Draycote Water weekly report week ending 28th April 2019
This weeks special offer is all about Bungs for more information see the section at the bottom of the report.
The warm weather experienced towards the end last week has continued into the earlier part of this week, however, cooler temperatures and high winds are on the way. This change in conditions including a pressure change, has meant the fishing has been a bit up and down like the weather. Despite this 213 anglers landed a total of 602 fish giving a rod average of 2.8 After this week this gives us a stock level of 9636 fish in the lake.
Another warm day on bank holiday Monday, with light winds in the morning which then picked up in the afternoon and included some heavy showers. Chris Aubrey & Ian Reeve fished in a boat in Biggin Bay and Dunn’s to land just short of double figures on hot-tailed zonkers and blue flash damsels. Tim Lycett also fished in Dunn’s Bay & Biggin Bay to land 7 fish on green boobies and cats whiskers. Alex Campbell landed 6 fish on various marks around the lake including B buoy, Dunn’s Bay and the Overflow using a washing line with a Damsel booby on the point and Olive Buzzers on the dropper. On the bank James Cavanagh landed 6 fish from the overflow on the tower bank on Damsels and buzzers.
Tuesday saw a slightly better day for fishing with cloud around for some of the day and slightly cooler temperatures than the 3 days previous. On the bank Tony Broadway fished along from the old pipe in Biggin Bay to land 9 fish on washing line and buzzers. Mike Oliver also fished from the bank in Dunn’s, Biggin Bay, Toft and the Tower Bank to take 10 fish all on buzzers and pheasant tailed nymphs. Out on the boats Dave Smith used buzzers to land 10 fish and commented that most of the fish took when the flies where given a draw. Season ticket holders Colin England & Tony Plummer used buzzers to land 18 fish. Iain Earle & Peter Batchelor from Scotland enjoyed great sport landing 42 fish between them. Iain used a RIO Midge Tip Long with a FAB and nymphs to catch his fish while Peter used a single FAB on a long leader on the DI 3. The pair caught all over the lake however, they found a lot of fish over the Shoals, with Middle Shoal around P Buoy being a hotspot. Also from Scotland Keith Anderson & Steve Bett landed 31 to the boat using buzzers on a long leader around P buoy,
Overcast conditions Wednesday meant more good catches were recorded, on the bank Alan Bettles used a black and green lure along the Cornfield to land 7 fish. Alex Campbell fished around Y buoy using a white snake on a sinking line to land several good overwintered fish, before changing to a washing line on a rio midge to catch down in Toft near the willow trees. Iain Earle and Peter Batchelor used the same tactics as the day before to land another 40 fish haul to boat. Although they commented that the best sport of the day came in the afternoon from Rainbow Corner with lots of fish coming quickly. Eugene Hughes fished around the Hensborough Bank and the School slips just past the sailing club to land over 30 fish. The key to Eugene’s success was to use a di 5 sinking line with a white snake with most of the fish coming just as it hit the water or on the hang. All water season ticket holder Ed Douglas landed 27 fish on washing line tactics in the morning before switching to dries later in the day to take 11 of his fish.
A blustery North East wind teamed with some rain greeted the anglers on Thursday. On the bank Lee Patten & Peter Elliot landed 7 between them on washing line tactics with Rainbow Corner proving to be the hotspot. Season ticket holder Richard Walker landed 8 fish from Biggin Bay on Zonker patterns in olive & white, fished on an intermediate line. Richard Dayman & Norman Perkins fished in Toft using buzzers to land 16 fish between them. Steve Bett & Keith Anderson fished over Middle Shoal near P buoy on their final day once again on buzzer to land just short of 20 fish.
A difficult day Friday for the anglers venturing out with the wind swinging from the South and some heavy showers throughout the day. Colin Granger landed 3 fish quickly from the Swan’s nest in the morning before it switched off and the fish moved out into the deeper water. John Hurst fished on the boats using a washing line with a booby cruncher to land 6 fish from Rainbow Corner. J Francombe & A Parker landed 7 between them on a half day using, boobies and on a sinking line drifting by the Farborough Dam wall and out over the open water around J Buoy. Michael Hanlon using a sinking line with Damsels, Buzzer & boobies fished deep around Hensborough Bank and Rainbow Corner.
Saturday saw massive winds over 30mph and as a result there was no boats out on the water, and only 5 hardy souls on the bank. Draycote season permit holder Martin Hancox had the best bag of the day, netting 3 fish on buzzers from biggin bay.
Sunday started very blustery with a strong northerly breeze blowing into the lodge. A busy morning saw almost the whole fleet take to the water, along with quite a few bank anglers. The England ladies managed a very respectable 2.5 rod average between them in some very testing conditions out on the boats. All water season permit holders Norman Perkins and John Kirk caught 4 a piece on a mixture of olive and black buzzers and a white lure. The boat pairing of Jim Smith and Ed Douglas managed 20 plus fish on either a washing line with buzzers, or dries.
It is with great regret that we announce the death of one of Draycotes best known and well respected anglers, Mr John Dews, after a lengthy battle with cancer. John had been fishing Draycote for many many years and was a cornerstone of the bank angling community here. A great character with a wonderful sense of humour and a warm smile for everyone, John will be sadly missed by both the anglers and all the staff here at Draycote water.
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. The weeks special offer all about bungs to go with the latest www.flyfishtuition.co.uk blog by Tom Bird. To see the special offer please visit www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Tim Lycett from Atherstone, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 231 Number Trout Taken: 160 Number Trout Released: 642
Total Catch: 802 Rod Average: 3.4
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 20:45
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 20:45
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:30 PM 14:30 until 20:45
Last 4 Hours from: 16:45 until 20:45 (Ticket sales available from 16:30)
Gutting Room Closes – 20:15
All Anglers to be off site by: 21:15
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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