Draycote Water weekly report week ending 30th June 2019

Tel: 01788 812018

Special offer- Please check out www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers to take advantage of a great deal on our In house guides top patterns when fishing on the washing line.

A mixed week as regards weather, with some wet days early on but culminating in sweltering conditions with the hottest recorded 2019 temperatures at 30°C+ by the weekend.

Anglers generally found the fishing hard on Monday, despite light north westerly winds and a maximum air temperature of 20°C. Nevertheless, dry fly fanatic & season rod, Kevin Rees searched out cruising fish from his boat and managed to tempt 12 to the net including some silver bars in the upper 3lbs bracket. He took fish out over the middle & all came to his own small dry patterns. Richard Pelly also stuck to his dry fly routine on a light outfit to tempt a brace of rainbows during a short evening session. Both his fish took a Big Red. A wet morning to start off Tuesday with a 9-10 mph north, north easterly blow. Only a couple of anglers chose to bank fish – amongst them Ifor Bullock, who netted a brace of fine rainbows on nymphs fished on a floating line in Dunn’s Bay. Out on the water many of the boats were enjoying hectic sport both on the surface and at depth. Lee Tones concentrated on drifts between X & N Buoys fishing roly poly retrieve with a Di5 and a snake. He had a great day with fish between 2½lbs & 4lbs and ended with 17 to the net.  Ed Douglas also fished the open water of the middle but in total contrast stuck to dries & tempted 14. Keith Coley & Bob Taft stayed with top of the water tactics too – they pulled muddlers through the surface landing 5 & 7 rainbows respectively. Wednesday was a busy day on the water with 55 anglers fishing. Alan Grant continued his consistent run on the bank with a 4 fish total as did Ian Richardson who fished crunchers propped up with a small booby. Season rod Richard Walker boat fished and spent his session exploring the depths with fast sinking lines in conjunction with his own pattern of olive snake. He finished the day with an eleven fish total, taking a 6 fish limit for the pot with a combined weight of 17½lbs. Meanwhile, again by way of total contrast, Kevin Rees was back on the water with his dries and, although he described the fish as “tricky”, he did catch & release nine – again out across the middle.

On Thursday we hosted the annual Alex Booth charity event organised by Roy Lewin. Conditions were best described as “choppy” on a brisk East North East wind with gusts exceeding 20mph at times. The event was fished to a four fish limit which match winner Pete Fleming managed to achieve by 11:30am finding fish in the vicinity of Rainbow Corner & along the main Draycote Water Dam. Our congratulations to Pete on his success together with runner up Peter Hartley & Gary Howe who took third spot. Independent of that event, season rods Tony Broadway & Brian Warwick gave up their usual bank spots & went afloat to explore the depths with Di7 sinking lines & large gold & silver tube flies fished on the back drift. They stuck to open water & located daphnia feeding fish which Tony described as real grown on silver bars mainly in the 3lbs bracket.  In total they landed 26 with 15 for Tony & 11 for Brian. Five taken for the pot totalled 16lbs. Chris Discombe also had a ball, mainly deep with snakes, or a blue flash damsel and landed 17.  Only a few bank anglers on the water but Derek Brooks had fine sport with 5 to the net from his morning session. Mr Back also bank fished at Lin Croft where he tempted four to Black & Peacock spiders. Friday dawned with scattered clouds on an easterly breeze. Pete Allen spent his usual morning session on the bank and enjoyed fine sport on the Cornfield where he landed 7 rainbows before a late move up to Lin Croft where he tempted another brace before temperatures started to rise too much. Spencer Price only managed a couple of hours on the bank but was rewarded with a silver bar of 4lbs! Hot & hard was the common theme as the mini heatwave started to take effect. Whilst many struggled as a result, it was anything but for Mr Campbell who fished a 30 second drop on a Di 7 with a black snake in the aerators to land eight.

Things really baked on Saturday, which turned out to be the hottest day yet recorded for 2019.  Fortunately anglers heeded the forecasts & went out with plenty of water supplies & sunscreen. As anticipated in the bright & hot conditions, those fishing deep with lures produced the best results. Saturday regular Jim Dempsey rudder fished a Di5 & black & green lures, mainly on runs down towards the Sailing Club. He ended the session with a fine 4 fish limit & a further 15 rainbows caught & released. Richard Walker was back on the water again and was not to be disappointed with a total of 18 to the net. He found black lures & green damsel patterns to be most effective. Graham Norman, over from the Isle of Man, spent the day afloat and interestingly, having struggled through the morning, located feeding fish during the extreme heat of the afternoon, at the bottom of the Hensborough Dam. He netted 9 in very quick succession on a floating line in conjunction with a very long leader and a pair of damsel nymphs. Almost simultaneously, on the bank at Rainbow Corner, season rod Mike Garner decided on a couple of last casts there before calling it an early day. Using a pair of cormorants he also enjoyed fast & furious action with 7 rainbows to add to the brace he had managed at the Swan’s Nest in the morning.

Whilst still hot, conditions were more favourable than Saturday. Feeding fish clearly stayed around in Rainbow Corner overnight as on Sunday Mr Hollingshead fished diawl bachs there for a six fish limit with another brace caught & released. James Kelly also had fine sport fishing buzzers & diawl bachs in Toft to land 8. Out in the boats, Paul Mitchell paired up with Tim Burn & decided to stick with dries and landed 7. Tim decided on pulling with a Di3 & FABs to tempt another 7 to the boat. Staff member Michael Hanlon explored the water using a combo of olive snake & candy blob fished deep. He netted eleven rainbows in total finding fish near X Buoy, Croft Shoal & drifts down towards the Cornfield. Dai Davies & Jimmy Riddell stuck to washing line tactics with UV Crunchers & black diawl bachs in both Rainbow Corner & drifts out from the Tower to end the day with a fine total of 21 to the boat. Despite a delayed arrival resulting in a foreshortened session, Keith Harding & Mike Clarke got right into the action too, over the middle using various coloured snake patterns on a Di7 to land 10 & 7 respectively.

Disabled Anglers

Draycote has a wheelie boat for hire, which includes a ramp and hydraulic lift for wheelchair access. To book the wheelie boat call the lodge on 01788 812018. 

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop

Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.

We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. The Fishery Management (UK) ltd guides top flies for all venues for the washing line that can be found on the online shop https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/”

COMPETITIONS During July

Saturday 20^th July and Sunday 21^st  The England TEFF event has taken up the whole fleet for both days.

Sunday 28^th July 2019 – Scierra Pairs  For entry details contact Phil Dixon via event web site :-https://www.scierrapairs.co.uk/heats/

Weekly Boat draw

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

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods: 225       Number Trout Taken:     264   Number Trout Released:   455

Total Catch:  719        Rod Average: 3.19

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 22:00

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 22:00

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 22:00

Last 4 Hours from:  18:00 until 22:00 (Ticket sales available from 17:45)

Gutting Room –  Please be aware that the facility is temporarily suspended following freezer malfunction.

All Anglers to be off site by: 22:15

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 23rd June 2019
Tel: 01788 812018
Weather Forecast: We’re often asked which weather forecast we use. In our experience the BBC regional forecast can be very inaccurate. We tend to lose a lot of customers based on these, and therefore have started using more localised weather apps such as XC Weather or Windguru. These can be downloaded to your phone or computer, and using our post code of CV23 8AB, will give you a dedicated, more accurate forecast for Draycote water. Just as an example, as I write this report the BBC has forecast thunder storms for this morning, and the real conditions for fishing are dry, overcast, with a light southerly breeze, nigh on perfect.

Tom Bird fly fishing Tip: Make sure you check out this weeks special offer of flies for the washing line, at the bottom of our report.
We’ve had a very busy week here at Draycote with the build up towards the Angling Trust Competition. We fully expected the fishing to drop off after the pressure of the country’s top competition anglers on the water, however this didn’t seem to happen. There have been some great catches all week coming from the boats, with the bank anglers also enjoying some fantastic sport. On the bank Alan Grant fished in Rainbow Corner to find lots of fish hitting pin-fry, which can be difficult to catch. However using small lures Alan did manage to tempt 5 of these cracking silver fish onto the hook. Out on the boats season ticket holder Dave Adkins fished around D Buoy and Dunn’s, landing 14 on snakes fished on a Di 5 sinking line. He landed some cracking quality fish with his 6 taken for the pot going 15lb 12oz. Another angler who found the better fish was rudder man Rod Wilson who landed 20 fish on a green rabbit snake fished over the open water around the middle. Rod’s 4 fish taken for the pot tipped the scales at an impressive 13lb 6oz. Chris Discombe enjoyed good sport landing just short of double figures around the valve tower. Chris found the key to his success was to use a black lure and buzzers, and commented that “the fish were full of snails”. Like Rod Wilson, Steve Barby used the rudder through the middle to land some cracking fish in his 9 fish haul, but found it wasn’t until the afternoon they really started to pull.
Near perfect conditions on Tuesday meant that there were fish feeding all over the lake for most of the day. Season ticket holder David Holding passed comment that “you could walk across their backs out there, but they proved challenging to get onto the hook”. On the bank Richard Walker found that pearly pheasant tails fished for the pin-fry feeders worked well, landing 4 in dunns before taking another 3 from the cornfield. Gordon Byers & Tim Grove used a very small sparse Damsel pattern from a boat around Biggin Bay to net 14 fish to the boat. Ed Douglas commented that he found the fishing challenging on the dries with so much natural food on the water. Although a small F Fly did take 10 fish for Ed before the rain in the afternoon got the better of him. Proving great minds think alike Kevin Rees also stuck to dries all day to land 9, and like Ed found that an F Fly was the key to getting positive takes. In house guide Lee Henfrey took season ticket holder David Holding out for a boat session.. Taking 9 fish to the boat, Lee found the method for the day was to fish a washing line with a small FAB on the point with Diawl Bach’s on the dropper. With the flashback green cheeked Diawl Bach from fulling mill proving to be the top pattern.
Another good weather day on Wednesday once again meant lots of fish feeding high in the water. Season ticket holder Martyn Price landed 7 fish drifting through the middle on a washing line with a booby on the point and then a mix of Diawl Bach and crunchers on the droppers. Gordan Byers & Tim Grove found that a Cut Throat Cat was to be their top pattern for the day landing 18 fish to the boat including some cracking silver tailed fish. Fishing a washing around the middle and Rainbow Corner to A buoy Kieron Thomas & Bob Jones landed 20 fish to the boat. Another boat using similar tactics was Jim Venning and M Linton from Northern Ireland who boated 14 fish. In House guide Lee Henfrey once again took to the water guiding this time for 8 hours with John Lewis & his friend David. The pair enjoyed great sport using a washing line with a FAB and then 2 nymphs on their trusty #5 & #6 sage rods. Lee found the lads several fish around X buoy and then T buoy later in the day. Towards the end of the day the lads did also land a number of good fish on an olive snake fished on a floater.
A trickier day for the most part on Thursday with sun and strong winds than the previous days meant that the fish that had been feeding hard out in the middle dropped down in the water. For the third day in a row Lee Henfrey took to the water guiding with John and David. After a long day on Tuesday and tough conditions, it was back drifting snakes through the middle that got them into some great fish. Brian Moore enjoyed a good mornings sport fishing snakes out the back of the boat around the top end of the lake, drifting from the top dam wall out over the open water using an intermediate line. Season ticket John Dickens also used back drifting snakes with olive again being the top colour to land 15 fish. Lee Pattern and Peter Elliot found a lot of fish, landing good number down the Farborough Dam and them around the corner into the Swans nest. They used a mixture of cormorants and blobs fished on a long midge tip.
Friday dawned bright and sunny with cloud cover rolling in about lunchtime. The bank anglers enjoyed some terrific sport down in toft and along the north shore. Season permit holder Bob Smith netted 19 fish from the bank on black buzzers and diawl bachs and commented on “a very good day”. Keith Hughes, Richard Walker, Gordon Slack and Colin Grainger all produced good returns, but no notes of tactics or areas are available at this time. Mr J Sherwell netted 4 fish from the bank on buzzers. Season permit holder Paul Walley took a brace from the bank on buzzers in toft. Visiting us form the north east, Gordon Byers and Tim Grove had 21 fish to the boat from across the outer markers on a mixture of buzzers, diawl bachs and dries. The intrepid pairing of Jim Smith and Ed Douglas netted 15 from a drifting boat on dries, (the crippled midge strikes again) at various points in open water. Dave Kennel and Eddie the super sub Mitchell netted a dozen fish from the boat and commented on a fantastic day. In house guide Lee Henfrey and staff member Michael Hanlon ventured out for a days sport to net 42 fish between them from a drifting boat. Their method of choice was a DI5 and snakes.
Saturday had a bright start and looked an excellent day to be out on the water. Draycote regular George Leaton netted 11 fish from a boat in Toft on buzzers fished deep. Sean Gilbert had 18 fish to the boat on a DI5 and snakes and commented on the excellent quality of the fish. Saturday regular Jim Dempsey netted 9 fish on the rudder whilst Melvin Severn took 8. Both anglers thought that the fish were sitting quite high in the water for such a bright day. Mr Butler and his boat partner had a bakers dozen to the boat on DI5’s and DI7’s and a silver lure.
The weather forecasts for Sunday were a bit gloomy, but it looked like the ideal day for fishing with heavy cloud, a light breeze and little or no rainfall. Martin Moore took to the water to net 11 fish from a boat on olive buzzers and diawl bachs. Keith Harding and Mike Clarke commented on “the fabulous fishing.” They used a combination of DI5’s and snakes, and a floating line and buzzers to net 33 fish. Both anglers said that some of the fish ran to 4lbs in weight and were “bars of silver”. Richard Walker and Paul Davis boated 13 fish using a “tiger snake” down deep. The lads weighed in 8 fish for 26lbs.

Disabled Anglers
Draycote has a wheelie boat for hire, which includes a ramp and hydraulic lift for wheelchair access. To book the wheelie boat call the lodge on 01788 812018.
Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop
Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.
We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. The Fishery Management (UK) ltd guides top flies for all venues for the washing line that can be found on the online shop https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/”
COMPETITIONS During June
27th June 2019 – Alex Booth Fly Fishers Charity Match contact Roy Lewin via 07762 746825
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr John Marriott from Swanwick in Derbyshire, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 248 Number Trout Taken: 184 Number Trout Released: 717
Total Catch: 901 Rod Average: 3.6
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 22:00
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 22:00
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 22:00
Last 4 Hours from: 18:00 until 22:00 (Ticket sales available from 17:45)
Gutting Room Closes – 21:30
All Anglers to be off site by: 22:15

Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
Follow Us on
facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 16th June 2019

Tel: 01788 812018

Another good week at Draycote, although, like the rest of the Country, hampered by torrential rains which left us with no boats out on Tuesday. Despite the seemingly incessant downpours, this reporting period saw a total of 281 rods on the water catching a total of 1736 trout representing an impressive rod average of 6.17. In the wake of hosting the Ladies Home International the bulk of this week centred on the Angling Trust Loch Style Team Championships www.anglingtrustevents.net/e/222/loch-style-team-championship-2019 with practise days on Thursday & Friday and the event fished over both Saturday & Sunday.

Prior to the onset of the worst of the rains, anglers experienced great sport on Monday with bank angler Ian Richardson catching 14 on a mix of damsels & buzzers in Dunn’s Bay. Newcomer Ray Hopkins also did really well on the bank for a 7 fish total, also on damsel patterns. The boat anglers were enjoying fine sport as well with Rod Wilson netting 20 rainbows up to 4½lbs fishing zonker & snake patterns high in the water column whilst on the rudder. Peter Fisher stuck to his team of buzzers & Pheasant Tail nymphs presented on his usual floating line & long leader ending a good session with a brace for the pot & a further 8 caught & released. John Dickens had a very mixed 10 fish session in terms of fly patterns. He caught on CDCs, buzzers & lures! Tuesday was effectively written off by the weather with no boats on the water & only a small handful of hardy souls on the bank. Season ticket holder Peter Allen was not to be put off though & he located pin fry feeding fish off Tower Bank & managed to tempt half a dozen to the net. Wednesday saw a marginal weather improvement but boat & bank anglers found fish picky with no clear method, location or pattern coming to the fore. Twenty five anglers fished for a day total of 56 caught – a rod average of 2.24. Bank regulars Bob Smith & Alan Grant managed 3 & 4 respectively whilst the best combined catch afloat was that of Messrs Williams & Donaldson with a 13 fish total “scratched” from all different spots on the lake.

Thursday & Friday saw the top competition anglers out in force practising for the AT Loch Style Team Championships at the weekend. Tactics, methods & areas were being kept close to everyone’s chests as expected. However, it was clear that many fish were coming to the net from all over the venue & from the upper layers of the water column too. Most pairings in practise were recording catches in the twenties & it was clear that an exciting event was in prospect. Dave Kennell in particular had a great session with 8 of the rainbows he caught & released all over the 3lbs mark and fighting as if on steroids.

The event itself was fished over Saturday & Sunday and each day comprised three x 3 hour sessions with all fish caught measured in our measuring troughs before being released. Sixteen teams of three competed, with one team member having to act as boatman/controller in other teams boats each session to ensure compliance. With scoring over every session the top of the leader board was in a state of constant flux and tensions ran high given the kudos of winning such an event, as well as the high cash prizes being fought for. High winds and heavy showers made for challenging conditions but, as anticipated, it was washing line tactics on various length midge tip lines that brought the best returns. A total of 775 trout were caught over the two days at the end of which congratulations went to first place team Fulling Mill FNF Nymphomaniacs who netted 70 fish with a combined length of 3211cm to collect their £3,000 winner’s cheque. Flash Attack Reservoir Dogs came in second with a 66 fish total for 3143 cm  and a cheque for £1,500. Pitsford Pirates in third spot had netted a 70 fish total but their overall length was 3140cm and saw them collect a prize cheque of £1,000. For full results see our Facebook page but our thanks go to Ben Thompson, Senior Competition & Performance Manager, Angling Trust for his organising of such a prestigious event at our venue.

Whilst the worst of the wet weather appears to have passed, we currently remain in a low pressure area & the potential for thunderstorms has been forecast from late Tuesday. Forecasts then improve dramatically and although showery at times, more normal seasonal weather is anticipated.

Disabled Anglers

Draycote has a wheelie boat for hire, which includes a ramp and hydraulic lift for wheelchair access. To book the wheelie boat call the lodge on 01788 812018. 

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop

Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.

We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. The weeks special offer is the Guiding & Tuition teams’ best buzzers and how to fish them in the latest blog at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk by Tom Bird. To see the special offer please visit www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers

COMPETITIONS During June

27th June 2019 – Alex Booth Fly Fishers Charity Match contact Roy Lewin via 07762 746825

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Mr Mark Rose from Northallerton the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods: 281       Number Trout Taken:     68   Number Trout Released:   1668

Total Catch:  1736        Rod Average: 6.17

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 22:00

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 22:00

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 22:00

Last 4 Hours from:  18:00 until 22:00 (Ticket sales available from 17:45)

Gutting Room Closes – 21:30

All Anglers to be off site by: 22:15

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 9nd June 2019
Tel: 01788 812018
This week saw Draycote host its first ever Ladies International with teams of 12 from England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales all taking part hoping to take home the gold medals. We would like to thank all the teams who fished here over the course of the week. It was a pleasure to have you all fishing our water and hope you enjoyed your time with us. A special thank you must go to all the boatmen as well who gave up their time to help on Thursday. Without volunteers, these matches couldn’t go ahead. During the week a total of 288 anglers caught 1202 fish giving a rod average for the week of 4.1
With the official practice for the ladies international taking place Tuesday & Wednesday. Monday was the only day leading up to the match that pleasure anglers where able to get a boat. Season ticket holder Peter Fisher landed 18 fish on green size 16 nymphs fished on a long leader in Rainbow Corner. Pete commented on the quality of the fish and landed a cracking 4lb rainbow. Out on the rudder Rod Wilson landed 10 fish drifting from Y to X on a Di 5 sinking line and tubes with most of his fish taking 6ft down. Mr R Cook enjoyed a great half day session landing 7 fish all on black buzzer fishing tight to the shore down the Cornfield.
The international boats practicing on the Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday gave very little away on the methods and tactics but through taking to the anglers it was clear that good number where getting caught in fact after the match we learnt that on the practice days a total of 930 trout had been caught across the times in the practice. Much of the practice seemed to show that there was 3 or 4 main hotspots on the lake that held a good head of fish. Rainbow Corner drifting towards A Buoy seemed to be a popular area with several practice boats being seen taking trout from the area. Biggin Bay and along the tower bank was another area. Drifting along the Cornfield and then taking drifts around the Pontoon towards J Buoy.
The day of the matched gave near perfect conditions with a light south, south west wind with overcast conditions. It looked set to be a great match with all anglers in high spirits in anticipation of a great day out on the water. The match was to be fished to full International rules with all the fish being measured using the measuring troughs and returned alive to the water. The match started with a piper procession from the car park to the boats, from here a minute’s silence was then observed for a remembrance of the fallen Solders of D Day. With the piper then getting the match underway at 9.30 sharp. With such good numbers being reported in the practice we all expected a very tight close match with good numbers. However, this wasn’t quite the case as several anglers struggled with the tactics that worked on practice just not quite producing the same great results. At the end of the match it was clear that England had done well and that the practice had paid off as their method had remained consistent. The results for the match showed Wales in 4th with 17 fish, Scotland in 3rd with 18 fish, Ireland in Second with 28 fish & England in 1st with a fantastic 54 fish. The England team had found the winning tactic to be the Bung fished at 11ft, 7ft and 5ft with a mix of blobs and Diawl Bach’s on the line. The top areas on the match where very similar to the practice with Rainbow Corner producing the best catches. Other methods that worked on the day where pulling on a Di 3 sinking with a mix of blobs and nymphs, washing lining with Diawl Bach’s and a FAB on a midge tip and straight line nymphing. A huge congratulations must also go to Gwyneth Mooney of England on her 8 fish and winning the individual top honours. Once again, our congratulations go to all the teams on a great weeks fishing and our thanks for making the event such an enjoyable one to host.
After the excitement of the match, the weather took a turn for the wetter on Friday with Rain for most of the day with gusty winds keeping most anglers away. Out on the boats Michael Hanlon found the fish along the North Shore keen to take a fly landing 12 in a short half day session before the rain got the better of him. Michael found a Di 3 with an olive hot tailed Zonker. Drifting through Biggin Bay, into Lincroft point and then down the Cornfield. Once the rain had stopped later afternoon it gave way to near perfect conditions. Making the most of these conditions Alex Campbell landed 4 fish on size 14 crippled midge drifting around X & T Buoy as well as countless out dropped fish and missed fish.
With no boats out Saturday and very few on the bank due to the strong winds a driving rain only a handful of fish where caught from Rainbow Corner which is a credit to the hardy anglers who took to the bank in such awful conditions.

What a difference a day makes, the weather system of the previous day had blown through leaving light winds from the south west with a mix of overcast/ sunny conditions for Sunday. It was a tough day for the anglers after such stormy conditions, but fish were caught from all points on the water and on a wide variety of methods. Martin Moore caught 8 fish from a boat in toft on green buzzers. Andy Birkett and Brent Vinall had 12 fish to the boat on buzzers and CDC’s. Bank Angler Paul Walley reported that he saw fish feeding on pin fry on toft shallows. Mr D Baker caught 4 fish from a boat on lure patterns. Ed Douglas and Jim Smith caught 7 fish between them, mainly from rainbow corner on a Dries, nymphs and buzzers.
Disabled Anglers
Draycote has a wheelie boat for hire, which includes a ramp and hydraulic lift for wheelchair access. To book the wheelie boat call the lodge on 01788 812018.
Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop
Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.
We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. The weeks special offer is the Guiding & Tuition teams’ best buzzers and how to fish them in the latest blog at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk by Tom Bird. To see the special offer please visit www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers
COMPETITIONS During June
15th & 16th June Angling Trust Loch Style Championship
www.anglingtrustevents.net/e/222/loch-style-team-championship-2019
27th June 2019 – Alex Booth Fly Fishers Charity Match contact Roy Lewin via 07762 746825
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Jim Hall from Hinckley the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 288 Number Trout Taken: 43 Number Trout Released: 1159
Total Catch: 1202 Rod Average: 4.1
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 22:00
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 22:00
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 22:00
Last 4 Hours from: 18:00 until 22:00 (Ticket sales available from 17:45)
Gutting Room Closes – 21:30
All Anglers to be off site by: 22:15

Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
Follow Us on
facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 2nd June 2019
Tel: 01788 812018
The weather was very changeable this week with only slightly warmer conditions towards the weekend. The odd stormy shower has blown through making things uncomfortable at times, but nothing that a good coat wouldn’t sort out. The fishing overall has held up well despite the constantly changing wind directions, and there have been some good catches for both boat and bank anglers. The north shore around duns bay and the tower bank have proved to be good spots from the bank, with fish finally rearing their heads in toft shallows from about midweek onwards. Boat anglers have also had some good sport with rainbow corner holding its own against the valve tower, the school slips, duns bay and buoys P, X and Y. This week 404 rods caught a total of 1369 fish giving us a weekly rod average of 3.3.
Monday was the final day of a four day package for William Brown and Joe Cairney from Dumfries who were catching well on sinking lines and black boobies as well as floating lines and traffic light buzzers, mainly in biggin bay. Season permit holders Jim Smith and Ed Douglas had 16 fish to a drifting boat on dries and buzzers. Don Coe, Gordon Byers, Tim Grove and Keith Bunnett travelled down from Northumberland this week in order to take advantage of our 4 day break. All have made the trip many times and were looking forward to having some great sport. Some of the late evening anglers had to brave some very heavy showers with thunder and lightening which came through at about 9pm.
On Tuesday season permit holder Peter Fisher caught 5 fish on dries and damsels. Mr R Woodland landed 6 fish on hares ears and diawl bachs Mr T Moore and Mr James Maplethorpe had 23 fish to the boat between them on diawl bachs, whilst “team Northumberland” landed a very steady 37 fish between 4 of them on buzzers. Mr J Forsyth and Mr G Ross caught and returned 18 fish from the boat using size 12 diawl bachs in colours green, red and orange. Mr Keith Coley and Mr B Taft caught 10 fish using lures on sinking lines. Draycote regular Mr Jeff ide had 17 fish to the boat on buzzer’s, one of which weighed 4lbs 8oz.
Wednesday was a great day for bank fishing alround it seems. Bob Smith caught 6 fish from the bank on black buzzers. Season permit holder Mike Garner had 13 fish off the bank using crunchers in Toft. The father and son team of Jim and Richard Hall ventured out onto the bank to net 16 fish between them. Ian Richardson caught 7 fish from the bank, all on buzzers. Out on the boats Mike Joy and John Gregory caught 16 fish on buzzers. Lord Richard Dayman and Norman Perkins had 14 fish to the boat between them.
On Thursday team Northumberland, Don Coe, Gordon Byers, Tim Grove and Keith Bunnett had a great day catching 53 fish between them on buzzers from the likes of rainbow corner and the valve tower. All water season permit holder Mr Paul Walker ventured out onto the bank to net 2 trout and 3 perch, all returned.
Friday turned out to be a lot windier than was forecast with some strong south westerly gusts blowing straight into toft. David East had a tremendous day out on the boat. David has been waiting a long time to catch a brown trout and just like that, he catches two in the same day. David was drifting off Musborough shoal on sinking lines to net one estimated at 8lbs and the second at 10lbs. See our facebook page for photos. Martyn Moore commented on “another great day”, boating 23 fish on green buzzers in rainbow corner. Season permit holder Mike Garner caught 4 fish from the bank in toft using cormorants and crunchers.
Saturday regulars Ivor Jones and Jim Dempsey caught 18 fish on the rudder using sinking lines and lures.
Season permit holders Dave Hancox and Martin Price netted 21 fish from a boat using buzzers and diawl bachs down the front of the cornfield. Mr N Starkey caught 16 fish on buzzers in rainbow corner, toft shallows and the cornfield. The usual suspects of Jim Smith and Ed Douglas had 20 fish to the boat on dries. Mr A Taylor caught 13 fish from the bank using buzzers and dries such as the big red. Draycote regular George Leaton ventured out in a boat to catch 11 fish, all on buzzers. Mr C Ballard, also using buzzers, caught 19 fish from a boat. Jim Hall caught 15 fish from the bank using diawl bachs. Mr John Furlong visiting from Thailand, caught 12 fish in an afternoon session.
Sunday was a very warm day with a very gusty south westerly blowing out of rainbow corner. The odd heavy shower blew across the water, just to break the day up. Staff Member Michael Hanlon netted 3 fish from the bank down in toft shallows using black and green buzzers, as did season permit holder Martin Hancox. Jim Smith and Ed Douglas had over forty fish to the boat on a mixture of dries, nymphs and buzzers. Sunday was the first of several practice days for the Ladies international with teams and coaches visiting from England, Ireland, Scotland and wales. We would like to take this opportunity to wish all the teams the very best of luck on Thursday.
Following the release of another blog from the guiding tuition team which can be found at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk, this weeks special offer is on CDC floatant. Please visit out online shop www.flyfishstore.co.uk to take advantage of this great offer.
Disabled Anglers
Draycote has a wheelie boat for hire, which includes a ramp and hydraulic lift for wheelchair access. To book the wheelie boat call the lodge on 01788 812018.
Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop
Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.
We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. The weeks special offer is the Guiding & Tuition teams’ best buzzers and how to fish them in the latest blog at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk by Tom Bird. To see the special offer please visit www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers
COMPETITIONS During June
6th June Ladies International
15th & 16th June Angling Trust Loch Style Championship
www.anglingtrustevents.net/e/222/loch-style-team-championship-2019
27th June 2019 – Alex Booth Fly Fishers Charity Match contact Roy Lewin via 07762 746825
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr David East from Japan the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 404 Number Trout Taken: 213 Number Trout Released: 1156
Total Catch: 1369 Rod Average: 3.3
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 22:00
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 22:00
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 22:00
Last 4 Hours from: 18:00 until 22:00 (Ticket sales available from 17:45)
Gutting Room Closes – 21:30
All Anglers to be off site by: 22:15

Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
Follow Us on
facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 26th May 2019

Tel: 01788 812018

The week kicked off with some great catches, season ticket holder Tony Broadway landed 8 fish, taking fish on a washing line. Tony found the fish during the morning along the tower bank before a move to Lincroft point and then the Cornfield in the afternoon to take his fish. All water season ticket holder Paul Walker landed 9 fish on buzzers. Out on the boat’s rudder anglers Jim Dempsey & Rod Wilson enjoyed a good days sport landing 22 between them. The pair found fish all over the lake on a Di 5 sinking line fishing a fulling mill weightless olive snake. Tosh Storrar & part returned for their yearly 4 day holiday, Tosh starting the week in fine form landing 22 fish to the boat. In the morning he used a standard 3ft midge tip with 2 Diawl Bach’s and a sunburst FAB in Rainbow Corner. However, in the afternoon the cloud came over and dries was the order of the day using a olive CDC, and hoppers. Father & Son team James & Ken Maplethorpe enjoyed a good day out on the water landing 24 fish from down the cornfield fishing 60 yards from the bank. The pair fished on the anchor using a floating line and team of buzzers and Diawl Bach’s to land their fish. Ed Douglas enjoyed a good day’s sport opting for dries all day, Ed landed 17 fish. Drifting from X too T buoy in the morning using crippled midge caught 10 of Ed’s fish. Before heading down to Toft in the afternoon to land a further 7, using crippled midge patterns and shipman’s.

Tuesday saw a lot of boats heading down to Toft after reports of some good numbers of fish being seen and caught down their the previous day. Paul Cushnie & Bill Patrick  landed 16 fish between them fishing a washing line on a midge tip with buzzers and FABs on the cast from Toft. While Tosh Storrar and his boat partner fished the same tactics again in Toft to land 21 fish to the boat. Draycote season ticket holder Colin England, used Buzzers on a floating line with a longer leader of 18ft. Colin found the fish in the channel between Lincroft Point and Croft shoal and then down the Cornfield. Colin & regular boat partner Tony have had great success on fished this way with their season rod average being over 10 of the start of season great angling!! All water season ticket holder Keith Coley & Bob Taft used a slime line with a mix of lures and buzzer to land 17 fish, commenting that most of the fish took the flies at 16ft down.

The forecast gave a gentle ripple and light winds from the South West, although the sun was out in the morning the cloud did arrive later in the afternoon. Season permit holder Peter Fisher managed a very respectable 7 fish to the boat fishing buzzers deep on a sinking line. Mr K Coley and Mr B Taft netted 17 fish from a drifting boat on a mixture of lures and buzzers on a slime line. Mr Cushnie and Mr Patrick landed 16 fish on buzzers and FAB’s.

The warmer weather didn’t seem to bother the fish to much as Wednesday’s rod average rose to just over 4. Mr Paul Flanner and Mr Simon Batten managed 23 fish to a drifting boat. Tosh Storars group, visiting from Scotland managed some very respectable numbers to the boat, with Tosh himself landing 26 fish for the day. The PSUK competition which took place on Wednesday was won by Staffordshire with 16 fish. The competition itself produced a rod average of 3.8

Thursday was a very warm day with some cloud but again a good rod average for the conditions. Season permit holder Ian Richardson remarked on an excellent days fishing from the bank, netting 22 fish on buzzers in duns bay. Mr D Brooks, also fishing from the bank caught 9 fish. Dave Bailey and Alan Cooke had 10 fish to the boat on buzzers. Chris Verrecchai caught 24 fish, again on buzzers. Mr W Brown and Mr J Cairney caught 9 fish on yellow owls. Mr Slind had 28 fish to the boat on “Buzzers all the way”. Mr Ian Moray had 13 fish to the boat on buzzers around the aerators and in Biggin Bay.

Friday was a bit more overcast with cooler conditions. Season permit holder Bob Smith caught 11 fish from the bank on buzzers in duns bay. Brian Allwood caught 5 trout from the bank and one pike. Draycote regular Ivor Bullock caught 9 fish, also from the bank. On a visit from Scotland Mr Iain Earle and Mr Marco Ezzi had 20 fish to a drifting boat, which included a brown estimated to be in excess of 7lb. To see the photos of the exceptional fish please visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore

The rudder boat of Ifor Jones and Jim Dempsey used olive snakes on a Di 5 sinking line around Y Buoy and X Buoy to land 13 fish to the boat. Mr Lambert fished from the bank in Dunn’s Bay to land 8 fish using Damsels and Buzzers. Fishing in Dunn’s Bay season ticket holder Chris Discombe landed 10 fish on green buzzers. Maggie Curtis and Husband Tony landed 12 fish in a half day session drifting around the Hensbrough bank and towards the school slips. Iain Earle and Marco Ezzi continued there fish form again landing over 20 fish to the boat. Drifting from M Buoy towards the school slips using washing line tactics on a midge tip. Another boat who found these tactics to be the key to a good days sport was Liz & Stevie Pringle who boated 17 fish. All water season ticket holder Ed Douglas and Jim Smith drifted around S Buoy and Croft shoal and then A buoy in the afternoon using dries to boat 15 fish as well as a number of fish being dropped just short of the net. Visiting anglers Steven & David Lind landed 20 fish on buzzers from Rainbow Corner enjoying a good day.

Changeable conditions Sunday did not help the fishing causing several anglers to struggle, as we had all the seasons in one day. Martyn Moore using buzzers fishing on the anchor to land 5 fish. Season ticket holder Richard Walker & P Davies landed 15 fish from Biggin Bay on a mixture of Damsels and Buzzers. With the challenging conditions the catch rate of Ian Earle & Marco dropped to 10 fish again all caught washing lining. Also, landing 10 was the boat of Liz Pringle & Stevie Pringle who again fished a washing line to land their fish. Dave Kennel & Eddie Mitchell found the fishing challenging but enjoyable landing 13 fish fishing on various marks on the lake, picking up fish throughout the day.

Following the release of another blog from the guiding tuition team which can be found at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk, this weeks special offer is on CDC floatant. Please visit out online shop www.flyfishstore.co.uk to take advantage of this great offer.

Disabled Anglers

Draycote has a wheelie boat for hire, which includes a ramp and hydraulic lift for wheelchair access. To book the wheelie boat call the lodge on 01788 812018. 

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop

Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.

We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. The weeks special offer is the Guiding & Tuition teams’ best buzzers and how to fish them in the latest blog at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk by Tom Bird. To see the special offer please visit www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers

COMPETITIONS During June

6^th June Ladies International (boatmen / boatwomen required contact the lodge 01788812018)

15^th & 16^th June Angling Trust Loch Style Championship
www.anglingtrustevents.net/e/222/loch-style-team-championship-2019

27th June 2019 – Alex Booth Fly Fishers Charity Match contact Roy Lewin via 07762 746825

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Mr  Pete Thorp       from    Solihull     the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:   445      Number Trout Taken:   257     Number Trout Released:   1038

Total Catch: 1295          Rod Average: 2.9

(A number of anglers did not book out this week, please ensure you complete the catch return book)

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 21:45

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 21:45

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 21:45

Last 4 Hours from:  17:45 until 21:45 (Ticket sales available from 17:30)

Gutting Room Closes – 21:15

All Anglers to be off site by: 22:15

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 19th May 2019

Tel: 01788 812018

Draycote has experienced a very busy week, with 475 rod visiting the fishery landing a total of 1,908 fish which gives a rod average of 4.0. With a settled week the buzzer fishing has really excelled with the fish feeding hard, with also some great sport on dries into the evening and during the day given the cloud cover. With more settled weather this coming week, we expect lots of good quality fish to come out and lots of good catches, with another bust week expected booking is highly recommended.

The bank fished well Monday with a warm day and light winds from the North. Season ticket holders Bob Smith & Ian Richardson enjoyed good sport using buzzers fished under an indicator. With Ian landing 16 from Dunn’s bay enjoying a “really good day” while Bob took 12 once again from Dunn’s with one also coming from the overflow from the treatment works. Mr Finch- Noyes also fished in Dunn’s using buzzers fished on a floating line and a long leader to land 17 fish. On the boats Mr McGinlay & Mr Pelini landed 19 fish between them fishing in Dunn’s Bay on buzzer fished on a floating line. L Horner also enjoyed a good day on the boats landing 20 fish from Rainbow Corner on buzzers fished on a floating line. All water season ticket holder Ed Douglas enjoyed a great days sport using a long midge tip with a small FAB on the point teamed with buzzers for the main part of the day to land 29. Before landing a further 7 on dries once the evening rise really kicked off with olive shipman’s buzzer being his best pattern.

Another warm day with light winds Tuesday saw some great catches again on buzzers. However, this time it was the boats that took the lion share of the sport. Apart from all water season ticket holder Paul Walker who landed 19 fish using a washing line with Buzzers in Dunn’s bay. Gary Johnson & John Slavin landed 17 fish fishing a washing line on a long midge tip with a FAB on the point. The pair found the fish drifting along the Hensborough bank and then down to Rainbow Corner. Also fishing along the Hensborough bank was the boat of McGinlay, who landed 31 fish between them on buzzers fished on a midge tip. W & J Graham fished in Rainbow Corner on Buzzer to land 20 fish between the pair of them. In the evening Gary Turner & father enjoyed good sport on the last four hour boat landing 9 fish with dries working well in the evening and commented on “the fantastic fighting fish”. Another party who commented on the quality of the fish and enjoyed great sport was West Lothian Fly Fishers who fished just off the school slips near the Hensborough bank with buzzers on a midge tip and enjoyed great sport on the afternoon especially.

On Wednesday the wind remained in the East with just a touch of North in it, with sun for the most part with cloud at times. G McGinlay & G Pelini enjoyed another great days sport landing 47 fish between them using a long midge tip and washing line with FAB’s and buzzer once again the hotspot being drifting along the Hensborough bank into Rainbow Corner. Mr McKenzie & Mr Robertson employed similar tactics in the same area to boat 34 fish. Mr M Gilbert & K Davies enjoyed a good mornings sport landing 14 fish from Rainbow Corner and Lincroft Point. With the fish taking on black and red and black green buzzers. Out on the water for the last 2 days was John Lewis enjoyed a guided session with Lee Henfrey & then Tom Bird. John enjoyed a great 2 days sport fishing buzzers on his new 9ft #5 Sage X with he fish really testing the rod out for him. With John landing a lovely 4lb 9oz Rainbow that can be seen on Facebook at www.facebook.com/flyfishstore. Traveling anglers Laurent Guillermin & Jean Oulion from France enjoyed a great day landing 51 fish on damsels and black streamers.

On the bank Thursday saw Tony Broadway landed 19 fish having a “FAB Day” using a washing line with a FAB on the point Tony landed fish from the Tower Bank, Lincroft & Cornfield with the fish taking a mix of the buzzers and the FAB. On the boats fishing the last day of a 3 day break Gary Johnson & John Slavin using a 6ft tip and once again buzzers and FABs landed 29 fish drifting in Rainbow Corner. Another party from Scotland Mr Mcintosh & P Taggart landed 25 fish between them around Rainbow Corner and Hensborough. Mr S Kelly & Mr F Daley enjoyed a good day landing 21 fish on buzzers and nymphs from Rainbow Corner using a midge tip. Mr B Cook fished on the Hensborough bank using buzzers to enjoyed a cricket score day landing 40 fish to the boat.

Good sport for the bank anglers Friday with Dunn’s and the Tower bank proving to the best areas. Pete Allen fished on the Tower bank using buzzers in a washing line to land 7 fish. While Brian Warwick landed 5. Just round from these anglers in Dunn’s Alan Grant landed 15 using a floating line with a small blue flash Damsel. John Hoskins used Buzzer from the boat in Dunn’s to land 10 cracking fish, all on a floating line. Fishing in the afternoon Gareth Jones enjoyed great sport on the dries landing a dozen fish using small CDC patterns, Gareth found the fish around the Tower bank, Biggin Bay and then across from Croft Shoal.

Ifor Jones & Jim Dempsey used the rudder to great effect Saturday landing 24 fish between them, using the large weightless barred olive snake from Fulling Mill, on a Di 3 sinking line. Fishing at anchor on Croft shoal Martyn Moore used small olive buzzers landing over 20 fish including some cracking Perch. Husband & Wife team Tony & Ruth Kirk fished from the bank along the Cornfield to land 14 & 9 fish all on buzzers, with the pair also landing some great Perch. Kenny Gray & Derek Purves landed 28 fish from Rainbow Corner on Diawl Bach’s with the other anglers in the party also finding success on the same method between the 4 boats they landed over 90 fish. Fishing in Toft Mr Bell-Scott and brother landed 19 fish on buzzers commented on “the great hard fighting fish”. Season ticket holder Paul Walley fished on the bank up at Tower bank to land 13 fish all of which took small size #14 buzzers.

Tricky conditions Sunday with hardly any wind to speak of for most of the day, although some cloud did arrive later the day bring it with it some much needed breeze. Draycote season ticket holder Tony Parker enjoyed a good day on dries landing 10 fish, from various marks across the middle. Another boat who found dries the key was Spencer Williams & Stephen Hawkins who landed 20 fish with the best pattern being Shipman’s. Kenny Miller & Mick Moran landed 12 fish using buzzers and nymphs in Rainbow Corner. The Stuart Malcolmson party from Scotland once again enjoyed a good days sport up in Rainbow Corner again on nymphs. Draycote season ticket holder Graham Homer enjoyed good sport fishing on the Tower Bank to land 5 cracking fish on a short pm afternoon season on straight lined buzzer.

Following the release of another blog from the guiding tuition team which can be found at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk, this weeks special offer is on CDC floatant. Please visit out online shop www.flyfishstore.co.uk to take advantage of this great offer.

Disabled Anglers

Draycote has a wheelie boat for hire, which includes a ramp and hydraulic lift for wheelchair access. To book the wheelie boat call the lodge on 01788 812018. 

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop

Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.

We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. The weeks special offer is the Guiding & Tuition teams’ best buzzers and how to fish them in the latest blog at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk by Tom Bird. To see the special offer please visit www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers

COMPETITIONS During June

6^th June Ladies International (boatmen / boatwomen required contact the lodge 01788812018)

15^th & 16^th June Angling Trust Loch Style Championship
www.anglingtrustevents.net/e/222/loch-style-team-championship-2019

27th June 2019 – Alex Booth Fly Fishers Charity Match contact Roy Lewin via 07762 746825

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Mr D Leonard from Bromyard the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods: 475     Number Trout Taken: 381    Number Trout Released:  1527

Total Catch:  1908     Rod Average: 4.0

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 21:30

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 21:30

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 21:30

Last 4 Hours from:  17:30 until 21:30 (Ticket sales available from 17:15)

Gutting Room Closes – 21:00

All Anglers to be off site by: 22:00

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending Sunday 12th May 2019
Overall Draycote has fished pretty well this past seven days. The week started well with light winds and dry cloudy conditions, but was forecast for some rain and a steady drop in temperature through until Thursday. Up until recently the boat anglers have had the lions share of the sport here at Draycote, but after a midweek stocking livened up the north shore and rainbow corner, bank anglers are now putting in good returns. The main areas on the bank seem to be duns bay, biggin bay, Lincroft point and rainbow corner, whilst out on the boats the school slips, rainbow corner, biggin bay and the markers in open water seem to be producing well. The rod average this week was 5.5.
Monday looked like a good day to be out on the water with conditions nigh on perfect. The boat pairing of Tom Finney and Tony Parker netted 16 fish on a mixture of dries, nymphs and blobs. Chris Bobby and Lianne Frost caught 13 and 14 a piece. Draycote regular Jim Smith netted 18 fish on dries. Kasidit Leoviriyakit, assisted by his son, netted 15 fish on a DI5 and cats whiskers, as well as buzzers and fabs on a floater.
Tuesday saw Draycote season permit holder Ian Richardson catch 12 fish on buzzers from the bank in duns bay, and remark on “an excellent day”. Yousef Dar and Peter Elliott had 29 fish to the boat between them in various spots around the reservoir. Seasoned regular John Clifford caught 8 fish in a morning session, which included a brownie of 8 lbs. Mr M Dewey, Mr M Hatton and Mr T Teil, who are bank fishing Draycote this week had 23 fish between them on buzzers.
Wednesday was a wet and windy day overall with more bank than boat anglers for a change. Mr Hatton caught a total of 8 fish from the bank on buzzers, one of which was a 7 lb rainbow. Whilst out on the boats Kevin Jones and Anthony Ashford netted 6 fish between them.
Thursday saw the bad weather clear up a bit and allowed for some good sport, with Mr Hatton, Mr Dewey and Mr Teil netting 30 fish from the bank. Mr P Cleaver also had a good day on the bank catching 9 fish on claret shrimps with a slow retrieve. Mr C J Day netted 15 fish from the bank, all of them coming to a damsel. Mr Finch Noyes had 9 fish from the bank on black buzzers fished deep and slow. Staff member Michael Hanlon caught 5 fish from the bank in an evening session, all on black and green buzzers. Eddie Mitchell and Dave Kennel took to the boats to catch 31 fish between them. Mr M Draper and Mr M Burdette caught 24 fish between them from a boat . Ian and Ivor Tatton took advantage of our last 4 hour permit to catch 9 fish between them.
Friday saw some of the bank fishing regulars do quite well overall. Tony Broadway caught 16 fish from various points along the north shore. Pete Allen caught 13 fish from the bank. Alan Bettles, again fishing from the bank had 23 fish in duns bay on a blue flash damsel. Ian Richardson had 20 fish from the bank using buzzers on the bung. Mr R Gilks from Derby County Angling Club caught 7 fish from the bank and remarked that they were in very good condition.
Saturday was yet again a good day out on the water with plenty of fish being caught in nearly all areas of the reservoir. Saturday regulars Ivor Jones and Jim Dempsey had 30 fish to the boat on sinking lines and lures. Mr Martin Moore netted 21 fish from a boat on green buzzers from croft shoal and toft shallows. Mr C and Mr I Malpass had 25 fish to the boat using brown buzzers. Their haul included 3 perch and one pike. Mr Luke Orton managed 16 fish from the bank on damsels and olive buzzers. Season permit holders Jim and Richard Hall caught over 30 fish from the bank on diawl bachs and buzzers.
Sunday started very bright and sunny, with some broken cloud cover rolling in around midday. The conditions seemed to suit season permit holders Jim Smith and Ed Douglas who boated over 50 fish between them, in areas such as P buoy and rainbow corner using buzzers and diawl bachs with a FAB on the point. Staff member Michael Hanlon caught 3 fish from the bank in a short afternoon session using olive buzzers. Mr A Mcgill and Mr A Muir had 24 fish to the boat between them.
This weeks special offer, following on from last week relates to buzzers. The guiding & tuition team have put together their 5 best patterns. For information see the bottom of the 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.

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop
Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.
We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. The weeks special offer is the Guiding & Tuition teams’ best buzzers and how to fish them in the latest blog at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk by Tom Bird. To see the special offer please visit www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers
COMPETITIONS During June
6th June Ladies International (boatmen / boatwomen required contact the lodge 01788812018)
15th & 16th June Angling Trust Loch Style Championship
www.anglingtrustevents.net/e/222/loch-style-team-championship-2019
27th June 2019 – Alex Booth Fly Fishers Charity Match contact Roy Lewin via 07762 746825

Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Pete Giles from Brimfield near Ludlow the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 317 Number Trout Taken: 208 Number Trout Released: 1558
Total Catch: 1766 Rod Average: 5.5
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 21:15
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 21:15
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 21:15
Last 4 Hours from: 17:15 until 21:15 (Ticket sales available from 17:00)
Gutting Room Closes – 20:45
All Anglers to be off site by: 21:45

Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
Follow Us on
facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 5th May 2019

This weeks special offer, following on from last week relates to buzzers. The guiding & tuition team have put together their 5 best patterns. For information see the bottom of the report.

Quite calm weather up until Saturday resulted in some warm comfortable fishing here at Draycote, with fish showing on top for most of the week. A lot of the fish were caught on a floating line with nymphs, with one or two anglers having some success on the dries. There has been a good spread of fish throughout the reservoir and in particular the markers in open water such as A, B, and Y buoy. Drifts into the top end of Toft shallows past T, S and F buoy have also proved successful. The bank anglers generally have not had it easy with the fish holding at distances from the bank through the middle of the day that have proved unreachable. With a current water temperature of 11 degrees we would expect the fish to feed in along the shore throughout the day. However the mostly bright conditions seemed to push them off the immediate shoreline by about 9:00am, with them not returning until early evening.

Monday was a very warm day with air temperatures getting up to 19 degrees before 11am. A very light easterly made for some excellent drifts out from toft shallows past G buoy, F buoy and then on to Croft Shoal.” Buzzers on the bung” worked well for some anglers from the bank with Ian Richardson netting 3 on that method alone. Richard Walker caught a brace from the bank at Lincroft point using nymph patterns. Rod Wilson fished deep on sinking lines and a silver tube to net 10 fish from the boat, one of which was a 6lbs1oz rainbow. Draycote season permit holder Kevin Rees netted 9 fish from the boat on dries such as bobs bits.

Yet another bright start to a very calm day on the water on Tuesday, with some great buzzer hatches happening throughout the day. Yet again bank anglers caught fish, but nowhere near the numbers being taken by boats in open water.  Bob Smith caught 6 fish from the bank while Brian Warwick and Tony Broadway had 3 each. Out on the boats Ed Douglas was having a great day netting 18 fish, 15 of which came to his own dry fly patterns. Colin England and Tony Plummer had 26 fish to the boat between them, all on buzzers. Gareth Bulman and Phil Wood took the Wheelie boat out, netting 22 fish between them on buzzers and crunchers.

It was a little bit windy through the latter part of the day on Wednesday with some gusts exceeding 20pmh. All water season permit holder Jamie Scott had a busy boat day netting 15. Dave Smith managed a dozen, some of which he took on dries. Ed Douglas also faired well, netting 15 fish from a drifting boat, with 6 of them coming to the dries, the remainder on nymphs. Eddie Mitchell and Dave Kennell described the day as “superb”, having netted17 fish, all over 2lbs and “pulling your arm off”. Gareth Bulman and Phil Wood were out in the wheelie boat again They netted 13 rainbows from various points around the reservoir including the Tower Bank and Toft shallows. Alex Campbell netted 4 in a morning session, drifting past T buoy using UV crunchers on a floating line. Two of the fish were well over 3 lbs and “put up one hell of a fight”.

Thursday was described as “a lovely day out on the bank” by Ian Richardson, who took 6 fish on buzzers presented under a bung in Duns Bay. Roger Davies caught 6 from the bank on buzzers and damsels. Out on the boats Gordon Bramwell netted 18 fish whilst straight-lining buzzers on a floating line. Richard Walker and Nigel Barber landed 16 on lures having located at depth. On the final day of their three day break in the wheelie boat, Gareth Bulman and Phil Wood brought a dozen fish to net on a variety of patterns.

Not the warmest day on Friday with air temperatures only pushing up to about 11 degrees. With a cold, changeable wind, the chill factor was significant with some anglers coming off early describing conditions as like a November day. Brian Warwick did catch 5 from the bank as did Richard Farnsworth. Mr M Smith did well with an 8 fish total from the bank in an afternoon session. Bill Ramage & Alan Bernard enjoyed a two day mini break and a combination of Cat’s Whiskers, FABs & Crunchers accounted for a tally of 28 to the boat. John Williams partnered with Rob Hutchinson with them netting 10 each but commenting on how they had to use fast sinking lines to locate feeding fish in the cold weather.

Saturday dawned cold and windy with a strong north westerly blowing in towards the lodge. Most anglers started with confidence on the outer markers in open water but as the wind speed picked up, steadily migrated to the shelter of the leeward shore. One of the few boats which stayed out in open water was that of Ivor Jones and Jim Dempsey. They experienced great sport having employed rudder tactics and DI7s to net 36 fish between them. One of the fish they returned weighed 4lb 8oz. Glen Moody and Phil  fished as part of the Coppenhall group & boated 26 fish from open water on traditional tactics in some very difficult conditions, an extraordinary feat in anyone’s book.  Special congratulation too for Dayle McCormick who landed three rainbows from a boat on what was his first ever fishing trip!

A lighter NNW wind for the morning on Sunday, moving into the west slightly during the afternoon. Air temperatures were up on Saturday’s but did only just get into double figures. Martyn Moore excelled with olive buzzers boat fishing off Croft Shoal in the morning & then along the Toft end of the Farborough Dam. His session ended with a total of 20 to the boat. Darren & Luke Dodd also fished green buzzers, together with a cruncher & hopper combination to boat 7 & 8 respectively. Season ticket holder Alan Grant did very well bank fishing along the Tower Bank. He stuck to damsel patterns and enjoyed fine sport throughout ending with an 11 fish total. A busy bank holiday weekend day to end the week with 70 anglers on the water recording a total catch of 292 – a rod average of 4.11

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 During June

6^th June 2019 Ladies International (boatmen / boatwomen required contact the lodge 01788812018)

15^th & 16^th June 2019 Angling Trust Loch Style Championship
www.anglingtrustevents.net/e/222/loch-style-team-championship-2019

27th June 2019 – Alex Booth Fly Fishers Charity Match contact Roy Lewin via 07762 746825

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop

Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.

We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. The weeks special offer is the Guiding & Tuition teams’ best buzzers and how to fish them in the latest blog at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk by Tom Bird. To see the special offer please visit www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Mr Peter Watson from Windsor   the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:   374    Number Trout Taken: 350    Number Trout Released:  1052

Total Catch: 1402      Rod Average: 3.74

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 21:00

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 21:00

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30 until 15:00 PM 15:00 until 21:00

Last 4 Hours from:  17:00 until 21:00 (Ticket sales available from 16:45)

Gutting Room Closes – 20:30

All Anglers to be off site by: 21:30

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

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twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 28th April 2019

This weeks special offer is all about Bungs for more information see the section at the bottom of the report.

The warm weather experienced towards the end last week has continued into the earlier part of this week, however, cooler temperatures and high winds are on the way. This change in conditions including a pressure change, has meant the fishing has been a bit up and down like the weather. Despite this 213 anglers landed a total of 602 fish giving a rod average of 2.8 After this week this gives us a stock level of 9636 fish in the lake.

Another warm day on bank holiday Monday, with light winds in the morning which then picked up in the afternoon and included some heavy showers. Chris Aubrey & Ian Reeve fished in a boat in Biggin Bay and Dunn’s to land just short of double figures on hot-tailed zonkers and blue flash damsels. Tim Lycett also fished in Dunn’s Bay & Biggin Bay to land 7 fish on green boobies and cats whiskers. Alex Campbell landed 6 fish on various marks around the lake including B buoy, Dunn’s Bay and the Overflow using a washing line with a Damsel booby on the point and Olive Buzzers on the dropper. On the bank James Cavanagh landed 6 fish from the overflow on the tower bank on Damsels and buzzers.

Tuesday saw a slightly better day for fishing with cloud around for some of the day and slightly cooler temperatures than the 3 days previous. On the bank Tony Broadway fished along from the old pipe in Biggin Bay to land 9 fish on washing line and buzzers. Mike Oliver also fished from the bank in Dunn’s, Biggin Bay, Toft and the Tower Bank to take 10 fish all on buzzers and pheasant tailed nymphs. Out on the boats Dave Smith used buzzers to land 10 fish and commented that most of the fish took when the flies where given a draw. Season ticket holders Colin England & Tony Plummer used buzzers to land 18 fish. Iain Earle & Peter Batchelor from Scotland enjoyed great sport landing 42 fish between them. Iain used a RIO Midge Tip Long with a FAB and nymphs to catch his fish while Peter used a single FAB on a long leader on the DI 3. The pair caught all over the lake however, they found a lot of fish over the Shoals, with Middle Shoal around P Buoy being a hotspot. Also from Scotland Keith Anderson & Steve Bett landed 31 to the boat using buzzers on a long leader around P buoy,

Overcast conditions Wednesday meant more good catches were recorded, on the bank Alan Bettles used a black and green lure along the Cornfield to land 7 fish. Alex Campbell fished around Y buoy using a white snake on a sinking line to land several good overwintered fish, before changing to a washing line on a rio midge to catch down in Toft near the willow trees. Iain Earle and Peter Batchelor used the same tactics as the day before to land another 40 fish haul to boat. Although they commented that the best sport of the day came in the afternoon from Rainbow Corner with lots of fish coming quickly. Eugene Hughes fished around the Hensborough Bank and the School slips just past the sailing club to land over 30 fish. The key to Eugene’s success was to use a di 5 sinking line with a white snake with most of the fish coming just as it hit the water or on the hang. All water season ticket holder Ed Douglas landed 27 fish on washing line tactics in the morning before switching to dries later in the day to take 11 of his fish.

A blustery North East wind teamed with some rain greeted the anglers on Thursday. On the bank Lee Patten & Peter Elliot landed 7 between them on washing line tactics with Rainbow Corner proving to be the hotspot. Season ticket holder Richard Walker landed 8 fish from Biggin Bay on Zonker patterns in olive & white, fished on an intermediate line. Richard Dayman & Norman Perkins fished in Toft using buzzers to land 16 fish between them. Steve Bett & Keith Anderson fished over Middle Shoal near P buoy on their final day once again on buzzer to land just short of 20 fish.

A difficult day Friday for the anglers venturing out with the wind swinging from the South and some heavy showers throughout the day. Colin Granger landed 3 fish quickly from the Swan’s nest in the morning before it switched off and the fish moved out into the deeper water. John Hurst fished on the boats using a washing line with a booby cruncher to land 6 fish from Rainbow Corner. J Francombe & A Parker landed 7 between them on a half day using, boobies and on a sinking line drifting by the Farborough Dam wall and out over the open water around J Buoy. Michael Hanlon using a sinking line with Damsels, Buzzer & boobies fished deep around Hensborough Bank and Rainbow Corner.

Saturday saw massive winds over 30mph and as a result there was no boats out on the water, and only 5 hardy souls on the bank. Draycote season permit holder Martin Hancox had the best bag of the day, netting 3 fish on buzzers from biggin bay.

Sunday started very blustery with a strong northerly breeze blowing into the lodge. A busy morning saw almost the whole fleet take to the water, along with quite a few bank anglers. The England ladies managed a very respectable 2.5 rod average between them in some very testing conditions out on the boats. All water season permit holders Norman Perkins and John Kirk caught 4 a piece on a mixture of olive and black buzzers and a white lure. The boat pairing of Jim Smith and Ed Douglas managed 20 plus fish on either a washing line with buzzers, or dries.

It is with great regret that we announce the death of one of Draycotes best known and well respected anglers, Mr John Dews, after a lengthy battle with cancer. John had been fishing Draycote for many many years and was a cornerstone of the bank angling community here. A great character with a wonderful sense of humour and a warm smile for everyone, John will be sadly missed by both the anglers and all the staff here at Draycote water.

Fishery Tackle Shop & Online Shop

Draycote has a tackle shop at the fishery stocking SAGE, RIO, VISION, REDINGTON, WYCHWOOD, GREYS, SNOWBEE, FULLING MILL, FARIO, LOON, FISHPOND and STREAMWORKS products with demo SAGE, Vision & Redington rods & RIO fly lines for you to take out and try.

We also have an online shop. For all you anglers who might not be aware www.flyfishstore.co.uk is the online store for Draycote and the whole of Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. During the 2019 season we will be looking at doing weekly specials offers on the website. The weeks special offer all about bungs to go with the latest www.flyfishtuition.co.uk blog by Tom Bird. To see the special offer please visit www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Mr Tim Lycett from Atherstone, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:  231      Number Trout Taken:   160     Number Trout Released:  642

Total Catch:  802     Rod Average: 3.4

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 20:45

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 20:45

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30 until 14:30 PM 14:30 until 20:45

Last 4 Hours from:  16:45 until 20:45 (Ticket sales available from 16:30)

Gutting Room Closes – 20:15

All Anglers to be off site by: 21:15

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore