Draycote Report W/E 23rd May 2021

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook & Thornton

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

**New Email Address**: draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Week Ending Sunday 23^rd May 2021        Rod Av: 7.9    Water Temperature: 12 °C

A great start to the week with the rod average for Monday working out at 8.4. The weather was the only downside with heavy rain showers throughout the day, although it clearly did not bother the fish. Phil Mee fished at the Hensborough Bank landing 18 fish all on buzzers. Ian Richardson & Bob Smith fished along the Farborough Dam wall enjoying “a red letter day with lots of silver torpedoes” the pair landed 39 fish all on buzzers. Bob Eaton & Nathan Brain landed 27 fish between then using a washing line with buzzers and FABS. Fishery Manager Tom Bird took to the water catching all over the lake using a RIO Midge Tip Long with a FAB on the point and buzzers up the line. While boat partner Rob Sosbe fished the same flies but, on an Airflo, 12ft slow tip.

Another great day at the fishery Tuesday with the rod average hitting 12.8, with fish caught all over the lake. On the bank Lorenzo Serrano landed 14 fish using buzzers fished along the Cornfield with a small FAB on the point. With John Dickens landing 8 on the same tactics in half a day. Season ticket holders Peter Elliot & Lee Patten landed over 50 fish to the boat using buzzers and crunchers in Toft and by the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay. William Cram and the West Lothian Fly Dressers enjoyed a great day landing 108 fish between the 3 boats all on various nymphs and buzzers fished in Rainbow Corner, Biggin Bay and along the Draycote Dam Wall.

A lovely light North West wind Wednesday, however, in the middle of the day we had some torrential rain and a very impressive electrical storm that stopped the fishing for a short period. On the bank fishing along the Cornfield, Tony Broadway landed 23 fish using a washing line with small size 12 and 14 black buzzers. Fellow season ticket holder Peter Allen landed 13 fish using buzzers and also a mixture of lures. On the boats John Dickens enjoyed a good days sport taking 27 fish a mixture of buzzers, FABS and black and green lures. Jeff Ide used green damsels to land just short of 50 fish from the bottom end of the Cornfield & Toft. All water season ticket holder Dave Smith used a floating line with Diawl Bach’s, Buzzers and a foam Daddy to land 15 fish catching in Dunn’s Bay in the morning and Toft in the afternoon. Draycote Dry Fly lover Jim Smith landed over 30 fish all on dries with small shipman’s and crippled midge being his top patterns.

A much windier day Thursday with the fishing for the boat anglers having to be restricted to the South Shore. However, the blustery conditions did not see, to affect the fishing some good numbers getting caught. Matt Irons fished with a floating line with an Orange Blob and buzzers to land 15 fish from Rainbow Corner. Ian Wilson used Buzzers all day to land 19 fish. Matt Cocks fished from the Swan’s Nest in Toft to land 7 fish on a washing line with Buzzers. Arriving late in the afternoon William Brown, Ross Wilson, Bob Hanine & John Powell took advantage of our last 4 hour boats ahead of their 3 day break with the lads landing 25 fish between them in the evening. They opted for a washing line with a Biscuit Booby on the point and then Buzzers and Nemo crunchers on the droppers.

The forecast for Friday was awful, however, thankfully it dropped enough to allow the boats out again with restrictions. We hosted the Barclays Bank Competition with various regions fishing to be the winning region. In the difficult conditions the anglers did well catching on buzzers and nymphs fished on various intermediates, midge tip and floating lines. Winning the match was the Clearing Region with a combined weight of 33lb 11oz for there bag weights across the 4 competitors. Outside of the competition Ross Wilson & William Brown landed 11 fish between them on FABS and Cormorants and commented the wind made the controlling of the line difficult. Bob Haning & John Powell used Cortland Blue intermediate lines with Daddyhogs and buzzers to land 12 fish to the boat.

A much better day on Saturday with lighter winds and overcast conditions, allowing the boats to fish all areas of the reservoir. The daily rod average shot up to 10.9 on Saturday with good bags of fish coming out for both boat and bank anglers alike. Jim Smith and Ed Douglas netted over forty fish from a drifting boat, and persisted with dries all day. Young Mike Garner caught 11 fish from the bank using diawl bachs and a black pennel. All of Mikes fish came out of the Cornfield. Mr Russell Swinbourne caught well over 20 fish from a boat using a wide variety of buzzers and commented on “another great day”. Anthony Hart caught his 6 fish from the bank down in Toft using a washing line and buzzers. Mr William Brown and Mr Ross Wilson had 15 fish apiece to the boat from Toft using buzzers, crunchers and FAB’s on a washing line.

Sunday saw the wind swing round into the south, bringing some showers and blustery conditions through the afternoon. This made for some difficult fishing at times and eventually lead to a lot of the boats taking shelter against the leeward shore. Mr William Brown and Mr Ross Wilson fished Toft Shallows again on crunchers FAB’s and diawl bachs to net 16 fish between them. Mr David Rechtorik had 6 fish from the bank in the Cornfield and Toft Shallows using diawl bachs fished on a floating line. Season permit holder Stephen Dewhurst also fished the bank to net 5 fish, all on olive buzzers. Dave Hancox ventured out for a part day session on a boat to net 8 fish on a DI5 sweep and olive snakes in Rainbow Corner.

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

**New Email Address**: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Week ending 23rd May                   Weekly Rod Average 7.6                Water Temp: 12c

Monday signalled the start of another fantastic week ahead on Eyebrook. The weather conditions were perfect. Overcast with gentle breezes. As from previous weeks, the bulk of the anglers have been eager to get up around the Island and Mucky bay. It seems that the anglers are as preoccupied with this area as much as the fish are with buzzers. Resident season ticket holder Roy Swinfield continues his fantastic form from the bank getting well in to double figures fishing a short leader with a couple of buzzers and a booby on the point. Regular visitor Peter Harris kicked off his 3-day fishing break with well in to double figures while having a play about with a number of different methods and flies. T Barclay and M Napier were also with us for a 3-day Fishing break and got in to double figures of fish to the boat. With the fantastic form that Eyebrook has been seeing, more and more people are taking advantage of the fishing break packages, some are even opting to split their visits between Eyebrook and Draycote to experience the sport at both venues.

FM Fishing breaks: short-break-packages

Accommodation: Where to stay

Tuesday continued on with similar weather to Monday. Lots of happy anglers were eager to get out on the water and enjoy the sport after telling the staff all about how much they had enjoyed the day before. Fishery manager Jim was kept busy helping out a few guests set up leaders and help with fly selections before sending them off to the known hot spots. Visitors continue to compliment the staff on their time and help getting on and off the water and how fishing at Eyebrook is such a pleasant experience. I was a busy day at the Eyebrook with most of the fleet out on the water and a large number of anglers out on the bank. Some Anglers were faring better than others. Those that were catching in good numbers were either on buzzers, damsels, or they were fishing small shuttlecock patters. As it has been for the past few weeks, The Island and Mucky bay are drawing a lot of attention from the anglers.

Wednesday seen a few familiar faces out on the water and bank getting in to good numbers of fish using buzzers on a washing line of fishing crippled midge and CDC patterns. Yet again, the individuals that know this water were outfishing the masses that were visiting. But in part, the beginning of a horrible weather front is beginning to show that the fish are not coming as readily as they have done in previous weeks.

Thursday seen the return of the Bull fly fishers to Eyebrook. The weather was good to begin with early in the morning. But as the day progressed, the weather became increasingly horrible which in turn made the conditions difficult for the guys out in the boats and they came back in before 3 o’clock and called it a day. Meanwhile, out on the banks, some of the anglers had found good spots out of the worst of the wind and were managing to pick up good numbers of fish.

Friday was a complete write off. No boats were out due to the wind speed. However, only 2 brave souls ventured on to the banks later in the day to battle the elements and between them they managed to bring 11 fish to the net. N Heath and D Watson. Outstanding angling in adverse conditions.

Saturday brought better conditions for our anglers with the more mild conditions and settled wind, our anglers were now enjoying a lot of top of the water sport. Small foam daddies and CDC shuttlecock patters accounted for a majority of the fish. But the surprise of the day came from one of our pike anglers in the form of a large Brown trout that tipped the scales at 19lbs 8oz some of the staff have seen a picture of it and we are eager to release a photo as soon as we can. It just goes to show that really large fish can thrive in Eyebrook.

Sunday saw us playing host to the Thornton Fly fishers and the All Abilities Fly fishers (AAFF) conditions were quite pleasant early in the morning, but as the day moved on, strong winds started to make fishing uncomfortable for a few and the fishing became a little more challenging. Due to the worsening wind conditions, Thornton decided to call it a day by 3 o’clock with most of the field of anglers landing 3 to 4 fish each. The All Abilities crowd faired a little better with quite a few of their anglers getting in to double figures. Outstanding angling!! Especially when it was a day when a few new members were joining them. The fantastic administration of the team By Mark Goodge, Ian Bradfield, Shaun Higgins and Dave Davies helped to make a smooth transition from the cars to boat as simple for their anglers as possible. Morning boatman Andy Miller had a great time helping out and ensuring everyone was safe and having a good time.

Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

**New Email Address**: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Week Ending 23^rd May.   Rod Av: 5.3    Water Temperature: 14c+

A great start to the week with the daily rod average 11.5 with the majority of the trout caught on buzzer, cdc, hoppers & small damsel, with the washing line with a Fab on the point & buzzers on the dropper working well. Buzzers patterns continue to be grey / black size 10 / 12 with a bright olive buzzer size 14 / 16. Fish moving most of the day to buzzer hatches with some hawthorn flies about in the early afternoon. Most anglers concentrated their fishing to the wood, lonesome pine & down the Markfield Arm. Water clarity is best described as gin clear, time to fish a long leader and thin diameter.

Tuesday, following on from Monday excellent rod average of 11.5 hopes were high for another good day. It proved the opposite, challenging day with angler struggling to find a method that consistently worked. Arthur Olding fared the best catching 8 for his mornings visit on a white silver booby fished on an intermediate.

Wednesday and a better day’s fishing with rod average 6, buzzers were the best patterns with olive, black and red buzzer patterns taking fish. S Windram caught 14 on the washing line with a booby and buzzer patterns, P Hunt also caught 14 on buzzer and damsel patterns. Dave Coote fished a short morning session fishing black & olive buzzer to catch 8

Thursday & generally a more challenging day with the start of the wet & windy weather forecast for Friday starting to move in. Tony Lorrimer went up into green bay, found the shelter of the dam & rising was the place to be catching 18 for his visit

Friday with average wind speeds exceeding 25mph we cancelled the boats

Saturday, what a difference a day makes, calmer day with trout moving all over the reservoir. Mark Clayton & Andy Willet fished from their float tubes concentrating their fishing from in front of the lodge across the main basin & dam with Andy catching 7 on olive or black buzzers with Mark catching 14 on a olive buzzer #14. Jan Webber caught 10 fishing the washing line with booby, damsel & buzzer. Mark Hunt fished cdc & yellow owls to catch his 19 trout.

Sunday bit more of a breeze with a cooler wind but the majority of the anglers fished the morning session which offered the better forecast. Buzzers caught the majority of the trout with black or red buzzer size 12 – 14 or bright olive buzzers size 14 – 16

Water clarity is gin clear, time to fish leaders as long as you can handle with the modern lower diameter fluorocarbon or copolymer giving anglers the edge. Noticeable this week smaller buzzer patterns 14 – 16 outfished the larger size 10 – 12 buzzer. More fish taking damsel patterns.

Hawthorn still about will hopefully be in good numbers this week