Curley's Fishery blog

6th Update

2012-03-06T15:43:00.003Z

Good day on the water for most of the anglers today, rod ave over 4 per session.
Best rod was Jack with 8 fish on a variety of methods but most if his success with a sinking line.
As I write this overlooking the lake from the window in the tackle shop I can see fish rising all along the embankment.

Prospects for tomorrow look better in the morning as there is a little bit of rain forecast mid afternoon.

Tightlines Mike

Tuesday 6th

2012-03-06T09:56:00.001Z

Great looking day, almost perfect conditions at the fishery. Very slight easterly wind blowing towards the dam wall just enough to put a gentle ripple on the water. Fish could be patrolling along the dam in these conditions. Certainly floating line tactics, Anything "Olive" seems to be the hot colour this week.

Monday's prospects

2012-03-05T09:17:00.003Z

Big improvement in conditions from yesterday, bright, quite a bit warmer. A good ripple on the water from a constant westerly but nothing like as strong as yesterday.
One guy currently fishing has had 3 fish to the net already using a floating line and Dawson's Olive.

Prospects for the rest of the day and week look pretty good.

Sunday update

2012-03-04T12:24:00.001Z

As predicted the weather has improved in so far as it is dry at least but still cold and with a cold westerly. However this has not put the fish off at all with the rod average being about 3 per rod with a couple or so good looking 3 and 4 pounders coming to the net.
Tactics have they have been all week - buzzers working well with a floating line or under an indicator.

Back to the future

2012-03-04T09:22:00.002Z

Well we seem to be back into winter again, cold and wet at present with a westerly wind coming over the embankment. The forecast says that this bad weather will blow over towards lunchtime and will get drier but probably not warmer.
Time will tell if this change has had any effect on the fish, you would think they will be a little deeper but still catchable.

Will update later on with catch returns

Anglers catching already!

2012-03-03T08:53:00.003Z

Its a rather damp day at curleys today (light rain), a massive change from yesterdays conditions. Still rather mild and the wind is minimal, still easterly. The damn wall seems to be the hot spot, with the easterly wind blowing against it, a rare sight on curleys.
The fish have switched on to midge hatches over the last few days, today seems to be no different, ive seen quite a few midges flying about already and a few fish seem to be taking them before they free themselves from the surface film.

Catch rates are looking good for today:
Jim McGinley has had two fish so far, to cats whisker pattern, floating line.
Patt Brown has also had two fish so far to a black fritz, off the damn wall, near to the outlet.

"I would recommend fishing with a team of buzzers today, as its still quite mild and the fish seem to be turning on to the readily available food source."

Quick reminder: Bookings now being taken for the casting clinic on the open weekend 17th & 18th March.

Friday update part 2

2012-03-02T14:43:00.001Z

Bit of an easterly has picked up but that hasn't deterred Mr Ruff and Mr Dar, who on their first visit to Curley's have "lost count on how many we've caught but it's at least 25 each"! and they are still going strong.
They have been picking up fish all around the lake but are presently in the corner of the embankment near the inlet/outlet and casting into the easterly wind.
It can very often work in your favour if you have the ability to cast into the wind. Double hauling technique is the obvious way to do this, keeping your loops as aerodynamic as your leader and flies will allow.

Friday update

2012-03-02T13:48:00.000Z

A few anglers on today top rod being Jim McGinley (who just never fails to catch fish) with 5 rainbows, 2 of them going to 5lbs.

Conditions pretty good - bit of a breeze just putting a good ripple on the water, the sun comes and goes as does the hatch of buzzers and therefore rising fish.
Prospects remain good for the weekend although drop in temperature and some rain forecast for Sunday.

Looking good for today

2012-03-02T07:59:00.000Z

On the surface it looked like a pretty good day for fishing yesterday but as it turned out it was quite difficult mainly due to the continual bright sunshine! Fish were caught but in ones and twos. When the sun was hidden in cloud a great buzzer hatch appeared but this didn't happen till about 1 o'clock and lasted about 2 hours. During that time I had a little fish myself and managed 3 rainbows in about a dozen casts.
My favourite method for buzzer hatches nowadays is the suspender buzzer and it nearly always seems to be the olive one that works the best at Curley's.
Start off by fishing it as a dry at the surface but then as it gets waterlogged fish it wherever it goes, normally about 4 to 5 inches below and this is when I get most of the takes. Sometimes you will see a take just like surface fishing but at other times just a swirl, either way great fun.

Prospects today look rather better with more cloud cover and just a ripple on the water. Buzzers should come out to play again at sometime during the day.

Thursday Update

2012-03-01T09:58:00.002Z

Glorious day for fishing, the sun is shining, the lake is calm just a very gentle ripple and it's just been stocked. What more can you ask for???
Prospect should be good for today and the rest of the week. Very good catch return yesterday just about a 4 fish rod average.

Fishing Mania

2012-02-29T14:40:00.001Z

One of those days! It seems like nothing can go wrong today for those fishing - very good conditions, if anything a little too calm but when the breeze picks up the fish are rising and giving some excellent dry fly fun. Buzzers of almost any description and colour are working - skinny, epoxy and bloodworm below, shipmans, shuttlecock and suspender on top.

Joe Holten above had a great day or should I say a great 3 hours - 12 fish - no wonder he has a smile on his face - who wouldn't??

Good quality fish stocked again to day - lovely looking Blues mixed in with the Rainbows.

Mid week update

2012-02-29T10:06:00.001Z

Absolute flat calm on the lake today, fish rising all over the lake, quite warm but a bit misty at present but that will go soon enough.
Just waiting for the fish to be delivered as I write this. Sometimes new fish "bed" in straight away on other occasion it may take a couple of days. However a new intake normally make the established fish more active as they realise that there is more competition for food.

Open Weekend Update.
1/ Casting clinic - this will be operated by fully qualified instructors and guys who are undergoing training to become instructors. All of them have been trained by me over the last 2 or 3 years.
If you buy a permit to fish then you can have a 20 min session with one of these guys who will be able to help you correct any casting faults you may have or help you with a new technique.
If you aren't fishing then you can still have a go by making a donation to charity.
Due to demand you need to pre-book these sessions in advance by
Email - mike@curleysfishery.co.uk or tel 01204 691199 or by calling into the shop.

Tuesday's update

2012-02-28T11:05:00.000Z

Few fishing today, quite hard work but persistence can pay off.
You have to be prepared to change tactics, flies, depths, speed and length of retrieve and keep moving. On other day all you have to do is turn up! That's fishing for you!

Tomorrow is stocking day! Some more fish will be delivered by our supplier, all in tip top condition.

New Stocking

2012-02-27T14:20:00.001Z

The lake will be stocked this week with good sized, fully finned, hard fighting, Rainbows and Blues

Perfect conditions!

2012-02-27T09:32:00.003Z

Its looking good at curleys today, wind is creating a perfect ripple, and there looks to be clear skies and sun on its way. Rise rising all over the lake, and the midges are out in numbers. Its possible on a mild day like today that the trout will take your imitation off the surface.

Weathers looking good for today, and its very mild indeed.

Tightlines,
Nath

Sundays Prospects

2012-02-25T14:56:00.003Z

Its looking good for sunday, nice weather for the angler, warming up a little and the wind should be a slight blow at 6-7mph.
Clear skies early morning leading on to abit of cloud cover mid to late afternoon. I would definately bring a few bloodworm patterns, they have been the top catching pattern when the weather warms up abit. Today (saturday) has been much cooler with a bitter wind blowing in south-westerly, hence Black fritz and cats whisker patterns taking most of the fish.

Floating lines, and hopefully weather depending, some excellent dry fly sport to be had!

Be prepared for a midge hatch! [Click me]

Tightlines,
Nath

Morning!

2012-02-25T09:25:00.007Z

Early start fish were rising like crazy, all over the lake, black fritz still doing well, and the odd angler fishing with bloodworm patterns being rewarded!

Its a little colder today than what it has been over last few days, With a bit of a breeze about, however this is creating the "perfect" ripple all across curleys. A few fish still showing every now and again, but i think this cold wind may have put the fish that little bit deeper than they have been over last week.

Killing Patterns:

Spanflex Goldhead Bloodworm, Black Goldhead Fritz & "The good old" Cats Whisker.

Still floating line tactics, with long leader, count down the depth to find the fish, and you cant go wrong with either of the three patterns mentioned above.

[Check out this post made earlier Specifically about bloodworms: CLICK HERE ]

[A Few of the photos taken yesterday ^^^^]

Reminder - Curleys Open Weekend [Click here for details]

Bad weather isn't always bad news!!

2012-02-24T11:10:00.005Z

Let me qualify this headline by saying that there are obviously degrees of bad weather - today windy and wet but warm - so that equals a good buzzer hatch.
Just to prove the point Steven Marsh on his first visit to Curley's is now on his way to his 6th fish of the day on a homemade bloodworm. Nature often has a way of compensating - so you are going to get wet - good clothing is a must - but you should be rewarded.

Curley's goes international! Behind this blog I can access all the viewing figures and the blog site goes from strength to strength - we are now having well over 1000 views per week! Keep tuning in and we will always try to keep you posted with the latest information.
Today is no exception in that we have a good international following - up to now we have had the following reading the blog - 16 from Sweden, 16 from Russia, 5 from France, 5 from USA, 2 from Holland, 1 from Belarus, 1 from Columbia and 1 from Israel. So a warm welcome to all our international friends and if you are ever over in our part of the world - come and have a fish at Curley's!

First this year on a dry!

2012-02-23T13:58:00.001Z

Well done, Brian Winward who is first person to catch on a dry fly this year - that I know of, at least. Just a short window when more fish were rising he changed to a black hopper and caught one and missed a few more.
Elsewhere on the lake, Jim McGinley had his 5 fish with Cats and black fritz.
I generously let Geoff have a day off and he caught 2 with lures.

The weather has warmed up nicely today a barmy 13c with some sun as well with the forecast similar all week it should encourage more rising fish for all you dry fly fanatics.

Cats whisker does it again

2012-02-23T09:24:00.002Z

Morning, fish being caught already to gold head cats, because of the warmer weather the trout are virtually within the first few feet of the surface searching for food.

Floating lines and long leaders, with either a Cats or a Black Fritz and you simply cant go wrong.

Wind is a decent westerly, but its not as bad as it looks!

Will keep watchers updated on the latest as the day goes on, so watch this space.

Bloodworms!

2012-02-22T15:05:00.003Z

Weathers on the up! and so will be the bloodworms!

Todays forecast wasnt too bright, however it was no where near as bad as predicted. A little rain but it stopped for a good few hours on and off. Very mild! And its looking good over the next few days with the temperature remaining steady, the milder conditions today had brought a good number of bow and blues to the surface.
Black fritz was the working pattern without a doubt, did have a couple of takes to a red cheeked cruncher pattern. However the trout seemed in a very hyper mode today, willing to chase the black fritz right in against the bank, excellent to see fish charging at your pattern just under the surface.

Thursdays forecast looks even better with highs of 12 degrees. Hopefully this will bring some more surface activity.

If your planning a trip dont forget to bring your lure box! I also highly recommend a slim red buzzer to imitate the prolific bloodworm Chironomidae that exists at curleys. At certain times of the year.
Tightlines,
Nath

Fishing has picked up again

2012-02-21T14:20:00.002Z

As the weather has picked up so has the fishing. The fishery had it's first real experience of rising fish this year, circles appearing almost all over the lake - good to see and bodes well for the future if this milder weather continues.

The rod average today up to now is just over 4 fish per rod with the highest going to Jim McGinley with 7 and Oliver Avis with 5.

Last week the "can't fail" fly was the cats whisker, this week it appears to be a "Black Fritz" retrieved at a reasonable pace.

Fishing report

2012-02-19T11:38:00.001Z

Although certainly on the chilly side the fish don't seem to mind, things starting to "warm" up a bit with these two beauties coming to the net.

Best day of the year so far....?

2012-02-19T10:04:00.002Z

What a great day, bit windy but sunny, a little on the chill side but hey, it is still February!

We have quite a few fly fishers on today, good to see the fishery a little busier than normal. However there is still plenty of room if you fancy wetting your line.

Will report later in the day on the catch rates.......... stay tuned

Weekend prospects

2012-02-18T11:15:00.007Z

Weather this morning has been a little less than desirable, although the rain has stopped as the forecasters promised. Clear skies on the horizon, approaching at a steady rate. Wind is still a little (on and off) breezy but nothing to be concerned about. A few anglers out on the water so will keep blog viewers updated on their progress, as the day goes on.

The weather is looking very promising for sunday, with clear skies and even some sun!!

Highs of four degrees above, wind is going to disperse over night, leaving a very enjoyable day to be had fly fishing. Although remaining a slight westerly wind, through out the day, creating that perfect ripple that us trout anglers pray for.
The damp weather followed by sunny conditions tends to bring out the typical midge hatches, although it may still be a little cold for them. Smaller fish species are still on the trouts diet at curleys, some showing themselves early morning before the anglers hit the water.

To get your angling taste buds tingling, take a look at this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1mnCGcIXzY&feature=related

Recent catches:

Mr Matthew Johnson ended his four hour ticket landing 3 fish, one nice rainbow (see photo below)

Mr Paul Johnson with a excellent catch rate of 6 fish to his net, again another nice rainbow of around 4-5lbs was had.

- will update as anglers return with their catch rates -

Tightlines,
Nath