Author: Ron Lewis
Nine members attended the event, & started the day with the usual bacon rolls, before tackling the fish
A total of 20 fish were caught in the day & the day was won by Peter Thomason with a bag weight of 7lb 13.5 oz, followed by Nick Harrison with 6lb 6oz & Chris Ball with 5lb 14oz. Chris Ball also had the biggest fish of 2lb 14.5oz
Another very enjoyable day at Springhill
Author: Peter Thomason
Following this year's previous challenging visits, hopes were high that this outing to Hanningfield would produce some hard-fighting, grown-on fry-feeders. The day was mild with a gentle breeze & intermittent sun & the water clarity was good in most areas
The event was supported by:
Gary Collins
Bob Holland
Keith Lawrence
Richard Lovett
Peter Thomason
Mark Tremain-Coker
Despite the good omens, Hanninfield continued to withhold its favours & the fishing proved very hard with a variety of methods being tried to almost no avail. The event was easily won by Keith Lawrence whose one fish was the only fish caught during the day! The Chairman's claim to second place with one lost fish & a "pull" was not entertained by the party!
A short winter's day saw us gratefully packing up at 3.30pm & returning to the comforts of Kent
Author: Andy Stoner
The Society had a good turn-out for this event, with 15 fisherman partaking. The start of the day at Bewl was quite disconcerting, with mist covering the water & visibility down to about 20 metres. We were allowed to go out & some of our members who thought they were heading towards the cages found than when the mist lifted they were in fact at Canoe Club Corner!
The water was like a mill pond & a few fish were rising all through the main bowl & the tower. Fishing proved difficult but by the afternoon a few members found the right tactics & caught fish, dry's working well
A total of 63 fish were caught
The top 5 places were:
1st Richard Lovett - 8 fish 13lb 10oz
2nd Russell Bell - 8 fish 12lb 7oz
3rd Vince Brooks - 7 fish 10lb 11oz
4th Mick Priest - 6 fish 9lb 4oz
5th Jim McGonigle - 5 fish 8lb
My thanks to all those who contributed in raising £27 towards the Club's fundraising raffle
Author: Peter Thomason
This was the third year we have visited this attractive fishery on the high slopes of the South Downs near Petworth. The weather was mild but overcast, giving good fishing conditions for the six members who fished this event:
Chris Ball
Colin Findley
Nicholas Harrison
Keith Lawrence
Mick Priest
Peter Thomason
Despite the best efforts of the party, Birch Lake was the only one of the fishery's four lakes that produced fish. The water was cool, clear, & deep & after initially responding to Goldhead Daddy-Longleg flies, other, more sinister methods were needed to keep catching
An enjoyable day was had with Peter Thomason taking the heaviest bag of four fish weighing 8lb 14oz, closely followed by Keith Lawrence with four fish weighing 7 lb 12 oz. All of the party caught fish & enjoyed a relaxing lunch in the comfort of the well-appointed fishing hut
Author: Keith Nicholson
The Nigel Turner Memorial Trophy is a floating line only competition in honour of our former Treasurers love for the method. A very good attendance of 19 members made for a good day on the water & some excellent fishing
The boat pairings were arranged so that the less experienced anglers were to share a boat with a more experienced partner. This is all part of the Society's intentions to share knowledge & experience to the benefit of others
Different methods & flies produced the fish. Some decided to fish lures/wet flies & other chose to fish dry fly & both methods worked. The fish were well spread with the Cages area, Ferry point & Chingley Wood all producing well on the day
Five members caught their eight fish limits & a total of 101 fish were caught. This gave us a rod average of 5.3 fish per angler
The winner of the Nigel Turner Memorial Trophy was Dave Crouch with a fine 8 fish bag weighing 14lb 5ozs. Runner-up was Richard Lovett & Richard Denney Jnr was third. Bob Holland caught the biggest fish that weighed in at 2lb 10oz
Full results:
1st. Dave Crouch - 8 fish, 4lb 5oz
2nd. Richard lovett - 8 fish, 13lb 8oz
3rd. Richard Denney Jnr - 8 fish, 13lb 5oz
4th. Scott Benton - 8 fish, 13lb 2oz
5th. Mick Dwyer - 6 fish, 11lb 12oz
6th. Peter Thomason - 8 fish, 11lb 8oz
7th. Daddy Denney - 6 fish, 11lb 3 oz
8th. Keith Nicholson - 7 fish, 10lb 14oz
9th. Mick Priest - 6 fish, 9lb 8.5oz
10th. Keith Lawrence - 6 fish, 9lb 6oz
11th. Ron Lewis - 5 fish, 8lb 0oz
12th. Jim McGonigle - 4 fish, 6lb 5oz
13th. Alan Dean - 4 fish, 6lb 2.5oz
14th. Simon Gilling - 4 fish, 5lb 14oz
15th. Bob Holland - 3 fish, 5lb 13oz
16th. Mark Tremain-Coker - 3 fish, 4lb 15oz
17th. Andrew Hope - 3 fish, 4lb 10oz
18th. Alan Martin - 2 fish, 3lb 8oz
19th. Colin Findley - 2 fish? DNWI
Author: Andy Sawyer
14 members attended the match, on what proved to be a very hard day. The weather started of misty but the sun soon burnt it off to become a sunny warm day
A few fish where caught early on but as the day went progressed it became very difficult to tempt a fish on your line
Full results as follows:
1st - Scott Benton, 4 fish 8lb 0oz
2nd - Richard Lovett, 4 fish 7lb 4oz
3rd - Simon Gilling, Reg Littlechild & James Dench, 2 fish 3lb 8oz
7th - Bob Holland, 2 fish 3lb 4oz
8th - Lester Haskell, 2 fish 3lb 2oz
9th - Jim Streeter, 2 fish 3lb 0oz
10th - Andy Sawyer, 1 fish 2lb 0oz
The remaining 4 members failed to catch
Author: Peter Thomason
The Society fixture at Bewl on 2 July was a "Championship" event with points towards the Society's overall championship available for the top five participants. There was a good turnout with 12 members eager to take advantage of the good fishing that Bewl has provided this season. Participants were:
Russell Bell
Gary Collins
Dave Crouch
Alan Dean
Mick Dwyer
Bob Holland
Keith Lawrence
Richard Lovett
Alan Martin
Mick Priest
Andy Stoner
Peter Thomason
All were eager to take advantage of the good catches reported at Bewl in recent weeks where many fish were feeding on fry in various locations in the reservoir. The weather was warm & bright in the morning but good cloud cover quickly gathered for most of the day. Fish were showing on the top in the main bowl of the water & floating lines were the order of the day. Some caught on dry flies & some on "washing line" with flies fished slowly near the surface. The surface temperature was quite high at 68ºF but due to the overcast conditions, the fish stayed up in the water
A convivial lunch was taken at our Founding Chairman's seat & a raffle, thanks to the organisation of Andy Stoner, not only produced funds for the Society but also an excellent bottle of Rioja which was duly opened & shared by its winner
Those scoring Championship points were:
1st - Peter Thomason with six fish for 11lb 1oz
2nd - Bob Holland with six fish for 10lb 9oz
3rd - Dave Crouch with five fish for 9lb 12oz
4th - Richard Lovett with five fish for 8lb 9oz
5th - Andy Stoner with five fish for 8lb 5oz
Biggest fish on the day was landed by Peter Thomason & weighed 2lb 8oz. The total number of fish caught was 45 giving a rod average of 3.75 & an average weight of just over 1lb 12oz
A very enjoyable day was ended with an equally enjoyable slaking of thirst at the Brown Trout in Lamberhurst
Author: Peter Thomason
The Society's Corrib Cup was fished at Bewl on Saturday 18th June in breezy overcast conditions. A total of six members entered the competition:
Bob Holland
Richard Lovett
Alan Martin
Jim McGonigle
Mick Priest
Peter Thomason
Bewl had been fishing well with good numbers of good quality fish being caught in a variety of locations. Despite this, the contestants on this occasion seemed to have been out of contact with the fish & catches were relatively low. Despite this, an enjoyable day was had by all. The results were:
1st Richard Lovett with 4 fish weighing 8lb 4oz
2nd Jim McGonigle with 4 fish weighing 6lb 10oz
3rd Mick Priest with 3 fish weighing 6lb 4oz
4th Peter Thomason with 2 fish weighing 4lb 10oz
5th Bob Holland with 2 fish weighing 2lb 13oz
6th Alan Martin with 1 lost fish!
Congratulations to Richard who is this year's winner of the prestigious Corrib Cup. We look forward to his filling it with a suitable libation at our annual dinner & presentation
Author: Peter Thomason
The Society's Pairs Cup was fished at Bewl on Sunday 29th May in uncomfortably rough conditions. A total of five pairs entered the competition:
Vince Brooks & Alan Martin
Richard Denney & Ian Chapman
Keith Lawrence & Bob Holland
Mick Priest & Nick Harrison (guest of the Society for the day)
Scott Benton & &y Stoner
Bewl fished very well in the recent Ladies' International but on our day, the fish proved to be much more cautious & many competitors experienced plucks & tweaks which did not lead to a satisfying hook-up. The exception was Vince Brooks who found fish feeding on fry in the lee of Ferry Point & concentrated on them with skilful determination to boat a magnificent total of nine fish, including a specimen of 8lb 6oz
Despite the hard slog for the remainder of the field, an enjoyable day was had by all except those who felt rather seasick by the time they returned to dry land!
Result:
1st Place: Vince Brooks & Alan Martin with 9 fish weighing 24lb 9oz
2nd Place: Scott Benton & Andy Stoner with 4 fish weighing 7lb 2oz
3rd Place: Mick Priest & Nick Harrison with 4 fish weighing 7lb 1oz
4th Place: Keith Lawrence & Bob Holland with 4 fish weighing 6lb 2oz
5th Place: Richard Denney & Ian Chapman with 1 fish weighing 1lb 11oz
Heaviest fish: Vince Brooks with rainbow trout of 8lb 6oz
Author: Ron Lewis
A total of 23 fish were caught the 8 members that turned up & was won by Richard Lovett with 9 fish
The day was bright & very windy. The Society paid for a nice fish & chip lunch which was enjoyed by all
Author: Micky Heasman
Nine society members attended the event at Elinor on the 16th April 2011. We all met for a good breakfast at the local little chef & then moved on to the venue for the all important business of catching fish
The day was bright & warm with light SW winds. Fish were moving in most areas & were coming in the main to buzzers fished slowly on the bung or straight-lined. The first five fish counted towards the competition with members then able to enjoy catch & release
The water was gin clear & the fish were top quality & fighting fit. Some of us did struggle to catch fish from the bank though & opted out of the competition to venture out in boats to hopefully enjoy better luck
The day did account for some notable fish including a superb 7lb plus fish by Keith Lawrence from the bank near the boat moorings & an estimated 8lb fish on the opposite bank which was released by Bob Holland both fish unfortunately outside of the first 5 fish
The points positions were closely contested & congratulations go to Reg Littlechild for his winning bag of 8lb 9oz. The best fish of the day came to yours truly on a size 14 black buzzer from a boat, a superb 9lb 5oz top quality rainbow
Elinor has produced the Rainbow Shield winner for the last couple of years & the marker is down for this year. Elinor really is one of my 'lucky' waters! A super day was had by all & was finished off very nicely with a pint at the Fox before the long journey home
Results as follows
1st - Reg Littlechild, 5 Fish 8lb 9oz
2nd - Richard Lovett, 5 Fish 7lb 10oz
Joint 3rd - Keith Lawrence & Bob Holland, 5 Fish 7lb 6oz
5th - Keith Nicholson, 5 Fish 6lb 14oz
Author: Colin Findley
Sixteen Society members attended the first Bewl Water outing of 2011 on a glorious Spring day
With only a light breeze & bright conditions most anglers opted for either Fast Glass or DI3 lines & a steady figure of eight retrieve using dark Cormorants, Goldheads or Bobbies
Hook Straight & Dunsters were the popular locations & the members achieved a creditable 105 fish in total with the "Blues" putting up some very good fights with lots of acrobatics
Top angler on the day was Jim McGonigle who managed almost 17lb of fish, he also bagged the best fish weighting 3lb 10.5oz
Russell Bell & Richard Lovett, the golden pair, won the raffle prizes at lunch time
Also Micky Heasman demonstrated the art of "Trout Talking" asking the fish to jump into the boat to save his net getting wet, amazing !!!!
Author: Mick Priest
The first event of our 2011 season got of to a good start with 20 members attending. Bacon & egg rolls provided by the club set everyone up for what was to be a cracking days fishing
The weather was kind to us & the fish were up for it with every member getting their 4 fish limit & some of us being greedy with a 5 fish limit, some good fish came out with our Chairman taking a 4lb brownie
My congratulations must go to Alan Martin on achieving his first club win, well deserved Alan
A total of 83 fish were caught the best being a 5lb 8oz rainbow by Andy Stoner, well done Andy
Results as follows:
1st: Alan Martin - 4 Fish for 11lb 6oz
Joint 2nd: Scott Benton & Andy Stoner - 4 Fish for 11lb 4oz
4th: Micky Heasman - 4 Fish for 11lb 0oz
5th: Keith Lawrence - 4 Fish for 10lb 1oz