Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 15th September 2019
Tel: 01788 812018
Another week with a definite autumnal feel in the air and continuation of the cooler weather for the most part of the week. This has found the fish with their eyes firmly fixed on the surface & flies presented out of the top few feet were too deep. As a result dry flies have reigned supreme in the catch returns. Indeed some recorded fantastic scores that the England Cricketers could not replicate last week. Given the great sport being experienced, we have had a busy week at the fishery with 408 rods landing a total of 1701 fish for a rod average of 4.2
While dries have been the stand-out method for the week, there has been a marked difference in the success found by some anglers on the method. The anglers catching the big numbers have done so by fishing them in a certain way. They have found the key has been to short cast with the dries no more than 3 rod lengths of line and work the water in front of the boat like a clock face and fan cast around. Flies are left on the water for no longer that 20 seconds, thus maximising the coverage of the water and hopefully coverage of the fish. The other absolutely crucial bit is to have confidence in the method. Currently the fish seem to be having feeding spells. You may well have a slow hour or so but the lads who do really well just fish the dries throughout, confident in the knowledge they will come back on after a while.
On Monday the fishing was spread from Toft to the top dam wall and B buoy. In Toft the fish wanted the flies with a larger footprint such as daddies and hoppers. Whereas up near B Buoy and the Draycote Dam it was the much smaller Bob’s Bits doing the damage. One of the keys to catching on Monday was that due to the bigger winds, imparting some element of motion into the daddies or the hoppers seemed to draw the fish to the flies. Achieve this either through a figure of eight or with long draws after leaving the flies static for 10-20 seconds first. Terry & John Evans netted 13 & 16 respectively on a mix of dries, hoppers & daddies. Andy Birkett enjoyed a 20 fish session in Toft & up at B buoy to his own dry hopper patterns whilst Eugene Hughes did his usual lures on a Di 3 through the middle followed by a dry fly session in the vicinity of X & P. He was also into the “twenties” by the end of his session. Roger Dangerfield enjoyed time on the bank too with a three fish tally taken on dries. Tuesday morning saw Bob Smith exploring the bank taking three from the Cornfield on Nemo Cruncher, two from the Swan’s Nest on a red nymph and another one from Dunn’s on a Nemo. Kevin Rees stopped at 20 which had taken his Bob’s Bits over open water whilst Keith Harding described how he had had great fun netting a dozen on foam daddies, midas & claret hoppers right down in Toft Shallows. Wednesday started with a strong WSW wind gusting up to 30mph but dries & daddies were still taking fish. Norman Perkins fished daddies and big reds netting 3 fine grown on rainbows for the pot with a further dozen released. Roger Kerrison had a much enjoyed day on the water with an eight fish tally on dries as did John Dickens who fished daddies & Bits for an 11 fish total. Andy Birkett concluded a terrific three day session on Wednesday having fished his own small dry fly patterns each day on a #4wt outfit. He netted over 60 rainbows over the 3 days from all over the venue with his best specimens topping the 5lbs mark. Lee Henfrey was also on the water guiding John Lewis. John had some fun in the morning presenting daddies on a dapping rod and, given their success, they stuck to a pair of foam backed daddies all day with 15 fish to the net by the end of their session. On the bank at the Cornfield Nick Louka decided to switch to a sinking line to cut into the wind & big wave. Although he had to “pull like mad from touchdown to avoid hitting weed” the tactic paid off for him with 5 good rainbows to a black lure & blob combination. Adrian Gorman & 7 of his fellow countrymen arrived from their Dublin flight in time for an evening boat to start their four day break with us. Most had fished Draycote before but for Eddie Rowe it was his first visit. He felt quite at home in the big winds though as he led the field with an 8 fish evening total. Lee Tones was in action too and fished “a booby eyed daddy twiddled back through the waves- fish all over the lake- great day again!”. A wind switch into the north, accompanied by much sunshine, slowed things up a little for Friday anglers. That said, Tony Broadway & Dave East both did well on Lin Croft from the bank in the morning catching 7 & 6. Out on the water Rosemary Gunn fished CDC hoppers & hare’s ears for a 9 fish total. Will Hunt did well with black dabblers with 4 good fish taken & another 8 released. John Hoskins netted 3 on foam daddies out of Biggin Bay in the morning following which he said they went off. Subsequent drifts in the vicinity of B buoy using a humungus on a Di3 got him back into action with a further 11 to the net by the end of the day. Dave Kennell also found fish in the same area but found fly presentation on a 12ft slow tip to be the best method. Sharing with Eddie Mitchell, the pair ended their session with a 16 fish total.
Bank regular Mike Garner was on the Tower Bank & then Lin Croft early on Saturday morning. He found fish pulling his holographic crunchers & landed 5. Once more, the majority of boat anglers stuck with the daddies or hoppers which accounted for a dozen caught and released by Andy Lane, whilst Gordon Whyte fished black hoppers through H buoy landing 15. Eddie Rowe’s success continued with another 8, but top rod in their party for the day was that of Kevin Egan who netted 14 on daddies. On Sunday the Mid-Northants fished their Stanley Harrison Trophy event which was won by Fraser Duffy (Jnr) with a 12 fish total. Fraser Snr was just one fish behind in second spot with Barry Jones’ 10 fish tally giving him third place. Adrian Gorman’s party from Ireland concluded their holiday with a 42 fish short day with the vast majority coming to foam bodied daddy patterns. Eddie Rowe yet again headed their “leader board” with another 8 fish total! Paul Davison spent the weekend on the water, fishing Friday, Saturday & Sunday. As expected, he stuck to his Midas dries & caught consistently well across the venue on all three days ending with 24 to the net on Sunday. He found drifts out of the Inlet into open water; G buoy & Cornfield and across Toft & into the Swan’s Nest to be the most productive, dependant on wind direction as it did swing around the compass as the weekend progressed.
Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop
Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.
We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website.
With Daddies featuring this week we have an online Daddies offer https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/ with Tom Bird writing an article on how to fish the daddies on our tuition & guiding website www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/
Disabled Anglers
Draycote has a wheelie boat for hire, which includes a ramp and hydraulic lift for wheelchair access. To book the wheelie boat, call the lodge on 01788 812018.
COMPETITIONS:
Association of Major Fishing Clubs. Saturday 21st September 2019.
TROUTMASTERS – Please also note that we are once more hosting the Troutmasters’ Final at Draycote which this year will be on Monday 7th October. This is a boat & bank event and the fishery will be closed for the day.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Ted Mills from Tenbury Wells, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 408 Number Trout Taken: 369 Number Trout Released: 1332
Total Catch: 1701 Rod Average: 4.2
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 19:30
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 19:30
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:30 PM 14:30 until 19:30
Last 4 Hours from: 15:30 until 19:30 (Ticket sales available from 15:15)
Gutting Room Closes: 19:00
All Anglers to be off site by: 19:45
Tight lines,
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