With Sulby Reservoir only one day beyond its official 35th birthday, 26 anglers graced the banks for Douglas and District Angling Club’s MannMade open event.

The format was all Department of the Environment Food and Agriculture (DEFA)-permitted codes of fishing and, with the water levels low, there was plenty of scope to flick a spinner or straighten a flyline on the backcast.

Lhergyrenny inlet as ever had its attractions as did the bay beyond the pump house, while less favoured were the stone-covered banks stretching from the corner of the dam wall up to the tree corner.

The latter area paid dividends for Mike Welsh and Travis Petrie who both had fish in the opening few casts.

For those that had trekked across the dam wall, it was Steve Clennell who found the day’s hotspot. He landed five fish in the opening period, having already returned one and he tried to do the same again to be able to carry on fishing.

Unluckily for him the fish did not swim away forcing him to retrieve it and count it as his final fish with plenty of time in hand.

Junior Nick Kissack fishing near Clennell had a good three-bag which included the day’s second best rainbow of 4lb 02oz .

At the opposite end near the neck there were mixed fortunes: Russ Cowell was known to have a full bag which he claimed were ’not that big’, while Chris Roberts had a go in the Cowell spot where he took two before adding a third.

Others finishing on three fish were Geoff Gilbert, Travis Petrie - who lost a potential winning fish of about 7lb at the net - and Matthew Cain.

A confident Richard James went into the final stages also on three after he had returned a fish halfway through the three hours hoping for a bigger specimen.

But he had to sweat it out, only getting his last fish late on having moved towards the car park.

Emma Walmsley, up at the neck, was one of the four juniors competing and she landed three fish and lost another of a decent size using a six-gram Bronze Mepps Spinner, her final rainbow coming after climbing down through the ferns near the tree.

When it came to the scales the 26 competitors brought 48 fish, four of the anglers having achieved a maximum four-bag catch.

The eventual result saw the four ’small’ fish from Cowell weigh 12lb 11oz which proved to be the heaviest, giving him a valuable win.

Emma opted to be included in the main event and duly claimed second with 12lb 05oz, while Steve Clennell with 11lb 01oz took third.

Geoff Gilbert, who was already in for a bit of money for fourth place, added a bit more with the best rainbow of the event weighing 4lb 06oz.

Two of the juniors featured in the other pools, Nick Kissack had the second heaviest at 4lb 02oz while Emma the lightest at 1lbs 09oz.

Top 12 positions: 1, Russ Cowell 12lb 11oz; 2, Emma Walmsley (junior) 12lb 05oz; 3, Steve Clennell 11lb 01oz; 4, Geoff Gilbert 10lb 08oz; 5, Richard James 9lb 03oz; 6, Matthew Cain 7lb 15oz; 7, Chris Roberts 6lb 09oz; 8, Travis Petrie 6lb 05oz; 9, Richard Davies 5lb 08oz; 10, Rocky Moore 5lb 02oz; 11, Mike Welsh 5lb 00oz; 12, Kevin Walmsley 4lb 13oz.

Junior result: 1, Nick Kissack 8lb 02oz; 2, Charlie Bell 3lb 09oz; Callum Edge.

Thanks to the tackle shops involved, all the juniors received prizes. The very successful event could not have taken place without the continued support of the following: main sponsors MannMade Group, Kelvin’s Tackle, All Round Fishing, Colin Duke, Jacs Stores (Douglas and Ramsey), Manx Utilities, Department of the Environment Food and Agriculture and all those who took part.

GEOFF WALMSLEY