leighton reservoir

[ozzy37]

went up my mates in yorkshire again and seeing as he lives 2 minutes away from the reservoir, be rude not to give it a bash.
started at 6am tried various lures and had nout! thought it would be a blanker day because of the hot weather but moved up near the dam near an inlet and took two on a green fritz and had loads of follows and pulls. soon got sick of endlessly stripping that back and forth so tried a daddy long legs on the top because a batch of cloud came over, thought that might bring them up and had takes immediately!
had 7 off the top within a few hours up to about 3lb, nearly all fully finned hard fighting fish. sitting back from the water being very quiet i took most of the fish within 3-12ft from the bank. even had one nearly beach itself trying to get my fly as i was lifting off! it still puzzles me when people immediately feel the need to go trudging into the water with their waders as soon as they turn up, i mean what is a few feet further into the water going to achieve apart from scaring away the fish?
9 in total, all put back. probably the best day i've had fly fishing so far, especially on dries, can't beat watching a fish come up a slurp down your fly.
typical fish i had that day

[Scotty91]

Well dune mate looks Lyk you hade a grate time

[ozzy37]

aye mate can't beat taking fish off the top like! must have missed double what i caught in missed takes or fish dropping off after i hooked them, when there was no ripple on the water they were coming up and nudging the fly, either because they could see the leader or trying to sink it to get a better look. found they do this quite a lot when it's flat calm. going to try langley dam or derwent 2mora you're welcome to come if you want.

[Scotty91]

aye mate can't beat taking fish off the top like! must have missed double what i caught in missed takes or fish dropping off after i hooked them, when there was no ripple on the water they were coming up and nudging the fly, either because they could see the leader or trying to sink it to get a better look. found they do this quite a lot when it's flat calm. going to try langley dam or derwent 2mora you're welcome to come if you want.

;D ;D happy days bud but a love to but you no y a can not come not going to put it on open forum ;D but will wen sorted ;D thanx for the offer tho mate and aye hope you have a good day agane to morro ;D ;D a was fishing yestarday on my door step Lyk 5min on my bike for littel roch ect mint fun ;D

[Bushwhacker]

I used to fish Leighton quite a lot.
It is an exellent top water venue,even had fish on Muddlers in April when the water was still cold.
If you get a decent wave (around a foot),try a big Muddler stripped very fast.You won,t hit every take,but its very exiting watching them attack the lure
I had some good fun one day with a big deer hair mouse tied on a 2/0 Aberdeen.
Here is a tip when fishing dry,s on a lake or pond.When you see a rise to the fly,count to 2 then strike.The fish usually swamp the fly then turn and take it.
You will hook a lot more fish with this method,especially when using a big fly like a Daddy long legs.

Well done on the fish.

[Bob C]

Great result fella & it can only get better as Autumn approaches. well done.

[ozzy37]

I used to fish Leighton quite a lot.
It is an exellent top water venue,even had fish on Muddlers in April when the water was still cold.
If you get a decent wave (around a foot),try a big Muddler stripped very fast.You won,t hit every take,but its very exiting watching them attack the lure
I had some good fun one day with a big deer hair mouse tied on a 2/0 Aberdeen.
Here is a tip when fishing dry,s on a lake or pond.When you see a rise to the fly,count to 2 then strike.The fish usually swamp the fly then turn and take it.
You will hook a lot more fish with this method,especially when using a big fly like a Daddy long legs.

Well done on the fish.

thanks for the advice mate, very useful! funny you say that about stripping them back, they were loving the lures stripped back as fast as i could pull them especially if it were making a wake. thanks for the advice on the takes as well, i'll give that a go next time! if i hooked and landed every take i had that day i probably would have had well over 20 fish. it was heaving with moving fish had my pb of 7lb from there earlier this year as well.

[ecoli]

! it still puzzles me when people immediately feel the need to go trudging into the water with their waders as soon as they turn up, i mean what is a few feet further into the water going to achieve apart from scaring away the fish?
wading will not scare the fish away I have had trout swim through my legs and take the fly as I was lifting off to make my first cast

[ozzy37]

! it still puzzles me when people immediately feel the need to go trudging into the water with their waders as soon as they turn up, i mean what is a few feet further into the water going to achieve apart from scaring away the fish?
wading will not scare the fish away I have had trout swim through my legs and take the fly as I was lifting off to make my first cast

i've had the same happen too and it's not the act of wading i was referring to more like the act of casting and movement in the exact area the fish are feeding. i just think it makes more sense to move back away from the bank and get the fly into the feeding area without standing ontop of them when they're that close in. although i know it's nice wading, feeling more in tune with the water kinda thing