Bank Fly Fishing For Reservoir Trout - A New Dawn - Part Two. Continuing on from the first two pieces Bank Fly Fishing For Reservoir Trout - A New Dawn - Part One and Bank Fly Fishing For Reservoir Trout - A New Dawn - Part Two here is the third and final part in the Bank Fly Fishing For Reservoir Trout - A New Dawn series of posts.

Pitsford Dam Wall

The Dam Wall at Pitsford has never been opened up for bank anglers as far as I am aware. It is the only Anglian Water reservoir that does not allow fishing from the Dam Wall. It is a flat concrete straight stretch and quite steep. If opened up to a set limited number of anglers along its length - say 25 yards apart - an extra premium could be charged for access to this section of the bank. Since the steep nature of the concrete is quite hard on the feet and legs a further premium could be charged for the use of small mobile platforms if built and provided by Anglian Water that could be used by anglers on a daily basis. Making sure these platforms are stored, secured and made available on a daily basis would encourage the wardens to be on the bank side more often, which has also got to be a good thing.

The deep water found at the Dam wall opens up the possibility of catching fish during daylight hours as opposed to the bank fishing being limited to either dawn and at the very last knockings in the evenings through the summer months.

This could be a multiple win for both anglers and Anglian Water:

1. Anglers would benefit from having access to this key deep water area that has been previously only accessible to the boat anglers.
2. An initial new revenue stream would be created for Anglian Water by charging an extra daily premium for this access.
3. A further daily revenue could be generated by the rental of individual mobile platforms designed to level the steep incline for anglers to stand on.
4. More wardens on the bank side looking after the anglers using the new individual mobile platforms.
5. Once the mobile platforms are proven to work and bring in revenue their use could be extended and made available at the other reservoirs, thus extending the revenue potential.

Pitsford Waters "Little Half" Rules

Scaldwell and Walgrave Arms in Pitsfords "Little Half" are out of bounds and are a haven for the resident cormorant flock. These waters are also fertile, unfished and offer huge fishing potential in beautiful surroundings.

A proposal is needed to extend access for anglers in these parts of the reservoir. If it is only for boats that anchor or drift no closer than 50 x metres off the shoreline an extra premium could be charged for this access in addition to the existing charges levied for boat use.

If access was opened up there would be a flood of anglers wanting to explore and take advantage of this new virgin water and this presents another potential revenue earning vector for Anglian Water both initially and on a longer term basis.

1. Remove the limited access to Pitsfords "Little Half" and extend the fishing for at least the boats into Scaldwell and Walgrave Arms.
2. Charge an extra premium for boat fishing access into Scaldwell and Walgrave Arms.

Marketing

A marketing refresh that includes embracing the modern age could go a long way to improving the image. Using social media tools such as Twitter for updates on all the venues. A proper RSS feed out of the Anglian Water website for the fishery catch returns each week. A formal equivalent press release sent to the local papers every week in Northampton such as the Chronicle and Echo for Pitsford and Ravensthorpe. Also the local paper equivalents in Stamford for Rutland and St. Neots for Grafham would be good. Possibly even a full time marketing position in Angian Water to actively promote angling at all four trout based reservoirs would be good. The ideas here possibly only scratch the surface of what is possible. There is a huge amount of scope for making success it there is a will to do so...

1. More regular visible promotion of trout fishing at Anglian Waters reservoirs.

Monthly Photography Competition

Engage all water users that have a camera by holding a sponsored "competition" for the best amateur photo taken of the natural beauty to be found at Pitsford Water with a small prize each month. This could culminate in a best photo of the year prize. There are some stunning sights to see every year throughout all of the seasons. Many fabulous sights are simply taken for granted by the anglers as part of the fantastic joys of visiting the reservoir.

The material supplied by the public could provide a wealth of images that Anglian Water could use in their marketing campaigns for very little outlay. This could be as simple as an extra part to the Anglian Water website for photo submissions that is also well publicised to all reservoir visitors in a printed handout leaflet for example.

1. A monthly reservoir based natural history amateur photo competition.
2. An annual reservoir based natural history amateur photo competition.

Stocking

A return to the old stocking policy of transporting the fish in a cage out behind a boat and to randomly release small numbers of fish staggered all over the reservoir would go a long way to get away from the end of lake polarisation of stocking that has happened for the last few seasons. Trout seem to be stocked at the Causeway via the chute that is placed there permanently and up by the dam wall near to the Sailing Club. A better and wider dispersal of the trout stocked would go a long way to improving the general fishing scenario.

Whilst the extremely restrictive fishing access rules regarding Pitsfords "Little Half" are in place there has to be a serious rhetorical question as to "Why is the Little Half stocked with trout at all?"

Trout stocked in the "Little Half" mostly fall into these three groups:

1. The trout are only accessible to boat anglers in a very limited part of the "Little Half" - Scaldwell and Walgrave Arms are out of bounds.
2. The trout become easier prey items for the resident Cormorant flock which is undisturbed by human activity.
3. The trout become easy food items for the heavy pike population. It is almost impossible to get any fly with a marabou tail back without a pike attached for many of the summer months.

For bank anglers the bank space that is fishable in the "Little Half" is extremely limited - due to heavy growth it would seem that a portable strimmer be an essential kit item to allow the clearance of the thick bank side vegetation to accommodate the anglers back cast.

1. A wider dispersal via a boat throughout the reservoir of the trout to be stocked in the "Big Half".

The Rudder

Currently "rudder" based boat fishing is allowed at Pitsford and Rutland. It has been banned at Grafham for many years. The reason why is not really clear - possibly Grafhams Head Warden John Mees might know. This presents another great opportunity for generating revenue. The "rudder" ban at Grafham could be lifted under certain conditions, such as only if an approved Anglian Water "rudder" be used. This approved "rudder" could be solely available for purchase or rental from the the Anglian Water onsite tackle shops. It would be quite simple to standardise a rudder design that will fit onto all the boat fleets, then to commission the manufacture of enough numbers to carry as stock at all the venues tackle shops.

This is a big win for both boat anglers and Anglian Water as it would bring an initial flood of anglers to Grafham to try this new part of the sport that has not been available for many years at this venue. For Anglian Water it is a guaranteed revenue earner by providing the approved rudder version from its own onsite tackle shop outlets.

It would be a small step to extend the Anglian Water approved only rudder to both Pitsford and Rutland over a period of time and encourage all the existing ad hoc rudders that are in use to be traded in against the purchase of an Anglian Water approved rudder version.

1. Anglian Water approved rudders for sale and daily rental at all onsite tackle outlets.

The Onsite Tackle Shops

All of the tackle shops have a huge captive visiting client base of anglers who by way of extension of their sport need to be fly tiers also. In the modern world the lack of an online extension of these tackle shops is the equivalent of shooting ones self in the foot. With such a high stock level maximising sales is key. I would humbly suggest that a web based Anglian Water Tackle Shop be built pronto. There are huge benefits to be had if this was done. Not least of these being that one could turn up to the tackle shop to find a package of all the items you have already pre-ordered online put together by the staff already awaiting for your collection. Not to mention better stock control, ordering and other logistics.

1. Build a complimentary online tackle shop website to bolster the existing onsite tackle shops to increase sales and improve stock management.

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