Draycote Report W/E 10th October 2021

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook & Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

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

Week Ending Sunday 10^th October          Rod Average 4.9   Water Temperature 14 °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.

Willow Cutting

The Willow cutting which started at the beginning of September will continue through until roughly the second 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.

The week started with winds coming from the South, gusty at times and then rain in the afternoon. Pete Eville fished from a boat on his own landing 10 fish on black daddies and hoppers, Pete found the fish down the Farborough Dam Wall and then around M Buoy and Rainbow corner. Lea Tones & Stephen Farmer landed 16 fish between them using boobies fished near the surface. With the pair also finding fish around the blue boat down the Farborough Dam wall and then around the Hensborough Bank.  Draycote season ticket holder John Dickens used dries to land 7 fish with them taking Bob’s Bits.

The strong winds and rain forecast kept the majority of the anglers and those that did opt to take the water only chose to take half day boats before it not windy later in the day. John Jones fished for the morning landing 4 fish on black & gold Humungus around the Hensborough Bank and then the blue boat around along the Hensborough Bank. All water member Ken Key landed 3 fish using a floating line and a Minkie landing his fish around the Tower Bank and Dunn’s Bay.

The wind stayed in the Northwest Wednesday, although thankfully it dropped from Tuesday, and in the afternoon dropped out completely. Tony Broadway fished for half a day on the bank landing 2 and lost a further 2. Tony landed one of the Cornfield and then one from the Tower Bank. On the boats all water member Dave Smith fished with Stuart Dean with the pair landing 13 fish with Olive Snakes and any orange fly being their best patterns. Matt Crisp & Paul Newham landed a dozen fish between them drifting around the Farborough Dam and the Hensborough Bank. Ray Anderson landed 19 fish using Zonkers and took his fish near T Buoy the Hensbrough Bank and near the Value Tower. Ray Rowlings fished mini olive snakes in the morning before switching to tan foam daddies when the cloud arrived later in the day to land 7 fish at M Buoy.

Draycote experienced some fantastic fishing Thursday with warm temperatures, light southerly winds, and cloud cover for most of the day.  The rod average fished for the day at 6.1 fish per angler. On the bank Dave Mount landed 7 fish including a 5lb rainbow using a washing line with Shrimp patterns, Fabs and daddies. Brian Joseph also fished the bank taking 2 fish on floating fry from Lincroft point. On the boats Draycote season ticket holders Tony Broadway & Jim Hall landed 26 to the boat all on dries with Big Red’s being their best patterns. Also using dries to get effect was Kevin Rees who fished along the Farborough Dam wall to boat 24 fish on size 14 crippled midge and Bob’s Bits. Bob Smith & Ian Richardson landed 23 fish between them using a washing line with a Minkie Booby on the point or a blob booby on the point and then Pheasant Tail nymphs on the droppers. Top guide Lee Henfrey proved why he is so popular with clients on a 4 hour guide, as client Stephen Wilks boated 19 fish using a RIO 3ft Midge Tip. White snake on the point, cruncher, and a cat booby on the top dropper. To book Lee for a guided session to help improve your catch rate call Tom Bird on 01788 812018. Dave Kennell landed 14 fish drifting from H Buoy to G Buoy in Toft using a midge tip booby on the top dropper, Diawl Bach and then a foam daddy on the point.

Friday was yet another calm and overcast day with a mist over the water early on. Once again Draycote returned a good rod average with fish being caught on a wide variety of methods such as fry patterns, nymphs on a washing line and dries. Martin Scriven had a brace from the bank as did Melvin Schofield, using foam daddies fished over the weed beds. Season permit holder John Dickens caught 11 fish from a boat, all on bobs bits. Paul Walley and Mark Johnson Jones had 16 fish to the boat  using nymphs on a washing line with a FAB on the point, and also dries. Brian Cantley and Mr A Johnstone had 8 fish to the boat using blobs, FAB’s and foam daddies. Richard and Jim Hall had 15 fish to the boat between them, all on dries. Carl and Ian Malpass caught over 30 fish between them on cats whiskers and Mr S Newnam caught 20 fish, all on a single dry fly.

A warm flat day Saturday, make the fishing more challenging that it has been on the previous days. Ian Gaskell fished in the boats with son Liam with he pair landing 17 between them using nymphs, with Muskins being their best pattern. Ian & Carl Malpass once again enjoyed a good day landing 26 fish. Paul Pratt & boat partner Rick enjoyed some good sport also landing 26 fish. With Paul using dries which Rick opted for a sparkler booby. Sunday, we thankfully saw a breeze pick up coming from the Northwest, however, the sun remained. On the bank Jon Crowley landed 10 fish from Lincroft Point using a white baby doll. On the boats Jim Smith fished with Ed Douglas with the pair landing 30 fish to the boat, Ed started on dries while Jim went for a snake on a Midge tip. Ed picked fish up early put as the day wore on it was the barred olive snake booby on a DI 3 forty plus with the hotspot being a drift from Biggin Bay to P Buoy. Fishery guide and ranger Lee Henfrey fished with Michael Hanlon with the pair landing nearly 50 fish to the boat. The best tactic was a weighted white snake on the point, claret hopper on the dropper then a Daddyhog on the top dropper. Using a RIO hover, with the key Lee says is a slow retrieve as they don’t want the flies moved quickly. Lee found the fish around the Farborough Dam in the morning before the Algae being pushed on the Dam caused the fish to move further back and he finished the day near X buoy.

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: 10^th Oct 21                Rod Average:3.5                              Water Temp: 16

As the week begun, it was easy to see that winter is coming. The colder autumn winds and chilling rain have been quite relentless at times. The up side to the colder winds and rain is that the water temperatures are starting to get to good levels for the trout to be very active. With the stronger winds, the fish have been actively cruising just under the surface, and at times pods of fish can be seen moving through the broken water and feeding along the wind channels. D. Moore and F. Appleton started a 2 day package with 11 fish to the boat in some challenging conditions on the Monday. D. Peet and R. Varley ventured out on the Coulum wheelie boat for a day out and managed 9 apiece. C. McMonagle and M. Petri finished up a fantastic 3 days on the lake with over 20 fish to the boat between them on their last day. After 2 and a half days on the water and averaging 10 each per day, it looks like the guys had a fantastic visit. Anglers were reporting action from a few different areas of the lake but there were plenty of pods of fish moving all over the open water.

Tuesday seen the wind get even rougher than the day before but still well below the cut off speeds. The rain came in flurries and was almost torrential at times. The few anglers that ventured out actually produced some good returns. R. Anderson managed to catch a cool dozen on a variety of patterns and methods. D. Moore and F. Appleton managed to get nearly double figures each to the boat on grunters and CDC’s even in the horrible wet conditions.

Wednesday started off with a stiff SW wind at about 16MPH but it gradually subsided as the day progressed. Despite the rougher wind speeds, the Eyebrook was easily fishable out along the front of the Dam. The fishing was proving to be a little more difficult according to a few of the anglers but at the end of the day we still ended up with a rod average of 3.5 on the day

Thursday seen Eyebrook calmer than it had been for a few days. With the gentlest of breezes, it would have been easy enough to drift without the aid of a drogue. However, many anglers opted to anchor in and around the main basin area near the tower. The conditions were perfect for a lot of the fish to be feeding just under the surface. Quite a few of our season ticket holders were getting in to double figures of fish. Most of the fish on the day came to Daddies, grunters, and CDC shuttlecock patterns. We’ve been seeing a few anglers starting to come back to the bank in the past week or so. S. Normington managed a brace from the bank fishing Daddies and Diawl Bachs, whereas M. Warren had 4 on Daddies and FAB’s. Special mention to Jude Tuffs who managed 7 on the day. It was Jude’s first day out on Eyebrook after a lengthy break after a shoulder injury. It’s good to see your recovery going well Jude.

Friday started off with a bit of a chilled fog and no wind. Hardly ideal for the start of the day. Once the boats went out, most of them headed out in to the main basin area again. The fact that there were plenty of fish moving showed a promising start to the day. Andy Miller was joined by Becky Glew for a day’s guided pike fishing on the fly. Becky was really excited to finally get out on the guided session after having to re-arrange the dates a few times due to factors beyond our control. Becky had a fantastic session with Andy to catch a few Pike. On the Trout fishing front, some folks were doing really well on small black dry flies. But there were a few that done really well on fry patterns out in the open water

Saturday saw Eyebrook host the Dave Carter Charity Competition, 24 Anglers headed out in to almost flat calm conditions with bright sunshine. For the most part, the conditions made it difficult for anglers to cover water and figure out exactly what the fish were doing on the day. The charity competition was won by Eyebrook season ticket holder Dave Etty with 4 fish. Further Details for the results can be found on the Fishery Management Facebook Page. www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

Sunday had a bit more of a breeze on the water and the extra cloud cover should have seen an upturn in the rod average. A few anglers managed to get up around the double figures on the day. Most of the fish fell to Dry flies, but there were a few that were taken on small buzzer patterns. There was no real mention of Fry patterns, which was surprising for this time of year.

In the next few weeks Eyebrook will be hosting the Annual Fur N’ Feather match on the 24^th of October 2021. If you and a friend would be interested in getting in on the action and possibly bringing in the biggest fish on the day to win some fantastic prizes, then give us a call at the lodge to get booked in on 01536 770264.

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 10^th October.  Rod Average 3.1  Water Temperature 14c

The wet windy conditions continued through Monday & Tuesday with few rods out on the water & most off the water by 2pm Despite the heavy rain our water clarity remained good. We can only look forward to the better weather forecast Thursday onwards

Wednesday was still breezy with most anglers looking to fish along the shelter of the lodge bank, main car park & dam. K Cowen fished a cats whisker booby to take his 4 trout, Dave Slesser fished in front of the main dam to catch his 7 trout with P Hunt & J Thomson catching 6 on buzzers. The wind fell away at 4pm leaving us with a flat calm with an excellent evening rise.

Thursday the wind, cooler temperatures since Saturday has dropped the water temperature to 14c which in turn has seen some of the trout being prepared to take fry patterns. In the main buzzers, dries & washing line tactics are still most productive. Member Greg Weatherdon caught 7 on a blob & buzzers, Bob Jones caught 6 on diawl bach & cats whisker, with members P Wrigley & R Dunster sharing a boat catching 13 on diawls, buzzer & dries. Member B Deeley fished a slow sinker with humungus to catch his 5 trout

Friday was a good with trout moving all over the reservoir for most of the day. Chris Sayer fished the Markfield arm catching 12 on a booby, B Perrie fished buzzers and fab across the main basin to catch 22 with D Hussey fishing buzzers for his 13 trout. D Wilson & A Wooloff caught 8 on a cats whisker on a floater just off the pontoon with member M Beck fishing buzzers during his morning session to catch 5

Saturday and a flat calm, blue skies, beautiful day to be out but it made the fishing challenging, Mr Nicholls caught 6 for his visit with member M Clay catching 10 on buzzers.

Sunday overcast with a fresh breeze. 7 members of Colwick fly fished a competition averaging 4.4 with the fish they returned with Keith Prowting 1^st beating Rosemary Gunn to second place by 4oz most of their fish taken on floating line with fab and buzzers. All water member Mark Hunt fished a 12ft streamer tip and buzzers to take his 9 trout