Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 17th November 2019
Tel: 01788 812018
What a week it has been here at Draycote water. The weather has been terrible, but the fishing has been excellent. Heavy winds and rain have made for some very uncomfortable conditions for both bank and boat anglers alike. On the flip side there have been some excellent returns across the board, with sizeable fish in good numbers being caught at all points around the reservoir, either tight in along the shoreline, or out in open water over the shoals. Whilst fry and shrimp patterns have worked extremely well for the past couple of weeks, they are not the only methods that have brought success. Many bank anglers have done well on various bloodworm patterns as well as nemo crunchers. Out on the boats some anglers have used floating fry patterns to good effect whilst others have had success “twiddling” two foam daddies on a floating line. This week 157 rods have visited us, catching 521 fish, giving us a weekly rod average of 3.31
Brian Allwood got the week off to a good start with 5 fish from the bank on Monday. Brian caught his fish in the Cornfield on bloodworm patterns and lures fished close in along the shoreline. Kevin Rees also had a good start to the week teasing 7 fish out from the bank in very challenging conditions.
Tuesday was a very testing day with winds gusts near 40 mph and showers. Quite a few anglers took to the bank, the best of them being Dennis Tidmarsh with 4 fish from various points around the reservoir.
Wednesday saw some hardy souls take to the water in what turned out to be a very productive day. Richard Walker caught 3 fish from the bank in Toft on Hares Ears, whilst Bob Smith fished Minkies along the Hensborough Bank to net 4 fish. Chris Sayer Netted 11 fish from a boat on Olive Snakes. Phil Harding boated a dozen from around B, G and P buoy on White Mini Snakes. Ian Reeve managed 7 fish from a boat on Perch Fry patterns and Snakes. Tony Day had 7 fish to the boat, one of which was a 6lb 6oz Rainbow.
Unfortunately Thursday was a complete wash out with only one angler taking to the water all day. Staff member Kevin Hart braved the conditions to net 5 fish on sinking lines and lures from Toft and along the Farborough Dam.
Lee Patten and Peter Elliott went adrift on Friday to net 23 fish between them. Staff member Lee Henfrey and boat partner Martin Rowson netted 24 fish using sinking lines and Tube Flies. John Dickens caught 7 fish from the bank on Shrimp patterns with a FAB on the point.  One of the best fish of the week, and a personal best for it’s proud captor, was a beautiful full finned rainbow of 6lbs 14oz caught by  Colin Grainger on Friday. Colin bank fished at Lin Croft Point and tempted the specimen on a black minkie presented at distance on his floating line.
Saturday was a welcome relief with surprisingly calm and bright conditions throughout the day. Mark Hunt had “a brilliant short session” out on the boat, netting 7 fish on a midge tip line, a FAB on the point and two crunchers. All water season permit holder Ed Douglas had 8 fish to the boat on snakes and boobies. Mr Ray Jordan caught 4 fish from the bank on a cats whisker, whilst Mike Garner caught 2 on a pitsford pea from Lincroft Point and the Overflow.
Sunday was overcast and quite cold with a light breeze throughout the day, although the temperature seemed to dip as we went through into the afternoon. Andy Lilley did very well in a short session, netting 3 fish from the bank on black crunchers from the swans nest. The intrepid duo of Jim Smith and Ed Douglas climbed well into double figures from a drifting boat on various lures fished on sinking lines. Craig and Rob Middleton had 18 fish to the boat between them using a DI5 and boobies.
FUR & FEATHER COMPETITION
The competition will be fished from 9am until 3 pm.
This year’s Fur and Feather match is sold out, reflecting the excellent back end of season sport here at Draycote water, with good numbers of grown on 3lb – 4lb+ fish being caught.
2020 MEMBERSHIPS
For anyone who is interested we do have some availability for season tickets for the 2020 season both at Draycote and also on our popular all water season ticket. Here is the link to the prices www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/prices/season-permits/ and to register your interest please email lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk
Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop at www.flyfishstore.co.uk
Stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS
Demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try. Call the Draycote lodge for details
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.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Matt Pittaway from Walsgrave, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 157 Number Trout Taken: 155 Number Trout Released: 366
Total Catch: 521 Rod Average: 3.31
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 15:45
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 15:45
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 13:00
Last 4 Hours from: 11:45 until 15:45 (Ticket sales available from 11:30)
Gutting Room Closes: 15:15
All Anglers to be off site by: 16:15
Tight lines,
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Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 10th November 2019
Tel: 01788 812018
Draycote Fishery Ranger & Eyebrook Manager Vacancy
Draycote vacancy details: https://www.facebook.com/460323464062435/posts/2549883015106459/
Eyebrook Manager vacancy details: https://www.facebook.com/460323464062435/posts/2557224571038970/
Email applications for the above positions to Ifor: lodge@flyfishthornton.co.uk
FISHING REPORT
A week during which torrential rains, together with some frosty and foggy mornings, combined to make fishing conditions uncomfortable at times. Wind directions were also all over the place which made fish location an issue for some. Nevertheless, good numbers of grown on rainbows came to the net during the course of the week with perch feeding fish still the prime target for the boat anglers. Some good sport was enjoyed by bank anglers too with regulars in particular still getting amongst shrimp feeding fish along the rocky shorelines. During this period xxx anglers visited the venue. A total of 765 trout were landed, representing a weekly rod average of 3.9.
Monday saw light winds from the south turning into the east & north east as the day progressed but mainly dry with air temperatures into double figures. Good returns followed with John Hall & Ian Richardson both landing seven rainbows each on the bank. John fished the Cornfield & took his fish on a Pitsford Pea whilst Ian stayed on the Hensborough and stuck to his minkies. Kevin Rees latched on to fry feeding fish too with a nine fish total on floating fry & minkies in Toft. Ian Bradfield & Dave Davis had a good day in the boat drifting the Farborough Dam with olive snakes & boobies for a combined total of 14 to the net. Leigh Cheshire boat fished with a humungous and netted a magnificent brace of rainbows, both of which weighed over 5lbs. Tony Day also enjoyed good boat sport with 7 rainbows caught & released. Tuesday saw some frenetic action on the water – especially for bank anglers. Alan Grant fished Lin Croft catching 11 on minkies up to 5lbs 2oz. Tony Broadway did very well too with three grown on rainbows for the pot & a further 4 caught & released on his shrimp patterns. Bill Robinson also fished shrimp patterns on a sink tip line from the bank at the Swan’s Nest. He caught & released nine rainbows alongside Alan Topping, who stuck to olive fry patterns to take seven. Out on the boats, Tony Plummer fished a morning session with two netted for the pot & four released. Lee Patten & Peter Elliott searched the water all day with snakes & fry patterns, mainly on Di3&5 sinking lines and did exceptionally well landing 15 & 17 respectively. Clive Wilkins fished fry patterns along the Hensborough Bank and boated six rainbows topped off with a fin perfect 5lbs+ fish which he said, “fought like a train”. Good cloud cover for Wednesday & a change of wind direction into the south led to a good day for the boat anglers with a 4.4 rod average for the day. Mr Sowerby fished snakes to land a dozen as did Jamie Scott whose olive version tempted nine to his net. Eyebrook regulars Ian Jobe & Clive Moore visited and got in on the action too. Both landed 6 rainbows with Ian netting a fine six pounder. Tony Parker took his boat down into Toft where he also caught six good rainbows – all of which came to a black minkie booby. Alex Campbell, who found fish holding quite deep on drifts through G buoy, managed to tempt five to the net using olive snake patterns presented on a Di5. Those on the bank were also catching with Dave Manning landing six, Yousef Dar caught 4 and John Woodcock three. Whilst chilly in the morning, Thursday’s wind was a south westerly with good cloud cover. Ian Richardson was bank for his second bank stint of the week and fished off the Hensborough with fellow season ticket holder Bob Smith. Ian fished a team comprising booby, shrimp & snail pattern over the weeds to take what he described as five “bars of silver”. Bob, meanwhile, stuck to a booby & landed four. Ed Douglas explored deep water with a variety of sinking lines, boobies & snakes from all over the venue and ended his session with 15 to the boat. Kevin shared a boat with Roger Kerrison and they found fry feeding fish up to the 5lbs mark on various fry patterns using intermediate, Di3 & 5 mainly along the Hensborough Bank. Kevin Rees had a good afternoon session from the bank in Toft catching eight rainbows on a cast of minkie, buzzer & FAB with many takes coming tight to the shoreline. As seemed typical this week, the winds turned abruptly overnight and Friday anglers faced a cold, brisk north, north-westerly causing many boats to seek shelter at anchor along the north shore marks from Lin Croft and along to Toft. The wind conditions aided presentation for bank anglers there with Alan Grant netting a very creditable nine fish catch, Brian Allwood also landed five on his new favourite Apps bloodworm pattern & Paul Walker h ad four. Notts police team anglers were afloat for the day and did consistently well with a 6.2 fish rod average. John Goodwin & Chris Howkins shared the best results with eight fish apiece. Ben Bayliss & Adam Larbalester boat fished snakes & minkies for a joint tally of 10 and John Dickens landed 6 on olive snakes. John Hoskins anchored off the trees adjacent to the Cornfield where he fished booby humungus on a Di3 to catch eleven. He noted how the fish seemed to have had a distinct feeding session up until about 11:30, coming back on again from mid-afternoon. Chris Sayer fished further down into Toft and also enjoyed good sport with eight rainbows coming to his white booby humungus. Overnight rain was followed by clear skies leading to a Saturday morning of freezing fog. Soon after clearing (and yet another 360° wind change), the forecast rains arrived which persisted all day & into the evening. Despite this, eighteen anglers braved the elements & put their waterproofs to the test. As expected, action was hard to find for many but, as is always the case, a few anglers scored well. Ifor Jones & Jim Dempsey fished the rudder pulling lures for 7 & 6 fish respectively. Adam Drescher landed 4 on a humungus with most other rods averaging about a brace. Kieron Jenkins however got into some really good fish on drifts from the overflow up into Rainbow Corner. Using a Di3 & small snake patterns, thirteen rainbows had come to the boat at the conclusion of an extremely soggy day. Yet again the wind direction completely altered overnight with Sunday anglers facing a north to north north-east blow, and bright sunny conditions through until lunchtime. Ruth and Tony Kirk netted 8 fish from the bank in the Cornfield using Hare Ears. Paul Walley caught 6 fish from the bank at Lincroft Point using a DI3 and snakes. The boat pairing of Ed Douglas and Jim Smith had over 30 fish to the boat pulling on a DI3 with lures. They fished various points around the reservoir but saw most of their success at P buoy. Mark Hunt caught 9 fish from a drifting boat using Minkies fished on a DI3 and a DI5 line. Mr Chris Flay had 12 fish to the boat using a DI5 and green Snakes.
FUR & FEATHER COMPETITION
This year’s Fur and Feather match is sold out, reflecting the excellent back end of season sport here at Draycote water, with good numbers of grown on 3lb – 4lb+ fish being caught.
2020 MEMBERSHIPS
For anyone who is interested we do have some availability for season tickets for the 2020 season both at Draycote and also on our popular all water season ticket. Here is the link to the prices www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/prices/season-permits/ and to register your interest please email lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk
Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop at www.flyfishstore.co.uk
Stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS
Demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try. Call the Draycote lodge for details
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.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Martin Price from Coventry , the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 193 Number Trout Taken: 219 Number Trout Released: 546
Total Catch: 765 Rod Average: 3.9
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 16:15
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 16:15
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 13:00
Last 4 Hours from: 12:15 until 16:15 (Ticket sales available from 12:00)
Gutting Room Closes: 15:45
All Anglers to be off site by: 16:45
Tight lines,
Follow Us on
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twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 3rd November 2019

Tel: 01788 812018

Draycote Fishery Ranger & Eyebrook Manager Vacancy

Draycote vacancy details:            https://www.facebook.com/460323464062435/posts/2549883015106459/

Eyebrook Manager vacancy details: https://www.facebook.com/460323464062435/posts/2557224571038970/

Email applications for the above positions to Ifor:     lodge@flyfishthornton.co.uk

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2020 Membership

Details on our Draycote & All Water Membership on our Fisheries website, www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/prices/season-permits/

Contact the lodge for further details lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk

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Weekly Fishing Report

The weather has not been kind to us here at Draycote water, with cold easterly winds, heavy showers and a distinct drop in air temperature. The fishing however, has more than made up for it, with good catches now coming from all areas of the reservoir and bank anglers getting some great sport. The methods that have stood us in good stead over the past fortnight are still working to great effect. From the bank it’s a floating line and Shrimp Patterns fished close into the bank, or an intermediate line with Lures cast at a reasonable distance, and a slow steady retrieve. The Boat anglers have been using Shrimp Patterns on floating lines to some effect, but have been a lot more successful using an intermediate or a DI3 and Lures. Patterns such as Snakes, Minkie Boobies, Pitsford Peas and Tube Flies have all shown up on the catch return.

This week 182 anglers have caught 769 fish, giving us a weekly rod average of 4.2.

Monday saw Ian Richardson remark on “another brilliant day”, after netting 9 fish from the bank. Ian fished the Overflow and the bottom of the Hensborough Bank using small lures and Perch Fry patterns. John Hall caught 5 fish whilst bank fishing in the Cornfield using a Pitsford Pea. John Dickens netted 4 from the bank on Minkies. Staff member Kevin Hart caught 13 fish from a boat on Fry Patterns.

On Tuesday Bob Smith caught 6 fish from the bank at Lincroft Point using either Snakes or Shrimp Patterns. Ian Reeve and Matt Pittaway took to the boat to land 13 fish between them on sinking lines and Humongous, James Cameron netted 14 fish from a boat using Perch Fry patterns on a DI3.

Peter Elliott and Lee Patten got well into double figures from a drifting boat using a wide variety of patterns in the top couple of feet of the water. Rob Middleton boated 8 fish, one of which was an 8lb 4oz brown, which was weighed by a member of staff, photographed and returned safely to the water. Rob Fished an Olive Snake over Croft Shoal, on a DI3 line. All water season Permit holder Rodney Dangerfield caught 4 fish, whilst bank fishing in the Cornfield, on a Black and Pearl pattern. Mr M Foster netted 5 fish from the boat on Olive Snakes, one of which was a very large perch.

Tony Broadway netted 14 fish whilst bank fishing along the North Shore using both Fry and Shrimp patterns. Ian Richardson caught 5 fish from the bank from the Cornfield and the Swans Nest using Minkies on a sinking line. Andy Birkett commented on a “Super day”, after netting a baker’s dozen from a drifting boat. Andy concentrated his efforts over shallow weed beds to great effect. The boat pairing of Eddie Mitchell and Dave Kennell netted 16 fish on Minkies fished on a DI3.

Friday saw Andy Birkett take to the boat again to land 15 fish from the areas around E Buoy and Toft Shallows. Andy used Pearly fry patterns and Perch fry patterns, landing fish up to 5lbs. All water season permit holder Steve Orton caught 8 fish from the bank on Minkies and a Cutthroat Cats Whisker. Jamie Scott had 6 fish to the boat on Olive Snakes and Fry patterns. Jamie commented that they were all lovely fish with the best being about 5lb 8oz.

Saturday’s weather forecast proved to be very accurate with wind speeds too great to let the boats out. Three anglers braved the driving wind and rain on the bank but were limited to the southern shoreline. All of them caught fish and despite the weather seemed to enjoy the day thoroughly.

Sunday was a beautiful day out on the water with light breezes and little rain. The reservoir fished really well with many anglers getting well into double figures and the rod average at nearly 6.0. Keith Jones caught 13 fish from the bank by the Swans Nest using an Intermediate line and various lures. Keith Harding netted over 20 fish from a boat in Toft using a DI3 and Humungus. Nigel Keeber and Lee Henfrey had over 30 fish to the boat from various locations around the reservoir, using DI3’s and Tube Flies. Season Permit holder Paul Walley caught 10 fish from the bank using Hares Ears with a FAB on the point. Paul fished around the Overflow and at Lincroft Point. Martin Price and Dave Hancox had a baker’s dozen between them to the boat using Olive Snakes on a DI3.

FUR & FEATHER COMPETITION

This year’s Fur and Feather match is sold out, reflecting the excellent back end of season sport here at Draycote water, with good numbers of grown on 3lb – 4lb+ fish being caught.

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop at www.flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS

Demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try. Call the Draycote lodge for details

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.

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Mr Dave Bailey from Markfield in Leicestershire , the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods: 182   Number Trout Taken:  186    Number Trout Released: 583

Total Catch: 769   Rod Average: 4.2          

Current Fishing Times:

Bank: 07:30 until 16:45

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 16:45

Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 12:45  

Last 4 Hours from: 12:45 until 16:45 (Ticket sales available from 12:30)

Gutting Room Closes: 16:15

All Anglers to be off site by: 17:15

Tight lines,

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 27th October 2019
Tel: 01788 812018
As has been the case lately here at Draycote, the sport has been fantastic with some great numbers of fish being caught. The quality of the fish coming out at the back end of this season is amazing, with lots of 4lb bars of silver along with some fabulous browns. Overall a busy week for us here which just shows the quality of the fishing at this time of year. A total of 287 anglers visited the fishery, landing 1001 fish, giving us a weekly rod average of 3.4.
As was the case last week the method for the boats this week has been fry patterns. With the standout fly being olive snakes, as they are a great imitation of the Perch that the Trout are currently gorging themselves on. This fly has been working on a wide range of lines for the boats from floaters down to fast sinkers, although the standout line has been a DI 3. The fish are still sitting quite high in the water due to not having any real cold snaps that might have caused them to drop. For the bank anglers there has been 2 main methods that have been tempting fish to the net. The most prolific has been using hares ears or shrimp patterns fished close to the margins on a floating line (Check out tuition mangers Tom Bird’s blog www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/ on how best to fish shrimps). The other tactic working well for the bank anglers has being minkies and other fry patterns on either a floater or an intermediate.
The week kicked off with a North wind with overcast conditions for most of the day, near perfect conditions. On the bank Norman Perkins landed 6 fish on the bank from Lincroft Point. Another angler fishing along Lincroft point was Kevin Rees who netting 9 fish on washing lined shrimps. Also using Minkie boobies but this time on the point of a washing line was season ticket holder Bob Smith. Who landed 5 fish from the corner of the Hensborough Bank and the Tower bank. On the boats David Davies and Ian Bradfield using snakes and minkies fished on Di 3 sinking lines landed 21 fish. Mr Francis & Mr Moore using floating fry in Biggin Bay landed 14 fish. Drifting along the Draycote Dam, Gary Johnson & Colin McGlone used snakes and humongous on a Di 3 to boat 18 fish including some fantastic fish up to 4lb.
Tuesday saw the wind turn around to a South West on Tuesday with the sun breaking through giving more challenging conditions. Season ticket holder Brian Warwick landed 5 fish on the bank from the overflow on washing lined nymphs. Out on the boats Jim Smith & Ed Douglas enjoyed a cricket score day with over 40 fish to the boat. The pair found that naturel minkies and olive snakes where the key to their success. The pair found fish off the Hensborough bank, Farnborough Spit and also in Toft. Colin & Gary on their second day of a 3 day break found the fish weren’t as keen to pull along the Draycote Dam but did manage 13 once again on snakes drifting off the Hensborough Bank.
The wind remained in the South for Wednesday with a bit of East. From the bank Ian Richardson landed 7 fish on a washing line, shrimps and a minkie booby from the overflow including some fantastic silver fish. Out on the boat’s fishery staff Lee Henfrey & Kevin Hart enjoyed fantastic sport, landing over 35 fish to the boat. With 20 of these fish going over 4lb with a number over 5. They both used Di 3 forty plus lines with snakes in the morning before finding tubes the way to go in the afternoon. The hotspot for Lee & Kev was drifting off the school slips towards Musborough shoal, although they did find fish in almost every place they stopped. While Kevin and Lee caught some amazing fish the best fish off the day went too all water season ticket holder Steve Jordan. A fantastic brown of 7lb 10oz caught on a natural snake on a Di 3, around D Buoy near Dunn’s Bay for pictures of this great fish please visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore
A much wetter day Thursday with heavy rain from around lunch time, although, this didn’t put the fish off the feed. Season ticket holder Richard Walker landed 5 fish, all on hares’ ears fished on a floating line from Lincroft point. John Jones landed 11 fish from the Farborough spit down to Toft all on Humungus boobies. John also took advantage of our RIO demo lines to try the new RIO Fathom Deep 3 line and it worked to great effect. If you would like to try any of our demo lines on your next visit just ask a member of staff at the time of booking. All water season ticket holder Steve Orton enjoyed his best day fishing halfway along the Farborough Dam. Steve used an intermediate with a natural minkie and an olive snake to land 15 fish up to 4lb 9oz. Another angler using snakes to great effect was Ian McKenzie who boated 14 fish.
A day of two halves on Friday with good conditions in the morning all be it a bit damp, but, by lunch more rain and strong gusty winds made presentation challenging. Making the most of the good mornings conditions Andy Ross & Dave Adams landed 14 fish. The pair used an olive snake and a Di 3 and never changed all morning to tempt the fish. The pair didn’t even have to travel far to land their fish and just took drifts off the Farborough Dam wall towards J Buoy. Beginner season ticket holder Debbie Gilbert also enjoyed a mornings boat fishing, landing 4 fish once again on that Olive snake with all her fish being over 3lb.
The forecast for Saturday looked like the boats would be unable to go out. However, when the forecast was checked first thing in the morning, things had calmed down and anglers were able to venture out albeit in somewhat damp conditions which did not improve as the day went on. Mr Dean and Neil Shilton caught 8 fish from the boat on floating lines with Floating Fry patterns. Orhan Aliosman caught 5 fish from the bank using Fry Patterns to good effect by the Valve Tower and in Rainbow Corner.
Sunday started off a bit foggy but cleared up about ten o’clock to leave us bathed in bright sunshine with a light breeze.. The rod average for the day was 4.4 with both boat and bank anglers getting their fair share of some great sport. Ruth and Tony Kirk had 4 fish from the bank on Shrimp and Perch Patterns. Draycote regular Stan Hillman had 6 fish from the Tower Bank on sinking lines and fry patterns. Mick Cronin caught 5 fish from the bank, 2 of which weighed over 4 lbs. Andy Lane ventured out in a boat to net 8 fish on Minky Boobies. Mr P Sanders netted 9 fish from a boat on the Hensborough Bank using a DI7 and Snakes.
Competitions
This year’s Fur and Feather match will take place on Sunday 24th November 2019. The competition will be fished to reservoir rules and is a boat pairs match with a limit of 12 fish to the boat. The competition will be fished from 9am until 4pm with prizes for first second, third and biggest fish. Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to reserve your boat.
Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop at www.flyfishstore.co.uk
Stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS
Demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try. Call the Draycote lodge for details
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.

Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Dean Leask from Reading, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 287 Number Trout Taken: 227 Number Trout Released: 774
Total Catch: 1001 Rod Average: 3.4
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 17:00
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 17:00
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 13:00
Last 4 Hours from: 13:00 until 17:00 (Ticket sales available from 12:45)
Gutting Room Closes: 16:30
All Anglers to be off site by: 17:30
Tight lines,
Follow Us on
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twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 20^th October 2019

Tel: 01788 812018

Fantastic sport has continued at Draycote this week, with fish continuing to prey on small perch. Rod averages of around 5 or 6 have been recorded most days. Shrimp patterns have also accounted for fish around the shoreline and a few anglers have successfully stayed with the dries. Nevertheless, with the general drop in temperatures, fry based patterns are now producing most of the fish for bank & boat anglers alike. With a good spread of fish population, we would be hard pushed to pick a particular spot that was better than others, suffice to say that anywhere along the dam walls, or up against the shoals, seems to be holding feeding fish. Snakes continue to work particularly the olive & black barred variety, as are humungus, weighted & booby versions, presented mainly on slow sinking lines. Floating fry patterns on a floating line, either static or popped through the surface, has also been effective from boat and bank. The fish are still holding in the top four feet or so of the water column, which is why intermediate lines to a DI3 have, overall, produced the best results.

This week 243 anglers have caught 1227 trout, giving us a weekly rod average of 5.04

Monday was a great day to be out on the water with bank and boat anglers catching good numbers. Although only a dozen fished, most caught well to record a 5.8 rod average for the day. Ian Shobbrook fished a twitched suspender minkie from the bank at the overflow to catch five rainbows to 4lbs 20z. Brian Allwood also fished from the bank and took a brace of fine rainbows on an Apps Bloodworm. Craig Cowan and Ian Dobbie boat fished targeting fry feeders and netted 17 & 15 respectively mainly on snakes. They worked their way around the venue catching all over. They did note that their morning session was far more productive than the afternoon (which was cut short by torrential rain). Tuesday was a day of mixed weather conditions but great fishing. Richard Walker had a good day on the bank with 8 fish from Lincroft Point and the Willow Tree on Hare’s Ears. Colin Grainger & Brian Warwick landed six each on the bank. They fished together at the Swan’s Nest using a team comprising Fab blob, black diawl bach & floating fry. Season permit holder Paul Walley was on the bank too and caught ten fish using a FAB and diawl bachs in the same area. Out in the boat Messrs Bennett & Smith caught 7 each just off Farborough Spit. Howard and Marion Rutter netted dozen between them on fry patterns and commented on a having had “…a cracking day”. Draycote regular Eugene Hughes used Minkie Boobies from a boat to net 15 grown on rainbows on humungus patterns. Things were a little more challenging on Wednesday, but those searching the venue were rewarded by intercepting pods of roving fish. Steve Radcliffe found success fishing a booby fry pattern presented on a floating line, using a roly-poly retrieve on drifts from C to D buoy & then later from A buoy down to M. Alex Campbell fished a little deeper using a Di5 & black snakes to find fish in Toft, the Flat Stones & finally at the Farborough Spit. His morning session saw 6 fine rainbows to over 4lbs netted. Keith Coley & boat partner Bob Taft were also enjoying action all over, fishing even deeper on the day with lure patterns on Di7s. Their day ended with a fine joint tally of 18 to the boat. Steve Robinson did well on the bank for a five fish total although he did not record his location or tactics in the record. Thursday was a very busy day with over 50 anglers on the water. Tony Broadway led the way on the bank fishing from the Swan’s Nest. He started pulling with Cat’s Whisker patterns in conjunction with FABs but then went over to minkies catching fry feeding rainbows. Amongst the four he took for the pot was a beautiful rainbow of 4¼lbs with a further 12 caught & released. John Hoskins shared a boat with Ivor Bullock & concentrated their efforts on the Hensborough Bank. John fished white & silver humungus on a Di3 whilst Ivor stuck to his floater. Whilst most fish came to the sub surface approach, the pair had a hectic session with 11 grown on fish to the 4lbs mark. Chris Discombe fished further up in Rainbow Corner to land 6 including a 4lbs+ fish whilst Ian Pugh & Tony Whitcher netted 12 between them. Andy Birkett was back with us for another three day stint and did well on the minkies in the morning, off the old school slips, following which he reverted to his #4 weight outfit & dries to tempt fish over the middle & down towards the Farborough Spit later in the afternoon. Fish were holding in any wind lanes which he managed get into &, although not showing, were coming to his presentations blind. A brisk & gusty WSW on Friday saw a continuation of fry feeding action particularly from the Overflow, down the Hensborough & along the Old School Slips. Despite some heavy showers, some beautiful rainbows came to net. Sean Gilbert commented on the “…fantastic fin perfect fish…” after an 8 fish session. Andy Birkett landed another 11, (again to a mix of fry patterns & then dries) whilst Lee Henfrey was afloat guiding and got his client into plenty of fry feeding sport – with a double figure tally come the end of their stint. I fished on a day off as well & probably experienced my best session of the season with some perfect fish to 4lbs+ catching at Farborough Spit, the Flat Stones & the length of the Hensborough Bank using humungus patterns on a Di3. Tony Broadway was back on the bank at the Swan’s Nest where he netted another 8 – this time on floating fry. Peter Elliott alternated between snakes & floating fry on the bank at the overflow & enjoyed fine sport with a total of 16 landed by the end of what proved to be a terrific day.

The weekend saw plenty of anglers out, especially in the boats, with Saturday proving to be the most productive. Jim Dempsey & Ifor Jones fished their usual rudder tactics and had as exceptional day along the Sailing Club side with 18 & 20 respectively to the boat. Andy Birkett ended his three day “Fry & Dry” break with a well fought for 14 & Kevin Barnett’s four angler party had a frenetic day on minkies finishing with a 67 fish total representing an amazing 16.75 rod average for the group! All Water member Mark Hunt was also into the fry feeding action using olive snakes along the Hensborough for an 8 fish tally which was topped off by a magnificent rainbow of 6lbs 4 oz. Neil Deakin also had some fabulous fish up to 4lbs 14oz. He fished tubes along the dam walls to net a total of 27 rainbows. Action was also good on the bank with Tim Davies catching 5 from Toft & Lin Croft on black & red lures whilst Mike Garner netted 6 from the bank at the overflow on fry patterns. Not to be held back by a late start, Mark Thistledon also bank fished at the overflow near Mike & landed a 4 fish limit with three further fish caught & released to a mix of snake & hare’s ear nymph. Over on the opposite side Stan Hillman concentrated on Biggin & the Tower bank to land 10. Come Sunday, Keith Harding boat fished and “stripped snakes & humungus on a Di 3 all day – now I’m tired…”. He was rewarded for his efforts though with 16 to the net. Jim Smith & Ed Douglas netted their usual double figure catch but came off their dries in favour of fry patterns. Messrs Beaumont & Hall boat fished a mix of snakes & tubes on a Di3 for a combined 18 fish tally whilst Jobe Burnham used popper minkies in Toft for a 10 fish tally with several rainbows in the three pounds+ class. Of particular note, bank fishing on the lodge side of Toft, was Keith Jones with an 11 fish total. Fishing with John Pearson who himself caught five, Keith was obliged to John for the supply of his home-tied (“secret recipe”) perch fry patterns! Mark Parsley also did very well with 9 to floating fry, shrimp & minkie. On the Tower Bank Dave Baker presented a team of buzzer propped up with a FAB to enjoy regular action with five rainbows landed.

A continuation of such fine sport is anticipated as the results during this reporting period have been, at times, astounding. The best thing is… we still have another five weeks of it to enjoy!

Kevin

Competitions

This year’s Fur and Feather match will take place on Sunday 24^th November 2019. The competition will be fished to reservoir rules and is a boat pairs match with a limit of 12 fish to the boat. The competition will be fished from 9am until 4pm with prizes for first second, third and biggest fish. Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to reserve your boat.

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop at www.flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS

Demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try. Call the Draycote lodge for details

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.

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Mr Hoskins from Bromsgrove, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods: 243   Number Trout Taken:  311    Number Trout Released: 916

Total Catch: 1227   Rod Average: 5.04      

Current Fishing Times:

Bank: 07:30 until 18:00

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 18:00

Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:00  

Last 4 Hours from: 14:00 until 18:00 (Ticket sales available from 13:45)

Gutting Room Closes: 17:30

All Anglers to be off site by: 18:15

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Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 13^th October 2019

Tel: 01788 812018

This week has seen a continuation of excellent sport. Despite some extremely wet & windy conditions, it is great to be able to report that many anglers are still experiencing some frenetic action to dry fly tactics. It has in fact been something of a week of two halves with anglers either choosing to stay with the dries as long as they are able and those who are targeting the ever increasing numbers of fry feeders that have been marauding the shoals of young perch. A little later than anticipated perhaps but it has also been a week that has seen a progressive improvement in bank action – primarily due to a combination of shrimp feeding fish along rocky banks plus shoals of perch beginning to migrate towards the shorelines in significant numbers. A quieter period in terms of rod numbers as many anglers still tend to conclude their season at the end of September – which is a shame given the tremendous sport the final two months of the season can so frequently provide. Nevertheless, 266 anglers fished the venue this week netting a total catch of 1043 representing a rod average of 3.92

It had been really busy on boat & bank in the build up to the Troutmaster’s final, which we hosted on Monday when the fishery was closed to all bar the ninety finalists. The event saw anglers split between boat & bank with a three hour morning session followed by a lunchtime half-time weigh-In and changeover. The bank was split into 5 Sections (1Toft, 2Cornfield, 3Lincroft & Biggin, 4 Dunn’s & Tower & 5 Rainbow/Hensborough) with anglers’ bank session location being based on a draw announced on the day. Because many competitors had little or no prior boat fishing experience, the organisers also tried to pair them with an experienced boat handler. The first two fish caught in each session were taken following which further captures were released & a nominal weight for each fish was added to angler’s results. Our thanks once more to those of you who acted as stewards on the day & whose assistance helped to make the event as successful as it was. The day itself was pretty bleak with low cloud, outbreaks of rain & a brisk southerly wind. However both boat & bank produced fish with a total of 81 rainbows caught & killed and 243 caught & released. The overall winner was as decisive a victory as possible with the eventual winner securing first place in both his bank and boat session. Our congratulations therefore go to Peter Crowe from Hartlepool and representing Church Paddock (Full coverage of the final will be found in the next issue of Trout Fisherman magazine out on 6^th November).

Season ticket holders Brian Warwick & Colin Grainger were out on the banks on Tuesday for a morning session with both netting three rainbows. Jim Hall was on the bank too and especially pleased with two rainbows over four pounds which took his floating fry patterns in Biggin Bay. Out on the water, Kevin Rees stuck to his Bob’s Bits on drifts from the Inlet & Flat Stones towards B & later C buoy. He picked off fish regularly from pods encountered throughout the drift to end the session with 12 to the boat. On Wednesday Terry & John Evans followed suit with dries on long exploratory drifts to net 8 & 7 rainbows respectively. Watched over by his Mum (snuggled up in the boat in a duvet!), Will Hunt stayed with the daddies to net four grown on rainbows for the pot with a further dozen C&R. Jim Hall was also back on the bank for more fry feeding action to his floating fry but also took a couple of his five fish tally on a cruncher. Back up from London on what has become a weekly visit, Eugene Hughes was drifting through both A & B buoys in the morning, and across the middle in the afternoon. Alternating between standard & booby minkies Eugene enjoyed frantic sport netting no less than 28 fry feeding rainbows to 5lbs plus, commenting that fish were spewing perch, some as long as 3½”, into the landing net. Thursday was a very good day with an overall rod average of 6.8. Tony Broadway bank fished on the Tower Bank & found that the fish were up for a chase and landed 11 pulling Cats Whiskers & Fabs on a floating line. Dave Smith caught 7 to 4½lbs from the boat on a black & green snake and Chris Discombe took 5 on a white Minkie near A buoy. Sticking to their usual Bob’s Bits patterns John Dickens & Kevin Rees fished off the top end with John drifting from the overflow to A buoy whilst Kevin concentrated on drifts from the flat stones & B buoy moving down to C buoy later in the day. They landed 12 & 16 respectively. Ed Douglas & Jim Smith were also afloat for the day & both caught well fishing lures from the Tower Bank down to Dunn’s Bay. Although it was very windy with heavy downpours during Friday, Gordon Slack caught 3 rainbows on the bank fishing with Keith Hughes who netted 6. They fished a mix of home tied black & green mini lures at Hensborough. Kieron Barnes decided to go afloat in search of fry feeders and had a terrific session using minkies off the Hensborough bank with 13 rainbows up to 5lbs landed. An image on our Facebook page  www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore  displays one of his specimens after gutting – photographed with a total of 19 small perch it had consumed! Howard Smith & Mike Cox did similar & enjoyed a 13 fish joint tally. Similar sport continued on Saturday with regulars Jim Dempsey & Ifor Jones fishing fry based lures on the rudder. They netted 15 & 14 respectively. Better weather conditions saw many back on the dries. Mike Laycock with Coppenhall Fly Fishers took a 16 fish total on dries whilst Paul Davison & Tony Baldwin shared a boat to net over 30 from all parts of the venue, mainly on Paul’s Midas dry. Ed & Jim were also afloat again &, as ever, enjoyed hectic sport on Ed’s dries. Tom Beebe & his son William trialled one of our Sage demo rods whilst out in the boat for the day and had a fantastic experience with William doing battle with a 4½lbs rainbow which Tom said stripped him of not just his whole fly line but a further 40 yards of backing! Russ Rabot fished from the bank & took 5 good fish on a humungus including a 4lbs + beauty for the pot. The week finished with some very heavy rain on Sunday but the few hardy souls who fished were rewarded with some magnificent silver bars. Michael Ravenscroft decided not to take his booked boat due to the weather opting for a relatively short session on the bank. Using fry patterns he took a brace at the old pipe in Biggin, another two on the Tower Bank before finishing at the Overflow where he took yet another brace. He described his fish as all looking  “like peas in a pod” & the one taken for the pot was a full finned pristine bar at close on four pounds. Our own Michael Hanlon also experienced his best morning of the season with seven similar fish landed on drifts from the Overflow along the Hensborough. Interestingly, he said that he could get no interest from fish at anchor yet as soon as he got on the drift fish (or follows) came readily to his black snake pattern.

With stock levels high and fish clearly on an autumnal feeding binge, all bodes well for a continuation of some very special sport before our season closes at the end of November. We recommend that those thinking of hanging up their rods early, maybe because of the shorter days & seasonal weather, perhaps think of putting in a few more trips first so as not to miss out on this end of year bonus.

And finally, on a personal note,

“After eight fantastic seasons, based primarily at Draycote, I have decided to step into retirement and will finish at the end of this season. During my time as part of the team it has been a pleasure to have worked both with & for you guys and you will be greatly missed. However, it is now my time to get out onto the banks & out on the water with much more regularity. So, I’ll look forward to my future encounters with you “on the other side of the counter”.

Tightest of lines to you all,  Kevin

Competitions

This years Fur and Feather match will take place on Sunday 24^th November 2019. The competition will be fished to reservoir rules and is a boat pairs match with a limit of 12 fish to the boat. The competition will be fished from 9am until 4pm with prizes for first second, third and biggest fish. Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to reserve your boat.

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop at www.flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS

Demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try. Call the Draycote lodge for details

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.

COMPETITIONS:

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Terry Evans from Kirkby in Ashfield, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods: 266 Number Trout Taken: 242     Number Trout Released: 801

Total Catch: 1043  Rod Average: 3.92

Current Fishing Times:

Bank: 07:30 until 18:15

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 18:15

Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:00  

Last 4 Hours from: 14:15 until 18:15 (Ticket sales available from 14:15)

Gutting Room Closes: 17:45

All Anglers to be off site by: 18:30

Tight lines,

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Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 6th October 2019

Tel: 01788 812018

Draycote fished really well for the last reporting period and this has carried on into this week. A couple of early frosts seems to have helped push the fish onto the feed and has in turn led to some excellent bank fishing. Shrimp patterns, Diawl Bachs and Hares Ears have proved a particular favourite for the bank anglers and have produced many a good fish from all around the reservoir. Boats anglers are also getting into some great sport, indeed the comments section of the catch return is this week full of comments on how hard the fish are fighting. Changeable conditions have proved testing at times but rod averages have remained high all week, boding well for the Trout Masters competition on Monday.

This week, 350 anglers have caught 1245 fish, giving us a weekly rod average of 3.5.

Ian Richardson got the week off to a flying start with 10 fish from the bank, caught on Shrimp Patterns and Minkies. Mr T and J Evans had 11 to the boats on Dries as did Ed Douglas. Kevin Rees used Bob’s Bits to good effect from a boat to net 12 fish. Tony Broadway took 11 fish from the bank on Tuesday on FAB’s and Crunchers. Mr T Evans took to the boat yet again on Tuesday to net 10 fish on hoppers. Mr M Francis caught 21 fish during a boat session on Tuesday on “All Sorts” of Flies. Season permit holder Tony Parker caught a bakers dozen from the boat on dries. Eugene Hughes used DI3’s and DI7’s and Minkies to catch 23 fish on the markers over open water. Ian Richardson remarked on “A cracking day with stunning fish” on Thursday , taking 8 from the bank on Minkies from the Overflow. Gordon Bramwell caught 15 fish from a boat on UV Crunchers. Ivor Bullock took 12 fish from the bank on Friday over in Duns Bay. John Dickens and Kevin Rees put the dries to good effect out on the boats netting 13 and 16 respectively. Mr James Carr had 11 fish to the boat on Saturday using Perch Fry patterns and Dries. Mr P Mitchell and Mr T Burn had 19 fish to the boat between them, all on dries. Stan Hillman and Mick Cronin caught 20 fish between them from the bank on Saturday using floating fry patterns and Daddies. Season Permit holder Paul Walley netted 7 fish from the Tower Bank on Sunday using fry patterns.

Competitions

This years Fur and Feather match will take place on Sunday 24^th November 2019. The competition will be fished to reservoir rules and is a boat pairs match with a limit of 12 fish to the boat. The competition will be fished from 9am until 4pm with prizes for first second, third and biggest fish. Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to reserve your boat.

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop at www.flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS

Demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try. Call the Draycote lodge for details

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.

COMPETITIONS:

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to T Evans from Kirkby In Ashfield , the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:350  Number Trout Taken: 254     Number Trout Released: 991

Total Catch: 1245  Rod Average: 3.5

Current Fishing Times:

Bank: 07:30 until 18:30

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 18:30

Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:00  

Last 4 Hours from: 14:30 until 18:30 (Ticket sales available from 14:15)

Gutting Room Closes: 18:00

All Anglers to be off site by: 18:45

Tight lines,

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twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 29th September 2019
Tel: 01788 812018

A harder week for most mainly due to the prevailing weather. Whilst contending with clear skies & sunshine previously, this week anglers were faced with some extremely windy, and at times very wet, conditions. In fact, torrential overnight rain on Saturday left the whole boat fleet knee deep in water. It was nevertheless another busy week on the water, but the challenging conditions did lead to a lower catch rate for most. In total 318 anglers fished & recorded a combined catch return of 752 trout representing a rod average for the period of 2.3
Monday started dry & fine through the morning but clouded over in the afternoon with the arrival from the south and west of the forecast winds and heavy rain which were to remain throughout the week. It proved to be a very tough day for the seven bank anglers who ventured out with only season ticket holder Paul Walker managing to net fish with a brace of rainbows. It was similar in the boats for many recording ones & twos or nil on the catch returns. However, regulars Terry & John Evans netted 7 and 6 respectively all to dries on long exploratory drifts over deep water. Ed Douglas couldn’t get them to rise properly to his dries so changed to nymphs high in the water column and ended with 11 to the boat. Kevin Rees though persisted with his fiery brown Bob’s Bits and netted a dozen. Both Ed & Kevin fished drifts across the middle. Eugene Hughes excelled once more fishing across the middle as well & also drifts offshore from the Sailing Club. He fished Humungus & Humungus Boobies on a mix of Di3 & Di5 to end with a fantastic tally of 28 landed. He said that he would drift for lengthy periods with nothing followed by spells of frantic activity catching rainbows that were hitting perch fry. Tuesday was very wet until mid-afternoon, but some good sport was enjoyed by Dafydd Evans & Mike Williams who both took their 4 fish limit together with an additional brace each caught & released. Keith Coley & Bob Taft alternated between diawl bachs & lures for a combined total of 13. There has been a lot of small black beetles around for a week or so now and it was interesting to see that Mr Woodroffe took a six fish limit plus another four released on a good old black & peacock spider. Alan Grant had a tremendous day on the bank on Wednesday when he found fry feeding fish in Toft. He caught & released 8 using fry patterns with a further two taken for the pot, his best tipping the scales at 5lbs 2oz. Bob Smith was also on the bank but over on Lin Croft where he took two rainbows on minkies & two on shrimps. He also lost a further 3 fish in play. Out on the water & All Water member Ed Douglas was back out exploring on his second visit of the week. This time he was able to properly interest the fish into rising to dries and netted 17 fine rainbows in total. Dave Kennell also did well with an 8 fish total on foam daddies, bob’s bits & dabblers presented on a 12’ slow tip. Weather wise, Wednesday was probably the best day of the week with lighter winds, some sunshine & only limited light showers.
The stronger winds were back on Thursday with some prolonged sunshine making for tricky fishing with quite a lot of blank rods. Dave Adkins took a boat and chose to explore the whole venue in search of feeding fish. He found fish all over and managed to end with 5 rainbows taken for the pot with all taken on his pair of dries – a midas & a big red. Given the winds, John Jones decided to anchor up in his boat off Lin Croft Point. He drifted a team of daddies across the wave and steadily notched up a tally of 7 rainbows to the net. Roger Davis braved a very gusty shoreline on the bank and was rewarded with a nice brace. Friday brought with it some very heavy rain for the anglers to contend with whilst many struggled there were, as always, some nice catches. Ifor Bullock bank fished his favourite spot in Dunn’s Bay and caught a lovely grown on rainbow of 4lbs 8oz which took his black cruncher. John Hoskins took what shelter he could find anchored at the Sailing Club end of the Hensborough Bank. He fished a pair of humungus on a Di3 all day for a six fish tally. His first fish, which he released, was a 4lbs brownie. He suffered with dropping fish in play saying that he actually lost more than he landed during the course of the session. Top boat of the day was unquestionably that of Paul Davison. Paired with Mark Withyman, they fished midas dries all day to end with 27 to the boat. The big winds refused to subsist & Saturday anglers again had big winds & protracted gusts to contend with. Indeed, one angler enquired as to whether we sold seasick pills?! Ifor Jones & Jim Demsey fished lures all day on the rudder to land 9 & 11 rainbows respectively. Kit Coleman stayed with the dry daddies all day for an 8 fish tally, as did his boat partner Andrew Farmer who netted 6. Paul Davison returned hoping for a repeat of his Friday sport but this time sharing with Ian Bradfield from the All Abilities Club. Paul’s midas patterns came up trumps for him as usual & they landed 17 & 9 respectively on drifts mainly out from Rainbow Corner & the main Draycote dam.
Twenty of the Invicta Fly Fishers fished a club competition on Saturday in some quite testing conditions. The competition format was a 4 fish kill and then catch and release. In first place was Chris Mcleod with 10 fish for 18lbs 7 oz, second was Paul Heavans and third place went to Keith Gilchrist. A total of 58 fish were caught, giving a club average of 2.85.
Sunday was yet another day of very testing conditions with gusty winds and sporadic showers. Mr P Mitchell and Mr T Burn did extremely well boating 25 fish between them on Daddies and FAB’s. The brothers Hanlon all netted at least 4 fish a piece but were keeping their method top secret. Jed O’Donaghue and Phil Mee caught on dries, as did Ed Douglas.

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop at www.flyfishstore.co.uk
Stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS
Demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try. Call the Draycote lodge for details
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.

COMPETITIONS:
TROUTMASTERS – Please also note that we are once more hosting the Troutmasters’ Final at Draycote which this year will be on Monday 7th October. This is a boat & bank event and the fishery will be closed for the day.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Jim Dempsey from Bedworth, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 318 Number Trout Taken: 272 Number Trout Released: 480
Total Catch: 752 Rod Average: 2.3
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 18:45
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 18:45
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:15
Last 4 Hours from: 14:45 until 18:45 (Ticket sales available from 14:30)
Gutting Room Closes: 18:15
All Anglers to be off site by: 19:00
Tight lines,
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twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 22nd September 2019

Tel: 01788 812018

Yet another busy week at Draycote with fish still coming to dries, hoppers & daddy patterns. However catch returns were down on the previous week mainly due to clear skies & bright sunshine from mid-day Tuesday right through to Saturday. Anglers also faced a near mirror calm on Thursday when the southerly “wind” did not “blow” above 1mph all day. In total 367 anglers fished & recorded a combined catch return of 1226 trout representing a rod average for the period of 3.34

A good start on Monday which saw anglers enjoying a gentle ripple and good cloud cover. Brothers Terry & John Evans took advantage and netted 11 & 17 respectively to dries & hoppers from open water drifts. They are a regular pairing on Mondays who prefer imitative methods & their own tied nymphs & dries are a real credit. Gary Wharton drifted both G & D buoy and landed 9 which also came to dries. A group of Thornton Fly Fishers were also on the fishing a small club event which was won by Richard Dayman who netted 8 rainbows on Big Reds. Season ticket holders Tony Broadway & Alan Grant were both on the bank on Tuesday morning and landed 4 apiece to nymphs. Eric Glaister & John Gibson netted their 6 fish limit each in the boats with Keith Coley & Bob Taft just behind them with an 11 fish tally to lures fished of the main Draycote Water dam. Hector Pearson took 4 rainbows on dry daddies & experienced great fun on his four weight outfit. Bob Smith & Ian Richardson bank fished together and encountered fry feeding rainbows on Lin Croft. Bob tackled them on standard minkies to land 5 with Ian choosing the booby version to net 4. Notwithstanding the wall to wall sunshine of Wednesday, Ellis Phillips & Viv Davies excelled catching & releasing 10 each from the boat although their successful flies & methods were not recorded in the returns. Neil Cohen also boat fished & did very well to take a six fish limit with a further 6 C&R as did Mick Newton. Many anglers on the water this week were practising for the AMFC competition at the weekend which often leads to scant information as to tactics being released. John Batter fished with Harley Smith on Thursday though & did well in the bright, calm conditions taking 4 each from both X buoy & Toft on orange hoppers & yellow owls. It was nice to welcome the English Fly Fishing Association back for their annual Autumn Members Day with 26 anglers fishing. Their top three rods all caught their four fish limit with a further 3 C&R. As such, only ounces separated them with Richard Nicholl taking the top step, Ray Storer followed in second with Peter De Kremer taking third. More sunshine for Friday anglers however a brisk 14mph ESE wind with some strong gusting saw the back off the previous days’ flat calms. More practise anglers were afloat ahead of the AMFC match with Graham Pearson & Mike Gunnell taking a dozen good fish on dries over dep water. Eileen Chatwin & Gwyneth Moody recorded a combined tally of 11 whilst Sean & John Hanlon released 8 each whilst searching the venue ahead of match day. Tony Broadway was back for more bank action recording a 4 rainbows caught & released together with 3lbs of blackberries taken!

The Association of Major Flyfishing Clubs Group 1 & 3 had the whole water for their event on Saturday which saw a continuation of the bright sunny conditions but mainly on a gusty 14mph SE wind. The Group 1 teams totalled 162 trout caught for a creditable rod average of 4.5 Soldier Palmers “A” took first place followed by Rutland Water FF with Soldier Palmers Wayne Jones & Sean Hanlon taking first & second individual & Rutland’s Graham Pearson in third. The Group 3 event was won by Bewl Bridge FC “A” followed by the Royal Navy & Soldier Palmers “B”. Ray French took top individual spot with Tim Williams netting the best fish at 3lbs 8oz. Our congratulations to all. The weekend ended with some good Sunday sport. Gareth Jones fished the surface all over the venue for a 20 fish day on claret hoppers & shipmans. Llyr & Gerwyn Evans got off to a great start to their holiday break taking 11 & 10 respectively, again to surface tactics. Ahead of the forthcoming Troutmasters final in October, Kasidit Leoviriyakit was back for another recce. He bank fished Lin Croft & the Tower bank and netted 7 rainbows all together on a combination of daddies & shrimp patterns. Mike Ellison bank fished too & took a fine 4lbs rainbow on a snake. Ben Robertson also ended his week on midlands venues with a good 16 fish tally alternating tactics between dries & washing lined diawl bachs on long open water drifts.

The coming week sees some wet & windy weather forecast but a continuation of good autumnal sport is anticipated.

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.

With Daddies & dries featuring this week we continue to have our online Daddies offer https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/ with Tom Bird writing an article on how to fish the daddies with a further article on fishing dries in general on our tuition & guiding website www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/  

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.

COMPETITIONS:

TROUTMASTERS – Please also note that we are once more hosting the Troutmasters’ Final at Draycote which this year will be on Monday 7^th October. This is a boat & bank event and the fishery will be closed for the day.

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Aneta Hojnor from Hanwell, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods: 367  Number Trout Taken: 486     Number Trout Released: 740

Total Catch: 1226  Rod Average: 3.34

Current Fishing Times:

Bank: 07:30 until 19:00

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 19:00

Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:00   PM 14:00 until 19:00

Last 4 Hours from: 15:00 until 19:00 (Ticket sales available from 14:45)

Gutting Room Closes: 18:30

All Anglers to be off site by: 19:15

Tight lines,

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Draycote Water fishing report week ending Sunday 15th September 2019

Tel: 01788 812018

Another week with a definite autumnal feel in the air and continuation of the cooler weather for the most part of the week. This has found the fish with their eyes firmly fixed on the surface & flies presented out of the top few feet were too deep. As a result dry flies have reigned supreme in the catch returns. Indeed some recorded fantastic scores that the England Cricketers could not replicate last week. Given the great sport being experienced, we have had a busy week at the fishery with 408 rods landing a total of 1701 fish for a rod average of 4.2

While dries have been the stand-out method for the week, there has been a marked difference in the success found by some anglers on the method. The anglers catching the big numbers have done so by fishing them in a certain way. They have found the key has been to short cast with the dries no more than 3 rod lengths of line and work the water in front of the boat like a clock face and fan cast around. Flies are left on the water for no longer that 20 seconds, thus maximising the coverage of the water and hopefully coverage of the fish. The other absolutely crucial bit is to have confidence in the method. Currently the fish seem to be having feeding spells. You may well have a slow hour or so but the lads who do really well just fish the dries throughout, confident in the knowledge they will come back on after a while.

On Monday the fishing was spread from Toft to the top dam wall and B buoy. In Toft the fish wanted the flies with a larger footprint such as daddies and hoppers. Whereas up near B Buoy and the Draycote Dam it was the much smaller Bob’s Bits doing the damage. One of the keys to catching on Monday was that due to the bigger winds, imparting some element of motion into the daddies or the hoppers seemed to draw the fish to the flies. Achieve this either through a figure of eight or with long draws after leaving the flies static for 10-20 seconds first. Terry & John Evans netted 13 & 16 respectively on a mix of dries, hoppers & daddies. Andy Birkett enjoyed a 20 fish session in Toft & up at B buoy to his own dry hopper patterns whilst Eugene Hughes did his usual lures on a Di 3 through the middle followed by a dry fly session in the vicinity of X & P. He was also into the “twenties” by the end of his session. Roger Dangerfield enjoyed time on the bank too with a three fish tally taken on dries. Tuesday morning saw Bob Smith exploring the bank taking three from the Cornfield on Nemo Cruncher, two from the Swan’s Nest on a red nymph and another one from Dunn’s on a Nemo. Kevin Rees stopped at 20 which had taken his Bob’s Bits over open water whilst Keith Harding described how he had had great fun netting a dozen on foam daddies, midas & claret hoppers right down in Toft Shallows. Wednesday started with a strong WSW wind gusting up to 30mph but dries & daddies were still taking fish. Norman Perkins fished daddies and big reds netting 3 fine grown on rainbows for the pot with a further dozen released. Roger Kerrison had a much enjoyed day on the water with an eight fish tally on dries as did John Dickens who fished daddies & Bits for an 11 fish total. Andy Birkett concluded a terrific three day session on Wednesday having fished his own small dry fly patterns each day on a #4wt outfit. He netted over 60 rainbows over the 3 days from all over the venue with his best specimens topping the 5lbs mark. Lee Henfrey was also on the water guiding John Lewis. John had some fun in the morning presenting daddies on a dapping rod and, given their success, they stuck to a pair of foam backed daddies all day with 15 fish to the net by the end of their session. On the bank at the Cornfield Nick Louka decided to switch to a sinking line to cut into the wind & big wave. Although he had to “pull like mad from touchdown to avoid hitting weed” the tactic paid off for him with 5 good rainbows to a black lure & blob combination. Adrian Gorman & 7 of his fellow countrymen arrived from their Dublin flight in time for an evening boat to start their four day break with us. Most had fished Draycote before but for Eddie Rowe it was his first visit. He felt quite at home in the big winds though as he led the field with an 8 fish evening total. Lee Tones was in action too and fished “a booby eyed daddy twiddled back through the waves- fish all over the lake- great day again!”. A wind switch into the north, accompanied by much sunshine, slowed things up a little for Friday anglers. That said, Tony Broadway & Dave East both did well on Lin Croft from the bank in the morning catching 7 & 6. Out on the water Rosemary Gunn fished CDC hoppers & hare’s ears for a 9 fish total. Will Hunt did well with black dabblers with 4 good fish taken & another 8 released. John Hoskins netted 3 on foam daddies out of Biggin Bay in the morning following which he said they went off. Subsequent drifts in the vicinity of B buoy using a humungus on a Di3 got him back into action with a further 11 to the net by the end of the day. Dave Kennell also found fish in the same area but found fly presentation on a 12ft slow tip to be the best method. Sharing with Eddie Mitchell, the pair ended their session with a 16 fish total.

Bank regular Mike Garner was on the Tower Bank & then Lin Croft early on Saturday morning. He found fish pulling his holographic crunchers & landed 5. Once more, the majority of boat anglers stuck with the daddies or hoppers which accounted for a dozen caught and released by Andy Lane, whilst Gordon Whyte fished black hoppers through H buoy landing 15. Eddie Rowe’s success continued with another 8, but top rod in their party for the day was that of Kevin Egan who netted 14 on daddies. On Sunday the Mid-Northants fished their Stanley Harrison Trophy event which was won by Fraser Duffy (Jnr) with a 12 fish total. Fraser Snr was just one fish behind in second spot with Barry Jones’ 10 fish tally giving him third place. Adrian Gorman’s party from Ireland concluded their holiday with a 42 fish short day with the vast majority coming to foam bodied daddy patterns. Eddie Rowe yet again headed their “leader board” with another 8 fish total! Paul Davison spent the weekend on the water, fishing Friday, Saturday & Sunday. As expected, he stuck to his Midas dries & caught consistently well across the venue on all three days ending with 24 to the net on Sunday. He found drifts out of the Inlet into open water; G buoy & Cornfield and across Toft & into the Swan’s Nest to be the most productive, dependant on wind direction as it did swing around the compass as the weekend progressed.

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.

With Daddies featuring this week we have an online Daddies offer https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/ with Tom Bird writing an article on how to fish the daddies on our tuition & guiding website www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/

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.

COMPETITIONS:

Association of Major Fishing Clubs. Saturday 21^st September 2019.    

TROUTMASTERS – Please also note that we are once more hosting the Troutmasters’ Final at Draycote which this year will be on Monday 7^th October. This is a boat & bank event and the fishery will be closed for the day.

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Ted Mills from Tenbury Wells, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods: 408  Number Trout Taken: 369     Number Trout Released: 1332

Total Catch: 1701  Rod Average: 4.2

Current Fishing Times:

Bank: 07:30 until 19:30

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 19:30

Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:30   PM 14:30 until 19:30

Last 4 Hours from: 15:30 until 19:30 (Ticket sales available from 15:15)

Gutting Room Closes: 19:00

All Anglers to be off site by: 19:45

Tight lines,

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore