (Brrrrrr!) and finally collecting in his wellies. Thank goodness for heated car seats.
We’d started at nine thirty and most were happy to come off by five – once again motoring through the tunnel on an exceptionally high Pitsford. David had organised sausage and chips at the White Swan in Holcot where most of us gathered for a good chat about what went wrong and what we should have done. Alan won the day – and the Graham Williams Trophy – just pipping Fraser by 13 ounces. Gary had 7 and Dave 6. All told 88 fish were caught at a rod average of 2.75 which wasn’t a disaster by any means.
So thanks to all for the organisation – especially encouraging the social side which is a great strength of Invicta. We look to the next round of the Carr Cup on Saturday 4 May which has been moved from the defunct Draycote to Grafham.
Chris McLeod
PS – Catch of the Day by Dave Currie
Firstly, let me say I caught it by basically cheating! OK given the wind and how comparatively late I threw the anchor over I’ll cut myself a break – I hate anchoring though. BUT it did allow me to try and present natural looking flies, and out of a cast of Diawl, Buzzer, Diawl, the fish picked out the crisp packet size 12. Usual dour, heavy fight, and into the net. Boat partner Andrew (Bate) told me he had a pair of scales, and to be honest I was expecting a rusted old spring balance, but no, out came an immaculate set of digital scales, so quickly off with the landing net handle, and on with the weighing -7lb 12oz. The fish goes back immediately and lazily swims down to the depths again. I weigh the net – 11oz – and I immediately think the fish wasn’t THAT big, so re-tune the bifocals to see the ‘dot’, Ok the net is 1lb 1oz, so 6lb 11 is the final reckoning. Eagle-eyed Andrew spots what fly it was on (I volunteer that anyway of course), and I’m so generous that I decide a few casts later to donate the fly to Andrew, and I do that by sticking it in his back so deep it has to stay there until close of play when of course he rightfully claims ownership
Caught in-between Sermons bank and the Holly tree.
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Invicta Snowbee Floating Line Match 2024
Saturday 27th April 2024 – Grafham Water
Report by Chris McLeod
The twelfth year of everyone’s favourite team match and twenty two, four man teams arrived at Grafham on an unseasonably chilly day but with high hopes of some great fishing.
Since the demise of Draycote and the Eyebrook, Anglian Waters have been under extra fishing pressure and the fishing had been reflecting that. The cold weather had slowed the buzzer hatches and the shrimp were not quite as evident as hoped. However, there were still plenty of fish in the lake and in a variety of areas.
It’s always good to see old friends and familiar faces, but sadly a minute’s silence was held for absent friends. That done and boats disappeared to all parts. Particular favourite areas were Hill Farm and Pig Bay, Gayne’s Cove and around the Lodge with Gayne’s producing the quick limits. Trout and Salmon editor, and eventual winner, Andrew Flitcroft finishing easily before lunch.
All were on floating lines of course, and once again it was shown that these can be just as effective as when one has a choice of sinking and tip lines as well. But others struggled. So at lunch at one o’clock gathered everyone into the Lodge for all the usual banter. Although one or two like to carry on fishing, the break is an important part of the day
The afternoon session proved, as is usual, to be slower than the morning. The wind had dropped, the weather brightened and the fish were definitely less cooperative. But fish were caught and score ticked over nicely, but it was cold and most were happy to get back to the warmth of the Lodge and the lasagne and chips, followed by apple crumble. Yum!
Best bag was Andrew Flitcroft, and he was also in the top boat. Tony Fox was most successful local angler and his team GWFFA Green were the best local team. A good result for Invicta Tickety Boo who came seventh. The most remarkable catch was our own Steve Harding who caught the biggest fish – twice, with two rainbows at 5lb 4oz each.
Thanks as always to Jane and Gary How who do everything before the match, and then to all the helpers, scorers and assistants from the Invicta club on the day, and the very efficient catering staff at the Lodge. Invicta are always particularly grateful to Simon Kidd and Snowbee for their continued support of this event. They have helped create something special.
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Bank trip to Elinor. The Arthur Sexton Trophy 2023
This was the last Invicta trip of the year and should have happened three weeks earlier, but was postponed after a huge amount of rain had flooded and turned the lake to chocolate. We’d hoped for good conditions to round off an interesting season, but as is so often the case, the weather turned a couple of days before. The unseasonable mild November became a proper winter day with a frosty start and a bright, cold, cloudless sky all day. Fish don’t like that and they don’t like sudden changes of pressure, and this was reflected in the scores.
Sixteen hardy souls ignored the adverse conditions arriving to a warm welcome from Brad Gifford, and full of hope. The lake is stuffed with fish and Brad is doing a great job improving things gradually, but he can’t control the weather. More than anyone he would have been delighted for us to have a good day. But it just didn’t happen. If anything, things deteriorated even further when a breeze blew up and the temperature dropped again. So the hoped for activity ‘when things warm up a bit’ just didn’t happen.
Odd fish were caught, on a variety of methods, during the morning, but most were thinking of lunch and a chat to find out how others had fared. Not very well was the answer. Lots of blanks , a few ones and twos, but very patchy. The only place that fished at all was the dam end where almost all the fish were caught.
After the break, where at least we were entertained by Ray Storer’s trick of turning mulled wine into soup, by picking up Gary’s flask instead of his own, we returned to the futile job of attempting to extract something from the water.
Ray had actually had three fish and lost another, so he was doing ok, and Matt Collerson played six, of which he last three, on an egg fly below a bung. Well, needs must and when nothing else is working that was a fair enough tactic. Two other anglers caught two fish each, Peter Brewer and Gary How, and there were four with one fish and eight blanks.
A dismal result fish numbers wise, but Invicta, being the club they are, actually seemed to enjoy themselves. There have been many times this season when we’ve said ‘it’s not all about catching fish’ and this was certainly one of those occasions. After the torture ended, car boots opened and out came beer, mince pies, chocolates, a variety of treats, and we had a good old chat where it was decided that Ray was the winner as he’d caught his fish earlier than Matt. He won a fruit cake which put a huge smile on his face.
So sixteen anglers caught fourteen fish at a rod average of 0.875. No one seemed to mind very much, they were more concerned about their blue fingers, iced up noses, frostbitten feet and numb thumbs.
Matt Willatt brought his son Joe who was amazingly patient and well behaved, especially as his dad didn’t land a fish and he probably wondered what it was all about. But we all assured owner Brad that the weather was at fault, he was not to blame at all, and that we looked forward to being back there for our first get together next season.
And with that we all said thanks to Neil Potts for his organisational skills, and then departed to warm showers and cosy sofas.
Happy Christmas everyone.
Chris McCleod
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Hinckley Shield 2024
Invicta have a habit, in competitions, of doing really well one year and really badly the next. The Hinckley Shield is one such example. Last year we won it, beating some very tough opposition but this year we failed miserably and took the bottom two places.
Whatever the excuse (sorry, I mean reason) it was definitely the fish’s fault. They were just not ‘having it’. The fact that just a couple of anglers (in other teams) worked it out is certainly to their credit, but these rods were in one tiny little, tight area.
So, we had two teams and they were stuffed with some of our best anglers, and Grafham specialists. Neil Potts organised the day in his super, efficient way and after his briefing in the Lodge car park, cars attempted to leave early – which they had been specifically asked not to do – but they couldn’t, as someone decided to sit at the exit with his vehicle. A good move although resented by some.
All but a few targeted the north shore, and particularly the point of the G bank where so many fish, and really good fish too, had been caught in recent weeks. At least fifteen rods wrapped themselves around the point on a flat windless day, where, after a deal of shuffling, trout started to appear. The same was happening at Cove point and beyond at Deep Water., but everywhere there were plenty of shrimp, plenty of fish, but very few lock ups. Most started on a shrimpy approach with a few trying snakes and lures, but it just wasn’t happening. Hill Farm was another place that saw a few anglers and there were fish there but they were even harder to tempt.
Gradually it was noted that the G point was seeing a few rods bending, and indeed they were catching. There were obviously a lot of fish there but apart from one Grafham snake charmer, dries were the key and that’s what worked. It took a while to work it out but some made it eventually.
The number of fish coming into shallow water chasing shrimp had to be seen to be believed. They were certainly attracted to the shuffle but also appeared to realise that cloudy water meant shrimps being kicked up. Anglers reported fish under their rod tips, between their legs and even one getting caught by landing net (name hidden to avoid ridicule). It was great for observing how fish took the shrimp but ultra frustrating.
The two biggest fish 4-9 and 4-11 were both caught off the harbour arms and Elinor team averaged 4 per rod against a match average of 2.
The result was disappointing for us. We took the bottom two places, and the Elinor team (on the G spot) were easily first. Our top rod with 4 fish was Jonny Bromilow, who fished Deep Water, Gary How had 3, Alan Briggs, Keith Gilchrist and Chris McLeod had 2 but despite all the frustration it was a very sociable and enjoyable day. Team numbers were down a bit but we still met up with old friends and the banter was excellent.
Thanks particularly to Neil for his organisation of the match, which now passes back to Elinor, to David and Jonny for the scoring and to all the Invictas who helped and fished.
Note. Would you believe it, apparently a day later the fish are now behaving properly and getting caught again.
Chris McLeod
Results
Hinkely-Shield-Results-2024
Bob Ayres Trophy – Dry Fly Match
Ravensthorpe, 21st September 2024
Something has happened to our reservoirs so that September fishing is more like August. The catches are disappointing for what is usually a bumper month. Grafham has only just started to produce, Rutland and Pitsford are tough with fish still restricted to small areas, and Ravensthorpe seems devoid of fish. So is it weather, almost complete lack of insect life, poor stocking decisions, water temperature, water clarity or what? Maybe November will be the new September?
Not a surprise then, that prospects for a dry fly only day on Anglian Water’s smallest reservoir were not brilliant. Although conditions looked perfect with a gentle breeze and overcast sky, there were no fish at all showing and no reports of much being caught for weeks. As the day progressed first the sky cleared to very helpful bright sunshine, then clouded over and then shone bright again. Twenty members, full of enthusiasm filed on to the jetty where the boats looked a little underused, some engines being covered in cobwebs and being difficult to start. However we were keen to disprove the predictions but by lunchtime we had only reinforced them – a few of us had 1 fish apiece. But lunch was a happy, social affair as always with many of us wondering how our six Invicta colleagues were faring the National final on Rutland.
Usually the afternoons are less productive but on this occasion they were, very marginally, better for some. Alan Briggs who won this last year, having blanked in the morning took 4 fish to be top rod again. He had two double hook ups, although he lost one of those, and two more dropped fish. Chris McLeod, who was ghillie to the master, managed 2, as did Fraser Junior, Keith Gilchrist and Sue Potts. There were four 1s and 11 blanks for a total of 16 and a rod average of 0.8!
It is amazing how we manage to enjoy ourselves pursuing, what for most, was an entirely fruitless exercise, but we all know that there are other things that make the days fun. And on this occasion the weather played a huge part at the end of the day. A massive storm gradually crept up on us. Black clouds and huge claps of thunder. We all looked nervously upwards as we waved our carbon lightning conductors in the air. Then the first flash – and we were off.
An hour or so early but a sensible decision which in the end was made by the fishery staff. Helpfully there was a slight hiatus in the storm allowing us to get away relatively unscathed, but the storm returned on the drive home, with a vengeance.
An interesting day and congratulations to Alan for maintaining his dry fly reputation. Next trip is Tuesday 1 October (Tues) for the last Carr Cup day, on Grafham, where Fraser Junior will be attempting to hold off Gary How, David Moore and others to win our club championship.
Just an afterthought on Ravensthorpe. They already have a carp syndicate – thirty anglers paying £600 each annually which is £18000 into AW coffers without the need to stock a single fish. No other trout anglers were there and the engines and boats looked old and tired – during the day, two wouldn’t start and two broke down meaning the boats had to be towed in. A promised stocking of 500 had been turned away. This all indicates that this delightful but hopelessly underused fishery surely cannot survive as a fly water for much longer.
Meanwhile on Rutland things were also tough. After the first day of the two day final, David Moore brilliantly beat his many capped, ex England captain John Horsey 4 to 2. (John also chewed up his drogue and a line in the engine, so even he can do it.) Rob Wheeldon had 5, Gary How had 4, Dave Currie had 3 but Tony Smith and Peter Hartley surprisingly didn’t trouble the scorer. Better luck on day two – although it is absolutely chucking it down as I write.
Chris McLeod
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Maitland Trophy 25th August 2024
The Maitland is a competition between local clubs that is held each year, the teams this year were Grafham, Rutland, Mid Northants and Invicta. The format is for teams of 16 with the results of the top 10 anglers from each club on the day to count. The result is dependent on numbers caught with a limit of 12 fish and any draws separated by the time the first fish was caught. It is always a very friendly affair with the bonus of a meal afterwards and in recent years some very good prizes for those lucky enough to win.
This year the match was held on a bank holiday and due to may Invicta anglers being away we were only able to field a team of 8, however Grafham had a full team plus available and so we were able to loan 2 of theirs to make up 10 counting rods.
4 of us practiced on a very pleasant day with little wind and were reasonably confident at the end of the day that we had both a method and area that would work. We felt that 2 fabs with a hares ear in the middle was a good way to go with intermediate or tip lines; unfortunately match day looked much windier and was going to be tough.
The boats left the harbour at 10:00am with a strong but still comfortable wind blowing, most boats deciding on the same area we had highlighted from practice between the sailing club and lodge with just a few venturing further up the south arm to yellowstones. By 10:05 the first fish had been landed and it looked positive for the rest of the day, however, the wind soon increased, and gusts were exceeding 30 miles an hour making casting very tricky at times. Joan Russell had been unlucky enough to get taken away from the fish holding area for the first 2 hours by her boat partner but on finally getting back to the lodge area she started to catch steadily. Terry Bayes had also caught steadily from the start, and we felt that we were doing OK as a team with good communication taking place. The wind finally resulted in some anglers calling it a day before the official finish and Terry took his far less experienced partner in with about an hour to go (I’m sure he would have won otherwise).
A good meal was provided by the lodge before the results were announced. We had 6 anglers in the top 15 with Joan Russell(4th), Les Plaster (10th) and Terry Bayes(2nd) all receiving prizes. Grafham were the winning team with us second and receiving a bottle of wine each for our efforts to round of a great day’s fishing.
Thanks to the team:
Andrew Bates
David Currie
Gary Howe
Joan Russell
Keith Gilchrist
Les Plaster
Pete Webb
Terry Bayes
Grafham Stand-ins
Martin Fisher
Wian Terblanche
Report by – Keith Gilchrist
“Back to Top of Page”Tuesday Evening Social Fishing at Grafham
2024 Evening boat league 15 (Final) (Corrected)
Week 15 (final)
The number turning up for the final evening of our very successful evening league was always going to be unpredictable. The extreme hot weather of the previous day coupled with poor fishing reports in recent days might have put people off, but the fact that it was the final evening coupled with it being very close at the top of the league and any one of three or four anglers could have finished champion resulted in a good turn out of nineteen.
The conditions were near perfect with a gentle westerly breeze, nice ripple and reasonable cloud cover; the only downside being water temperature and it was this which had the negative result in the catch rate. Despite nearly all anglers taking advantage of the deeper water at the dam end and the boils, the fish weren’t playing. Of the nineteen anglers, fifteen blanks were recorded.
League leader David Currie could have been caught if he blanked and others chasing him had a reasonable evening, David helped them by coming in on a ‘doughnut’ but second placed Wayne Allan was unable to take advantage and also recorded a zero, still enough for Wayne to be runner up. Joint third were Jonny and Jeff.
Against the odds, three anglers Jeff Hickson, Keith Gilchrist and Neil Walsh managed to catch two fish each to be joint top rods on the evening, with the only other fish being caught by Matt Allen.
17 of us then enjoyed a very pleasant evening at the Mermaid sitting at a long table in the garden with plenty of sandwiches and chips. For most, the best part of the evening! David was presented with a boat ticket for his success as league winner (Trophy will be awarded at the annual dinner and prize giving) and Roger Swain won the boat ticket draw.
Congratulations to 2024 evening league champion David Currie and runner up Wayne Allan.
Rod average 0.3
Paul Heavens
Week 14
The journey to Grafham this evening was for many complicated by a number of
the main roads being closed or restricted due to an accident on the A1 / A141
roundabout. The past results for those in the top league places were getting
more important with only three fish separating the top three anglers, so all to
play for.
Thirteen anglers drew for boat partners at 5.15pm and the boats set off in a light
Westerly breeze and broken cloud. All the boats choosing the areas of N buoy or the boils.
Roger Swain (overall top rod) catching five drifting from the boils to the dam on
sink tip line with diawl bachs, black boobie and daddies. Wayne Allen had four
from the boils and Dave Currie had three from the area West of N buoy on Di5
and sparklers etc.
Water temperature was recorded as 19 degrees C at 6ft in the area near to the
tower, the slight temperature reduction clearly encouraged the fish to be more
responsive and a good number were also seen moving at the surface.
28 fish were caught and gave an overall rod average of 2.15 fish per rod, a big
improvement on last week’s result.
All the boats were back in the harbour by 8.45pm and most went to the
‘Mermaid’ for sandwiches, chips and a pint.
The winner of the boat voucher was Jeff Hickson (again – twice in one season!)
Jeff Hickson
Week 13
On arrival at Grafham we were greeted with a flat calm but before the boats set off a light Easterly breeze had set in and high broken cloud. Twelve anglers drew for boat partners at 5.15pm and most were away by 5.30pm some choosing the Dam, N & G buoy areas and the boils. Allan Murren (overall top rod) catching six at G buoy and boils on floating line with small brown snakelets. Wayne Allen had five from the area between N buoy and the boils on Di5 with cat boobie. Water temperature was recorded as 20 degrees C at 6ft in the area of G buoy. 15 fish were caught and gave an overall rod average of 1.25 fish per rod. All the boats were back in the harbour by 9.00pm and most went to the ‘Mermaid’ for sandwiches, chips and a pint.
The winner of the boat voucher was Chris McLeod, name selected at random using a “random number generator’.
Jeff Hickson
Week 12
Recent hot weather had made Grafham difficult but a few cooler days and light winds lured 18 rods to the water. Some of the usual areas were affected by algal blooms but the north shore was in reasonable condition and boats spread out from the Stumps to G Buoy.
As usual a few fish were taken early, Alan Briggs spotted 2 fry feeders and took them both on dries in Church Bay while Andy Trafankowski was catching (and losing) fish stroking blobs out from Cove Point. Jonny Bromilow caught 3 near the Stumps and David Segust and Roger Swain were the top boat taking 7 fish around G and Marlow with David’s 4 fish including the best of the night a 4lb 4oz rainbow after a struggle in the weeds.
However, Allan Murren fishing alone mostly very close to the bank at G adopted his favourite bank tactics of hares ear/shrimp patters with a black booby on the point to take 5 fish and Top Rod for the evening. Andy and Roger both caught 4.
Back in the comfort of the Mermaid we looked at the results and a respectable average of 1.7 with 11 rods catching fish and interestingly none with one fish.
Keith Gilchrist won the AW Boat Voucher.
Dave Currie remains top of the table (30), Jonny Bromilow 27 and Jeff Hickson 24, Wayne Allen 22, Dayood Sheik and David Moore both 21. There are 3 weeks to go and your best 10 results decide the winner so lots of others are still in with a chance.
David Moore
Week 11
Word had obviously got around that Grafham was fishing well after a prolonged lean period as 21 expectant anglers turned out. This included 3 newcomers who were well looked after by a more experienced angler, one of the main attractions and benefits of these evenings. It was a fine summer evening with a nice NW/westerly breeze putting a ripple on the water and we dodged the nearby heavy rain.
Happily the benign conditions were reflected in good results with a total catch of 51 fish giving a rod average of 2.4. In joint third place with 4 fish were Jonny Bromilow, David Currie and David Segust; in joint second place with 6 fish were Keith Gilchrist and Tim Thompson; top rod was David Moore with 7 fish triumphing after a poor run by his standards. The fish were well dispersed, coming from many areas including the Seat, Dam and all the usual north Shore points, although David kept moving catching one or two in a variety of locations. Successful flies included blobs, hares ears & boobys.
Tim’s catch capped a couple of good sessions, having landed a double figure haul from the bank the day before. This compensated somewhat for two Grafham related car misfortunes……………a muntjac coming off second best in a collision on the way home from a previous Tuesday evening, then his courtesy car number plates being stolen while parked in Church Hill Lane after a bank clearing party. AW really do need to put some security cameras there as its not the first such occurrence.
On a more encouraging note, 15 happy bunnies enjoyed generous portions of sandwiches and chips at the Mermaid pub where David Moore’s wheel of fortune, after some tension building technical glitches, selected Wayne Allen as the lucky boat ticket winner.
Roger Swain
Week 10
18 hardy souls decided to ignore the awful July weather, don the waterproofs and head out on Grafham for round 10 of the Tuesday Evening Club. Mercifully the weather turned out to be not quite as bad as forecast and after a few early showers, a decent SW breeze provided decent conditions.
Most boats started along the South shore between the Sailing Club and Gaynes, which had been fishing well. One or two early fish were an encouragement to some but not all and after an hour or so, there were only a couple of boats remaining, mainly tight into the bank by The Seat. Everyone else headed away to various points to seek out some sport.
Encouragingly, most anglers managed to catch fish from a number of areas on a variety of tactics and flies, Fish were reportedly caught on blobs, fabs, boobies, hares’s ears, diawl bachs and muskins, from the dam, bowl, DWP and The Seat. There were a number of 1s, 2s and 3s caught but there were 3 anglers who stood out from the rest of us and found the right method for the evening.
David Moore weighed in with 5, mainly on bright blobs at G Buoy, Andy Trafankowski netted 7 at DWP, mainly on a blob and David Currie finished with a very impressive 8 from The Seat, all on a tequila blob twiddled back slowly.
After 10 rounds of the competition, David is now starting to open up a healthy lead.
Total fish – 49
Rod average – 2.7
Top Rod – David Currie with 8
Afterwards, 15 of us headed off to the Mermaid for the customary sandwiches, chips and a pint where Paul Riley was the luck winner of the free boat, kindly donated by AW.
Finally some words of wisdom from tonight’s top rod. When asked for some tips from an angler who’d misses a few takes:
“When a trout tries to eat your fly, try to catch it”!
Wise words indeed.
Tim Thompson
Week 9
The first evening of July followed a welcome cooler spell although the cold westerly has been keeping fly life to a minimum and only a few fry feeding trout have been showing but we were more optimistic after a few very tough weeks. 14 rods set out , mostly towards the dam with just a couple staying in Valley Creek but not for long.
Johan Dyer took one towards Perry and one or two fish were caught on the north shore and a few fish were sported chasing fry near the dam but mostly ignoring flies but David Spall caught a couple here.
David Moore and Tim Thompson moved out of Valley Creek and drifted from Sailing Club nearly to Sludge Point and found a couple of pods well out in open water, David taking 4 and Tim 2 both using slow tips with blobs, boobies and nymphs near the surface before the fish moved away.
Later on fish surfaced in Valley Creek and Alan Briggs netted 2 and lost a few all on dries in the last 30 minutes.
A total of 16 fish were caught buy 10 of the 14 rods, so at last a rod average of more than one could be celebrated in the Mermaid Inn and where Jeff Hickson won the lucky AW Boat voucher.
David Moore
Week 8
11 anglers decided to avoid the football and instead, brave the hot, bright conditions at Grafham for the latest Invicta Tuesday evening session. As expected, despite a decent NNE breeze which gave a nice ripple, it was tough going for everyone. Fish were showing sporadically but proved very difficult to tempt on either dry fly, nymphs or lures.
Most boats started on the South shore between the sailing club and Gaynes and some early success was had by Allan Briggs on a cormorant boobie.
A few boats headed to the boils and it turned out to be the most productive area. Having said that, most struggled resulting in a total of only six fish being caught and 6 anglers blanking. You know it’s been a difficult night, that when the 7th person’s score of 1 was recorded onto the sheet, it nearly doubled the rod average!!
Top rod was Matt Allen with a hard fought 2 including a beautiful 5lb+ bar of silver, the biggest Tuesday night rainbow thi year, 4 anglers finished on 1 and the rest blanked. This gave a rod average of 0.55.
Afterwards, 9 of us headed over to The Mermaid for the customary beer, chips and sandwiches where Gavin Cairns won the free boat draw.
The highlight of the evening (season?), apart from the beer, chips and sandwiches, was Matt Allen’s exploits at the boils. My precis probably won’t do justice but here we go:
Everyone has a tale of “The one that got away”, well Matt now has a tale of “the one that surely should have got away”!
Having locked into a large fish on a di 5 using a white cormorant, it proceeded to take off, strip all his line and go under his boat. It leapt near to David Moore and Graham Mill’s boat. Eagle-eyed David then covered it, not realising it was already hooked. Chaos ensued which resulted in a mass tangle of lines, rods and boats with David having to net the fish for Matt from a different boat!
Much more entertaining than watching England.
Tim
Week 7
Another fine turnout of 18 made the best of the lovely conditions. Summer had arrived at last but with a rather chilly northerly breeze which turned through 90 degrees during the evening, catching out a few of us on the direction of the drift. Unfortunately the fish hadn’t heard about the conducive conditions & our early optimism was misplaced with a total catch of 13 fish & a disappointing rod average of only 0.7. Given the wind direction, unsurprisingly the North Shore from Hill Farm to The Dam was the most popular area. Seven anglers finished in second place with 1 fish & equal top rods with 2 fish were David Currie, David Segust & Matt Allen. One nameless angler would have finished top with 3 if he hadn’t dropped 2 good fish on dry flies off the Marlow Jetty! 14 of us enjoyed the usual good service at The Mermaid pub which is proving an excellent alternative to The Wheatsheaf. Their friendly barman drew Etze D. for the free boat ticket.
Roger Swain
Week 6
Not exactly a balmy summers evening, but at least the wind was mostly light this week and once on the water we dodged the showers. Nineteen rods this week caught 37 fish for a rod average of nearly 2. On the whole, provided you were in the right area, you felt like there was a chance of a fish. ‘Where was that area’ I hear you cry – well its not going to surprise many to hear it was Gaynes Cove – again. Post match chats were dominated by lost fish as always, but also why the North hasn’t been its usual productive self recently. Theories abounded of course, but until we catch a talking trout we won’t really know!
Chris Barratt did get a North shore fish, and on the first cast too, on the same blob he caught on the last time he was on the North shore, also on the first cast too! Look after that fly Chris. Top rod on the night was Matt Willett with an excellent 6, mainly on a small brown Minkie pinged at risers and pulled back. Matthew Allan snagged 4 including a bit of life-affirming action with a Big Red, and consistently good Keith Gilchrist also had 4 with Muskins on his leader.
The harbour staff got us tied up and away to the Mermaid very efficiently and with good humour. So, an evening where you had to be in the right place, and still have the fortune to find one of these now ‘hammered’ fish willing to bite.
David Currie
Week 5
After last weeks improvement in catches everyone hoped the better evening fishing would continue, how wrong can one be with the weather still having an impact the strong wind swinging round from a warm South West to a cold North West, this clearly reduced the number of fish taking fly from the surface and the wind at times made presentation tricky.
Twenty anglers drew for boat partners at 5.15pm and most were away by 5.30pm some choosing the Dam or Gaynes with a few going to Valley Creek. Dayood Sheik (overall top rod) catching a six on buzzers from the South dam, Neil Walsh and David Spall (not part of the League) had nine between them also
from the dam area. 33 fish were caught and gave an overall rod average of 1.7 fish per rod. All the boats were back by 9.30pm and most went to the ‘Mermaid’ for sandwiches, chips and a pint. The winner of the boat voucher was Wayne Allen, name selected at random by a member of the public in the bar.
Jeff Hickson
Week 4
We anglers are all optimists and a very wet afternoon didn’t deter 26 of us from turning out in the hope of a clearer evening. The westerly wind eased and the sky brightened as most of the boats turned left into Valley Creek while a few headed right towards Gaynes Cove , both offering shelter and recent good catches.
Fish were rising in the calm water tight into the corner of Valley Creek and fish were taken near the surface in spite of the boat pressure, although they moved out as the evening progressed. Jeff Hickson was away from the crowd in Gaynes and fished dries to take 5 fish. Back in Valley Creek Matt Allen and Jonny Bromilow were both catching with washing line booby and nymphs although Wayne Allen fishing nearer to the west bank was most successful with fish mostly taking a small booby. A lot of fish were pricked or lost in play showing they were a bit wary, something we are getting used to this season with all the extra rod pressure on AW reservoirs.
Although our finish time was 9.00, we all dashed for the harbour a bit early as a torrential storm arrived.
At the count, Wayne was top rod with 8, Matt and Jeff both had 5 and Jonny 4 , so the top 4 rods caught 22 of the 50 fish total.
Nearly everyone came to the Mermaid Inn which we filled and created a lively atmosphere. The lucky AW Boat voucher went to Tim Thompson.
It was good to have some newcomers at a Tuesday evening , Peter Costin, Reg & Kath Barber, most of whom caught and hope to see you all again next week when we fish until 9.30pm
David Moore
Week 3
The series thus far has been dominated by the difficult fishing but this week it was the weather that was to test our waterproofs with rain and low cloud all evening. The weather forecast also showed a deep low-pressure area moving in with a light northerly wind developing. The good news was the fish decided that in one area they were prepared to respond to the anglers’ offerings.
Sixteen anglers drew for boat partners at 5.15pm and most were away by 5.30pm some choosing the far reaches of Grafham down to the Dam / Gaynes and ‘G’ Buoy or across to Hedge end area. But as it turned out the boats that went to the area between the Harbour and Valley Creek found the fish in keen taking mood with the three top anglers catching here. Wayne Allen (overall top rod) catching a dozen on midge tip line size 12 hare’s ear boobies and diawl bach or buzzer, then David Currie eleven and Tim Thompson ten. David Moore had predicted that as he and a number of the other regular Tuesday evening anglers would not be present (due to fishing elsewhere) everybody would catch six fish, well it was close the rod average being 4.4 fish per rod., a big improvement on the first two weeks.
All the boats were back by 9.00pm and most went to the ‘Mermaid’ for sandwiches, chips and a pint.
The winner of the boat voucher was Dayood Sheik, name selected at random by a member of the public in the bar.
Jeff Hickson
Week 2
Following the week one’s poor rod average, expectations were much higher this week following the news that Anglian Water had stocked a further 3000 fish at the Sailing Club the previous day. The weather was also cooler and overcast following three or four very warm bright days, a recipe for better results.
22 anglers turned up and the draw went promptly ahead at 5:15 allowing us to get onto the water in good time. We have an arrangement with AW that we can come in 30 minutes later than the posted “Boats in’ time. The board time stated 8:15 but ever observant David Moore noticed that on AW’s list for the season it stated 8:30 for this date, so we should have been allowed out until 9pm. After constructive discussing with management we now have the timetable for the series to avoid future confusion and it was agreed at 9pm until the 3rd June when it is 9.30pm for 4 Tuesdays.
Inevitably most boats headed toward the areas either side of the sailing club and down towards the seat in the hope of finding a few ‘stockies’. Very first cast Jeff Hickson was into a fish followed within a couple of minutes by fish number two; things were looking good, but then it went quiet. It was clear that very few boats were finding fish, the one big change was a wind direction change to a stiff easterly and a big drop in pressure. The Fire Brigade anglers had fished a match during the day and struggled.
Boats began to explore wider and David Currie fishing the seat and then valley creek managed to land 4 fish pulling a fast glass with two pink blobs to finish top rod. Following his lightning start, Jeff Hickson only managed to find one more to finish with 3 along with Keith Gilchrist and Roger Swain. Most of the field were less successful and half the anglers blanked leaving a rod average of 0.9, most disappointing.
The evening rounded off with 17 of us heading for our usual trip to the ‘Mermaid’ for chips, sandwiches and banter where the results were announced and the draw for the AW boat ticket took place …won by the evenings organiser me. (Not a fix, honest!)
Paul Heavens.
Week 1
A rare mild and calm evening greeted 23 of us for our first Tuesday evening on Grafham Water and it was good to welcome some new faces.
We knew the fish had become a bit wary but showing in most of the popular areas and we set out with optimism. Boats spread out between Gaynes, Willows, G Buoy, Deep Water Point, Hedge End and Hill Farm fishing close in where fish have been feeding on shrimp and buzzers.
With a near flat-calm on the north shore most opted for a light touch either washing line, straight line or bung with lighter leaders and smaller flies than usual practice.
Fish were rising everywhere but proved illusive in shallow clear water, just the odd fish taken on buzzer, muskins, hare’s ears , shrimps and a few on small dries and even a snake but with no consistency.
Four rods managed 2 fish, Dave Currie, Jonny Bromilow, Jeff Hickson and Dayood Sheik, mostly from the north shore between Hill farm to G Buoy but the rest were ones and blanks for a total of 16 trout.
The Mermaid at Ellington was well attended and provided ample food and real ale in its friendly bar.
Roger Swain won the AW donated boat voucher. Big thank you to Paul Stephens for organising the evening.
Number fishing 23.
number of fish caught 16.
Rod average 0.70.
Report
David Moore
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The Norman Shippey Bank Match
Saturday 18th March 2023 Elinor Trout Fishery
Matt Collerson
The Invicta season now traditionally kicks off with a social day on the banks of Elinor, the 50 acre water just south of Oundle.
Usually the conditions are testing – cold, biting wind, Nene floodwater colouring everything up, and hopeless reports from the days before. This trip was the exact opposite. Reports had been very good with plenty of fish in the lake, and the weather set fair. With light winds fishing was possible from every bank and by 9.30 club members were all round with one or two rods starting to bend.
It wasn’t easy for all though. Some found it very tough as the fish were still shoaled up and the concentrations were in certain areas. The point just beyond the boat dock on the Lodge side always produces, especially the small bay just south of it. This is where winning bags have come from consistently and Mark Searle was making the most of it with his skilfully fished washing line, and later Matt Collerson nearby was racking up his score. Meanwhile new member Richard Purcell managed to tempt a real lump of a rainbow which weighed in at 8lb 2oz, this has certainly set the bar high at an early stage for the best rainbow of the season trophy.
But it wasn’t all down to location, as you had to focus on the margins rather than cast out towards the middle. A successful approach was to fish almost parallel with the bank, a few yards out and into shallow water.
Everyone stopped for a very sociable lunch and then continued on into the afternoon, although most left in good time to watch England lose in the 6 Nations. Simon Peck developed an interesting approach pulling an Apps type bloodworm for a good bag but others relied on the bung which proved deadly drifting it into the margins.
The weather remained overcast and the fishing improved for many but, although some did carry on, by the 3pm official finish time Mark hadn’t done quite enough to catch Matt who won the day.
A good rod average with only a few low scores on a water that is being very ably managed by Brad and Jo Gifford. Evidence of their enthusiasm is very noticeable, and Brad is always very welcoming.
Chris McLeod
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The Pilgrimage 2024
The history of this competition goes back over forty years when Invicta members were invited to fish against a Welch group of existing and ex international anglers. We were mere amateurs compared to the Llanilar group but watching them fish was a delight.
We were later joined by the Scottish Leslie team, again another group of international anglers and friendships were formed that still continue to this day.
For this years competition it was decided that we would measure the fish to prevent the terrible waste of good fish that we have seen in other competitions.
Each pairing was provided with a Anglian Water measuring board and score board to record the fish length.
We chose to fish to a limit of 12 fish but the number did not matter since all the fish were being returned. The beauty of having the measuring board in the centre of the boat meant that the boat partner could verify the length before recording it.
We found that it was better to measure the fish whist still in the landing net, using the net to control the fish from thrashing about. Such a simple procedure, the fish being out of the water for only a minute with no need for a time to recover.
On the match day 27 people fished and caught 209 fish giving a rod average of 7.74.
We made up three teams of 8 to determine the results and the scores were –
Invicta members 53 fish for a total length of 21.94 metres
Leslie (Scotland) 69 fish for a total length of 29.15 metres
Llanilar (Wales) 74 fish for a total length of 30.92 metres.
Llanilar won the Rose Bowl for the match between Invicta and Wales and Leslie won the Diawa Shield for the overall competition winners.
The Best Individuals in the Invicta members were Terry Bayes (12 fish) who along with Dewi Rees won the best Boat prize and our own Sue Potts had and excellent 12 fish limit.
The best individual was Ian Dobbie from Leslie and he won the cash prize and the George James decanter and matching cut glass glasses. Ian had 12 fish to a length of 553 cm.
The Best Fish prize was shared with Dayood Sheik and Ian Dobbie, they both had a fish measuring 55cm.
In addition to the cash prizes we also had a draw for five bottles of wine, each bottle including a box of barbless hooks.
The Steak Night at the Wheatsheaf was good on Thursday and Lisa provided and excellent meal at the sailing club on Friday evening.
Measuring fish will be the format for future Pilgrimage events, and hopefully more clubs will adopt this approach.
I would like to thank all those who took part and hope to see you again next May
I have thanked Neil Atkins at Anglian Water for his help and support in arranging the event and also Pauline and Paul for keeping us all in line.
Steve Middleton
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