Draycote Water weekly fishing report w/e Sunday 1st May 2016.
Telephone Number 01788 812018
Yet another week of extremely unsettled weather, with high winds from all directions & frequent wintery squalls. Frosty starts have also continued, even to the extent of delaying the release of the boats from the pontoon on a couple of days because of ice. Many anglers stayed away due to the forecasts but as ever some good sport was experienced by many. Overall the venue held its own with 211 rods catching a total of 825 trout for the week giving an overall rod average of 3.9
On Monday Ed Douglas worked hard to tempt six fish to his buzzer team fished from the boat in Biggin Bay. A hatch then saw him switch to dries & emerger patterns to bring another six to the net. Meanwhile Rod Wilson stuck to his deep lure tactics on the rudder to take a 25lbs eight fish bag that included a 5lbs rainbow. Bank &boat anglers alike really struggled with high winds on Tuesday although Brian Froggatt took a boat & caught eleven to his partner Adrian Burton’s six. Boat anglers practising for the “Police Interforce Friendly” all found conditions challenging. However, it was a different scenario on Wednesday for match day & 20 anglers landed 85 trout for a rod average of 4.25. Winner Rich Watkins, representing West Mercia, took the top honours with a creditable 13 fish total. He was followed up by John Goodwin & Kev Pearson who boated ten apiece. Simon Purves & Peter Dawson spent three days on the water & notwithstanding hard conditions, commented on the fighting qualities of the trout they encountered. On the bank, season rod Dennis Jones did very well to entice nine rainbows to his buzzer tactics presented at extreme distance behind a big wind.
Weather conditions showed some (occasional) improvements during Thursday & Friday with Ed Douglas back for more. This time he was in Rainbow Corner where he netted 20 fishing nymphs. Jamie Scott, who is having a very productive season so far at both Draycote & Foremark, enjoyed a very mixed day with 27 to the net. Interestingly he took 10 on snake patterns with the remainder coming to buzzers. He really covered the water too with fish from both Biggin Bay & Rainbow Corner as well as open water over the middle. Congratulations have to go to regular bank Peter Bierenacki who proudly showed Tom & I his first attempts at fly dressing. He had tied three buzzer patterns which we encouraged him to go & try straight away during a last four hour ticket session in Rainbow Corner. They soon proved their worth tempting, not one, but two fine wintered rainbows in the four pounds+ bracket!
Big winds on Saturday saw Mr Severn finding fish very deep in open water off the Draycote Bank dam. He netted a total of sixteen to sparkler tubes presented very deep. Spooning of fish during the latter part of this period showed that many have been on the daphnia as well as small midge pupae. A lull in stormy weather late on Saturday afternoon prompted a huge buzzer hatch which led Steve McGregor to report that fish appeared as if from nowhere & could be seen rising in big numbers all over. Visiting us once more on another of their three day breaks from Scotland, the McGregor clan fished Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Between the six of them they again proved their consistency & how well they have got to know the venue. Their group total of 169 trout to their boats represented an excellent individual rod average over their break of over 28 or 9.4 per person per day!
Whilst on Friday, Saturday & Sunday dawn air temperatures all hovered on freezing point, this morning at 05:30 hours saw a reading of 11 degrees centigrade. With warmer conditions also forecast, let us hope that this cold unsettled early spring weather will indeed soon be behind us.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 211 Number Trout Taken: 193 Number Trout Released: 632
Total Catch: 825 Weekly Rod Average: 3.9
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 20:45
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 20:45
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:00 PM 14:00 until 20:45
Last 4 Hours from: 16:45 until 20:45 (Ticket sales available from 16:30)
All Anglers to be off site by: 21:00
Weekly Free Boat Draw
Congratulations to Mr Ian Reeve from Rugby, who is the winner of this week’s Free Boat Permit.
Forthcoming events
Hywel Morgan Beginners Tuition Day 8th May 1 space available. Call the lodge to book the space.
Jim Williams Beginners Tuition Day 11th June 2 spaces available. Call the lodge to book the space.
Jim Williams Beginners Tuition Day 12th June 3 spaces available. Call the lodge to book the space.
Scierra Pairs – 26th June.
Alex Booth Match – 30th June.
Gutting Room
Please be aware that the Gutting Room refurbishment has now been completed. Much work has taken place & we would ask that you respect the facility and leave it in the same way in which you would wish to find it.
Returns
In order to maintain the accuracy of our records could all anglers please ensure that they fill in the catch return sheet before departure. Too many anglers have been failing to do this of late & this distorts the figures leading to potential fishery management issues.
Anchoring
Boat anglers are also politely reminded of the ruling that there is no anchoring within 100 yards of any pontoon or aerators. This is especially relevant to the harbour pontoon as its own mooring chains & anchors extend out a considerable distance from the end of the harbour & are easily fouled.
Bank Anglers car passes should be, booked prior to coming fishing as we only have a limited number available. Some anglers came close to being disappointed this week when almost all of the available passes were used.
Rudder Hire
Boat anglers may wish to note that we now have a rudder for hire at the daily rate of £7. It can be pre booked at the time you make your boat booking.
Tight lines
The Draycote Team
Dates for the Diary
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