Draycote Report W/E 25th April 2021

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Week Ending 25^th April 2021   Water Temperature 9’C.   Rod Average 6.3

A lovely start to the week with bright sunny conditions, and light winds. However, not the most amazing fishing conditions. Despite this Ian Richardson fished at the Tower Bank to land 9 fish all on buzzer on a half day session. All Water member Phil Mee landed 17 fish all on buzzers with the biggest being a Rainbow of 5lb 4oz. Draycote season ticket holder James Kelly also used buzzers but this time in conjunction with a Damsel to land 6 fish from the bank. Out in the boats Peter Elliot & Lee Patten landed over 60 fish to the boat using buzzer fished deep and slow in the bright conditions. Fishing from the boat in Rainbow Corner Andy Kress used Buzzers and Diawl Bachs to land 14 fish.

Another warm day Tuesday, season ticket holder Tony Broadway did well from the bank landing 26 fish all on Buzzers in Biggin Bay and The Tower Bank. All water season ticket holder Norman Perkins fished in this area to take 10 fish also all on buzzers. On the boats it was also buzzers that caught the anglers their fish. Tony Plummer had a great day landing 20 fish and losing a lot in play, fishing at Rainbow Corner & Hensborough bank with Tony commenting, “stuffed with fish along there”. Johnathan Wood & Alec Urquhart landed over 50 fish all on buzzers as well. With their fish coming from Biggin Bay, Dunn’s & Rainbow Corner.

A much cooler day Wednesday with a North East giving a definite chill the air. All Water season ticket holder Phil Mee enjoyed a good day on the bank again this time taking 14 on buzzers. Mr Squires fished at the Tower bank deep to take 8 fish. On the boats Geoff Preston took 12 fish on Damsels around Rainbow Corner and The Hensborough Bank in a short morning session. Also using Damsels to great affect Richard Walker landed 20 fish in the same area as Geoff. Tim grove enjoyed a good day’s sport on black buzzers to land 20 fish up in Rainbow Corner. Mick Cartlidge landing over 34 fish from various point on the reservoir fishing a sinking line and lures.

A tricky day for the bank anglers with bright sun and a frosty start on Thursday. Draycote season ticket holder Tony Broadway landed 8 fish on buzzers from the Cornfield. Fellow season ticket holder Dave Kennel landed 5 fish on the bank from various marks. The boats faired better as the fish had pushed out into the deeper water. Martyn Moore fished in Rainbow Corner using buzzers and commented on a “Fantastic Day” landing 19 fish. Tim Grove fishing the last of a 3 day break took 23 fish all on buzzers. Eddie Mitchell & Paul Mitchell fished an Airflo 12ft slow tip with a team of buzzers and a FAB on the point to boat 30 fish. Jim Brennan & Chris Discombe landed 25 fish using small black buzzers in Rainbow Corner.

Friday started bright and breezy with a bit of a nip in the air. The very welcome sunshine has pushed the fish down a bit in the water but it hasn’t stopped them biting, as the daily rod average came out at 10.6. Conditions have been a little more difficult of late off the bank, which is to be expected, whilst the boats have faired a little better in deeper water. Season permit holders Lee Patten and Peter Elliott fished the washing line and buzzers to good effect, netting a large number of fish from a drifting boat along the Hensborough Bank and by the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay. Mr P Swinbourne had over 20 fish to the boat using buzzers along the Hensborough Bank and remarked on how good the fishing was. Mr Les Lerigo had 5 fish to the boat using yellow dancers on a sinking line. Draycote regular Chris Flay ventured out for an evening session in a boat and fished damsels “Slow”, by the Inlet to net 15 fish, and a 3lb perch.

Another sunny day on Saturday with a cold start, warming up slightly as the day progressed. The breeze picked up a bit in the afternoon and was swirling around, making for difficult casting at times. Mike Garner fished crunchers off the Tower Bank to net 3 fish through the middle of the day, whilst Luke and David Orton managed 6 apiece. Season permit holder Tim Davies netted a dozen from a boat using a mixture of buzzers and snakes in Biggin Bay. Mr B Cowlishaw had 4 fish to the boat on buzzers, remarking on how much he enjoyed the day. Mr K Doleman used buzzers and FAB’s to catch his 10 fish, all netted between 12 noon and 4pm.

A very cold easterly was blowing across Draycote on Sunday, making for uncomfortable fishing, for those who didn’t wrap up warm. Overall, most anglers who ventured out onto the water did quite well, with more fish being caught through the afternoon as the day warmed up, “slightly”. Richard Walker and Paul Davis had 14 fish between them on Lures fished on sinking lines, whilst Ed Douglas used buzzers to catch well into double figures. Young Mike Oliver had 5 fish to the net on buzzers and Staff member Lloyd Thompson caught 10 fish using much the same method. The Local angling club, “Draycote Fly Fishers”, held their spring bank pairs match on Sunday which was well attended. 18 anglers took part, catching 41 fish between them. Paul Farrell and John Pearson took third place with 4 fish, Dave Adkins and Brian Frogatt were in second place with 12 fish, and the match winners with 14 fish were Paul Walley and Richard Hanlon.  If you are interested in joining the Draycote Fly Fishers or would like more information, please follow this link https://www.draycote-fly-fishers-assoc.co.uk/

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Weekly Rod Average: 11.4   Water Temp: 13c

This week saw Eyebrook starting off with a predominantly cold north easterly wind and bright blue sky. The fishing has been quite prolific, and reports are coming back to the lodge of good numbers of fish coming from all over the lake. The brighter weather is starting to push the fish out from the bank slightly and the boats are now starting to catch more than their fair share of fish. Most fish are falling to buzzers, but there are also a few falling to hare’s ear patterns, pheasant tail nymphs and the occasional Montana/ Pitsford pea style lures.

Tuesday seen the day start off with the introduction of another large group of piscatorial residents, fresh in from Exe valley. Good strong hard fighting fish seemed to just hit the water and disperse in all directions. Even though the weather conditions remained bright, the wind did help to provide excellent sport for all our visitors, with a majority of them being able to get themselves in to double figures.

Wednesday saw Mike Brookes join Andy Miller for a 4-hour guided session. He had an excellent 4 hours with Andy and lost count of the number of fish to the boat and felt that he had learned a hell of a lot from Andy as well as having a great laugh along the way. The fishing remains on form as lots of our anglers are coming back to the jetty happy. Plenty of compliments about the staff taking their time to give a bit of guidance and direction for set ups and where to fish.

Thursday looked to be the best day of the week so far with nearly every angler managing to get in to double figures from the bank and the boats. Good numbers of fish were being target by Andrew Lilly along the Robbo’s cabin area from the bank early in the day, but sport slowed down once the sun was at its highest point. All along the Leicestershire Bank, fish are still traversing the bank in sizeable pods and can be found all the way from Dogwood bay to the Cow Shed. The Island is holding a good number of fish with even a few big Perch to be taken as well. Mr K Bird had a bit of a surprize when one of his fish came in with an 8lbs Pike attached. Mr Allen has just started getting back in to fly fishing and was pleasantly surprised with a 6lbs Carp taking one of his buzzers. He was also pleasantly surprised when the fishery manager popped around to see how he was getting on and to offer a bit of advice to get him in amongst the fish.

The excellent sport continued on Friday with similar conditions albeit accompanied by a chilly wind. With the fish in similar areas to the earlier part of the week and still feasting on the abundant hatches of chironomids, sport was more or less guaranteed. Season ticket holder, Mr Farrell and his boat partner used crunchers to good effect both recoding high double figure catches, whilst Phil Mee and Horace Wood had over 30 to the boat using a combination of green fritz and buzzers. Mr Signy was afloat in his tube and also recoded a double figure catch. Anglers fishing from the bank are also finding fish with season ticket holder, Tom Dickson using a small black and green lure to take 10. Best fish of the day though was a 6 lb brownie which was taken, and safely returned, by Mr Burnham during his last 4-hour bank session.

A clear blue sky awaited our anglers on Saturday morning, although the north easterly wind had a raw edge to it, especially in the morning. The Eyebrook was pleasingly busy with 40 odd anglers and it didn’t disappoint returning a daily of average of over 9. Regular bank anglers, Bob Margery, Steve Sibley and Mr Gillis all recorded double figure catches during their morning sessions, catching from both Sam’s Dyke and Three tress on cruncher, buzzer and FAB combinations. The evening bank anglers were also finding fish with James Beeson recording 6 in his last four-hour session, whilst the local osprey took one which wasn’t returned. Catches were also good from the boats, again a combination of buzzers, crunchers and diawl bachs responsible for several double figure catches. The warmer evening tempted some of the anglers to try the dries and were rewarded with some sport, surely a harbinger of evening rises to the dries during May. Also several anglers recorded catching some of our fine looking big perch.

Sunday continued the fantastic fishing for our visitors. We were once again visited by the Gillespie brothers who had an amazing day out on the water getting well in to double figures each. Mick Glover took his young grandson out for a day out and had a great day fishing buzzer and Diawl Bachs which lead to Mick’s grandson landing a lovely silver 3lbs 5oz Rainbow. Over the weekend, anglers have been catching a few larger trout, a clear indication that some of the over wintered fish have started to show up to gorge on the buzzers.

Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230804

Week ending 25^th April.     Water Temperature:  11c+          Rod Av: 3.5

Flat calm for long periods of the day with the wind during the late afternoon swinging to the south. Most of the day anglers concentrated their efforts to the bank opposite the lodge & wood although a few rods took our advice & went across the main basin towards the stones & green bay.

The wood bank continues to produce to floating & intermediate lines with damsels, buzzers, crunchers & biscuit fab, with some anglers catching in excess of 20 trout.

Most of last week we have seen an improving evening rise especially across the middle of the reservoir, Monday night we enjoyed our best evening rise of the season with fish moving along the middle of the Thornton arm across to the stones & out in front of the dam. They weren’t easy to tempt on emergers or dries with the best results falling to black buzzer, small diawls & crunchers fished just sub surface.

Our last 4 hours fishing permits are £4.00 boat with the last 4 hour permit £10.00 which allows you to take 1 trout & return any others.

Tuesday from late morning onwards the trout moved all day to a continuous buzzer hatch with trout moving from in front of the lodge all the way across to the stones and dam. Anglers found it was easier to catch on buzzer, diawls & crunchers fished sub surface rather than emergers & dries. Great to see the fish moving as they did during the day despite the cool easterly.

Wednesday and the coldest day of the week, frost in the morning with a biting east wind. Mr Perry on the bank fishing with buzzers caught 10 when most other anglers in the boats found the fishing difficult.

Thursday and Friday were similar days, warm in the sun but with a cool easterly breeze. Although most anglers started opposite the lodge and off the corner of the wood by late morning, early afternoon they were more spread out from the stones to green bay and across the middle. Floating lines continued to take fish with buzzers, diawls and damsels with some anglers finding a sinking line with black and green lures, humungus and bunny patterns also taking fish.

Saturday & Sunday, morning frost with the cold easterly continuing to blow. Trout are starting to move away from the wood with anglers picking up trout in the Thornton arm, stones, green bay and across the middle with some of the better catches falling to anglers using a sinking line with damsel, black and green lures and humungus with limited evening rise with the cold easterly.