Thursday 31st May

A rather different early morning that what we've been used to for the last week or so, over clouded and light misty rain. With a reasonable westerly wind (towards the cafe).
However these conditions aren't the best for us anglers its without a doubt the best fish catching weather we've had for some time, a lot cooler and cloud cover for a change, because of this there are currently a lot more fish showing near the surface.

UPDATE:
The mist has cleared and a few more anglers now out on the water using different methods.
The rain has settled in but not too heavy, the conditions are good with cloud cover and still quite mild although it is alot cooler than it has been over the last few days.

Tightlines,
Nathan

Float-tube & kayaks!

We now allow float-tubes for day ticket anglers, and kayaks for members only.
Please Ring to book before coming down as we have a limitation on how many tubes/kayaks can be used in a day.

One member John Donohue has already taken advantage of this, and he brought his "double kayak" down for a few hours fishing.
(photos below).

Tight Lines
Nathan

Wednesday 30th May

Weather wise its much cooler here today, with a slight westerly wind, 3mph currently but will pick up to 5-6mph later according to the forecast.
Plenty of cloud cover, however its still very mild, but much better conditions today than over the last few days.
Few more fish showing near the surface now the sun has been concealed behind the low clouds.

The fish will still be pretty deep though in theory as the top 6ft of water is around 16-17degrees.
Sinking lines still recommended until later on in the evening & early morning when the fish head towards the surface when its a little cooler.

The air temperature is too reach a maximum of 21degrees today as the forecast states.
With some possible mist and light rain towards midday.

The weather from today and over the weekend is supposed to be consistant, although it might cool down a little by sunday afternoon. Saturday the sun will be making an appearence around midday but mostly low cloud cover over the next few days, with the odd bit of light rain.

A nice video to watch if your stuck at work or to wet your appetite for a few casts yourself.
(although it is fly fishing in Newzealand, its still a relaxing enjoyable video to watch).
Click me!

A complete flat calm now at curleys. (9:30am).

To prove me wrong the fish seem to be coming closer to the surface, the temp has dropped slightly along with the westerly wind, and fish are now being caught much nearer to the surface, 4-5ft down. On mainly Buzzers.
Tight Lines
Nathan

Tuesday 29th May Update*

A little cooler today than it has been with a few fish coming out to various methods, buzzers and nymphs.
The good old dwial bach is the fish catching fly of the week, with the pink egg fly a close second!
(fished static under a indicator).

Member Gary Stanley has done well in a few hours earlier with 2 fish to his net. To a Pearl Holographic Buzzer, fished about 12ft down.
Another Member Jim McGinley has also caught 2 early morning.

A nice fish for Member Gary Stanley taken to a Pearl Holographic Buzzer.

The fish will be very deep, the water temperature is mild and the fish will be lethargic and nearer to the bottom of the lake than the top. Fast sinking line or intermediate (allow to sink to various depths).
Slow retrieve and deep, later on as the temperature cools down and the sun starts to set, the fish should come up to feed nearer the surface, in this case a floating line will come into its own.

More of a breeze today, which is a refreshing westerly around 5-6mph.

A sightly colder day here at Curleys with a near perfect westerly breeze creating a nice ripple across the lake.

Some young coarse anglers gave the small lake a run for its money, with 7 roach a piece to pink and white maggots.

A rare sight on curleys blog, a picture of the smaller coarse lake.

Mixed Species in the small lake, including Carp, Bream, Roach and Perch.
A tub of maggots and a simple whip is all thats needed to catch some nice little roach and possibly the chance of a nice carp or two!

Tight Lines,
Nathan

Tuesday 29th

Hard work for all those fly fishing yesterday but most caught. Bright hot weather suddenly appearing will always put fish down and keep them very lethargic.

Todays prospects are better, much cooler and overcast. These conditions should trigger a good hatch of buzzers and hopefully the fish will follow them up to the surface. If not then it's still intermediate/medium sinker time.

Monday 28th May & Sundays report

Sunday 27th May Report

Morning seems to be the best fish catching time, with most anglers reporting more catches early morning.
Quite a few anglers out on the water yesterday, with some good bags amoungst them.
The most caught by a single angler, was 7 trout to a Pink Egg fly fished under a indicator!
Just goes to show often a fly that the trout have rarely seen before, can do well on the right day.

Monday 28th May

Another warm day here at curleys, a slight easterly wind, most of the lake is a flat calm currently.
Very few fish showing near the surface, the water is rather warm, roughly 16 degrees 5ft down.
So in theory the fish will be deeper than 5ft, sinking line and a team of buzzers will work well on a day like today. Dwial Bachs/general Nymphs possibly fished as a team with a bouyant fly on the point, the "washing line" method on a sinking line will cover different depths.

A lot of midges about currently, but very few fish taking them near the surface. Try similar imitations but deep, and fished on a slow retrieve. The trout will be feeding but nearer to the cooler depths than near the surface.

Interesting video to watch:
Bloodworms and how they act in the water!


Plenty of suncream and sunglasses are a must, its going to be another warm day!

Tight Lines,
Nathan

A very warm Saturday evening.

Anglers today have been faced with very hot conditions (air temp peaking 22degrees out of the wind), and because of this have had to work for their catch.
Various methods have been successful today, all fish have been caught between 6-15ft over the last 2 days.
So although they are rising occasionally they will be shooting back down to the depths.

A nice Bow for Mr Ian Harwood, a well deserved capture. Caught to a cats whisker.

Its starting to cool now here at Curleys, with the sun closing in on the tree line.
A classic evening rise on the cards? A possible switch to floating line and dries!

Tight Lines,
Nathan

Saturday 26th May

Its looking very good for today, cooler than it has been, with a fresh wind blowing easterly. Roughly 10mph. Few fish showing near the surface, however with the surface temperature cooler early morning, the fish will be closer to the surface than in the middle of the day when the sun gets up and warms up the surface layers.

Member Jim McGinley has netted the one fish already (7:30am).

Sinking lines are a must around mid day, with the surface temperature reaching 15 degrees.

Another Beautiful day here at Curleys Trout Fishery!

The weather has warmed up alot over the last hour or so, sinking lines and buzzers are the way forward.

A few Midge hatches taking place, no doubt the trout are feeding on them deeper down.
A good imitation of this would be the follow two flies, or similar to the flies below:
(Olive, black and red buzzers etc)

Epoxy Olive and Black Buzzer.

Evening UPDATE:
As the weather starts to cool down, towards late evening, fish will start showing themselves.
With the heat and temperatures rising during the day, the fishing goes quite. Anglers fishing medium/fast sinking lines and working the depths have been rewarded, A couple of anglers doing well (conditions considered) with a few reported catching 2-3 fish on a four hour ticket.

It will be a classic evening rise tonight i would imagine, as the temperature cools, and the sun starts to settle behind the tree line. Ive seen alot of midges about today, this is the most common food source for the trout at this time of year. With the odd appearence being made from black/brown sedges.

Tight Lines,
Nathan

Friday 25th May

Another Scorcher!

Over the last few days, as the water has warmed up, it seems as if the fish has gone a lot deeper.
Sinking lines, and find the thermocline layer (the correct layer of water where the temperature balance is perfect for trout.). This Thermocline layer can exist at any depth within the lake, with the sun directly penetrating the water, this will push the thermocline layer down towards the cooler depths.

The fish will still be feeding, but alot deeper than usual. The odd fish will show itself on the surface or just under, and quickly return to the depths. Very rarely on days like we've had lately, do the fish stay near the surface. This doesn't rule out dries! The trout will always be on the look out for insects landing or hatching within the surface film.

Looking promising for this weekend, the weathers warm and dry and the wind is minimal.

Sinking lines and a team of buzzers or nymphs will catch more fish while the weather is bright and hot.

Quick note to anglers:
Please be aware that we have a 100% barbless/debarbed hook only policy that exists here at curleys.
Barbless or De-Barbed hooks only, on both the trout lake and the smaller coarse lake.
Any Persistent offenders will be asked to leave the fishery.
On a More positive note, we have replenished our fish net dipping station, so please before you commence fishing, dip and shake your net within this container for 10 or so seconds.

Thanks and tight lines,
Nathan

Thursday 24th May

The weather is again, hot and virtually no wind.
The air temperature is currently pushing 20 degrees!
Similar conditions to yesterday, cool westerly breeze, around 5mph.
Fish are coming out to mainly surface flies today, although i would imagine around midday the fish will be deeper, as the sun is almost at a direct angle, penetrating the waters surface.

UPDATE:
Bailiff Geoff has netted an impressive 9 fish, to a "Indicator Fly".
Dwial bachs doing well, although around midday with these conditions the fishing can go quite, early mornings and evenings fish the best. Just as the temperature starts to drop later on, the fish can go on a feeding frenzy, sedge patterns have done well later on. Always be on the move, try into the wind, then work your way around the lake to find pockets of feeding fish.
Lots of sedges and daddies about, with it being a westerly wind a few daddies are being blown on the surface of the water, from the fields prior to Curleys.

Below i have uploaded a picture of this "Indicator Fly".



Why its working? Possibly looks like a small fry in the surface. What ever it looks like the trout are going crazy for this fly today!



 Tight Lines,

A rather Sun Burnt bailiff.

Wednesday 23rd May

Very warm here at curleys, the water temperature has increased slightly, bringing alot of hatches on within the last few hours.
The catch rate has started to increase as the fish acclimatise to the changeable weather.

Killing patterns = Diwal Bach, Olive buzzer and Olive Goldhead Nomad.

Later on in the day, fish have been rising to dry flies towards pontoon 2 (towards the cafe).
A refreshing cold breeze from the west is currently present, although it does die off, leaving the lake a virtually flat calm at times.

Make sure to bring plenty of sun cream!, and of course a decent pair of polarised Sunglasses.

An unusual catch to a goldhead hares ear (pictured below).
Caughted by a very suprised Member Gary Stanley.

Tightlines
Nath

Tuesday 22nd May

Excellent weather, for the first time this years its possible to fish in a t-shirt!
No extra layers, no thermals!
The catch rate is starting to pick up now as the fish acclimatise to the current conditions, with most anglers catching between 2-5 fish per session.
The Catches should start coming thick and fast now as the trout start to take advantage of the amount of insect life across the lake.

I'm looking forward to getting a line wet myself tomorrow!
A team of buzzers, possibly fished on a intermediate line depending on how strong and bright the sun will be.

A lot of fish rising across the lake, but this doesn't always mean their within the top few feet, trout, unlike coarse species, tend to go a little deeper with bright conditions.

Natural flies will always catch more fish in this weather! More hatches happening day by day.

Tight lines, and im sorry there isn't a photo today, both myself and Geoff have been busy tackling the grass cutting!

Look forward to seeing plenty of blog viewers/Anglers out on the water, to take advantage of this weather!

Nathan

Monday 21st May update*

It has been a beautiful day weather wise, the suns been out and fish of all species have been caught!

Top Rods:
Member Gary Stanley with 4 fish to a green and black buzzer.
Mr Ian Bowker netted 4 fish to a mixture of A Elk hair sedge, and a Diawl Bach.

With a General Rod average of 2.8 fish per angler.

Iminative patterns taking most fish today, alot of hatches have been present as the day has gone on.
Midges mainly. However Sedge, hawthornes and daddys have also been available to the trout today.

Tightlines and the forecast continues to look good for the rest of the week, which is a nice change!

Nathan

Monday 21st May

Finally some decent weather, not just today but according to the forecast all week! Once the fish get used to these new conditions then it should fish very well. Guaranteed floating line tactics? Let's hope so!

Sunday 20th May

What a great day for fly fishing. Hardly any wind just a slight intermittent breeze, cloud cover and much milder temperature than of recent.
With the lake having been stocked this week I'll be very surprised if someone doesn't end up with a "red letter" day today.
Fish are gently rising all over the lake and this will increase as the day progresses peaking from noon to about 3 ish I would guess.

Update
Fish still surprisingly deep - successful anglers on an intermediate or slow sinker. The fish may migrate more towards the surface as the day progresses and there are a few fish coming up to buzzers but only in isolated spots.

Coarse Lake

Something a little different! Carp to the fly!

A chunky little common carp, caught on maggot? bread? corn? No! a White egg fly!
It weighed in at 4lbs 2oz, one of the carp at home in the Small Coarse fishing lake.

Never been caught before and it was in perfect condition! On a 5 weight rod and line, i played it for about 2 minutes. My first carp to the fly so i thought i would share that with Curleys Blog viewers.

The Trout are also starting to wake up as its getting towards late evening, lots of hawthornes about and the easterly wind, without a doubt be blowing a few onto the surface, a easy meal for a hungry trout.

Tight Lines!
Nathan

Saturday 19th May

The conditions are looking good for today, a few anglers already out on the water, bright and early!
Yesterday fish were caught to cats and a olive zonker pattern.
The wind is a decent south-easterly, creating a ripple across the lake, but its only around 9-10mph.

With recently introduced trout ready to be caught today should be a good day for catch returns, weather permitting.

Anglers adopting various methods at Curley's today, some fishing nymphs, dries and lures.
I will update soon to see which is the best working method for today!

UPDATE:
The winning method upto now seems to be a green & black fritz, fished at a reasonable pace about 3-4ft down.
Very few fish showing near the surface, try a slow sinking line and working the depths.
Member Jim McGinley has netted 2 trout so far, to black and green fritz, and a white and green montana.
Bailiff Geoff landed 3 trout, to suspender buzzers.
Mr Krajci had the one fish to a blonde deer hair sedge pattern.

Mr Rick Mather playing his second trout (pictured below):

Mr Andy Hurst has just recently arrived and caught a nice Blue of around 5lb! Good Angling!
Caught to a Small Black Gnat. Now the suns starting to show, hatches are beginning to take place.

Tight lines,
Nathan

Prospects for Friday 18th

With newly stocked fish, and  a decent weather forecast of dry with a fairly reasonable westerly winds about the prospects for Friday are looking good.
The new fish will be looking up for trout pellets and the resident fish will be more active because of the "invasion" of  the interlopers - all in all a lot more activity should be around on the lake.

Even though we have stocked there won't be any hotspots - keep on the move and try different depths, speed of retrieves and different flies and you should be rewarded.

Stocking

Todays stocking has now taken place with a mixture of Bows and Blues.
Plenty of perfect trout to be caught!

Heres a quick photo of the stocking taking place.

Average size 21/2lb, with some nice 3lb-4lb+ bows/blues.

The fish are in fighting fit, clean and fully finned condition, waiting for that odd looking fritz to come flying past its vision!

Note: In the picture you will notice a small brown trout that found its way into the stock ponds.
This has found its way into the stocking pond from either upstream or downstream within the river system of the farm.

Tight Lines
Nathan

Thursday 17th May

The wind has completely died down here at Curley's, a virtual flat calm, with some light rain. (7:45AM).
The wind has been strong over the last couple of days, and its made casting difficult.
A lot of fish showing on the top, nearer to the surface than they have been.

A flat calm at Curleys, a rare sight!

We are stocking today with a mixture of both Bows and Blues.
Our average stocking size is 21/2lb with some surprises thrown in for the lucky angler!
We also have a Brand New set of weighing scales for Anglers to weigh their catch in!
(just ask the bailiff to set it up if you wish to weigh your catch).

New scales now available at Curleys!

Tight lines!
Nathan

Stocking on thursday!

A fresh batch of fully finned bows and blues will be making curleys their new home tommorrow.
As usual the standard stocking size of 21/2lb will be making up the bulk of the introduction, with a percentage of fish between 5-7lb.
Photos will be uploaded as taken from 10:30am.

How the americans do it!
Interesting video to watch, a company in america and how they stock a water!

Tightlines,
Nathan

Wednesday 16th May

Its looking much better today, weather wise.
Cloud cover, with the odd display from the sun.
The wind is minimal westerly, creating a near perfect ripple across the lake.

Fish have started to show themselves close to the surface, unlike over the last few days when the wind got up to 30+mph.

UPDATE:
Bailiff Geoff has netted two fish up to now, to a yellow dancer. A nice fish of 31/2lb also.
Member John Donohue has landed the one fish to a gold head dwial bach.
Few fish showing near to the surface, they seem to be showing a lot more after a small downpour.
The wind is still minimal, 5-6mph. Westerly.

Team of naturals vs a team of lures!
Most of the time a lot of anglers opt for a combination of lures, or a single lure, this can catch fish most of the year round however, you will, without doubt catch more fish if you opt for a natural set up.
Team of buzzers or nymphs etc.
A lot of fish will be feeding around this time of year, almost constantly through out the day, on various aquatic invertebrate. Find depth at which they are feeding and you will have a very successful day.
Try general imitative patterns such as the dwial bach, a standard black buzzer or a cruncher pattern, to cover a few options for the trout. Fish slow, virtually static, at different depths. This will bring you more fish at Curleys as its full of fly life this time of year.


Tight lines,
Nathan

Tuesday

The wind has died down alot from yesterday, roughly 10mph gusts, westerly.
A mixture of weather, rain, sunshine and the odd bits of hail.
This is pushing the fish that little bit deeper than normal, very few showing near the surface, intermediate line and a team of buzzers/nymphs fished slowly through the layers.

Lets hope for better weather over the next few days.

The wind is forecast to die down as the week progresses, but remaining westerly.
Those that brave the wind and rain will be rewarded, as Member Phill Reese proved yesterday with 5 fish to his net, all to dwial bachs.

New Net Dip - Please dip your net before commencing fishing.
See here for details

Tightlines
Nathan

Monday

Not bad weather wise today, suns out with the odd bit of cloud cover about.
However the wind is quite strong, westerly. Couple of anglers already out on the water braving the winds.
Its very important in a decent wind to watch your casting, ive seen alot of anglers casting with the wind at their casting arm which can be dangerous, as the wind will blow the line back towards your body.

Your Casting arm must be downwind, so if your right handed, your left arm should be into the wind, and your right arm downwind, so the line and hooks! dont come flying towards you.

Slow sinking line to get through the wind, and a team of buzzers fished slow (virtually static), so maybe a bouyant fly on the point to keep your flies away from any weed beds.

Midges are the most common form of trout food here at curleys so try imitating them in their earlier stages closer to the lake bed. The larvae stage, which ranges from minute to 2cm in length and in vary in colour, black, grey, green and red. The red larvae otherwise known as Bloodworms can be easily imitated as there as lots of patterns available to do so.

Click here to see how bloodworms move!
[Handy little video off youtube to show the size and movement of some live bloodworms]

(Picture taken Sunday 13th) - Mr Paul Parsons with a nice bow, a little dried out in the sun however.
A good bass bag will resolve this problem, you can then easily attach the bag to the jettys or to the bank side.

UPDATE:
Member Phil Reese netted 5 fish over all to dwial bachs.
Member Jim McGinley has the one fish to a olive zonker.

Tightlines
Nathan

Sunday 13th May

A reasonable day weatherwise - still a little bit of a chill in the Westerly wind.
Changeable conditions have quietened the fish a bit and sent them a little deeper. Not the easiest of fishing at present - a bit of imagination and patience is required. Try something different and don't rely on the "old" tried and tested method you would usually employ - cause the chances are it won't work!!!
I would be using a Di3 with a team of buzzers and a slow figure of eight retrieve but then would be willing to change and  more importantly move about a lot!

Saturday

Weather wise its looking good today, clear skies, with the odd bit of cloud cover about, a fairly strong westerly wind, around 10-15mph gusts.
Ive not seen many fish rising this morning, so i recommend searching the depths, intermediate or slow sinking line to get down.
A few anglers out on the water, bright and early, so i will keep the blog updated on their catch returns.
Its the first time for a while that we've had a westerly wind, for the last week or so its been mostly easterly, so i would imagine most of the fish would be sat on the end of the wind, towards the coarse lake/cafe.

As the weather warms up expect a few hatches to take place!
Find the right depth and you will find the fish!

UPDATE:
The wind has picked up slightly, the best spot upto seems to be Pontoon 7 / The south end of the damn wall casting towards Pontoon 7.
The odd fish coming to the net now, With a Member Netting 2 fish to a Brown Sedge pattern, slowly brought back, figure of eight, throught the surface waves.
Mr Mark Cliff has just landed a nice 3lb bow to a orange headed okey doky.
Mr Robert Krajci has netted two fish upto now both to dries.



Tightlines
Nath

Friday 11th May

Today is a bit blustery with the wind coming over in gusts from the West. Hopefully things will improve over the weekend.
Still some Hawthorn flies about - this normally only lasts about 2 weeks and they have been about for at least a week now so not much longer to go. Normally in July we get the Heather Flies about, these look very much like the Hawthorn fly but have red legs and can trigger a good feeding frenzy if they get blown onto the lake.

Black Gnats & Hawthorns

The Lake is surrounded by small Black Gnats, in their hundreds!
Just as the rain has stopped, creating damp and mild conditions, they have appeared in huge numbers.

A simple Black Gnat imitation fished on a long leader (floating line), grease/degrease the leader up correctly and you should be in for a good session.

The rain has stopped for the last hour, and the temperature has risen slightly, very mild.

Hawthorn flies have been about also today, a terrestrial insect found near bushes in May. The hawthorn is easily spotted as it flies very slowly, almost cumbersome with its long black legs hanging beneath it.

The Hawthorn is a weak flier and can easily get blown onto a river or lake where the trout absolutely adore it. An essential fly near hawthorn bushes in May!

- NOTE TO ANGLERs -
The Net dip is now in full working order, so please, on every visit to curleys dip your net before commencing fishing. (large black container as you walk down the path near Pontoon 2#, see picture below)
A quick dip/shake, no more than 10 seconds is all it takes to cleanse your net before fishing.

Thanks.

Net dip highlighted with a Red Circle. Click Image to Enlarge.

Tightlines,
Nath

Thursday

Its a rather wet start to the morning, however the rain seems to be dying off now, 8:45am.
The wind is a very calm easterly breeze causing a slight ripple across the lake.

The Fish will in theory be deeper today as the rain came down hard last night dramatically altering the surface temperature.
Find the Thermocline layer! and youve found the fish!

Intemediate line, long leader, and search the various depths til you find the fish zone.

UPDATE:
The water temp is surprisingly mild at around 8.5 degrees.
The Trout are proving me wrong, and they seem to be within the top few feet feeding on hatching midges after the wet conditions last night.

Tightlines,
Nath

Wednesday

Virtually a flat calm across the entire lake today, fish topping all over the lake.
Fish caught up to now to Black Gnats.
When the water is a complete flat calm, its very important to correctly de-grease and grease up your leader material as to hide it from the trout vision. (dry fly).

Mild conditions today, lets hope the weather stays consistent over the next few days to allow the fish to acclimatise.
With the weather constantly changing, the trout sometimes tend to be very quite and not feed as confidently as they should this time of year. Consistent weather for a few days or even a week will see an explosive catch rate.

Curleys has and will remain a very natural water, the varied amount of insects both aquatic and terrestrial is excellent for such a small reservoir. With the surrounding foliage providing excellent cover for terrestrials, and (in parts) a soft silty like bottom, which is ideal for the initial stage of many aquatic invertebrate.

Team of buzzers or nymphs will catch your more fish at Curleys, however on the right day the trout can be very aggressive and chase brightly coloured blobs or fritz's.

Orange blob or Tiger Buzzer? that is the question!

Tightlines,
Nathan

Tuesday update

Some nice fish being caught now by Member Jim McGinley, Mostly to zonkers including a nice 3 1/2lb bow and a couple of nice 2.5lb bows.
The fish are still feeding on small roach later on in the evenings and these fish must be attracted to Jims olive zonker because of the previous nights roach feeding frenzy.

21/2lb Bow taken to a Olive Zonker, fished no more than 3 feet down.

Tightlines,
Nathan

Tuesday

The weathers excellent, cloudy with the occasional appearence from the sun.
Suprisingly mild with a slight easterly wind.

A virtual flat calm across curleys today.

Few anglers out on the water already.

After a heavy down pour last night the coarse lake has become a little murky. The inlet from the small lake into the large lake is flooding through, and a few trout seem to be cruising along the edges of where the slightly more coloured water meets the clear (a few metres from the inlet). The fish seem to be rising here, possibly feeding on some form of food that is flowing through to the trout lake.

Inlet from the small coarse lake to the large trout lake, rain has clouded the water from the small lake, although the large lake remains clear.

Fish rising across the lake again, both myself and Geoff have seen fish still feeding on small roach! Later on in the day.
Roach imitations?

Tightlines,
Nathan

Bank Holiday Monday

The weather seems to be holding off for now, small rain showers every now and then.
Easterly wind blowing at roughly 10mph, again because it is a easterly wind most of the lake is sheltered, so casting shouldn't be a issue.

A few Anglers out on the water today, including Mrs Shelly Avis and her Son Oliver Avis, who is currently in the EYFA (England youth fly fishers association).
Young Oliver did well to lures striped back using the "Roly-Poly" method.

The EYFA is a excellent association, and one i used to be a part of myself.
If your between 12-17 years, and into your fly fishing, i recommend fishing the try outs, you will learn so so much while within the EYFA. Its an enjoyable learning curve, you meet some excellent anglers from all over the country.

A photo taken on a earlier date that i forgot to upload.
Gary Stanley with another nice bow!

Tightlines,
Nathan

Excellent day!

Tony Rimington has had a good day along with others.
Below is his bag limit.

Caught mostly to lures, however in the last hour the fish have switched on to a hatch, with a bang!
Even the roach are joining in on the feeding frenzy.

Tightlines,
Nath

Sunday

With a nice start to the day, with temperatures climbing earlier on. The sun has disappeared now and the temperature has dropped, however this doesnt seem to be putting the fish off.

Fish caught to dries! Buzzers and general lure patterns.
Some nice fish caught today, with the odd 3.5lber coming out.

Stuart Makinton has had 1 upto now to a dry.
Tony rimington has netted 2 fish to lures.
Keith Bridge landing 2 fish upto now.
Nat Seddon has also netted 2 fish.

The fish seem to be feeding still quite close to the surface, when the sun comes out you can physically see fish feeding in the flat calms towards pontoon 3.
(see our new, simplified water map).

Catch update

Overall today catch rates have been lower than what they have been over the last week, with the extremely cold and frosty weather last night and the changeable conditions through-out today. The trout have been harder to catch today.

Although some anglers did well with a rod average of 2.1 overall.

Not as many fish feeding today, with the cold temperatures.

Todays top angler - Mr Pat Brown with 6 fish to his net!

(My Poor photo taking skills make this look like a much smaller fish) A 2lb bow taken to a black buzzer. Small but i was inform it fought very well!

Although im out on the water as i type this waiting for a aggressive trout or two to chase a shoal of roach.
The norm over the last few days, as the sun lowers, the trout have been chasing roach shoals, almost in the same way in which dolphins work together to shoal up some fish and work together to catch an afternoon snack, brilliant to watch!
Seeing is believing and im working on uploading a video of such events!

Tightlines,
Nathan

Saturday morning

The weather is much better than forecast, a slight north-easterly breeze, with the sun out it will soon warm up. Cold start to the morning but the fish are still showing across the lake, a few midges coming off the water, as the weather warms up a little im sure we will see more hatches as the day progresses.

Few anglers out on the water already, all fishing various methods, sinking line teamed with lures, and floating line with suspender buzzers, a few fish hooked but nothing landed as of yet (8:30am).

Search the depths first thing, the cold wind may put them that little bit deeper, but they will still be looking up for their food i would imagine, as alot of terrestrials have been landing over the surface on the warmer days.

UPDATE:
Mr Pat Brown has had two fish upto now on a slow sinking line, fishing a single fly, a black & green fritz.
Few anglers catching now and the fish seem to be waking up as the temperature warms.


Tightlines,
Nath

Coarse lake roach

Heres a quick photo taken of Young Jamie with a nice roach, caught while fishing the small coarse lake.

Jamie showing off one of his many roach caught on thursday. White and Red maggots!

Plenty of fish in the coarse lake, packed full with small roach and the occasional carp.
With the odd perch caught every now and then.

Tightlines,
Nathan

Friday 4th May

Not a bad looking day, we still have that North Easterly wind  that has been present for the last few days but at least is it only a slight breeze now giving a gentle ripple.

Some good catches yesterday most notable was Fred Marsh and Mr Woodwood with 14 fish between them. Everybody caught yesterday and with some surprising tactics, stripping a muddler through the surface was one successful method.
Should be another good fly fishing day today.

On the coarse lake we had Jamie with his mum fishing with pink maggot and pulling roach out for fun - Some of them fairly good size as well.

Thursday

Its only 8:30am here at curleys and the signs are good for a excellent days sport.
The weathers warming up, the suns occasionally showing, and the wind is changeable, but only a light breeze.

Later on in the evening, myself and geoff witnessed an amazing display of trout chasing small roach very close to surface, dont underestimate the speed of a trout. Enormous swirls took place with small roach jumping out of the water to save themselves from becoming a trouts next meal. Trout were physically leaping out of the water in an attempt to grab themselves a small roach.
This is a excellent sign, as not only are the fish feeding on the usual buzzers hatches but also have switched into fry feeding mode, these fry feeding fish will put on weight quickly! Watching this take place 2-3ft from the bank is amazing.

I would recommend a team of buzzers as the weather warms up, and the trout are feeding on the usual hatches throughout the day, but i would be very tempted to cast a fish/roach pattern later on in the evening.

AFTERNOON UPDATE:
Member Gary Stanley has secured 5 bows to his net, and one around 4lb, to a suspender buzzer.
(apologises if i get the following names mixed up)
Mr Fred Marsh has had 3 trout mainly off the surface to black hoppers and boobies.
Mr N Woodward has netted 8 fish upto now with most of them taking black hoppers and black boobies slowly dragged across the surface to create a wake.

Rod average of 2.6 trout netted.
With some nice caught rates amoungst the twos and threes caught, excellent sport to dries as the evening gets later.

Tightlines,
Nath

Wednesday update

Its warming up! The suns out and the fish are heavily feeding just subsurface, as well as off the surface to very large black knats.
Floating line, long leader and a black knat imitation!

Fish all across the lake are slurping insects!

Get tackled up and get fishing curleys today, and make the most of this weather and the fishing!
Your first trout to the dry fly this year?

Tightlines!
Nath

Coarse fishing

Very rarely does the coarse pond get any mentions on the blog.
So here goes!

The lake is in prime condition today, clear water after a heavy down pour.
Small roach and a few perch can be seen very close to the surface.

This small lake is ideal for abit of sport, for adults and kids alike. The Common carp that has made the small lake its home has put on weight over the last 6 months, and its growing fast in size! I would put it around 5lb now which will test a light coarse fishing outfit.
Not many anglers know much about this lake, so in a nutt shell, its full of roach of decent sizes, its rarely fished so any coarse anglers in the area that take advantage of this will be heavily rewarded.
(you will honestly be suprised at the size and quality of these roach)

The same rules apply to the small lake as the trout lake barbless only!
Additional rules that apply to the small coarse pond only:

• Any Method, fly, coarse etc
• No ground baiting.
• Bait allowed - maggots, bread, sweetcorn and worms etc

A simply whip with a very basic set up, teamed with a tub of maggots and you simply cannot go wrong!

Click to zoom. Photo of the resident carp (small lake).

Tightlines!
Nathan

Wednesday

The wind has died completely down almost to a complete flat calm, the wind is north-easterly, creating a slight ripple across the lake.

If i was fishing curleys myself today i would be very tempted to fish along the damn wall, as the wind has been very strong yesterday and the previous days, and this was blowing easterly the majority of the time.
So i would imagine if the fish are playing by the book they will be nearer the damn wall.

Overclouded, no rain as of yet. Its forecast to brighten up later and warm up a little.

Geoff has had 2 bows to a orange and black fritz.

UPDATE:
The fish seem to be sitting deeper than they have been before the strong winds, therefore i would recommend a intermediate line and a team of buzzers, with possibly a booby or a blob on the point, to attract the aggressive fish.


Tightlines,
Nathan