Stillwater salmon fishing in England
Updated 08/03/10
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