Draycote Water weekly report week ending 9th July 2017
Telephone Number 01788 812018
The continuing hot weather has once more had a negative impact on the fishing this week. The weekly rod average was 2.9 compared to 3·8 the previous week. Increases in water temperature saw a mid-week peak of 24°C in the upper layers which led to extremely hard fishing conditions on Wednesday & Thursday in particular. It was also a very challenging weekend for most rods. Sustained high temperatures & sunshine have also contributed to the build-up of an algal bloom which, although not excessive, has spread throughout the venue. Whilst early mornings & the end of the day have proved to be the best times on bank & boat, it has nevertheless been more challenging for the bank angler as fish drop off the shorelines in search of cooler water layers.
Monday started well with favourable conditions & pegged temperatures. Rod Wilson shared his boat with Jim Dempsey & both enjoyed fine sport on the rudder taking 18 & 10 respectively using a variety of tubes, mainly on a Di3 sinking line. Rod’s best fish was a rainbow weighing in at 4lbs 4ozs. Kevin Rees got back on the water with his dry flies & his scaled down crippled midge patterns accounted for 22 fine rainbows. John Clifford also went afloat for a short stint to net six.
Tuesday dawned with even better weather conditions – overcast with a light breeze. Forty-nine rods ventured out & many enjoyed brisk sport recording a day’s total of 252 to the net for an impressive rod average of 5·14. Virtually all of the action was to be had on the surface or high in the water column. Peter Elliott partnered Lee Patten with Peter netting 20+ fish, mainly to dries, & Lee sticking to washing lined diawl bachs using mini boobies on the point. Ed Douglas fished his usual “dawn to dusk” boat day ending with a 34 total, of which 14 came to dries. Ed took fish in the aerators but also found them along the Draycote Water Dam, as well as off-shore from the Inlet & Rainbow Corner. Dave Adkins, like many others this week, stuck to the vicinity of the boils where he fished Pheasant Tail Nymphs in the surface to finish with a 5 fish weighed bag totalling 14lbs 10oz with another 12 caught & released.
Wednesday, to the contrary, saw a huge rise in air temperatures with bright sunshine & near flat calms. Not unexpectedly, things became pretty dire on the banks where not a single fish was recorded as caught. Beyond sport in the aerators, the boats also struggled & the rod average descended to 1·4 for the day. Mr Worrall made the best of things though & weighed a fine five fish bag which had come to white snakes fished (…. you’ve guessed it) through the boils! Simone Jukes was also able to tempt four rainbows up to 4½lbs.
Thursday continued in the same vain – compare the Ed Douglas & Kevin Rees results with those of Monday. Ed had four whilst Kevin struggled to net a brace! Although the threatened thunderstorms failed to materialise; the hot, humid, & bright conditions continued making things hard for all. As always, there are always exceptions & congratulations go to Geoff Preston who took a four-fish limit, with a further 8 returned whilst fishing a large damsel pattern during his morning stint. Visiting from the Isle of Man, Philip Bell-Scott also got the measure of the fish with a twelve-fish tally. Also in the aerators, he started his session in the morning taking fish off the top on dries & nymphs & then found that he had to follow them down as they worked deeper & deeper towards the end of the morning. Action for him dried up at about 13:00 by which time he was on a Di7. He was back in action once more on Friday for a short stint which was aided by a cooling 12-14 mph westerly. Top of the water tactics accounted for a further 14 before he had to leave. On the other hand, regular Jamie Scott was able to fish out the whole day. Also keeping to the aerators, Jamie used a combination of olive leeches, black boobies & blobs to record an end of day tally of twenty-four to the boat. Ian Reeves took out an evening boat to join in the action & managed to net eleven to snake patterns.
Gruelling conditions sadly greeted anglers on Saturday with 20°C+ temperatures a rapidly developing algal bloom & much bright sunshine. Fishing was particularly hard for the twenty anglers competing in the HASSRA annual finals, especially as they had decided to make the aerator area out of bounds for their event. Their biggest bag was a brace of rainbows weighing 4lbs 8oz for John Heppell representing the North-East Region with the largest fish, a rainbow of 2lbs 11oz falling to the rod of Paul Woodward, representing the W.Mids. It is a pleasure to congratulate Paul on this achievement as he is new to the sport & indeed attended one of our tuition days earlier in the spring in preparation for this event! As daytime temperatures eased back, Jim & Tom Marriott took to the water to fish dries. Their efforts & timing were rewarded with a 14 fish tally, well divided at 7 apiece. Sunday was a similar story weather-wise, especially as the venue was hosting club events including Kirby FF, Colwick Park FFC, Alex Booth & the LDFFA, most of whom had made their arrangements way back. Nevertheless, many found some good sport with particular credit having to go to the boat of Messrs Wilson & Masters who avoided the overcrowded aerators & took a fine bag of fish on drifts from Rainbow Corner down the Hensborough Bank. In total, they weighed in a dozen rainbows with a further six released having used a combination of buzzers on floating lines & dries. Draycote regular Jim Smith, who is currently continuing on fine form, stuck it out with dries targeting individual moving fish & amassed a great catch of 14. Ian Bradfield fishing with the LDFFA stuck to the boils and caught 12 by the end of their day session whilst Mike Cox & Howard Smith decided to start & finish late & managed 6 & 8 respectively for their evening stint.
Rain & cooler temperatures are forecast tomorrow which will hopefully cool things down somewhat & assist with water clarity & get those trout properly back into feeding mode. Of possible interest for comparison purposes, over the last five weeks the weekly rod averages have been 2·6, 3·98, 3·22, and 3·8, with 2.9 for this reporting period.
Congratulations to Mr R Henderson of Tamworth, who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 262 Number Trout Taken: 279 Number Trout Released: 485 Total Catch: 764 Weekly Rod Average: 2.9
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until : 22:00
Boat All Day: AM 08:30 until 22:00
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 22:00
Last 4 Hours from: 18:00 until 22:00 (Ticket sales available from 17:45)
Gutting Room Closes: 21:15
All Anglers to be off site by: 22:15
Fishery News
Tuition Days- Beginners Courses
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
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 manners & etiquette:
As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.
We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.
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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