WEFF Boat Competition at Eyebrook – 24-25 April 2004

Saturday

It was wet and miserable the previous weekend at Eyebrook, but the fishing was excellent with lots of double bags taken on buzzers.

Something went wrong this weekend and it had something to do with Hughie O’Reilly’s organisation. You can guarantee if Hughie chooses the date for a boat fishing competition at Eyebrook, the sun will come out and beat down relentlessly.

Right from the start the sun was unbearable. The fish didn’t like it and neither did we.

My boat partner Richard wasn’t feeling too well anyway and the heat just made him want to pack up and go home.

  Richard suffering in the sun

The club had 20 anglers fishing this weekend and the Troutmasters were also having a fish-off from the bank. Richard and I tried started off near the Stoke Dry end of the reservoir, but nothing was moving. Even the bank fishers had given up and were dozing in the sun. We fished buzzers static for an hour or so, but got bored with this. Motoring back to the dam, we tried the buzzers again, but apart from a chap in a wheelie boat close inshore, no one was catching anything.

I changed to a fast sink line and a cats whisker booby I’d tied a couple of days before. Not having any ladies tights to hand, I used cling film to attach the booby eyes to the hook. We were just off the dam when I started to retrieve the booby back up from the bottom, by twitching it back. The line stopped with a sudden jolt. “B****r, I think I’ve caught the anchor rope Richard.” “We haven’t got the anchor out,” came his reply. Just then, the “anchor rope” shot down to the bottom, the rod bent double and then twanged back up. The fly was still on, but the booby eyes were missing and I don’t know how I mistook a fish for the rope.

We moved close to a couple of willows on the adjoining bank and this time I started stripping back the booby in mid water. This had an instant response and I picked up a smallish trout. This time, the booby lost one eye. Changing to my last fly of that pattern, I had another good take and lost the fish. This booby lost both eyes, so I was forced to try other flies.

  Hughie and Thai Joe

Richard really did not want to be out there and the lack of fish was not helping. I had not organised myself very well and forgot to get anything to eat for the day. I got a can of drink and a bar of chocolate from the lodge, but I’d rather have had a couple of onion bhajies. We motored around looking for somewhere quiet and then noticed some rises in the flat calm 100 metres offshore. Drifting through the rises, we tried boobies deep and midwater, but got no takers. Anchoring closer to shore, we could see a few fish moving about and really should have taken something. Moving back out to deeper water we spotted another rise and this time I changed to a floating line and buzzers under a Royal Wulff dry fly.

Drifting close to the rise I covered it and moments later saw my dry fly slip under and struck. Nothing. I recast and then noticed my flies were missing and so was the entire leader. On reflection, I think I tied the wrong knot to join the leader to the loop on the line. There is no excuse for such sloppiness, especially when you have to work so hard for any takes.

We thought we would start a drift from the lodge bank across the dam, but as we arrived, we spotted several rises by the bank. I got out my fast sink line and a black booby and cast beyond the rises and stripped it back. Richard tried buzzers. On the second cast, I felt a good tug and hooked into a hard fighting fish. The fish came to the boat several times and then went off into the distance. It was in good condition and weighed 2lb 5oz, not a big fish, but better than reeling in a slab.

  Best fish on the 1st day

The last two hours dragged on slowly. We had no more takes and just wanted to get out of the boat, have a shower and get something to eat.

Back at the lodge, Richard and I were staggered to find we were in the lead and I also had the biggest fish. Everyone had had a hard time and only one other fish over 2lb was taken and several had blanked. Alvin had a pike and a bream!

Hughie had organised a meal for the guys in an Inn in Rockingham. It was getting on for 10pm before we got the dessert and I was still hungry. We had a good time, but the meal left a lot to be desired.

  The dinner party

Sunday

I’d reset my watch to make sure the alarm came on in good time to get myself properly organised this time. At 6.30am I heard the other guys in the B&B saying goodbye to the hosts. I checked the clock and found I’d somehow set my watch back two hours. Breakfast was rushed and I had a headache. Again, no food for the day, so I was back to a tin of fizzy drink and a bar of chocolate.

Richard was feeling a bit better and the sun was partially shielded by hazy cloud, but I was not in the mood and we were late out. At first we moored close to the spot where the wheelie boat was taking yesterday. Two pairs of our guys were already moored there and we were dismayed to find they were hauling in fish as we arrived. Using floating lines and buzzers we watched as they continued to catch fish as we continued to blank.

After an hour of this, the fishing went dead there and so we moved off to try a long drift across the reservoir. We tried the same tactics with boobies and fast sink lines, then floating lines and buzzers. As we neared the far bank, Richard had a series of takes, but failed to connect to them. Anchoring up 50 metres offshore, we tried to tempt them again, but got no more takes.

This was getting desperate, 2.30pm and we had no fish. Our trophy was slipping away. We motored back to the spot we started at in the morning and found Bob and Eamonn still moored there, but Andy and Tim had moved on.

Eamonn caught a fish just then on an intermediate line with a buzzer. I don’t know why we hadn’t tried intermediate lines, but Richard suggested it was tunnel vision because we were using yesterday’s ‘successful’ tactics.

Richard tried a damsel nymph, which did produce a take, but no hook up.

I had a hunch that a gold head hares ear would take because it emulates so many nymphs. After a couple of chucks, I started varying the depth of retrieve, first counting to 5, then 8. Around 3.15pm, I had my first fish. I repeated this and 10 minutes later had another. Whilst I was playing it, I handed my fly box to Richard and got him to tie one on. As I despatched my fish, Richard had his first one on. We were back in with a chance.

  1st fish of the day

Shortly after I had another on, but as it rose to the surface, the hook pulled out. My chagrin was matched by Richard’s, as he took a fish which shot out of the water and threw his hook. Just after that Robert took his first ever reservoir trout using the same fly and tactics. I tried to photograph him playing it, but my camera batteries went dead. By the time I had changed them, there was only time to photograph it in the boat.

  Robert's 1st stillwater trout

After that, we saw no more rises and it went dead at 4.30pm. We knew Andy and Tim had boated at least 8 fish between them, so we would not be boat champions again this year, a case of too little, too late.

At the weigh in, our contribution looked a little pathetic beside their bagful and the biggest fish was over 3lb, so I didn’t score there either.

I finished off the day with a 16oz T-Bone steak and a pint of Timothy Smith’s Landlord pale ale at Don Paddy Sanchez’s café-bar in Uppington, sitting outside in a glorious setting sun.