Angling Report

Mid May 2007

The second half of April was exceptionally dry and sunny at Bessy Beck, these unseasonable conditions resulted in the fish and fly life being confused and anglers not quite knowing what to try to tempt them with.

Anglers practising for the CEFF/Airflo team event had some big catches. Ryan Barron had 40 and  32 in two visits. Ernie Craster and Peter Crowe caught 87 in one day! Most fish were caught on Blob and Buzzer combinations. On the day of the competition conditions were very difficult, calm, sunny and hot and only 65 fish were caught among 12 anglers.

See competition results

Conditions changed after the second week in May to wet and windy. We then started to get the seasonal hatches of hawthorn fly which kicked off the dry fly fishing in a big way. Anglers were catching on an array of dries, Hawthorn both traditional and foam winged versions, Black Hoppers, CDC patterns, in fact almost anything dark that floated.

Arnold Patefield had a number of successful visits to Bessy Beck during this period catching up to 27 fish in a four hour session, using mostly Hawthorn flies and Black Buzzers.

With lake temperatures now at an ideal 12C and with abundant fly life, fish can been seen taking flies almost continuously from early morning until dark. During quieter spells buzzers are proving to be very effective, Green, Claret and Black have all been successful.

Ian and Shelley