Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton
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| Lodge & Bank Open: | 7.30am – 4.45pm |
| Full Day Boat: | 8.30am – 4.45pm |
| Morning Boat: | 8.30am – 1.30pm |
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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018
Email: draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk
Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022. Details are on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/
2023 Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/
2023 Membership Options visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/season-permits/
Week Ending: 30th October 2022 Rod Av: 5.2 Water Temperature: 13°C
The works on the new overflow at the Hensborough Bank are due to start this Monday 24th October. While the works are being completed there will be no access through to Rainbow Corner from the Sailing Club side. We ask that all anglers enter and exit via the Farborough Dam barrier.
Sailing Club. There is a very busy sailing regatta at Draycote on the weekend of the 5th and 6th of November. Anglers should be aware of this when booking boats on these dates.
After heavy overnight rain Sunday, Monday remained dry in the most part with just a brief shower in the afternoon. Steve Radcliffe fished from a boat on his own landing 7 fish. Taking 5 of his fish drifting down the Farborough Dam wall using a Midge tip line with a black lure. With the other 2 fish coming from P Buoy on a floating fry pattern. Jason Lowe also fished down the Farborough Dam wall using small snakes and also suspender minkies to land a dozen fish. While his friend and Draycote first timer Tim Acton landed 7 using the same tactics but from a different boat.
A bright day Tuesday with light winds coming from the South, however, the sun did not put the fish off with a great rod average of 6.2 fish per angler. With both the bank and the boat anglers enjoying good sport. Tony Broadway used a Snowbee buzzer tip with a minkie to land 10 fish. With Colin Day landing 8 fish, Colin took three fish on Pheasant Tail Nymphs (PTN) in Biggin Bay. With 2 more coming from the Cornfield on the PTN with the final 3 taking minkies at the Hensborough Bank. On the boats the good sport continued with season ticket holders Martin Foster & John Vyse landing 22 fish to the boat. The pair fishing along the Farborough Dam using a floating line and a black snake and landed fish up to 6lb. Ian Richardson fished with Bob Barfoot enjoying a “lovely day with lovely fish” landing 15 to the boat. Fishing around J Buoy, S Buoy and T Buoy using cormorants and mini snake on the point. John Pearson & Mike Nolan landed 13 fish to the boat from around T & Y Buoy. John Jones opted to go with a minkie and a FAB fishing near P Buoy to land 10 fish on a fast glass.
A very blustery day on Wednesday with the odd light shower thrown in for good measure. The rod average came out at an impressive 6.8, with lots of fish being caught on lure patterns and popper fry. Mr Robert and Mr Brian Miller caught a total of 11 fish between them on pink snakes fished on a DI3 line. Season permit holder Mr Peter Harris had 17 fish to the boat using white snakes fished on a DI3 line and commented on a great day out. Mr M Francis and Mr A Moore had 14 fish to the boat between them using a wide variety of patterns such as hoppers and humungus. John Kirk caught a total of 10 fish on snakes, pink blobs and black midas.
A wet start to the day, put thankfully this cleared by mid-morning, leaving some great conditions with overcast skies and a light ripple with he sun even making an appearance in the afternoon. Once again the excellent fishing we have seen recently continued with a rod average of over 7 fish per angler. All water member Paul Havard landed 8 fish fishing out in the open water. Using an intermediate line with cormorants and a black and green booby. Kevin Hart fishing with John Hoskins enjoyed a great day boating 28 fish. They used a mix of methods with some fish coming to floating fry while the rest took Humungus. With the best areas being N Buoy, P Buoy, Draycote Dam and Lincroft Point. Ed Douglas boated 20 fish using a 12ft Midge tip with a weighted humungus on the dropper and a booby snake on the point from various marks across the lake. Peter Elliot fished with Lee Patten with the pair using a variety of methods to land their 34 fish. Peter opted for snakes while Lee using some snakes but also got them on dries.
Friday dawned bright and breezy with the wind due to get up as the day progressed. Whilst the Farborough Dam is fishing well, and it has produced some great catches, the area around the Valve Tower, the Hensborough Bank, Rainbow Corner and Toft Shallows are also producing. Season permit holder Andy Lilley had 14 fish to the boat using barred olive snakes around the front of the pontoon and in Rainbow Corner. Young Ian Reeve and Colin Grainger had 18 fish between them using diawl bachs and blobs fished on a floating line. Season permit holder Mark Thistleton concentrated his efforts off the front of the lodge and netted 14 fish from a drifting boat using snakes fished on an intermediate line. Mr Mark Birch and Mr Rupert Taylor had over 20 fish to the boat using olive snakes and cormorants. Draycote regular Dave Smith used mini snakes and tubes fished on a DI3 to net 5 fish from the Farborough Dam.
A very wet start to the day on Saturday morning with a light south easterly breeze. Despite a very off putting forecast, the wind speed was below 12 mph all day with overcast conditions across the reservoir. Once again Draycote is holding it’s own with a rod average of 5.9 and good catches coming from quite a few different areas on the water. The hottest spot on the reservoir is definitely The Farborough Dam, closely followed by Lincroft Point, The Valve Tower and the Hensborough Bank. The fish are feeding on fry now and have been here for some time. The best patterns to use have been snakes, minkie boobies, humungus and floating fry patterns, all fished in the top couple of feet of the water. Stan Hillman and Mick Cronin took to the bank to net a dozen fish between them from Rainbow Corner and the Valve Tower, with one fish tipping the scales at 4lbs 8oz. Mr Jason Herman and Mr Simon Allen had 17 fish between them on popper fry patterns and snakes and commented that they caught fish from “all over the reservoir”. Mike Garner and Ian Ross said much the same thing having caught 10 fish in total on fry patterns fished on intermediate lines.
Sunday started dry with again a light south easterly breeze. These conditions reigned for most of the day except for a strong westerly squall that came through in the afternoon. Many anglers are concentrating their efforts in the top few feet of the water with lure patterns as they should, but some anglers are still having some success with nymphs and dries fished on a floating line. Stan Suddick is a good example of this as he boated 9 fished yesterday, all on hoppers. The Peregrine Fly Fishers took to the water yesterday with 6 anglers. The team had a total of 50 fish between them with two of them using both black and red diawl bachs to good effect. Mr Tim Simpson caught half a dozen fish using black boobies whilst drifting around N buoy. Sunday regular Jon Crowley caught 7 fish drifting from J to T buoy on black sparkler boobies fished on an intermediate line.
Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807
Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk
2023 Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/
2023 Membership details Visit www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/season-permits/ for details of our 2023 membership options
Week Ending: 30th October Rod Av: 3.1 Water Temperature: 12c -13C
Monday Mr Blackwell on his first visit to Thornton caught 7 on fry patterns, Thornton member A Wilson fished an orange booby to catch his 8 fish with anglers fishing 100 yards off the wood and into the Markfield arm
Tuesday with the best forecast for the week all the boats were out. Cats whisker, cats whisker snakes, booby, blobs and diawl bach were the best patterns fished on a variety lines from a floater down to a DI7. P Walker caught 8, David Button fished in front of the main car part with an orange booby to catch his 4 trout, Paul Martindale fished snake to catch his 8 trout with K Cowen fishing a booby also landing 4 trout
Wednesday anglers opted to fish the morning session. G Weatherdon caught 7 for his mornings visit.
Thursday and another mild if wet during the morning October day. Anglers again concentrated their efforts across the main basin towards the wood and into the Markfield arm. J Reynolds caught 5 for his mornings visit on a cut throat cat on an intermediate, Richard Price continues to catch on his silver minkie booby catching 5 for his mornings visit. R Dunster & P Wrigley caught 16 for their visit.
Friday a quiet day with most of the anglers opting to fish the morning session with Chris Sayer fishing a booby in front of the wood catching 4 trout
Saturday proved to be the best day of the week with a 5+ rod average. Most opted to fish a DI 3, 5 or 7 with booby and snake patterns. B Sibley and M Clay caught 20 trout between them, Jan Webber caught 6 with R Swinfield & S Zeleny boating 7. Mark Hunt with the mild weather opted to fish cdc catching 7 for his visit
Quiet day on Sunday with the few rods that were out finding the fishing challenging compared to the day before, R Smith fished a black booby on a DI5 to catch his 2 fish.
Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264
Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk
2023 Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website
www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/
2023 Membership options visit our website www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/season-permits/
Week Ending: Sunday 30 October 2022 Rod Av: 2.4 Water Temperature: 11-12°
Eyebrook Season extended to 20th November 2022 – The Eyebrook season will be extended to 20th November. We will be operating a reduced boat fleet, only 10 boats & wheely boat with bank anglers limited to the Dam Wall, Harrison’s corner, netted bank down to Robbo`s Cabin. We recommend you call the lodge & prebook.
Monday was an extremely quiet day on the Reservoir with only a few of anglers out. Dave Ewing fishing a last 4-hour ticket caught 2 fish from the Main Basin on Popper Fry & he also had plenty of interest in the Dries.
Tuesday was a busier day with fish being caught from both the boat & the bank. It was a bright clear day with a gentle west-south-westerly breeze. Eyebrook Season Ticket holder Dave Etty caught well off the bank, landing 5 fish on Corixa & Fry patterns down by the Chestnut. On the boats, it has been imperative to cover as much water as possible to locate the pods of fish that are moving around the Main Basin. The fish are still occupying the uppers layers with anglers catching on anything from Dries down to Fry patterns on an Intermediate. All Water Member John Duncan had a very productive day landing 9 fish from the Main Basin. John started on a washing lined floater & changed midway through the day to an intermediate & he caught on both methods. Another angler who enjoyed a productive day was regular visitor John Webster who was out targeting Eyebrook’s larger predators with his fly rod. John landed 4 Pike, 2 mid-doubles, a high double & a twenty which is an excellent return.
Wednesday brought with it bright, clear skies & a light southerly wind that increased to a strong, gusty southerly by mid-afternoon. Boat anglers spent the day conducting long drifts across the basin & were rewarded with some steady sport throughout the day. The fish were again, high up in the water column & despite the bright conditions, there were plenty of fish caught on dries. Regular visitor Paul Polito had a very productive session getting into the fish straight away & catching steadily throughout the day. By the end of his session Paul had landed 9 fish on Suspender Hares Ears. Shaun Higgins also had a good day on the dries, landing 5 fish on Foam Daddies fished static. With the forecast of mild weather looking set to continue, the excellent top of the water fishing at Eyebrook looks set to be prolonged.
Thursday morning was met with light rain & a gentle south westerly breeze. The rain stopped by late morning & the gentle breeze gave way to a moderate breeze by mid-afternoon which brought with it sunny intervals. The reservoir, as predicted, continued to fish well to the dries with All Water Member Mark Hunt having another very productive day, landing 16 fish on CDC’s & a small Popper Minkie. Mark landed some cracking fish which including a beautiful, fully finned Rainbow between 4 & 5lb. Filming for an episode of Fishing TV Draycote Manager & Fishing Guide Tom Bird caught very well on CDC’s. Knowing how finicky the trout in the Main Basin had become, Tom fished very small patterns to overcome the tentative fish. Elsewhere, regular angler Nigel Woolnough caught down by the area of the Chestnut. What was extremely interesting was that when he spooned his fish, he discovered that they had been feeding hard on small Damsel nymphs. Even though Damsels are associated with the height of summer, Damselflies can spend anywhere from 2 months to 3 years as nymphs depending on environment conditions.
Friday & another mild October day, our water temperature at 12c -13c is mild for the time of year. Dries, dries & more dries were the order of the day with fish taking small buzzer off the surface. Ian Jobe opted for a day on the bank catching 5 trout from the Chestnut stretch of bank. Ricky Cotterill fished a midas catching 7 trout to 3lb8oz but reported lots of fish coming short to the fly. All water member J Duncan returned for his second visit of the week & caught 9 trout. Mr Ewing also fished dries, again reporting lots of missed takes but still went on to net 10 trout. Excellent dry fly sport as we enter the last few days of October.
Saturday brought with a wet start to the day, once the rain had passed it turned into a glorious late October day. Unfortunately, the fishing wasn’t as good as the days previous despite a good number of fish moving at times. Top rod on the day was Eyebrook member B Margery catching 7 to 3lb2oz during his morning session finding the fish in Harrison’s corner and out of the netted bank.
The reservoir fish well on Sunday, there is still plenty of fish to be caught from the area of the Main Basin. Eyebrook members Neil Shilton, Dave Etty & Bill Livingstone all had productive days. Neil landed 5 fish from his float tube targeting the deeper laying fish whereas, Dave & Bill targeted fish in the upper layers & were rewarded with 17 fish to the boat. The fish in the upper layers can be caught by fishing very small Dries or small nymphs on a washing line & the deeper laying fish can be caught on a Intermediate or Di3 with white fry patterns.