Off up to visit mt folks next week and hoping to get a days fishing in.

Had a look at the Website but not that up to date wondered if anyone has fished ot lately or could add any info / advice.

Thanks

__________________
Jim

My only worry is that when I die,my wife sells my fishing gear, for what I said I paid for it

Jim,

Maybe a bit late now but if you are back up this way again I would say that Wansford is definitely worth a try. I am pretty new to fishing and have been using the flowing water of Wansford to help learn how to cast onto moving water (line mending?). The water flows quickly at the inlet and then slows around the top end of the lake.

There are some big fish in there at the moment (not that I have managed any!). Last weekend I had a couple of 5lb rainbows on dry flies (F-Fly and a Daddy).

Overall I would say that Wansford offers great value for money.

If you are more compitent that I am and have a litle more money than I do, try Mullberry Whin. It is a chalk stream fishery that is only a couple of miles from Wansfard (Skerne). I hear that it is a fantastic days fishing for browns.

Let me know what you thoght if you tried it back in Feb.

Jim.

Hi All,

I realize this is an old thread, but in the spirit of other waterway reports, I'll update this one rather than starting a new thread.

I got out to fish Wansford on Sunday. The conditions were tough to start with. It was exceptionally windy such that I broke out the 7 wt to start the evening. Having no stillwater experience and combining with the wind, it was a slow start. There were fish around and they were eating. Turns out they were on tiny midges on top which were near impossible to fish in the wind. However, I used the first half of the night to learn the lake and get into a rythym. As 8:30 rolled around I took a quick break, regrouped, and had a snack as the wind slacked off some. With less wind and still hungry fish I managed a couple with the biggest at 19" and around 2lb, smallest at 14". All were in good shape. I did see one monster of a fish cruising around. It was a double digit fish for sure.

I'd say the fishery is a great value. It is also a nice intro to stillwaters for a river fisherman because there is still a bit of flow at the ends. I'll probably head up tonight if the wind dies out a little.

Thanks,
Rick

Hi All,

Went back to Wansford tonight. There was far less wind and as some points there was none at all. It was a bit different set of conditions from last time for sure. Early on you could watch for cruising and rising fish and cast to them. A little later you had to fish seams and 'areas'. I ended up catching 6 or 7 on the evening on a mix of dries and nymphs. I think I've got the hang of these fish now. I had a number more that hit and I missed for whatever reasons. Nothing big tonight, biggest was about 16", but one had me almost to my backing very quickly and they were all strong fighters. Another good night.

Thanks
Rick

Hi guys,

Fished Wansford this morning, 8-12. It was tough going as there was no surface ripple, crystal clear water (normal), and bright sunlight almost all morning. There weren't many fish caught all morning, but there was a couple. I ended up catching 6, biggest was 23" and right around 3 1/2 lb. There were a bunch of fish around as usual and a couple big ones. Everthing I caught today was 15" or more. All very hefty. All caught on a mix of nymphs, damsels, and buzzers.

Thanks
Rick

Hi Guys,

I think 6 is the lucky number for sunday mornings. Fished the first 4 hours of the day and caught 6. Biggest would have gone about 2 lb or so, so nothing huge, just plenty of fun. Could have caught more if I felt like fishing midges all morning and wasn't trying to catch some particularly tough fish on dries. Need to hit the tying vice again. Seems with midges/buzzers that they are never the same color/size/profile on any two days. It was olive bodied cream thorax last time. This time a dark grey. Time before required some red in the fly. Eventually the cycle will start repeating. If I tie a couple flies before each trip in a different color/size/pattern set, one day I'll have exactly what they are looking for when they are looking for it.

Thanks
Rick

Hi guys,

Got out for the first trip of the year today as my wife's plane wasn't coming in until this afternoon.

Fished wansford 9-1. Caught 5, could have had a few more. Biggest fish was about 4-5lb. It was only 21-22" or so, but was really thick. It was like a small steelhead with perfect color and fins. It was grubbing on the bottom, so a little red midge larva did his trick. Lots of very healthy fish around. Saw a bunch of fish in the 3-6 lb bracket and all but one I caught were well over 2.

Good day out.

Thanks
Rick

hi guys,

Fished it the other week for a few evening hours. Same report as last time roughly. Lots of good fish, water in good shape. I landed 8 or 9, all on midge larvae type things (buzzers basically). No little fish at all that night.

I took Friday off this week (20th May) and made a full day of it. It was a windy day, so delicate on the surface wasn't happening. The water was also running full because some kids had damaged the upstream lock so the canal was running full blow. I gave it a go in the morning with buzzers, damsels, and the usual suspects and got 11. By the afternoon I was tired of delicate so I threw streamers to active fish. I ended on 27 for the day (9-4). Best fish was again in the 24-25" bracket, or about 5-6 lb. Two fish under 15", most all of the rest were 18-22". Good day out.

Thanks
Rick

Hi All,

Got out last night for the evening session. The fishing was tough to start. The sun was bright, there was a bit of wind, plenty of tiny midges flying about, but the fish weren't interested. I think they had been hammered all weekend for the long weekend and were a bit tight lipped. The water seemed a little cloudy as well which is unusual. I think there was some work being done upstream that colored it up. Om top of that I couldn't keep fish hooked. The first 4 or 5 that I had on popped loose for no good reason.

After about 9 PM the fish turned on though. They started feeding actively most everywhere. Patience with dries would have caught fish. I fished tiny things subsurface and later on big things sub surface to a final count of 14 I think. About half were in the 12-14" range. A couple were 20"+. Also landed a grayling of ~16" and around 2 lb. Not a bad fish for size, but he had great color.

Thanks,
Rick

Hi All,

Made it out today for a bit. Got 11. One fish was pushing 7 lb or so a few more in the 4-5 lb range. Not a bad day, but things were tough. You really had to work for the fish. Lures and buzzers as usual, though the fish were taking on top here and there if you wanted to be patient.

Thanks,
Rick