Monday 28th April

End of April is in sight and still no traditional "April" showers! Not much of a problem for stillwater/reservoir fishing but some of our rivers are beginning to suffer. Curley's gets fed by a network of underground culverts that bring spring water into the reservoir and with its depth two if the reasons it does not suffer like other waters in droughts and very warm summers.

Fishing been on and off over the last few days, top rods recording 9 fish and on other days as few as 2 or 3 but that's fishing for you! The wind has at last turned to a soft Westerly and as a result things are warmer, which should trigger the top of the water action again.

The NW Nomads are holding a presentation by one of the North's good competition fly fishers, Nick Halstead.

Saturday 17th May in the Ivy Room at Curley's. It starts at 6.00pm. It's only £7.00 entry and includes a Hotpot supper.  Draught and bottled beers, wines and spirits available to purchase.
Should be an interesting and informative evening.

Friday 25th April

Such a different day from yesterday, the colder Easterly wind returned and kept the fish from rising freely like they were yesterday. As a result fishing was a little harder and very little dry fly action. Fish were still about however and the top rod was Jim McGinley with 6 fish upto 5lbs.
Buzzers are still the most successful flies and technique just let them drift around in the breeze.

Thurs 24th April

A beautiful day at the fishery. Warm sun and a gentle warm breeze.
This triggered a large buzzer hatch and a good hatch of sedges on the water.
I even wet a line myself and managed a few to a black G&H sedge.

One thing that is becoming a serious problem is the amount of discarded leader material being left all over the fishery.

The picture below was collected from just ONE pontoon in a day!!

This is NOT acceptable behaviour from anyone and goes against the values of all responsible fly fishers

So from now on I will be keeping a close eye on EVERYONE who is fishing and I will take action against the culprits. I have never banned anyone from Curley's ever but that might happen in the near future!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

Easter Monday

The easterly wind still persists but just a breeze today and a lot warmer. I would predict that it will be a good buzzer and possibly dry fly day!

Got an email from Rob Allen who was fishing yesterday

Hi Mike, 

Just wanted to let you know I finished up with 9 fine fish in the end (last one around 5/6lb on a dry, magic!) thanks again and I'll be back soon!!!

 Rob Allen

Sent from Samsung mobile

Don't forget the last day of the Easter permit offers 4hour permit allows you to fish for 6hours

Easter Saturday

Good Friday turned out to be very good for some especially when the wind died down a bit and the fish began to show at the surface.

Yesterday's wind has subsided to a breeze from the East and although the fish aren't as yet rising they are willing to tke buzzers just under the surface. Quite a few fish caught already this morning

 Gary from Coppul with a good Rainbow and Syke having a ganders!

Jim with a fiesty fish one of 5 this morning up till now and it's only 10am!!!

When the wind dies it will be good dry fly action, I'm sure!

17th April 2014

9 fish were caught earlier today despite the weather, on white fritz with a blue flash - don't let the weather put you off - the fish are still being caught!

Fish Galore!

Lots of fish being caught at Curley's, Ian Harwood has had over 30 fish from 3 short visits, Mick Stuart had 9 fish from a previous session and has been rewarded today with a good 5lbs over wintered Rainbow.
The fish are mostly just under the surface when the breeze is out but then are beginning to rise to large buzzer hatches in the calm.

EASTER BONUS

buy any 4 hour permit and fish for 6 hours

 - 2 hours FREE!!!

buy any 6 hour permit and fish for 8 hours 

- 2 hours FREE!!!

valid from Easter Thursday 17th April through to Easter Monday 21st April

Update
Day permit holders just left
One caught 6 fish ALL over 3lbs
One caught 7 fish from 2 1/2 upwards

Friday 11th April

Fishery all stocked (again!) and ready to go.
Prospects looking good for the weekend, decent weather and warmer water plus lots of fish equals very good sport!
Curley's has probably got a higher stocking level for this time of year than any other year in its history! What are you waiting for?

Black buzzers

Black buzzers are still doing the business here at Curley's but you need to have the right pattern.
There are loads of different buzzer patterns, skinny, epoxy, shipmans, shuttlecock, daiwl bachs, magic, etc etc but the one that is working the best is the epoxy buzzer with white breathers. This white feather replicates the external "lungs" of the insect.
In our fly selection we have our breathers tied extra long so that you can cut them down to what you want or more importantly what the fish are taking. Other insect patterns are also working but mainly in size 14's small nymphs and wets.

Thurs 3rd April

Buzzers galore

As I posted yesterday one of the reasons why Curley's is such a good buzzer water is the fact that there is a good layer of silt on the bottom of the lake which provides a good "nest" site for these little chironomids

 In the photo above you can clearly see this layer of silt, the bank closest, is where the soil from the little coarse lake was dumped and the silt here is at least 12ft deep! Also you can see on the top left of the photo, a drop off. This is covered by the top 3 pontoons and about 20ft from the end of the pontoons, an interesting feature when you are using a sinking line!!!

In this photo you can clearly see the now "famous" boat, a 17ft canal cruiser. When the lake was drained this appeared and as it was so badly worn out it could not be moved as it would just crumble under the weight. It is still there now about 30 ft from the end of the boat pontoon. You can also see how steep the bank is at that end. Again look at the silt in the basin of the lake.

Buzzers, daiwl bachs and an assortment of wets are catching fish all over the lake. The current winds are keeping the fish from rising freely but they are only just under the surface.

Nearly Spring?

Some great days fishing recently, especially Tuesday. One of those days when everybody on the water caught fish and lots of them, the rod average being just over 5 fish per rod per session. What made it even better was that quite a lot of them were on dries. There were some huge buzzers hatching all over the lake and the fish were making the most of it.
When conditions are right the buzzer fishing can be quite amazing. One of the main reasons is the amount of silt on the bottom of the lake especially at the cafe end.
Tomorrow I'll post some photos of the bottom of the lake from when it was drained in 2005 and you will be able to see the amount of silt dumped into the lake from when the small existing coarse lake was dug out. Also you will so the famous 'boat' that is submerged near the boat pontoon. So more tomorrow.......