Draycote Report W/E 26th November 2023

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

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

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:  Sunday 26^th November 2023  Rod Av: 2.9   Water Temperature: 8-9°C

The week started with a calm day with overcast skies, however the wind picked up as the day progressed coming from the Northwest with some sunny spells. On the bank all water member Norman Perkins landed 5 fish using a minkie booby on the point and buzzers on the droppers. Fishing at the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay in the morning before moving to Lincroft point for the afternoon. On the boats fishery ranger at Draycote & Eyebrook Jason Pusey landed 5 fish using a white snake and a humungus. Using a Di 3 sinking line catching at the Hensborough Bank and also the Farborough Dam. Draycote members Ian Richardson & Bob Smith enjoyed a “good day” landing 11 fish. Finding the fish at the Farborough Dam and then drifting around M & N Buoy. The best method being a Di 3 sinking line with a small snake and a minkie on the dropper. Mr Lowe used suspender minkies and then a small sparkler with either a humungus or olive snake on a Di 3 sinking line. Ifor McCary fishing for his final day on a 3 day break while down visiting family. Landed a dozen fish using an intermediate line and a small olive snake.

A much colder feel to the day, as the wind blew from the Northwest all day, with rain in the morning. It certainly, wasn’t a very enjoyable start to the day. On the bank Tony Broadway landed 3 fish, using a small popper minkie on the point and then a cruncher and black Diawl Bach on the droppers. With, Tony’s best area being the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay. Fishing next to him, Pete Allen also landed 3 on similar tactics. On the boats Draycote members Lee Patten & Pete Elliot landed 7 fish. Drifting along the Farborough Dam using snakes on Di 3 sinking lines with a roly-poly retrieve. Dave Etty fished with Bill Livingstone with the pair landing a dozen fish. Commenting on the quality of the “good fish” they landed. Fishing along the Farborough Dam using various fry patterns on sinking lines.

The wind swung back to the Southwest on Wednesday with overcast skies all day. With the wind swing it was a tricky day for the bank anglers, although Ross Davies managed a brace from the Swan’s Nest. It was the boats who enjoyed the better sport. Draycote members Martin Foster & John Vyse landed 10 fish to their boat. Fishing with snakes on sinking lines around the Farborough Dam Wall and then near M & N Buoy. Fellow members Paul Walker & John Faulkonbridge landed a dozen fish, again fishing with snakes and fry patterns. Ed Douglas landed 10 fish using a washing line set up on an intermediate line with a FAB on the point and then shrimp patterns on the droppers. With the Farborough Dam wall being his most productive area. Former manager Kevin Hart tried deeper in the water column to land 8 fish. Using humungus boobies on a Di 8 sinking line. Taking his fish at the Farborough Dam but also along the Valve Tower Bank, with his best fish being 4lb rainbow. Another angler finding the fish deep was Dave Atkins who used a Di 7 sweep sinking line with a grey snake. Landing 5 from “all over” the reservoir along with a number of other pulls and takes.

The stiff south westerly continued to blow out of Rainbow Corner through Thursday, making for uncomfortable conditions at times. Anglers were catching fish all over the reservoir throughout the day, but most finished off in the lee of the wind up underneath the western wall. Returns gave us a daily rod average of 3.2, with the majority of fish being caught on sinking lines and lures. Bank anglers stuck mainly to the northern shoreline with The Old Pipe and the Tower bank being the most popular spots. Mick Cronin and Stan Hillman fished the Tower Bank and netted 4 fish and 2 fish respectively. Thew pair used intermediate lines and lures such as snakes and minkies. Draycote regular John Dickens caught a brace from the bank whilst fishing near the Old Pipe using the very popular humungus fly. Ed Douglas caught half a dozen fish from a boat using snakes from various areas around the reservoir. Seasoned angler Dave Smith had 5 fish to the boast near the Valve Tower using white and black snakes as well as boobies. Dave fished his flies on a DI8 sinking line as well as an intermediate. Ian Richardson and Bob Smith caught a total of 10 fish between them. Ian and Bob used DI3 and DI5 sinking lines with snakes and humungus flies near  M and N buoy. Season permit holder Bob Barfoot caught 5 fish near N and X buoy on small sparklers and sparkler boobies.

A very strong north westerly wind greeted us on Friday morning with the promise of it dropping off through the middle of the day. Mr Mark Windsor took to the bank with season permit holder Brian Allwood to net one fish between them in very difficult conditions. Peter Jeffries and his boat partner Rod Singer had 5 fish to the boat between them using lures fished on a DI5 sinking line. Ex site manager Kevin Hart took to the water with Mr Steve Burns to net nearly 20 fish from a drifting boat. The pair spent most of the day fishing near the Valve Tower using sinking lines of various types and lures, before moving out into open water through the afternoon.

A very cold start to Saturday morning with a good frost and ice in the bottom of the boats. However with the sun shining brightly on the pontoon, it didn’t take long for it all to clear. There were many anglers taking to the water today in preparation for Draycote’s Fur and Feather match tomorrow. Staff member Mark Braun enjoyed a good day off landing 7 fish. Using a Di 8 sinking line with a black and green booby. Drifting from C- D Buoy. Rob Edmouds and son Albert enjoyed a good days practice for the fur & feather landing 9 fish. Using Di 7 sinking lines and mix of fry patterns such as snakes and humungus. With the best areas being S Buoy to Croft Shoal and then around Y Buoy. All water member Craig Middleton also enjoyed a good day landing 6 fish on snakes.

A cold start to Sunday and the annual fur & feather with the thermometer reading -3°C first thing in the morning. With very light winds which did pick up slightly to give a ripple in the afternoon, the temperature did also rise. Although when it did it brought some very unpleasant rain, which make it feel very cold indeed. This being said it didn’t seem to put the fish off, as the 60 anglers caught 229 fish. Winning the match was all water member Rob Edmunds with son Albert who landed their 12 fish by 12.04pm and with their time bonus had a weight of 31lb 1oz. In second place with a later finish time but a cracking bag of fish including a 4lb 3oz rainbow. Was the boat of Ben Bayliss & Adam Larbalestier who finished at 13.42pm so with time bonus weighted 29lb 13oz. In third place finishing at 13.30pm Andrew Scott & Sam Edmunds with 28lb 11oz. Fourth place with a finish time of 14.16pm with 28lb was Frazer Duffy Snr & Jnr. Then rounded out the top 5 was fishery ranger & guide Lee Henfry with partner Nigel Keeber who finished at 12.57pm with a weight of 27lb 3oz. The biggest fish of the match was caught by Rick Saccone who landed a cracking 4lb 11oz rainbow. At the other end of the spectrum Stan Studdick landed the smallest fish a 1lb 3oz rainbow. We also gave a prize of a fly box and some flies to the youngest angler on the day Tom Lewis aged 11 fishing with his grandad Michael Hanlon. The best area seemed to be Y Buoy with some of the anglers using snake boobies on booby basher and Di 8 sinking lines. While others found them a little higher at times during the day using Di 3 sinking lines. The Farborough Wall and the front of the pontoon also produced good catches to the same methods. It was this area that produced the 2 biggest fish of the match.

With the weather looking cold but nice light winds for the final 4 day of the season, we are hoping the good sport we have experienced this week continues.

Draycote’s closing date

The closing date for Draycote for this season will be Thursday 30^th November 2023.

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: 26^th November   Rod Av: N/A        Water Temperature: N/A °c

So another season comes to its close here at Eyebrook. I would like to start by thanking you all for your continued support throughout what has been an extremely challenging season, with many a week succumbing to the weather & the poor water quality that it brought.

The season initially started well, but by the second week in March, the typically spring weather brought some heavy seasonal showers. These coloured the water & it took several weeks before the sediment began to drop through the water column. The bank areas were the first to clear & the subsequently better than the boats during the early season. As the water clarity improved, so did the fishing & by mid-April the Eyebrook fish were feeding hard on the Buzzers, with some exceptional returns recorded along the Leicester Bank from the Hawthorns to the Cowshed. Stoke Dry was another prolific area which produced some great buzzer fishing, with high numbers of fish caught from both the Boats & the Bank on a variety of methods.

By late May, the buzzer fishing had started to slow & it was now the turn of the Damsels which started to appear in great numbers. The fish soon locked them happily taking them in both the Nymph form & also Adult form from various locations around the reservoir. During this period, there were some unseasonal Northerly winds which kept the shallower water up at Stoke Dry cooler for longer than in previous years. This meant that the fish remained up Stoke Dry for longer, gorging themselves on the abundant aquatic life that was there.

During the summer months there were some noticeable warm spells, one earlier in June & much later in early September. Throughout June, July & August the reservoir continued to fish very well as the fish fed hard on Damsels throughout this period. By late August, Crane Flies started to show up in considerable numbers & it did not take the trout long to turn to this nutritional food source. Consequently, the Foam Daddy became the “go to” pattern for many a visiting angler & for good reason to. This versatile Fly pattern accounted for a huge number of fish over the season, whether it was fished on its own as a Dry Fly or as a part of team as a point fly on the washing line.

The hot spell in September brought with it an Algal bloom which lasted for a few weeks. Unlike the sediment particles that are brought into the reservoir after heavy rain, the impact of an Algal bloom can be mitigated by the angler. Those that found success during the Algal bloom, found it by either, going upwind to find clear water or by simply fishing below it. Once the Algal bloom had cleared, the reservoir returned to some fine form & by the middle of October, we had experienced our first cold snap of the season which brought some of our grown-on fish on the feed. This resulted in Rainbows in excess of 6lbs & Browns to 9lb being caught, It looked very promising for the last few weeks of the season.

However, the 3rd week of October brought some extremely heavy rain which subsequently coloured the reservoir & it remained so until the seasons end on the 20 November which was very disappointing.

Despite a relatively poor start & end to the season, Eyebrook still produced a yearly rod average of 4.6 which is an excellent return. There also some good Pike caught throughout the season, with a lot of fish between the 20 & 30lb bracket & even more in the upper double category.

In preparation for next season, we have will be working hard on improving the Bank access for the Rutland bank & have already done a large proportion of work clearing between Harrisons Corner & Stoke Dry.

Upcoming Events & Key Dates.

Eyebrook Fly Fishers Winter Fly Tying Program, open to all.

Sunday 10^th December – 10.30 to 12.00.

Sunday 07^th January – 10.30 to 12.00.

Sunday 28^th January – 10.30 to 12.00.

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 Thornton are explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

2023 Permits & Pre Payment for Boat Bookings For 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: 26^th November Rod Av: 0.5 Water Temperature: 9°c

The colder days this week have helped to improve the clarity of the water meaning now that the visibility is anywhere between 2-5ft down.

The fishing still remained a challenge, however the best tactics has still been boobies fished near the wood back on sinking lines. With a black booby with a silver body and silver flash being the most productive fly.

With more cold weather forecast and again a drier week, we expect the clarity to improve. With the final day of the season on Thursday. We are hopeful that the final day may produce the best fishing of the month so far fingers crossed.

If you wish to book a boat for Thursday. On the days the lodge is not open if you call the lodge on 01536 770264 and then leave a voicemail we will pick up the message and book you a boat.

Thornton 2023 last day of the fishing season Thursday 30th November

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