Top individual was Martin Greatbatch who was one of the anglers on 9

Top individual was Martin Greatbatch who was one of the anglers on 9. His fish weighed in at 21lbs 13oz, all caught on red dries to the left of the tower. Martin told John Horsey that he was unaware of the number of trout in that part of the lake and that it was his good fortune to draw one of the Isle of Man team who had found a lot of moving fish there the day before. Martin’s catch also helped his team to the top spot as Eric Hallam weighed in 4 fish, Mick Broadgate 5 and Nigel Nixon 1. The 19 fish total was just under 3 pounds clear of second placed Five Towns.Ian Colclough lead the way with nine trout for 21lbs 1oz, but he had consistent support from Simon Kidd and Andy Taylor with five fish each and Margaret Godwin with two fish.Greenwell Persuaders took the third qualifying spot with twenty trout – you must feel some sympathy for ACA Masterline who managed more fish than any other team, but for the third year running were one place below qualifying for the final. Interestingly Julian Hubbard of ACA Masterline took nine trout on Boobies and sparklers from a wind lane across the middle of the lake, but they weighed in well over 5lbs less than the top two lots of nine fish. I have heard it said many times that the dries sort out the better fish, this incident seems to support that theory! Julian had moving fish to cover most of the day!Chris Bobby of Globugs caught a superb 4lb 12oz rainbow which earned him a prize-winner’s tropical safari shirt made by sponsors Nomad.John and I had a few hours on the water and I must say that we thoroughly enjoyed the fishing. We are both very confident in our ability on dry flies on reservoirs, yet when we found some moving fish in Savages, we struggled to say the least. John had a couple of browns immediately, but when the fish really started to move we couldn’t temp them to our flies. Eventually I persuaded a couple to take a small hare’s ear cul – one of Bob Wotz’s patterns but, as is often the way when I fish that small fly, I managed to strike far too soon. We went in having caught only three fish – John’s two browns and a rainbow that I took just past the tower, but we had had a great time. A most spectacular thunderstorm prompted our early departure!I will report on the final qualifier at Hanningfield next week.Meanwhile I have had the final reports from the Tightlines Airflo Team Challenge:After the Chew heat (which I reported on last month) the series moved on to the Lake of Menteith. Here anglers were met by high winds and bright sunshine, hence some pretty dour fishing was encountered. Boobies across the bottom proved to be the most successful method and many anglers spent the match using this method. Top team was Bridge of Weir, but local Menteith FF also qualified for the final as they were runners up. Top bag was caught by P Temple with six fish for 9lbs 11oz. G. Mckenzie had the best fish.July 11th and 12th saw two rounds at Loch Leven. The wind and bright conditions put the fish off the feed on the first day and few fish were taken. A cracking 7lb 8oz rainbow caught by Brian Adams helped him to top fish and top bag! The two teams that qualified were Windygates AC – winners on the day, and Fife Flyers.The second day brought much more favourable conditions, but although there was good cloud cover and a steady ripple, sinkers and sparklers proved to be the most effective method. The result was tight, but in the end Rainbow Warriors won the event with Loch Leven Leviathans in second qualifying place.Finally on to Rutland! Again the bright sun followed the team down! Ray Horn’s Osprey Nomad B team won the day – with Coral booby point fly, diawl bachs and pheasant tails as droppers. Graham Pearson had the best trout; T Clark had the best bag. Other qualifiers were Team Loch Style – in second spot, Henlow Hunters third and Masterline Stocks in fourth.Second day at Rutland provided almost identical conditions. Only two teams went through from this event – they were Rutland Kingfishers and Leicester FFA. Sinking lines and sparklers were the best method and Richard Hearth had six tout weighing 19lbs 11oz for top individual spot. That’s all for this week.Tight lines,

Martin Cottis