Game Angling: Regional round-up

May 22 2011 by Mark Armstrong

THIS year’s WaterAid Derwent Bankmaster competition was another great success.

Although the conditions were not perfect, the strong wind making for challenging fishing at times, everyone soldiered on and some very respectable catches were recorded.

The rod average for the competition was a very healthy 5.6. Money raised on the day was a fantastic £700. The results are as follows:

Fly Section: 1st Peter Crowe with 8 fish weighing 21lb 13oz; 2nd Ben Blake with 8 fish weighing 18lb 8oz; 3rd Phil Green with 8 fish weighing 17lb 15oz.

Multi-bait Section: 1st Doug Pearson with 8 fish weighing 21lb 7oz; 2nd Peter Lochron with 8 fish weighing 12lb 12oz; 3rd Robert Marshall with 3 fish weighing 5lb 8oz.

Junior winner was Carl Malpass with 8 fish weighing 12lb 12oz.

Heaviest fish of the competition weighed 6lb 9oz, caught by Peter Crowe.

Derwent Reservoir

01207 255 250

Regular visitor David Middlemast visited the fishery three times this last week, keeping 24 trout and returning many more. His favourite spot was Millshields and the patterns working best for him were the Beamish Killer and a Katie. David had some very nice individual fish, including a 15Ib 8oz specimen and two others over 6Ib. Millshields has produced a lot of fish this last week for many fly anglers – patterns catching have included Dawson’s Olive, Black Fritz, Orange Fritz, Zulu, Bibio and Black Spiders. Multi-bait anglers have found the Hunter House area to be the most productive, with ledgered orange power-bait eggs and magic dust the best bait. Lots of limit bags have been recorded with a good number of fish over the 3Ib mark landed.

Fontburn Reservoir

01669 621 368

The North shore and the dam wall area have been the two hot spots this week, with trout being taken on all methods. Fly, spinning and ledgered bait tactics have all proved very effective. Over 40 trout were recorded on the “Big Fish” register this week – the best weighed in at 8Ib 8oz caught by Alan Dodds, Alan was fishing with his wife Carol on a couples permit and they ended their day’s fishing with a 12-fish bag weighing 33Ib. J D Hancock took an eight-fish limit bag weighing 19Ib 8oz his best fish weighed 6Ib 6oz and J Russell took a very good limit bag weighing 25Ib. Spinning tactics of late have proved very effective, especially during the blustery conditions when fly casting has been difficult, and small Mepp type lures in gold have proved the most successful.

Sharpley Springs/Waters

0191 581 8045

Some big catches this last week, and leading the charge was Peter Appleby, netting 90 fish in four visits. Glen Appleby returned 35 in two visits; Paul Fenny returned 32 fish; Colin Johnson returned 22; Graham Peart caught 21 and John Armstrong & Simon Gaines both landed 18. Best individual fish weighed 16Ib 11oz, caught by Dave Robson, with Dave Wise netting a cracker of 10Ib. Top patterns have included Olive Shipman’s, Black Shuttlecock Buzzers, Hawthorn, Black Gnat, Daddies and GRHE.

Witton Castle Lakes

01388 488 691

It’s been another tremendous week’s fishing down at Witton Castle, with some superb top-of-the-water action. Some notable catches went to J Walker & Son from Bishop Auckland who returned over 50 trout between them – their best was well into double figures. D Storey returned 19 fish, including a fantastic brown trout estimated at 9Ib, and N Erwin was more than happy with his day’s fishing after returning 14 fish, including two doubles of 14Ib and 11Ib. The fishery’s tagged fish competition is still running and the bounty on the fish’s head is now up to over £380, so don’t forget to get involved with that when you visit the fishery. That this fishery now has a bait lake which is fishing very well, as the rod average of over six fish per angler indicates.

Jubilee Lakes

01388 772 611

Lots of top-of-the-water action this last week, with Hawthorne patterns accounting for lots of trout to the net. Any other pattern that’s leggy and black has also been well worth a try. Black CDC Shuttlecock’s, Shipman’s, and standard Black Buzzers have also caught well. If you have needed to go sub-surface a Dawson’s Olive has been the best pattern. A few nice specimens have been weighed in, including the best of the week caught by Keith Pearson from Bishop Auckland, a rainbow of 9Ib 10oz caught on a Dawson’s Olive. Christopher Noble netted a cracker weighing 6Ib 11oz, Jeff Fryer from Stokesley was hot on his heels with his rainbow weighing 6Ib 1oz, and Thomas Bell from Shildon was more than happy with his trout weighing 5Ib 5oz.

Chatton Fishery

01688 215 226

It’s all been natural patterns for the most part this week that have caught all the fish. Try the likes of Hawthorns, Black Ants, Hoppers, Black Buzzers, Bloodworm, CDC, Bibio and GRHE, to name but a few. The best fish of the week tipped the scales at 15Ib 8oz caught by a very happy Les Repath from Berwick. Les caught this beauty from the fishery’s new ‘Dunnydeer’ lake on a GRHE. Other notable catches this week went to Trevor Wadds from Craster, Bill Potter from Morpeth and Michael Hall from Cramlington, who landed 14 trout each. David Todd from Gateshead and Derrick Brown from Shington both netted 12 fish, and Steve Billbrough from Cramlington, D Ferrow from Blyth and Peter Kerr from Longhorsley caught 10 fish each.

Sleekburn Water

07956 387 704 or 07981 185 531

It’s been a very windy week in this part of the world, so footfall has been down a little on previous weeks. But that said the trout don’t seem to mind, and those anglers who have braved the conditions are still catching well. Top tactics have been a floating line with a long leader, fished with patterns such as Buzzers, Bloodworm, Diawl Bach, Damsels, Montana, Grey Dusters, Grey Wulf and Hoppers. One angler who is well worth a mention is 14-year-old Bradley Macie, who has visited the fishery twice of late. He has listened to what Peter has told him at the fishery on what flies to use and has netted six fish.

Langley Dam

01434 688 846

Two nice rainbows were landed this last week both by the same angler – Gary Nicholson with fish of 7Ib 4oz and 7Ib. The best three- fish bag weighed in at 14Ib 12oz caught by D Passmoor, with Walter Robson having a very busy four-hour session landing 27 fish. Top flies over the week have included Hawthorns, Bibio, Katie’s, Black Midge, Hoppers and Buzzers. Anglers please note that the fishery has a club booking today from 8am to 4pm; evening tickets will be available as usual.

Caistron Fishery

01434 609 725

Sport continues to be very good at this fishery with the wind not spoiling the action at all. Even on a very windy day you can always find a sheltered spot at this fishery, so bear that in mind if you are looking for a day’s fishing and it is blustery. Catches of note this last week went to A Scott with a cracking 14Ib 4oz rainbow; Andy Kamber returned 16 fish; John Brown returned 12, including a nice specimen weighing over 7Ib; and G Morgan had a busy few hours netting five fish, his best 4Ib 8oz. The fishery has seen a big stocking this week, so expect more top-class action. Top patterns have included Bloodworm, Buzzers, Diawl Bach, Damsels, GRHE, PTN, Shipman’s, CDC, Hoppers and Daddies.

Aldin Grange Lakes

0191 384 6090

It’s been a steady week at this fishery with both lakes producing lots of action. Some good hatches are coming off, and a lot of the sport is right off the top. Patterns working well have included Mayfly, Sedge, Hawthorne, CDC, Shipman’s, Buzzers and Bloodworm, all fished on a floating line. The fishery has seen another big stocking this week of trout, mainly in the 2Ib to 5Ib size. The Greys International Team Event was held last week at the fishery and the winning team was that of Blythe Palmer with a total of 22 fish.

South Linden Fishery

01670 788 366

It has been a challenging week’s fishing on both lakes, with trout for the most part lying deep and wanting to chase anything pulled too quickly. So fly anglers have found a sunk line fished with patterns such as Green Dancers, Cats Whiskers, Yellow Fritz and Dawson’s Olives to be the best of the lures. If the trout have come up in the water and started to feed on naturals, try Black Buzzers, Diawl Bach, Bloodworms and CDC Emergers. A few notable catches over the week went to C Tuck from Ashington who returned six fish; G Maddison from Bedlington also returned six fish while W Morgan from Ashington caught and returned four trout. The bait lake has produced fish, but again trout are lying deep so ledgered tactics have proved best, with a mixture of worm and maggot the best bait. South Linden is to hold a BIG FISH week from June 11-18. Watch this space for more details or go to the fishery’s website.