Fishing has been spectacular over the last few days with rod averages of over 5 fish per angler. The warmer weather and calmer winds have brought huge buzzer hatches which the fish are gorging themselves on. Most successful patterns are epoxy buzzers and diawl bachs (particularly the red ribbed version) but I think the fish are in the mood to take anything as orange blobs, boobies, damsels and even daddy long legs have all been successful this week!

Average size of fish is still about 2lb 2 oz but we are seeing plenty of 3lb+ fish including some lovely overwintered fish. Best Rainbow so far was a 5lb 5oz fish taken by Marco Volino and biggest Brown 4lb 8oz.

The boats are now back on the water and catching well.

We are hosting the annual England Youth fund raising match on April 28th whch is open for all to enter.

__________________
PAUL DOHERTY
SENIOR FISHERY WARDEN
THAMES WATER
FARMOOR II TROUT FISHERY
OXFORD
01865 863033
Email; paul.doherty@thameswater.co.uk

Hiya Paul,

Wheres the picture then??

Give Marco a chance to let his head swell a bit more!

__________________
This Seasons Blog

Hi Paul,

I'm hoping to fish Farmoor on Sunday for the first time this season. Glad it's fishing it's socks off. I would like to fish from the boat on Sunday. Do you advise pre-booking and is the sporting ticket still available? (wifes a veggie, and isn't to keen on me filling our freezer)

Cheers
Paul

Hi Paul,
Nice to hear from you again, fishing is still superb with quite a few fish taken on dry fly today and buzzers, diawl bachs etc still taking the majority of fish. We do still offer the vegetarian option on the boats but please ring the office in the morning to secure one for Sunday as they're in short supply.

__________________
PAUL DOHERTY
SENIOR FISHERY WARDEN
THAMES WATER
FARMOOR II TROUT FISHERY
OXFORD
01865 863033
Email; paul.doherty@thameswater.co.uk

Hi Monaghan,

I fished Farmoor yesterday afternoon when I took my four fish rather more quickly than I had anticipated. There was a brisk north-easterly blowing so most bank fishermen were on the eastern bank. Seeking a bit of solitude I went round to the south-western corner and set up with an intermediate and a couple of small nymphs (12s PTN and GRHE) on a 12ft leader. The fish weren't very far down or very far out but the intermediate enabled me to avoid the wind pulling the flies round too fast. There were scores of ducks feeding on the midges being blown into the corner. You should have seen the drifts of buzzer shucks piling up there!

If you get out in a boat, I suggest you might anchor up close in on the windward shore. As you will be fishing down wind you should be able to fish a floater. The fish I caught had been feeding on small (14s) dark midge pupae. Have fun!

Best wishes,

Mugsy

Vinnie,
I did try to post the photo but unfortunately due to the sizes of both the fish AND Marco's head, I couldn't get them both on the same computer never mind the same page!

__________________
PAUL DOHERTY
SENIOR FISHERY WARDEN
THAMES WATER
FARMOOR II TROUT FISHERY
OXFORD
01865 863033
Email; paul.doherty@thameswater.co.uk

Thanks for the advice Mugsy.

Had a good day on sunday despite the warm weather and lack of wind.

Fished very close from the boat all around the res with a team of black buzzers on an 18 ft leader. Virtually all the fish came to the point fly. Fish seemed to be shoaling up as i'd catch two or three in quick succession and then nothing for an hour or two.

All in all a very good day.

Cheers
Paul

Hi Paul,

Pleased to hear you had a good day at Farmoor on Sunday.

I fished the west bank yesterday afternoon/evening and blanked. Anglers I spoke to had done well during the morning but nobody caught much while I was there. I tried all sorts of methods during the afternoon losing a good fish which took an Apps Bloodworm fished on an intermediate. In the evening a few fish began to show on top so I tried a couple of emerger patterns. These provoked some interest but the fish wouldn't take them properly. Last thing a brisk wind got up which put the fish down. An angler fishing in the south-east 'corner' took three fish on buzzers but that was about it.

Mugsy

I fished Farmoor from the bank on Saturday 21/4.

Took the bailiff's advice to fish the SW corner near the farm. I moved in a clockwise direction round from the first pitch I fished, trying each one for about 40 minutes. The third spot, just north of number 4 on the wall, produced fish on a gold head black buzzer fished off a floater on a 14 foot leader. I gave the flies between 30 and 40 seconds to sink, takes came both on the drop and during the retrieve. Not too surprising they were holding and feeding deep with the bright almost cloudless conditions. All fish on the point fly, I tried green buzzers and a green spider on the single dropper with no luck.

I finished in mid afternoon with 5 fish, best 2-4. On spooning the fish, all contained both large black buzzers and smaller green ones, and one had also taken some daphnia.

__________________
"In wine there is wisdom. In beer there is strength. In water there is bacteria." - German proverb
JH based near Southampton