Last fished Sutton Bingham about 20 yrs ago until its decline. Now that Chew is pike HQ for Bristol Water and strategically stocked just before competitions, I thought I would revisit some old haunts.

It is encouraging to read the "recent" reports up to July 09. Looks like this fishery has been turned around by good management. Has anyone been out this year and especially in the last week? Information on flies ,depths and time of day will be appreciated.

Have booked a boat for Saturday in spite of the comments about the excellent bank fishing. This trip is more of a factfinding mission and a boat is a good way of covering a lot of ground quickly.

Just spoken to the ranger who reports that fish are being taken on Gold heads, Damsels and Hares Ears at depth. However, the warmer weather has bought them up in the last few days ,so the weekend looks good.

Will post our results next week.

Hi Mendipden. Been to SB twice this season...March 19 and (the soggy...) Good Friday. Have had my 5 fish limit both times. Best fish 2-14. The March day was very typical of early season, with the fish apparently tightly shoaled. A weighted Montana fished deep off a long leader / floating line from the south bank of the main basin did the business for me, but hot spot location was critical.

On Good Friday I started off the same way and got 2 fish, then it all went quiet for me while it rained. When the weather brightened and the wind shifted, I crossed the dam to the NE corner and caught the other 3 pretty quickly on lure gear...a black leadhead off the floating line, fished quite tight in the corner and casting towards the dam.

I would say from my Good Friday session that the fish are indeed probably starting to move up in the water....I caught at midwater, and saw the years' first martins. So straight line nymphing with black and green buzzers should work well in later April and in May.

I find that 7 days out of 10 bank fishing is fine at SB, due to the configuration of the lake there's miles of bank for the area of water (if you don't mind walking). If the weather is bright and still the fish may hold 50 yards or so offshore and then a boat pays dividends. Boat or bank, it might well be worth a go "up the arm" as the locals say...on March 19 one of them wandered back from up there with a lovely bag of fish.

I tend to finish with Sutton Bingham after about mid-June and move on to Farmoor, even Ivan the warden (top guy) admits the fishing at SB goes off in July and August. September can be patchy, but if Ivan holds back a stocking of fish you can have a good day.

Let us know how you get on.

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

Thanks John, looks like Saturday will be bright from the weather forecasts so a boat could prove a good choice. Will be tying up plenty of buzzers and damsels tomorrow.

fished sb yesterday..11/04/10.. good day but the bl..dy wind made fishing the south bank a challange to say the least..wind n/e coming over pump house..but pushed food source right in close on south bank..fishing coming out all day really with bit of a low patch about mid morning..fish being caught on all types heard of buzzers/ diawl back/ lures all colours one guy had a made 5 minutes in a minkey and got 3 straight out..we were on small black lures with bead head 2 fish of that.. small bead head black nat 1 off that... cats wisker 1 off that.. montana 1 off that..even took a trip up to the top lake but not even a touch in there..all fish stockies of about 2lb but according too the local expert they have put a "Few" 10lb in this year..
all in all a good day ...

10th April 2010:
On arrival, it did not look good.Very bright day, flat calm & water very coloured. However, fish were moving but not consistently. Fry were scattering near bushes so looked liked a day at the end of the season.

Ivan the ranger was most helpful and suggested that we use stick flies, gold heads & buzzers.

The area in front of the lodge both left and right was suggested so we rowed to the small bay to the left as you stand on the lodge veranda.

Stick flies on intermediate lines fished very slowly near bottom produced the results. Tried damsels to no avail. Fish to 3lb 4oz with most around 2lb. Moved to the dam about lunchtime where red tailed stick flies had a good response. All fish were in excellent condition and fought very well. Takes were very gentle and we lost many because not hooked up properly.

When wind increased we expected more activity but it actually put them off the feed. Interesting to see that bank anglers caught consistently and mirrored the boat activity. We encountered fish in all locations but there were short marked periods of activity throughout the day so it pays to stick at it.

A note for bank anglers: No need to wade at the moment. From the boat it was interesting to hear the comments from those who did wade. The same anglers then tramped up and down the banks ruining fishing for others. The fish were close in and I will fish from the bank next time. We saw a complete beginner catch one standing on the bank because the others close by stayed out of the water. Fish moved within 6ft of the bank all day. So if you see someone approaching flat out wriggling through the grass its me!

Well done Mendipden, thanks for the update.

There seems to be an accepted convention among many of the regulars at Sutton Bingham that they don't deep wade at any time. Sometimes a shallow paddle is needed to help you land a fish, but as a 25-30 yard cast hits plenty of fishable water, you can easily stay dry and catch fish.

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

17th April:

Another bright day with mist on the water at 8.00am. As last week, the water is still coloured but showing signs of clearing. Decided to try the bank and was not disappointed. Plenty of fish moving early on,but as before, no consistency.

Tried last weeks favourite, stick fly with red tail. Intermediate line produced many short takes from midwater down to the bottom. Managed one on the bank by 8.30 after about four attempts.

The surprise of the day was a Crayfish! I thought I had picked up a small branch. Must be the Signal ( American) as it was about 6" to 7" long. Took photo and will post when I have worked out how to upload to this site. Put it back but then realised that they are a danger to our naturals, so feel a bit guilty. Not sure what the Wessex policy is so if anyone knows.... Towards the evening we actually saw another walking along the bottom about 2ft from the bank. We also heard that one angler left a fish cooling off in the margins and had a crayfish attached when he was going home. SB must be full of them? I feel a barbecue may be useful on the next trip.

Had a tip that Silver Invictas were going well in places. Found some breeze after walking over the dam and on the bank just the other side. Cannot find a map with the bank names so sorry to be vague. My fishing buddy immediately hooked up. The chap next to me put one on ( size 8 to my surprise!) and went straight into one. The next two hours were quite eventful especially as there were signs of regular nymphing. The cold wind during the evening put them down again so looking forward to some warmer evenings.

Another good day out with fish to almost 3lb. The other fish catching flies were Montanas, small fry immitations, black buzzers, I caught one in deep water on a 10 longshank plain stickfly and another on size 8 Dunkeld which looked more like a small fry pattern.

Going to tie up some Hawthorn flies and sedges as the fish are on the point of surface feeding if the weather holds. Around lunchtime, I sat and watched fish splash to the odd fly under trees about 5 -10 yds off the bank. When the hatches pick up,should be great to fish dry or just sub surface with light lines.

If any of the locals or regulars have any tips, it would be good to hear from them. I am posting because in my two trips to date, I talked to many first timers who found it difficult to get information. Many do not have the right lines or flies and do not have 40 yrs of flyfishing experience.

Until the water warms up, I have used what many would call a very slow sinker WF8. 5lb leader with a combination of above flies. This line allows casting against and across the wind if conditions suddenly change. All fished quite slowly but keep alert as takes are either quick taps or slow draws where you think you have hit vegetation.

I have been fishing SB half a dozen times or so each season since the late 1990s, having first fished it in 1977 ( - I was very young when I started) so I suppose I am reasonably regular, if not a local.

"Keep it simple and think hardest about finding the fish" is my strategy in a nutshell. I use a fairly standard repertoire of lure and nymph fishing; lures mainly leadheads/nobblers off a floater or tadpoles off a sink tip shooting head using the heavier of my 2 lake rods. All black, black and green or white and green are my choice of lure colours. Nymph fishing is either deep with an 18 foot one dropper leader, leaded montana or stickfly on the point and buzzer on the dropper; or straight line nymphing with black and green buzzers off a slightly shorter leader. On a cloudy, breezy day a team of Cove PTN and a wet fly like a Soldier Palmer or Kate McLaren might be worth a swim in that role. With both outfits, I quite carefully search the depths, first midwater then deeper.

I also carry a fast sinking head to use with boobies and occasionally find use for it. Similarly a double taper line for dry fly work with the lighter outfit.

So somewhat 1980s / 1990s style tactics....but they still work.

Six to seven days out of ten you can catch all the fish you want off the bank; the other three days a boat is worthwhile, for when the fish are holding offshore in bright weather or later in spring.

I get the impression that the locals buy their book of tickets and then choose between Sutton Bingham, Clatworthy and Hawkridge....for all we know here the other two lakes might be fishing very well indeed. As you say, there seem to be a lot of new faces at SB this year, some of whom are beginners or inexperienced anglers.

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

I fished Sutton Bingham on Saturday 24/4. Because of the week of bright weather, I took a boat. Rowed towards the north bank, as suggested by Ivan.

Slow start for me, by mid-day all I had to show was one lost fish. I eventually anchored about 40 yards off the single tree in the water, casting towards the bank, and worked out the form. The fish were somewhat down in the water, I found fish at a 30 seconds sink time, and I believe pods were moving past me. I used a brown and green Montana on the point and either a wet Wickhams or B&P spider on the dropper, all this off a 14 foot leader and my Pitsford Pirate midge tip line. In a hectic couple of hours after lunchtime I landed 4, lost another and had a smash take on the dropper. Left the water mid-afternoon one short of the 5 fish limit but I didn't mind, because the best fish was a lovely silver 6lb 10z fish - a reservoir PB for me.

Bank fishers in the area between where I was moored and the dam corner who could get a line out into the S-SE breeze were also catching, again it seemed a little way down in the water. I lobbed out a "big red" dry fly while I ate my lunch, but in that 20-25 minutes there was no interest in it at all.

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

Fished Sutton Bingham on Saturday 1 May. Went to the north east dam corner, where I could get a line out and across the gentle westerly breeze. Found fish almost immediately, and had the 5 fish bag without too many problems, fishing a Montana and a Buzzer on a long leader off a floating line. The fish were at midwater - 20 seconds sink time.

Must say the lake looks particularly nice at this time of year, various shades of green in the trees around the lake and so on.

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