Draycote Water weekly report week ending 30th June 2019
Tel: 01788 812018
Special offer- Please check out www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers to take advantage of a great deal on our In house guides top patterns when fishing on the washing line.
A mixed week as regards weather, with some wet days early on but culminating in sweltering conditions with the hottest recorded 2019 temperatures at 30°C+ by the weekend.
Anglers generally found the fishing hard on Monday, despite light north westerly winds and a maximum air temperature of 20°C. Nevertheless, dry fly fanatic & season rod, Kevin Rees searched out cruising fish from his boat and managed to tempt 12 to the net including some silver bars in the upper 3lbs bracket. He took fish out over the middle & all came to his own small dry patterns. Richard Pelly also stuck to his dry fly routine on a light outfit to tempt a brace of rainbows during a short evening session. Both his fish took a Big Red. A wet morning to start off Tuesday with a 9-10 mph north, north easterly blow. Only a couple of anglers chose to bank fish – amongst them Ifor Bullock, who netted a brace of fine rainbows on nymphs fished on a floating line in Dunn’s Bay. Out on the water many of the boats were enjoying hectic sport both on the surface and at depth. Lee Tones concentrated on drifts between X & N Buoys fishing roly poly retrieve with a Di5 and a snake. He had a great day with fish between 2½lbs & 4lbs and ended with 17 to the net. Ed Douglas also fished the open water of the middle but in total contrast stuck to dries & tempted 14. Keith Coley & Bob Taft stayed with top of the water tactics too – they pulled muddlers through the surface landing 5 & 7 rainbows respectively. Wednesday was a busy day on the water with 55 anglers fishing. Alan Grant continued his consistent run on the bank with a 4 fish total as did Ian Richardson who fished crunchers propped up with a small booby. Season rod Richard Walker boat fished and spent his session exploring the depths with fast sinking lines in conjunction with his own pattern of olive snake. He finished the day with an eleven fish total, taking a 6 fish limit for the pot with a combined weight of 17½lbs. Meanwhile, again by way of total contrast, Kevin Rees was back on the water with his dries and, although he described the fish as “tricky”, he did catch & release nine – again out across the middle.
On Thursday we hosted the annual Alex Booth charity event organised by Roy Lewin. Conditions were best described as “choppy” on a brisk East North East wind with gusts exceeding 20mph at times. The event was fished to a four fish limit which match winner Pete Fleming managed to achieve by 11:30am finding fish in the vicinity of Rainbow Corner & along the main Draycote Water Dam. Our congratulations to Pete on his success together with runner up Peter Hartley & Gary Howe who took third spot. Independent of that event, season rods Tony Broadway & Brian Warwick gave up their usual bank spots & went afloat to explore the depths with Di7 sinking lines & large gold & silver tube flies fished on the back drift. They stuck to open water & located daphnia feeding fish which Tony described as real grown on silver bars mainly in the 3lbs bracket. In total they landed 26 with 15 for Tony & 11 for Brian. Five taken for the pot totalled 16lbs. Chris Discombe also had a ball, mainly deep with snakes, or a blue flash damsel and landed 17. Only a few bank anglers on the water but Derek Brooks had fine sport with 5 to the net from his morning session. Mr Back also bank fished at Lin Croft where he tempted four to Black & Peacock spiders. Friday dawned with scattered clouds on an easterly breeze. Pete Allen spent his usual morning session on the bank and enjoyed fine sport on the Cornfield where he landed 7 rainbows before a late move up to Lin Croft where he tempted another brace before temperatures started to rise too much. Spencer Price only managed a couple of hours on the bank but was rewarded with a silver bar of 4lbs! Hot & hard was the common theme as the mini heatwave started to take effect. Whilst many struggled as a result, it was anything but for Mr Campbell who fished a 30 second drop on a Di 7 with a black snake in the aerators to land eight.
Things really baked on Saturday, which turned out to be the hottest day yet recorded for 2019. Fortunately anglers heeded the forecasts & went out with plenty of water supplies & sunscreen. As anticipated in the bright & hot conditions, those fishing deep with lures produced the best results. Saturday regular Jim Dempsey rudder fished a Di5 & black & green lures, mainly on runs down towards the Sailing Club. He ended the session with a fine 4 fish limit & a further 15 rainbows caught & released. Richard Walker was back on the water again and was not to be disappointed with a total of 18 to the net. He found black lures & green damsel patterns to be most effective. Graham Norman, over from the Isle of Man, spent the day afloat and interestingly, having struggled through the morning, located feeding fish during the extreme heat of the afternoon, at the bottom of the Hensborough Dam. He netted 9 in very quick succession on a floating line in conjunction with a very long leader and a pair of damsel nymphs. Almost simultaneously, on the bank at Rainbow Corner, season rod Mike Garner decided on a couple of last casts there before calling it an early day. Using a pair of cormorants he also enjoyed fast & furious action with 7 rainbows to add to the brace he had managed at the Swan’s Nest in the morning.
Whilst still hot, conditions were more favourable than Saturday. Feeding fish clearly stayed around in Rainbow Corner overnight as on Sunday Mr Hollingshead fished diawl bachs there for a six fish limit with another brace caught & released. James Kelly also had fine sport fishing buzzers & diawl bachs in Toft to land 8. Out in the boats, Paul Mitchell paired up with Tim Burn & decided to stick with dries and landed 7. Tim decided on pulling with a Di3 & FABs to tempt another 7 to the boat. Staff member Michael Hanlon explored the water using a combo of olive snake & candy blob fished deep. He netted eleven rainbows in total finding fish near X Buoy, Croft Shoal & drifts down towards the Cornfield. Dai Davies & Jimmy Riddell stuck to washing line tactics with UV Crunchers & black diawl bachs in both Rainbow Corner & drifts out from the Tower to end the day with a fine total of 21 to the boat. Despite a delayed arrival resulting in a foreshortened session, Keith Harding & Mike Clarke got right into the action too, over the middle using various coloured snake patterns on a Di7 to land 10 & 7 respectively.
Disabled Anglers
Draycote has a wheelie boat for hire, which includes a ramp and hydraulic lift for wheelchair access. To book the wheelie boat call the lodge on 01788 812018.
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 Fishery Management (UK) ltd guides top flies for all venues for the washing line that can be found on the online shop https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/”
COMPETITIONS During July
Saturday 20th July and Sunday 21st The England TEFF event has taken up the whole fleet for both days.
Sunday 28th July 2019 – Scierra Pairs For entry details contact Phil Dixon via event web site :-https://www.scierrapairs.co.uk/heats/
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Perris from Northampton, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 225 Number Trout Taken: 264 Number Trout Released: 455
Total Catch: 719 Rod Average: 3.19
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 22:00
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 22:00
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 22:00
Last 4 Hours from: 18:00 until 22:00 (Ticket sales available from 17:45)
Gutting Room – Please be aware that the facility is temporarily suspended following freezer malfunction.
All Anglers to be off site by: 22:15
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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