Draycote Water weekly report week ending 21st April 2019

After a cool previous week and a cold start to Monday with an overnight frost and chilling easterly winds, it was great to see the weather break from Tuesday onwards with the return of spring sunshine. As a result, we experienced a very good week at Draycote with 252 anglers visiting the fishery landing a very impressive 2,096 fish for a rod average of 8.3. With the cold weather hopefully now behind us, we are expecting the buzzer fishing to go from strength to strength and, as the daylight hours increase, the start of predictable evening rises.

With very cold temperatures on Monday caused by a bitter easterly wind, we only saw 3 anglers on the water. Only one caught, tempting a rainbow from the Cornfield with 3 others hooked but lost. Thankfully the weather changed on Tuesday with warmer conditions and the chill dropping out of the north easterly wind. This led to the rod average shooting up to a staggering 13.06, with Damsels and Buzzers featuring heavily on the catch returns. The best of the action came from the bank as the fish moved into shallow water to feed hard on the hatches of buzzer that had been brought on by the rising temperatures. Tony Broadway fished along the Tower Bank with washing lined buzzers on a floating line to land over 20 rainbows. Size 12 black buzzers proved to be his most productive pattern. Also on Tower Bank, Gary Russell landed over 35 on a mix of Pitsford Peas and Hothead Damsels. Further down the bank into Dunn’s Bay messrs Bircumshaw & Westbury enjoyed exceptional non-stop action. They fished teams of buzzers to land a staggering 90 between them! A truly amazing catch which just shows what a difference a day can make with a significant change in weather.  Out on the boats Keith Coley & Bob Taft landed 23 collectively fishing Hares Ears, Buzzers and Diawl Bachs.  All water season ticket holder Ed Douglas also enjoyed a good day’s sport due to the warmer conditions as he located feeding fish in Toft that were willing to take dries. On drifts from the shallows to G buoy he finished the day having fought 16 fine rainbows to the net.

The warm weather continued into Wednesday with cloud cover in the morning which broke around 10am to leave a lovely warm spring day. Alan Grant fished just up from Biggin Bay before Dunn’s Bay to land 15 with all his fish falling to Damsel patterns fished on a floating line. Draycote season ticket holder Michael Ravenscroft also used Blue Flash Damsels on a floating line to great effect- landing 22 fish in a half-day session. Michael found the hotspot to be just on the Tower Bank where the overflow from the treatment works comes in. Mike Oliver was back on the banks and fished various spots around the venue using his own Pheasant Tail variants. He ended his session having landed an impressive total of 34 rainbows caught & released. Tony Parker shared a boat with Nick Parker and found that the fish had dropped deeper in the water column as the sunshine increased. They therefore fished buzzers deep on a Di 5 sinking line which produced amazing results and they finished the day having caught 25 each. Mr D Cox & B Middleton fished in Dunn’s and Biggin with nymphs on a floating line enjoying a “great day’s sport with great fishing and staff”. (A thank you for those comments guys). Guiding & Tuition Manger Tom Bird took Rob Floyd out onto the water. Rob was looking to improve his overall catch rate and knowledge of Draycote in general. Tom kitted him out with a Sage Pulse rod and RIO Midge Tip Long line with a washing line cast of  buzzer and 2 nymphs held up with a biscuit FAB blob. This proved to be a great method and caught fish everywhere they tried.  Rob enjoyed his best day’s sport to date & even managed to hook into a fantastic rainbow estimated at 5lbs+ which, unfortunately, got the better of him & got off after a hard fight. For pictures of the day please visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore.  At the end of the day Lorenzo Serrano experienced non-stop evening action in Biggin Bay. He took a “last 4 hours” boat and, fishing teams of buzzers to moving fish, managed to bring 36 rainbows to the net!

The fishing on Thursday continued in the same fantastic form. All water season ticket holder Jude Tuffs landed 31 from the overflow from the treatment works on a floating line with a small blue flash damsel. Fishing just down the bank from Jude in Dunn’s Bay, Bob Smith & Ian Richardson enjoyed a great day too, landing 40 between them on Damsels and buzzers presented on a floating line. Traveling down from Scotland the “Paisley Patterns” club enjoyed a good day on the boats landing 113 fish between 12 anglers. They found the fish around Dunn’s, Tower Bank and Biggin and fished a mixture of buzzers and lures deep. Some fished floating lines with a long leader with others in the group choosing to use DI 5 sinking lines. Mr R Somerfield enjoyed great sport as well, landing over 40 fish on size 14 mini lures such as cormorants, cat’s whisker and “black and greens”. Lorenzo Serrano returned in the hope of repeating the previous evenings action. He was not disappointed as the same tactics brought an impressive tally of 19 rainbows to the net in a short, but very hectic, session. This time he caught consistently along the Farborough Dam as well as in Biggin Bay.

A lovely warm spring day greeted the anglers on Friday. The fish would normally be expected to drop down in the water in such bright conditions however, this was not the case for most. They were still being encountered throughout the water column by both boat and bank anglers. Similarly anglers were catching on a wide variety of patterns and methods. The backbone of the action was to buzzers and small nymphs but damsels, snakes and the Pitsford Pea also accounted for some good returns. Any line from a floater down to a DI5 showed up on the catch returns, but the most success was probably had on a midge tip or floating line. Those anglers willing to persevere with dries enjoyed some success, with the ever popular Big Red and the Crippled Midge patterns accounting for a few fish when accurately presented. Once again the “Paisley Patterns” took to the water and did extremely well using a diverse array of lines and fly patterns. Their return for the day was 124 fish to the boat between them. Graeme McCallum was their top rod on the day with 17 to the boat. Bank anglers have been encountering some great sport along the north shore. Among them was Alan Grant who netted 19 rainbows on a mix of buzzers and damsels. David Bailey and Alan Cooke netted a dozen from the boat, also on buzzers. Mr Brassett fished along the north bank from a boat and netted three for the pot with a further 18 caught & released on blobs. Mr N Starkey and Mr M Draper both had good sport from the boat netting 7 & 14 respectively on yellow cheeked black buzzer.

Yet another bright start greeted us all on Saturday with Draycote sitting mirror calm. Despite seemingly adverse conditions as regards fly fishing, once again anglers were catching fish from on or near the surface to right down into the depths. The two most popular methods on the day were either a DI5 and lures, or a midge tip and buzzers, with a FAB or a mini booby on the point. The “Paisley Patterns” were doing their level best to catch every fish in the reservoir (at least once!?), with a 107 fish tally between them for the day. Once again Graeme McCallum was their top rod, this time with 15 to the boat. Over their 3 days with us they caught and released a total of 344 fish, giving them a rod average of 9.5 for the trip. Well done lads, and we look forward to seeing you all again soon. The boat pairing of Jim Smith and Ed Douglas also had a productive day, with over 30 fish to the boat on buzzers and dries. Chris Aubrey and Ian Reeve used a mixture of buzzers and damsels in Biggin Bay also catching & releasing over thirty rainbows between them come the end of their session. Mr J Osbourne and Mr W Bilsborough used damsels, blobs and green buzzers, fished 6 feet down to good effect catching a total of 25.  Only four anglers fished on the bank but good sport was also still to be had with Mark Randle landing a six fish limit for the pot at Lin Croft Point with a further brace caught & released.

The mini heat wave continued into Easter Sunday with blue skies, sunshine & near 20°C temperatures. However, it appeared that most celebrated the occasion with family as only eight anglers took to the water. Nevertheless, the fish clearly stayed hard on the feed with Colin Adams & boat partner John Maxwell ending their three day break with us in style landing 16 & 32 respectively.  They used buzzers fished on a washing line and slow intermediate fly line at the Dunn’s Bay end of the Tower Bank. Their joint performance over the three days was tremendous with a combined total of 127 trout landed which represented an individual rod average of 21.16 per angler per day! Interestingly Colin commented that whilst adult buzzers were seemingly everywhere on their first two days, they had to resort to damsel patterns to catch consistently in Rainbow Corner & the Overflow. However, on their third day very few adult buzzer were on the wing & they caught non stop on midge pupa patterns.

Temperatures are forecast to return to more seasonal norms as the week progresses and, although some showery weather is in the mix from mid-week, it is anticipated that the great spring sport we have been experiencing will continue.

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. Following on from our popular RIO/Sage day last Sunday when staff offered advice on maintaining floating line. We are running on offer on RIO Cleaning Towelettes we recommend that these are used every 3 or 4 trip on any floating section of a line either on a full floater or midge tip. Paying special attention to the where the running line and head meet and hinge at the rod tip. The offer is either purchase 5 and get 1 free or purchase 10 and get 2 free. To see the offer please visit https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/. Also if you want more advice on making floating lines last longer please see the tuition blog from earlier in the season http://www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Mr Cameron from Burbage the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:   252     Number Trout Taken: 249       Number Trout Released:  1847

Total Catch:  2096        Rod Average: 8.3

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 20:30

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 20:30

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

Last 4 Hours from:  16:30 until 20:30 (Ticket sales available from 16:15)

Gutting Room Closes – 20:00

All Anglers to be off site by: 20:45

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

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Draycote Water weekly report week ending 14th April 2019
A hard week for most at Draycote caused by prolonged cold easterly winds and chilled conditions most days. First thing yesterday saw an air temperature of -3°C resulting in icy boats & pontoon. During this reporting period 263 anglers visited the fishery, landing a total of 688 trout which represents a rod average. of 2.61
Monday saw successes on both boat & bank with Alan Bettles recording a good morning’s fun with 7 rainbows to the net. He fished blue flash damsels from Lin Croft. Just along the bank from Alan, C J Day was also in action with three to Pheasant Tail Nymphs before moving along to the Cornfield due to changing winds. This, and a switch to slightly deeper tactics with a slow retrieved snake pattern, saw him rewarded with rainbows of 3½ & 4lbs.Out in the boat Mark Francis enjoyed sport in Rainbow Corner where he netted 7 on buzzers with a further two coming to a Klinkhammer pattern. On Tuesday fish dropped off the margins into deeper water & things got really tough for bank anglers, as evidenced by numerous blank rods and just one landed for bank regular & member Tony Broadway. Out on the water though, Biggin Bay proved to be a productive area for the boats with Ged O’Donoghue & boat partner Steve fishing blobs on intermediate lines. Between them they landed a total of 23 rainbows. Keith Coley & boat partner Bob Taft enjoyed similar action with a joint tally of 25 to the boat. Wednesday saw Alan Grant as top rod on the bank with a 5 fish session but once more, it was the boat anglers enjoying the best of the sport. Of particular note was a 15 fish catch by Lee Patten on drifts along the Farborough Dam fishing buzzers really deep on a 10’ Midge Tip. He took three for the pot, all of which were in the 4lbs+ bracket – best 4lbs 12oz. Eugene Hughes’ trip up from London was also rewarded as he found fish deep off the Sailing Club. Using Di5 & 7 sinking lines in conjunction with blobs & lures he enjoyed hectic sport with over 30 to the net. Bitter, windy conditions made Thursday the hardest day of the week with a rod average plunging to 1.5. Season rod Ian Richardson recorded the only fish caught on the bank and most of the boat anglers’ returns were noughts, ones or twos. John Dickens however, bucked the trend in style with a 13 rainbows to the net on buzzer patterns. Friday was a bright & cold day, but Tony Broadway was back on the bank where he caught & released four. All Water member Ian Jobe ended his boat session with an 8 fish tally as did John Hoskins who anchored in Dunn’s Bay to take all his fish on black glass buzzers presented at depth.
The weekend saw Mark Braun as top rod on the bank with a 7 rainbow catch all on blue flash damsels, a pattern that has been extremely productive for both boat & bank anglers so far this season. Graeme Bell’s “Draycote Annual Meet” group spent the weekend with us &, despite experiencing some patchy sport in cold, windy conditions, the 26 anglers in the group managed to land a collective total of 73 with Dave Morris & Andrew Cooper managing ten apiece. Good sport was also had by regular rudder boys Ifor Jones & Jim Dempsey with 22 rainbows up to 4lbs to the net. Mr Featherstone boat fished in Biggin Bay and caught 13 rainbows, all on blue flash damsels!
Notwithstanding very cold, blustery weather, our annual RIO & Sage Day was held on Sunday and was well attended. Our thanks are extended to their team comprising Chris Andersen from Sage, RIO’s Simon Gawesworth and Jim Fearn Sage/Guide Fly Fishing for all their hard work & support. Chris & Simon has travelled over from the USA and despite their busy schedule were also able to find a little time to catch a few Draycote fish themselves. Anglers enjoyed the opportunity to experience their products & glean expert technical advice & casting tuition from all three. Many were also able to experience the tackle in guided boat sessions throughout the day with our thanks therefore also extended to the hardworking guides, Lee Henfrey, Andy Miller, David Hoppe & Rob Sosbie. Despite the cold many came back reporting on the numbers of trout seen rising yet few were able to convert sightings into hook ups. Most of the Sunday sport was found along the Farborough Dam & down into Toft with regular George Leaton landing 8 to black & green lures & a red damsel pattern by the Swan’s Nest. Martyn Moore netted 6 on deep buzzers whilst Tim Burn & Paul Mitchell hooked & lost numerous fish at the bottom of the Hensborough Bank before going over to Biggin Bay where they boated 11 between them – fishing straight lined buzzer teams. The second day of the Graeme Bell group visit resulted in another 83 to the net with Andy Campbell & Andrew Cooper both recording 10 apiece & Dave Morris close behind with 8.
The winds are forecast to be shifting more into the south as the coming week progresses, bringing increased temperatures which will hopefully see a return of the prolific buzzer hatches of a fortnight ago

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. This weeks offer is an amazing deal on the Sigma Fly Boxes with a 20% saving to take advantage of this offer please Visit the shop at https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/
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Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to George Leaton from Ashford the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 263 Number Trout Taken: 150  Number Trout Released: 538
Total Catch: 688 Rod Average: 2.61
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 20:00
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 20:00
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:00 PM 14:00 until 20:00
Last 4 Hours from: 16:00 until 20:00 (Ticket sales available from 15.45)
Gutting Room Closes – 19:30
All Anglers to be off site by: 20:15
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 7th April 2019

Due to a cancellation we have very limited availability for out RIO/SAGE day this coming Sunday 14^th April, if you are wanting to try the latest kit during a free 1 ½ hour guiding session please call the lodge on 01788 812018.

A week with a mix of south east and north east winds meant it was certainly cooler than the previous week. As a result, it meant the fish didn’t feed as hard as the previous week, but the buzzer hatches still remined as impressive and at times the fishing was exceptional. Overall a total of 212 rod visited the fishery landing a total of 969 fish for a weekly rod average of 4.5

The week started with a bright day with light winds from the east, making the fishing slightly trickier than it had been of late. With the best defiantly having the lion share of the sport as the fish headed out into deeper water with the brightness of the day. All water season ticket holder Ed Douglas took 10 fish with 9 on buzzers and even managed one on a dry fly. With the other 9 falling to buzzers around Farnborough Spit. Chris Howkins & Steve Owen fished around croft shoal and Lincroft point with a mix of buzzers and lures to land 24 fish during the day. Dave Atkins & Steve Owen fished around the outlet near Rainbow Corner with a team of buzzers to boat 10 fish between them.

A very different day Tuesday with cloud cover and a good westly wind in the morning which later swung into the north west. With this change in the weather the fish moved back into the margins and the bank anglers enjoyed great sport. Season ticket holders Peter Elliott & Lee Patten landed 18 and 15 each with all their fish on straight lined buzzers. They found the hotspot to be the Cornfield in the morning before moving to Lincroft in the afternoon. All water season ticket holder Paul Walker also landed 18, all of which took on Lincroft Point on buzzers and Diawl Bachs. Peter Allen fished alongside Paul, once again using buzzers to take a dozen.

Whilst only 14 anglers fished on Wednesday, and with only three boats on the water, the fish were really in full feeding mode and an overall rod average of 9 was recorded for the day! Pete Eville & Mark Lee shared a boat and located fish on drifts in the bottom of Toft & through Croft Shoal. Increasing winds led them to moor up off Lin Croft Point where Pete caught consistently on a team of static Diawl Bachs, in sizes 12 & 14, whilst Mark twiddled a pair of mini boobies on a Di5 to catch equally well. By the end of a frantic session they had netted 25 & 17 rainbows respectively. Similarly, Draycote regular Geoff Preston found himself off Lin Croft having failed to find feeding fish off Rainbow, the Overflow or Hensborough. Although the winds were moving around the compass through the morning, he described Lin Croft as being “alive with fish” which he thought were holding approximately three feet down. Using his usual home tied damsel pattern on a slow sink line he landed 16 before coming off the water for an early lunch. Bank anglers were also enjoying hectic sport. Simon Peck stuck to the bottom of Toft by the gate car park and washing lined buzzer, muskins & crunchers in conjunction with a FAB blob to net eight. He used a midge tip in the morning session before switching to a full floater in the afternoon. Tony Smith stuck to the bank at the Swan’s Nest using the same tactics to land 14. The changing winds however heralded a squally storm which forced the guys into an early finish and brought a wintery cold front to the water for Thursday’s anglers to face.

The days extremely cold, blustery conditions were made worse by very icy cold rain which in turn set back the buzzer hatch & put the trout down. Nevertheless, fish were still caught with Simon Nichols & Rob Frame netting 14 and 12 respectively. They had come hoping to be able to fish the buzzer but the downturn in weather conditions forced them to fish dep with lure patterns for the most part to find success. Local boat anglers John Dickens & Alex Urquhart both independently managed to tempt some fish to the buzzer with catches of 6 & 7. Simon Ducie was delighted with his session on the bank in Toft using a bloodworm pattern. Having recently attended one of our tuition days he landed a fine rainbow with which to kick start his fly fishing career. On Friday the south easterly winds dropped back a little and temperatures began to rise back into double figures resulting in a better day for bank anglers. Tony Broadway fished a morning session, mainly on Lin Croft, resulting in six caught & released to buzzer patterns and a silver bar of 3lbs plus taken for the pot. Meanwhile, Dave Adkins bank fished in Rainbow Corner with a mix of lures & nymphs to also net a total of 7 rainbows. Testament to the spread of fish population around the venue currently, Will Hunt spent the day on the bank down at the Swan’s Nest and enjoyed consistent sport on buzzers on a floating line. He ended with his four fish limit having also caught & released a further three. Paul Walley managed   to fit in a short afternoon session on the Cornfield. With a mix of FAB blobs & buzzers he brought five rainbows to net. In the boats, on the second day of their mini break, Simon Nicols fished with Jim Burtle. They enjoyed good sport, ending the day with 16 & 12 respectively, but found the best of the action during the mid to late afternoon. Many of their fish were found on drifts down the Farborough Dam with damsels proving to be successful. Peter Davison fished with Rob Frame for their second day and ended in similar fashion with a total of 21 to the boat.

Saturday with some East in the wind there was a definite nip in the air. Despite this buzzers continued to hatch all day with some fish even moving on the top to take the emerging adults. Martyn Moore took to the water with beginner Stuart Headington with the pair boating 37 fish all in buzzers. The key was to fish them deep and slow, with a weighed buzzer on the point and a long leader with the key area being Alberts Bottom in Biggin Bay. Season ticket holder Dave Hancox enjoyed a good day’s sport boating 11 fish on a Di 5 sinking line teamed with snake from various areas. On the bank James Gillies enjoyed a good days sport landing 13 trout on a mix of Damsels & Humongous from the Swan’s nest in Toft.

Overcast conditions all day with winds from the North East Sunday meant another chilly day. On the bank Lincroft Point was the hotspot for most bank anglers who enjoyed a good days sport there. S Cierecn enjoyed great sport landing 6 fish all on blue flash damsels and buzzers. All water season ticket holder Andy Lilley also landed 6 fish from the point. Although, James Kelly, fished in Rainbow Corner using black buzzers to land 6 fish. Out on the boats Farnborough Dam proved to be a hotspot with, Greenwell Persuaders hosted a club outing with a blind pair’s competition. All members enjoyed good sport drifting down the wall with a mix of buzzers and blobs fished on midge tip lines. Keith Harding & Mick Clarke enjoyed a good day’s sport landing 17 fish all on nymphs and buzzers. The pair fished around Croft Shoal, Biggin Bay and Lincroft point in tempt the fishing using a midge tip in the morning before switching to the bung at around lunch. Sunday also saw another one of our popular beginner’s tuition day hosted by Tom Bird & Andy Miller. All participants enjoyed a great day landing not one their first fish each but many more after that. For information on upcoming dates please visit www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

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. This weeks offer is an amazing deal on the Sigma Fly Boxes with a 20% saving to take advantage of this offer please Visit the shop at https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/

RIO & Sage Day

On Sunday 14^th April Draycote is hosting its popular RIO & Sage with Jim Fearn (Sage) and Simon Gawesworth (RIO) in attendance. They will be able to talk you through the latest kit and be on hand to provide casting sessions. The guiding & tuition team will be running the 1 ½ hour guided sessions, taking you out on the water to test the kit. Helping the tuition team will be Brown Bowl winner and RIO & Sage sponsored angler David Hoppe. Only a couple of boat sessions remain which can be booked by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Tony Kirk from Tamworth the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods: 212  Number Trout Taken: 234  Number Trout Released:  735

Total Catch: 969    Rod Average: 4.5

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 19:45

Boat All Day: 08:30   until 19:45

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30    until 14:00 PM 14:00 until 19:45

Last 4 Hours from:  15:45 until 19:45   (Ticket sales available from 15.30)

Gutting Room Closes – 19:15

All Anglers to be off site by: 20:00

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 31st March 2019
Monday started where the previous weeks sport had ended with great catches to be had on buzzers. On the bank Mark Braun fished from Lincroft point with a team of buzzers on a floating line to land over 20 fish. All water season ticket holder Paul Walker also fished from Lincroft point on a mix of buzzers and mop flies to also land over 20 fish to the boat. Out on the boats again buzzers where the order of the day. Season ticket holder Tony Parker & boat partner Terry enjoyed great sport landing just short of 30 fish, all on a mixture of buzzers and nymphs. The pair found the fish on Croft Shoal in the morning before heading down into Toft for the afternoon. Guiding & Tuition Manager Tom Bird once again took to the water guiding Malcolm ahead of his trip to Corrib. Malcolm enjoyed great sport in the 6 hour session boating 16 fish all on buzzers on a floating line. Tom took Malcolm over all the shoals catching on each one, however, it was Croft shoal that provided the best sport including some fantastic overwintered fish. To book a session with Tom call the lodge on 01788 812018. Mark Francis also fished from a boat over Croft shoal landing 14 fish all on a goldhead Viva fished on a floating line. This week, 290 anglers caught 1334 fish, giving us a weekly rod average of 4.6.
Once again on Tuesday Lincroft point was the place to be on the bank, Jude Tuffs & Tony Broadway both fished there to land 15 fish each all on buzzers. Tony used a washing line with a tequila FAB on the point to land his 15. While Jude chose to fish her buzzers under a bung. Yousef Dar also enjoyed the best of his sport from the point in the afternoon, after landing 5 fish from Dunn’s in the morning it wasn’t until he moved to Lincroft where he found the best sport landing another 12 all on buzzer.
The bright conditions have not deterred the fish one bit this week as anglers proved yet again on Wednesday. Both boat and bank anglers seemed to concentrate their efforts on the north shore, in particular around Lincroft point and the cornfield. Although other areas such as duns bay, biggin bay and rainbow corner have produced fish from time to time. Bank anglers had some great sport with Paul Walley netting a dozen on damsels. Dave Adkins put 7 fish in the net using buzzers off Lincroft point. Boat anglers were out hitting the hotspots of croft shoal and biggin bay and getting some good numbers to the boat. The boat pairing of Andy Birkett and Brent Vinall commented on some great sport, netting over 100 fish in two days. Andy and Brent are regular visitors to Draycote and know the water well. They used a combination of buzzers and FAB’s in areas such as the Hensborough bank, the school slips and croft shoal. Season permit holder Graham Homer netted 11 fish on green buzzers during a 4 hour session through the middle part of the day. Alex Campbell caught 7 fish from a boat, mainly from the front of the inlet, on buzzers and diawl bachs.
On Thursday, yet again in warm bright conditions, Ian Richardson netted 9 fish from the bank on buzzers off Lincroft point. Brian Allwood and Colin Grainger netted a brace each from various points along the north shore. All water season permit holder Paul Walker caught 11 fish from the bank on buzzers. Draycote regular Mike Oliver netted over 35 fish on PTN’s and buzzers. Boat angler John Dickens caught 19 fish using buzzers on a DI 3. Mr Gordon Bramwell and Mr K Cooke got well into double figures from a boat using buzzers. Dave Kennell and Eddie Mitchell commented on a super day out catching good sized fish, using a midge tip and buzzers.
Fridays weather was unchanged as all water season permit holder Mr Jamie Scott netted 50 fish from biggin bay and croft shoal, commenting on “another fantastic day”. The boat pairing of Ian Pugh and Tony Whitcher netted 40 fish between the from a boat at various points around the reservoir. Mike Gillett and Colin Campbell had a “good day” on buzzers from the boat netting a very respectable 27 fish between them. Season permit holder and seasoned traveller Matt Harris managed 16 fish to the boat on various patterns. Whilst Draycote regulars Tom and Jim Marriott managed 30 fish to the boat between them. Bank anglers were having great sport with Gordon Slack and Bob Smith landing 5 and 6 fish respectively. Whilst Tony Broadway netted 15 fish from the bank using buzzers.
Saturday dawned with the reservoir sitting as still as a mill pond, with hardly a ripple on it until mid afternoon. Andy Lilley and Phil Mee netted 13 fish between them from the bank on various patterns from the north shore. Whilst out on the boats Saturday regulars Ivor Jones and Jim Dempsey could be seen bucking the trend and drifting across the inside of J buoy on sinking lines. They netted nearly 30 fish between them on a variety of patterns such as tubes and snakes. Rod Wilson managed 16 to the boat, which included a 4 lb rainbow. Martin Price and Dave Hancox used sinking lines with buzzers and blobs to catch 25 fish from a boat at various points around the reservoir. The father and son pairing of Nigel and David Tranter caught over 50 fish between them from a drifting boat using a floating line and buzzers to start with, before switching over to sinking lines and blobs later in the day.
On Sunday there was a bit of a change in the weather with a cold north easterly blowing on the water. This didn’t deter the anglers one bit, who just threw on an extra couple of layers before venturing out. Draycote regular George Leaton caught 9 fish from the boat up in rainbow corner. The England Ladies team who were out for a practice day faired pretty well with a rod average of 4 between them, the best of which was Chris Bobby with 10 fish to the boat. Season permit holders Chris Aubrey and Ian Reeve ventured out, netting 20 fish between them on black and green lures in some difficult conditions.
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. This week, with such a fine start to the spring buzzer feeding, we have a limited availability offer of 10% discount on Rio Fluoroflex & Fluoroflex Plus leader material and tippets, together with free p&p. Visit the shop at https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/
RIO & Sage Day
On Sunday 14th April Draycote is hosting its popular RIO & Sage with Jim Fearn (Sage) and Simon Gawesworth (RIO) in attendance. They will be able to talk you through the latest kit and be on hand to provide casting sessions. The guiding & tuition team will be running the 1 ½ hour guided sessions, taking you out on the water to test the kit. Helping the tuition team will be Brown Bowl winner and RIO & Sage sponsored angler David Hoppe. Only a couple of boat sessions remain which can be booked by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Melvin Severn from Derbyshire, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods:290 Number Trout Taken: 198 Number Trout Released: 1136
Total Catch: 1334 Rod Average: 4.6
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 19:30
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 19:30
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:00 PM 14:00 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: 20.00
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
Follow Us on
facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 24th March 2019

Telephone Number 01788 812018

What a difference a week makes!?  With the strong winds behind us the fishing has been amazing all week with rod averages into double figures and cricket score catches coming from both boat and bank. It’s lovely to see that with the light winds and warmer temperatures the buzzers are back in a big way. Anglers are making the most of the hatches using teams of buzzer to tempt lots of hungry trout to the net. Overall 313 anglers visited the fishery landing a staggering 3051 trout for a rod average of 9.74

On Monday on the bank Messrs Masters & Wilson enjoyed good sport landing 22 fish between them. They found feeding fish in Dunn’s & Biggin Bay and used floating lines with a mix of damsels, black buzzers and nymphs. Also fishing the bank in Biggin Bay was Jim Hall who used small black & green lures and buzzers to land 10 cracking fish. Season ticket holder Ian Richardson had a great day in Dunn’s using Damsels to land 20 rainbows, whilst out in a boat, Guiding & Tuition Manager Tom Bird, took client Malcolm out for an 8 hour guide. He aimed to get his eye in before heading out to Corrib later in the month and enjoyed a great day’s sport landing over 25 fish under Tom’s watchful eye. Starting on buzzer in Toft the fishing was challenging without a good hatch. However, after a change to a sinking line and boobies, the day was turned around. Malcom caught well in Biggin Bay and his catch included a lovely overwintered blue of around 3 pounds. Later in the day Tom suggested that it would be worth a look over Musborough Shoal. A good call and Malcolm used the same tactics of boobies on a sinking line to land around 10 of the days haul from the Shoal. For more information on booking a day with Tom or one of the guiding team call the lodge on 01788 812018. All Water season ticket holder Ed Douglas opted to fish Middle Shoal and enjoyed amazing sport all day landing a total of 34 fish. Ed used boobies on a di 7 in the morning before switching to buzzers on a midge tip once the wind had dropped in the afternoon.

The wind dropped even more Tuesday giving a lovely gentle ripple all day with nice spring temperatures of 12 degrees. On the bank Peter Elliott landed over 25 rainbows from Dunn’s using buzzers and Diawl Bach’s on a floating line. Also, on the bank fishing in Dunn’s, Alan Bettles used black and green lures on a floating line to land 14. On the boats all water season ticket holder Dave Smith landed 18 in Biggin Bay using straight line buzzers on a midge tip. Jim Marriott and Grant Cooksey had a great day landing 53 between them on a mixture of an intermediate teamed with orange lures or a floating line with buzzers and cormorants. The pair found the best areas to be Lincroft Point and from Croft Shoal drifting down to Toft. Both anglers caught fish up the 4 and 5lb range. Tony Plummer and Colin England played 40 fish to the net on buzzers in Biggin Bay. Jim Smith enjoyed a great day’s sport fishing over both middle and Musborough shoal using a midge tip and buzzers to land over 40 fish. Alan Stern and Nigel Angus landed 67 in a boat using buzzers, nymphs and orange blobs on midge tip in Biggin Bay.

Good conditions continued into Wednesday resulting in some great sport. Ed Douglas used buzzers over the Shoals on a RIO midge tip to take 40 fish which included some stunning overwintered fish. On the bank Harry Dawson had a “Super” day taking 12 fish from Dunn’s and Toft. Traveling anglers Guy Nicholson and Si Nicolls from the North East were rewarded for their long journey with a great day. They landed 56 rainbows between them using damsels and buzzers in Biggin Bay, Toft and Dunn’s. Another angler who found Damsels the key on the day was Ian Reeve who finished with 27 from Biggin Bay. John Woodcock and season ticket holder Rob Bettinson also enjoyed great sport with 44 to the boat on Pitsford Pea and Montana. Marty Lewis fished Diawl Bach’s on a floating line in Biggin Bay to land 20 fish including a fantastic 5lb plus brown which was returned to the water.

Without question, the best day of the week was Thursday. The perfect spring weather saw the fishery busy with 81 visiting anglers catching a fantastic 828 trout for a rod average of 10.22  On the bank Jude Tuff landed 16 in Dunn’s Bay whilst just up the bank Tony Broadway landed 11. However, it was the boat anglers who enjoyed the best of the sport. Jim Smith and Ed Douglas netted over 50 fish having located buzzer feeding fish on Croft Shoal in the morning – which they tempted using a midge tip and 3 buzzers with Jim even landing a triple hook up!  In the afternoon they noticed that a few good fish had started to move on adult buzzers which had drifted off over open water. A change to small crippled midge and a drift out over the open water, they went looking to tempt overwintered fish. Their endeavours were rewarded as they landed 5 on the dries with the fish all being on or over the 4lbs mark and fin perfect. Ian Pugh and Tony Jones used buzzers on a floating line in Biggin Bay to land 55 – with size 12 black buzzers being their most consistent pattern. Tony Cartwright and Allen Hughes landed over 80 fish on buzzers with the pair finding fish all over the lake. Biggin Bay, Toft, Croft Shoal, Hensborough and the Old School Slips all produced well on the day. Season ticket holder Tony Parker fished with Gerallt Hughes to land 44 on size 12 Diawl Bach’s and a small eyed booby fished as a washing line on a midge tip. Draycote regulars Tony Plummer and Colin England were also back on the water on Thursday & enjoyed another 40 plus catch on the buzzers in Biggin Bay and Toft.

A slightly cooler day Friday with the wind swinging more to the west and building in strength from the previous day. This meant that the buzzer wasn’t quite as exceptional as the previous days and other tactics were required to tempt the fish. This did not stop them pulling though with the fishery recording a 9.7 fish rod average. Daniel Tranter and Dad Nigel landed 61 fish with the majority coming on a di 7 sinking line and black and green boobies. Jamie Scott landed 50 fish using a di 3 with a snake, cut throat cat and crunchers from various points across the lake with Biggin Bay being the hotspot. Neil Cohen and Alan Stern landed over 50 fish to the boat on a di 3 sinking line and a mix of tequila blobs/boobies and Damsels. James Carr & Tony Rowley landed 52 fish using Damsels in the morning in Biggin Bay before heading to the calmer area of the Hensbrough bank and the school slips to continue catching on Buzzers. Tony Parker returned this time with Paul Angell once again using small Diawl Bachs and buzzers on Croft Shoal to land 30 fish. John Hoskins also enjoyed fine sport anchored at the bottom of the Hensborough Dam. Fishing a black & green lure pattern his 27 fish total included some fine wintered specimens.

Saturday produced the best rod average of the week at 12.9. On the bank Jared Burton fished on Lincroft Point to take 22 fish on buzzers and orange hot head tadpole patterns. Also on the bank, Tony & Ruth Kirk used buzzers to land 23 rainbows between them from Biggin Bay, Dunn’s and the Tower Bank. Bob Eaton & Nick Lant shared a boat and landed over 50 by the end of their hectic session. All their fish came to buzzers from both Toft and Biggin Bay.

With the winds from the north on Sunday, combined with clear blue skies, the temperatures also dropped off and fish tended to seek sanctuary deeper in the water column. This made for harder bank fishing however, Paul Walley netted 8 rainbows in Dunn’s Bay which came to a mix of damsel patterns & buzzers. Ian Western & Dennis Tidmarsh also bank fished together & finished their sessions with six each. We hosted a visit from Leicester All Abilities Club who all enjoyed fine sport with most catching on buzzer from various locations around the venue. The eight anglers netted a total of 86 trout representing a rod average for the group of 10.75  In-House guide Lee Henfrey had some fine morning sport on his day off managing 27 rainbows on buzzer & weighted Hare’s Ear Nymph patterns. He did note how deep the fish were holding with many coming to his point fly at 10 or 11 feet down. Lee fished mainly between Lin Croft & the Cornfield. Members Dave Hancox & Martyn Price also found the fish holding at depth but chose to approach them with blobs fished on Di5 & boobies presented on a Di7. Their tactics brought a total of 17 to the net. Tim Burn & Paul Mitchell took top honours with 20 & 25 respectively to their deep buzzers drifting of the Cornfield. Despite the chillier conditions, the day ended with an overall rod average of 7.73

With an increase in temperatures forecast for us this coming week, the strength of the buzzer hatch will certainly increase. More fine sport to imitative teams is therefore 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. This week, with such a fine start to the spring buzzer feeding, we have a limited availability offer of 10% discount on Rio Fluoroflex & Fluoroflex Plus leader material and tippets, together with free p&p. Visit the shop at https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/

RIO & Sage Day

On Sunday 14^th April Draycote is hosting its popular RIO & Sage with Jim Fearn (Sage) and Simon Gawesworth (RIO) in attendance. They will be able to talk you through the latest kit and be on hand to provide casting sessions. The guiding & tuition team will be running the 1 ½ hour guided sessions, taking you out on the water to test the kit. Helping the tuition team will be Brown Bowl winner and RIO & Sage sponsored angler David Hoppe. Only a couple of boat sessions remain which can be booked by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Mr Nick Lant from Leicester, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:  313  Number Trout Taken: 469    Number Trout Released:  2582

Total Catch:  3051  Rod Average: 9.74

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 18:30

Boat All Day: 08:30   until 18:30

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30    until 13:30 PM 13:30 until 18:30

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,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 17th March 2019
Telephone Number 01788 812018
Book Your Spot on our RIO & Sage Day
On Sunday 14th April Draycote is hosting its popular RIO & Sage with Chris Anderson(SAGE) Jim Fearn (Sage) and Simon Gawesworth (RIO) in attendance. They will be able to talk you through the latest kit and be on hand to provide casting sessions. The guiding & tuition team will be running the 1 ½ hour guided sessions, taking you out on the water to test the kit. Helping the tuition team will be Brown Bowl winner and RIO & Sage sponsored angler David Hoppe. To book a session on the boats call the lodge on 01788 812018
Weekly Report
Another week plagued by a continuation of extreme winds which, unfortunately, forced boat cancellations once more. In fact, no boats were allowed out from Tuesday to Saturday due to the ferocity of the gales. Similarly, given the strength of the gale force westerlies, no bank anglers were prepared to venture out on either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. In total only 36 anglers fished this week but they did catch 90 trout representing an overall rod average of 2.5.
A few boats did fish on Monday and averaged nine fish per vessel with Richard Dayman commenting on having had a great day with eight rainbows coming to his net. Sinking line tactics, particularly Di5 sweep with slow retrieve followed by flies hung at depth, have still been the order of the day in view of the early season low water temperatures. A handful of hardy bank anglers struggled to locate fish in the high winds on Monday as conditions appeared to have pushed them out & down. However, season ticket holder Brian Allwood did have a nice brace in his morning session. He was followed by Peter Biernacki who fished the last four hours in Biggin Bay finding fish on the feed a little later in the day. Fishing his own nymph patterns on an intermediate, Peter caught & released six rainbows.
With Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday written off by the adverse conditions it was not until Friday when anglers could next get onto the banks. Nine hardy souls ventured out. Most were rewarded with some fine action – mainly in Dunns & Biggin Bay. Top rod was clearly Dave Kennell who landed 22 rainbows with many over the 3lbs mark. Dave took the majority of his fish using a midge tip line in conjunction with a Black & Green tadpole pattern. The highlight of his session proved to be a 4lbs+ overwintered rainbow which he described as bar of silver with a big, full tail. Ian Gillies also did well with a 4 fish limit for the pot and a further 10 caught & released. His best offering was a Mop Fly which he teamed with a red buzzer. Paul Lloyd joined the action at the Dunns Bay end of Biggin for a couple of hours in the afternoon. He got into straight into action on a midge tip with a hot head yellow tailed lure landing five rainbows in quick succession. He then had a real strong take at distance to find himself doing battle with a superb specimen of a brown trout which was weighed at 6lbs 2oz before being safely returned to the water.
Continuing high winds kept the boats off the water again during Saturday and only two anglers decided to bank fish. Mike Garner stuck to his favoured Cormorants which accounted for two rainbows in the shelter of Rainbow Corner, before moving down to the Overflow where he netted & released a further three. Meanwhile, Luke Orton, a newcomer to the world of fly fishing, stayed in Rainbow Corner where he succeeded in landing his four fish limit using a gold head damsel presented on an intermediate.
Boat anglers were relieved to be back out on the water on Sunday when winds at long last, dropped back below our safety limits. Fish were found holding on the drop off in Biggin Bay and season rods Martyn Price & Dave Hancox really got amongst them. Fishing fast sinking lines with blobs & boobies they took fish after fish experiencing particular success on the hang at the end of a slow retrieve. They ended their stint with Martyn on 20 and Dave on 18. Messr’s Lee and Alistar Gavin also fared well in the improved conditions boating over 20 fish in Duns Bay on a variety of lures such as pitsford peas and cats whiskers.There was also some good sport had from the bank. Lee Patten and Peter Elliott commented on an excellent day after netting 15 apiece. Draycote regular Peter Bierwnaki netted 11 fish from various points around the reservoir on nymphs.
With last week’s stocking of 2000 rainbows, pictures www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore & a much better forecast we fully expect Draycote to bounce back this week

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. We still have a couple of the 2017 Redington Path Rods for sale at 50% off the RRP making them £64.99 from last week’s special offer. To mark the start of the good weather we have Shakespeare Sigma fly box reduced by 10% meaning they are from just £7.19 these fly boxes are perfect for getting all those new buzzer organised now the good weather has finally arrived please visit https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/ to see the latest deals for the week.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Dave Hancox from Coventry, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 36 Number Trout Taken: 10 Number Trout Released: 80
Total Catch: 90 Weekly Rod Average: 2.5
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 18:15
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 18:15
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 13:00 PM 13:00 until 18:15
Last 4 Hours from: 14:15 until 18:15 (Ticket sales available from 14.00)
Gutting Room Closes –17.45
All Anglers to be off site by: 18.45
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
Follow Us on
facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 10th March 2019

Telephone Number 01788 812018

A week plagued by high winds, saw the boats cancelled 4 days this week. Although while the boats may not have been able to get out on the water the bank anglers have been enjoying some good sport with good catches from several spots across the reservoir.

A tricky start to the week with strong south westerly winds that saw he occasional strong straight westly gust meant that the boat anglers really struggled to fish in the areas that had been so prolific over the opening weekend. The issue then being that once some fish had been located the strong winds meant it was a very difficult task to control the flies and the boat in order to boat any great catches. On the bank Rainbow Corner proved to be the best sport with season ticket holder Michael Ravenscroft landing 3 in just a couple of hours before the winds blew him off. Michaels successful tactic was to use a floating line and a small black and green. The same windy conditions caused issue once more on Tuesday with the high winds the previous day causing the natural bank to colour up meaning that the bank anglers found it a struggle to tempt some willing trout to the net. However, out in the boat Steve Styles fished Rainbow corner for the last hour and half. While he only boated one, he missed 10 other takes using an intermediate line and a black booby.

Blustery, wet & wild would be 3 good words to describe Wednesday, these conditions meant that all apart from one angler opted to stay indoors and take shelter from the weather. However, Mick Cronin was rewarded for braving the elements landing 7. With 5 coming from the overflow and 2 from the Swan’s nest in Toft, Mick found this fish wanting a hot head damsel fished on an intermediate the key to landing fish on a challenging day.

No Boats out Thursday due to the strong south westerly winds with gusts at over 30mph coming through at times. Despite the conditions the lake fished to a 7 fish per man rod average with all in attendance catching. John Dickens found some shelter in Dunn’s making the most of it to land 9. John found the fish wanted a black and green gold head with black buzzers on a floater. Also, out on the water Peter Elliot & Lee Patten landed 13 & 20 fish each. The pair moved around the lake taking fish at the old pipe in Biggin Bay, Dunn’s and Rainbow Corner. Using a mix of tactics from black and green tadpoles and midge tips and floaters to washing lined buzzers.

Friday saw the best day of the week with a slight break in the weather with 14-16mph south west winds. As a result a number of great catches where recorded from both the bank and also the boats. On the bank Mr G Tomkinson fished near the old pipe in Biggin & Dunn’s to land an impressive 22 using a floating line and cat whisker patterns. Fishing the corner of Dunn’s Ifor Bullock landed 13 once again on a Cat’s Whisker. All water season ticket holder Ed Douglas fished at the Swan’s Nest in the morning before moving up to Rainbow Corner in the afternoon to take 9 on washing lines buzzers on a floating line. Fellow all water season ticket holder Dave Kennell enjoyed good sport using a midge tip line with a black and green goldhead to take 16, with Paul Mitchell using the same tactic to land 10. On the boats Andy Birkett & Brent Vinall enjoyed great sport from Toft, Biggin Bay, Dunn’s and Rainbow Corner landing an impressive 32. The pair found the key to success was to use a Di 5 or Di 3 sinking line with olive normads and cormorants, with he best fish for the pair being a fantastic 4lb rainbow. Mr J French & N Ellis who boat 23 from all over the lake with the best flies being green, black and orange fritz. However, the best catch of the day must go to the boat of Geoff Preston who amongst his 9 fish haul was a fin perfect 9lb 8oz brown taken on a Damsel on a Di 5 sinking line in Biggin Bay. The picture of fish can be found on www.facebook.com/flyfishstore.

Unfortunately, the strong winds returned for the weekend meaning the boats could not take to the water either Saturday or Sunday. Once again, the bank offered some great sport for the anglers who still wanted to wet a line on a very windy Saturday. Derby Fly Fishers hosted a bank match with some great catches coming, Mike Weaven landed 12 fish on an orange size 12 lure from Biggin Bay. Clive Wilkins used buzzers on either a floater or an intermediate to land 15. Between the 7 of the club fishing they caught 43 fish for a rod average of 6.1. Clive commented that Biggin was the place to be with he fish 3-5ft down with buzzers or lure taking them all day. Stan Hillman & Mark Parsley also fished in Biggin Bay using Damsels, although they did find fish in Rainbow Corner later in the day finishing the day with 11 & 9 fish.

The winds for Sunday were teamed with heavy rains in the morning and proved to stronger than the day before as a result only a handful of angler braved such conditions. As the saying goes fortune favours the brave, and this was certainly the case for season ticket holder Mike Garner. Who found some shelter at the bottom end of the Cornfield, on the strong north west wind. Mike landed 12 hard fighting rainbows with 9 coming to the cormorant on the point and the other 3 on a nemo cruncher fished on the dropper. Great sport on such a wild day! Fishing just up the Cornfield from Mike was James Gilles who landed 10 fish. James found the wind a challenge to get a good line up so set up using an indicator with a wossit fly underneath to take all his fish. Season ticket holder Martyn Price decided to brave the weather and fished Biggin Bay near the old pipe using tadpoles to land half a dozen fish but commented his must have lost about 10 with them just coming short. Peter Bierancki fished for the last four hours again over in Biggin Bay and Dunn’s to finish with just under double figures again on tadpoles and cats whisker.

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. After the success for the first special offer of the season this week, we have another amazing deal. We have reduced the 2017 Redington Path by 50% making it £64.99 this popular rod is sure to sell fast so make sure you visit https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/ to see the latest deals for the week.

RIO & Sage Day

On Sunday 14^th April Draycote is hosting its popular RIO & Sage with Jim Fearn (Sage) and Simon Gawesworth (RIO) in attendance. They will be able to talk you through the latest kit and be on hand to provide casting sessions. The guiding & tuition team will be running the 1 ½ hour guided sessions, taking you out on the water to test the kit. Helping the tuition team will be Brown Bowl winner and RIO & Sage sponsored angler David Hoppe. To book a session on the boats call the lodge on 01788 812018.

Weekly Boat draw

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

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:  118  Number Trout Taken: 100      Number Trout Released:  390

Total Catch:  490  Weekly Rod Average: 4.15

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 18:00

Boat All Day: 08:30   until 18:00

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30    until 13:00 PM 13:00 until 18:00

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

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 3rd March 2019
Telephone Number 01788 812018
Well what a different year than the rather failed opening day of the previous year, when the country was in the middle of the ‘Beast from the East’. Lovely gentle south westerly winds of around 7mph greeted the anglers queuing at the gate for the chance to get the first Draycote fish of the 2019 season. After the sunny week leading up to opening day there was much excitement in the air for both staff and anglers hoping for a great day’s sport. This proved to be the case with 108 anglers visiting the fishery landing a total of 868 fish for a rod average of 8.0. Once the rush of anglers had passed Lee took a drive around the bank with Ifor to assess the sport and it was clear that Toft was the place to be. One such angler who just hit it right was Andy Ball who fished the Swan’s nest in Toft using a blue flash damsel to land 27 fish. Again, using a Damsel in Toft Henryk Pycz landed 19 hard fighting fish, including some fantastic overwintered fish. Draycote season ticket holders Lee Patten & Peter Elliot fished all round the banks to enjoy great sport landing 14 & 17 respectively. Peter opted to fish with a small black tadpole on a floating line for his 17 where was Lee went for a team on small black buzzers on a washing line. All water season ticket holder Alex Urquhart fished on the far side of Toft opposite the Swans nest and landed 18 fish on a small blue flash damsel. Out on the boats some real cricket score catches where recorded. Ben Bayliss & Dave Morris had 63 to the boat with Farnborough spit being the hotspot for the lads. Their best tactic was to use a di 5 sinking line with black minkies and tequila blobs proving the best. Tim Ham & boat partner Rob Jones landing 29 from Toft using di 3 sinking lines with Viva’s and blobs. Mike Williams and John Cowan also fished in Toft towards the bottom end of the Cornfield near the willows to land 30 fish on blobs and boobies once again on sinking lines. A party of 7 travelling anglers from Scotland had a great day landing 137 fish with the majority coming from Toft & Biggin Bay on Damsels on slow intermediate lines.
Saturday started much the way Friday has finished with light winds and overcast skies. As was the case the previous Toft was the place to be with most of the boats catching well on sinking lines and t the bank anglers around the Swan’s nest. However, after a couple of hours the wind picked up to around 20mph meaning a lot of boats moved away looking for more shelter. On the bank M Chuser landed 11 fish, taking two cracking overwintered fish first thing in Toft before moving up the overflow in the afternoon. He found the key was to fish a black fritz on a floating line and commented that the fish where taking it right on the end of the cast within the first 8 pulls. Out on the boats Kieron Jenkins & Matt Russell enjoyed a fantastic day’s sport with over 50 fish to the boat. The pair found that anchoring in Toft produced the best tactics as the fish were tightly shoaled up. Using di 7 & di 8 sinking lines and boobies the pair really made the most of the fish in Toft. In the afternoon with the introduction of the high winds the pair took the successful method up to Rainbow Corner landing a couple of cracking 4 & 5lb overwintered fish. Using similar tactics Stuart Malcolmson & S Miller landed 40 fish to the boat once again from Toft but this time using di 5 sinking lines and boobies.
The conditions looked set to challenge the anglers Sunday with very high winds forecast to come through in the afternoon. Luckily the forecast had dropped enough that the boats could still go out for the day, with he conditions for the morning being near perfect. The Ian Scott party of 7 traveling down from Scotland make the most of the morning coming off just before 12, but still manging to land 45 fish between them. The best method was to use a damsel on a slow sinking intermediate in Biggin Bay tight to the bank, this method also claimed a lovely 5lb 8oz Rainbow for the lads with an even bigger one just slipping the hook at the net. Mark Miles & Tim Wellman enjoyed good sport coming off just after lunch landing 19 fish. The pair found the fish in Toft in the morning before heading up to the outlet to keep catching. The method was two small boobies fished on a booby basher hard on the bottom. Several other anglers used this method to great effect Andrew Barrowman and Paul Sharp used a cat booby and a black booby on a di 7 sinking line in Toft to finish with 20 to the boat. In Biggin Bay Martin Griffiths and Ian Richie landed 14 and enjoying fantastic sport before the stronger winds caused issues with presentation.
Overall a great start to the 2019, with Toft being the place to be from both the boat and the banks. With other great catches coming from Biggin Bay and the overflow near Rainbow Corner, its great to see some really quality fish coming out at the start of the season. It was great to see so many regulars returning to the fishery for the opening weekend and we look forward to seeing you all over the course of the 2019 season let’s hope it’s a good one with tightlines had by all.
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. To kick off the season we have reduced our remaining Airflo Sixth Sense sinking flies from £44.99 to £25 in order to clear our stock, ready for the new lines coming in the next few weeks. The offer can be found at https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/.
RIO & Sage Day
On Sunday 14th April Draycote is hosting its popular RIO & Sage with Jim Fearn (Sage) and Simon Gawesworth (RIO) in attendance. They will be able to talk you through the latest kit and be on hand to provide casting sessions. The guiding & tuition team will be running the 1 ½ hour guided sessions, taking you out on the water to test the kit. Helping the tuition team will be Brown Bowl winner and RIO & Sage sponsored angler David Hoppe. To book a session on the boats 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: 254 Number Trout Taken: 261 Number Trout Released: 1123
Total Catch: 1384 Weekly Rod Average: 5.4
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 17.45
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 17.45
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 12.30 PM 12.30 until 17.45
Last 4 Hours from: 13.45 until 15.45 (Ticket sales available from 13.30)
Gutting Room Closes –17.15
All Anglers to be off site by: 18.00
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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Draycote Opens 1st March

Tel: 01788 812018

Main Gate, Lodge & Bank Fishing Open from 7.30am

Boats available from 8.30am

All Boats In by 5.30pm

All anglers offsite by 5.45pm

Gutting Room Closed at 4.45pm

Call the lodge to book boats.

Bank Anglers, we are limited to 30 vehicles around the reservoir perimeter track at any onetime we therefore recommend you call the lodge to book a car pass to ensure you have bank angler vehicle access, when calling to book a bank anglers car pass we will ask for your name, contact number & car registration

Our pre season stocking continues with 5,500 rainbows averaging 2lb been stocked prior to opening day.

No price increase for 2019 we still have membership options available for Draycote Starting from £435.00 & our new membership option for 2019 All Water Membership which covers Draycote, Eyebrook & Thornton starting from £480.00 call the Draycote lodge foe detailsGuiding & Tuition.

Date for your Diary: SAGE & RIO day, Sunday 14^th April

Opportunity to try a SAGE rod or RIO fly line of your choice & take it our for 1½ hour FREE guided session with one of our guiding team.

Simon Gawesworth of RIO & Jim Fearn SAGE will be on hand offering advice and FREE trouble shooting sessions & casting lessons, covering Trout, Salmon & Salt

Booking essential as places are limited, call the Draycote Lodge 01788 812018

During the 2019 season the Guiding & Tuition team will running a blog. The idea of this blog is to provide hints and tips from your guides to help keep you catching depending on the conditions, tackle reviews and write up of guiding sessions. To have a look at the blog please visit http://www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/

DRAYCOTE VACANCY 2019

Due to one of our Draycote fishery rangers moving to cover Thornton & Eyebrook we have a seasonal fishery ranger vacancy at Draycote.

You will be part of the busy Draycote Fishery Ranger team voted No1 Stillwater by Trout Fisherman in 2018

Duties will include

Working with the Draycote fishery management

Preparing boats for the anglers, ensuring boats are clean & in a safe condition

General lodge duties, assisting management within our busy tackle shop & lodge

General fisheries work which will include assisting with the stocking & general fisheries maintenance work

Working to a monthly rota shift pattern which will include some weekend & bank holiday working.

Working an average of 115 hours per month with some overtime available to cover holidays & extra cover during competitions & busy periods.

Previous fisheries experience would be an advantage but not necessary as full training will be provided.

We will provide work clothing.

To start asap with the seasonal contract running through to mid-December

Further details contact Ifor Jones

shop@flyfishstore.co.uk

Call 01530 230807     mobile 07885 347326

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

facebookwww.facebook.com/FlyFishStore twitter www.twitter.com/FlyFishStore

DRAYCOTE 2019

Due to one of our Draycote fishery rangers moving to cover Thornton & Eyebrook we have a seasonal fishery ranger vacancy at Draycote.

You will be part of the busy Draycote Fishery Ranger team voted No1 Stillwater by Trout Fisherman in 2018

Duties will include

Working with the Draycote fishery management

Preparing boats for the anglers, ensuring boats are clean & in a safe condition

General lodge duties, assisting management within our busy tackle shop & lodge

General fisheries work which will include assisting with the stocking & general fisheries maintenance work

Working to a monthly rota shift pattern which will include some weekend & bank holiday working.

Working an average of 115 hours per month with some overtime available to cover holidays & extra cover during competitions & busy periods.

Previous fisheries experience would be an advantage but not necessary as full training will be provided.

We will provide work clothing.

To start asap with the seasonal contract running through to mid-December

Further details contact Ifor Jones

shop@flyfishstore.co.uk

Call 01530 230807     mobile 07885 347326