Draycote Weekly Fishing Report.
Tel: 01788 812018 email: lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk
Web Site www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk
Online Shop www.flyfishstore.co.uk
Our COVID-19 Guidelines
Full details of our updated guidelines can be found on our website http://www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/latest-report/
Fishery Report: Week ending Sunday 11th October 2020
Overall a good week fishing at Draycote with a good mix of methods working from fishing nymphs and daddies with FAB & Boobies just under the surface. However, the fish are really turning their attention onto the fry with a number of fish coming to minkies, snakes and boobies. Including some really fantastic fish with well mended tails with silver blooms all the way through. 238 anglers visited the fishery this week landing a total of 1,181 for a rod average of 5.0.
Overcast conditions Monday with some showers at times with the wind coming from the South West, the fish continued to respond well to the reduce water temperature with he rod average for the day working out at 5.4. On the bank Draycote season ticket holder Bob Smith landed 6 fish from the Old Pipe in Biggin using a Minkie Booby and also a barred olive snake with 4 of the fish coming to the Minkie booby. All water season ticket Norman Perkins also enjoyed a good day on the bank landing 8 fish including 3 cracking fish over 3lb. Stan Hillman & Mick Cronin also fished the bank landing 5 a piece from various areas with the fish all falling to fry patterns. On the boats season ticket holder John Dickens landed 10 fish sticking to dries with Daddy, Midas and Hoppers, fishing off the top dam and also around J & T Buoy to the Farnborough Dam. Mr H Smith & Mr Cox landed 11 fish between them pulling fry patterns. The best boat on the day went to Draycote season ticket holder Lee Patten & Peter Elliot who landed 30 fish between them. They found the majority of the fish around J Buoy drifting towards the Farborough Dam and the spit, coming to snakes fished on a DI 5 with some fish also taking daddies. Lee also landed a cracking Rainbow just short of 6lb which can be found on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/flyfishstore
Tuesday started of bright with the sun sunning and the wind coming from the West, as the day progressed there was occasional showers until about 4pm when the heavens open and we experienced a torrential downpour. Fishing on the bank Draycote season ticket holder Pete Allen landed 5 fish, with 4 of them coming from Rainbow Corner just as the Dam wall ends and the other from the Tower Bank. Pete used a Minkie booby on a floater to take his fish and lost a really big fish in Rainbow Corner that snapped 9.5lb tippet. On the boats all water season ticket holder Keith Coley fished with Bob Taft with the pair landing 14 fish between them from around Rainbow Corner and the Tower bank on a mix of lures fished in the bottom half of the water column. Lee Tones & Steve Farmer enjoyed a good day on the boats landing 25 fish between them, the pair found that a Di 5 with snakes and a minkie booby was the most successful area. With the fish being landed drifting from J & T Buoy into the Farborough Dam and then around the value tower and drifting along the tower bank.
The wind remained in the West yesterday with overcast conditions with the sun coming out in the afternoon, ahead of more rain later in the afternoon and evening. On the bank Tony Broadway landed 6 fish from Rainbow Corner, Tony used a washing line with a Minkie Booby on the point and then Red Holographic Diawl Bachs on the droppers with the majority of the fish taking the nymphs. On the boats season ticket holder Richard Walker landed 9 fish from the Draycote Dam side of Y Buoy fishing deep on a Di 6 with lures, including a cracking fish of around 5lb. Tony Baldwin landed 15 fish on a mix of methods from dries to pulling pink rabbit lures. All water season ticket holders Dave Kennell & Alex Urquhart landed 20 fish between them using an Airflo 12ft fast tip with 2 boobies and then foam daddies in the middle. The pair found the fish drifting around J buoy towards Farborough Dam and then along the Hensborough Bank and the outlet. Sean Higgins & Ian Bradfield enjoyed a good day’s sport using a 15ft ghost tip landing 21 fish. Roy Anderson fished for the first time at Draycote and enjoyed a great days sport landing 32 fish including a fantastic 7lb brown pictures on www.facebook.com/flyfishstore along with a number of rainbows in the 4-5lb. The key patterns for Roy was a mini minkie on the point with cormorants on the droppers.
A strong west south westerly and some heavy showers greeted us on Thursday morning, but this eased as the day progressed. Richard Hood and Mr C Webster had 25 fish to the boat on a mixture of FAB’s and Fry patterns. Season permit holder Steve Orton caught 5 fish from a boat on Damsels. Brian Allwood remarked on a difficult day from the bank having only netted 1 fish. Out on the rudder were Draycote regulars Jim Dempsey and Rod Wilson who netted over 20 fish on sinking lines on long runs through the middle of the reservoir and around the shoals. Tony Parker netted over 15 fish from a drifting boat and remarked on a very enjoyable day.
With a strong westerly breeze and mostly dry conditions Draycote fished well on Friday, with the rod average constantly holding around 5. Season permit holder Bob Smith caught 8 fish from the bank using Minkie Boobies. Bob fished through Biggin and Duns Bay up onto the Tower bank and remarked on “yet another great bank fishing day at Draycote water”. Mr A Joseph and Mr B Joseph caught 4 fish from the bank on fry patterns by the valve tower, including fish of 4 and 5 lbs in weight. Mr A hart caught 2 fish from the bank by the overflow on Minkie Boobies. Mr Richard Ellis had 10 fish to the boat on an intermediate line with Sparkler boobies and sunken Daddies. Young Dave Smith caught “4 lovely fish” from a boat using black and white lure on a DI7. Kevin Hart caught a bakers dozen from the Hensborough bank and Farborough Dam using fry patterns, with fish of up to 4lbs in weight. Season permit holder Tony Parker had 18 fish to the boat, all on top of the water sport. Rob Middleton and Steve Peart caught 23 fish from a drifting boat on boobies in Biggin Bay.
Saturday proved to be a bit tricky with at times a very strong westerly and light showers in the afternoon. This didn’t seem to put the fish off though as we saw a significant rise in the rod average to 6.5.. Stan Hillman fished the bank using floating fry patterns to land 9 fish from various points along the northern shoreline. Mick Cronin and Mark Parsley did much the same to land 4 and 5 respectively. Season permit holder Mike Garner fished from the bank in the Cornfield on Crunchers to net 5 good fish with most of the action coming in the first hour or two. Ken Cowell used an olive snake to net 3 fish from the bank, while Tony Harris netted 6 on Crunchers. The usual suspects of Ivor Jones and Jim Dempsey had a bakers dozen to the boat on the rudder using lures fished in the top few feet of the water. Mr D East and Mr P Carpenter caught 15 fish drifting in front of the sailing club using Black and Gold Humungus. Jim Brennan and Chris Discombe used white Snakes and Boobies to catch 14 fish from a boat up by the Draycote Dam and in Rainbow Corner.
Lovely Autumnal conditions Sunday with a north west wind giving a lovely ripple to the water teamed some very welcome sun with cloud rolling through later in the day. On the bank we hosted the TroutMasters fish off which had to be postponed due to Covid-19 earlier in the year. This fish off is to determine who will be representing Draycote in the 2020 final which has been pushed back to 2021. We had 5 anglers who responded to fish the final, it was fished to a 6 fish limit with the anglers being allowed to select the fish they brought to the scales. Winning the match was Draycote season ticket holder Lee Patten who landed 6 fish for 14lb 14oz, with Lee taking these fish from various point around the lake. Out on the boats Draycote fishery manager Tom Bird fished with Jim Smith with the pair landing over 35 fish to the boat. The best method on the day was a Di 5 sweep line with a black and gold Humungus booby on the top dropper and a barred olive snake booby on the point. With the hotspot being the Farborough Dam wall from the spit all the way down to near the pontoon, with a number of fish coming to the hang. For tips on fishing the hang please read Tom’s blog on the subject here http://www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/ it’s the third blog down. Another boat who found the Di 5 sweep to be the key line for the day was Keith Harding & Mick Clarke who landed 21 fish to the boat again fishing the Farborough Dam wall but this time using a Humungus and a sparkler booby. All water season ticket holders Eddie Mitchell & Dave Kennell enjoyed a great day afloat landing 42 fish to the boat. Fishing around the Valve tower and along the Tower Bank using a Hover Line and then 2 boobies with a foam daddy on the dropper. Fishing in the same area also fishing on slow sinking intermediates and tip lines was Tim Burn & P Mitchell landing 29 fish to the boat.
Our Online Shop www.flyfishstore.co.uk
Going away for one last fishing trip of the season or going away this winter Covid allowing on a winter fishing get away? Well why not look at the fantastic Fishpond Duffel bags currently with 30% off RRP on the online shop https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/shop/category/sale-items/
Competition
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Fur & Feather- Sunday 29th November 2020.
We are please to announce we have the date for a popular Fur & Feather competition on Sunday 29th November. As always there will be some fantastic Christmas Hamper prizes up for grabs for the 1st prize and bottles of wine and spirit for 2nd 3rd and the biggest fish.
Fish with your partner to fishery rules 12 fish limit to the boat no time bonus heaviest weight wins. To book your place please phone the lodge on 01788 812018.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Tuition & Guided Sessions
With the end of season approaching now is the perfect time to get out with one of our guides looking at how to land some of these big back end fish. All of 1:1 casting tuition & guiding is now able to resume following the latest guidelines for Covid-19 please visit www.flyfishtuition.co.uk for bookings please call Tom on 01788 812018.
Opening Hours & Boat Session
Lodge & Bank Open – 7.30am – 18.30
Full Day Boat – 8.30am – 18.30
Morning Boat – 8.30am – 13.30
Afternoon Boat – 13.30pm – 18.30
Last 4 Hr – 14.30 pm – 18.30pm
All Anglers Off Site – 19.00pmh
Follow Us on social media
Facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore
Twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore
Instagram www.instagram.com/flyfishstore/
Local Angling Club is Draycote Fly Fishers www.draycote-fly-fishers-assoc.co.uk/