Reports 2025 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
Tuesday Evening Social Fishing at Grafham
Results – 2026 Evening boat league 2
12th May – Grafham Tuesday Evening Boat League Week 2
Total caught 37; Rod average 1.7
The second evening session got off to a somewhat chaotic start with new arrangements required by AW to link participant’s names, mobile phone & boat numbers. However, largely thanks to Lloyd we made it work & everyone got out on time in more or less the right boat! Next week will be much smoother with Tim back & Lloyd tweaking the arrangements. While on admin, thanks to those who had the right money for food at the pub, it helps a lot.
22 eager beavers turned out in a deceptively cold wind, which came as an unwelcome surprise to a few under-dressed anglers. Lessons on reservoir fly fishing aren’t restricted to tactics! 5 participants were matched to someone variously described as an expert, tutor, mentor, person of experience or simply engine driver. Special mention should go to 12 year old Jack Pickstone, allowed out beyond his bed time & being expertly tutored by Rob Edmunds, who had a fish estimated at 4lbs. Thanks to all those who agreed to help with the pairings, its an important part of these sessions.
Unsurprisingly, the fishing was tough with a total of 37 fish netted, giving a rod average of 1.7. This was not evenly spread & a more meaningful statistic is probably the mode which unfortunately was a blank for 12 anglers. In fact 46% of the total caught came from one boat occupied by last week’s joint top rods. This week Keith Jones with 9 fish pipped Albert Coles with 8. In joint 3rd place with 4 fish were Rob Edmunds, Dave Segust & James Stuart. Most boats ended up in the more sheltered West Bank, Nature Reserve area, the most successful method being pulling a booby or FAB on a Di5, with a few coming on egg fly.
Fifteen of us enjoyed great hospitality at the Mermaid pub, for many the highlight of the evening, with the most excitement coming from two spins of the picker wheel resulting in a boat voucher for Paul Cramp, courtesy of AW, & a fly box for Andrew Lebish, courtesy of Snowbee.
Roger Swain
5th May – Grafham Tuesday Evening Boat League Week 1
Anglers:- 35
Fish Caught:- 42
Rod Average:- 1.2
Top Rods:- 7 fish, Albert Coles & Keith Jones
The 2026 renewal of the Tuesday Evening Boat League is at last upon us, as sure a sign of summer as the first swallow!
35 anglers arrived for match day 1 which to my reckoning is probably a record number for a Tuesday evening and it was great to see one or two new faces amongst the regular attendees.
The conditions were dry and fairly mild but a freshening Northerly breeze meant it was likely to be a challenging session once out on the water and for most, that turned out to be the case.
Most boats headed out towards the relative calm of the North shore locations including The Stumps, Hill Farm, Pig Bay etc. Keith Jones and Dayood Sheik however, decided to take on the waves of the West Bank and were rewarded with 8 to the boat, though not equally shared, Keith managed a very impressive 7 fish to a variety of methods and flies.
Pig Bay was also a productive location with Albert Coles (7), Rob Edmunds (4) and youngster Jack Pickstone (3) all finding fish, mainly to the bung. James Stewart and Wayne both bagged 3 apiece. This meant that 6 anglers accounted for 27 of the 42 fish caught. A fine effort between them.
That didn’t leave many for the rest of us to share which resulted in 16 of us recording blanks.
The story of the night (there’s always one) was of Dayood & Keith getting blown on to the shore and becoming well and truly run aground. Never fear, the AW rangers are here! The first rescue boat also got stuck! Lloyd was then scrambled and he managed to save the day. We took a vote in the pub on whether or not to disqualify Keith for being late in but being as though all the food had gone by the time he did eventually get to the pub, VAR ruled in his favour!
Another record was set on the night with 23 of us heading over to the Mermaid where Dayood won the boat voucher kindly donated by AW (Keith said he can use it to practice handling the boat in the wind. Harsh!) and Albert won a pair of sunglasses kindly donated by Snowbee.
Tim Thompsom
Bank trip to Elinor. The Norman Shippey Memorial
14th March 2026
Our first club fishing day of the year is always at Elinor and a spring morning of clear sky, warm sun and a cold NW wind greeted an unusually small group of 8 members, depleted by those stranded in Sri Lanka, on holiday in Morocco and fishing the evening day at Rutland Water.
We new Elinor would be a challenge still recovering from winter floods and less than a foot visibility but a cheery welcome from Jo Gifford and we spread along the north bank with the wind over right shoulders. Matt Collison is our local expert and usually fishes under a bung very close to the bank so most of us started copying him.
It was a slow start and Andrew Terry was the only rod to net in the first 3 hours using a pearly olive cormorant until John Brown wound in his Apps Bloodworm pattern after his last cast for lunch and netted the only other morning fish near to the boat dock.
We remained cheerful over lunch in the carpark and set off with new optimism. Matt quickly caught half way along the north bank (‘Gravel Bar’) and David lost one and then caught on a b&g tadpole fishing close by. Matt lost another at the net and then this hot-spot died away.
Neil had moved around the bank and finally caught on a blue flash damsel near the trees towards the same area.
So, with 5 rods catching one fish each the winner went to the first fish taken and Andrew Terry was the clear winner of the Norman Shippey Trophy.
Big thank you to Neil Potts for organising the day, Elinor is a lovely fishery and we are always made welcome so we hope the water clears soon and it has a successful season.
Our next club day is at Pitsford on Wednesday 1 April, hopefully a buzzer bonanza !
David Moore
Carr Cup 2026
Reports will appear here following each match.
Results – Carr Cup 2026 Scores – Event 2
Event #2, Saturday 2nd May 2026 – Blythfied Reservoir
‘It’s a game of two halves’
The week that was harbingered with the terrible news that we are to lose another large trout fishery was ended with Invicta’s second and very possibly, last, visit to the lovely Blithfield reservoir in Staffordshire.
The troops amassed on the Saturday morning, including those who had chosen to practice and stay over, using the comfortable clubhouse for a last brew and a determination of tactics. Practicers reported good numbers of fish, and as importantly, well spread across the South lake.
Northern-based members were well represented with Rob W, Pete S, Rick W and Tony S all coming along to give us all a pointer or two as to how the fish the place.
Apart from one area, the fishery was moody in the morning session. ‘Bright and Breezy, never easy’ would sum it up, unless, that is, you are among those that took advantage of the first couple of drifts between the millionaire’s houses. Among those making hay were Steve Harding and Gary How with great bags in the morning session, along with the ever-consistent Duffy the Younger.
Well known raconteur and artiste of the printed media, Chris McLeod was to be chauffeured around the lake by the Chairman, who assured ‘Whispering Chris’ that this was going to be ‘un morceau de gateaux’. How wrong could he be! – our boat docked for the social lunch in the clubhouse with one fish to the boat. Tony Smith too had struggled having taken Neil Potts to all his best spots on the Ressie, though Neil had picked up a few. Tony was later to leave early to see some legalised violence in the form of ice-hockey!
Chris and I covered a whole gamut of topics during the day, including the etiquette when your partner hooks a fish. We concluded that (especially in a more serious competition) congratulating the other rod upon hooking a fish is tantamount to saying ‘hope you lose it you bugger!’, whereas a word of praise when the fish is landed is both more meant and more accepted by the recipient. You know its true!!
After lunch, during which Pete Skelton generously handed out a load of home-tied flies to all present (thanks Pete, that’s the very embodiment of Invicta spirit), those that had caught well naturally gravitated toward the same successful area, whereas the strugglers were more inclined to try around the boat-free areas. The ‘morning catchers’ didn’t find the same number of willing participants in the afternoon, but on the Western bank the fish had come alive, especially with a bit of cloud cover. Chris and I found some willing, and often sizeable fish in and around ten acre bay. About 40% Blues, running to long, lean 2.5 pounders often ariel fighters, we were having a ball on Blobs and/or Black based small to medium sized boobies/hoppers.
When we concluded the event, Neil did the announcement that we averaged 6.66, everyone had caught, and 10 rods had maximum Carr cup points. A tremendous event, in great weather was wrapped up in style with a
‘back of the van’ buffet by Sue and Neil. Mel Parrot getting himself outside some Sue-made sugar-free fruit cake with great style. Without getting too philosophical, it was one of those occasions when we should remind ourselves that these are the ‘good old days’ and we should take advantage!
David Currie
Event #1, Thursday 1 April 2026 – Pitsford Reservoir
Wow! Thirty three Invicta members fished the first boat match of the season. A fantastic turnout, which should have been more but for a couple of poorly souls (get well soon Pete Webb and Jonny Bromilow). It was great to see seven newcomers – welcome Andrew Terry, Duncan Freeman, Edze Dijksterhuis, Jeff Cox, Kevin Garn Martin Glyn and Rich Walker. On a day that promised much – low cloud, very little wind, plenty of fish in the lake – what could go wrong?
Sadly it was a lot tougher than we expected, maybe because of the cooler conditions as it took a while for the temperature just to creep up enough to see a few buzzers coming off. But it was all about buzzers, straight lined or under a bung, it didn’t much matter but location was, as always, critical. Most of the fleet headed for the Sailing Club Bay and Brixworth where there had been a lot of fish caught during previous days, and, indeed, there were still fish there, and some good ones. There is something about the area just off the biggest tree in Brixworth Bay that holds bait fish and therefore some decent browns – it is officially now known as Pott’s tree for reason which you need to ask him.
Not everyone was in this area though. Stone Barns which Joan Russell and new member Rich Walker had to themselves was full of fish and they took advantage of that to be equal top boat with Gary and Gavin on 16 fish. There was a similar situation for Dave Currie on the Flats which was also producing enough to give him his limit. Although the popular bays were getting a bit of a hammering and eventually went off, Gary How and Keith Gilchrist managed their eights – and well beyond – while others struggled.
Some good browns were caught, with Neil Potts’ the biggest at just under 5lb and Mark Searle’s only a few ounces smaller. And a few pike decided they would try to eat a buzzer or an egg fly with Rich and Chris McLeod both landing good fish.
A really good innovation is the plan to meet up afterwards – and nearly everyone made it, filling the bar of the White Swan in Holcot for an excellent pie, chips and peas. But it gives us all a great chance to explain why we hadn’t caught a limit or how many fish fell off (lots!).
125 fish were caught at a rod average of 3.78 with four limits, a sprinkling of 7, 6 and 5s, and only two blanks. Gary caught 13 and Keith had 10 but we base the result on 8 fish and who caught their first one earliest. So Keith won the Graham Williams Trophy (by 7 minutes), Gary How was second and Dave Currie third. There were some surprising failures, not mentioning any names of course, but it just proves they’re human and how nothing is guaranteed in fishing.
Thanks to all those involved in the organisation – especially Neil Potts for the day and results, and David Moore for arranging the meal.
Our next outing is the prolific Blithfield reservoir on 2 May when we hope things will have warmed up a little, although many of us will be involved in Invicta’s very own Snowbee Floating line match organised by Gary (with a little bit of help from Jane) How, on 25 April.
Chris McLeod
“Back to Top of Page”Bob Ayres Trophy – Dry Fly Match
2026
AMFC (Association of Major Flyfishing Clubs) 2026
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
AMFC Group3 Round 3
Pitsford Water 10 May 2026
Pitsford has been variable this season and Invicta B lead by our captain Sue Potts practiced hard for this round exploring the whole reservoir and not just the usual productive areas such as Brixworth and the Sailing Club bays, we knew that match day would be influenced by a strong NE wind but we didn’t find fish here or the more sheltered north shore and the Pitsford Creek Flats and Stone Barn Bay were our targets on matchday.
Matchday started well with Sue distributing parcels of cake wrapped with a welcome ‘Tight Lines’ message. Most of the boats headed straight to the Pitsford Creek and it was chaotic as so many scrambled for a drift onto the top of the Flats, a bit of shouting but it soon settled down although the short drifts to fish very close to the bank in a strong wind made it hard work. David got off to a flyer with quick fish on his first two casts using a pink FAB and Booby opting for 12.5lb leader after experience in practice. Although it slowed with boat pressure, he, Sue and both Petes, Webb and Skelton, picked fish up but dropped a few in this area through the morning but Steve Harding and those not on the engine found it hard to persuade their partner to fish close enough to the shore where we could see fish in a foot of water.
Terry Bayes had caught well in Sone Barn in practice and started there but it didn’t produce much on the day, Terry catching 3 and Sue 1, a lot of boats moved there from the Flats in the afternoon but with little more success and every rod with 5 or more had stayed on the Flats where buzzers became more successful once the fish had seen a lot of bright colours.
The bitter cold wind didn’t ease much and we were all relieved to finish at 5pm and head for the White Swan for their excellent steak and apple pies and raise our spirits. The results announced by organiser Simon Goodland: GWFFA A were the winners with 39 fish including the only rod with a 12 limit, Bewl A 29, Bewl B 22, Invicta B 18 ( David caught 9 and 3rd individual) and Phoenix 9.
Rod average was 3.9
We had expected to have finished higher after our practice and it’s a mystery why we didn’t but that’s fishing ! We have now moved up to 4th of 5 in the table narrowly above Phoenix with the next round at Clywedog in July.
David Moore
Group 3 Round 2, Saturday 12 April 2026
Bewl Water
Bewl Water in Kent is a big journey and not our favourite fishery and we were a rod short but Alan Briggs, Tim Thompson, Richard Purcell , Jonny Bromilow and David Moore drove down early Friday morning for a practice in good conditions with light wind.
After a slow start Jonny caught 2 on a fast glass in the Bewl Straight and keeping contact David tried it too and caught 3 in the main bowl before our lunch break.We then tried new areas and Jonny caught another and David 3 more all in different spots along the Straight to Rosemary Lane and Alan caught in Goose Creek. Our usual Nepalese restaurant in the evening was very good and we concluded Fast Glass, blob on point with twinkly nymphs on droppers was the method.
We also learnt to come with a lot of anchored boats spinning on both sides which restricted a lot of drifts.
Match day was very different with 20mph westerley into the dam gusting 35 mph later.
We had good boat draw with familiar faces, Jonny and David both caught 3 at both corners of the dam, mostly on blobs before the wind made it impossible. Jonny wisely braved crossing the main bowl and into Goose Creek to finish on 6 and 3rd in the match only one behind the two top rods. David failed to add to his bag but Richard had picked one up on his first drift, a great start in his first Amfc. Tim and Alan struggled to get a pull , not what they deserved for a lot of effort and all of us getting drenched cutting across the waves back to a pontoon which was also awash.
Post match dinner on the Greyhound was excellent with delicious big chunk of beef to cheer us up when results were announced, Bewl A (21) ,Bewl B and GWFFA B (13) Phoenix (12) and Invicta B (10).
This was always going to be a tough one for us and hopefully will fare a lot better on Pitsford in the next round. In spite of the conditions and hard fishing we had a lot of fun and thanks to all the team for your efforts.
David Moore
Group 2 Round 2, Saturday 12 April 2026
Draycote Reservoir
Directly across from the fishing lodge at Draycote is Biggin Bay, and lining that bay are a tangle of trees, shrubs and bushes. Almost impenetrable apart from a tiny gap leading to a hidden world of old vegetation, stumps, rotten branches and lichen covered twigs. To set up a drift hundreds of yards away and end up in this gap would seem impossible, but we managed it with a very uncomfortable result.
The trip to Draycote started reasonably well. The Frasers, Rich Walker and Jeff Hickson practised two days before and found it to be not easy but ok, and identified some areas. The usually productive Rainbow area was proving very unproductive and was a nasty brown colour, and six hours in there produced two fish. But Toft was much better, with G to the yellow buoys at the end apparently holding a lot of fish. The following day Rich again, Keith Gilchrist, Chris McLeod and number one supporter Terry Bayes explored various areas with some success but supported findings of the previous day. All caught but Rich did particularly well with eight fish. So hopes were reasonably high for the match.
There was a problem though. The temperature had dropped dramatically and the wind was getting up – in the worst possible direction which would blow straight down the lake. The previous day I had been shouted at for standing up in the boat – while using the bailer. Obviously heightened safety awareness after last year’s tragedy, but no word from the bailiffs about the very dodgy conditions on match day.
Match day looked ominous. Thick cloud but only a briskish wind meant that Toft was just about fishable, and those boats that went there early did catch a few. Biggin around E buoy had produced a fish or two the previous afternoon so a few boats went directly there, hooked fish and lost them all. But the wind soon dictated and most boats left these areas to get some relief in the quieter but fishless areas at the top of the wind.
Conditions were terrible – almost dangerous. Not only had the white horses and big waves appeared but the sun came out. Windy, wet and cold is the formula for a tough day, and so it proved with hardly a fish caught after eleven o’clock.
The odd boat ventured into the waves which is how me and my partner found ourselves in difficulties. Sinking lines in a big wind are tricky and have to be watched as, in no time, they disappear under the boat …. or into the engine, as you try even the slightest manoeuvre. But this time the engine swallowed Peter Baker’s Di7 dragging his reel and rod into the water, and the line had severed so the tackle was gone and the prop was jammed with line embedded round the prop. All this in a huge wind, bouncing up and down and the boat rapidly progressing and entering that gap in the hedge. What looked like a haven became a nightmare battering, as rods stuck in branches – many of which were snapping off like gunshots – boat seats sliding into the water (with an angler astride it) tackle flying every where, all topped of by a noble effort at rescue from a Phoenix member who ran out of control and smashed into our boat causing even more confusion.
We couldn’t get the engine up to fix the prop, so Peter – already soaked – had to reach down and try to unwind it all, which he eventually did manage to do. We managed then to negotiate our way out of the jungle only to be met by more huge waves crashing into us. We looked at our tackle – what was left of it – and our sodden clothing, and a quick conversation resulted in a unanimous ‘sod it, let’s go in’.
It was unfortunate that the early fish we hooked and played did not stick, so we both blanked. Unbelievably after his previous successes, Rich didn’t have a single touch all day. Fraser Senior and Jeff managed one apiece with captain Keith and young Fraser taking three each. Eight fish to the team, but enough to secure third place on an impossible day.
Some people might say that this only happens when you fish with Chris McLeod – and there is some truth in that sadly.
This was not an enjoyable experience but there are lessons from the day.
- Fishing in those conditions is a test of endurance and very little to do with fly fishing – members should not go out if they think it could be dangerous.
- Finding fish late in the day of practice does not mean they will be there and catchable in the following morning.
- And avoid Chris McLeod.
Result
Derby County 12 fish
Walthamstow 10 fish
Invicta A 8 fish
Phoenix 7 fish
Rutland Water 5 fish
Royal Navy 4 fish
Total caught 46 fish
Rod average 1.5 fish
Chris McLeod
Round 1 – 28th March – Teams A & B
The first and last matches of the AMFC season are unique in that all teams in each of the 3 divisions take part in the same match. In the last match in the Autumn, promotion and relegation are usually at stake, whereas in the spring opening match the nerves are related to getting off to a good, respectable start.
I was to pick up Jonny B at the premier Inn, and he was going to have breakfast at 7.45, so I said I would arrive 08.10. At 7.46 I received a Whatsapp saying that he was outside the hotel ready. That breakfast must have been bolted down in anticipation of the day ahead – top speed munching JB!
Arriving at Grafham on Saturday 28th March, before the date us old-timers would call the start of the season, we gathered en-masse at Grafham to restrict ourselves to fishing ‘over the font’ with small flies in a howling gale! And by God it blew!! Over at Rutland, the boats were not let out the boat dock, and after some of the shenanigans in the Grafham boat dock you can see why! Rods and lines were knitted together between moored and reversing boats, and though I didn’t hear any shattering, there were very close shaves everywhere you looked. The boats were not allowed to go to the dam end, and creeping past the nature reserve was advised by the warden in the briefing if you wanted to go to the North shore
Reason for the manic boat dock behaviour was that everyone knew the fish were in 2 spots. Outside the Harbour (hence the rush to be first out) and over on the North centred around Pig bay. However, practice had proved to get tougher and tougher as the week wore on, and then to be faced with that wind put us on warning that it would be tough. However, if you KNOW it’s going to be hard, then its not so bad when nothing happens for long periods.
The fleet split 65% Valley Creek to the Seat and 35% going through the chop to the North Shore. Slowly the harbour boats started moving to the North shore as the bonanza of the South side failed to meaningfully materialise. The North was yielding the odd fish from the Stumps limit to Hedge end, but it occurred to me that I wasn’t seeing as many boats as previously, then, boat partner and I decided to go ‘round the corner’ at Hedge end looking for shelter in a particularly uncomfortable period (I reckon 35mph – yes really) and BEHOLD THE ARMADA ! there were dozens of boats working the long bank. Lots of bags had been pulled from this 100*50 yd area and this area was tried by Gary and Terry the day before and was fishless.
Keith, reigning Carr cup champ and all-round good egg did brilliantly with 8 to straight line and bung (buzzer/cruncher), Duffy the younger had a good bag of 5, and Gary and I chipped in to get us equal 2nd.
The B’s were awesome. They too were 2nd equal, Terry leading the charge with 4 – but with 2 teams out on a murderous day, everyone caught, which makes for a happy bunch. Pete was using the old Appleby Single Blob method (if you catch up with the video of that on Youtube, DO come and discuss it with me 😊 )
Extra special mention goes to Bill Connelly, his first international rules match, in conditions that will never be worse, and part of a great team effort – as ‘Yazz’ expounded – ‘The only way is up!’ well done Bill.
And will SOMEONE please answer David M’s call to arms for someone to represent at Bewl please – would be a shame to mess up what has been a great start.
David Currie
“Back to Top of Page”
Invicta Snowbee Floating Line Match 2026
Grafham Water