Start with Booby (8-10) on a fast strip on floating line or static on sinking. Early in the day, try buzzers on a slow figure-of-eight or a booby on a fast-sink line near the bottom. Rainbows respond to more active retrieves — try short strips between pauses. In the ripple, a bushy searching dry (Hopper, Shipman's, Elk Hair Caddis) outperforms flush emergers — it stays visible and holds the surface tension.
If the main plan stalls, drop to a size 14–16 midge — switch to a washing-line or suspender rig and change drift line before you change food group.
Murrough should come on through the afternoon as the water warms.
Good ripple suits both bank and boat. Bank: work inflows, dam walls, and points. Boat: broadside drift covering wind lanes.
Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.
Conditions are ideal for Sutton Bingham Reservoir — wind, cloud and temperature all line up.
A 56-hectare Wessex Water reservoir south of Yeovil with boat and bank fly fishing. From 2026, Sutton Bingham runs a split season: trout fly fishing from April to June, then carp on the fly from June through September. The carp-on-fly season has specific bank and boat windows — this is one of very few English reservoirs with an explicit, managed carp-on-fly programme. Compact and productive water in a sheltered setting.
A 56-hectare Wessex Water reservoir south of Yeovil with boat and bank fly fishing.
Start with Booby (8-10) on a fast strip on floating line or static on sinking. Early in the day, try buzzers on a slow figure-of-eight or a booby on a fast-sink line near the bottom. Rainbows respond to more active retrieves — try short strips between pauses. In the ripple, a bushy searching dry (Hopper, Shipman's, Elk Hair Caddis) outperforms flush emergers — it stays visible and holds the surface tension.
If the main plan stalls, drop to a size 14–16 midge — switch to a washing-line or suspender rig and change drift line before you change food group.
Murrough should come on through the afternoon as the water warms.
Good ripple suits both bank and boat. Bank: work inflows, dam walls, and points. Boat: broadside drift covering wind lanes.
Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.
Conditions are ideal for Sutton Bingham Reservoir — wind, cloud and temperature all line up.
A 56-hectare Wessex Water reservoir south of Yeovil with boat and bank fly fishing. From 2026, Sutton Bingham runs a split season: trout fly fishing from April to June, then carp on the fly from June through September. The carp-on-fly season has specific bank and boat windows — this is one of very few English reservoirs with an explicit, managed carp-on-fly programme. Compact and productive water in a sheltered setting.
