Angling Report
The latest news from the banks and boats
| Report for week ending: 20th April, 2025 |
| Rod average : 7.18 |
| Best fish : 5lb 2ozs rainbow |
| Caught by : Mr. J. Hodges |
| From : South Lake, banks |
| Fly used : Diawl Bach |
| Best Dry Flies : Sedge (evenings) ; Hawthorn ; Black Hopper |
| Best Wet Flies/Nymphs : Black gnat ; black spider ; black & Peacock spider ; Bibio ; Diawl Bach ; black buzzer ; dark olive buzzer ; red buzzer ; Damsel nymph |
| Best Lures : white minkie ; black minkie ; Viva ; black & green taddy ; Appetiser ; blue flash damsel ; black & orange taddy |
| Best Areas : Boathouse Bay ; Ten Acre Bay ; Old Man’s ; Dougies ; Watery Lane ; Mary Lou’s ; Mickledale Bay |
Summary Report
Superb bank sport and busy days …
The week got off to a good start again with plenty of fish being caught although the weather has been cold with the wind predominantly in the east. On warmer days and late in the morning we have seen good hatches of buzzers which the fish have been feeding on – a lot of the fish that were taken and spooned contained buzzers of olive and black.
There was the first hawthorn fly seen on the bank and as the hawthorn is coming into flower, we should see a lot more coming off the ground.
There have been a good number of fish seen topping with some being caught on dry fly patterns.
Some notable catches this week include for day ticket angler Mr Steve Heath who caught 26 on lures ; visiting boat rods Mr. Sprung and Mr. Hockenhull with 53 to their boat ; syndicate angler Mr. Paul Schonau with 32 fish released ; syndicate bank angler Mr. Des Palmer with 31 ; syndicate angler Mr. Tony Smith recorded 28 fish from the bank ; visiting rod Mr. Ian Colclough returned 26 fish including a brown trout in just 4 hours from the bank; and our youngest Permit holder, Harry Sharrat, caught and released 42 fish on his own-tied fly known as “Harry’s Hammer”. On the 16th we hosted a bank meeting for some of the Nottinghamshire Police Fly Fishing team who produced a superb rod average of 18 between them!
Our busiest day this week was Thursday with a total of 52 rods fishing and 374 fish caught to give a rod average of 7.19.
Best flies are still lures of green and black, or white cats whiskers etc. Buzzers fished on washing line are also proving very successful. There have also been a few fish caught on dry fly patterns.
Best areas are Watery Lane, Dougie’s and Mary Lou’s mainly due to the wind blowing from that bank. However, there are fish all around the South Lake, still not far from the bank.
The North Lake remains open to Permit holders only until 1st May but the South Lake is open to all.
We will continue to stock on a weekly basis of 1000 fish.
Please note there is a site speed limit of 15 mph. It has been brought to our attention that a number of visitors are exceeding this particularly over the dam. This is a Health and Safety policy laid down by South Staffs Water as Blithfield is an operational site and it must be adhered to.
Our Loyalty Card scheme continues this year as does the Monthly Boat Draw.
New for 2025 is the chance for visiting anglers to purchase boat tokens in batches of 10 for a special price. Day or 4 hour tokens are available – ask us for further details or look out for the posters at the fishery.
We look forward to seeing you soon.
The rod average is 7.18