Draycote Water Fishing Report w/e Sunday 27th September 2015
Autumnal weather is clearly with us now with many misty or foggy mornings followed by blue skies & bright sunshine. Nevertheless, this has not held back the surface sport that has continued to be enjoyed by many here this week. Most of the action throughout the period has been to dry fly tactics, with daddy longlegs patterns proving to be the most productive. Indeed, there have been some extremely large examples bumbling over the water surface & at times flying into the lodge. Evidence of fry feeding is also on the increase. Whilst some good sport has been enjoyed by bank anglers, those in boats continue to get better results. Similarly, those boat anglers enjoying the best of the late season dry fly action have been doing better this week than those deploying the rudder. With some large fish beginning to forage & herd fry in the margins, best advice to bank anglers is to “think before you wade”. Many good opportunities are being missed by fish being spooked & forced offshore before the fly line has even been pulled off the reel….
Andy Birkett & Brent Vinall returned for a Monday to Wednesday break afloat and managed a collective total of 46 caught & released. Their fish came to hoppers & daddy long legs patterns despite them finding the bright conditions “challenging” at times. Whilst many struggled on the bank on Wednesday, the patience of Draycote regular Dennis Jones paid off with a round dozen to the net on his small Diawl Bachs fished across the ripple on a washing line. Kevin Rees fished on Monday & Thursday this week & continues to pull fish to his dries, netting 14 &15 respectively. Tony Parker & boat partner Pete Walsh also stayed with dry fly tactics during their Thursday visit netting 16 between them. Friday saw some fantastic surface sport with T&J Evans boating 21, Simon Peck & Tony Smith with 20 and Stephen & Stuart Conway on 19.
Rich Hyde fished the bank in Biggin Bay on Saturday & took an 8 fish limit on Zonkers. Mick Cronin also found fry feeders on the bank netting 4 including 3 brownies. Saturday was however the day for the Association of Major Fly Fishing Clubs. A total of 76 anglers went afloat in 38 boats in extremely bright, sunny conditions on a flat calm. A ripple did eventually develop for them together with some wispy cloud. The venue nevertheless performed magnificently for them with a total of 375 trout recorded. Eighteen teams competed in three groups. Group 1 winners were Bewl Bridge FC “A” with a rod average of 6.3. Group 2 was headed up by Bewl Bridge FC “B” with a rod average of 5.4 Group 3 was won by the Greylags. Mike Laycock caught the largest fish of the match – a beautiful full finned grown on rainbow at 5lbs 10oz. Congratulations Mike! Most of their fish came to dries – especially daddy patterns.
Sunday proved to be a more difficult day following Saturday’s pressure on the water together with continuing bright conditions. However, although a bit “picky”, fish still succumbed to dry fly tactics & by the end of the day sixty one anglers had netted 220 fish representing a rod average of 3.6. Whilst taking numerous fish to dry fly tactics, the Paton/Elliott boat partnership searched across most of the reservoir during the course of the day & also caught many good rainbows & browns on Minkie patterns – indicative again of the move towards more consistent fry feeding. We should hopefully be experiencing this right through to the seasons end. What has been very clear this week though, is the broad spread of fish population throughout the fishery as a whole.
Weekly Boat Draw
The free weekly boat draw has been won by Mr James Shortland of Hinckley
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 466 Number Trout Taken: 892 Number Trout Released: 573
Total Catch: 1465 Rod Average 3.14
.Current Fishing Time:
Bank: 07:30 until 19:00
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 19:00
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until13:00 PM 13:00 until 19:00
Last 4 Hours from: 15:00 until 19:00
All Anglers to be off site by: 19:30
Date For Your Diaries:
“Fur & Feather” Match – Sunday 22nd November
Call the Lodge on 01788 812018 to reserve your places.
The Ultimate “Try Before You Buy”:
Not sure which Sage Rod or Rio Fly line to purchase? Then take the guesswork out of your decision making. We now have an extensive range of demonstration Sage Rods, Reels & Rio lines which you are able to try before you buy. Have a cast or take them for a fish – the ultimate “Try before you buy” to help take the guesswork out of your next Sage or Rio purchase.
Tight Lines,
Kevin
Follow Us on;
facebook www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore
twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore