Draycote Water weekly report week ending 7th April 2019
Due to a cancellation we have very limited availability for out RIO/SAGE day this coming Sunday 14th April, if you are wanting to try the latest kit during a free 1 ½ hour guiding session please call the lodge on 01788 812018.
A week with a mix of south east and north east winds meant it was certainly cooler than the previous week. As a result, it meant the fish didn’t feed as hard as the previous week, but the buzzer hatches still remined as impressive and at times the fishing was exceptional. Overall a total of 212 rod visited the fishery landing a total of 969 fish for a weekly rod average of 4.5
The week started with a bright day with light winds from the east, making the fishing slightly trickier than it had been of late. With the best defiantly having the lion share of the sport as the fish headed out into deeper water with the brightness of the day. All water season ticket holder Ed Douglas took 10 fish with 9 on buzzers and even managed one on a dry fly. With the other 9 falling to buzzers around Farnborough Spit. Chris Howkins & Steve Owen fished around croft shoal and Lincroft point with a mix of buzzers and lures to land 24 fish during the day. Dave Atkins & Steve Owen fished around the outlet near Rainbow Corner with a team of buzzers to boat 10 fish between them.
A very different day Tuesday with cloud cover and a good westly wind in the morning which later swung into the north west. With this change in the weather the fish moved back into the margins and the bank anglers enjoyed great sport. Season ticket holders Peter Elliott & Lee Patten landed 18 and 15 each with all their fish on straight lined buzzers. They found the hotspot to be the Cornfield in the morning before moving to Lincroft in the afternoon. All water season ticket holder Paul Walker also landed 18, all of which took on Lincroft Point on buzzers and Diawl Bachs. Peter Allen fished alongside Paul, once again using buzzers to take a dozen.
Whilst only 14 anglers fished on Wednesday, and with only three boats on the water, the fish were really in full feeding mode and an overall rod average of 9 was recorded for the day! Pete Eville & Mark Lee shared a boat and located fish on drifts in the bottom of Toft & through Croft Shoal. Increasing winds led them to moor up off Lin Croft Point where Pete caught consistently on a team of static Diawl Bachs, in sizes 12 & 14, whilst Mark twiddled a pair of mini boobies on a Di5 to catch equally well. By the end of a frantic session they had netted 25 & 17 rainbows respectively. Similarly, Draycote regular Geoff Preston found himself off Lin Croft having failed to find feeding fish off Rainbow, the Overflow or Hensborough. Although the winds were moving around the compass through the morning, he described Lin Croft as being “alive with fish” which he thought were holding approximately three feet down. Using his usual home tied damsel pattern on a slow sink line he landed 16 before coming off the water for an early lunch. Bank anglers were also enjoying hectic sport. Simon Peck stuck to the bottom of Toft by the gate car park and washing lined buzzer, muskins & crunchers in conjunction with a FAB blob to net eight. He used a midge tip in the morning session before switching to a full floater in the afternoon. Tony Smith stuck to the bank at the Swan’s Nest using the same tactics to land 14. The changing winds however heralded a squally storm which forced the guys into an early finish and brought a wintery cold front to the water for Thursday’s anglers to face.
The days extremely cold, blustery conditions were made worse by very icy cold rain which in turn set back the buzzer hatch & put the trout down. Nevertheless, fish were still caught with Simon Nichols & Rob Frame netting 14 and 12 respectively. They had come hoping to be able to fish the buzzer but the downturn in weather conditions forced them to fish dep with lure patterns for the most part to find success. Local boat anglers John Dickens & Alex Urquhart both independently managed to tempt some fish to the buzzer with catches of 6 & 7. Simon Ducie was delighted with his session on the bank in Toft using a bloodworm pattern. Having recently attended one of our tuition days he landed a fine rainbow with which to kick start his fly fishing career. On Friday the south easterly winds dropped back a little and temperatures began to rise back into double figures resulting in a better day for bank anglers. Tony Broadway fished a morning session, mainly on Lin Croft, resulting in six caught & released to buzzer patterns and a silver bar of 3lbs plus taken for the pot. Meanwhile, Dave Adkins bank fished in Rainbow Corner with a mix of lures & nymphs to also net a total of 7 rainbows. Testament to the spread of fish population around the venue currently, Will Hunt spent the day on the bank down at the Swan’s Nest and enjoyed consistent sport on buzzers on a floating line. He ended with his four fish limit having also caught & released a further three. Paul Walley managed to fit in a short afternoon session on the Cornfield. With a mix of FAB blobs & buzzers he brought five rainbows to net. In the boats, on the second day of their mini break, Simon Nicols fished with Jim Burtle. They enjoyed good sport, ending the day with 16 & 12 respectively, but found the best of the action during the mid to late afternoon. Many of their fish were found on drifts down the Farborough Dam with damsels proving to be successful. Peter Davison fished with Rob Frame for their second day and ended in similar fashion with a total of 21 to the boat.
Saturday with some East in the wind there was a definite nip in the air. Despite this buzzers continued to hatch all day with some fish even moving on the top to take the emerging adults. Martyn Moore took to the water with beginner Stuart Headington with the pair boating 37 fish all in buzzers. The key was to fish them deep and slow, with a weighed buzzer on the point and a long leader with the key area being Alberts Bottom in Biggin Bay. Season ticket holder Dave Hancox enjoyed a good day’s sport boating 11 fish on a Di 5 sinking line teamed with snake from various areas. On the bank James Gillies enjoyed a good days sport landing 13 trout on a mix of Damsels & Humongous from the Swan’s nest in Toft.
Overcast conditions all day with winds from the North East Sunday meant another chilly day. On the bank Lincroft Point was the hotspot for most bank anglers who enjoyed a good days sport there. S Cierecn enjoyed great sport landing 6 fish all on blue flash damsels and buzzers. All water season ticket holder Andy Lilley also landed 6 fish from the point. Although, James Kelly, fished in Rainbow Corner using black buzzers to land 6 fish. Out on the boats Farnborough Dam proved to be a hotspot with, Greenwell Persuaders hosted a club outing with a blind pair’s competition. All members enjoyed good sport drifting down the wall with a mix of buzzers and blobs fished on midge tip lines. Keith Harding & Mick Clarke enjoyed a good day’s sport landing 17 fish all on nymphs and buzzers. The pair fished around Croft Shoal, Biggin Bay and Lincroft point in tempt the fishing using a midge tip in the morning before switching to the bung at around lunch. Sunday also saw another one of our popular beginner’s tuition day hosted by Tom Bird & Andy Miller. All participants enjoyed a great day landing not one their first fish each but many more after that. For information on upcoming dates please visit www.flyfishtuition.co.uk
Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop
Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.
We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. This weeks offer is an amazing deal on the Sigma Fly Boxes with a 20% saving to take advantage of this offer please Visit the shop at https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/
RIO & Sage Day
On Sunday 14th April Draycote is hosting its popular RIO & Sage with Jim Fearn (Sage) and Simon Gawesworth (RIO) in attendance. They will be able to talk you through the latest kit and be on hand to provide casting sessions. The guiding & tuition team will be running the 1 ½ hour guided sessions, taking you out on the water to test the kit. Helping the tuition team will be Brown Bowl winner and RIO & Sage sponsored angler David Hoppe. Only a couple of boat sessions remain which can be booked by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Tony Kirk from Tamworth the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 212 Number Trout Taken: 234 Number Trout Released: 735
Total Catch: 969 Rod Average: 4.5
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 19:45
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 19:45
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:00 PM 14:00 until 19:45
Last 4 Hours from: 15:45 until 19:45 (Ticket sales available from 15.30)
Gutting Room Closes – 19:15
All Anglers to be off site by: 20:00
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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