After an enforced lay off of 3/4 years due to redundancy and some foolish self inflicted financial issues, this is my return season and mightily looking forward to it I have been to I've done plennty of fishing at Rutland and Thornton with relatives in the past and had a couple of seasons on a small Norwich stillwater but I don't consider my self experienced by any stretch of the imagination as I was frequently 'led' by more experienced family members.

I won't be having access to a car for another month or so so my plan for the season was to have regular outings to a small stillwater in Norwich to get some rythm back, combined with some casting lessons and some visits to the Midlands reservoirs with family/friends and singly when transport issues are resolved.

My brother and step brother both have 30th birthdays coming up so my Dad organised a trip to Rutland for us all ( Saturday just gone, 28th)and duly kitted himself and the boys out. As the only one with some fishing experienced I was designated chief researcher and planner. I duly spent as much time as possible reaquanting myself with the kit, getting some casting done out on the field, reading everything of relevance on the forum..............and naturally preparing myself mentally for a sack full of Rutland rainbows, hhhmmmmmm

We drove up and stopped in Stamford Friday night (The Garden House hotel is highly recommended), and popped over to the rese for a quick recce and a chat with the wardens to see what'd been happening. Very informative and encouraging chat with a lovely chap and headed off feeling mightily optimistic about the morrow.

And so to the fishing..........put simply we got spanked!! VERY windy day gusting from the S/SW, and we were frankly out of our depth in terms of being able to fish the conditions. I had one on a damsel and intermediate line up the South Arm and missed a touch, both in the first half hour and we all felt confident that despite the conditions we might have a chance. Thats the sum total we ended up with after a pretty punishing and demoralising day.

I was pretty pi**ed off at the end of it and felt very much like it had been a waste of time, in all honesty it was a bit of a sulk; I'd looked forward to it for it so long and it was such an anticlimax. I've deliberately left it a day or so before posing to offer my thoughts and ask for advice so I could think properly rather than in the heat of the moment so here we go.........

- We weren't able to fish to the conditions occuring on the day; not enough boat handling experience in that weather and we spent more time getting pushed around by the wind than we did fishing. I knew how I wanted to fish but couldn't get enough control to do it

- Although I've been to Rutland before I don't know it well enough to now which areas were hard to fish based on those conditions

- Being taken to and guided around places bears no comparison to having to make your own decisions for the day, frankly I was naieve in that respect. 'Been to a few times' and 'know it well' are NOT the same thing

- Putting off those casting lessons is no longer an option; being able to cast a single fly is great but I spent to much time untangling droppers and leaders as a result of poor technique in the wind

So thats what happened and a few 'newbie thoughts' on what went wrong, I now need to look at ringing the changes and learning from these mistakes/weaknesses to improve my chances of success. It was demoralising in the extreme but it still made remember all the great things I love about our sport A couple of questions along those lines if I may then:

- Was anyone else at Rutland on Saturday? If so how did you find it and if you were successful would you mind sharing how you did it?

- Is a drogue the best way to provide a stable/slow fishing platform or do people use the extra rudders I've read about? One of the wardens mentioned in passing that 2 guys who'd bagged up were 'on the rudder', is that the same as the Steve Parton style fishing thats been mentioned on the forum before?

Last but not least, are there any Rutland regulars that would consider a day out with me over the summer to help in my rehabilitation? One of the biggest thoughts from the day is that reading everything on the sport is one thing but is no substitute for hands on learning with someone that knows what they're doing.

Thanks for reading a rather lengthy post, any thoughts or comments on anything are welcome as always. My one encouraging photo from the day is below



Chris

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Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it

Rutland is never easy, you managed to catch one in difficult conditions, well done.

A drogue will steady the boat up, but you will still have the wind to contend with. You might have done better heading for one of the more sheltered areas, like Sailing club or Barnsdale, you may have ended up with less knots in your leader, but no guarantee of more fish.

PM me next time your up this way.

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Thanks, will take you up on that over the summer

Chris

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Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it

Chris
The "fishing the rudder" that the warden refered to is where you use a large rudder on the stern of the boat or 2 oars tied off at the sides to keep the boat end on to the wind so that you can troll behind at speed. It's a very effective way of covering lots of water and keeping your flies fishing when it's windy but is not considered sporting by everyone !!

Living a few miles from Rutland I'm sure there were a few out there who would have been grateful to catch one in those conditions so I wouldn't be too down !!!!
cheers
Paul

Rutland hasn't been the easiest so far this season, even for those who fish it regulary.

One fish in those conditions, should be proud of yourself mate.

Two visits ago it was a nightmare, I blanked, was lucky to get none.

The Pirate.

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Cheers Pirate thats encouraging, already planning the next trip so fingers crossed for more favorable conditions!!

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Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it

Rutland can be a daunting water even in the best conditions!!.

We are relative novices too, so i am not sure if this will help, but we bought the excellent guide to boat fishing at Rutland from the lodge on site, this has detailed info on which areas to try under defined wind directions; we have found this invaluable.

Junior DF and I were there on Sunday (much more benign winds, I think) and caught on black and green Zonker/tadpole patterns. Junior fished a floating line, with me on a sinker. We blanked for the first couple hours, then moved to near Normanton church and found fish there.

Good luck

A

I can't help you specfically on Rutland but I've had similar experiences in high winds on a few occasions at Grafham. It can be very frustrating trying to get your flies fishing correctly when the boat is moving at speed. Its something I still struggle with if I'm honest especially when I need to fish sinking lines.

In such conditions it can pay to seek out calmer water, in bays or close in to the windward shore. It may be a bit less productive in terms of fish but imo its better to have your flies fishing correctly in possibly less productive water than not fishing at all in "good water". I sometimes find anchoring for a while just to take a break and slow things down can be beneficial too, even if all it achieves is getting your casting back on track and giving you time to think about your next move.

Boat handling will come with time, but I try to leave myself as much time to do things as possible, especially in a big wind as otherwise you can find yourself in situations you'd rather not be. Sometimes shorter drifts can be more productive but if you aren't getting enough fishing time on each drift and are constantly having to move around then it gets frustrating, so try a longer drift to give yourself the extra time to get a few extra casts.

Other than that a drogue is a good investment, its not going to make massive difference in a big wind but it will make things that little bit easier.

Just a humble suggestion: why not try bank fishing? Cheaper, and much, much easier to deal with all the variables.

The banks at Rutland are so vast and so varied, there's always somewhere worth trying. And you generally don't need to cast terribly far - my best fish ever (7lb +) came from a 10 yard cast right in front of the lodge.

+1 for this, on a number of occasions I have found the fish behind me when wading...........................

A