Draycote Water weekly report week ending 5th March 2017
Telephone Number 01788 812018
Report
What an excellent start to the 2017 season here at Draycote water. Despite some inhospitable conditions, (and inaccurate weather forecasts) there have been some outstanding catches for both bank and boat anglers from all four corners of the reservoir.
The cold blustery weather has made presentation difficult over the first few days. Thursday started off with very strong winds from the west, however both bank and boat anglers found that Dunns, Biggin and the Tower bank produced good results. Friday saw a drop in wind speed, with showers throughout the day. The drop in the wind did mean that the anglers where able to venture into Toft and fish effectively for the first time this season. Some very impressive catches where recorded, particularly from the bank, with the rod average for Friday coming out at staggering 16.0. Saturday saw the best conditions of the first 4 days with a nice ripple, clear skies and temperatures just into double figures. This resulted in good catches from all areas of the lake. The rod average dropped on Sunday to a meagre 6.2, mainly due to the tricky conditions that the anglers faced, with strong winds coming from the west and heavy rain for most of the morning. As a result it was difficult to present flies effectively in some of the normal hotspots, however a good deal of anglers found a way to crack the code.
Despite the rough conditions on Thursday regulars Peter Elliot, Lee Patten and Ian Richardson caught well with catches of 38, 40 and 37. The tactics of the bank being to fish an intermediate with a gold head lure in the morning. Peter and Lee then found the fish had come up slightly in the water in the afternoon catching on cormorants on a floater. Peter also landed a cracking 4lb overwintered fish which can be found on our Facebook (www.facebook.com/flyfishstore) Season Permit holder Roly Hill also did very well from the bank, having 6 good fish in a short 2 hour session. Mike Oliver also caught well from the bank landing 20 fish falling to pheasant tail nymphs. Mr A Ball enjoyed good sport in a short morning session landing 10 fish including a 6lb Rainbow, and commented how fin perfect it was. Ben Bayliss and Adam Larbalestier enjoyed good sport from the boat drifting over various areas of the lake using snakes to land 60 fish to the boat.
Heavy rain greeted the anglers first thing in the morning on Friday which was the first day on Draycote for some of our regulars. With the drop in wind and a straight southerly the majority of the anglers headed for Toft which had been unfishable for much of the previous day. As expected they were straight into the fish with, Tony Broadway, Jude Tuffs, C.J Day and Brian Warwick recorded catches of 30+ fish. They all found the fish keen to pull back on buzzers teamed with a black and green lure on the point. Chris Hart and Gordon Slack also recorded catches of 20+ falling to cat’s whiskers and buzzers. Out on the boats the McGregor party headed down from Scotland to make the first of many trips for the year. The 5 of them caught an impressive 99 fish on snakes and various lures on sinking lines, from Biggin Bay, Duns, Cornfield and Toft. New season ticket holder Rob Keeber landed a very impressive 52 fish using Buzzers in toft including a rainbow of 3lb 12oz. Another boat pairing catching well using sinking lines and boobies was Tony Parker and Geralt Hughes landed 40 plus.
Saturday saw a great fishing day with a steady breeze and overcast skies. On the bank Tony and Ruth Kirk landed 25 between them fishing in Toft on lures. The McGregor’s once again returned for the second day of their 3 day package but this time landed 103 fish again on the same tactics of snakes and lures. Out on the boats Mr Harding and Mr Clarke landed a very impressive 82 fish on blobs on sinking lines, from toft the cornfield and Biggin Bay. Ian Ritchie and Bruce Callender landed 64 fish on blobs, boobies and cormorants on Di 5 sinking lines. Another impressive catch from the boats came from Gareth Jones and Mathew Griffiths who landed over 60+ fish to the boat on Di 7 sinking lines with green peas, cormorants and blobs. Another great catch came from Mark Hunt out with his wife who landed 27 fish from Duns, Biggin and the Cornfield using diawl bachs and dancers on a intermediate including 2 overwintered fish.
A very unpleasant day Sunday with heavy rain and strong winds, coming from the west, the morning started with the wind being manageable with catches coming from all areas of the lake however soon the wind swung and make toft unfishable and in unpleasant in other areas. Karl Hardman found Biggin Bay to be a hotspot from the bank in the rough weather landing 25 fish using a floating line with a black and green lure. Out on the boats Ricky Hyde landed 18 using a black lure over in Biggin Bay. Bobby Quinn and Eileen Gallagher enjoyed good sport in the boat fishing in Biggin and Rainbow Corner to land 27 fish. Mr Harding & Mr Clarke returned to land 37 fish to the boat on Di 3 lines and blobs. On the bank season ticket holder Mike Garner used a pitsford pea, Montana and Daiwl Bachs to land 15 fish. Out on the boats Fishery Ranger Tom Bird and Jim Smith enjoyed great sport from various marks on the reservoir to land nearly 50 fish to the boat using fast sinking lines and boobies including some cracking over wintered fish of around 5/4lb.
The figures for the first 4 days show 298 anglers catching a total of 2935 fish giving a rod average of 9.8, with the weather set a bit fairer for the coming week and even more fish going on we expect the fantastic fishing to continue for the coming weeks. Tight Lines for the season let’s hope it’s a great one.
Weekly Boat Draw
Congratulations to Ms Jude Tuffs of Market Harborough who is the winner of this week’s Free Boat Draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 298 Number Trout Taken: 547 Number Trout Released: 2388
Total Catch: 2935 Weekly Rod Average: 9.8
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 17:30
Boat All Day: 8:30 until 17:30
Boat Part Day: AM 8:30 until 13:30 PM 13:30 until 17:30
Last 4 Hours from: 13:30 until 17:30 (Ticket sales available from 13:15)
All Anglers to be off site by: 18:00
No Gutting of fish after 17:00
Fishery News
We are pleased to announce that we have welcome Lee Henfrey to the Draycote team, Lee will be working here at Draycote and at our other waters.
Lee is well known angler on the competition scene with a number of England caps fishing as well as fishing in the RIO team.
Lee is very experience angler and his knowledge of reservoir fishing will make him a valuable member of the team and his looking forward to sharing his knowledge with visiting anglers, this coming season. In addition Lee will also be available for guiding through the season.
Catch Returns
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
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.
Car Passes
Bank Anglers car passes should be, booked prior to coming fishing as we only have a limited number available.
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.
Congratulations to Ms Jude Tuffs of Market Harborough who is the winner of this week’s Free Boat Draw.
Tight lines
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