AFTER five years of trying, Foremark Fly-Fishers won the most prestigious trophy available to normal club anglers — the Inter-Counties Cup.
They did it on their home water, Foremark Reservoir, but it was the style in which they won it that impressed.
Their eight-man team caught 44 fish out of a possible 48 and had three of the top four individuals, even though the biggest fish caught on the day was only 4lb 2oz.
Their fish totalled 78lb 14oz, with their nearest challengers, Hucknall, securing a total of 39 fish for 69lb 7oz.
Many anglers headed straight for the aerators, but the home team knew the fish had not yet been attracted into that area.
They did know that the fish were between the dam wall and the number one and two buoys, and it was really a question of just how deep they were holding at.
The answer was not that far down as they were able to contact them with sink tip lines with a two-tone blob on the point and a pair of crunchers as droppers.
This was the set-up that was used in practice the previous day and one that left Rob Wheeldon and Jason Locock tying up the patterns for the team the night before the match.
This set-up proved deadly as Merv Amos took five fish in one drift and Peter Skelton backed him up.
Amos also had the best bag of the day, his six fish weighing in at 12lb 3oz.
The boat pair of Rob Wheeldon (9lb 8oz) and Jason Locock (10lb 9oz) followed them in with their full bags.
Some of the team were struggling, but by switching to the blob and the crunchers, they never looked back.
Lew Whitehead took 10 of the boats’ 12 fish in a hectic final two-and-a-half hours.
The last boat home was Derek Spilsbury, who caught his six fish for 12lb — including one of 3lb 15oz — and Malc Whiteland, who took a very valuable three fish for 5lb.
The final result showed one quirk, both Colwich and Kirby caught 32 fish but there was a 20lb difference in their weights.
The overall result was: 1, Foremark (44 fish for 78lb 14oz); 2, Hucknall (39 fish for 69lb 7oz); 3, Colwich (32 fish for 67lb 13oz); 4, Kirby (32 fish for 47lb 14oz); 5, Derby (24 fish for 40lb 8oz).
Just taking a look at our other local trout waters, it seems most have had a very variable week, with fish up on top one day and down deep the next.
Carsington Water has fished better than most, with fish down deeper during the day but moving up to the surface during the evenings.
Traditional wet flies like Black Pennells have caught well, with Foremark superstar Neil Hassall taking 22 fish and his boat partner, Ken Clamp, taking nine, including the best fish of the week at 4lb.
Shinningford Bay, the Tower Bank and Fish Tail Creek have all shown up plenty of fish but, late on, the fish have been showing really well across the main basin and that has led to a rod average of 3.5 fish per rod.
Thornton Reservoir has had a really tough week, with its rod average at its lowest point this season at just one fish per rod.
Mornings have seen the best of the sport, with most of the fish lying deeper than usual and those that have been caught were done so on hares ears, Diawl Bachs, Cats Whiskers and boobies.
The aerators at Blithfield have been attracting plenty of fish, but they have not been easy to catch.
One angler caught a rainbow that was estimated to weigh between eight and 10lb after being caught on a dry fly. It was returned to the water before weighing.
This is one of the waters that is following the weather — one day they are up, the next they are down. It is up to you what you start with if you pay it a visit.
