Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton
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| Lodge & Bank Open: | 7.30am – 8.45pm |
| Full Day Boat: | 8.30am – 8.45pm |
| Morning Boat: | 8.30am – 3.00pm |
| Afternoon Boat: | 3.00pm – 8.45pm |
| Last 4 Hr: | 4.45pm – 8.45pm |
| All Anglers Off Site: | 9.00pm |
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: 6th August 2023 Rod Av: 5.70 Water Temperature: 16-17 °C
The weather forecast for Monday was a lot worse than the day turned out to be. The wind stayed in the south west and was steady for the most part , interspersed by the odd rain shower. The fishing itself can only be described as excellent, and with only 5 boats on the water, turned in a rod average of 12.6. Once again, most of the action is to be had at the western end of the reservoir over the deeper water, in Rainbow Corner, and down the Draycote Dam towards the Valve Tower. Peter Elliott boated a dozen on the dries from Rainbow and around the Inlet. Young John Dickens had nearly 20 fish to the boat, all on crippled midge patterns. Graham Homer caught his 9 fish using a washing line and crunchers. The boat pairing of Ian Richardson and Bob Smith caught well over 20 fish between them and remarked on “An excellent day” . Ian and Bob used crunchers on a washing line with a booby on the point, and fished at M buoy, the Tower Bank and in Rainbow Corner.
Overcast conditions Tuesday, with winds coming from the West with the rain holding off. On the bank Tony Broadway used a washing line with crunchers, before changing to crippled midge finishing with 8 fish from the Tower Bank. Draycote member Alan Grant also fished the Tower Bank using a humungus booby on an intermediate line landing 7 fish. Including a fantastic 8lb rainbow. On the boats all water member Andy Lillie fished with Graham England, with the pair landing 16 fish on a morning boat. They fished daddies and FAB drifting from Rainbow Corner to A Buoy and also in Dunn’s Bay to land their fish. Also fishing on a morning boat Dave Atkins landed a dozen fish, with a washing line and also a snite snake. With Dave’s best drifting being the Valve Tower to Dunns and then M to N Buoy. Ed Douglas stuck to dries all day landing 14 with crippled midge and F flies being his most productive pattern. Ed drifted from the Draycote Dam towards B Buoy and then out to Y Buoy to take his fish. Another angler who opted for dries all day was Kevin Rees who landed 19 fish, also using crippled midge and F flies. Kevin found the best area for him was drifting from M Buoy out towards N Buoy. Lester Booth & Nigel Nixon landed 20 fish to their boat drifting from Rainbow Corner. Using a wide variety of dries big reds, Shipmans, hares ear CDC and Red Hoppers.
The weather forecasters certainly got Wednesday weather wrong. The forecast was for very strong wind and thundery downpours. While the wind was a little gusty in the morning, the afternoon gave near perfect conditions with a light ripple and overcast skies. With only one heavy rain shower early evening. As a result of the poor (wrong) forecast it was a quite day at the fishery. On the bank Draycote member Mike Garner landed 3 fish, 2 from Rainbow Corner and 1 from Lincroft. All on different flies, cruncher, cormorants and a green pea all landed Mike fish. On the boats Ed Douglas landed 13 fish, 8 of them falling to dries once again cripple midge of F flies proving to be his best patterns. Tony Sharples fishing his second day of a two day break landed 3 fish on buzzers. However, the fish he landed where of great quality a 8lb & 4lb rainbow taken on buzzers. Fishery ranger & Guide Jim Sheehan took Jason & Brooke Sarrow out on a boat beginner session. Having mastered the casting they went on to land 11 fish in the fishing element all taken on the washing line. To see pictures if the session please visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore Fishery Ranger Kevin Jones took to the water after his morning shift to land 9 fish using a FAB on the point and then hoppers on the droppers fished wet. With a number of fish coming from the Farborough Dam Wall near J & T Buoy. Rob Hepburn took advantage of the last four hours to land 7 fish on dries with small CDC and daddies proving to be his best patterns.
Once again, not the most accurate of forecasts, with bright sunshine, and the westerly wind a bit stronger than was required. As we have learned over the past few weeks, these conditions don’t necessarily put the fish down. Anglers continue to catch on dries and a washing line fished off a floater., or pulling in the top few feet. Season permit holder Paul Havard had 11 fish on a washing line with back crunchers. Young Richard Walker used a purple snake to net 7 fish during a morning session. Frazer Duffy, senior and junior, had over 30 fish to the boat between them during an afternoon session, mainly on FAB’s. Mr Jon Morgan Parker used buzzers on a washing line as well as dries, to net 17 fish from a drifting boat at various points around the reservoir.
A bright and breezy start on Friday morning saw Draycote once again produce good returns for all concerned. A lot of the fish seemed to have moved over the shoals with Musborough in particular fishing very well on the washing line or dries. Some anglers are taking fish on the larger floating fry patterns, but this seems to occur more on the Draycote Dam wall and near the inlet in Rainbow Corner. Season permit holder Craig Middleton used grunters to net well over 20 fish from a drifting boat over Y buoy and Musborough Shoal. Young Ed Douglas used various dry fly patterns such as crippled midge and cul’s to net a good number of fish over open water. Chris Bobby and Leanne Frost had over 20 fish to the boat between them drifting over A, M, N and Y buoy. Debbie and Sean Gilbert used buzzers and diawl bachs to net a good number of fish between them from the Draycote Dam and commented on “A Great Day”.
A very wet and windy Saturday was had here at Draycote water. The wind strengthened as the day progressed and changed into a northerly bringing with it some quite heavy showers through the afternoon. Those anglers who braved the elements had a good day out, catching good numbers of fish right across the breadth of the reservoir. John Crowley drifted from the Flat Stones to the Valve Tower, netting 9 fish using a midge tip and foam daddies. Season permit holder Mike Garner ventured out onto the bank to catch half a dozen fish using cormorants, bibios and kate mclarens. Mike tried several different areas before settling for Greys barn down in Toft. Nicholas Hollingshead bank fished near the Valve Tower and netted 6 fish on lures and buzzers. Draycote regular Will Hunt ventured out onto the bank for a last 4 hour session. Will netted a brace from the old pipe tucked in out of the wind on the north shore. Invicta Fly Fishers took to the water with a total of 26 anglers and in rough conditions produced a competition rod average of 8.0. David Moore provided this report. Storm Antoni didn’t deter 24 brave, (or crazy?), Invicta FFC members from setting out under the dark sky into driving rain and big waves for this 5 th round which with the usual 8 fish limit but the first 3 to be weighed. Cooler weather had dropped the water temperature to below 18’C and prospects of feeding fish were much better than recently but this felt very warm in the wintery 12’C air! Most of the fleet headed down wind towards Rainbow Corner and A buoy starting with long drifts to accommodate the wind. The first hour was lively for most rods with fish high in the water and taking static or pulled nymphs and daddies but this slowed probably by boat pressure and several boats moved further out around X, P and Y buoys where they found fish around the weed beds and most fish examined were full of tiny snails. Fraser Duffy Jnr and Snr are both local to Draycote and unsurprisingly they had the top boats partnering Ron Wheeldon and Jonny Bromilow with a staggering 39 and 34 fish to their boats. With 11 members catching 8 or more The Carl Hunter Bowl was won with the biggest 3 fish weighed and Tony Smith was the winner (6lb-3oz) also catching the biggest at 2lb-13oz. David Moore was 2 nd and Ron Wheelan 3 rd just a few ounces behind. Tony started slowly, watching Mick Facey (now on the move with two legs again) catching steadily before he changed to the same tactic of floating line and 2 FABS suspending muskins and Gimps although the bigger fish took a black and silver lure. They started at Rainbow but moved away to drift from the Helmsley Wall into the open water and finished with 25 between them. Tony Smith is the only member to have caught 8 in all 5 rounds but Fraser Jnr and Jonny Bromilow have achieved this in 4 rounds. It’s your best 6 results that count so it is also possible for several others to take the trophy. The Rod average was 7.5 (187 total and mostly returned) and much better than expected given the conditions. Thanks to Mark Searle for organising and the fishery staff for looking after us and donating a boat voucher for the winner. Also to the various suppliers of our waterproofs !
A bright start to the morning on Sunday, with cloud arriving just after 11am with overcast conditions and the occasional shower, with the wind remaining in the Northwest, but was thankfully a lot lighter than the day before. Draycote members Dave Kennell & Eddie Mitchell landed 25 fish between them using a 12ft midge tip with daddies on the top dropper, nymphs and then a FAB on the top dropper. Drifting around the inlet and also Rainbow Corner. Mr A Smith & M Heritage fished down in Toft using dries all day to land 19 fish to their boat. Martin Rowson & Neil Deakin landed 35 fish to the boat, with Neil opting to use snakes on a fast intermediate and Martin used a washing line to land his fish. The pair fished around the Inlet & Rainbow Corner to land their fish. Gareth Jines & Jeremy Herman used dries around Middle Shoal to boat 18 fish. Overall it was another good day with the rod average for the day just under 5 fish per angler.
Take A Friend Fishing 29th July to 3rd September 2023, a great opportunity to introduce a family member or friend to a Free days fly fishing. Your guest will share your permit with the availability of a free days rod licence.
Full details visit the website https://takeafriendfishing.co.uk/
The event is supported by the campaign partners Angling Trade Association & the Environment Agency
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
Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report
Lodge – 01536 770264 & Fishery Mobile 07834581424
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/
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: 06th August Rod Av: 1.4 Water Temperature: 18°c
It was a quiet start to the week with a few boats out. There was a quite a breeze at the start of day but as the day progressed the wind abated & by early evening the reservoir was a covered in a gentle ripple. Of those to venture out, All Water Member Mark Hunt had a very productive late afternoon session landing 7 fish, on the dries, drifting from Dogwood, past the tower & onto the north side of the Dam. Elsewhere there were a few fish caught along the weedbeds of the Hawthorns on nymphs on a washing line.
Tuesday brought with it, a strong westerly wind & consistent cloud cover. The fish remain high up in the water column but were reluctant to feed off the surface in the strong wind & rough water. The strong westerly also put paid to fishing down past Robbo’s towards the Willows, an area that had previously held, as the water was too rough & slightly coloured due to the waves hitting the shoreline. This meant that most boats were fishing the Main Basin, an area that does hold fish, but they do not give themselves up easily due to previous angling pressure. As the day progressed the wind reduced & water softened & fish could be seen moving just under the surface. Those targeting moving fish fared better than those that didn’t with fish willing to turn onto any flies that were in their vicinity. When fishing is as challenging as it is, we must remember to remain mobile in our approach, cover a lot of water & put as much distance as possible between boats, giving us plenty of clear water to fish, particularly in front of our boat. It may also pay to put as much distance as possible between our thicker fly line & our flies by fishing as long leaders as we can with a single fly.
With very similar weather conditions to the previous day, Wednesday saw us host the English Disabled Fly Fishers Presidents Cup. This blind pairs competitive format, saw 15 anglers take to the water on what proved another challenging day. Between them they caught 25 fish which gave a very creditable rod average of 1.7. Dries across the Main Basin proved to be the most productive method as the anglers covered a lot of water in search of catchable fish. All reportable that finding fish wasn’t the issue but getting them to take a fly was. Congratulations must go to the winning pair of Mark Goodge & Chris Martin who between them caught 6 fish which was excellent on such a challenging day.
Thursday brought with it a change in wind to a north westerly & it initially brought some very bright spells which disappeared as the day progressed, leaving solid cloud cover by late afternoon. Thursday saw us host The English Fly-Fishing Association (EFFA) which saw 39 anglers take to the water & catch 53 fish between them, giving a rod average of 1.55, well done to all. Congratulations goes to Mick Facey who was top rod on the day with 6 fish which is a great return given the challenging nature of the fishing right now. Mick fished a Washing Lined Floating Line & caught on FAB’s & Muskins on the droppers. Another who landed 6 fish was Eyebrook member Malcolm Thompson who fished the bank on the Hawthorns & caught on Blue Foam Daddy & also CDC Hares Ears. That is a great return from the bank in August.
Friday was an extremely quiet day with only a few anglers venturing out & they found the fishing to be very challenging due to recent angling pressure. When fishing for pressurised fish it will pay dividends to scale down fly sizes & tippet diameters.
Saturday was a washout due to prolonged excessive rainfall.
Sunday was a better day weatherwise, mainly dry, with periods of bright sunlight & some isolated showers later in the day. Boats anglers found that fishing dries through the Main Basin was the most productive method. Whereas from the Banks, Malcolm Thompson returned & enjoyed a great morning session along the Hawthorns. Having spooned the fish he had caught previously; Malcolm had identified that Sticklebacks had been the main food item of the fish he caught on Thursday. Armed with small Popper Fry Malcolm subsequently went on to take 5 fish from the weedbeds at the Hawthorns. Well done, Malcolm, great angling.
With some cooler evenings forecast for the week ahead, it will be very interesting to see what impact it will have on the water temperature & consequently the fishing.
Take A Friend Fishing 29th July to 3rd September 2023, a great opportunity to introduce a family member or friend to a Free day’s fly fishing. Your guest will share your permit with the availability of a free day’s rod licence.
Full details visit the website https://takeafriendfishing.co.uk/
The event is supported by the campaign partners Angling Trade Association & the Environment Agency
Upcoming Events
03 September – Eyebrook Fly Fishers – Single Fly, 8 Boats.
06 September – England Disabled Fly Fishers, 15 Boats + 2 WB’s
09 & 10 September – England Ladies National, 15 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.
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 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: 6th August Rod Av: 2.8 Water Temperature: 18.5c+Monday, the weather forecast with cloud, rain & fresh wind was certainly on the side of fly fishing for the time of year with the fishery averaging 5 for the day. Good to see N Proctor & A Proctor returning to fly fishing & catching on daddies. Andrew Wilson fished claret hopper & claret bumble to catch his 6 trout with Gary Owen fishing the afternoon session catching 10 trout on dries & suspenders.
Tuesday it was floating & tip lines been the best method with the majority of trout taking daddies, #14 diawl bach, #12 #14 claret buzzer, #14 #16 olive buzzer, damsel nymphs & #12 #14 fabs. P Hunt caught 9 on daddies for his morning session. D Hussey fished the afternoon with diawl bach & buzzer catching 9 with R Jordan finding a cats whisker pattern worked best for him boating 5 trout for a morning session. Fish moving at times, it pays to fish a lighter leader, thinner diameter and a long leader and single fly at this time of year.
Wednesday, it pays to follow our local weather on the two links below, our weather was far better than the national forecast, rains not an issue & at this time of year rain & associated cloud is good for our sport. Only one angler fished M Hosking who fished the morning session catching 4 & had follows & offers off others, generally floating line & dries.
Thursday, northerly wind today which may make it easier for the rods to target the fish in the Thornton arm. Various method worked during the day, floating line, tip line with dries and washing line to fast sinkers and booby. Dries, orange and natural daddies, claret hoppers and shipman’s. 6ft sink tip lines a small fab, #14 diawl bach, hares ear, buzzer patterns, on a fast sinker olive booby or red booby. Tim Russell & Rudge caught 13 for their mornings visit, M Cawley & Ian Leach caught 9 with K Hampton catching 5. Generally during the day Main basin, green bay top of the Markfield arm produced best. Afternoon and evening dries worked for B Morris boating 3 fish starting in the Thornton arm.
Friday north wind had the boats in the Thornton arm with J Scott who usually drifts finding an anchored boat opposite the lodge and a 6ft tip line with #14 fab on the point #14 black pennel helping him to boat 11 trout. P Wurm fished the last 4 hours with his son catching 5 trout on a shipman’s from the Thornton arm across the main basin.
Saturday a quiet day due to the weather, a strong easterly wind and rain, heavy at times.
Sunday morning the wind had gone northerly, better conditions. Water level within the reservoir had risen by 6inch, clarity was good with the water temperature down to 18.5c Didn’t generally fish as well as expected with most anglers catching 1 or 2 fish on floaters or fast sinkers & booby. Mark Hunt fished from late morning 11.30am to 6pm fishing a long leader low diameter 0.178 which makes a difference. Daddies, claret cdc had him rise 18 trout boating 11 for his session.
Despite the rain, water clarity is still good, we are seeing some larger claret buzzer hatching, water temperature dropped to 18.5c over the weekend. I do believe leader diameter leads the way during, especially when were fishing for trout that were caught & released.
Take A Friend Fishing 29th July to 3rd September 2023, a great opportunity to introduce a family member or friend to a Free days fly fishing. Your guest will share your permit with the availability of a free days rod licence.
Full details visit the website https://takeafriendfishing.co.uk/
The event is supported by the campaign partners Angling Trade Association & the Environment Agency
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