Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton
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| Fisheries Opening Hours & Boat Session | |
| Lodge & Bank Open: | 7.30am – 9.15pm |
| Full Day Boat: | 8.30am – 9.15pm |
| Morning Boat: | 8.30am – 3.00pm |
| Afternoon Boat: | 3.00pm – 9.15pm |
| Last 4 Hr: | 5.15pm – 9.15pm |
| All Anglers Off Site: | 9.30pm |
Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018
Email: draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk
2023 Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/
2023 Membership Options visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/season-permits/
2023 Permits & Pre Payment for Boat Bookings Details of our Day Permits, Package Breaks & our Boat bookings pre-payment policy visit our website.
https://www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/
Exclusion Zone Due to the work being carried out on the Hensborough Bank there is an exclusion zone in place, clearly marked with yellow buoys. Under no circumstances are anglers to enter this area as there are divers in the water.
Week Ending: 23rd July 2023 Rod Av: 5.5 Water Temperature: 17 °C
A sunny start to the week, with the cloud rolling in just after lunch with some heavy showers at times. It was a good start to the week, with the good sport continuing. Draycote member John Dickens landed 14 fish all on dries. On a mixture of Daddies and also F Flies, drifting around the Draycote Dam heading towards B Buoy and also Rainbow Corner to A. Another angler who landed 14 fish was Craig Brandson, who also used daddies, however, also found the fish willing to take boobies pulled across the surface. Keeping the dry fly theme going, Kit Doleman landed a dozen fish on daddies and Bob’s Bits. Taking advantage of one of our three day breaks Kevin Levell from Scotland, fished his 2nd day after fishing Eyebrook the day before. Kevin, fished a washing line to take 7 fish before his last 4 fell to a snake fished on a Di 3 sinking line. David Stott landed 24 fish using dries before changing to small black lures with Viva’s and cormorants taking the majority of his fish.
A change of wind Tuesday, with the wind starting very light from the Southeast, though did go to the Northwest in the afternoon teamed with a rain shower. Before finishing the day back in the Southwest. Once again the anglers enjoyed the good sport that Draycote is experiencing, helped by the cooler July temperatures. All water member Andy Lillie landed a dozen fish from a morning session, landing his first 2 from near the Inlet. Commenting that there was fish moving all over Rainbow Corner but they wouldn’t take his dries. He then moved down near J Buoy to take his other 10 in the last hour. Using a washing line with a Ham & Cheese FAB on the point and then nymphs on the droppers. Draycote members Martin Foster & John Vyse boated 17 fish, drifting around A, M & K Buoy. Either fishing dries or a washing line to tempt the fish. Tim Grove starting his first day or a 3 day break landed a dozen fish. Tim, fished around the Farborough Dam to take most of his fish on either Yellow Owls or a washing line. All water member Norman Perkins fished at Rainbow Corner to land 13 fish in a half day. With an orange daddy and a green suspender buzzer his top pattern. Paul Davison & Tony Baldwin landed over 30 fish to the boat all on dries with Paul on Midas and Tony on a mixture of dries. Kevin Rees also fished dries to land 37 fish, with crippled midge being his best pattern. With his best area being off the exclusion buoys drifting towards M & N Buoy.
Early heavy showers did not deter the fishermen or the fishing on Wednesday. Once again there is some fantastic sport to be had generally over the deeper water using practically any method at the moment. Dries are working well, as are nymphs fished on a floater, midge tip or an intermediate line. Regular visitor Paul Walker used these very tactics to net a grand total of 19 fish. The bank seems to be fishing quite well of late with young Mick Cronin catching 10 fish in total. Mick has been regularly fishing both in Rainbow Corner and off The Tower Bank over the past couple of weeks and had reasonable success on foam daddies . Fishery staff member Lee Henfrey ventured out for a couple of hours through the middle of the day and caught a dozen fish, on hoppers, boobies and diawl bachs.
Wonderful calm conditions greeted us on Thursday morning here at Draycote, with a good head of fish rising around the pontoon as we were preparing the boats. It proved a busy day with good returns alround. Ed Douglas had a good day on the dries, netting 19 on crippled midge and the F fly. Simon Ringer had 4 fish to the boat using orange foam daddies. Season permit holder Paul Havard used the washing line technique off a floating line, with black nymphs and a tequila booby. Paul plied his trade around the overflow as well as drifting between Y and M buoy . Bob Askew used a slow intermediate line with black crunchers and a blob on the point to net 9 fish whilst drifting over the open water. Peter Elliott netted 14 fish from a drifting boat on bob’s bits in sizes 12 and 14.
Once again here we are in July with almost perfect conditions for fishing on Friday. The surface water temperature is at 17 degrees and with good cloud cover, the fish are holding in the top few feet of the water. In general, dries are working quite well, but dropping down onto a midge tip line or a slow intermediate, either with nymphs, or a couple of claret hoppers, has produced good returns for some of our visitors. Season permit holder Alan Grant took to the bank to net 5 fish near the Valve Tower. Alan used a slow intermediate line and candy FAB’s. Young Ian Reeve and Colin Grainger had well over 20 fish to the boat between them on a variety of patterns such as tequila boobies, diawl bachs and dries. Ian Richardson remarked on “A Good Day”, after netting 10 fish from a drifting boat. Ian drifted from Y to M buoy as well as fishing near the Tower using a DI3 line and a tequila booby. Season permit holder Mark Hunt ended the day with 16 fish to the boat. Mark targeted the fry feeders in the morning with floating fry patterns, before drifting the main basin on yellow owls through the afternoon.
Light showers accompanied us as we prepared the boats on Saturday morning and these continued throughout the day. Season permit holder Jon Crowley had a dozen fish to the boat during a morning session using a variety of flies such as muskins and foam daddies. Jon fished mostly around K buoy and the front of the out of bounds markers on the Hensborough Bank. Sue and Neil Potts had over 20 fish to the boat between them. They used the washing line technique with FAB’s and diawl bachs and fished M buoy in the morning, before moving in to Rainbow Corner for the afternoon. Mr M Clayton and Mr E Croote had a good number of fish to the boat, well over 20, on hoppers, crippled midge and blobs.
Sunday morning saw us bailing a lot of water out of the boat after some heavy overnight showers. The day itself was forecast for more rain which just never appeared. Once again Draycote was in great form with the daily rod average coming out at 8.4. Regulars Martin Rowson and Neil Deakin put 2 dozen fish in the boat and were off home by early afternoon. Tim Davies and Chris Pallot had 15 fish to the boat during a morning session using dry fly tactics in Rainbow Corner. Season permit holder Paul Mitchell and Tim Burn had well over 30 fish to the boat between them using foam daddies and FAB’s. Neil Tomkins and Chris Pyke had 26 fish to the boat on the second day of their visit using various top of the water tactics. Staff member Kevin Jones caught half a dozen fish during a morning session using dries at first, before switching to snakes on a DI3 line. Season permit holder Alan Grant ventured out onto the bank to net 3 fish near the Valve Tower.
Competitions Due at Draycote:
John Horsey Wychwood Individual Fly Fishing Championship Individual Competition Sunday 20th August entry details https://flyfishingchampionships.uk/
Jim Watts Trophy Fly Dressers Guild 26th August.
Weather: we use two weather forecast pages.
Both options give a good 48 to 72 hour forecast.
XC Weather – Forecast for CV23 8AB | XCWeather use this link for Draycote
Windy App – https://www.windy.com/ on their home page, enter the fishery name Draycote Water +
Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807
Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk
2023 Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/
2023 Permits & Pre Payment for Boat Bookings Details of our Day Permits, Package Breaks & our Boat bookings pre-payment policy visit our website.
https://www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/
Week Ending: 23rd July Rod Av: 3.1 Water Temperature: 18c+ – 19c
Monday cooler conditions & we saw at times fish moving on the surface. Andy Lilley & G England caught 20 trout for their mornings visit on a midge tip & Airflo 5ft tip lines with small Fab & diawl bach fishing across the main basin, however catching most drifting down the middle of the Markfield arm. Lindsay Bates & R Keeber caught 11 on crunchers & damsel they found the best of the sport to a floating line during late afternoon onwards.
Tuesday with the continued cooler summer forecast with cloud & light rain its ideal conditions for July fly fishing. Most of the trout were caught on floating, tip & intermediate lines with fish to be seen at times, middle of the Thornton arm, across the main basin to the stones, dam & into the Markfield arm. Martin Hosking fished Green bay fishing various patterns to land 4 trout, Arthur Olding fished a floating line with a #10 short shank unweighted cats whisker with Steve Windram catching 9 on a black hopper & small yellow fab. Anglers reported missed offers and trout lost while playing them. Good to see for the 2nd evening fish moving during the evening.
Wednesday, overcast morning with light rain, our surface water temperature is 18c+ and we could see fish moving opposite the lodge. Quiet day only a couple of boats out but good to see them all catching on floating, midge tip & various tip lines with black hoppers, diawl bach & small fabs with the majority caught in the Thornton arm.
Thursday, a busy day with all of the boats out for the morning sessions with some boats rebooked for the afternoon & last 4 hour session. Mick Miller & R Smith caught 9 for their mornings visit with claret hopper, claret suspender & shipman’s patterns. Tim Russell & Ron Rudge last fished Thornton 35 years ago, they fished the morning session with black or claret hoppers and shipman’s to boat 18 trout. Member B Deeley caught 8 for his mornings session with a DI5 and booby and a midge tip with suspenders, while Keith Hampton fished the morning catching 7 on a floater & hopper to a fast sink and booby. It was good to see rods out for the afternoon and evening session, all reported a good rise, hooking and losing fish with J Parnham top rod for the evening boating 4
Friday and again most rods fished the cooler morning session, Mr & Mrs Warren caught 6, Dave Mee caught 4 on buzzers with C Sayer catching 11 on an olive booby. Plenty of fish moving at times from the Thornton arm across the main basin to the stones & dam wall across to the Markfield arm.
Saturday with the forecast for rain and wind we had few bo ats out. The anglers who did go out in the rain reported seeing fish moving, which I wasn’t surprised as martins and swallows were down on the water feeding all day. Lots of typical small / tiny buzzers hatching but a few of the larger #10 #12 claret buzzers which we expect to see in mid August were also on the water. Best patterns, daddy longlegs, claret hopper or shipmans on a floater with Jan Webber catching his 7 trout on a DI3 with damsel booby patterns. M Clay caught 5 from the orange buoy area with Mark Hunt fishing from 1pm to 6pm catching 8 on the drift.
Sunday, despite the rain our water clarity is good with more rain showers in the forecast its cooler air temperatures and were seeing fish feeding off the surface from when we opened. Ian Leach and J Gascoye caught 8 for their mornings visit with Dave Leavesley catching 6 for his mornings visit.
Dave Leavesley is chairman of the local angling club Thornton Fly Fishers who at 3pm hosted their annual mid summer social BBQ. They operate social events and competitions during the year with fly tying & guest speaker during the winter you can follow them on Facebook Thornton Fly Fishers. www.facebook.com/troutfishingclub
Current July weather, air temperature of 16c to 20c, rain and cloud is excellent for fly fishing, with an evening rise, last 4 hour been worth a visit especially on the cooler, cloudier evenings.
Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report
Lodge – 01536 770264 & Fishery Mobile 07834581424
Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk
2023 Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website
www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/
2023 Membership options visit our website www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/season-permits/
2023 Permits & Pre Payment for Boat Bookings Details of our Day Permits, Package Breaks & our Boat bookings pre-payment policy visit our website.
https://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/
Week Ending: 23rd July Rod Av: 4.4 Water Temperature: 18°c
It was a blustery start to the week where the only consistency with the weather was its changeability, it was consistently changing. Periods of showers, sunshine & cloud, with moderately gusty winds littered the day. Subsequently, some anglers struggled to locate fish with those catching finding the Main Basin to be the most productive area with the fish well spread. The most productive patterns were Foam Daddies & Damsel Nymphs. When searching open water for fish it is important to maintain a mobile approach by conducting long drifts initially & once fish are located, use shorter drifts to target those fish.
Tuesday started with a flat calm that developed into a gentle ripple with constant cloud cover. By late afternoon, the conditions seemed to be perfect for fishing the Dries. Out capitalising on these conditions was All Water Member Mark Hunt. Mark had decided to conduct long drifts across the open water of the Main Basin, targeting any moving fish & was duly rewarded with an excellent bag of 15 fish, most of which fell to Daddies. Elsewhere, Jude Tuffs took 12 fish on the washing line from various locations in the Main Basin, with her most productive pattern being a Candy FAB. Colin Hendry also had 12 fish from the general area of the Main Basin, catching on various methods & flies. Colin quoted a Size 14 Tequila FAB; Black Booby Hopper & a Midas has his flies that caught his fish. Another angler recording a great catch return was Eyebrook Member Bob Margery who landed 14 fish, 11 of which came in the morning. Bob found an Intermediate Line, with a couple of blobs & Nymphs on it, to be his most productive line. The fish throughout the Main Basin, appear to be very “poddy” at present with many small pods of fish circumnavigating the basin. Before the recent high winds, these pods were less in number but contained more fish, whereas after the winds there are more pods, containing less fish. To counter this, it is essential you cover as much water as possible by fishing on the drift & it could also pay dividends to have a bit of colour somewhere on your cast, be it a Blob or FAB, to act as an attractor.
Wednesday saw a dramatic change in the wind direction. The day started with a gentle southerly & by mid-morning it was a moderate north westerly. The wind change brought it some isolated breaks in the cloud which led to some isolated periods of sunshine. The warmer air temperatures in the afternoon led to an increase in the Adult Damsel activity & a good number of fish were caught on Blue Foam Daddies in the afternoon. When fishing the Blue Foam Daddy, it is important to wait until you see the adult Damsels hatching off & once there is an abundance, then fish them. The results can be spectacular. Other successful methods included Dries & the Washing Line fished on lines from anything from a Floater to an Intermediate. Those fishing the Washing Line found that a bit of colour in the form of a FAB or Blob Booby, either on the top dropper or the point, was essential to success with both patterns featuring high on the catch returns. There were some excellent returns with a lot of anglers catching well into double figures with the pick of those being regular Eyebrook visitor, Martin Rowson who landed well over 20 fish on Hoppers & Blue Damsel patterns. Martin maintained a mobile approach, covering a lot of water, with long drifts through the Main Basin. From the bank, another Eyebrook regular, George Burnham, had a productive Last 4 session, landing 3 fish, some of which were over 3lb. George also reported a good number of larger fish moving & he went on to lose a fish estimated at 6lb.
The windspeed on Thursday reduced dramatically which would prove to make locating fish somewhat more difficult than on previous days. Due to the lack of wind, a drifting boat does not cover as much distance over the water as it would being pushed along by a moderate breeze. This makes location even more important as you cannot rely upon the boat moving to feeding fish. Generally with less wind, the water is calmer & any fish that are feeding high up can be seen from some distance away. In these circumstances, it often pays to move the boat to the fish. When doing so, we must remember to do it as stealthily as possible & stop the boat at least a casts distance away from the feeding fish. Do not charge over to them & stop the boat right on top of them as more than likely they won’t be there. The Main Basin still produced a few fish for those fishing high up in the water column, either on a Washing Lined Floater or with Dries.
The Main Basin continued to fish well on Friday with some very good catch returns recorded. Fishery Guide Lee Henfrey, out on a pleasure day, had a very productive morning session landing over 30 fish between him & his boat partner. All Water Member Ian Jobe, also had a productive morning, taking to his Float Tube & landed well into double figures. Out practicing for a forthcoming competition Matt Nuttall, also had 30 fish to the boat, mainly from the Basin area. The biggest difference from the previous day was that there was a more substantial wind & anglers were able to cover more water when searching for the smaller pods in the Main Basin. Fish were caught on a variety of methods, Dries, Washing Line & even on Pulling tactics with a Fast Glass or Di 3 being the preferred lines of choice.
The weekend saw Eyebrook host Round 4 of the very popular 6 X 4 Team Competition, with Saturday being the official practice day & Sunday being competition day. There was contrasting weather for both days with Saturday being extremely damp & Sunday being mainly dry, with periods of heavy cloud cover with sunny intervals. The wind both days was a moderate Southerly. Saturday also saw Eyebrook members Bob Margery & Steve Lawrence take to the water on what was the one of the few non-competition boats out the day. Steve & Bob had a good day landing well into double figures. Those practicing were spread far & wide, searching for fish & honing methods for the following day. Although it soon became apparent that the Main Basin was holding a lot of fish. On Competition Day the Main Basin subsequently fished very well with 51 anglers catching 256 for a rod average of 5.0 with the some the better bags coming to Dries. Other productive methods included the very consistent washing line with colour on the point & nymphs above it.
Outside of the competition, Neil Shilton took to his Float Tube & landed 7 fish, fishing deep & slow & Malcolm Thompson took to the bank. Malcolm fished a Hares Ear CDC over the top of the weed down the Hawthorns & landed 5 fish which was an excellent session off the bank for this time of the year.
Upcoming Events
29 July – AMFFC Group 1, 18 boats.
02 August – England Disabled Fly Fishers, 9 Boats + 2 WB’s
03 August – England Fly Fishing Association, 22 Boats.