Draycote Water weekly report week ending 30th September 2018
Telephone Number 01788 812018
Draycote has experienced a sunny week with very little cloud, with it only making an appearance on Sunday. This week has really felt like the start of autumn with chilly, frosty mornings. Despite the cold starts, and less than ideal conditions, a total of 1356 fish have been caught by 421 anglers giving a rod average of 3.2. Despite the sun, flies fished in the top 3 feet of water have scored best with dries featuring heavily on the catch return, with snakes and fry imitation patterns starting to score well.
A cool start on Monday meant the first real frost on the ground and as a result the water temperature hit 15°C. A bright day teamed with a northerly wind didn’t bode well for the anglers taking to the water. However, the fish still pulled back with anglers catching well to post a rod average of 4.7. The best catches of the day came to dry fly tactics despite the sun. Ed Douglas found the fish willing to come up for a size 12 big red hopper around X buoy landing 16. Meanwhile, Kevin Rees, fishing in the same area, found Bob’s Bits to be his top pattern landing 14. M Frances & A Moore used a mix of wets and dries in Toft to land 13 fish between them with Zulu and hoppers being their best patterns. On the bank Derek Brooks landed 6 fish on the Cornfield on Diawl bachs. Season ticket holder Michael Ravenscroft, fishing for just a few hours, landed 5 on buzzers again off the Cornfield.
Very similar conditions on Tuesday with another cold bright start. The day started with no wind to speak of, but this did pick up as the day wore on coming from the South West. Out on the boats Tony Broadway & Brian Warwick enjoyed good sport landing 14 fish between them using 2 diawl bachs and a cruncher fished on a floating line, drifting from A to M buoy. Norman Perkins & Lord Richard Dayman enjoyed a good day’s sport landing 11 fish fishing down in Toft on a mix of lures and nymphs.
Wednesday saw Draycote host the Association of Major Fishing clubs’ group 2 match. Another bright day greeted the anglers competing with the wind once again coming from the South West. At the start of the match there was an even spilt of boats with half heading for Toft and the others for Rainbow Corner and just a couple opting for the open water around X buoy. This proved to be the best area for the match with several limits coming from drifting from X to S buoy and Croft shoal. The best methods for the match was to either fish dries or to washing line nymphs on a midge tip with a small blob on the top dropper. At the end of the day Bewl “A” took top spot with GWFFA taking a very close second. Some great sport was had by all as the match produced a rod average of 5.1.
Outside of the match Guiding & Tuition Manager Tom Bird enjoyed a busy day guiding with back to back 4 hour guides. In the morning Tom took season ticket holders Dave Hancox & Martyn Price out with the pair catching on snakes around X Buoy and Croft Shoal. Tom then returned to the water with Dennis Tidmarsh who wanted to look at dries. Even with the sun being ever present Dennis enjoyed some good sport with plenty of action again around X Buoy with a big red & daddy being the best patterns. To book a session with Tom call the lodge on 01788 812018.
The good fishing of the previous day continued into Thursday with conditions staying the same as the previous two days although without the cold overnight temperatures. Ed Douglas returned to the water once again using dries as well was washing lined nymphs to land 24. Ed found the best area to be drifts from H buoy into Farnborough spit with the fish really coming onto the dries in the afternoon. Out on the bank Ian Richardson landed 13 fish the overflow using a variety of flies including floating fry, snail patterns, crunchers & Diawl Bachs. L Tones & S Farmer enjoyed good sport landing 38 fish between them drifting the Swan’s Nest side of Toft. The pair started on di 3 and lures in the morning before a switch to dries in the afternoon kept the pair catching. Kevin Rees fished around X Buoy once again to land 23 on Bob’s Bits with John Dickens also using the same method to land 16. Dave Kennell & Eddie Mitchell enjoyed good sport to land 20 fish to the boat on washing line nymphs and dries all through the middle.
Yet another bright day Friday, but the wind did swing into the North East meaning there was a definite chill in the air. Terry & John Evans fished diawl bach and dries in Toft to land 18 fish between them. Jamie Scott used a di 3 sinking line teamed with a snake and a blob to land 11 fish. Jamie took fish all over the lake but did find a concentration of fish around Lincroft Point and E Buoy. Felicity Appleton & Derek Moore enjoyed good sport fishing in Toft, Biggin Bay & around Farnborough Spit to land 14 fish. Season ticket holders Peter Elliott & Lee Patten experienced excellent sport but found the fish didn’t really come on till the afternoon. The pair used bob’s bits to tempt fish up to the surface landing 31 fish to the boat. Ed Douglas fished a half day session to land 12 fish drifting around Farnborough Spit using dries or shrimps. On the bank Mark Hunt enjoyed great sport in a short afternoon session to land 7 fish at the Swans Nest on small nymphs.
The wind swung back to the south west for Saturday, still teamed with the sun but without the chilly North wind, although clear skies overnight meant it was frosty start. Rudder regulars Jim Dempsey & Ifor Jones landed 17 fish to the boat finding the best sport drifting near J Buoy and down the Farnborough Dam. Mr Purves & Mr Malcolmson enjoyed great sport on pink snakes drifting around H Buoy to Farnborough spit and into Toft fishing on a di 3 sinking line landing 34 fish. Ian Buckley & Vince Aronica also used snakes and tubes on various sinking lines to land 29 fish once again drifting around H Buoy drifting down towards Toft.
Sunday saw cloud roll in for the first time this week and as a result the fish responded well to dries. The wind swung again starting as a straight westerly before moving into the North West in the afternoon. Mr S Nicoll & Mr M Williams fished for a morning before heading back up the road to Scotland. With the pair landing an impressive 26 fish with drifts through the middle of the lake on two foam daddies. Season ticket holder Ed Douglas landed 17 fish on dries drifting in Toft with a Big Red producing the goods. Tom & Jim Marriott fished around the middle of the lake and drifting near H buoy to land 20 fish to the boat, again with daddies being the stand out pattern. Mr D Lewis and his boat partner used snakes drifting down the Farnborough Dam to enjoy great sport with 18 fish to the boat.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to David East from Coventry the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 375 Number Trout Taken: 421 Number Trout Released: 935
Total Catch: 1356 Weekly Rod Average: 3.22
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 18:45
Boat All Day: 07:30 until 18:45
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 13:00 PM 13:00 until 18:45
Last 4 Hours from: 14:45 until 18:45 (Ticket sales available from 14:30)
Gutting Room Closes – 18:15
All Anglers to be off site by: 19:15
Guiding & Tuition.
New for the 2018 season the Guiding & Tuition team will running a blog. The idea of this blog is to provide hints and tips from your guides to help keep you catching depending on the conditions, tackle reviews and write up of guiding sessions. To have a look at the blog please visit http://www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/
Dates for the Diary
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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