Stillwater salmon fishing in England
Seasons Anglers Report for Palm Springs Salmon Fishery.
A warm September delayed the opening of the 2009/10 season until the 10th of October, but it was worth the wait as 4 anglers caught no less than 30 salmon headed by a superb 24 pounder, to Phil Earl from Haverhill, Suffolk. Fishing was steady thereafter , 48 anglers landed 161 salmon, a rod average of just over 3 per day. Most of these early season fish ranged from 3-8lb but large salmon were also in evidence with 11 over 20lb. The 26th was a remarkable day when Lorenzo Serrano had a 25 ½ pounder and Alan Moore caught a new fishery record, a fine fish of 26 pounds.
The catches in November improved further when 29 rods landed 139 salmon, an average of 4.8 per day ticket. Arthur Sykes and John Eaton had a red letter day on the 25th, they banked 15 salmon each, for 30 in a day between them! Large fish for the month were one of 25lb for Mark Stroud on the 4th ,and on the 19th, when John Lewis and Peter Langard took home 25 and 22 pounders respectively.
Thereafter the terrible winter began to take it’s toll and few anglers ventured out in December and January. Some notable catches did occur, Mark Corps had 9 on the 29th of December and John Eaton returned for a salmon of 20lb on the 19th of January. It was a case of fishing around the ice and trying to keep warm. It has to be a spell of bitter weather to defeat the warming effect of the spring water flowing through the lake and ice it over, but it did just that for a lot of January. Never mind, although the rain and snow melt coloured the water, it’s only ice and high summer water temperatures that make the lake unfishable. February resumed where November left off with the same rod average of 4.8, 50 anglers having caught 240 salmon. These figures are a little flattered by the exploits of Mike Palmer on the 12th who lost count! and had to estimate his catch at 20, and by World Fly Fishing Champion Iain Barr, who caught the same number on the 16th and landed another 14 on the 28th. These large catches must have occurred because of the light fishing pressure of December and January but it is remarkable how it varies from day to day, (which must be due to the vagaries of the weather) even though the water quality stays the same
. February was a good month for large fish also with 11 salmon over 20lb landed.. Kevin Tallett had one of 25lb on the 9th and Iain Barr included one of 26 ¼ (a new fishery record) in his 14 of the 28th. Iain’s record didn’t last long, Andy James had a 27 ½ lb cock fish on the 8th of March which in it’s turn was overhauled by a 29 ¼ pounder to William Knapper on the 10th, the current record and the only one he landed that day! I can say Andy James salmon was a cock because it was an over wintered fish in spawning colours (picture on website) which is unusual for here, as nearly all the salmon stocked are in the ocean feeding stage of their lives, and not returning to spawn like the salmon found in our rivers. 5 other salmon over 20lb were landed in March, William Knapper’s friend had one of 23 ¾ on the 10th as well. The rod average fell back a little, 33 anglers had 111 making 3.3 per day ticket but the average size is increasing with most fish in the 8-12lb range at present.
April was most important for the fishery because on the 21st John Heley landed a salmon of 34lb 4oz which is the only salmon over 30lb caught in the whole year, three other salmon in the low 20s were landed too. Spring brought the anglers out in force, 55 anglers banked 213 salmon of which 132 were put back. Average 3.9
May was another excellent month, 65 fisherman attended with their fly rods catching 237 salmon average 3.6 with a good sprinkling of large fish. On the 11th George Best had a cracking 26lb 4 oz and the next day Oliver Hill had one 4oz bigger, the only one he caught! Largest of the month was a 27 pounder on the 23rd, to the rod of Dominic Warren and 4 others landed between 20 and 25lb. Pictures of most of these large salmon can be found on this website.
June was a month of two halves. Fishing was good until the hot weather arrived so from the 16th onwards there were more blanks than in the whole of the rest of the season. Even so, 90 salmon landed by 63 anglers gave a 1.4 average still not bad compared with some reports by visiting anglers who had tried to catch a wild salmon from the rivers.
So at the official end of the season a grand total of 1317 salmon were landed, of which 801 were returned and 516 were taken home by 388 fly fishermen at an average of 3.4 salmon landed per day ticket.
Once again we have tried some experimental fishing over the summer with mixed success. Arthur Sykes landed a 27 pounder in late July but I haven’t kept any detailed records on the catch rates. I’ll have to have a think on how we can proceed. Ben
08/07/10 Not much is happening now as the season is drawing to a close. The hot weather makes catching a salmon very hard work. I will try to post a report on the season soon, so here is a picture of the kind of fish I hope you will have a chance of landing next year.
This one weighed just under 30 pounds, note the Yucca flower to my left,
22/04/10 I was hoping that the record here would pass 30lb by the end of the season but it already happened yesterday when John Heley from Barton near Miltion Keynes landed a salmon of 34 pounds. It took a cat's whisker then went round the lake a couple of times before being landed.
Yes, that is John below with a 24 pounder and he stole he friend Bill's record too! On the left is their pal George Cheetham who missed their first trip but wasn't going to miss out this time!. I wonder what John's salmon weight average is after this.
27/03/10 Just a snippet to say that some anglers have found some chrominid midge larvae in the salmon's digestive tracts so some small imitations may yield results. Ben
15/03.10 It's a good job we have modern picture technology otherwise you wouldn't believe when I say the record here has been broken yet again! On the 10th of March William Knapper from Luton only banked one fish but it weighed no less than 29 1/4 pounds. His friend John Heley had 8, biggest nearly 24 pounds. I'll leave you to decide who had the better day!
11/03/10 David Barker's record was only slightly more durable than Iain Barr's at 5 days. On the 8th of March, Andy James from Cirencester caught a salmon of 27 1/2 pounds late on after a slow day. As you can see it is a cock fish that took 30 minutes to land.
08/03/10 Iain Barr's record below lasted just 3 days for on the 3rd of March David Barker from Derbyshire caught a salmon weighing 27lb. His Pal, Wayne Jordan landed a 22 pounder too,
on a day when 7 anglers landed 11 salmon. Good to see all visiting anglers at the fly fishing show.
02/02/10 Last Sunday Iain Barr returned to Palm Springs Salmon Fishery and in true World Champion style caught a new fishery record salmon, 4oz bigger than Alan Moore's 26 pounder. 
There were 3 other anglers in Iain's party, catching 32 salmon, a record fishery catch in one day. Mind you Iain caught 1 salmon twice (something that happened before with one of my salmon at Hazlecopse, Sussex) but I suppose they all count.
From right Nigel Tranter,caught 7, Gary brewster,8, Iain, 14, and Nigel's son Daniel ,3, with a 14 pounder.
24/02/10 Today Palm Springs hosted it's first Troutmasters fish off and a very exciting day it proved to be. Five anglers competed to see who could catch the most salmon in the alloted time. I thought one angler would walk away with it but it was nip and tuck all the way and some large salmon were caught into the bargain. Here they are at the end of the day 
From the right. John Eaton caught the first salmon and the biggest at 23lb, landed 4. Peter Fletcher also landed 4 including a 20 pounder (released as he had no room in his freezer!). Arthur Sykes had a very slow morning but came in with a late charge landed 4 including a 22lb salmon. Phil Earl looked good early on but couldn't keep it up with a tally of 3, and finally on the left is our winner for the day, Mark Stroud. You can see him above holding a 20 pounder part of a 6 fish haul. 21 salmon, four 20+lb in a day, these are good anglers and if they don't watch out they'll be banned for catching too many!
17/02/10 Yesterday World Flyfishing Champ Iain Barr came to Palm Springs Salmon fishery to do a feature for Sky TV's Tight Line's programme (I'll let you know when it's on) and in the process matched the record for number of salmon landed (20!) in a day. Luckily the sun shone, Carol laid on lunch, and a good time was had by all. Here is Iain on the left with his largest (20lb ) and the other visiting angler for the day Nick Lane holding his biggest at 21 1/2 lb.
11/01/10 No fishing has been possible so far in January as the extreme weather has finally defeated the warming effect of the spring water and the lake is frozen over. If temperatures hovver around freezing (as they are now) there will be a slow thaw. Phone for an update if you are thinking about booking a day ticket. Meanwhile here is a photo taken by my daughter, Flo, from our dining room window. With him and his friends around there's no need to prune the privet hedge this year!
01/01/10 Fishing was possible with reduced numbers recently because of some ice cover (which interestingly forms in the middle and not at the edges) but the catches have been good notably a 23 pounder caught by Barry Williams pictured here with his pal Jimmy Scott on the laft.
The 30th of December was remarkable as three anglers all caught their first salmon within 10 ninutes of the start. In this photo with Carol are Harvey Mobbs, Trevor Richardson and Simon McGovern 
This picture taken on boxing day shows some ice on the lake but no fishing days lost yet.
22/11/09Things have been quiet at Palm Springs Salmon with the weather and run up to Christmas. Some hardy anglers have managed to escape the wives and shopping but not many! The heavy snowfall and very cold temperatures have meant a battle for survival back at the rearing unit. That's me not the fish! We have no tap water for the house as the pipes have frozen and the hill coming in has been impassble some days. Here is a picture of the first 30 pounder I have managed to weigh from the lead batch of salmon. Note the icicles, and the hedgecutter broke the window on my left. Not a good day again today but at least the shortest day is behind us now.
The New Seasons restocking
On the 1st of October and the following 2 days Ben restocked the lake. There is a range of sizes the biggest being between 20 and 25lbs
Fishery open day a 24lb salmon caught
The day started with a glass of whisky for all and some was sprinkled over the lake as is tradition in Scotland I believe.
Ben Mike Phil John and Arthur
Phil Earl caught a 24lb salmon on opening day pictured here with Arthur Sykes helping to weigh it.
It was a beautiful fine day. Arthur and friends John and Mike who have now been several times to Palm Springs had booked for some time to be here on opening day and Phil who had not been salmon fishing before came alone. He has been fishing for big Spanish cat fish and said and I quote ' the fight was just as exciting and the memory will last a long time.'this salmon fought hard and it took him half way along the lake. The salmon was caught on a special fly tied by John Eaton and was med size mid green with a black tinsel tail, very pretty I might add. Between the 4 of them on the day they landed 30 salmon and all confessed to having a thoroughly enjoyable day.
Last seasons newsletter in archive section of Photos 12/01/10
Six Month Anglers Report for Palm Springs Salmon Fishery.
A warm September delayed the opening of the 2009/10 season until the 10th of October, but it was worth the wait as 4 anglers caught no less than 30 salmon headed by a superb 24 pounder, to Phil Earl from Haverhill, Suffolk. Fishing was steady thereafter , 48 anglers landed 161 salmon, a rod average of just over 3 per day. Most of these early season fish ranged from 3-8lb but large salmon were also in evidence with 11 over 20lb. The 26th was a remarkable day when Lorenzo Serrano had a 25 ½ pounder and Alan Moore caught a new fishery record, a fine fish of 26 pounds.
The catches in November improved further when 29 rods landed 139 salmon, an average of 4.8 per day ticket. Arthur Sykes and John Eaton had a red letter day on the 25th, they banked 15 salmon each, for 30 in a day between them! Large fish for the month were one of 25lb for Mark Stroud on the 4th ,and on the 19th, when John Lewis and Peter Langard took home 25 and 22 pounders respectively.
Thereafter the terrible winter began to take it
February resumed where November left off with the same rod average of 4.8, 50 anglers having caught 240 salmon. These figures are a little flattered by the exploits of Mike Palmer on the 12th who lost count! and had to estimate his catch at 20, and by World Fly Fishing Champion Iain Barr, who caught the same number on the 16th and landed another 14 on the 28th. These large catches must have occurred because of the light fishing pressure of December and January but it is remarkable how it varies from day to day, (which must be due to the vagaries of the weather) even though the water quality stays the same. February was a good month for large fish also with 11 salmon over 20lb landed.. Kevin Tallett had one of 25lb on the 9th and Iain Barr included one of 26 ¼ (a new fishery record) in his 14 of the 28th.
Iain
Total salmon catch figures to 31st March 2010 875 landed 590 returned 285 retained
Palm Springs Salmon fishery in situated in Rutland only 2 hours drive for most English anglers. Fly fishing only with strong single handed rod, 15lb leader and large landing net. Day tickets cost £120, gift vouchers, and whole fishery can be booked by phoning Carol on 01780 411427 or 0786 069 0594. Fishing information Ben on 0775 948 1255, lot of pictures and information on website www.palmspringssalmon.co.uk.
April was most important for the fishery because on the 21st John Heley landed a salmon of 34lb 4oz which is the only salmon over 30lb caught in the whole year, three other salmon in the low 20s were landed too. Spring brought the anglers out in force, 55 anglers banked 213 salmon of which 132 were put back. Average 3.9
May was another excellent month, 65 fisherman attended with their fly rods catching 237 salmon average 3.6 with a good sprinkling of large fish. On the 11th George Best had a cracking 26lb 4 oz and the next day Oliver Hill had one 4oz bigger, the only one he caught! Largest of the month was a 27 pounder on the 23rd, to the rod of Dominic Warren and 4 others landed between 20 and 25lb. Pictures of most of these large salmon can be found on this website.
June was a month of two halves. Fishing was good until the hot weather arrived so from the 16th onwards there were more blanks than in the whole of the rest of the season. Even so, 90 salmon landed by 63 anglers gave a 1.4 average still not bad compared with some reports by visiting anglers who had tried to catch a wild salmon from the rivers.
So at the official end of the season a grand total of 1317 salmon were landed, of which 801 were returned and 516 were taken home by 388 fly fishermen at an average of 3.4 salmon landed per day ticket.
Once again we have tried some experimental fishing over the summer with mixed success. Arthur Sykes landed a 27 pounder in late July but I haven’t kept any detailed records on the catch rates. I’ll have to have a think on how we can proceed. Ben
Updated 08/07.10