David Hoppe Fishing

David Hoppe Fishing Sharing my fishing trips, tips, photos, videos and adventures with you. David is also a member of the infamous Welsh Hawks.

David Hoppe is a highly successful and dedicated International competition angler who spends most of his time fishing British lakes and reservoirs for hard fighting rainbow and brown trout. Representing his Country Wales, he is one of the youngest anglers to win the prestigious Brown Bowl at an International Championship and has a long list of titles to his name, including World BankMaster 2016 Champion! David is a regular contributor to various fishing publications including Total FlyFisher and social media platforms.

Yesterday I went on the hunt for a big resident rainbow at Anglian Water fisheries Grafham Water.My plan was to back-dri...
17/08/2026

Yesterday I went on the hunt for a big resident rainbow at Anglian Water fisheries Grafham Water.

My plan was to back-drift and use the fish finder to locate shoals of fry, much like I do when jigging for zander in the winter.

I know plenty of people moan about this technique, and 10 years ago I'd never have dreamed of fishing this way, but the reality is that in summer our lakes warm up, the bulk of the fish head for deeper water, and you need to adapt if you want to keep catching through the middle of the season. With a few double-figure fish recently reported, expectations were high šŸ™‚

There was very little wind, which turns out makes back-drifting hard work. Launch your B***y Basher as far as you can, pay out all the line, and wait... five minutes. Yawn šŸ„±. The lake is down, which helped, but the fish were holding at around 15m. For the first few casts I simply bounced the b***y along the bottom for nothing, despite the fish finder having a complete meltdown with massive bait shoals and all sorts of fish sitting underneath picking fry off for breakfast.

I then switched to a much faster retrieve with sharp pulls. First attempt, just as the b***y lifted off the bottom, a train hit and snapped my 13l.7b line. WTF! I changed to 15.9lb.

Fast forward 30 minutes and I was steadily landing solid 3-4lb trout. In my head it was simply a case of working through the "smaller" šŸ¤£ fish and the big ones would come.

The method was sorted: two minky b***ys, a five-minute wait, then a fast retrieve. Every time the fish finder showed fry, a fish or at least a pull was almost guaranteed. To be honest, there were so many fry that you could see them boiling on the surface. I even watched two pike ploughing through the shoals. Simply incredible šŸ˜³

Then, while drifting through a perch fry shoal, the line tightened and a big fish was on. The way it fought, it definitely felt like a monster rainbow; fast, deep, and powerful. After what felt like an age, the fish was finally coming up, then just like that it spat the hook. No abrasion on the leader, so unlikely a predator. I was gutted.

Then things went completely crazy šŸ˜µā€šŸ’«

I moved to a different shoal closer to the tower and the line tightened into something strange. After a solid five-minute fight, two massive perch appeared!

They went 12.9lb in the net (including the 1.9lb net), meaning the pair were 11lb combined!!!

I followed that with a 10lb zander, then two more perch at 5lb and 4lb 10oz, a random 4lb trout šŸ¤£, another 8lb zander, and a final perch of 4lb 14oz.

Absolutely insane.

To put that into perspective, plenty of coarse anglers might never catch a single 4lb perch in their lives. According to AI, that session was "extraordinary" šŸ¤£

By this point I'd almost forgotten about the trout, but I'd paid for four fish and the wife wanted trout for dinner, so I left the perch alone and caught a few more trout before heading home.

What an absolutely insane session.

Rod: sage R8 10ft 7 #
Line: airflo b***y basher
Leader: grand max soft 15.9lb
Flies: Various minky bo***es (went through a lot... they kept getting destroyed)

Hoppe

Farmoor Reservoir Fishery Returned to Farmoor for a bank session (F1 c&r). It was warm, with flies in the air and a gent...
10/05/2026

Farmoor Reservoir Fishery
Returned to Farmoor for a bank session (F1 c&r). It was warm, with flies in the air and a gentle breeze. Fishing was exceptional from the start, catching on the Straight Line buzzer. Things slowed around midday as the wind shifted over my shoulder and, in hindsight, I should have moved, but I was enjoying myself chatting to Peter Elliott and Lee Patten .

In the last hour I moved into the windā€¦ and it was a fish a cast, with some lovely silver fish mixed in amongst fresher stockies. Cricket scores, a tired arm, and a bit of unexpected sunburn rounded off the day. Both Lee and Peter had a similar day with each having 30+ fish landed all on the buzzer šŸ˜®

If you want some excellent buzzer fishing, now is the time to head over šŸ‘

Rod: Sage Sonic 10ft 7 #
Reel: Sage Arbor XL
Leader: RIO FFP 8.5lb
Flies: Flyshop Buzzers (size 12 brown doing the damage again

Took my lad to Farmoor Reservoir Fishery for the first time. Heā€™s done a lot of coarse fishing over the last few years, ...
26/04/2026

Took my lad to Farmoor Reservoir Fishery for the first time. Heā€™s done a lot of coarse fishing over the last few years, and I personally believe young ones should start off catching small roach and slowly build up their fishing curiosity. Anyway, when I suggested having a go at trout fishing, he was very excited. šŸ™

I set up one rod (Sage Sonic), floating line (RIO Gold), with 3 no. The Fly Shop buzzers. I let him choose....

It was great to see so many anglers on the lakeā€”there was a real buzz about the place, and there were certainly lots of buzzers hatching and flying around. Things were looking good.

We decided to fish the south east corner of F2 and found a spot with no one to our left. I cast the line and handed the rod to my son. First cast, the line tore out of his handsā€”it was hilarious. He had no idea what to do! That was the first of eight he missed, but finally, with a little guidance on keeping the line tight, we netted a trout. šŸ‘

The takes and opportunities kept coming. It was great sport and he was loving it. Most fish took the point fly, so they were deep, and the fish were a mix of fairly recent stock with some lovely overwintered fish mixed in.

After four hours, we decided to quit while we were ahead and go for an ice cream.šŸ¦

Trout for dinner šŸ½ļø

Tight lines all,
Hoppe

Hard graft today, managed a few. Check out Lee Patten old war horse of a fish!
18/04/2026

Hard graft today, managed a few. Check out Lee Patten old war horse of a fish!

Anglian Water fisheries Draycote Water was hard as nails today (for me anyway!). Three trips around the lake searching....
18/04/2026

Anglian Water fisheries Draycote Water was hard as nails today (for me anyway!).

Three trips around the lake searching. Despite my best efforts I couldn't buy a take on the buzzers. Just wasnt happening, even at anchor!

Found a few fish in Toft (swans nest) thanks for the tip Daniel Tranter! Few nice ones mixed in with stockies. Also had a solid silver fish on the b***y basher in rainbow corner. It was stuffed with buzzer......šŸ¤”

Best line was a flipin b***y basher šŸ˜­šŸ˜­ ...or a di5 with snakes. Last half hour found a few drifting onto the dam near the lodge....and hooked one full throttle....

Great to see my old pals Peter Elliott and Lee Patten . Check out the fish Lee caught today, one old warrior!

Until next time....

Hoppe

Today I went to Anglian Water fisheries Grafham Water. I was supposed to be having a relaxing day buzzer fishing, but un...
11/04/2026

Today I went to Anglian Water fisheries Grafham Water. I was supposed to be having a relaxing day buzzer fishing, but unfortunately the weather had other ideas šŸŒ¬ļø.

Anglian Water had called me the day before to inform me that it was most likely single-man boats would have to return by 2:00, so I knew I was going to have a rather short day. But with the date in the diary, I had no choice but to go fishing...šŸ™

I was determined to catch some fish on buzzers, even though it was too cold and the conditions were far from ideal. I decided to stick at it: RIO midge, four flies on a long leader, using the Sage Sonic.

Over the course of the five hours, I fished from the Seat to Plummers (for very little), then Gaynes all the way down to the dam. Most fish were tight in at Gaynes. I managed to catch about 10 fish, including one nice fish of around three and a half pounds, all on the The Fly Shop buzzers (link below for those interested). Just as it was hotting up and the fish were pulling, it was the 2pm curfew šŸ¤¦ā€ā™€ļø

That was about it really šŸ˜‚ It was cold and windy, making for some tricky fishing, but I got my line pulled and I look forward to my next trip.

As I was coming off, another angler said there were plenty over at the stumps šŸ¤«

Tight lines,
Hoppe

https://theflyshop.co.uk/product/brown-buzzer-with-gold-holographic-cheeks-and-white-breather/

https://theflyshop.co.uk/product/red-holographic-collar-black-quill-buzzer/

Decided to give Draycote one last go before the end of the season. Reports weren't great, only a few fish caught on Sat...
18/01/2026

Decided to give Draycote one last go before the end of the season. Reports weren't great, only a few fish caught on Saturday šŸ¤” (thanks for the info themidlandsflyfishermanB šŸ‘) However, you gotta be in it to win it lol.

My approach was simple, Sage R8, b***y basher and two minky bo***es. Cast as far as possible, wait 1 minute then slow slow retrieve. O yeah and at anchor.....šŸ¤«

Headed to Farborough spit to start. It didn't take long until the line tightened and the fish was in the net. I was buzzing, the fish took the top dropper so only 40cm off the bottom. 30min later the next was in the net šŸ˜ Then a quiet spell so moved 20m. Second cast, fish on. Then quiet. Then missed one. Moved again 20m but nothing.

I wanted to get to Y, but there was a race, but at midday they stopped for lunch šŸ™ I took advantage and motored over. In the next hour had 3 and missed a few. Great fun. All fish took the top dropper!

Fishing went dead from 2pm so decided to head home at 245 for some brownie points with the wife.

Sport mid January, who would have thought it.

Happy New year all
Hoppe

I couldnā€™t resist the 25% off deal from Anglian Water fisheries, so headed to Draycote (with my Santa hat šŸ˜†) to hopefull...
22/12/2025

I couldnā€™t resist the 25% off deal from Anglian Water fisheries, so headed to Draycote (with my Santa hat šŸ˜†) to hopefully find a few fish for some sport. The mrs had also asked for some fish for the tableā€¦ (mission accepted šŸ˜) It was nice to see a few other hardy anglers at 8am, 4 boats were out in total. I decided to bring with me my fish finder, not to find the fish, but to see whatā€™s beneath the surface. I was particularly interested to see what the Y buoy ā€˜islandā€™ looked like.

Sage R8 and a b***y basher with 2 minky b***y's was my set up, on a 11ft leader. The first b***y only 1ft from the leader so it was hard on the bottom, then the other 10ft higher. I made my way straight to Y and couldnā€™t believe my eyes when the depths went from 8m at the sailing club straight up to 3.5m to the south of Y (Musborough Shoal). I circled around Y; the bottom was fascinating with some random deep gullys. I had always thought there was a deep drop off from Y, not the case (from what I saw)... it gradually drops from 4m to 5m and then itā€™s a very very gradual drop heading west towards the dam. (See photos šŸ‘). Anways, back to fishing. I dropped anchor on the 4.5m mark casting to towards the deeper water. It didnā€™t take long before I was into the first fish, on the top dropper, a silver fish pushing 4lb, which spat out stickleback! Match the hatch. Then I had a few more fish, before the sailing boats came a dropped a race buoy next to meā€¦. Typical šŸ¤¬

I motored over to the boils, 14.5m depth incase you were wondering. Few fish showing around 10m. Then then headed to Farnborough Dam and crossed the X Buoy and Lambcot Shaol, what an incredible feature, check out the screenshop of the fish finder! I need to get back and drop anchor off it, there surely must be some monsters lurkingā€¦.

I then spent some time looking at the depths around the Farborough Spit, searching for the ā€˜deep holeā€™ anglers often talk aboutā€¦ yeah I couldnā€™t find itā€¦ but the levels do drop off fairly sharply from 4m to 7m to the north of the spit, more gradual to north. Off the spit, on the sonar, I saw 2 very large (guessing) pike coming up and feeding on fryā€¦. (annoyingly I didnā€™t take a screenshot)

I eventually dropped anchor on the drop off and had some amazing sport, with loads of fish coming in a 2hr window (11 till 1). Cast as far as I could (not very šŸ˜†), then wait 1min, then slow retrieve back. It was just locking up. The highlight was a very old resident war horse of around 4.5lb. Then it just went dead, typical with winter fishing. I moved around a little, but clearly the fish just werenā€™t feeding or in the mood. I managed one last cast fish, to make the total 11 for the day.

One thing I noticed was a lot of the fish were covered in Argulus lice?ā€¦ I guess because they are sitting on the bottom?

I left early to take my daughter to swimming training, so was off at 215. What a wonderful day, exploring and catching silver fish.

If you get the chance, give Draycote a go...

Merry Christmas all šŸŽ„

Hoppe

Grafham fur and featherā€¦. All the talk was of the dam, so I obviously headed to hedge end šŸ˜†ā€¦ its further than you think ...
24/11/2025

Grafham fur and featherā€¦. All the talk was of the dam, so I obviously headed to hedge end šŸ˜†ā€¦ its further than you think from the deep water point car parkā€¦. I arrived out of breath only to realise I wasnā€™t wearing my waistcoat with all my flies and leaders in itšŸ¤¦ā€¦..jogged backā€¦finally got to the mark at 840, sweaty and out of breathā€¦ giving me 5 min to set up for the 845 startā€¦

The wind was forecast to pick up to 15mph w/sw so my plan was to get my 6 fish quickly before the inevitable wind arrived and coloured up the water. Set up was simple, Sage R8, #8 12ft fast tip and my infamous cat. 15min in and nothingā€¦.. then Chris Bobby arrived and started fishing to my left. Out of nowhere, I hooked a fish and netted it. 5 more to goā€¦ wind was picking up now. Missed a few nips (which was surprising, usually the fish just hammer the fly). Then at distance, I hooked an absolute lump of a fish, not an over wintered fish, but it looked like a big fat stockie of around 5lb, it shook its fat head in front of me and through the hook. The wind was now really blowing and made things tricky. Time to admit defeat and move....

With a horrible wind and reports from Craig Barr, (who started on the dam) that the lake wasnā€™t fishing well, I decided to gamble and go the stumps. There had been no reports (to my knowledge) of this area fishing, but my thinking was to cast and move and cover the entire bay hopefully for a few fish.

The water wasnā€™t clear, the wind was sort of blowing down and across the lake and creating waves, stirring up the bottom (see photos). I waded out as far as I could and started casting, then moved a few metres and so on. This seemed to work, and I hooked a lovely clean fish of around 2.5lb. Long story short, over the next 3hrs, I hooked 7 and landed 5. It was hard fishing, nothing for long periods then a chance and a fish. However, job done. I had a good bag apart from one very small fish of about a 1lbā€¦I knew that would cost me and it did.

Well done to:

Garry Morris for winning with 16.13lb from the seat.

Graham Willis (4 fish!) 2nd 14.10lb

David Hoppe (6 fish) 14.01lb

Although I'm taking a break from comp fishing, I do enjoy entering the end of the year Anglian Water Fur and Feather at ...
17/11/2025

Although I'm taking a break from comp fishing, I do enjoy entering the end of the year Anglian Water Fur and Feather at Anglian Water fisheries Draycote. This year I fished with Craig Barr. Our plan was to find the better stamp of fish. We worked the Farborough wall for the first few hours. I was on a Di5 with a black snake while Craig went deeper on a b***y basher and snake. Drifting along the dam in a northerly wind, we reached the jetty and had 4 in the bag, a solid start šŸ˜Š

Then in a mad 10min, I netted two 4lb fish (from under the jetty) and Craig had a lovely 3.5lb fish. I then found a few stockies which I put back as they were around the 2lb markā€¦ Then the sun came out and it went dead for us! ,ā˜ ļø

2.5hr later, and one chance (a big bow off Lin Coft Point which jumped and said goodbye to craig ā€¦), we were starting to worry and regret returning those stockiesā€¦.

Change of sceneryā€¦ I took Craig to the boils, but in a gusty northerly wind, it wasnā€™t ideal, although we both missed chances off the back of the boils. I saw Rob Edmonds off Y so we went to investigateā€¦ Craig changed to a Di3 and his famous slinky and in a very impressive show of angling, netted 5 fish and dropped a few. šŸ‘ During all this chaos, despite changing line and flies, I didnā€™t have a single pull! šŸ¤¦ā€ā™€ļø However, we had reached the magic 12 fish limit and with the temperature plummeting, it was the perfect time to motor on in.

1st Hoppe and Barr 31.5lb

2nd: Rob and Albert Edmonds 29.5lb

3rd Lee Humphries and partner (tbc)

Best fish: David Hoppe (4.03lb)

Great fun and enjoyable fishing. Thank you to Anglian Water for some superb hampers and (sorry I didnā€™t catch your name) the gentleman who donated the crystal glasses for the biggest fish. They will be well used.šŸ„‚

Hoppe

Address

Grafham

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when David Hoppe Fishing posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to David Hoppe Fishing:

Shortcuts

Share

Category