Draycote Water weekly report week ending 3rd June 2018
Telephone Number 01788 812018
Report
Another good week with some great highlights, but often somewhat more challenging than the previous week. Some significant changes in weather conditions have had their effect on sport – not always for the best. However, the water clarity remains excellent, the buzzer continues to dominate return sheets as do increased numbers of fish succumbing to those fishing dries. Pin fry have also entered the frame with many trout becoming pre-occupied on them & proving extremely hard to tempt, particularly for the bank angler. Boat anglers have enjoyed the best of the sport by far, as one expects at this stage in the season with a large percentage of the population moving off the shallows & out over open water. A total of 362 anglers visited the venue during the week recording a total catch of 1386 for a rod average of 3.82
The week actually started with a bang in perfect late spring/early summer conditions and trout feeding hard on Monday. Regulars Jim Smith & Ed Douglas took advantage, explored different locations all day and ended with an impressive 40+ joint return all on dries. The pair have really worked on their set up & presentation & now deploy their #5 weight outfits on most visits reaping impressive results with almost embarrassing regularity. The Conway brothers also had a fantastic day on Monday but went mainly down the buzzer route (although they also caught on teams of Diawl Bachs). They drifted the Hensborough Bank down towards Rainbow Corner & amassed a total to the boat of 34 & 22. Stephen later emailed the lodge to comment on the quality of the action they enjoyed highlighting the quality of the rainbows encountered which had included six silver bars over 4lbs. Tony Parker boated 14 on open water drifts, of which 10 were to dries, & Mr W Brown did very well to catch & release 17 rainbows on Black Buzzer. Very few bank anglers on the water but season rod Ian Richardson had some interesting (and frustrating) sport with pin fry feeders around the Overflow. He did manage to put 3 in the net including a silver bar of 3lbs+ together with some specimen perch. The day ended with over 400 trout netted and a rod average of 7.5!
A weather change into Tuesday led to a cold start with overcast skies on a north easterly wind. It really made things difficult for the bank anglers despite the numbers of trout seen moving. That didn’t stop Mr Teil & Mr Hatton starting their bank fishing holiday break in style with a 5lbs rainbow from the Cornfield on a silver Invicta for Mr Teil followed up with a 5 ½ pounder for Mr Hatton on his own pin fry pattern in Rainbow Corner. Things warmed up as the day progressed & those on the nymphs started to catch. Martyn Moore has been on a really good run this season & he was back afloat with his deep fished buzzers – this week off Lin Croft. He fishes at anchor deploying a very long leader on a floating line & often has a tungsten beaded dark buzzer on the point. Fished almost static he knows that his team is “properly in the zone” when he can feel the point fly just nipping & dragging into the weed growth on the deck. These tactics paid dividends for him on Tuesday with twelve rainbows to the net. The “Broadway/Dews” duo left their bankside haunts once more for a day in the boat & decided to fish deep with tube flies all day. Their efforts were also rewarded with a joint catch of 15 including some real silver bars for the pot. Also out on the tubes, was rudder specialist Rod Wilson. Rod has been very consistent all season which demonstrates the extent of his knowledge of Draycote’s underwater contours that he has developed over many years. He brought a total of 18 grown on rainbows to the net by the end of his session. Jamie Scott is also very consistent at all four of our venues which he rotates around. His Draycote visit this week saw him stick mainly to damsel patterns for a 16 fish tally from a variety of locations.
Rain overnight and into the morning led to a slow start on Wednesday followed by warm, humid conditions & a flat calm afternoon. Nevertheless, season rod Paul Walker ventured out onto the banks in Dunns Bay catching consistently by alternating between a buzzer team and dry fly sport to Klinkhammer patterns. He ended with an impressive total of 12 to the net. Viv Davies also fished the boat with a similar mix but he used CDC Emergers & Bob’s Bits as his dries with Muskins & UV Crunchers his successful nymphs. Geoff Preston was also on the water for his regular morning boat. He failed to find fish down in Toft so headed up to the main Draycote Dam above the Inlet. He located taking fish near the edge of a mucky water line at the bottom of the wind & came off at lunchtime with four fine bars of silver & a further 8 caught & released. His fish came to his favourite olive woolly bugger /damsel pattern presented on a floating line. He commented on his amazement at the number of fish showing all around him. We have enjoyed the company of many Belgian visitor this season & the venue played host this week to a five-man party headed by Alex Van Rijkel over for a four-day break. They really got into the swing of things & were pretty consistent all week. Mainly utilising deep buzzer tactics their combined tally on the Tuesday was 49 to the net – mainly from the Hensborough Bank. On Thursday we had an easterly wind of 5-7 mph; it was 20°C, very humid & cloudy. C J Day worked the bank hard & was rewarded with 5 rainbows to a mix of mini booby & damsel. Again though, it was the boats that excelled with some tremendous returns. Phil Harding & Chad Critchley teamed up to find fish taking static buzzer in the morning but needed to resort to pulling tactics on a Di7 in the afternoon. Exploring much of the venue they ended the day with a combined total of 37 rainbows caught & released. The “Jim & Ed” show were back out too & stayed on the dries all day for a combined 25 fish catch. Big Reds & crippled midges feature highly in their favoured patterns. Gordon Bramwell also had a terrific day in his boat fishing a 50/50 split of buzzer or dries for a very creditable 34 to the net. John Hoskins & Nick Banham were afloat & concentrated their efforts along the Hensborough Bank where they straight lined teams of black glass buzzers. They recorded a catch of 18 & 15 respectively with some fine 3lbs fish weighed in at the end of their session topped by a magnificent rainbow at 5lbs 1oz for Nick. Also in on the fabulous sport were season ticket holders Dave Kennell & Eddie Mitchell. They caught 16 & 10 respectively & commented later on “such quality fish & a superb, unbelievable day with 4 weighed in at 12lbs 2oz”. Tom Bird spent most of the day afloat too, guiding John O’Hara out in open water near M buoy off the Hensbrough bank and drifting into Rainbow corner. After their mid-day break to enjoy the complimentary ploughman’s lunch, John’s UV cruncher, fished on a washing line, was taken by what resulted in a personal best cracking rainbow which later tipped the scales at a fraction under 6lbs! To discuss booking a guiding session call Tom on 01788 812018 to discuss the options in order to tailor the perfect option. It was good to see Richard Pelly on the water in a “Last 4 Hours” boat. Fishing his usual Big Reds & Shipman’s, on his delightful #3 outfit, he enjoyed fine visual sport with 6 to the net before the close. On Friday Bob Smith got amongst the fish on the bank recording 6 caught & released – but not revealing his successful flies or tactics in the returns sheet! Visiting us again this year, on holiday from his home venue Blagdon with a group of friends, Mr Hatton had a very good day on the bank with five to the net. Ian Richardson was back on the bank too & he recorded four rainbows from Biggin Bay & the Overflow on FAB blob, damsel & diawl bach. Mike Garner stuck to Lin Croft Point on the bank & landed three on cormorants & diawl bach. Harder conditions generally saw boat angler returns reduced with a rod average for the day down to 2.6. However, Russell Swinbourne bucked the trend with a total of 20 rainbows from his boat on the Hensborough Bank on buzzers & Hare’s Ear Nymphs. He described his catch as including “clonking good rainbows up to 4lbs”.
Saturday started with a light westerly breeze & conditions looked really good. Regulars Jim Dempsey & boat partner Ifor Jones were on the water early for their regular week-end boat session on the rudder. They matched each other fish for fish on drifts over the middle ending on 4 each for the pot with 7 each returned. Clive Wilkins had a really good day in the boat too with most of his 20 fish tally coming to Hare’s Ear Nymphs or Hare’s Ear Booby in the surface. Regulars Ian Reeve & Chris Aubrey also got into sport finding action with 14 & 11 respectively from Rainbow corner. Mr Nicholls enjoyed great sport boating a dozen fish from the School Slips just past the Sailing Club. He washing lined black buzzers and hot head diawl bachs. The England Ladies Team also enjoyed a good team building day with all experiencing good sport around the Overflow and Rainbow Corner fishing washing lined nymphs and dries.
Tom was busy on Saturday hosting another of our ever-popular beginner tuition days. After a morning learning the knots, matching the hatch and the art of casting a fly, the group took to the water for their first fly fishing experience. Several fish were caught including a fantastic 4lb 6oz pin fry feeding rainbow. Pictures from the day can be seen at www.facebook.co.uk/flyfishstore. Next on the tuition day schedule are the new for 2018 boat tuition days. To find out more about booking a place please visit www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/prices
Sunday was very bright & extremely hot with all anglers reaching for the sunscreen. Nevertheless, season ticket holders Jim Smith and Ed Douglas took to the water yet again & enjoyed tremendous sport around the Overflow and Rainbow Corner. The pair found that in the hot, flat calm conditions fish had dropped lower in the water column than they had been during the week Both therefore chose to fish a washing line on the new RIO 3D Single Hand Spey which has a camolux and hover sink tip., Getting the washing line to present deeper in the water column proved to be the best tactic on the day. They netted over 50 fish to the boat by the end of their session with the best patterns being a FAB on the point and red diawl bachs and crunchers on the droppers. As the day progressed and the fish dropped even deeper the pair scaled down the size of FAB to decrease buoyancy and keep their teams in the taking zone. The Derby Fly Fishers were also with us on Sunday fishing their annual boat match. Despite the sweltering conditions, which had left many concentrating on the boils, Clive Wilkins decided to return to the Hensborough Bank where he had had such good sport the previous day and managed to net another 10 to come off in winning place. Second & third slots went to Keith Smith & Stan Cierech, both with 6 rainbows apiece.
As we go into the new week conditions have changed again with decreased air temperatures, cloud cover and a north east wind that is forecast to remain for the next few days. Hopefully consistent sport will follow. We are hosting the Police National final this week so the whole fleet has been booked out on Wednesday & Thursday to cater for the event. Plenty of boats available again from Friday.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Aneta Hojnor of Hanwell the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 362 Number Trout Taken: 255 Number Trout Released: 1131
Total Catch: 1386 Weekly Rod Average: 3.82
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 21:45
Boat All Day: 07:30 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
Dates for the Diary
Please be reminded that all boats are booked out on Wednesday 5th June & Thursday 6th June as we are hosting the Police National UK Finals. Bank fishing on those days remains unaffected.
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!
Troutmasters Final – Monday 8th October – See Fishery staff. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FISHERY WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE DAY FOR THIS BOAT & BANK EVENT
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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