Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 1st October 2017
Telephone 01788 812018
A quiet start to the week after the busy previous week leading up to the Anglers World Championship Individual Final. It also saw a noticeable change in the weather with cooler daytime temperatures, slightly stronger winds and more consistent rain. It certainly feels like the start of Autumn here at Draycote. As a result the fish are certainly starting to hit the fry and can be caught on a wide range of fry patterns. However, whilst fry patterns are starting to work, some of the best catches this week have come to dries.
Dries ruled the way on Monday with the top catches both coming to various dry fly patterns. Season ticket holder Kevin Rees used small bobs bits fishery very low in the water to catch 9 lovely Rainbows. Kevin found the fish around A buoy, Y buoy and X. Another season ticket holder who used Bob Bits to great effect to tempt 7 rainbows to the boat was John Dickens. John fished around the Draycote Dam wall and out towards B buoy to catch his fish. Tim Gunn also enjoyed a good days sport boating 9 fish.
It was a brighter day Tuesday, with the wind coming from the South East. Gordan Slack fished the bank at the overflow to land 3 fish on washing lined small size 14 buzzers. Utilising the same tactic by the side of Gordan was Pete Allen who landed 8 fish. Ray Cramp also fished the bank to land 11 lovely trout. Out on the boats Ed Douglas used CDC Shuttlecocks to land 10 fish, Ed found moving fish near the tower and his stealthy dry fly tactics proved successful to enjoy good sport on a challenging day. Chad Pritchley & Phil Harding enjoyed a good days sport landing 13 fish to the boat. Husband and Wife team Howard and Marion Rutter landed 17 fish to the boat using olive and black buzzers.
It was a foggy start on Wednesday with Anglers struggling to see the water from the lodge. On the bank Tony Broadway fished with Stuart Lee. The pair started at the swans nest catching a couple before a move to Lincroft point produced the results with Tony landing 9 and Stuart landing 6. The best tactic for the pair was washing lined crunchers. Season ticket holder Brian Warwick fished the old pipe in Biggin bay to land 6 fish again fishing the washing line this time with a white booby on the end and two black buzzers. Mr Stradling also fished in Biggin Bay to land 6 fish this time, 4 on the cats whisker and 2 on a sparkler booby. Out on the boats Mr Evans and Mr Bilvinski enjoyed good sport landing 12 to the boat on dries.
Overcast wet conditions teamed with a light westerly wind Thursday looked ideal fishing conditions, and while there were good catches recorded from both the bank and boats anglers reported a great number of fish coming short. Tony Broadway fished the bank once again but this time from the Tower Bank and Dunns bay to land 8 fish again on washing lined crunchers. Fishing the bank alongside Tony was Ms Jude Tuffs who landed 4 fish. Out on the boats Mr Butler used a sinking line with a silver lure around the Top Dam wall and the tower to land 10 fish. Including a 10lb and 5lb brown. Jim Smith also fished in a boat finding fish around the tower and the top dam wall but this time fishing dries with a size 14 big red being his best pattern. Season ticket holder Kevin Rees also fished dries with bob bits being his best pattern with Kevin landing his 8 fish down in Toft.
A wet start to the day Friday with a light south westerly wind, although the day soon brightened up around 10.30. Fishery Ranger Tom Bird headed out early to try for some of the fantastic browns that had been caught recently by the tower, using a Di 7 sinking line and a tube Tom was rewarded with a lovely brown around 7lb, see the picture at www.facebook.com/flyfishstore. Season Ticket holder Peter Elliot took to a boat with Tony Baldwin with the pair landing 35 to the boat all on dries. The pair found the fish around A buoy, N buoy, X buoy. A mixture of dries worked from Midas, bobs bits and hoppers. Steve Barby enjoyed a good day landing 16 fish from various points in the lake with tubes proving effective. Irish fishing guide Larry McCarthy and son John enjoyed a good day on the dries landing 11 fish to the boat. Richard Reeve also fished from the boats drifting out of Rainbow Corner to land 8 fish.
A bright start to the day Saturday, however the cloud did come over in the afternoon. Derek Bravington fished the bank at the old pipe in Biggin bay to land 5 fish all of which came to washing lined Diawl bachs. Out on the boats Jim Smith had 19 fish on dries with 17 of them taking the big red. Jim found fish around B buoy, the Draycote Dam, X buoy and near the tower. Also on the boats was Gareth Jones out with John McCarthy the pair landed 30 fish to the boat including a fantastic 5lb rainbow. The best tactic for the pair was to fish dries with crippled midge being the best pattern. Also out on the boats was Tony Cartwright fishing with a member of the Irish party boated 20 fish, fishing washing lined nymphs and fry patterns down the Farnborough Dam wall. Mr Peat fished on the rudder over the boils to land a lovely 6lb 6oz brown that can be seen on the flyfishstore Facebook page www.facebook.com/flyfishstore Â
A gusty overcast day Sunday, with a gusty south westerly wind. Not ideal conditions for the annual Packington Round Robin Competition. With three teams of 8 competing, the overall winners were Packington with 53lb 3oz second was Foremark with 40lbs 1oz and in third was Colwick with 26lb 7oz. The Individual winner on the day was Mark Sturgess who had 8 fish for 24lb 8oz, Mark fished along the Draycote Dam with small minkie patterns. Thornton Fly Fishers also held a memorial match, with the winner being Russ Jackson with 4 fish. Outside of the club competitions Gareth Jones and Larry McCarthy had over 20 to the boat. The pair found the fish around N buoy and down the Farnborough Dam On small claret crippled midge patterns fish sunk just under the surface. Mr E Dinsdale also had some good success fishing with Damsels down the top dam wall.
Looking ahead to next week, the cooler temperatures and the shorter day light hours are really starting to switch the fish onto the fry, with several great browns and rainbow being caught on fry imitations. The settled weather towards the backend of the week should really produce some great sport with the reservoir currently holding 18,185 fish.
Weekly Boat Draw
Congratulations to Tony Broadway of Coventry who is the winner of this weeks free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 319 Number Trout Taken: 290 Number Trout Released:454
Total Catch: 744 Weekly Rod Average: 2.3
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 18.45
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 18:45
Boat Part Day: 08:30 until 14:00 – 14:00 until 18:45
Last 4 Hours from: 14:45 until 18:45 (Ticket sales available from 14:30)
Gutting Room Closes: 18:15
All Anglers to be off site by: 19:15
Fishery News
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
Troutmasters Final – Monday 9th October – See Fishery staff. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FISHERY WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE DAY FOR THIS BOAT & BANK EVENT
The Fur and Feather match.
This years Fur and Feather match will take place on Sunday 26th November 2017. The match is a pairs event (fishing with your own boat partner) which, as usual, will be fished to reservoir rules (but rudders will NOT be allowed). The event will be fished to an eight fish limit (normal permit prices apply) together with a special discount boat price of £15 per boat (reduced from the normal £24.50). Fishing hours will be 9-4pm due to the reduced daylight. This will equate to a cost per angler of £36.50. The winning pair will win a Christmas Hamper each. Second & third prizes will be wines & spirits with port for the largest fish. Boats can be booked in the normal way at the lodge or by phone on 01788 812018.
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 matter 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.
Early Morning Anglers
Due to a number of complaints from the residents of the houses by the main Draycote gate, could all anglers arriving early in the morning please keep noise to a minimum level, and if waiting for any more than a few minutes, please switch off your engines. The main gate is open from 7.30am
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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