Draycote Water weekly report week ending 18th June 2017
Telephone Number 01788 812018
A week of two halves regarding the weather, starting with the strong winds that had plagued the lake the previous week. Tuesday then gave way to near perfect conditions with light winds, mixed with cloud. Wednesday also saw favourable conditions although perhaps a little bright at times. Thursday brought the return of the gusty strong winds. However, once this had passed the light winds and sun came to play, giving glorious summer conditions, although not the necessarily the best for fishing. Despite these changeable conditions the 315 anglers caught a total of 1254 for a rod average of 3·98. (This represents a considerable improvement on last week’s 2·6).
The windy start to the week saw a lot of the anglers opting to fish the top Draycote Dam Wall, Rainbow Corner and Biggin Bay to get out of the strong South Westerly winds. Don Coe and Gordon Byers enjoyed good sport on the first of a three-day package visiting us from the North East. The pair boated 12 fish, drifting from Rainbow Corner out into the deeper water. They fished very different tactics – Don going for a sinking line with snakes while Gordon used dries! Season ticket holders Dave Kennell and Eddie Mitchell landed 19 fishing in Biggin Bay, they found the fish wanted a washing line with diawl bachs and crunchers teamed with a FAB on the point. Mr W Brown enjoyed good sport using blobs to land 11 fish. Mr Orpin also enjoyed great sport on an afternoon boat landing 9 fish from Rainbow Corner on Buzzers.
The winds dropped for Tuesday giving way to near perfect conditions with a light breeze & overcast skies and, as a result, the fishing was fantastic. Season ticket holder Brian Allwood enjoyed good sport on the bank fishing in Toft using small buzzers to land 10 fish. Out on the boats Mr T and J Evans fished buzzers all day to land 39 fish. The pair fished in various places around the lake but found lots of feeding fish at the bottom end of Toft. They also commented on the numbers of fish seen from the Farborough Spit to the Swan’s Nest. Making a change from the bank, season ticket holder Tony Broadway took to the boat partnered by Jude Tuffs. Both enjoyed good sport landing 18 to the boat using a mixture of dries or washing line buzzers from near the Inlet and the top Dam Wall. Ed Doulas landed 21 fish with 20 coming the dries. He fished through the middle of the lake together with drifts from the Inlet out towards B buoy. Another boat catching well on dries was that of season ticket holders Kevin Rees and John Dickens landing 22 fish. Fishing through the middle drifting from Y buoy and OL, with the top patterns being crippled midge and bobs bits.
Light winds and bright sun Wednesday made for a tricky start, however the cloud came over in the afternoon and the fish really started to pull back. On the boats Trevor Heseltine & Mil Rakic enjoyed good sport fishing buzzers to land 19 fish to the boat. Ed Douglas once again took to the water and once again was rewarded with 21 fish on dries. With the wind coming more from the South, Ed found the fish around B buoy drifting down the Draycote Dam wall. Mike Gillett and Colin Campbell landed 22 fish on buzzers fishing in Toft and Biggin Bay. Another angler catching well on dries was Jim Smith. Jim was using a big red and a big black to land 23 fish in an afternoon session. He found most of his fish drifting in between B buoy and the Draycote Dam wall. Despite the return of big winds on Thursday, regular Dennis Jones was on the bank for his usual morning session. Whilst described as “hard work”, he managed four fine rainbows from the Overflow to washing lined buzzers. C J Day also bank fished for the morning in Toft netting half a dozen to diawl bachs. Geoff Preston also enjoyed a morning stint but fished from the boat. He covered deep water netting 4 for the pot with a further five caught & released. The pairing of Edie Mitchell & Dave Kennell managed 14 to the boat but described the session as “Rock & Roll – good for surfers!”. Trevor & Robert Moore got their boat settled in the lea of the Inlet &, fishing buzzers extremely deep, found 17 obliging rainbows between them. Things settled a little later on & Gary Turner had fun on his evening boat. He scaled back on dry fly size to take 7 on his own “Little Red”! Friday saw us with hot & sunny conditions. Not an easy day but action was, nevertheless, experienced by boat & bank anglers alike. Tony Broadway was back on the bank at Dunns Bay & netted six to buzzers including fish of 2-12 & 3-4 for the pot. Ian Richardson, as consistent as ever, commented after his bank session “Lovely fish, lovely day – shrimp, snails & olive buzzer”. Ian landed eleven. John Faulconbridge also fished an evening session on the bank & netted a 4 fish bag with two more released. Kevin Rees went afloat & stuck to his preferred tactics with the dries. Covering open water he managed a creditable 22. Meanwhile, Dave Smith took his boat up near the Overflow where he fished a buzzer & FAB blob washing line for a six fish total which included two blues.
Temperatures continued to rise through the weekend. Although only a small handful of anglers braved the banks, Mr L Morris did manage three to 3-8 in Rainbow Corner. Most fish had clearly retreated to deeper water which was where the top boat of R & S Harwood found them happy to take their epoxy buzzers. They landed 15 & 11 respectively. Messrs Mead & Williams also found fish deep off the top Draycote Water Dam & netted a collective total of 23 on black & green buzzers presented in the depths. Meanwhile John McLellan stuck to surface tactics over the middle where his foam daddies accounted for 9 fish with the best weighing in at 4-12. On Sunday, despite blisteringly high temperatures & bright sunshine, George Leaton’s regular drive up from London was rewarded with a fine eight fish bag from the boat. Generally as expected though, things were hard with the majority of anglers in the 1-2 fish range, reflecting the overall rod average of 2.96 for the day. As ever though there are always exceptions. Dave Hancox managed 11 to snake patterns with usual boat partner Martyn Price sticking to the buzzer option for four. Jim Smith was however especially impressive – beating the conditions with 17 to the net having spent much of the season to date working to perfect his dry fly tactics. Well deserved congratulations Jim!
More hot weather is forecast at the start of this week and, as I write, the temperatures are approaching 30°C & the reservoir is all but flat calm!? Whilst things are forecast to cool later, best advice for those currently at the venue is to take plenty of water to avoid dehydration risks & ensure protection from the rays with adequate high factor sun screen.
Weekly Boat draw:
Congratulations to Mr B Hawker of South Wigston, Leicester who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 315 Number Trout Taken: 383 Number Trout Released: 871 Total Catch: 1254 Weekly Rod Average: 3.98
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until : 21:45
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 21:45
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 21:45
Last 4 Hours from: 17:45 until 21:45 (Ticket sales available from 17:30)
Gutting Room Closes: 21:15
All Anglers to be off site by: 22:00
Fishery News
Tuition Days- Beginners Courses
Saturday 8th July Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird. Currently three places available
Saturday 14th October Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird. Currently five places available
Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book or for further information
Trout Masters
Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!
Dates for your diary:-
Competition Contact
Scierra Pairs Match – 25th June – Visit website.
Alex Booth Memorial – 29th June – Roy Lewin – 07762 746825
Angling World Holiday Heat 5th and 6th August – Visit website
TEFF Fundraiser. Dry Fly Championship 16th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117
Angling World Holiday Final – 23rd and 24th September
Troutmasters Final – 9th October. – See Fishery staff.
Boat Cleanliness:
Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.
Guiding & Tuition:
Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates. Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.
Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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