Draycote Report W/E 19th September 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 19th September      Rod Average  4.2                Water Temperature  17 °C

ANGLER PARKING NOTICE

All Anglers please note that from Monday 23^rd August Severn Trent has requested that all anglers will now have to return their car to the main car park after unloading, if you require a yellow parking pass please ask for one in the lodge on the morning of your visit.

Severn Trent Event

Bank anglers please note; Severn Trent are running an event which is taking place in Toft, using up anglers car parks and some grassed areas. This is being set up and run from 14^th September through until the 28^th September. All bank anglers are asked to only use car parks which are available, and to avoid areas which may interfere with the event. Please also note that there will be extra vehicles and pedestrians at this end of the reservoir throughout this time.

Willow Cutting

The Willow cutting which started at the beginning of September will continue through until roughly the first week of October. Please be aware that members of staff will be out with machinery working to clear areas of the bank. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Severn Trent Ranger Team for their help with this task.

Monday dawned with overcast skies and a cool easterly breeze, conditions which stayed with us throughout the day. A slow start for the anglers with not too many fish caught through the morning, however in the afternoon things picked up with fish showing in the surface in Toft Shallows and around D buoy in Duns Bay. Ian Richardson and Bob Smith had 9 fish to the boat towards the end of their day, having moved to D buoy late on, mostly caught on nymphs and dries. Jim Brennan and Chris Discombe had a dozen between them on daddies around G buoy down in Toft Shallows. Kevin Rees used size 14 fiery brown crippled midge and bob’s bits to net 15 fish in the area between the Swans Nest and G buoy. Mr P Sadler and Mr T Strachan caught a bakers dozen in Toft Shallows, all on dries such as big reds and foam daddies.

Light rain with a steady north easterly breeze on Tuesday morning turned into heavy showers through into the afternoon. Not the most comfortable conditions to fish in and a good test of the waterproofs. However most anglers caught fish and some did quite well. Don Coe netted 8 fish on a DI 5 and a minkie booby drifting in between X and P buoy. Season permit holder Norman Perkins caught 7 fish on much the same method. The other anglers in Don’s party persisted with dry fly techniques to net a brace here and there  whilst Mr M Francis managed a respectable 4.

A completely different day on Wednesday with nice overcast but dry conditions to start and a light northerly breeze. K wood & E Glaister fished in a boat landing 22 using CDC patterns and Daddies fishing in Toft around G drifting towards the Swans Nest. John Kirk fished with J Wenman with the pair landing 14 fish to the boat again catching on daddies. Draycote season ticket holder Ian Reeve drifted from the Valve Tower across the middle towards the lodge to boat 7 fish on daddies and hoppers. Kasidit Leoviriyakit enjoyed a good day from the boat fishing for just 6 hours landing 11 fish, 1 on a dry while the others took an olive snake fished on a Di 5 sinking line. A number of other anglers found dries and washing line tactics the best.

Thankfully the wind was stronger than forecast coming from the Southwest on Thursday. John Mills & David Keeble landed a dozen fish between them using a mix of washing line and dries with floaters and slow intermediate lines being the best. Gordon Byers, Don Coe, Alister Bosher & Tim Grove enjoyed good sport on long drifts across the middle using daddies and Midas. Draycote season ticket holder Paul Walley fished with fellow member Stephen Dewhurst with the pair landing 11 fish between them on minkies fished on sinking lines. Thursday also saw the EFFA club taking to the water with 32 anglers, they caught 123 fish, all of which were released and measured using our measuring troughs. The winner of the day was Chris Mcleod with 8 fish for a combined length of 3280mm. The best method for the club was washing line or dries around A buoy and then in Toft.

Friday was a mild day with some overcast conditions and light breezes. Again a good number of fish were caught, mostly in the top of the water column on dries and nymphs. An algael bloom has been present on the water, but this tends to be light and gets blown to the bottom of the wind by midday.  The areas which fished well on Friday were A buoy and Rainbow Corner, B buoy down to the Valve Tower, in between P and X buoy and the central area of Toft Shallows around G buoy.  Lianne Frost and Chris Bobby had 20 fish to the boat with a washing line and nymphs, as well as dries. John Dickens and Kevin Rees boated 15 fish using dries such as bob’s bits. Roger Kerrison had 11 fish to the boat, all on the Midas. Dan Mcelligott caught 3 fish during an evening session on daddies and a claret hopper near A buoy. Mr A Graham, also out for an evening session, netted 5 fish on daddies, and then buzzers on a washing line with a FAB on the point.

A foggy start to Saturday morning before the start of the AMFC match, who ventured out onto the water just as the nearest marker buoys were coming into view. Throughout the day we had some sunny spells interspersed with some good cloud cover and what should have been a light southerly breeze, which kept swinging around as the day progressed. A good days fishing for all concerned I think. Season permit holder Mike Garner took to the bank and caught on a Pitsford pea in Toft shallows by the big willow tree. The teams in the AMFC match fished mainly at the western end of the reservoir over markers such as A,B and C buoy, out to Y buoy and over into Duns and Biggin Bay. They fished mainly in the top few feet of the water column using nymphs or dries fished on a floater,  a sink tip, or an intermediate line. The main flies were foam daddies, big reds, crippled midge, bob’s bits, crunchers, diawl bachs and muskins. Overall the anglers caught a total of 447 fish, giving us a daily rod average of a whopping 7.3. Well done to all the anglers who took part in the competition.

Light winds Sunday with some rain in the morning but bright for the most part. On the bank John Crowley landed 3 fish fishing over the top of the weed on ginger hoppers and foam daddies. On the boats we hosted the Draycote Fly Fishers Autumn Pairs, with 20 members and 1 guest fishing the match. Winning the day was Adrian Burton & Mark Johnson-Jones. The pair found a washing line to be the best set up with a Tequila FAB on the point or a Ham & Cheese then an orange daddy. In Second place was Keith Parris & Mark Windsor who landed 9.  Third place with 7 was John Pearson & Paul Ward. Outside of the club competition Jake Whenman & John Kirk used daddies to land 22 fish fishing around A Buoy and Rainbow Corner. Mark Braun landed 15 using black hoppers, red nemo crunchers and orange blobs. Season ticket holder Paul Mitchell fished with Tim Burn using daddies and other dries to boat 35 fish.

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

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

Stocking Policy As we enter the period of the year with expected higher water temperatures at the Eyebrook we alter the average size of trout we stock. Our stocking policy for the Eyebrook is explained on our website Stocking Policy | Fly Fish Eyebrook – Leicestershire Trout Fishery 

Week ending 19^th Sep 21                Rod Average: 4                    Water Temp: 17C

Monday started overcast with good conditions. With the recent form of Eyebrook we were expecting the start of a very good week. Mid-September is always a popular time of the year on Eyebrook for the fantastic dry fly action. Our 2-, 3- and 4-day fishing packages are extremely popular and are fantastic value for the price. D. Quigley & J. McGuiggan started a 3-day package of with a cool dozen to the boat, K White started a 3-day package, M. Firth and A. Whale Started a 5-day package and Mr Woods and Mr Kay 3-day Package. The fishing was sporadic at times for a few of the Anglers, but a few of them started to catch steadily on foam daddies and small CDC’s

Tuesday was forecast for heavy rain most of the morning but settled in the afternoon. This seen quite a few anglers deciding to postpone a day’s fishing till later in the week. However, the few brave souls who ventured out were justly rewarded with some fantastic sport. On the day we had a rod average of 4.5 with the best catch of the day being D. Quigley and J. McGuiggan who were catching steadily on CDC’s and Grunters in torrential downpours. M. Firth and A. Whale were having similar action on yellow owls. D. Skedd was in to double figures by fishing just nymphs for most of the day.

Wednesday was overcast with little wind and occasionally bright sunshine, hardly fantastic conditions for fishing dries. Higham Ferrers FF Joined us for a bit of a club meeting out on the water, it was good to see a few familiar faces out there enjoying themselves. The fishing was a bit more challenging than expected but there were still a few good results that came back. The guys gave us reports of Fry feeding out in the main basin but most of the fish caught on the day fell to dry fly patterns. Bill Woods and Jim Kay were top boat on the day and finished off their 3-day package with 19 fish to the boat between them taken on small black dries and reporting fish 3lbs 8oz+

Thursday seen the Bull FF joining us for a day out and the Fishing For Fun group starting 2 days on the water. The hot, bright, and still weather made the day a bit challenging for a lot of the anglers out on the water. By lunch time most anglers had managed 1 or 2 fish and decided it was time to come in for a well-earned bit of refreshment under the big tree at the front of the lodge so they could talk tactics and maybe help each other along to put a few more fish in the boat. In the afternoon a few of the anglers who had a bit of a tough morning were rewarded for their perseverance. J. Forsyth and D. Ford were the best boat on the day with a cool dozen each to the boat. Hugh Wallace had 14. Most of the anglers who were catching well were generally fishing dries or washing line method with a foam daddy on the point. Eyebrook season ticket holder R. Swinfield was surprised to see that the whole fleet was booked out, so instead opted for a few hours off the dam wall. After a few hours Roy came back after landing 2 fish and had plenty of offers bit couldn’t get some to stick

Friday arrived, and for the 3^rd day on the trot, every single boat was out on the water. The fishing for fun group went out after an evening where everyone had been passing information around at dinner to help get a few more fish in the boat. It worked. the slight change in conditions helped as well. A few of the anglers seemed to be having a much better day on day 2. Lots of anglers were having 6 or 7 to the boat, but on the day Ian Duly, K Johnson and Ged O’Donoghue were the only anglers to get in to double figures.

Saturday seen a Bright, hot, and almost still day on the lake. From time to time the wind would change direction and all of a sudden, you’d have the flies float back towards you when you cast out. Most of the boats were jostling for positions along the dam wall as there was a good concentration of fish swimming up and down the frontage. As the day moved on, the fish seemed to sit just a little deeper and were a bit more reluctant to come up for daddies and other dries. There were also good numbers of fish just off the netted bank that looked to be within casting distance of the bank. There were also a lot of fish moving in Dogwood Bay and all the way along to the hawthorns. The open water seemed to be producing the better sport for drifting boats, but drifting was nigh on impossible with practically no wind. Andy and Peter Boylan were the top boat on the day with both of them getting well in to double figures each with small FAB’s. Fraser Renwick was well in to double figures as well. With most of the fleet picking up a few fish each.

Sunday seemed to be the best day of the week with every angler out on the water managing to net fish. Most of the anglers were opting for a FAB, Nymph, Foam daddy combination. Popper hoppers, traditional wets, Buzzers seemed to be working as well. The fishing was that good on this day, Eyebrook produced a rod average of 7.5. a rod average very rarely seen after buzzer season comes to an end.

The fish are all over the lake from the Island to the willows and all the way back to the lodge. Fishery staff have seen fish moving just outside mucky bay and up by the chestnut tree while carrying out patrols in the safety boat. The fish are enjoying a great variety of terrestrial flies as well as buzzers and fry out on the water. Book a boat early to avoid disappointment. The weed has rapidly started to recede from the banks and is making access to the fish a little bit simpler from the bank. Work Continues along the banks to clear Willow saplings and clearing access points along the Leicestershire bank and the Rutland Bank.

Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

“New Email address”  thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk 

Stocking Policy As we enter the period of the year higher water temperatures we alter the average size of trout we stock our stocking policy for Thornton is explained on our website Stocking Policy | Fly Fish Thornton – Leicestershire Fly Fishery 

Week ending 19^th September.  Rod Average: 2.9 Water Temperature:17c+

Cooler and at times wetter forecast for the coming week which will suit the trout fishing. The late morning onwards has fished best with an improving evening rise. Thornton Fly Fishers fished their senior citizen competition on Monday morning. All 7 competitors caught with Ray Jordan winning with the heaviest 4 fish limit, Mick Norman caught the largest at 3lb8oz. Rev Chip fished the evening session with claret or red cdc the winning flies as he boated 11.

Tuesday, it was wet, heavy rain at times. All water member Ken Key caught 4 for his mornings visit wit P Cox fishing daddies and sedge pupa to take his 4 trout

Wednesday an excellent days fishing with a rod average 5+ for the day with anglers reporting good numbers of trout feeding. Stones, mouth of the Markfield arm & across the main basin fished best to floaters, midge tip & intermediate lines with red or claret cdc #14, hoppers, daddies, hare’s ear, buzzers, small fabs. Thornton member Greg Weatherdon fished a diawl bach to tempt his 8 trout, All water member Paul Walker fished cdc, buzzer & fab to catch his 13 trout another all water member A Lilley fished dries, fabs to boat his 11 fish with his boat partner Graham England fishing dries & hares ear to catch his 19 trout. R Maycock caught 7. An excellent evening rise.

Thursday from mid morning onwards the trout were feeding well with an excellent evening rise. Terry & John Evans caught 14 on dries & rescued a young buzzard that was getting mobbed by the crows & ended up in the water. Thornton members S Swinfield & Zeleny caught 8 for their mornings visit, member P Wrigley fished dries to tempt his 6 trout. M Armstrong fished the afternoon session to catch his 6 trout on dries with J Brown fishing the last 4 hour session also catching 6 trout, with P Flay recording 4 trout for his last 4 hour session

Friday and the fishing proved to be a touch more challenging with anglers reporting mist takes and fish lost. Fish were moving off & on throughout the day, although the best of the evening rise was in the last half hour! Red, claret or black & red buzzers, claret or red cdc / suspenders, claret or red hopper size #12 #14 #16,diawls, daddies & #12 cocktail fab

Saturday and a clear indication that the afternoon into the evening is fishing best, we seem to be seeing more daddies on the water during the afternoon / evening period. Members N Bates caught 5 for his visit with S Thompson also recording 5. Mick Carrig fished the last 3 hours catching 3 trout with All Water Member Mark Hunt fishing the day catching 2 fish by lunchtime but then going on to catch another 10 during the afternoon / evening. Intermediate during the morning with #12 fab, #12 #14 diawls, buzzer, hares ear, during the afternoon its dries #12 #14 #16 cdc, hoppers, bobs bits, daddies.

Sunday, during the morning session a midge tip or intermediate with a #12 cocktail or tequila fab or #12 sparkler or white booby pulled had fish chasing the fly but hook ups proved more difficult. The afternoon and evening session a floater with #12 daddies, #12 #14 cdc, hoppers, bobs bits or fishing a washing line was the successful method. Members S Jordan & A Gunby caught 11 on small booby & daddies, Andy Lilley and Graham England caught 16 on dries with Mat Vickers fishing a daddy to catch his 8 trout. Sam & Paul Cook fished the last 4 hour session with #12 orange daddies to catch their 5 trout.

With our & our surface water temperature at 17c at 7.30am our surface sport will continue.