Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 6th August 2017
Telephone 01788 812018
Another changeable week, on the weather side of the fishing. Bright near flat calms one-minute giving way to strong winds and stormy conditions. As a result, there were times when the fish didn’t know if they wanted to be feeding the top 2ft or hiding from the sun the depths. This did mean that at times during the day the fishing was tricky. However, for the most part of the week, fish could be caught in the top 2ft either fishing washing line tactics or dries. Overall 290 anglers visited to the water catching a total of 895 trout for a rod average of 3·08.
A tough start to the week, with strong winds making the fishing challenging for most, with the wind coming from the south west. Dave Adams did enjoy good sport on a short half day morning session. He fished in Rainbow Corner with a fiery brown Shipman’s to land four. Kevin Rees concentrated his efforts around the flat stones area of the Draycote Dam drifting out towards B buoy. Kevin used crippled midge patterns to winkle out 6 fish. Another angler whom solely fished dries on the day was season ticket holder John Dickens fishing around the Outlet to A buoy to land 12.
Tuesday saw another bad day with regards to the weather. Whilst overcast conditions greeted the anglers, so too did a strong gusty south west wind. James Scott took to the water and fished over the aerators with sinking line and snakes to land 5 fish. In house guide Tom Bird took to the water with John O’Hara who landed 7 fish. The pair also fished over the aerators with lures to catch. Simon Guthrie and son Elliot fished sinking lines and boobies over the aerators to catch into double figures for the boat. Simon’s dad Chris also fished using dries to land half a dozen from around B buoy, C and E buoy into Biggin Bay. Norman Perkins also caught well landing 8 cracking fish from Rainbow Corner and the aerators. Norman fished a variety of methods from dries to lures.
The fishing improved on Wednesday with good catches being recorded by most anglers. Ian Conyers was amongst the better catches landing 10 rainbows from along the top dam wall and Rainbow Corner. Geoff Preston took to the water on Wednesday for a half day morning session accompanied by his granddaughter and they boated 10 fish on the rudder. They found the fish from B-C buoy as well as over the aerators. Season ticket holder Dave Adkins fished at the Outlet with a PTN and a Minkie to land seven. The Guthrie’s returned to the water once more, this time boating 28 fish between the 4 of them, fishing dries drifting from the outlet to N buoy via A buoy, with Big reds being their best pattern.
A very windy day Thursday with speeds being 24mph again from the South West, combined with powerful gusts. As a result, the boats had a restriction to the top end of the lake with no fishing below Lincroft Point. Eddie Mitchell and Alex Urquhart boated 9 fish from Rainbow Corner and the top dam wall using a mixture of dries and washing line. On the bank season ticket holder Colin Granger landed 3 fish from the Overflow on dries during his morning session. However, top honours on the day again go to the father and son team of Simon and Elliot Guthrie who boated 11 fish fishing dries in white horse waves. Once again, the pair found the fish drifting from A-N buoy with big reds being the top pattern.
Friday saw conditions improve with a drop-in wind. Ronnie Gent and Tom Bird took to the water the pair landed over 25 to the boat. With the best areas being Biggin Bay, the flat stones to B buoy and then down the bottom end of toft. They found the fish keen to take a mix of boobies, blobs and cormorants fished on a di 3 or 5 line. Then later in the day washing lining with two fabs and two crunchers through the middle worked well. Also, out on the boats Mick O’Farrell and Richard Slater landed 20 fish all on dries drifting between D and P buoy. Another boat partnership using dries to great success was that of brothers Nick and Jem Dunn. Finally, Mr B Jones & Mr G Wood had great success in the final 2 hours of the day landing 24 rainbows on hoppers from Toft.
Saturday saw the any line heat Anglers World Holidays Fly Fishing Championship, with 31 anglers competeing for 7 places plus the wild card for the biggest fish for a space in the final which is to be fished here at Draycote on the 24th September. Great conditions with some light winds and overcast skies, looked perfect for great catches. However, the weather did cause some issue with storms moving in during the afternoon causing the winds to increase and heavy showers to come through together with thunder and lightning in the distance. The fishing got off to a great start in the first hour with rods bending, the hot spot being around D Buoy. The sun did then come out for a period making it challenging and the fish went off the feed. Cloud cover did return though which resulted it the resumption of catching. At times, the increasing wind speeds did make presentation difficult. Despite this the 31 competitors caught a total of 140 fish representing a rod average of 4.52. The overall winner of the match was Richard Slater who fished small dries in the morning to land 10 fish then a switch to washing line in the afternoon caught him a further 5 giving him a total of 15. In second place was Dave Franklin who also fished a mix of dries and washing line to take his 10 fish. In third Ian Gaskell used pulling tactics on a di 3 to land 8 before a switch to washing line late in the day produced a further 2. The best areas in the match were around D buoy, Biggin Bay, P buoy and H Buoy to Farnborough spit.
Sunday saw the floating line only day for the Anglers World Holidays Fly Fishing Championship, this time with 39 anglers fishing for 11 places in the final plus the wild card. A sunny start to the day with gusty south west winds made catching early difficult, although the cloud cover did come around lunch as a result around 3pm when the weather has settled the fish really came on the feed. The overall winner of the day with a 15 fish tally was Peter Elliott.He fished dries for most of the day around P Buoy, D buoy but later switched to nymphs on a washing line. Ben Robertson fished the washing line to come second with 14 fish again from similar areas. In third place Nick Dunn also fished dries to land 12 fish with D buoy and P buoy being his best spot. Several of the other qualifying anglers found fish around C buoy drifting onto the Tower Bank. The fish in this area of the lake where feeding very high in the water. As a result, many tactics were employed to catch them either small dries with Bob’s Bits performing well. Another tactic employed was two boobies and two hoppers and a fast figure of eight retrieve keeping the flies no more than 2 inches under the surface. Finally, a washing line with either hopper, cormorants and nymphs also proved effective. Overall the 39 anglers caught 216 fish for a rod average of 5·54 with no blanks. Well Done to all the qualifiers over the two days and we look forward to welcoming you to Draycote for the final on the 24th September.
Weekly Boat Draw
Congratulations to Mr Ian Reeve of Rugby, who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 290 Number Trout Taken: 452 Number Trout Released: 443 Total Catch: 895 Weekly Rod Average: 3·08
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 21:00
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 21:00
Boat Part Day: 08:30 until 15:00 – 15:00 until 21:00
Last 4 Hours from: 17:00 until 21:00 (Ticket sales available from 16:45)
Gutting Room Closes: 20:30
All Anglers to be off site by: 21.15
Fishery News
Reservoir Dry Fly Masterclass
On Thursday 24th August 2017 Draycote Ranger and Fishery Guide Tom Bird will give a presentation on reservoir dry fly tactics. The presentation will include tackle set up, fish spotting, fly selection and presentation. During the presentation Tom will reveal the secrets that have led to his remarkable success, both as a member of the England squad and the Five Nations Team. The presentation will take place in the Sailing club. Doors open at 18.30hrs. The presentation will start at 19.00 to 20.00hrs. Ticket are priced at £5.50 each. A bar and refreshments are available.
Call the Draycote lodge 01788 812018 to reserve your place. NB: Demand has been high & there are only ten tickets remaining. Find more information on www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore
Tuition Days- Beginners Courses
Saturday 14th October Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird. Currently four 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
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 manners & etiquette:
As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.
We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.
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 staff Lee Henfrey or 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. Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling 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,
The Draycote Team
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