Draycote Water weekly report week ending 28th May 2017
Telephone Number 01788 812018
With warmer conditions upon us, and the promise of more sunshine to come, we were expecting a somewhat difficult week with perhaps a drop in rod numbers. Far from it, indeed in my time here at Draycote I can’t recall a busier period than the one we are having right now. Rod averages, despite the weather conditions have remained pretty high, and both boat and bank anglers are reporting on some great sport from just about everywhere on the reservoir. Even through the flat calms and bright sunshine, some bank anglers, with a bit of perseverance, are writing in double figure returns. The weekly rod average was 3.6
On Monday season permit holder Ed Douglas ventured out in a boat and netted 29 fish, 12 of them coming to dries, the other 17 of Ed’s fish fell to nymph techniques fished around Rainbow Corner and the outlet. Mr M Pearce and Mr E Booth caught over 30 fish each, again from a drifting boat. The boat pairing of Mr J and Mr L Maplethorpe had 16 fish each to the boat on diawl bachs and buzzers. Mr James Kavanagh caught 13 fish from the bank, fishing along the cornfield and also on the overflow. James and Lee Maplethorpe enjoyed good sport fishing around the inlet on the Draycote dam using buzzer, nymphs and gold heads fished on a floating line. The pair landed 16 fish each with lovely specimens up to 4lb. Keeping it on the Maplethorpe family Ken Maplethorpe had a great day in another boat with Jim Smith landing 12 fish using the same tactics as James, what a great way to spend your Birthday. Mike Mclintic enjoyed good sport out on the boat with Gary Owen. The pair landing over 30 fish to the boat with dries, washing line, and sunk line tactics.
Tuesday light winds and overcast skies in the morning provided some excellent top of the water sport, however the sun did break in the afternoon which pushed the fish down slightly. Out on the water first thing was Fisher Ranger Tom Bird, guiding Derek Walker, with the aim to improve Derek’s dry fly tactics. Derek enjoyed fantastic sport in the four-hour session landing 11 fish to the boat on big reds and crippled midge. Drifting in the middle of the lake around P buoy, X buoy and Y buoy. On the bank Nick Louka landed 7 cracking fish from Rainbow corner using washing line tactics with small buzzers and crunchers. Also on the bank fishing the swans nest in Toft Mr Terry Tappengden landed 7 fish christen his new Sage Accell, Terry used nymphs fished on a floating line. Mr McIntosh & Mr Taggart landed 40 fish to the boat fishing in Biggin Bay and Toft using apps bloodworms fished on intermediate lines. Father and son team Mr M Mee & Mr D Mee, fished in Biggin Bay and Toft Shallows landing 24 and 35 fish all on nymphs and buzzers fished on floating line, a great way to start of a three day package. Richard Pelly took advantage of the last four hours using dries off the end of the boil line to land 6 fish including a fantastic 5lb overwintered rainbow. Ben Thompson and Gary Turner also fished the last four hours on dries to land 19 fish to the boat, amazing sport in such a short space of time. Tuesday also saw Midlands police fishing their regional competition. 9 boats competed with the winner being Mick Cartridge of Staffordshire who took 37 fish fishing down the cornfield on a 3 inch per second sinking line using blobs and cats whiskers.
A very hot day with near flat calm conditions greeted the anglers on Wednesday looked like the fishing would be difficult, however despite these conditions the rod average for the day remained at 5.74. On the bank Mr C.J Day enjoyed great sport landing 15 fish from the cornfield landing 15 fish on buzzers and lures. Also on the bank Mr Bettles landed 9 fish from Duns Bay using white and green lures. Out on the boats season ticket holder Ed Douglas returned and landed 35 fish 22 of which were on dries, Ed found the fish through the middle and also in rainbow corner. Another boat doing well was that of Richard Dayman and Norman Perkins who landed 22 fish using floating lines and buzzers then a di 3 and lures in the afternoon. Draycote regular Eugene Hughes once again took the train up from London and enjoyed fantastic sport. Eugene landed 36 fish using nymphs and dries on a floating line and lures fished on a di3. Eugene found the fish around the tower then in the middle. M Mee and D Mee where again into the fish on small buzzers and diawl bachs landing 35 fish to the boat. John Hood and Darren Booth enjoyed great sport fishing dries from the tower down to rainbow corner then around P buoy, X buoy and Y buoy. Crippled midges, big reds, CDC shuttlecocks and daddies where the pairs best patterns.
Another very hot sunny day Thursday, however despite the hot conditions the fishing continued in the same form with the rod average coming out at 8.3. Season ticket holder Dennis Jones enjoyed a good mornings sport from the bank landing 6 fish from the far side of Toft using a floating line with small black buzzers fished on a washing line. Also on the bank Ian Richardson landed 9 fish from Rainbow corner using a floating line with buzzers and snail patterns. Fishing their final day of the three day break Dave and Mike Mee again enjoyed great sport using small buzzer in Toft and Lincroft Point. Mr McIntosh and Mr Taggart again caught well landing 29 fish to the boat all on buzzers. Mr S Livingstone & Mr E Livingstone also caught well landing 38 between them using the same tactics. Mr A Borthwick & Mr J Malcom enjoyed great sport again on buzzers fished in Biggin Bay, Toft and Lincroft Point landing 48 fish between the pair of them. The same tactics where employed by Mr S Mclean & Mr I Mackie to tempt 38 to the boat. Matt Harris again found buzzers the way, although matt utilised the washing line technique with a small FAB on the point. Matt also used caught 9 fish on shipman’s.
Friday saw another warm sunny day however, there was slightly more wind coming from the East. Out on the warm we have the North- West police regional competition. With forces from Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Lancashire taking part. Cheshire took the top sport with GMP second and Lancashire third. The top bags came from anglers fishing from the jetty along last the sailing club using 5 inch per second sinking lines and a team of blobs and FABS. Richard Hood was the top rod of the competition landing with 10 fish limit (6 kill then 4 C/R) within the first hour of the competition. Outside of the police competition season ticket holder Peter Elliot boat partner Lee Patten landed 45 fish to the boat drifting from open water towards rainbow corner then across Biggin bay and Toft. A party of Belgium anglers caught well fishing over the cornfield and down into toft using floating and intermediate lines with either nymphs or minkie boobies with many anglers in the group hitting over 25 fish.
Saturday was bright with blustery conditions and whilst there was a threat of showers they didn’t appear. This made the fishing slightly more challenging than had been in previous days. With the England qualifier, the next day a number of anglers kept there card close to the chest regarding areas and methods. Craig Barr and Andy Axon enjoyed food sport landing over 20 fish the boat, using washing line and dries, the best areas for the pair where in Toft, Biggin and Rainbow corner. Season ticket holders Eddie Mitchell and Dave Kennel also caught well despite the conditions using washing line and straight-line nymph techniques down in Toft shallows.
Sunday started with a strong westerly but this petered out as the wind swung into the north, leaving the rest of the day overcast with good conditions. Sunday also saw the England qualifier, with 36 anglers competing for the top 30-40% going through to the national final at Rutland Water on the 2/3 September. The rod average for the competition came out at 9.25, the top rod for the day was Vince Howley who used buzzers under the bung to land 22 fish. Vince fished in Toft drifting from G buoy down towards the nature reserve buoys at the bottom. In second place was Mick McLintic who landed 21 fish using a di 7 sinking lines with a team of mini lures and blobs. In third place was Martin Introna with 19 fish, again from Toft. In fourth place Stephen Peart landed 17 using buzzers under the bung but this time from Biggin Bay. The Draycote team wish all the qualifiers from the competition the best of luck in the national final in September. Outside the competition regular Jim Smith had a fantastic day’s sport landing 32 fish, Jim had 12 fish on buzzers from near the outlet in the morning before switching to dries in the afternoon. Jim found the fish around the aerators in the afternoon with his best patterns being big reds in size 12 and crippled midge.
Weekly Boat draw:
Congratulations to Mr Mark Rose of Northallerton who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 450 Number Trout Taken: 713 Number Trout Released: 1881
Total Catch: 2594 Weekly Rod Average: 3.6
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until : 21:30
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 21:30
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 21:30
Last 4 Hours from: 17:30 until 21:30 (Ticket sales available from 17:15)
Gutting Room Closes: 21:00
All Anglers to be off site by: 22:00
Damaged Trees
There are a number of trees on Lincroft point which have been deliberately damaged. Upon inspection it looks like someone has used a saw to remove branches on the path leading down to the water. Anglers are not allowed to take or damage any bushes or trees within the boundary of the site. If you do feel that your fishing is hindered by any of the growth around the bank you should bring this to our attention and allow us to deal with it in conjunction with the rangers.
Fishery News
Tuition Days- Beginners Courses
Saturday 10th June Hosted by Jim Williams of Vision Tackle. Currently fully booked
Sunday 11th June Hosted by Jim Williams of Vision Tackle. Currently four places available
Saturday 8th July Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird. Currently six places available
Saturday 14th October Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird. Currently six places available
Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book or for further information
Trout Masters
Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!
Dates for your diary:-
Competition Contact
Scierra Pairs Match – 25th June – Visit website.
Alex Booth Memorial – 29th June – Roy Lewin – 07762 746825
Angling World Holiday Heat 5th and 6th August – Visit website
TEFF Fundraiser. Dry Fly Championship 16th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117
Angling World Holiday Final – 23rd and 24th September
Troutmasters Final – 9th October. – See Fishery staff.
Boat Cleanliness:
Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.
Guiding & Tuition:
Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery members of staff Lee Henfrey and Tom Bird. Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates. Contact the visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot call the lodge on 01788 812018.
Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them..
Tight lines
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