Welcome to the latest fishing report.
What a pleasure it is to be starting and finishing our fishing at Kilnsey in daylight now the days are lengthening; the gates are opening at 7.00am and closing at 5pm.
The weather has improved and is starting to almost feel Spring-like (at least when that chilly wind isn’t blowing!). This is showing with the fishing improving, the fish are certainly becoming more active which is a great sign. At the same time the insect life is starting to awaken from its slumber, as was proved by a couple of large dark olives clinging to the fishing hut the other day when the sun shone with some warmth behind it.
It’s also nice to some regular faces appearing on the fishery again after a winter layoff and several anglers new to Kilnsey having some good sport.
Please be aware when fishing on the bottom lake near the road that you need to watch your back cast – we are seeing quite a few cyclists and walkers out and about in the Dales and catching cyclists does not go toward your rod average and can cause an unpleasant incident which none of us need! There are signs asking you not to back cast over the road please adhere to this.
Tight lines and happy casts, Leigh.
PS please note that whilst the main fishing report comes out monthly, we update the latest stats and flies (see ‘The Lowdown’ and ‘Top tactics and flies’ below) every two weeks.
The lowdown
Updated 15 March 2022
Water temperature and condition: Avg 7.9c and clear
Rod average across all ticket types: 9.4
Most fish caught by an individual angler: 49
Best fish: 14lb Rainbow; 7lb Blue. Although no Browns were recorded I know some have definitely been caught (please fill in those Catch return cards!)
Stocking details: We are currently stocking an average of 60 fish a week.
Catch returns: Catch return cards are really important to let us know how the lakes are fishing and how much restocking we need to do, so please complete them and post them into the box on the green hut
Top tactics and flies
Updated 15 March 2022
The fish are more active and have started to chase lures again but buzzers under the bung are still catching well. For those that prefer to fish smaller patterns little emergers have been catching well along with dries on the right day.
Top flies for this period: Foam Beetles, Snakes, yellow owls, Blue flash Damsel, apps and squirmy worms, and Buzzers.
Other information
Courses – We have now run the first course of the season which along with the curlews overhead is always a sign of Spring at Kilnsey. We hope to see these people back soon – judging by the positive feedback I think we will. Our first Improvers Course is fast approaching, there are still a couple of spaces so if you want to fine tune your technique our instructors Jeff and Mark would love to help – click here to find out more.
Fish welfare – A quick note on fish handling, we have removed two dead double-figure fish from the lake this week, this could be down to a few reasons but they were not physically damaged. If you catch large fish they take a while to recover so give them the time they need; also if want a photograph be very quick preferably photo the fish in the net – the golden rule is “keep them wet”. Thank you in advance for your help in maintaining our fish quality.
Current opening times – To check our current opening times please click here.
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