Draycote Water weekly fishing report week ending Sunday 14th July 2019
Tel: 01788 812018
We have experienced a bumper week at Draycote Water and the boat fishing during this period can only be described as having been outstanding at times – especially for this time of year. Good catches have come from all over the venue with drifts over the middle probably producing the most consistent results. The bank fishing, which tends to be a hit and miss affair through July, has also seen an improvement and some anglers have recorded impressive returns from all along the North Shore, Rainbow Corner and the Swans Nest. A total of 229 visiting the venue netted 1501 trout representing an impressive rod average of 6.55 for the week.
Whilst still our intention to highlight notable catches during the week, we intend to place a little more emphasis in forthcoming reports on actual tactics & methods which have proved successful for our top anglers. This, over time, will hopefully enable anglers to improve their tactical range & ultimately their overall catch rate.
Diverse arrays of methods have proved successful this week. For the dry fly enthusiast Culs, Bob’s Bits, Big Reds and the ever deadly Crippled Midge, have all worked well. Washing line tactics, utilising a FAB on the point with a couple of Diawl Bachs or Crunchers on the droppers has put fish in the boat, especially around G buoy in Toft, whilst deep buzzers fished on a floating line with a long leader through the Aerators has made for some very exciting sessions for some. However, snakes fished on a sinking line, has been the most successful method by far during this reporting period. Our own guide Lee Henfrey, a master of sunk line techniques, recommends either a Di5 (a fly line that sinks at 5 inches per second), or a Di7 (with a sink rate of 7 inches per second) with no more than 10 feet of leader. His approach is to make initial retrieves as soon as the line lands. On the second cast the line is retrieved after a ten second count down, and the third cast is retrieved after 15 seconds and so on. Using this method you are slowly searching the depths of the water column seeking out the taking zone. As soon as you get a take, you are likely to have established the correct feeding depth. Another tip which Lee will always advocate is to “Hang your flies” at the end of the retrieve. Many anglers, once they have finished a retrieve, simply lift the flies out of the water and cast again, but Lee maintains that in doing so anglers are so often missing out on the chance of hooking a following fish. His sound advice is that once you come towards the end of the retrieve, when the fly is about 15 feet from the boat, stop it dead in the water. Keep a firm hold of the rod and line and count up to ten seconds. This allows the fly to sink slowly down and proves very tempting to any unsuspecting trout that has followed it back towards the boat. Give this technique a try the next time you visit us here at Draycote water. To coincide with his advice there is an online offer of snakes on our website at www.flyfishstore.co.uk These have been specially selected by Lee Henfrey as top patterns to compliment this tactic.
Whilst numbers of anglers on the bank at this time of year is limited, bank highlights this week include C J Day who fished a morning session in Rainbow Corner straight-lining a team of nymphs to bring 7 rainbows to the net. He reported his best pattern to be the Nemo Cruncher fished on the top dropper. Mike Oliver also did well to land 5 on his PTN variants along the North Shore. Season rod Tony Broadway – so often the bank angler’s “barometer” – worked a team of crunchers on a FAB based washing line to tempt a good six fish total from the Tower Bank. His catch was topped by a fin perfect silver bar of a rainbow which tipped the scales at 3lbs 12oz. Mick Cronin bank fished a late day session on Saturday to also land six fine rainbows with his best topping 5lbs.
Out in the boats this week Mark Hunt described his Monday evening 8 fish session as “Fantastic top of the water fishing” Keith Coley & Bob Taft netted a combined total of 18 to snakes on Tuesday with season rod Chris Discombe netting a dozen to both snake & damsel patterns too. Ed Douglas found conditions perfect for his dries on Wednesday enjoying a sensational day all over open water with 34 to the net – all caught & released. Whilst the pairing of Peter Elliott & Lee Patten stuck to dries in the aerators on Thursday with both recording impressive double figure returns, season rod Richard Walker went with the Olive & black snakes deeper down for a total of 23. Another season rod, Ged O’Donoghue, wryly recorded “Snakes 15 Dries NIL” for his “Fantastic Day” on Thursday!! Many of the anglers out on Friday were exploring the venue & experimenting ahead of the AMFC match the following day and as such kept their tactics confidential. Nevertheless, despite blustery conditions on a brisk North Westerly, some excellent figures were recorded with Chris Bobby netting a 17 fish total & Peter De Kremer 13. Regular rod Jamie Scott stuck with the snake theme sub-surface to land 24 rainbows up to 4lbs – his best pattern being his own tying of a black snake. Most of his fish came in the boils. Lee Hankins concentrated on the dry fly approach using fiery brown Bobs Bits + Big Red in the Inlet & Biggin Bay to end with 4 fine fish for the pot & a further 14 C&R. On Saturday the rudder boat pairing of weekend regulars Ifor Jones & Jim Dempsey had an epic day with 20 & 21 fish respectively to their sunk line deep tactics out over open water. We also hosted the Group 2 Association of Major Fly-fishing Clubs Round 4 event which was a great success. Twenty four competitors from 4 teams landed 181 trout for a rod average of 7.5 with 18 of the 24 rods limiting before the final whistle. Bristol Reservoirs FFA Paul Bond took largest fish with a terrific rainbow of 4lbs 11oz together with best bag (Including time bonus) of 25lbs. Organiser John Caldwell later described it as an excellent match & we congratulate both Paul Bond and GWFFA’s Chris Bobby for coming in as top boat pairing. Chris fished a slow glass with FABS & nymphs against Paul who stuck with dries. Team honours went to Grafham Water FFA with a total weight of 123lbs 2oz, followed by Bristol Reservoirs in second and Greylags securing third spot.
Saturday was also the occasion of another beginner’s tuition day which proved to be an extremely successful event. This course concentrated on boat fishing with emphasis on safe handling of the vessel, anchoring, setting up & controlling drifts etc. All participants landed fish under the watchful eye of Guiding and Tuition Manager Tom Bird, and guide Lee Henfrey. They are now undoubtedly “hooked for life”. For information on upcoming tuition please visit our website at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk
The week finished with a quieter day in terms of rod & boat numbers but Sunday anglers enjoyed some blistering sport – especially down in Toft. Winds mainly from the west had kept boat away for most of the week but as wind speeds dropped at the end of the weekend anglers were greeted with feeding fish & some great catches resulted. Amongst those enjoying fine sport was Leicester’s Lester Booth who netted 17 to Crippled Midge + Big Reds. He commented on how many other fish he moved or missed too. Martyn Moore was also in Toft & alternated between a buzzer team & dries for a 14 fish session. Keith Harding was nearby & similarly finished with a 14 fish total. He switched between dries & washing line tactics on a 5 weight outfit. Keith probably summed up the view of many successful anglers this week describing “…stunning fish which all but pulled my arm off…Fabulous!!”
Water temperatures have only just breached the 20°C mark which probably accounts for such consistent sport. With cooler temperatures and rain forecast later in the week it is anticipated that such good sport will continue.
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 and sinking lines can be found on the online shop https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/”
COMPETITIONS During July. TEFF Repecharge – 20th and 21st July. (All boats fully booked)
Scierra Pairs – 28th July.
Weather Forecast:
We’re often asked which weather forecast we use. In our experience the BBC regional forecast can be very inaccurate. We tend to lose a lot of customers based on these, and therefore have started using more localised weather apps such as XC Weather or Windguru. These can be downloaded to your phone or computer, and using our post code of CV23 8AB, will give you a dedicated, more accurate forecast for Draycote water.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Jim Dempsey from Bedworth, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 229 Number Trout Taken: 414 Number Trout Released: 1087
Total Catch: 1501 Rod Average: 6.55
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 21:45
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 21:45
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 21:45
Last 4 Hours from: 17:45 until 21:45 (Ticket sales available from 17:30)
Gutting Room Closes: 21:15
All Anglers to be off site by: 22:00
Tight lines,
A joint compilation this week from The Draycote Team
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