Community Shield - Rutland Water
Police UK Community Shield, Rutland Water. 16 April 2026.
The MVFFC were once again invited to enter a team in this competition held, this year, at Rutland Water. The team, led by Phil Thomas, was Mark Rose, Mick McLintic, Dai Davies, Nick Hammett, Neil Smith, John McAuley and Sag Griffith (who travelled from Bristol at late notice just for the match day). The remainder of the team fished the 2 planned practice days.
Practice day 1 the boats headed out based on the fishing reports from the Airflo Open the previous weekend. Some areas still held fish but the others were barren in comparison. Mick and Nick found their fish off Normanton, Gibbets and Green Bank to net approximately 50 on the 1st day, close behind were Mark and Neil with 30, again from Normanton and the South Arm. Whereas Phil, Dai and John scraped out just over a dozen between them in the North Arm including Barnsdale. But everyone had caught at least one fish…. There were 2 methods working and these were put into action on the following day.
Practice Day 2, with a mix up in the pairings based on the previous day's catches, had one angler on the midge tip and one on the DI3 or Sweep 3. Mick and Mark had tied a few extra boobs and blobs. The lake had been stocked the previous day but the North arm fish hadn't been found so there was a search in place for those. The forecast winds were to increase in the morning which limited the single man boat, Phil, to the arms after 1pm so he headed for Normanton first with Mick and John. The fish were still there. The South Arm also fished well at Cattle Trough and Green Bank with Dai and Nick both catching there. Road End and Barnsdale also held fish but space was limited in Barnsdale.
Match Day. 9am to 5pm.
Plans were in place to split the boats from Normanton, Barnsdale, Cattle Trough and Finches. The Finches had only come to light that morning with Intel from boat partners that the Transformer fish had been swimming East….. Format for the day was kill first 2 fish noting time of second fish then release 14 for a 16 fish limit and 2lb per hour time bonus.
The boats were off at 0920 and Phil was off to a flyer netting his second fish at 0927. Mark, in the same area behind the Church, was also into fish early. By 1030 Phil was on 3 and Mark on 4 or 5. Phil then went off up the South leaving the area for Mark. By this time the wind had again picked up and made Normanton a bit lumpy. Not put off by that Mark built his bag steadily through the morning, getting to 16 at 1400.
Meanwhile Mick, who was taken straight to the Finches, was steadily building his bag and finished at 1340. Dai was doing well at Cattle Trough. Nick, and Neil meanwhile were dotted around Barnsdale and Finches and John was in Yellowstone Bay but all taking the odd fish. Phil had another fish at Gibbetts but then joined Dai in Cowtrough at 1230, Dai on 11 on the Sweep 3. Phil changed from his 12ft Slow tip and picked up 3 fish. The wind dropped nicely and as Green Bank hadn't seen a boat all morning Phil headed there. The fish were still there and, on the Sweep 3, he finished at 1445. Dai followed to Green Bank and picked up 2, finishing the day on 13. At the close the others had all caught, Neil 8 (3 in Finches and 5 in Normanton), Nick and John both with 5, and Sag 4 mainly from Normanton. A fantastic team performance to finish with 83 fish. A team average of over 10 per man. If your lower rods reach the competition rod average then your always in with a shout.
The Results
The full results are pictured but the match rod average was 6.9. For the team to have that 10 fish a man average was testament to the practice days and getting the less experienced anglers in the team confident in 1 or 2 methods and a handful of flies which worked. Police Sport UK have invited the team to defend the Shield at Draycote Water on 15th April 2027. We did however try to convince the Navy organiser to consider Menteith for 2028…..
Tight Lines for the remaining competitions.
Phil Thomas