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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| Fisheries Opening Hours & Boat Session | |
| Lodge & Bank Open: | 7.30am – 9.30pm |
| Full Day Boat: | 8.30am – 9.30pm |
| Morning Boat: | 8.30am – 3.00pm |
| Afternoon Boat: | 3.00pm – 9.30pm |
| Last 4 Hr: | 5.30pm – 9.30pm |
| All Anglers Off Site: | 9.45pm |
Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018
Email: draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk
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/
2023 Permits & Pre Payment for Boat Bookings Details of our Day Permits, Package Breaks & our Boat bookings pre-payment policy visit our website.
https://www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/
Exclusion Zone Due to the work being carried out on the Hensborough Bank there is an exclusion zone in place, clearly marked with yellow buoys. Under no circumstances are anglers to enter this area as there are divers in the water.
Week Ending: 16th July 2023 Rod Av: 7.1 Water Temperature: 17-18°C
A bright start to the week, however the cloud soon rolled in with the gusty southerly winds, with showers in the afternoon. With the cloud cover once again, dries was the order of the day. With the anglers enjoyed great sport as the fishery averaged 17.11 fish per angler. Draycote members Lee Patten & Peter Elliot enjoyed “another brill day on the dries” landing 49 fish between them. Their best patterns being a bob’s bits and a Big Red. Fellow members Bob Smith & Bob Barfoot also enjoyed “another good day” using a mixture of dries to land their 17 fish which included a number of “lumps” John Dickens found Grunters to be his most productive fly as he went on to land over 25 fish. However, top rod on the day went to dry fly lover Kevin Rees who landed 47 fish. Using crippled midge, drifting from the exclusion zone Buoys to M Buoy and then Rainbow Corner to A Buoy. It’s amazing what a change in the water temperature can do to bring the fish on the feed.
The good sport continued Tuesday, with another double figure rod average. The wind continued from the Southwest and remained gusty at times with showers during the course of the day some very heavy ones in the afternoon. Fishing from the bank Richard Franklin & Paul Smith landed 3 fish all on daddies from Rainbow Corner. However, it was the boats that faired by far the best. Season ticket holder Dave Atkins landed 20 fish all on dries drifting from Rainbow Corner to A Buoy with Bob’s Bits being his best pattern. Brendan Thomas also used dries all day landing 18 fish, with a Grunter proving to be his best pattern and commented “what a brilliant day” Tim Davies fished for just a morning landing 10 on a variety of dries with no one stand out patten. Fishing for their first ever visit to Draycote, Pete Onions & Dave Baldock landed 8 fish between them on dries at A Buoy. All water member Ed Douglas, enjoyed a cricket score day landing an half century all on crippled midge.
Gusty south westerly winds continue at Draycote, alongside some excellent sport. Dave Mason and Louis Butler had a dozen fish to the boat on a washing line and dries. Season permit holder Mr D Stott caught 9 fish on a mixture of vivas, FAB’s and dries. Young Ed Douglas took to the water once again fishing dries to net over 20 fish on crippled midge and bob’s bits. Staff member Kevin Jones ventured out, in between shifts to net half a dozen fish on popper hoppers near N and B buoy. Kevin Hart had over 20 fish to the boat using popper hoppers drifting off the Hensborough Bank and in front of the sailing club.
Thursday started with good cloud cover and a light south westerly breeze, with showers at times during the day. It was a busy day at the fishery with over 70 rods taking to the water looking to enjoy the good sport currently on offer. Once again the fishery fished well with 570 fish caught for a 7.7 fish rod average. On the bank Stan Hillman & Mick Cronin fished in Rainbow Corner and enjoyed great sport, with Mick landing a dozen fish with Stan taking half a dozen. Using various different dries, such as hoppers, Daddies and CDCs. On the boats all water member Andy Lillie fished for a half day landing 14 fish all taken using a single Yellow Owl CDC fishing at Rainbow Corner drifting towards A Buoy. Draycote member Paul Mitchell fished dries all day to land 21 fish to the boat at A Buoy and M Buoy. Steve Owen & Chris Howkins fished around J buoy and the Farborough Dam wall to land 49 fish to the boat using popper hoppers and also daddies. All water member Paul Havard used a washing line set up on a floating line with two nymphs on the droppers and a candy booby on the point, drifting by the Outlet. This set up landed Paul 15 fish and commented on a “lovely day”.
A wet and blustery start to Friday morning still didn’t put a dent in the fishing here at Draycote Water. The rod average is still high, with yesterday coming in at 8.8. Once again most of the fishing is happening at the western end of the reservoir, with a few people catching at J and T buoy. Mr N Loughrey put 7 fish in the net using Grunters, and hoppers, fishing near A buoy and in Rainbow Corner. Young Kevin Rees once again used the F fly to great effect netting 18 fish on it. Staff member Kevin Jones had 16 fish during a morning session, all on popper hoppers in Rainbow Corner. Sam Edmunds and Alice Edwards had well over 20 fish to the boat between them on a wide variety of patterns.
Very unpleasant conditions Saturday with wind speeds very close to the limit for letting the boats out teamed with torrential rain showers during the day. As a result of the strong winds we place a restriction for the anglers safety. As a result the boats stayed around Rainbow Corner and around J Buoy. Stan Studdick & Dave Dixon fished in boat together to land 9 fish on dries. Draycote member Jon Crowley landed 5 fish in a short morning session. Using Diawl Bach’s on a midge tip line drifting near N Buoy and Musborough Shoal. Chad & Corey Russel fished in the afternoon ahead of the Greys Pairs match the next day landing 18 fish on a mix of different dries. With he fish coming from the Draycote Dam wall out towards A Buoy and B Buoy.
An improved day Sunday with the winds dropping, although we did have some strong gusts in the afternoon. With the wind dropping the anglers where able to fish all areas of the lake. Fishing from the bank in Rainbow Corner, Stephen Dewhurst landed 6 fish. Amongst Stephen’s catch he also landed a cracking rainbow of 8lbs. Taking 3 of his fish on pheasant tails and the other 3 on daddies. Joining Stephen in Rainbow Corner for a few hours on the bank. Was fellow Draycote member James Alexander who also used pheasant tails to land his 3 fish. On the boats the fishery hosted the final round of the Greys Pairs competition with 16 pairs competing. There was a variety of methods used by the anglers on the day, the first boat in was Graham Willis & Mark Macleod who took their 12 fish by 12.15 using floating lines with daddies. Drifting from the Sailing Club pontoon to J Buoy and then down the Farborough Dam Wall along to the spit. The next boat in was that of Ian Watts & Rob Toptalo who used dries to catch their fish from Rainbow Corner by 12.45. Kevin Richardson & Andy Hoffrock took their 12 from the same area washing lining with nymphs by 13.15. However, they had a small bag meaning they missed out qualification. All water member Jamie Scott fishing with Shaun Devlin landed their 12 by 13.30 using nymphs on a floating line with a FAB on the point drifting along the Farborough Dam. The winning bag on the day came from Sam Edmunds & Alice Davies catching their 12 fish at 14.00pm. While they didn’t catch the quickest bag they went for quality with their 12 fish weighting 31lb 1oz. A fantastic bag of fish with the best tipping the scales at 5lb 9oz. The ladies used Di 3 sinking lines with snakes and sparklers teamed with a roly-poly retrieve. With the best area being drifting past the pontoon towards the wall and then along to the spit. Even though they could see some quicker bags coming to dries, they stuck to their guns and got the reward. Fantastic angling! Outside of the match Ed Douglas landed 16 fish on dries, using a real selection of dries crippled midge, bob’s bits. Big reds, grunters and shipman’s all catching. Drifting just off the pontoon and then around A Buoy and Rainbow Corner.
Competitions Due at Draycote:
John Horsey Wychwood Individual Fly Fishing Championship Individual Competition Sunday 20th August entry details https://flyfishingchampionships.uk/
Jim Watts Trophy Fly Dressers Guild 26th August.
Weather: we use two weather forecast pages.
Both options give a good 48 to 72 hour forecast.
XC Weather – Forecast for CV23 8AB | XCWeather use this link for Draycote
Windy App – https://www.windy.com/ on their home page, enter the fishery name Draycote Water
Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807
Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk
2023 Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Thornton is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/
2023 Permits & Pre Payment for Boat Bookings Details of our Day Permits, Package Breaks & our Boat bookings pre-payment policy visit our website.
https://www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/
Week Ending: 16th July Rod Av: 2.8 Water Temperature: 18c+ to 19c
Monday morning in the cooler conditions at 1.10am we received our latest stocking of 2,095 trout from 1lb4oz to 1lb14oz which took our stocking level in Thornton to over 6,000 trout. These size of trout over the past few years has improved our fishing & catches during these warm summer period.
Monday to Wednesday the fishing has started to improve with our current rod average of 2+ Some report fish been caught on booby, small snakes fished on an intermediate to sinking lines with odd fish taking a single dry fly. With this cooler forecast this week, daytime air temperature peaking at 18c – 20c, wind fresh at times with plenty of cloud & light rain we are seeing a few fish moving.
Thursday with the overcast forecast we had all the boats out for the mornings session with the rods returning a 3+ rod average. Mixture of methods caught from a floating line, tip lines, intermediates to fast sinkers catching with dries, damsels, cats whisker, snakes and booby patterns. The deeper water from the main car park, dam to the stones and green bay produced best. Harold Pritchard fished a size #12 black hopper and smaller diawl bach to catch 9 trout with some of the fish grown on to 5lb+. Paul Martindale fished damsel to boat 7 trout with Steve Windram fishing a floating line with diawl bach and hoppers to catch 6.
Friday, Saturday & Sunday we had a change to the weather, with the forecast for rain & strong wind at times with cooler air temperature. It was certainly wet & windy at times with anglers fishing the morning shelter with the shelter from the wind provided by the dam. #12 black hopper, #14 diawl bach were the best patterns with some fish also taking snakes & small hare’s ear. J Bebbington caught 5 for his visit on a diawl bach, R Smith caught the majority of his 6 trout on a dry black hopper with J Reynolds catching 6 on a diawl bach fished on a midge tip and a DI5 with cats booby pattern.
Weather forecast for the next 7 days is excellent with the temperature between 18c & 20c with cloud and average day wind speed 8mph to 12mph most days, use the links below.
Weather: we use two weather forecast pages.
Both options give a good 48 to 72 hour forecast.
XC Weather – https://www.xcweather.co.uk/forecast/LE67_1AR use this link for Thornton.
Windy App – https://www.windy.com/ on their home page, enter the fishery name Thornton Reservoir
Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report
Tel: 01536 770264 Mobile 07834 581424
Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk
Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website
www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/
2023 Permits & Pre Payment for Boat Bookings Details of our Day Permits, Package Breaks & our Boat bookings pre-payment policy visit our website.
https://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/
Week Ending: 16th July Rod Av: 5.3 Water Temperature: 18°c
It was a quiet start to the week with only a few anglers venturing out. From a still, cloudy start the weather deteriorated to strong southerly winds with intermittent cloud cover. Most anglers congregated around the Main Basin with the North side of the tower proving to be a consistent area. After the previous day’s successes, Bram Van Der Bos returned for a morning session. Fishing Foam Daddies in the Main Basin, Bram went onto catch well into double figures. Elsewhere, out for the afternoon & into the evening, Mr Cousins had a very productive session landing over 20 fish, pulling lures across the Main Basin. When fishing the Basin it is far more productive to cover as much water as possible, actively searching for fish, rather than sat in one location & waiting for the fish to come to you.
Tuesday brought with it some good, consistent cloud cover & a gentle southerly breeze that developed into a gusty wind by late morning. The reservoir fished well with fish caught throughout the Main Basin high up in the water column with Dries or a Washing Lined floating line proving to be the most productive methods. With the Dries, Foam Daddies featured very high on the catch returns & on the washing line, a more subtle buoyant point fly seemed to be the way to go. On the droppers there was a mixture of imitative patterns, Buzzers, Diawl Bachs, UV Crunchers & small Damsels all caught fish. Locating fish in the open water of the Main Basin can be challenging so covering more water can be critical. Subsequently, those fishing from a drifting boat were more successful than those fishing on the anchor. Members Roy Swinfield & Lyndsay Bates caught well drifting across the Basin landing well over 20 fish on the washing line & fishing on a day permit, Mr Gee had a great day, landing 21 fish on a washing line, also in the Main Basin. On the banks, Eyebrook regular George Burnham popped down for a last 4 Hour session & was duly rewarded with 4 fish from the Bell.
The weather Wednesday followed the same pattern as the previous day with what was a gentle southerly turning into a strong, gusty southerly by late morning. The fishing also followed a similar pattern to the previous day, with a lot of fish being found in the Main Basin in the upper layers of the water column. Regular visitor Dougie Skedd, started on a Washing Lined floater & caught fish from the off. As the wind strengthened & the waves built, Dougie changed to slow sink tip to dig into the wave & ensure his flies remained just under the surface. Dougie had a great day going on to land 20 fish in total. Others to do particularly well were All Water Members Clive Moore & Ian Jobe who landed well over 30 fish, targeting the fish in the upper layers of the Main Basin. Clive caught very well on a Popper Hopper on the point of his Washing Line. Other fly patterns to feature high on the catch returns were Foam daddies, Diawl Bachs, Crunchers & small FABs.
The moderate southerly wind on Thursday brought with it some unsettled weather which resulted in some periods of extended sunshine & showers. The Main Basin continued to fish very well with some high catch returns recorded. The fish were sat relatively high up in the water column & were caught on Dries, Washing Lined Floaters & Tip Lines. On the washing line it paid dividends having colour either on the point or on the top dropper with a very small FAB proving to be very successful. On the droppers, Crunchers & Diawl Bachs were the preferred choice for many & rightly so as these also featured high on the catch returns. Thinking slightly outside of the box, Eyebrook member Bill Law had a very productive morning session, landing 10 fish on Muddlers, pulled through the wave. All Water Member Ray Jordan also had a good morning session, landing 8 fish on a washing line with a small orange FAB on the point. For those fishing the Dries, they found dries with a larger profile, that sat on the water, such as a Foam Daddy to be more productive than those that sat in the surface film.
Friday saw the weather begin to intensify, with the winds beginning to build & the showers getting heavier. Consequently, it was a quiet day angler wise although it wasn’t a quiet day fish wise as the reservoir fished extremely well with many catching into double figures. Yet again, Foam Daddies seemed to produce some high bags of fish, as did the washing line. Draycote Rio Master team member Martin Rowson had a very productive day with his boat partner, landing well over 30 fish to their boat. All Water Member Ian Leech took a family member out & between them they had 20 fish on the Orange Bodied Foam Daddies.
The wind had really intensified for Saturday, to the point that no boats were allowed out as the mean wind speed surpassed our threshold of 24mph. A few of those who had boats booked, decided to fish the bank where there were a few fish caught from the Dam, on Dries & on the Nymphs, with the southern corner of the Dam being more productive than the north.
The wind had abated slightly by Sunday & the boats were duly allowed out. As the day progressed the wind became gusty & brought with it some very heavy showers & periods of bright sunshine. This unsettled weather seemed to have a detrimental effect on the fishing as anglers struggled to locate fish. First time visitor Sam Jones managed an exceptional bag of fish on the day, landing 8 initially on Foam Daddies & then later small emerging patterns, from various locations around the Main Basin. Eyebrook Member Neil Shilton landed 4 fishing deep with large lures. Targeting overwintered fish, Neil felt there were more fish laying higher in the water column. Also landing 4 was Matt Allen, which was a great return for a Last 4 Hour session. By the late evening, the wind had significantly reduced & Matt targeted moving fish & all his fish came because of him covering moving fish. Great angling Matt, well done.
With a more settled weather forecast for the coming week, the prospects look excellent as the water temperature remains good for this time of year & the fish confidently feeding in the upper layers.
Upcoming Events
22/23 July – 6 x 4 Team Competition, 26 boats each day.
29 July – AMFFC Group 1, 18 boats.
Weather: we use two weather forecast pages.
Both options give a good 48-to-72-hour forecast.
XC Weather – https://www.xcweather.co.uk/forecast/LE16_8RP use this link for Eyebrook.
Windy App – https://www.windy.com/ on their home page, enter the fishery name Eyebrook Reservoir.