Draycote Report W/E 24th October 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 24^th October          Rod Average 5.3    Water Temperature 12 °C

Pre payment; We will be asking you to pay for your fishing with a debit or credit card at the time of booking. This will prevent unnecessary queuing at the lodge. Your permit & receipt will be at the booking In area. Staff working the pontoon will allocate you your boat. We recommend you use the hand sanitiser provide & wear a face covering if its busy.

Once again, the week started with good fishing, with cloud skies, with the odd shower later in the day. Draycote member Bob Smith fished with fellow member Bob Barfoot, with the Bob’s enjoying a good day’s sport boating 20 fish. Using a bit of a mix of flies with daddies, cat boobies and mini snakes all featuring on their catch return. Gaz Roberts & Nigel Keeber landed over 25 fish to the boat in a morning session using Di 3 sinking lines and tube flies. The best areas for the lads were around X & P Buoy with the fish taking just under the surface. Kevin Rees used a washing line to good effect while out in the boat with his son landing 15 fish. Also, landing 15 fish was Russ Logan who using Minkie boobies and also cats whiskers.

A windy day with drizzle at times, however, despite the conditions the anglers who did go out in found the fish willing to take a fly. On the bank season ticket holder Peter Allen landed 5 fish taking 3 from the Swan’s Nest before moving up to Rainbow Corner and landing another 2 fish, as well as loosing a 5lb Rainbow at the net. All water member Norman Perkins landed 20 fish from the bank at the Swan’s nest in Toft. Norman used a washing line with a minkie booby on the point and Diawl Bach’s on the droppers with all par one fish taking the minkie booby. Out on the boats Chris Discombe & Jim Brennan landed 11 fish between them using white snakes in Rainbow Corner. Ken Williams & P Wakeman landed 14 fish around Rainbow Corner and also down the Farborough Wall. Mr E Greenwood and his boat partner landed 13 fish using a washing line again down the Farborough Dam wall and then in Rainbow Corner.

Wednesday was more of a day for building an Arc than fishing with heavy rain for most of the morning, with some very impressive squalls coming through later in the day. As a result we only had two boats take to the water. Although the intrepid anglers enjoyed good sport with the rod average for the day 6.7 fish per angler. Russell Pemberton landed 6 fish on blobs, around Rainbow Corner. Mike Smith & Jake Wenman landed 22 fish between them once again on blobs starting by drifting down the Farborough Dam wall before heading up towards Rainbow Corner and the Hensborough bank later in the day when the wind arrived.

Thursday turned out to be a very bright and blustery day with some strong gusts of wind at times. The bank fishing proved unusually difficult with only one of the four anglers netting 3 fish. Out on the boats Ian Richardson and Bob Smith caught 9 fish using black and white snakes and cats whiskers.  Chris Bobby and Mr D Moore had 19 fish to the boat on a washing line and nymphs. Draycote staff member Lee Henfrey and former manager Kevin Hart had well over 30 fish to the boat on DI8’s and snakes fishing around the shoals out in the deeper parts of the reservoir. Steve Buck had 7 fish to the net using grey minkie boobies on a DI5.

A strong westerly was blowing onto Draycote on Friday morning, which moved round a bit to the north about midday, making the north shore more comfortable for bank fishing. Again the bank fishing turned out to be a bit quiet with Alec Twaites catching one fish and Tony Broadway managing five on a washing line and buzzers of all things. Mick Cronin caught 6 fish from the bank using lures on a sinking line off the Tower Bank. Out on the boats Brian Orr managed 5 fish to the net, as did Ian Reeve who used minkies on a DI7. Ians boat partner Matt Pittaway caught had 3 to the net, again on minkies but this time on a DI5.  Graham Homer and Barry Butler caught 5 fish between them, all on fry patterns. Mr David Harris and Mr David Riley had 8 fish to the boat around P buoy on white snakes.

Saturday’s forecast was for a steady breeze from the south with strong gusts at times, which never really arrived, giving us almost ideal conditions throughout the day. There were some great numbers on the returns list, with fish being caught in many areas of the reservoir such as the Hensborough Bank, Farborough Dam and around C buoy and the valve Tower. In amongst the regular anglers were some rods practising for Sundays competition, playing their cards very close to their chest. Still the rod average turned out at a steady 8.6, with the fish coming to quite a wide variety of methods. Petr Elliott and Lee Patten were first on the catch return with nearly 50 fish to the boat on minkies and popper fry patterns fished on floating lines. Richard Dayman had 20 fish to the boat using a DI3 with blobs and a cats whisker, as well as dries on a floating line. Richard did most of his fishing around c buoy, where he returned a brown trout estimated to be in the 6 to 7 pound bracket. Davis Lane and Mike Gunnell used midge tip lines and FAB’s to net over 30 fish from a drifting boat and popped in at lunchtime to comment on the excellent sport. Debbie and Sean Gilbert fished a morning session to boat half a dozen fish from the Hensborough Bank on DI3’s and olive snakes, and commented that they’d hooked and lost nearly twice that amount.

Sunday, saw gusty winds coming from the South, with a sunny start to the day with cloud cover arriving around 11am. On the bank John Crowley landed 6 in a half day session, taking all his fish in Rainbow Corner on a popper minkie fished over the weedbed. Draycote season ticket holder Paul Walley fished for the afternoon landing 5 fish from Toft at the Swan’s Nest and further down the bank on a white snake. On the boats we hosted the David Hodgson Pro/Am memorial match. Which saw 26 anglers taking part in the competition, landing an impressive 271 fish for a rod average of 10 fish per angler. The match was fished to full catch and release with the time of the first 2 fish being recorded in the event of tie. Winning the day was David Moore who landed 18 fish 2 fabs and 2 claret dabblers. The best area of the match was drifting from J Buoy to T Buoy and along the Farborough Dam Wall. With other good scores coming to washing line with FABs and crunchers on various tip lines and also Tony Baldwin landed 14 fish on dries from Toft. A special mention also has to go Jack Blakley who landed 8 fish in the competition at the young age of 10. Great angling young man and we hope to see you again soon. Outside of the competition Michael Hanlon fished at the Hensbrough bank to land 10 fish including a cracking brown. .

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: 24th Oct 21 Rod Average:1.8 Water Temp: 12C

This week started off slowly due to the ever-increasing cold wet weather. The sort of conditions that take all the fun out of fishing. However, those that dared to go against the elements managed to enjoy some good sport out on the water. Eyebrook Season ticket holder K Johnson managed to land 9 fish from the boat while fishing size 14 olive quill patterns. It just goes to show that the fish will still be on the lookout for those smaller flies even when there are plenty of fry around for the taking.

Lobb and R. Bland joined us at Eyebrook for the start of a 3-day package. The weather was far from ideal, but the wind speed was still well below our threshold and the south westerly wind was kept at bay by the shelter provided by the dam. They both managed to put 7 each in the boat on their first day out. S. Barlow popped in for a morning fishing from the bank. he headed up in to Mucky Bay and was surprised by how sheltered the area was from the south westerly wind. He managed to net one from the bank and had a few other offers.

Wednesday started off grim with lots of flurries of heavy rain before we had even got a boat out on the water. S. Lobb and R. Bland were back for day 2 of their 3-day package. They had high winds the day before and now were faced with biblical showers. Thunder had been predicted on the day but no mention of lightning. Then just after 1 o’clock, a tempest rolled through, and boats quickly made their way back in to dry out and have a brew. Once the excitement passed, Eyebrook was like a different place. The conditions were perfect for getting back out in amongst the fishes.

Thursday saw Eyebrook experience quite a strong wind from the North west which made fishing the netted bank and Dam area quite difficult. Most anglers started to explore other areas of the lake to find that bit of shelter on the western Leicestershire bank. R. Swinfield tried fishing from the bank off of the Island and was in to a fish on his first cast which came off in play. He then hooked in to a fish on his second cast which he landed. He had a few more offers before the wind started to churn up the bottom and colour the water up which slowed down further prospects of getting in to a few fish. Jim Greasey tried the bank in Mucky Bay and was rewarded with one fish. The boats were more successful although the wind didn’t help. .S Lobb and R. Bland applied the lessons learnt for their final day and were top boat with 7 fish taken on Snakes and Humungus. Ken Key and Steve Robinson had 5 fishing Blobs and Diawl bachs along the dam, whilst Roger Kerrison was top rod with 5 fish.

The wind on Friday was again from the North West with some strong gusts, especially in the afternoon. This made the fishing quite difficult, especially towards the Rutland Bank, with the netted bank and Dam area taking the full force of the wind. As some compensation for a hard day’s fishing, we were witness to a Spitfire performing some aerobatics, including victory rolls, over the reservoir. With the fish being relatively shallow and moving about in pods, anglers were reporting slow periods of inactivity, interspersed with flurries of action when a pod came into range. Top boat of the day was the Hunt brothers with 14, Simon netting five on perch fry patterns whilst Mark persevered with small CDC’s for his nine fish. FMUK guide, Andy Miller, took Mr Fairgrave afloat for an 8-hour guided session and they were rewarded with 6 fish. Best fish of the day was a magnificent 9-pound rainbow which was safely returned. This was caught by one of the pike anglers and fell to a large streamer pattern fly fished in the deeper water in the main basin. The bank fishing continues to improve as the weed beds retreat with the cooler water temperatures. Top bank rod was regular Mr Johnson who took 4 fish as he worked the bank in the area around the Chestnut. During the afternoon, the anglers 

Saturday saw far kinder conditions with the wind swinging back to a nice steady south westerly with air temperatures reaching a balmy 13 degrees after lunch. The fair weather for this time of year should have been ideal for a day’s fishing, but for most of the anglers out there, they found that the fish were lacking commitment to readily taking a fly. Once again, Andy Miller was guiding Alex Howe for a few hours on the lake. Andy reported back that there were plenty of fish moving sub surface, but they just wouldn’t latch on to anything thrown at them and they were coming short to whatever was presented to them even at the right depth. Eyebrook Season ticket holder J. Barnes was top rod on the day with 3 fish to the boat all on buzzers.

Sunday saw the Eyebrook Fur & Feather match kick off at 9AM. Prior to heading out. There were bacon butties and tea & coffee for the individuals taking part in the match which kept fishery manager Jim busy doing his best Gordon Ramsay impressions in the kitchen. The first boat back in with their 4 fish each were Mark Goodge and Dave Porter at 12:10. After weighing in, they scarpered back out on to the water for a bit of C&R for the rest of the day. Most of the flotilla decided to hang around in the main basin area as there were fish moving just under the surface everywhere. From the feedback we were getting from a lot of the Anglers, the fish were coming short and giving out the occasional pull on the larger lures. The more successful anglers on the day were generally fishing from drifting boats, fishing washing line with a booby on the point and small Diawl Bach’s or Crunchers, casting out at 35 – 45 degrees and just picking up line as the boat drifted forward. Having a bow in the line was the big difference and the slower the retrieve, the better. The winners of the Christmas Hampers were Dave Etty and Lindsay bates with a combined bag weight of 14lbs 12oz. Mark Goodge had the biggest fish at the weigh in and won a bottle of Whisky. There was only a few oz between the top 3 places. 

With the fur and Feather match over, it brings in the final week of the season for Eyebrook. 

Fishery Staff member Jason Pusey caught his personnel best fly caught pike this week at 16lb.5oz photo on our facebook page www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore Late October is when we usually see some of our larger pike caught. Call the lodge to book 01536770264

 We still have plenty of boats available throughout the week, so if you are after your final fix of Eyebrook fishing before the fishing ceases, give us a call at the lodge.

 Despite it being another Covid challenging year for everybody, Ifor, Jim and the staff at Eyebrook have enjoyed providing great service to each and every one of you during the season. We look forward to seeing you all in the new year with all your new shiny fancy fishing tackle to get you through the next season.

If you would like to receive details of our various membership offers for 2022 contact the lodge 01536770264 or email eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

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 24^th October.  Rod Av: 2.4   Water Temperature: 13c

Wet start to the week with few rods venturing out those that didn’t find it easy. All Water member P Walker fished damsel and cruncher to catch his 3 trout with Russ Martin fishing a dry #16 sedge pattern during the last 4 hour session to catch his 2 trout

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday few rods on the water due to the wind and at times heavy rainfall. Arthur Olding had the most success fishing a booby to catch his 4 trout.

Friday improving conditions and a few more rods out on the water. Majority caught on sinking lines with booby, snake and fry patterns fished opposite the lodge, along the bank from the lodge to the main car park and across the middle. Last hour once the wind fell away trout were up feeding on the surface from in front of the main car park and up in front of the dam. Members C Sayer and M Cross caught 17 up to 3lb for their visit with M Beck boating 3 on an orange booby for his mornings visit as did J Hall fishing a white lure. Water clarity remains good

Saturday the majority of the trout were caught on cats whisker, humungus or minkie booby with some fish taken in the late afternoon on small buzzer cdc patterns. Jan Webber fished snakes to take his 3 trout, with K Cowen fishing a booby pattern for his 3 trout. Martin Clay & Brian Sibley caught the majority of their 11 trout on booby patterns with M Hunt catching 17 with a single #14 cdc or big red pattern.

During the day a fast sinker fished opposite the lodge across the main basin & the entrance to the Markfield arm, with fish moving in the calmer water in front of the car park & dam during late afternoon

Sunday proved to be the best day of the week for us with anglers catching on sinking lines during the day with fish moving in front of the dam during the last hour to a hatch of small black buzzer. All water member Matt Vickers caught 8 on a cats whisker booby, Dave Leavesley and Peter Birdsall caught 8 for their mornings session with Thornton member A Wilson fishing a cats whisker to catch his 13 trout. Opposite the lodge, wood and between the wood and the lower orange buoy produced best to sink 5 & sink 7 lines