Draycote Opens 1st March

Tel: 01788 812018

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

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/

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Opens 1st March

Tel: 01788 812018

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

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/

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

.

Happy New Year

The 2019 season at Draycote opens 1st March

No Price Increase for 2019

Contact the lodge 01788812018 or email lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk to book boats, car passes for bank fishing, our popular 2, 3 or 4 day break packages which can be split across our waters, club & group bookings & competitions.

We have an online shop with a January Sales & Clearance page which will be updated regularly during the month http://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/shop/category/sale-items/

Tom Bird will be arranging his tuition & beginner days along with our popular guided days, visit our tuition & guiding website www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

New for 2019 is our All Water Membership which allows you to spread your visits across Draycote, Eyebrook, Foremark & Thornton with membership options starting from £480.00 contact lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk for details.

Competitions 2019

We have a number of competitions booked for 2019 details below:

Ladies International – Thursday 6th June 2019
Following the hosting of the junior International in 2018 were looking forward to hosting the Ladies International in June.

Loch Style Team Championship 2019 – Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th June 2019
Fully Catch & Release competition with a Large Cash Prize Pot.
Book via Angling Trust Booking Site www.anglingtrustevents.net/game/

Alex Booth Charity Fly Fishing Competition – Thursday 27th June 2019
Contact Roy Lewin 07762746825 to book onto this very popular annual competition.

AT-TEFF Loch Style Qualifier Repechage – Heat Sunday 21st July 2019

John Horsey Anglers World Competition
Draycote Heats – Saturday 3rd August 2019
Draycote Floating Line Heat – Sunday 4th August 2019
Draycote Hosts The Grand Final – Sunday 18th August 2019
Book via John Horsey http://anglersworld.flyfishingchampionships.uk/

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 25th November 2018

Telephone Number 01788 812018

A change in the weather with winds in the North to North East all week bringing with it some cooler weather with day time temperatures not exceeding double figures with some frosts overnight. 159 rods caught 643 fish giving a weekly rod average of 4.0.

Cold north east winds meant there was a definite chill in the air. As a result, this forced the fish out away from the bank to the deeper water due to its more stable temperature. Kevin Rees managed to tempt 5 fish from Lincroft point on washing lined shrimps but commented on it being a challenging day. Out on the boats Ed Douglas fished around the Farnborough Dam wall and the spit to tempt 14 fish using a Di 7 sinking line and boobies. Airflo’s Gareth Jones enjoyed a day on the boats with Howard Croston with the pair landing 19 fish between them. Their best tactics were to fish a DI 8 sinking with and a white humongous booby left for 15 seconds to sink to the bottom before using a slow figure of eight retrieve. The landed fish in Toft and Biggin but the best area was certainly S buoy. In house guide Lee Henfrey enjoyed a great 5 hours sport with Jude Tuffs the pair landing 20 fish between them. Fishing over P Buoy and around N Buoy they found that di 7 forty plus with a natural snake booby was the way to tempt the fish including some lovely overwintered fish that can be seen at www.facebook.com/flyfishstore

The wind swing slightly more into the east although there was some northly gusts at times. Resulted in yet another cold day Tuesday for the hardy anglers who took to the water. On the bank season ticket holders Lee Patten & Peter Elliot landed 8 fish from the Cornfield using a washing with a floating fry on the point. Out on the boats Alan Guest & Andy Dowell landed 10 fish on the rudder using di 7 sinking lines and snakes with the best area being drifts over the top of Musborough Shoal between N and Y Buoy. This too was where D Harrison took his 3 fish on red minkies.

With freezing temperatures overnight and a very gusty easterly wind it was a quite day at the fishery with only one boat out on the water. However, the boat of staff member Graham Henfrey & Thornton season ticket holder Steve Jordan enjoyed great sport. After a quick chat to brother Lee, Graham was told that his best option given the wind and the temperature drop was to back drift. This is exactly what the pair did to great effect landing 14 fish on natural snake boobies fished on a Di 7 sinking with around Croft Shoal and S buoy. The highlight of the day was when Steve landed a fantastic brown of 5lb which once again can be seen at www.facebook.com/flyfishstore.

A very cold night Wednesday saw a hard frost with temperatures of -4°C at 7am when the staff arrived at the fishery. With very little it wind and sun it looked like it might have been a challenging day for the anglers. This proved to be the case from the bank with the hard frost, clear water and sun meaning the trout did not want to pull. Although it was a different story for the boats, the key was to get deep in the water column after the fish with di 7 & 8 sinking lines being a must. However, once you got the flies down to the fish, they were all to willing to pull back. Ed Douglas fished in the drop off around Musborough Shoal at Y buoy to land 11 fish on snakes. In house guide Lee Henfrey making the most of his time off took Roger Kerrison out with the pair landing 16 fish on tubes around P buoy and N buoy with the best of the sport from N. Eugene Hughes once again took the train from London to make the most of the excellent sport before we close on the 30^th. Eugene landed 14 fish for the day with minkies and tubes being his best patterns fished on a di 7 sinking line around the Farnborough Dam and N buoy. John Hurst & Peter Watson fished around S buoy with sinking lines and snakes to land 13 fish between them.

With warmer overnight temperatures and the wind dropping in speed and swinging to the East. Some great fishing was to be had once again mainly from the boats although scores of 3s and 4s were recorded from Lincroft and Cornfield. On the boats the warmer temperatures meant that buzzers could be seen hatching over the Shoals and the spit and there was even moving fish. Jim Smith & Ed Douglas enjoyed a red letter day with over 40 fish to the boat. The pair started at Farnborough spit taking 15 fish. With Jim using a tube on a di 7 sinking line while Ed opted to use boobies. In was from this spot where Jim took a fantastic 7lb 10oz Rainbow (pictured on www.facebook.com/flyfishstore) on a tube taken on the hang. The pair then continued to catch as the moved around the lake getting fish from S Buoy, Y Buoy and along the Farnborough Dam. Guiding & Tuition Manger Tom Bird & Lee Henfrey fished landing 35 fish. The pair found the fish at S buoy in the morning with Lee landing 9 on tubes. Before moving to N buoy & Y buoy to land most of their fish with Lee staying on the tube. While Tom went for a di 7 sinking line with two humongous boobies on a 20ft leader a black and gold on the dropper and white and silver on the point. Derek Moore & Felicity Appleton enjoyed a great day’s sport from Toft with their fishing coming from just under the surface. Including some cracking Rainbows of 5lb which left Felicity grinning from ear to ear as it was here best Draycote fish.

The wind went back to a North East with more of a chill to it Sunday with some un-forecast rain first thing in the morning which soon cleared leaving overcast conditions for the rest of the day. Which turned out to be ideal for all those who turned out for our Fur & Feather match. Most, if not all the fish were caught on sinking lines out over the markers in the deeper water, generally on DI7’s , and then a mixture of patterns such as snakes, tubes and boobies. The fishing was fantastic with seven bag limits caught, and a mixture of some lovely silvered up rainbows and cracking browns. The winners on the day with 12 fish for 25lb 7 oz were Martin Rowson and Neil Deakin. In second place was Eddie Mitchell and Gordon Bramwell with a weight of 24lb 15oz, whilst third place went to Tom Finney and Ollie Jenkins with a bag weight of 24lb 4oz. The best fish of the day went to Dave Bailey which was a brown of 4lb, weighed by Tom Bird out on the water and returned. The staff match was taken by Lee Henfrey and Nigel Keeber with 12 fish for 24lb 5oz. More details and photos can be seen on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/flyfishstore  .A big thank you to all who took part, and we are looking forward to seeing you all next season.

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Kasidit Leoviriyakit from Bristol, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods: 159     Number Trout Taken:  272    Number Trout Released: 371

Total Catch:  643     Weekly Rod Average: 4.0

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 15:45

Boat All Day: 07:30   until 15:45

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

Last 4 Hours from:  11:45   until     15:45 (Ticket sales available from 11:30)

Gutting Room Closes – 15:15

All Anglers to be off site by: 16:15

Guiding & Tuition.

New for the 2018 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/

Christmas Gift Vouchers

Our gift vouchers, fly fishing tuition & beginner days make a perfect Christmas gift. Visit our online store www.flyfishstore.co.uk

Dates for the Diary

We close for the season on Friday 30^th November 2018. We would like to wish all our customers a Happy Christmas and a very prosperous new year, and we hope to see you all back here, fit and well in 2019.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 18th November 2018

Telephone Number 01788 812018

We’ve had a good weeks fishing here at Draycote. Southerly breezes have made fishing from the north shore difficult at times, but some bank anglers faired pretty well off Lincroft point casting into the wind using small black buzzers. Boat anglers have had their fair share of good sport drifting down the Farborough dam and over croft shoal. Musborough shoal and the Hensborough bank as well as the flat stones have also produced good returns on fry patterns and lures fished on sinking lines. This week 189 anglers caught 639 fish to give us a weekly rod average of 3.3.

Monday can only be described as miserable with squally showers and windy conditions for the visit from west midlands police. I think they were happy to come in at lunchtime for a break. The boat pairing of Peter Watson and John Hurst caught 9 fish between them. Kevin Rees managed 5 from the bank on shrimp patterns. Season permit holder Ian Richardson caught 3 fish from the bank.

Again on Tuesday the wind blew from the south and although forecast as quite gusty, seemed to blow a steady 12 to 14pmh all day. The more settled conditions seemed to help the fishing with the rod average moving back up to a steady 4.8.  It turned out to be a good day for regulars and members alike, with plenty of good catches on the return sheet. Tony Broadway and John Dews ventured out on a boat to catch 9 fish a piece. Ed Douglas caught 10 fish from the boat in various areas around the reservoir. Staff member Lee Henfrey had 17 fish to the boat using tubes on a DI7 off croft shoal and  the farborough dam.

Wednesday was again a good day with many anglers managing their bag limit and more. Richard Walker caught 5 fish in rainbow corner on minkies. The boat pairing of Mr B Barnes and Mr B Patrick had 22 fish to the boat. Chad Critchly and Phil Harding had a good day with again, 22 fish to the boat. The bank anglers didn’t seem to fair as well on Wednesday with the best of the bunch being Roger Kerrison with 4 fish.

Thursday dawned bright and breezy again, clouding over by midmorning.  Peter Elliott ventured out onto the bank to net 10 fish on hares ears. Kevin Rees also caught 10 fish from the bank on a washing line and shrimp patterns. Also fishing from the bank was Mr P Barnes who managed 4 fish. The boat pairing of Eddie Mitchell and Dave Kennell  managed 18 fish between them and noted that the last hour or so was “really good sport”. Mr D Naylor and Mr S Houlton managed to catch 8 fish on hoppers.

We were greeted by an overcast start on Friday with a light south easterly blowing. The fishing seemed to have shifted a little with things now happening not only on croft shoal but over musborough shoal and in biggin bay. Norman Perkins caught 8 from the bank at Lincroft point on white lures. Terry White caught 10 fish from the bank . Terry fished the cornfield using FAB’s and diawl bachs. Tony Broadway and Colin Day caught 10 and 12 respectively from the bank down in toft. Colin was using lures and a hot spot PTN. Mr J Shemmell caught 5 fish from the bank on shrimp patterns.  Seasoned regular Alex Campbell only managed 3 fish from a boat over musborough shoal but missed and dropped quite a few more. All were lovely bars of silver, pulled up from the bottom on a DI7 and perch fry patterns.

Saturday was bright with an easterly wind which can make things tricky here at times. Again staff member Lee Henfrey took to the water netting 11 fish from a boat on a DI8 and snakes over middle shoal and the flat stones.  Season permit holders Jim Brennan and Chris Discombe took to the water netting 7 lovely trout, and one pike. Bank angler Steve Gibson netted 4 fish from duns and biggin bay.

Again Sunday was bright with a light easterly breeze. Peter fisher managed 7 fish to the boat on gold head PTN’s and damsels. Keith Harding managed 8 fish to the boat with a roly poly retrieve using a DI7 and minky boobies in biggin bay. Ed Douglas and Jim Smith managed well into double figures each to a drifting boat using DI7’s and lures.

Season Permits

2019 Season Permit: If you’re interested in the availability of a season permit at Draycote with options starting from £435.00

New for 2019 our All Water Membership with options starting from £480.00, allowing you the flexibility to fish any of our waters. Contact the Draycote Lodge 01788812018 or email lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk   for details

We also have an online store www.flyfishstore.co.uk with great offers on clothing to keep you warm while fishing this November

https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/shop/greys-micro-quilt-jacket/.

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Jude Tuffs from Market Harborough , the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:  189 Number Trout Taken: 221      Number Trout Released:  418

Total Catch:  639   Weekly Rod Average: 3.3

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 16.00

Boat All Day: 08:30   until 16:00

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30    until 13.00

Last 4 Hours from:  12:00  until     16:00 (Ticket sales available from 11:45)

Gutting Room Closes –15:45

All Anglers to be off site by: 16:30

Guiding & Tuition.

New for the 2018 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/

Dates for the Diary

Fur & Feather

This seasons Fur & Feather match at Draycote will be held on Sunday 25^th  November 2018. Fished as a pairs competition with 12 fish to the boat.

1^st Prize Christmas Hamper for winning pair

2^nd Prize 2 Bottles of Wine Each

3^rd Prize Box Chocolates

Largest Fish Bottle Spirits

The match will be fished to fishery rules, NO RUDDERS and will start at 09:30 and finish at 16:00. All those wishing to take part should call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book your boat.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 11th November 2018

Telephone Number 01788 812018

We’ve had a good week here at Draycote with an excellent rod average for the time of year, despite some testing weather conditions. Strong winds blew in from the south bringing some heavy rain at times, with some thunder storms on Saturday. The bank has been fishing extremely well along the north shore, despite the fact that anglers have had to cast into the breeze. The swans nest has also fished well, mainly on a washing line with buzzers, crunchers and diawl bachs.  Boat anglers have faired well fishing along the Farborough dam and over Croft shoal. They have been using mainly sinking lines and lure patterns, although some anglers used dries to good effect over the shallow water on Croft shoal. This week 175 rods caught a total of 669 fish giving us a weekly rod average of 3.5.

South Easterly winds started the week off on Monday with overcast conditions that last until around mid-morning. It was then the sun broke out to give a beautiful Autumnal day with temperatures hitting 18°C. On the bank from the Cornfield John Hall landed 8 fish on a small black lures fished on a floating line just drawn along the near the surface. John commented on how all the fish he spooned were full of small black snails. Mark Sturges also fished the bank from Rainbow Corner to land 7 fish using a washing line. Season ticket holder Michael Ravenscroft enjoyed good mornings sport landing 5 fish again on a washing line including a fantastic 6lb rainbow that was loving returned to the water. Kevin Rees fished in Biggin Bay near the Old Pipe on washing lined shrimps with a washed out FAB on the point. On the boats Ed Douglas landed 22 with 15 of these coming to dries fished over the shallow water on Croft Shoal. In house guide Lee Henfrey enjoyed a good day with Foremark & Thornton staff member Andy Dermot landing over 20 fish on olive snakes on a di 7 sinking line.

Warm overcast conditions with a flat calm start to Tuesday with the winds increasing to a ripple around mid-morning. Lee Patten & Peter Elliot fished on Lincroft point using a washing line with hare’s ear crunchers to land 25 fish between them. Just along the bank from Lee and Peter was season ticket holder Brian Allwood. Using small black buzzers again on a washing line Brian landed 9 fish. Out on the boats Peter Fisher fished around X Buoy landing 27 fish with the majority coming on a dry solder palmer. Fellow season ticket holder Tony Broadway & John Dews landed 32 back drifting over Musborough Shoal using di 7 sinking lines and snakes. Jude Tuffs & Dave East also swapped bank for boat landing 22 fish on a mixture of methods, with some coming to dries over the top of Croft Shoal before switching to snakes in the deeper water around the edge of the shoal.

The wind picked up Wednesday to around 22mph coming from the South making the fishing challenging for both the bank and boat anglers. Rodger Davies fished in rainbow corner landing 4 on minkies from the Overflow. Mr T Carrol fished in Rainbow Corner using a very small homemade white lure to take 3 fish. On the boats Eddie Mitchell & Dave Kennell landed 7 fish between them on snakes and other lures fished on a di 5 dinking lines drifting frim Rainbow Corner out towards A Buoy.

The strong winds of the previous day reduced slightly but it was still a gusty day with rain at times. Again, a difficult day was experienced by the anglers taking to the water. Jim Hall fished the bank from the Swan’s Nest landing 6 fish on shrimp patterns fished on a washing line. Fishing near the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay Kevin Rees & John Dickens both washing lined shrimp patterns close to the shore to land 8 fish between them. Mr Honour & Mr Andrews enjoyed good sport in the boat landing 17 fish between them, mainly on lure patterns. Mr Andrews got a bit of a surprise off the side of croft shoal, hooking into and boating a nice 10lb brown. The fish was weighed, photographed and returned safely to the water by fishery staff member Lee Henfrey.  Colin England & Tony Plummer fished along the Farnborough Dam on minkies to land 6 fish for the day.

The wind came from the South East Friday dropping in strength to give a more enjoyable day. Ian Reeve took to the water on a boat with Steve Hibbard landing 11 fish between the pair. Concentrating their efforts around Farnborough spit using a mixture of snakes and Pitsford Pea’s on fast sinking lines. John Dews fished from the bank at Lincroft point fishing towards Biggin Bay to land 6 fish. Mr Osbourne & Mr Gibson fished for the last four hours at the Swans nest to land 14 fish in the short session. The pair used a washing line with a Minkie Booby on the point and shrimp patterns on the droppers. Chris Webster & Dave Alexander enjoyed a fantastic day’s sport on the boat landing 21 fish. Most of the fish came from Croft Shoal with a blob and small snake fished on a di 7 sinking line. However, the pair did fish that a blob and a booby on a di 5 line worked well in Biggin Bay. Then later in the day again on the Di 7 several big fish followed the snakes at Farborough spit but unfortunately could not be tempted into taking.

A wet stormy day Saturday that saw the anglers taking shelter on one occasion due to the thundery storm that came in on the southerly wind. The changeable weather from sun to heavy rain to storms did influence the fishing with a dip in the rod average. Ian Reeve fished along the Farborough Dam wall this time with a different partner Richard Williams. Once again, the tactics stayed the same as the previous day with Ian using a combination on snakes and a Pitsford Pea on the dropper. However, it was the flies on Richard rod that seemed to be the killers with him taking the lion share of the fish taken by the boat.

Sunday started with overcast conditions and then brightened up by midmorning, with a strong southerly wind. The strong breeze and cold temperatures made for difficult fishing conditions at times, and this showed itself in the catch return. Most of the fish came to sinking lines and lures such as snakes, minkies and humungus. Lee Henfrey and Jim Smith caught over 20 fish between them using olive snakes on a DI 7, 40 seconds down. Peter Fisher caught 15 fish on damsels, again fished on a fast sinking line. Season permit holder Ian Western caught 8 fish whilst his boat partner Dennis Tidmarsh caught 2. Draycote regular Jared Burton caught 6 fish on an intermediate line and either black or green snakes. The AABF visited Draycote on Sunday, and all seemed in good spirits as they came off the pontoon, having caught 36 fish between them.

Season Permits

2019 Season Permit: If you’re interested in the availability of a season permit at Draycote with options starting from £435.00

New for 2019 our All Water Membership with options starting from £480.00 allowing you the flexibility to fish any of our waters contact the Draycote Lodge 01788812018 or email lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk  for details

We also have an online store www.flyfishstore.co.uk with great offers on clothing to keep you warm while fishing this November

https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/shop/greys-micro-quilt-jacket/.

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Ed Douglas from Banbury, the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:  175 Number Trout Taken: 188  Number Trout Released:  481

Total Catch: 669    Weekly Rod Average: 3.5

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 16.15

Boat All Day: 07:30   until 16:15

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30    until 13.00

Last 4 Hours from:  12:15  until     16:15 (Ticket sales available from 12:00)

Gutting Room Closes –16:00

All Anglers to be off site by: 17:00

Guiding & Tuition.

New for the 2018 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/

Dates for the Diary

Fur & Feather

This seasons Fur & Feather match at Draycote will be held on Sunday 25^th  November 2018. Fished as a pairs competition with 12 fish to the boat.

1^st Prize Christmas Hamper for winning pair

2^nd Prize 2 Bottles of Wine Each

3^rd Prize Box Chocolates

Largest Fish Bottle Spirits

The match will be fished to fishery rules, NO RUDDERS and will start at 09:30 and finish at 16:00. All those wishing to take part should call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book your boat.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 4th November 2018

Telephone Number 01788 812018

This week saw several frosty starts with the temperatures reading below zero with hard frosts on the ground and an icy pontoon first thing in the morning.  The winds started off North the same as the previous week. However, this swung later in the week into a south easterly. With the sun being present for most of the week with only a few cloud days this did make things slightly tricky for the bank anglers, although overall a good week. With a total of 179 visited the fishery landing 765 fish for a week’s rod average of 4.3.

A hard frost with temperatures at -2°C at 7am teamed with North Easterly wind meant it felt a lot colder Monday, time to layer up for the autumnal weather, check out the Greys Micro Quilt jacket on our online website https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/shop/greys-micro-quilt-jacket/.

With the bright sun not really warming things up until around lunch. On the bank the fishing was more challenging than previous days, likely to be due to the frost pushing the fish out to the deeper water for the first part of the day. Jude Tuffs fished the Cornfield using a washing line to land 6 fish. Season ticket holder Kevin Rees fished Lincroft point landing 18 on washing lined nymphs, with most of his fish coming later in the day once the temperature had warmed. On the boats John Herriot enjoyed a very successful 8 hour guided session with Lee Henfrey. John has booked the day wanting to learn more about the water, retrieves and methods. After trying various tactics John finished the day with 17 fish from around the deeper water off Farnborough spit with a di 5 sinking line with two boobies. To book Lee to learn all about fishing towards the back end of the season call the lodge on 01788 812018.

Another cold start although with the wind swinging into south west meaning the same wind chill wasn’t in the air. Brian Allwood fished the Swan’s Nest for a morning session landing 5 fish on olive buzzers. Fishing in Biggin Bay, Brian Warwick enjoyed good sport landing 12 fish on washing lined nymphs with Diawl bachs being his best patterns. Fishing along the Cornfield and Lincroft point Lee Patten & Peter Elliot again used a washing line with crunchers to land 16 & 18 fish each, including some lovely silver fish. Out on the boats Tony Plummer & Colin England landed 10 fish between them on minkies fish half way along the Farnborough Dam.

With the wind in the South East there was a much warmer feel to the day, although the day still started with a frost. The change in the wind meant that the Swan’s nest looked the best option for the bank anglers. However, the fish weren’t playing ball in the morning there and it wasn’t until the afternoon when they started to fed. Ed Douglas fished from the bank using a washing line to land 9 fish. Out on the boats Ian Reeve enjoyed good sport fishing around the spit landing 16 fish on pink snakes fished on a sinking line. Ian also landed a fantastic rainbow that tipped the scales at 6lb 12oz. Eugene Hughes used di 5 and di 7 sinking lines to great effect landing 17 fish with the best patterns being snakes, minkies and humongous. Eugene found that his best areas to be S buoy, M buoy and out in the middle. In house guide Lee also took to the water on a day off to land 15 fish on humongous boobies fished on a di 5 sinking line.

The wind swung back to a North West on Thursday with a much milder overcast conditions. On the bank from the Cornfield Brian Warwick landed 11 fish on a washing line with diawl bachs. Fishing on the corner of Dunn’s Bay before it goes to the Tower Bank. Ifor Bullock landed a lovely 6lb 4oz brown on a minkie that was returned to the water to fight another day. Kevin Rees once again fished from the bank at Lincroft point to land 13 on washing line tactics. On the boats Ed Douglas enjoyed a great start to the day landing 6 fish before 10am on dries. Ed used Bob’s Bits and hoppers over the shallow water Croft Shoal & Farnborough Spit, he then switched to boobies on a di 5 to land another 6. John Hurst & P Watson landed 16 between them on sinking lines and lures from around the end of the Farnborough Dam wall. Fishing over Croft Shoal husband & wife team Cheryl & Gareth Bullman enjoyed good sport landing 10 fish between them on di 5 sinking lines with suspender minkies and humongous boobies on the cast.

The return of the hard frosts Friday with the wind swinging back to a South Westerly with sun all day. The bright sun teamed with the south west winds made things tricky for the bank anglers. Although Tony Broadway did manage to land 4 fish on a washing line from the Cornfield. While John Dickens fishing from near the old pipe in Biggin Bay landed 6 fish on shrimp patterns. John Hoskins fished from a boat to land 17 fish on minkies and other lures fishing around the school slips, croft shoal and the spit. Mr N Banham also enjoyed good sport from the boat fishing over Croft shoal landing 15 fish on snakes. Lee Henfrey & Tom Bird took advantage of a day off to take to the water from a boat. The pair enjoyed great sport with a cricket score catch between them. They found the fish on the drop off around Farnborough spit in the morning with the fish willing to take snakes & Tubes, before they moved to Croft Shoal. Fishing the deep water to the right hand side of the shoal the pair landed some great fish including a cracking 5lb brown for Tom to see pictures from the day visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore. Just before heading in they tried half way down the Farnborough Dam and found good numbers of fish hard on the bottom with humongous boobies being the key.

A difficult day Saturday with the weather making the fishing challenging, with a mix of sun then cloud with winds from the south of 20mph. Jim Hall landed 6 fish on shrimps from the Swan’s Nest fishing from the bank as well as other pulls and offers. On the boats Jim Brennan & Chris Discombe landed 3 each on snakes and minkies around the Farnborough spit.  Dennis Tidmarsh & Rod Goldthorpe landed 5 fish again on snakes also from Farnborough spit. Local angler Darren Fox visited the fishery with a group of friends from work for a social day with the 3 boats landing 9 fish between them.

A gusty day with the wind coming from the South east with overcast conditions that then turned to rain around lunch time making for a miserable autumn day. However, the fishing wasn’t miserable with several anglers recording good scores. On the bank John Falconbridge landed 8 fish using a washing line with nymphs while fishing from the Outlet. Stan Hillman also enjoyed good sport from the bank landing 6 from Rainbow Corner. However, it was really a day for the boats after their success at the Eyebrook Fur & Feather Martyn Price & Dave Hancox enjoyed good sport landing 22. The pair found that di 5 sinking lines with olive snakes and perch patterns the key to success landing fish from the spit in the morning before moving to Croft Shoal in the afternoon. Tim Burn & Paul Mitchell also enjoyed good sport landing 26 fish, using midge tips and floaters fishing a washing line with a FAB on the point and Diawl Bachs on the droppers. The best areas for Tim & Paul being drifting along Farnborough Dam, ahead of going over to Croft Shoal for the afternoon. Ed Douglas & Jim Smith finished the day with 41 fish to the boat using a mixture of boobies and snakes. Starting the day on Croft shoal using a Di 5 and a snake and a RIO Single Hand Spey 3D with a minkie the pair soon got to over a dozen to the boat. Before moving up to the Draycote Dam wall to land some lovely 4lb silver bars on di 7 and boobies. The day was then finished up fishing along the Farnborough Dam to the spit again on the di 7 sinking lines and boobies.

2019 Season Permit: If you’re interested in the availability of a season permit at Draycote or our New All Water Membership allowing the flexibility to fish any of our waters contact the Draycote Lodge 01788812018 or email lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Ed Douglas from Banbury  winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:  179 Number Trout Taken: 167  Number Trout Released:  598

Total Catch: 765    Weekly Rod Average: 4.3

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 16.30

Boat All Day: 07:30   until 16:30

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30    until 13.00

Last 4 Hours from:  12:30  until     16:30 (Ticket sales available from 12:15)

Gutting Room Closes –16:00

All Anglers to be off site by: 17:00

Guiding & Tuition.

New for the 2018 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/

Dates for the Diary

Fur & Feather

This seasons Fur & Feather match at Draycote will be held on Sunday 25^th  November 2018. Fished as a pairs competition with 12 fish to the boat.

1^st Prize Christmas Hamper for winning pair

2^nd Prize 2 Bottles of Wine Each

3^rd Prize Box Chocolates

Largest Fish Bottle Spirits

The match will be fished to fishery rules, NO RUDDERS and will start at 09:30 and finish at 16:00. All those wishing to take part should call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book your boat.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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Draycote Water weekly report week ending 28th October 2018

Telephone Number 01788 812018

A much colder week with it really starting to feel more like autumn with most the leaves now showing there autumn colour and shorter fishing days. The cooler week has started to see some of the better fish coming out to fry patterns and reports of big browns following flies right to the boat. The settled wind from the North all week has meant the bank anglers have enjoyed some great sport along the North shore with the Cornfield producing consistently all week. Overall a total of 233 anglers visited the fishery landed a total of 1,252 trout for a rod average of 5.4.

Monday started with a flat bright start after an early morning frost. When the wind did it pick up it came from the North West at around 12pmh. On the bank season ticket holder Ian Richardson enjoyed good sport in Toft landing 12 fish. Ian used a floating line with a small FAB on the point and 2 crunchers on the droppers. Derek Elms fished along the Cornfield again using a washing line with crunchers to land 8. Mr D Brooks and P Hedges fished in Biggin Bay to land 13 fish between the pair of them. Out on the boats Ed Douglas landed 9 with 3 fish coming to dries first thing on the morning before swapping to snakes on a di 3 when the sun got higher in the sky. Kevin Rees stuck to his usually dry fly tactics and was rewarded with 9 fish all on bob’s bits. The best score for the day was recorded by Rod Wilson who boated 18 fish on the rudder using a di 3 sinking line and tubes.

The wind stayed in the North West, Tuesday blowing at around 20mph, as a result it was a day for the bank anglers who all caught well. Fishing along the Cornfield Tony Broadway landed 21 fish using a washing line with a tequila FAB on the point and crunchers along the line on the droppers. David East used similar tactics along from Tony to land 18 fish. Peter Allen also fished the Cornfield to land 14. Norman Perkins fished off Lincroft point using a FAB or a black bugger to land 15 fish. Out on the boats Tony Plummer & Colin England landed 12 fish a piece fishing in Biggin Bay and Toft on a mixture of minkies and nymphs. Mr T Ham & R Jones fished snakes and shrimp patterns around the Farnborough Dam wall and Croft Shoal to land 18 fish to the boat.

A brighter day that Forecast Wednesday, although cloud did arrive later in the day. The wind remained consistent coming from the North West. Due to the bright conditions the bank anglers found it slightly trickier than the previous day although still posted some good returns. P Frith fished off the Cornfield using a mix of cormorants and damsels to land 8 fish. Father & Son team Jim & Richard Hall also fished the Cornfield landing 14 between them using a washing line technique. Kevin Rees fished at the old pipe in Biggin Bay landing 21 fish on a washing line with shrimp patterns. Out on the boats Eugene Hughes enjoyed a great days sport landing 35 fish. Eugene using a Di 5 sweep line with a mixture of minkies snakes and humongous. Eugene found the best area to be fishing down the Farnborough Dam wall and around H buoy to the spit.

A much cloudier day Thursday with the sun only breaking through for short periods throughout the day. With the return of the cloud the bank fished once again provided great sport. Jude Tuffs fished along the Cornfield to land 17 fish on a mixture of tactics from washing line to using various tadpoles and lures. Fishing along side Jude, Tony Broadway landed 15 fish using a washing line with a tequila FAB and crunchers. Out on the boats Ed Douglas & Jim Smith enjoyed good sport landing over 30 fish to the boat. The pair started out drifting over Croft shoal before moving towards Farnborough spit later that day. Their best tactics was to fish either a di 3 or di 5 sinking line with a mix of snakes or tubes and landed some cracking fish. Another boat also landing over 30 fish was Guiding & Tuition Manager Tom Bird & In House Guide Lee Henfrey. The pair fished around Farnborough spit using a mixture of tactics from tubes on a di 5 and snakes on the same line to boobies fished on a di 7. These tactics also accounted for some quality rainbows with 10 of the fish over 3lb with a couple over 4lb. Season ticker holder Dave Hancox landed 16 fish from further along the Farnborough Dam on olive snakes on an intermediate line. The boat of D Naylor & S Houlton fished around the Tower and Draycote Dam before moving down to the Farnborough Dam in the afternoon using a mixture of hoppers and sedges to land 25 fish to the boat.

Cloud most of the day Friday with the wind once again coming from the North West. In house Guide Lee Henfrey took out Nick Broad on a 4 hour guide looking to improve his general knowledge of the reservoir and fishing techniques. Nick enjoyed good sport improving his knowledge of sinking line fishing as well as learning to double haul to improve his distance.

Keeping it in the family Lee’s brother Graham went out with Steve Jordan fishing around Farnborough spit on snakes on sinking lines to land 10 between them. Trevor Heseltine & Mil Ranic landed 13 between them using washing nymphs in Toft. On the bank John Dews landed 7 fish on a washing line from the Cornfield. Colin Granger also fished on the Cornfield to land 6 again on a washing line.

A very cold day Saturday with the wind swinging to come from the North East mixed with some rain with sleet at times. On the bank Peter Elliot and Lee Patten fished along the Cornfield using a washing line with Nemo Crunchers on the droppers to land 26 and 15 each. Also on the bank Jim Hall landed 8 fish from Biggin Bay on shrimp patterns. Out on the boats rudder regulars Ifor Jones & Jim Dempsey enjoyed great sport on tubes on a di 3 to boat 22. Also, out on the day was Coppenhall Fly Fishers, who enjoyed great late season sport with the best catches coming from along the Farnborough Dam on snakes and tubes on sinking line. Almost all the anglers from the club had their 4 fish limit for the scales and returned several other fish. However, it was Mike Laycock who won the match helped by landed a lovely 5lb brown at the end of the spit on a snake.

Sunday saw an improvement with in the weather with a sunny day instead of the rain and sleet of the previous day, although there was still a chill in the air due to the Northerly wind. The bright conditions teamed with clear water made things slightly tricky from the bank. However, Richard Walker fishing along the Cornfield landed 7 fish, on minkies. On the boats Keith Harding & Mike Clarke landed 11 fish between them snake boobies and fry patterns on a di 3 fished down the Farnborough Dam wall and over Croft shoal. Ben Bayliss & Adam Larbalestier landed 11 fish a piece using pink snakes and black and gold humongous on a di 3 sinking line along the Draycote Dam then into Biggin Bay and along the Farnborough Dam. S Martin & J Collins enjoyed good sport once again on snakes landing 11 fish from the boats on the last four hour ticket.

2019 Season Permit: If you’re interested in the availability of a season permit at Draycote or our New All Water Membership allowing the flexibility to fish any of our waters contact the Draycote Lodge 01788812018 or email lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Russ Rabot from Southam winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:  233 Number Trout Taken: 364   Number Trout Released:  888

Total Catch: 1,252    Weekly Rod Average: 5.4

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 16.45

Boat All Day: 07:30   until 16:45

Boat Part Day:  AM 08:30    until 13.30

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

Gutting Room Closes –17:30

All Anglers to be off site by: 18:30

Guiding & Tuition.

New for the 2018 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/

Dates for the Diary

Fur & Feather

This seasons Fur & Feather match at Draycote will be held on Sunday 25^th  November 2018. Fished as a pairs competition with 12 fish to the boat.

1^st Prize Christmas Hamper for winning pair

2^nd Prize 2 Bottles of Wine Each

3^rd Prize Box Chocolates

Largest Fish Bottle Spirits

The match will be fished to fishery rules, NO RUDDERS and will start at 09:30 and finish at 16:00. All those wishing to take part should call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book your boat.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 21st October 2018

Telephone Number 01788 812018

What a great week here at Draycote water. The weather, although a little chilly at times, has been a great improvement on last week. Bank anglers have enjoyed some excellent sport from a lot of different areas around the reservoir using hares ears, crunchers and diawl bachs on a floating line. Dries have also worked very well, but the dries have proved to have been a more successful method for the boat’s. As usual this time of year when the temperatures start to drop off, lures are becoming more popular, in particular small snakes in a natural brown or olive colour on either a midge tip or an intermediate line. This week 286 anglers have caught 1,601 fish giving us a weekly rod average of 5.6

We were greeted by a damp and blustery start to the week on Monday morning, with some quite heavy rain at times and a strong westerly. But with 17 anglers catching 143 fish between them, it was a very acceptable day. Both boat and bank fishing was outstanding with anglers catching on all sorts of patterns from all over the reservoir. Mr Ian Shobbrook caught 10 fish from the bank on diawl bachs. Season permit holder Ian Richardson had 12 fish from the bank in toft and the cornfield using crunchers on a floating line, one of which was a beautiful 6 pounder. The boat pairing of Brendan and Keiron Thomas boated 18 fish between them, including a rainbow of 6lbs, and again commented “brilliant”. Craig Cowan and Ian Dobbie chad 29 fish to the boat on pink snakes and blobs. Eugene Hughes used minkies and snakes on a DI3 and a DI5 around H buoy and the dam wall to boat over 30 fish. Kevin Rees used a small claret bobs bits to net 10 fish from a drifting boat.

Tuesday was a misty start with a light south westerly breeze. Again the rod average was right up there with it now becoming obvious that toft shallows was the place to be. Season permit holder Dave Adkins got himself well into double figures from the bank in toft using a green and orange lure. Mr M Moore netted 15 fish from a boat in toft on black crunchers. Neil Berry caught 7 fish from the bank in duns bay on a midge tip line, using diawl bachs and hares ears. John Dews had 11 from the bank with a washing line and a FAB on the point. Mr Gary Turners trio of anglers ventured out onto the bank for an evening session and managed 16 fish between them, reporting on a “great afternoon”.

On Wednesday the wind started in the west before swinging round to a more northerly direction. Again the fishing proved to be fantastic with rod average of 6.8 for the day. Geoff Tomkinson caught 18 fish from the bank in toft and off lincroft point using a white tadpole. Draycote regular John Hall caught 12 fish from the cornfield using a small black lure. Season permit holder Kevin Rees ventured out in a boat once again to net 30 fish on bobs bits, remarking on a “fantastic day”. Mr Newnams boat pairing netted 25 fish on dries and diawl bachs around S buoy. Mr Peter Biernaki had 8 fish from the bank on dries and nymphs.

A north wind on Thursday meant that most of the bank anglers would have a comfortable days fishing along the cornfield and in biggin bay. Tony Broadway caught 21 fish from the bank. Bob Smith caught 9 fish whilst bank fishing in the cornfield. Season permit holders Lee Patten and Peter Elliott had over 40 fish between them from the bank on various nymph patterns such as crunchers. Mr Peter Fisher caught 17 from the boat using small black and green spiders and dries. Season permit holder John Dickens had 17 fish to the boat on bobs bits. Draycote regulars Andy Birkett and Brent Vinall had in excess of 30 fish to the boat on dries and various nymphs. Dave Kennell and Eddie Mitchell remarked on the good quality of the fish, bringing over 20 to the boat between them. Alex Campbell netted 7 fish from a drifting boat in an afternoon session on size 12 and 14 crippled midge with a copper hopper on the point, remarking that he had missed and dropped a lot of fish over X and P buoy.

Friday dawned bright and flat calm with a light breeze picking up as the day went on. Once again the anglers turned in a good rod average for the day with the bank and boats fishing well in equal measure. The usual suspects were out in force on the bank, with Jude Tuffs, David East, Tony Ward, Colin Day, Tony Broadway and Gordon Slack all catching good numbers from the cornfield and biggin bay. The boat pairing Andy Birkett and Brent Vinall netted 25 fish between them on humungus, hares ears and shuttlecock buzzers. Draycote regulars Howard and Marion Rutter boated a good number of fish between them on diawl bachs and remarked on “a great day”.

A bright warm Autumnal day Saturday, which did cause the bank fishing to drop off slightly as the fish pushed off into the deeper water to feed. On the bank season ticket holder Mike Garner landed 7 fish from the Cornfield & Toft on a mixture of cormorants and diawl bachs. Husband & Wife team Tony and Ruth Kirk landed 8 fish between them from the Swan’s nest and along the tower bank. The pair fished hares’ ears and diawl bachs on a floating lines. On the boats Ian Reeve & Chris Aubrey landed 20 fish between them fishing around Farnborough spit and Croft shoal on various snakes on sinking lines. Rudder regulars Jim Dempsey & Ifor Jones enjoyed good sport landing 27 fish including come lovely silver 3lb lumps drifting down through Toft tight in down the Dam and into the Swans nest. Kas Leoviriyaki enjoyed a great half days sport landing 11 fish from Biggin Bay on Diawl bachs.

Once again the sunny conditions made the bank fishing a little tricky for the most part. However, season ticket holder Brian Allwood enjoyed great sport landing 14 fish on small nymphs fishing along the cornfield. although for the most part it was really a day from the boats. Ed Doulas & Jim Smith landed 19 fish to the boat, the pair started around Croft Shoal before moving to Farnborough spit. They fished two very different tactics with Ed opting for dries while Jim used snakes on a midge tip long. Mr Dudley & Mr Holdsworthy used a combination of small minkies and buzzers to land 30 fish to the bat including returning a 6lb brown. Paul Mitchell & Tim Burn enjoyed a great day’s sport using FAB’s & blobs on a di 3 sinking line to land 34 fish fishing around Toft, Biggin Bay and Croft shoal. In house guide Lee Henfrey enjoyed a day off looking to target big fish with boat partner Nigel Keeber. Fishing over the shallow water at Croft shoal with snakes on a di 3 the pair landed 12 fish including serval big rainbows and returned a 6lb brown, with follows of much larger fish. To book a session with Lee targeting our larger overgrown specimens call the lodge on 01788 812018.

2019 Season Permit: If you’re interested in the availability of a season permit at Draycote or our new All Water Membership allowing the flexibility to fish any of our waters contact the Draycote Lodge 01788812018 or email lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to   Ian Reeve       from      Rugby         the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:  286 Number Trout Taken: 361   Number Trout Released:  1240

Total Catch: 1601    Weekly Rod Average: 5.6

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 18:00

Boat All Day: 07:30   until 18:00

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

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

Gutting Room Closes – 17:30

All Anglers to be off site by: 18:30

Guiding & Tuition.

New for the 2018 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/

Dates for the Diary

Fur & Feather

This seasons Fur & Feather match at Draycote will be held on Sunday 25^th  November 2018. Fished as a pairs competition with 12 fish to the boat.

1^st Prize Christmas Hamper for winning pair

2^nd Prize 2 Bottles of Wine Each

3^rd Prize Box Chocolates

Largest Fish Bottle Spirits

The match will be fished to fishery rules and will start at 09:30 and finish at 16:00. All those wishing to take part should call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book your boat.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 14^th October 2018

Telephone Number 01788 812018

A windy week at Draycote culminating in this year’s third named storm – “Callum” -which hit us on Friday. Unfortunately, with constant wind speeds of up to 28mph, & gusts in excess of 50mph, no boats were allowed out on either Friday or Saturday. Nevertheless, some great sport was enjoyed by many on both boat & bank during the reporting period in which 167 anglers visited the venue catching a total of 785 for a weekly rod average of 4.7.

The fishery was closed on Monday as we played host to the Troutmasters Final. All competing finalists had to fish a boat & a bank session with a lunchtime changeover. The bank was split into five sections and our thanks go out to those regulars & season ticket holders who assisted us by acting as stewards. A two fish limit applied in both sessions followed by catch & release & it was important to score well in both sessions to secure the top placings. The fishery performed very well, particularly in the morning, but it did become blustery & chilly during the afternoon. All five bank sections produced good returns against an overcast backdrop & westerly wind. Chosen tactics varied massively with fish coming to nymphs, lures, snakes and dries! A total of 89 anglers competed with 404 rainbows netted for a rod average of 4.54 Our congratulations go to all for achieving their places as finalists but especially to the winner Anthony Meadows.

Tuesday was bright & breezy all day and, whilst some found it hard going, it proved to be a good day for dry fly fanatic Kevin Rees who boat fished with Bob’s Bits all day to net 18 fine rainbows on drifts down the Farborough Dam. David Jinks & Ken Warner also enjoyed good sport with a joint 15 to the boat. Mick Cronin & Stan Hillman stayed on the bank in search of fry feeders & returned 6 & 4 respectively. Tony Broadway also added another six to his tally from the bank at the Swan’s Nest using nymphs propped up with a FAB blob. The strong south easterly winds forecast for Wednesday did not materialise and although bright & sunny, some fine sport was enjoyed by most anglers. Colin Grainger bank fished nymphs at Rainbow Corner, The Overflow & then the Swan’s Nast, ending a fine morning session with 8 rainbows to the net. Tony Ward stuck to Toft using Crunchers & Diawl Bachs to finish on a fine 4 fish limit with a further six caught & released. Mr Francis boat fished & reported finding fish all over the venue. His more traditional team of Elk Hair Sedge, Butcher & Zulu accounted for nine rainbows to the net. Ian Morris concentrated on the Farborough Spit where he netted 9 fry feeders on Appetisers & Diawl Bachs. Messrs Heslop & Burnside also enjoyed their hectic day afloat with a total on 19 to the boat. Peter Biernacki fished the bank for the last four hours using black diawl bachs and also had an action packed session netting ten.

Thursday was probably the most consistent day of the week with fish coming in good numbers to boat & bank anglers alike. Bob Smith fished the bank at the Swan’s Nest using a combination of Boobie Minkies, Floating fry & Diawl Bach to land 11. Season rod Brian Warwick fished nymphs to also end on 11 whilst Ian Richardson stuck to his floating fry patterns to take 6. Out in the boat, Peter Fisher found fish taking very small beetles & had fine sport fishing dries for a 14 fish tally. John Dickens also stuck to his dries catching 13 on Bob’s Bits. Jim Marriott ended his session afloat with six to the net but commented on the huge numbers of nips, plucks, follows & abortive swirls to his flies – most notably in the vicinity of Croft Shoal. Cheshire Police were also a force on the water on Thursday with ten anglers boating a total of 49 rainbows up to 3lbs 8oz. Their top rod with ten trout to the net was Richard Hood. Geoff Brooks & David Holding chose to spend their boat day being guided by Tom Bird our Guiding & Tuition Manager. The pair enjoyed a great mornings sport under Tom’s watchful eye. With Tom Opting to put the pair on washing line techniques firstly around the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay, where Geoff landed a lovely 3lb rainbow. Before the wind increased and it meant a move over to the shallow water around Farnborough spit where the good sport continued. At the end of the 4 hour session the pair had landed 14 fish to the boat with lots of other fish lost. To contact Tom about a guided session going into he autumn fry session ring Tom on 01788 812018.

Friday saw the fishery effectively closed given the howling winds which had heralded the arrival during the night of Storm “Callum”. All boats had been cancelled and the fishery was effectively closed for the day. However, one brave soul did decide to spend a few hours on the bank late afternoon & was pleased to come up with a nice brace from the Overflow!  Similarly, no boats were allowed out on Saturday with continuing adverse weather conditions. However, eleven hardy anglers ventured out onto the banks and some exceptional sport was experienced. Top honours to Tony & Ruth Kirk who literally fished from dawn to dusk but were rewarded for their efforts with catches of 22 & 12 respectively. They fished Toft & the Swan’s Nest taking most of their fish on Hare’s Ear Nymphs or Diawl Bachs. The rod average for the day was an impressive 5.1

The winds subsided for Sunday & boats were back on the water. It was however extremely wet with very heavy rainfall from dawn until late in the afternoon. It certainly was not the ideal day for 5 beginners to be introduced into the wonderful sport of fly fishing, on one of your bank tuition days hosted by Tom Bird. However, despite the weather a good day was had by all with some fantastic fish caught from the bank in Biggin Bay. To see pictures from the day please visit our www.facebook.com/flyfishstore. On the bank season ticket holder Mike Garner enjoyed good sport using a mixture of cormorants, Diawl Bach’s and Nemo crunchers along the Cornfield to land 11 fish. Out on the boats Ian Muir & Peter Edge enjoyed a good day boating 22 fish. The pair started out using hares ear nymphs in Biggin Bay before changing to dries in the afternoon to continue the good sport. Kieron & Brendan Thomas landed 18 fish again on Nemo Crunchers and red holographic Diawl Bachs. Alex Urquhart & Tim Burn landed 21 fish using washing line technique drifting through Toft and along the Farnborough Dam.

Weekly Boat draw

Congratulations to Matthew Beecham from Webheath the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:  

Number Rods:  256    Number Trout Taken: 444   Number Trout Released:  745

Total Catch: 1189    Weekly Rod Average: 4.6

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 18:15

Boat All Day: 07:30   until 18:15

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

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

Guiding & Tuition.

New for the 2018 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/

Dates for the Diary

Fur & Feather

This seasons Fur & Feather match at Draycote will be held on Sunday 25^th  November 2018. Fished as a pairs competition with 12 fish to the boat.

1^st Prize Christmas Hamper for winning pair

2^nd Prize 2 Bottles of Wine Each

3^rd Prize Box Chocolates

Largest Fish Bottle Spirits

The match will be fished to fishery rules and will start at 09:30 and finish at 16:00. All those wishing to take part should call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book your boat.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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