Draycote Water weekly report week ending Sunday 24thJuly 2016.
Telephone Number 01788 812018
Report
The Draycote anglers have had a mixed week, with some days providing sport to dries and nymphs, while other days have been very tricky to say the least. This was due to the very high temperatures warming the water leading to the trout moving off into the deeper, cooler water. The mini heatwave also caused many to go off the feed altogether. Anglers have therefore needed to frequently change tactics from last weeks’ top of the water methods to fishing the depths with fast sinking lines with lures. The figures & rod averages for this exceptionally hot week fell as expected with 239 anglers catching a total of 375 fish for a weekly rod average of 1·56.
Monday kicked off with a very hot one, with temperatures getting towards 30°C and a near flat calm. Conditions looked tricky, however the fish did continue to feed, especially in the morning, before the sun got too high in the sky. From the bank Jude Tuffs caught well using dries fished tight in along Biggin Bay and into Duns Bay. She later moved into Rainbow Corner where she continued to catch, finishing the day with ten to the net. Ray Cramp also enjoyed good sport from the bank with 8 fish for 23lbs from Duns Bay using small Shipman’s in red or orange. Mark Wall enjoyed a good days bank fishing with 9 fish all falling to CDC buzzers. Out on the boats Rod Wilson had a great days sport using a 5 inch per second sinking line with tubes and snakes to 20 fish to the boat. Also enjoying a good days sport was fishery ranger Tom Bird and season ticket holder Roger Kerrison. They landed 11 fish to the boat having stuck to dries all day long. Amongst their fish Tom also landed a cracking grown on fish which can be viewed on our Facebook page at :- www.facebook.com/flyfishstore.
Tuesday was the hottest day of the year so far with temperature’s reaching 34 °C with very little to no ripple. Fishing was understandably very difficult. On the boats Mr P Jeffs landed two fish using Minkie boobies over the shoals. Both were lovely fry feeding fish, one being a 4lb brown which he spotted marauding the fry & covered perfectly. On the bank Mr R Southworth landed 2 fish from near the outlet using dries.
Wednesday saw the temperature’s drop slightly with a light ripple on the water this. This led to an improvement in the fishing for both the bank and the boat anglers. Bank angler Dennis Jones landed 12 fish using size 14 Diawl Bachs near the outlet. On the boats Eric Whale and Steve Brown used the rudder to land 27 fish the boat. They found that the best tactic was to use two7 inch per second sinking lines spliced together & fished in conjunction with tube flies. The pair commented that the majority of the takes came when the second line hit the tip ring. Their best areas were drifts out from the outlet towards A buoy and then going from the dam towards B buoy. Mr Southworth also took to a boat to land 7 fish using nymphs on a floating line from Rainbow Corner. Dries worked later in the evening with Fishery Ranger Tom taking advantage after work to land 5 cracking fish in an hour up near the inlet.
On Thursday the high temperatures returned which again made the fishing very hard. On the boats season ticket holders John Dews and Tony Broadway had 7 fish to the boat back drifting with a full di 7 and snakes and cats whiskers. Also out on the boats Geoff Preston landed 4 fish in the morning again on a Di 7. Such were the temperatures however that most anglers blanked. Kev Hart commented that it was probably the hardest day he could ever remember for the water.
Friday was a very similar story to Thursday with hot conditions really knocking the fish off the feed and forcing them deep. On the bank Tony Harris landed 2 fish on dries using Shipman’s buzzers near the inlet. Out on the boats Ian and Carl Malpass had 8 fish to the boat using a Di 7 and snakes to catch the fish. Kevin was out guiding two fly fishing novices & also chose to deploy similar tactics for them. They were rewarded with thirteen or fourteen hook-ups with 7 rainbows to nearly 4lbs netted.
Saturday saw a marked improvement in the catches, although nearly every fish that was caught was tempted deep down from the boats, either on Di 7 or even a Di 8 lines around B buoy. Melvin Severn used the rudder with a Di 7 line and tube flies to land 12 fish. Another boat doing very well on the rudder was Ifor Jones and Jim Dempsey who had 31 fish to the boat, again using fast sinking lines and a combination of tube flies and snakes. Ian and Carl Malpass where back on the water and this time landed 24 fish to the boat using either a 7 or 8 inch per second sinking line with snakes and buzzers.
Sunday saw a better day fishing day with overcast skies and cooler temperatures. Throughout the day the fish still remained deep. Gareth Jones and Tony Cartwright found them deep using sparklers and tubes on a full 8 inch per second sinking line. They landed 10 fish including some fantastic grown on full tailed specimens. Late afternoon, coming onto early evening, the fish did come up and dries once more became the method. Derek Edwards and Arthur Owen landed 8 fish using size 14 claret and red hoppers as well as daddies. Also having good sport using dries in the afternoon was Jim Smith who targeted snail feeders in Rainbow Corner with dries to land 12 fish. Mr P James also had a good day from the bank landing 6 fish up to 5lb.
Looking ahead to next week the weather looks set to be slightly cooler and more overcast days with some rain. Hopefully water temperatures will drop slightly as a consequence and the fish will be back up on the top feeding. They have already been seen today working the edge of wind lanes out over open water.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 239 Number Trout Taken: 129 Number Trout Released: 246
Total Catch: 275 Weekly Rod Average: 1.56
Current Fishing Times :
Bank: 07:30 until 21:15
Boat All Day: 8:30 until 21:15
Boat Part Day: AM 8:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 21:15
Last 4 Hours from: 17:15 until 21:15 (Ticket sales available from 17:00)
No Gutting of Fish after 21.00
All Anglers to be off site by: 21:30
In order to maintain the accuracy of our records could all anglers please ensure that they fill in the catch return sheet before departure. If not in the lodge it will be found on the counter in the gutting room next door.
Boat anglers are also politely reminded of the ruling that there is no anchoring within 100 yards of any pontoon or aerators. This is especially relevant to the harbour pontoon as its own mooring chains & anchors extend out a considerable distance from the end of the harbour & are easily fouled.
Bank Anglers car passes should be, booked prior to coming fishing as we only have a limited number available.
Boat anglers may wish to note that we now have a rudder for hire at the daily rate of £7. It can be pre booked at the time you make your boat booking.
Congratulations to Alex Cameron of Earl Shilton who is the winner of this week’s Free Boat Draw.
Demo Tackle
We now have a considerable amount of Sage & Rio demo tackle available to try at Draycote. The following link will take you to the website where you can check out the available items: We have added a 10ft 7wt SAGE ACCEL to our demo rods
http://www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/demo-tackle-3/
Forthcoming events.
John Horsey Anglers World Fly Fishing Championships two heats Sat 6th August & Sun 7th August(floating Line only heat) to book for this competition contact john@flyfishingchampionships.uk
Jim Williams Tuition Day on Sunday 7th August. Two places on the course are left. Contact the lodge to secure a place or book online via www.flyfishstore.co.uk
Bank Angler Car Park
Angler Car Park number 7 will remain closed while Severn Trent repair a footpath and will be using the car park to store stones for the repairs anglers, wishing to fish in the areas below car park number 7 will have to park in either car parks 6 or 8 and walk to the area.
Selling of Fish
Anglers are not allowed to sell fish to members of the public on site.
Disabled Parking Bays
Anglers need to ensure that even for short periods whilst obtaining a fishing permit, they only use the disabled parking bays adjacent to the main car park, if they are the holder of a duly displayed “blue badge”.
Gutting Room
Please be aware that the Gutting Room refurbishment has now been completed. Much work has taken place & we would ask that you respect the facility and leave it in the same way in which you would wish to find it. Please also note that no fish are to be gutted after 21:15
Returns
Many anglers have been failing to book out at the end of their fishing. In order to maintain the accuracy of our records could all anglers please ensure that they fill in the catch return sheet before departure. Too many anglers have been failing to do this of late & this distorts the figures leading to potential fishery management issues.
Anchoring
Boat anglers are also politely reminded of the ruling that there is no anchoring within 100 yards of any pontoon or aerators. This is especially relevant to the harbour pontoon as its own mooring chains & anchors extend out a considerable distance from the end of the harbour & are easily fouled.
Bank Anglers car passes should be, booked prior to coming fishing as we only have a limited number available. Some anglers came close to being disappointed this week when almost all of the available passes were used.
Rudder Hire
Boat anglers may wish to note that we now have a rudder for hire at the daily rate of £7. It can be pre booked at the time you make your boat booking.
Tight lines
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