Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 13th October 2019
Tel: 01788 812018
This week has seen a continuation of excellent sport. Despite some extremely wet & windy conditions, it is great to be able to report that many anglers are still experiencing some frenetic action to dry fly tactics. It has in fact been something of a week of two halves with anglers either choosing to stay with the dries as long as they are able and those who are targeting the ever increasing numbers of fry feeders that have been marauding the shoals of young perch. A little later than anticipated perhaps but it has also been a week that has seen a progressive improvement in bank action – primarily due to a combination of shrimp feeding fish along rocky banks plus shoals of perch beginning to migrate towards the shorelines in significant numbers. A quieter period in terms of rod numbers as many anglers still tend to conclude their season at the end of September – which is a shame given the tremendous sport the final two months of the season can so frequently provide. Nevertheless, 266 anglers fished the venue this week netting a total catch of 1043 representing a rod average of 3.92
It had been really busy on boat & bank in the build up to the Troutmaster’s final, which we hosted on Monday when the fishery was closed to all bar the ninety finalists. The event saw anglers split between boat & bank with a three hour morning session followed by a lunchtime half-time weigh-In and changeover. The bank was split into 5 Sections (1Toft, 2Cornfield, 3Lincroft & Biggin, 4 Dunn’s & Tower & 5 Rainbow/Hensborough) with anglers’ bank session location being based on a draw announced on the day. Because many competitors had little or no prior boat fishing experience, the organisers also tried to pair them with an experienced boat handler. The first two fish caught in each session were taken following which further captures were released & a nominal weight for each fish was added to angler’s results. Our thanks once more to those of you who acted as stewards on the day & whose assistance helped to make the event as successful as it was. The day itself was pretty bleak with low cloud, outbreaks of rain & a brisk southerly wind. However both boat & bank produced fish with a total of 81 rainbows caught & killed and 243 caught & released. The overall winner was as decisive a victory as possible with the eventual winner securing first place in both his bank and boat session. Our congratulations therefore go to Peter Crowe from Hartlepool and representing Church Paddock (Full coverage of the final will be found in the next issue of Trout Fisherman magazine out on 6th November).
Season ticket holders Brian Warwick & Colin Grainger were out on the banks on Tuesday for a morning session with both netting three rainbows. Jim Hall was on the bank too and especially pleased with two rainbows over four pounds which took his floating fry patterns in Biggin Bay. Out on the water, Kevin Rees stuck to his Bob’s Bits on drifts from the Inlet & Flat Stones towards B & later C buoy. He picked off fish regularly from pods encountered throughout the drift to end the session with 12 to the boat. On Wednesday Terry & John Evans followed suit with dries on long exploratory drifts to net 8 & 7 rainbows respectively. Watched over by his Mum (snuggled up in the boat in a duvet!), Will Hunt stayed with the daddies to net four grown on rainbows for the pot with a further dozen C&R. Jim Hall was also back on the bank for more fry feeding action to his floating fry but also took a couple of his five fish tally on a cruncher. Back up from London on what has become a weekly visit, Eugene Hughes was drifting through both A & B buoys in the morning, and across the middle in the afternoon. Alternating between standard & booby minkies Eugene enjoyed frantic sport netting no less than 28 fry feeding rainbows to 5lbs plus, commenting that fish were spewing perch, some as long as 3½”, into the landing net. Thursday was a very good day with an overall rod average of 6.8. Tony Broadway bank fished on the Tower Bank & found that the fish were up for a chase and landed 11 pulling Cats Whiskers & Fabs on a floating line. Dave Smith caught 7 to 4½lbs from the boat on a black & green snake and Chris Discombe took 5 on a white Minkie near A buoy. Sticking to their usual Bob’s Bits patterns John Dickens & Kevin Rees fished off the top end with John drifting from the overflow to A buoy whilst Kevin concentrated on drifts from the flat stones & B buoy moving down to C buoy later in the day. They landed 12 & 16 respectively. Ed Douglas & Jim Smith were also afloat for the day & both caught well fishing lures from the Tower Bank down to Dunn’s Bay. Although it was very windy with heavy downpours during Friday, Gordon Slack caught 3 rainbows on the bank fishing with Keith Hughes who netted 6. They fished a mix of home tied black & green mini lures at Hensborough. Kieron Barnes decided to go afloat in search of fry feeders and had a terrific session using minkies off the Hensborough bank with 13 rainbows up to 5lbs landed. An image on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore displays one of his specimens after gutting – photographed with a total of 19 small perch it had consumed! Howard Smith & Mike Cox did similar & enjoyed a 13 fish joint tally. Similar sport continued on Saturday with regulars Jim Dempsey & Ifor Jones fishing fry based lures on the rudder. They netted 15 & 14 respectively. Better weather conditions saw many back on the dries. Mike Laycock with Coppenhall Fly Fishers took a 16 fish total on dries whilst Paul Davison & Tony Baldwin shared a boat to net over 30 from all parts of the venue, mainly on Paul’s Midas dry. Ed & Jim were also afloat again &, as ever, enjoyed hectic sport on Ed’s dries. Tom Beebe & his son William trialled one of our Sage demo rods whilst out in the boat for the day and had a fantastic experience with William doing battle with a 4½lbs rainbow which Tom said stripped him of not just his whole fly line but a further 40 yards of backing! Russ Rabot fished from the bank & took 5 good fish on a humungus including a 4lbs + beauty for the pot. The week finished with some very heavy rain on Sunday but the few hardy souls who fished were rewarded with some magnificent silver bars. Michael Ravenscroft decided not to take his booked boat due to the weather opting for a relatively short session on the bank. Using fry patterns he took a brace at the old pipe in Biggin, another two on the Tower Bank before finishing at the Overflow where he took yet another brace. He described his fish as all looking “like peas in a pod” & the one taken for the pot was a full finned pristine bar at close on four pounds. Our own Michael Hanlon also experienced his best morning of the season with seven similar fish landed on drifts from the Overflow along the Hensborough. Interestingly, he said that he could get no interest from fish at anchor yet as soon as he got on the drift fish (or follows) came readily to his black snake pattern.
With stock levels high and fish clearly on an autumnal feeding binge, all bodes well for a continuation of some very special sport before our season closes at the end of November. We recommend that those thinking of hanging up their rods early, maybe because of the shorter days & seasonal weather, perhaps think of putting in a few more trips first so as not to miss out on this end of year bonus.
And finally, on a personal note,
“After eight fantastic seasons, based primarily at Draycote, I have decided to step into retirement and will finish at the end of this season. During my time as part of the team it has been a pleasure to have worked both with & for you guys and you will be greatly missed. However, it is now my time to get out onto the banks & out on the water with much more regularity. So, I’ll look forward to my future encounters with you “on the other side of the counter”.
Tightest of lines to you all, Kevin
Competitions
This years Fur and Feather match will take place on Sunday 24th November 2019. The competition will be fished to reservoir rules and is a boat pairs match with a limit of 12 fish to the boat. The competition will be fished from 9am until 4pm with prizes for first second, third and biggest fish. Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to reserve your boat.
Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop at www.flyfishstore.co.uk
Stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS
Demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try. Call the Draycote lodge for details
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:
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Terry Evans from Kirkby in Ashfield, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 266 Number Trout Taken: 242 Number Trout Released: 801
Total Catch: 1043 Rod Average: 3.92
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 18:15
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 18:15
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:00
Last 4 Hours from: 14:15 until 18:15 (Ticket sales available from 14:15)
Gutting Room Closes: 17:45
All Anglers to be off site by: 18:30
Tight lines,
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