Albury Estate Fisheries November 2017 News

We have finally made a move into what appears to be real Autumnal weather with the first frost which is very welcome as it will help improve the quality of the fishing. The fishery desperately still needs some decent rainfall to help replenish the river, which is very low and the springs which have all but stopped running.

Powdermills is now open after its annual drain down and should offer some good reliable sport through the Autumn and Winter periods. We will be carrying out further drain downs at Weston main lake and Millhouse over the coming months so please keep an eye on the website for updates.

As far as tactics go, floating lines should cover most situations but it’s always handy if you have a spare rod, to set it up with an intermediate line just to get down slightly deeper. If we get a prolonged cold period we will see a shift away from small imatative patterns such as nymphs and buzzers to small lures like BFD, Cats whisker and hot head damsel’s.

Paul Walker 11lb 4oz rainbow

There were some good fish taken over the last month with the largest taken by stalking expert Paul Walker who had a lovely 11lb 4oz rainbow on a copperhead nymph. Also of note was Alexander Jaffrey who caught an 8lb rainbow on a black peacock spider, this was part of a 5 fish bag.

Alexander Jaffrey 8lb rainbow​

The first Albury Fishing Club Event was held on the 18th October and was a great success with Charles Jardine enthralling the 25 anglers who turned out.

We are going to run another event, this time with Peter Cockwill. This will be held on Wednesday 6th December and Peter will cover tactical matters such as leader/line connections, line tapers, fly groups and tackle basics. Then a break followed by a quick slide show and then discussion period.

Once again places are limited so please email me at[email protected] or call 07976 461097 to book your place.

—   OTHER NEWS   —

Other major news from the fishery is that we will be trialling Catch and Release at Powdermills only from 6th November to 30th November. All anglers must follow the rules and failure to do so may lead to being banned and the trial stopped. The rules are as followers.

CATCH AND RELEASE RULES

1.     Fishing must be carried out with a single barbless or de-barbed hook only. It is a simple matter to press the barb down with flat nose pliers.

2.     You must keep your first 2 fish caught. Selecting which to take is not allowed. You may, if you wish, take more than two fish and only then can catch and release up to 5 fish afterwards.

3.     Any fish that is due to be released must be handled with wet hands and not removed from the water. Ideally, keep it in the net and use forceps or a release tool to remove the hook.The use of rubber mesh nets is encouraged to reduce damaging the fish.

4.     You must use a minimum of 5lb leader which allows you to play the fish quickly. This ensures the fish is not exhausted so that when you are releasing the fish it has enough energy to recover quickly and swim off.

5.     Catch and Release is only permitted at POWDERMILLS and is not to be carried out at either Weston or Vale End fishery.

6.     Please do not use ‘boobies’ or ‘egg’ flies as these are frequently swallowed by trout and therefore make safe hook removal very unsafe.

7.     All anglers must fill out the catch return with number of fish taken and also with the number of fish released. (This enables us to assess the success of the experiment).

This ‘catch and release’ option is for a trial period only and any anglers caught abusing the system will risk being banned from all the Albury Estate fisheries and their actions will unfairly affect those who have asked for this option.

—  WINTER SEASON RODS  —

Finally, Winter Season Rods are available to purchase. They offer fishing from now until the end of March 2018. This period will offer some of the best sport of the year, after all they are a cold water species. Prices start from £205 for a 10 fish winter season rod. Available on line.

Finally I would like to wish you all our best regards and Tight lines.

Cameron Craigs