Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 3^rd September 2017

Telephone 01788 812018

Yet another week of contrasting fishing conditions with a mix of highs & lows in results as a consequence. Some of the highs have indeed been exceptional & the weekly rod average continues its rise, ending this period at 3·63. In total, 227 anglers visited the venue this week taking 242 trout & returning 583.

Monday saw a challenging start to the week with very bright, sunny, hot conditions topped by a flat calm start. Most rods struggled as a result.  But top marks to Richard Reeve who worked really hard for twelve on dries. Richard fished Big Reds & CDCs on drifts between the Overflow & A Buoy. Dennis Tidmarsh & boat partner Ian Western also excelled given the conditions with 15 to the boat.

Tuesday saw high cloud & a light north west breeze together with an improvement in water clarity. Dry fly & nymph enthusiast Ed Douglas was back on the water & enjoyed great sport landing 20 rainbows on small home tied dry fly patterns. Whilst C Buoy & the Aerators produced well for him, Ed was one of many commenting on how well spread the fish are now all over the venue. Colin Adams & John Maxwell shared a boat for 8 & 12 respectively, whilst Keith Coley & boat partner Bob Taft had another good day with a 14 fish total – all off the surface. Sport, albeit sporadic, has begun to pick up for the bank rods with Peter Allen, Gordon Slack & John Dews all netting three apiece.

Wednesday was a great day out on the water. Rain on a 9-10 mph breeze early on followed by calm & overcast from mid afternoon. Ironically, the top five rods were the first five to book in that day. In total they landed 75 rainbows equating to a 15 fish rod average between them. Virtually all of their fish came to dries presented over deep open water. Andy Birkett & Brent Vinall started their 4 day holiday break in grand style with an 18 & 10 fish tally. Colin Adams & John Maxwell were back for more fishing CDCs & Klinkhammers to take another 11 & 18, whilst Ed Douglas, also unable to stay away from the place, also took 18 on small dries.

Thursday saw anglers experiencing a very hard morning with a light SW breeze but extremely bright sunshine. As always though there are bound to be some that  master the conditions &the best of the sport went to Bernard Orr who did well with 8 for the pot plus another 6 caught & released to a variety of nymphs & dries in size 12 & 14s. The Birkett/Vinall partnership came in with 10 each to the net, mostly to very small diawl bachs fished on a washing line. Most anglers were seeing lots of fish but struggling to persuade them to take. The day ended on a rod average of 2·7. The majority of fish were to be found way out over open water & no fish were caught by bank anglers on Thursday.

Friday dawned to another bright sunny, but quite chilly, start on a 6-7 NNW breeze. Clear night skies are helping to slowly knock back the high water temperatures of such a hot summer. Terry Tappenden enjoyed a very good session on the bank with a four fish limit & another four caught & released. Stan Hillman & Mick Cronin also  bank fished, recording five fish each by the end of their stint. Friday though was to see the performances of Andy & Bruce peak. Fishing a 50/50% split of dries & washing lined nymphs, they had a fantastic third day with 35 & 22 rainbows respectively. Crippled Midge & Midas were their top dry fly patterns with small Diawl Bachs their favoured nymph. Also in the boats Paul Newham & Eric Rymer found a joint 16 tally, all off the top, to Orange CDC “F” flies

Down to earth with a bump on Saturday, with extremely sunny skies & a mirror flat calm for most of the day.  For Andy Birkett & Bruce Vinall it was a hard final day to their mini holiday & they had to work especially hard for their 13 fish  (5 & 8) final total, once more to a mix of dries & nymphs. Richard Slater made the best of the conditions too, managing to tempt a dozen to his dry fly presentations over deep water. It was nice to see Tony Parker back on the water, afloat with Andrew Lewis. He commented on how they really had to work at it but they fined down to very small nymphs & managed a most creditable ten fish each before coming off early. Saturday saw a 3·2 rod average (which was down from a strong 5·37 the day before).

The arrival of gusty SE winds with a notable nip in the air, albeit forecast, was not what anglers wanted for Sunday.  Whilst many struggled because of this, others did get to grips with the change & some good results were recorded. Of note was that comment after comment in the return sheets read, “dries”, “dries”, “dries” ! The boat of Mike Weaver & Clive Wilkins did very well with 14 & 1 respectively to Daddy patterns & Midges. Ed was back yet again & he mixed tactics with 11 coming to his dries & a further 9 to Crunchers.

The best of the sport , for weeks & weeks,  has been out over the deeper, open water out from the main Draycote Water Dam & “central basin”, no doubt due to cooler water in that location. The spread of fish though is now clearly more widespread – indicative of a drop in the water temperatures. There has been a good hatch of small black buzzer throughout the last week which is also no doubt why the claret & black crippled midge patterns have produced so well of late. We have also seen a fair few daddy long legs on the water & it won’t be long before they are having a significant impact on the trout’s diet. Keep your eyes peeled also for the first of the back-end fry feeding, which cannot be far off. Some has already been witnessed but so far, it has been sporadic. Although we’re edging into that autumn period, there are three full months still to go with much fine sport to be had!

Weekly Boat Draw

Congratulations to Mr G Owen of Coalville who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.Â

Weekly Stats:

Number Rods:   227      Number Trout Taken:  242   Number Trout Released:  583 Total Catch:   825         Weekly Rod Average:  3·63

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 20:00

Boat All Day:  08:30 until 20:00

Boat Part Day:  08:30 until 14:30 -  14:30   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

Fishery News

Trout Masters

Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!

Dates for your diary:-

Competition                                                                         Contact

England Youth Loch Style National Draycote:- 10^th September

Book online: https://www.anglingtrustevents.net/e/121/draycote

!!! Boatmen required for this event, please contact the Draycote Lodge 01788 812018 !!!

TEFF Fundraiser.  Dry Fly Championship 16^th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117

Angling World Holiday Final – 23^rd and 24^th September  c/o John Horsey

Troutmasters Final – 9^th October. – See Fishery staff.

As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.

We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of  taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.

Boat Cleanliness:

Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.

Guiding & Tuition:

Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates.  Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 27^th August 2017

Telephone 01788 812018

As ever, prospects have remained in the hands of the weather gods given the time of year & this week has been another of varied results. The warm front towards the end of the week has led to a slight increase in water temperatures but the algal bloom that has been around for the last couple of weeks has not developed further, leaving water clarity reasonable. The trout population have largely remained high in the water column and, once again, the very best of catches have been to those anglers fishing well-presented dries, especially when blessed with an overcast sky, decent ripple & development of wind lanes & slicks, which has occurred quite a few times this week. In all, 238 anglers visited the fishery this week catching a total of 729 trout to record a rod average of 3·06, a slight improvement on the previous week. The venue remains the domain of the boat angler, again as expected for the end of August. However, some good sport has been enjoyed by regular bank anglers & early fry feeding fish are still being encountered by them, especially in the area of the Overflow & Rainbow Corner.

Monday continued where Sunday left off with favourable fishing conditions and lots of fish showing – especially from ‘P’ Buoy down to the aerators. Many reported  covering rafts of moving fish but finding it hard to get confident takes. Ed Douglas stuck to his dries all day in the boat, primarily Crippled Midge patterns, to end with a hard fought for 14 to the net. John Dickens boat fished in similar style managing 12 to his Big Red. Kieron Thomas & his brother concentrated on numerous drifts off the Draycote Water Dam & found a black hopper to be their best pattern. Their combined total was 28 to the net. Describing their experience as “superb”, the pair noted that their catch included six grown on fin perfect bars of silver in the 3-4lbs bracket. Monday ended the day with a rod average of 4·7.

Tuesday morning looked ideal with overcast skies & a 6-9 mph southerly breeze.  Season ticket rod Kevin Rees took advantage of the conditions & managed a very creditable 21 to the net. All of Kevin’s catch was taken on his own Crippled Midge patterns on a variety of different drifts out over open water. Graham Pearson & Geoff Wanless also shared a boat & found fish willing to rise to their dries during the morning session, mainly in the slicks created off the end of the boils. However, as the day progressed they found the need to search the depths, finding trout willing to hit large lures deep. Despite conditions for the bank anglers continuing to prove tough, congratulations must go to regular “bankie” Peter Allen who caught a magnificent 5lbs brown trout which had been fry feeding at the Overflow. His specimen succumbed to an Appetiser.

By Wednesday water temperatures had crept up to 19°C & conditions proved to be tough all day with a rod average drop to 1·5. Father & son team Jim & Richard Hall nevertheless shared a nine fish tally to their boat &  Ed Douglas couldn’t resist another day on the water ending with eleven. Once more to dries fished on drifts off the main Draycote Water Dam . Mr Baker fished a Big Red to land four rainbows off the Tower & also out near A buoy, whilst Mr Williams reported action in the last hour, also to a Big Red, which helped him to land three rainbows.

Thursday saw a mainly bright start and with a light westerly blowing, some cloud cover soon developed. Lea Tones drifted A to M buoy and was rewarded with 7 rainbows on a mix of dries – Big Reds, CDCs and Hoppers. He commented on the quality of his fish, together with the fact that he had also lost lots more than he managed to land. Tony Broadway also did very well in the boat using dries with 5 for the pot & a further 10 released. Dave Heseltine stuck to his red headed Diawl Bachs to land 8 as did Tim Ham who recorded a “Great Day on Hare’s Ear Nymphs”. The day ended with many coming off the water early to attend Tom Bird’s talk in the Sailing Club on Dry Fly Tactics. Seventy-Five anglers enjoyed what proved to be a very professionally presented masterclass. Our thanks go to Tom for all his hard work preparing for the evening (and giving away so many “secrets” of his success), together with the Sailing Club for allowing us to use their facilities. Thanks also to their staff who catered for us so well throughout the evening.

Friday was another of those difficult days with bright sunshine & a bit of a hike in the algal bloom. Water temperatures remained on the 19°C mark. Kevin Rees found his usual high tally of fish to the net reduced to a difficult five, albeit all on dries. However, Mr Newman & Mr Rymer worked hard alternating between dries & deep fished damsel nymphs and managed 9 & 6 respectively. They found larger, more resident fish too with 10 over the 3lbs mark & the largest at 5lbs. On the bank, regular angler & season rod, Brian Allwood managed six to black buzzer whilst Ian Richardson found a brace, one to a Minkie Boobie, the other on a Claret Hopper.

Saturday saw a rod average improvement to 3·3 despite a flat calm start. Yet again, we saw Ed Douglas on the water but this time he substituted his dry flies for crunchers which led him to a most creditable 24 fish total. Paul Morriss & Tim Llewlyn also excelled, fishing both the Flat Stones & the Aerators with a combination of Diawl Bachs fished on a washing line or dries – Bob’s Bits. They came off the water at 5pm having netted 15 apiece. Also afloat was Dave Bailey whose five fish tally to buzzer was topped with a fine 6lbs rainbow.

Sunday was hot with clear skies & little ripple. Afternoon temperatures rose to 27°C with weather forecasts predicting the hottest August Bank Holiday weekend on record. Despite this, the fishery still managed a 3·11 rod average for the day with a very even spread of catch between the anglers. Jim Brennan & Chris Discombe both managed their four fish limit & top honours on the day went to George Leaton, whose regular Sunday drive up from West London paid off with six fish for the pot and a further two released. Season ticket holder Richard Walker boat fished with Mr Davis & they did well in the heat with a combined 12 fish tally.

The beginning of next week is set to continue hot & bright but more overcast skies with cooler temperatures are forecast to follow by mid-week which bodes well for improved fishing conditions.

Weekly Boat Draw

Congratulations to Mr Mike Bowen of Bridgnorth who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:

Number Rods:   238      Number Trout Taken:  197   Number Trout Released: 532   Total Catch:      729      Weekly Rod Average:  3·06

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 20:15

Boat All Day:  08:30 until 20:15

Boat Part Day:  08:30 until 14:30 –  14:30   until 20:15

Last 4 Hours from:  16:15 until   20:15 (Ticket sales available from 16:00)

Gutting Room Closes: 19:45

All Anglers to be off site by: 20:30

Fishery News

Trout Masters

Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!

Dates for your diary:-

Competition                                                                         Contact

England Youth Loch Style National Draycote:- 10^th September

Book online: https://www.anglingtrustevents.net/e/121/draycote

Boatmen required for this event, please contact the Draycote Lodge 01788 812018

TEFF Fundraiser.  Dry Fly Championship 16^th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117

Angling World Holiday Final – 23^rd and 24^th September  c/o John Horsey

Troutmasters Final – 9^th October. – See Fishery staff.

Boat manners & etiquette:

As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.

We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of  taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.

Boat Cleanliness:

Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.

Guiding & Tuition:

Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates.  Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 20^th August 2017

Telephone 01788 812018

Another changeable week with, strong winds causing some issues with presentation for the mid part of the week. However, once the winds dropped some great sport was had by several anglers on dries. As a result, the strong winds, and sun at times, held back the rod average slightly, with 257 anglers catching a total of 783 for a rod average of 3.04.

On Monday, season permit holder Jim Hall landed 9 to dries such as Bob’s Bits and Shipman’s Buzzers. Another, season ticket holder using dries to great effect was Kevin Rees who landed 15 rainbows on crippled midge patterns, with brown size 14 being his top pattern.Draycote regular Mr Ray Cramp again utilised dries in a half day afternoon boat session to land 9 rainbows. Ray’s best pattern was a CDC buzzer.

Tuesday saw a slight increase in the wind, coming from the west, with an overcast start giving way later to sunny conditions. On the bank season ticket holder Tony Broadway landed 4 from the overflowusing washing line with a FAB and buzzers. Tony also commented on dropping 4 together witha number of bumps and knocks. Gordon Slack also fished the outlet to land 3 lovely Rainbows. Out on the boats Draycote RIO Masters team member Graham Pearson took to the water partnered by Mike Gunnell. The pair netted 17rainbows in total. They caught quickly on dries around the deep water near the Draycote Dam but once the sun had come out they needed a change to washing line and then later to deep sinkers &tubes to continuethe action. Another angler who caught well from the boats on the day was Pip Jeffs who boated 8 fish. Pip used the washing line technique drifting from Rainbow Corner towards A buoy. Keith Coley and Bob Taft fished the same area &landed 12 fish to the boat all falling to various muddler patterns waked through the surface

A lovely start to Wednesday with light winds and overcast skies although this quickly changed to a gusty bright afternoon. As a result, a variety of methods worked from a floating line all the way down to a di 8 sinking line. Jude Tuffs and season ticket holder Tony Broadway landed 16 fish between them using a variety of methods from washing line to lures on a deep sinking line. Derek Carleton used a medium sinking line with a home tied cat’s whisker variety fished on the rudder to land 8 fish for just short of 20lbs. Season ticket holder Paul Liversidge landing 8 fish back drifting on an intermediate line and a Cat’s Whisker drifting through the boils. Mr Purves & Mr Nichol landed 21 fish between then using washing line technique drifting around A, B and C buoy.

On the bank Thursday John Dews fished the overflow to land 4 fish using the washing line with small buzzers and a FAB. Out on the boats Ian Pugh landed 4 on dries but commented he must have risen about 20 up to the boat. Season ticket holder Richard Walker and partner C Merrett landed 10 to the boat drifting around the boils and C buoy. John Dickens used dries all around the top dam wall to land 6 with Bob’s Bits and Crippled Midge being his top patterns. Dave Kennell and Eddie Mitchell fished around A,B and C buoy to land 10 fish on a mixture on boobies and nymphs fished on a washing line in conjunction with a floating line.

Friday saw Draycote host the annual boat match between Bank of Scotland and Barclays bank. Bank of Scotland’s Simon Menzies sent us the below passage on the event :-  “On the day of the Match against Barclays which was the 40th year the competition had been held, the result was also the closest on record with the Bank of Scotland team regaining the TW Walker trophy for the first time in 4 years. All fish were measured and released. Over 100 fish were caught between the two teams with the winning margin just 2 fish and a very tight 33cm in favour of Bank of Scotland. Stevie Nicol was our best rod with 11 fish. Dave Curry was Barclays best rod also with 11 fish”.A number of methods were employed on the day with washing line with hoppers and nymphs proving successful. Pulled foam daddies on a floater also accounted for a number of fish, with Scotland’s Stevie Nicol using this method to take top spot. Outside of the match on the bank, season ticket holder Ian Richardson landed 4 good rainbows on a mixture of minkie boobies, shrimp patterns and buzzers.

A verygusty day Saturday made presentation difficult for the majority of anglers. However, a number did manage to present the flies effectively enough to fool the fish. Mark Hunt enjoyed great sport from the boat fishing tight in to the Draycote Dam wall to land 12. Mark found them willing to take either Diawl Bachs, Ginger Hoppers or Suspender Minkies. Amongst his12 fish haul were a couple of resident 4lb+ rainbows that took the Minkie. Another boat catching well in the challenging conditions was that of Derek Pozzi and Simon Nicol who landed 25 fish to the boat drifting from Rainbow Corner to A buoy. All 25 of their fish came to daddies fished on a floating line stroked through the surface. Simon commented that the fish where just coming from nowhere and smashing the daddies. Jon Whitefield also enjoyed a good afternoon session landing 7 on hoppers and damsel nymphs.

A changeable weather day Sunday with bright sun and gusty winds to start with then giving way to overcast skies and drizzle from 4pm. Nick Righton used a team of three hoppers to land 4 fish in a short four hourmorning session. Out on the boats Welsh anglers Steve Winston and A Gourlay used a mixture of washing line and dries to boat twenty four. The pair found the fish around the top dam wall drifting to B buoy and then beyond it. Later in the day they also found a number of fish drifting from B buoy through to D buoy and in to Biggin Bay. Also, out on the water was Draycote Fishery Ranger Tom Bird. Together with boat partner Jim Smith, the pair struggled in the morning with lots of fish falling off at the net using dries and washing lined hoppers, only boating 2. However, once the cloud came over and they got into a large wind line in the middle, their day was transformed. They finished with over 25 to the boat with 23 of them coming between four & seven in the evening. The best pattern was a claret crippled midge with a small size 16 black crippled midge working when the wind dropped towards the end.

Weekly Boat Draw

Congratulations to Mr John Pendleton of Nether Whitacre who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:

Number Rods: 257       Number Trout Taken: 216   Number Trout Released: 567  Total Catch:   783   Weekly Rod Average:  3·04

Current Fishing Times:

Bank: 07:30 until 20:30

Boat All Day: 08:30 until 20:30

Boat Part Day: 08:30 until 14:30 –  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

Fishery News

Trout Masters

Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!

Dates for your diary:-

Competition                                                                         Contact

England Youth Loch Style National Draycote:- 10^th September

Book online: https://www.anglingtrustevents.net/e/121/draycote

Boatmen required for this event, please contact the Draycote Lodge 01788 812018

TEFF Fundraiser. Dry Fly Championship 16^th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117

Angling World Holiday Final – 23^rd and 24^thSeptember c/o John Horsey

Troutmasters Final – 9^th October. – See Fishery staff.

Boat manners & etiquette:

As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.

We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.

Boat Cleanliness:

Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.

Guiding & Tuition:

Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates. Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 13^th August 2017

Telephone 01788 812018

The weather has been a very hit and miss affair this week with overcast cloudy days with very windy spells, and bright sunny days with hardly a breath of wind on the water. The cooler evenings have aided a drop in  the water temperature, with a current reading of 17°C. This has helped improve the fishing for boat and bank anglers alike. The slight colour that has been present throughout the reservoir has not cleared completely but visibility has improved. The boats are still out-fishing the banks, fishing in the top few feet of the water. Well presented dries have been working very well, as has washing line with nymphs. A small lure, fished on an intermediate line through the Aerators has also produced good sport for some. The weekly rod average was 4·16 with 259 anglers catching a total of 1080 trout.

On Monday season permit holder Jim Hall managed 17 fish on dries such as Bob’s Bits and Shipman’s Buzzers. Kevin Rees also did extremely well, catching 16 rainbows on a variety of self-tied dries. The boat pairing of Mr C McMonagle and Mr M Petri caught 15 fish between them, pulling lures in Toft Shallows. Draycote regular Mr Ray Cramp caught 10 rainbows, with his eight-fish limit weighing in at just over 23 lbs.

Tuesday dawned with some heavy rain and a cool northerly breeze. This didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of some of our regular bank anglers who ventured out in very challenging conditions. Most caught a brace, apart from Mr Peter Allen, who managed four from various points around the reservoir. The boat pairing of Mr K Coley and Mr R Taft did extremely well between Rainbow Corner & the Hensborough Bank, with eighteen to the boat, one of which was a 4lb blue.

Wednesday was wet and windy in the morning with a strong northerly blowing, although the rain eased up as the day progressed. The aerators fished really well with anglers catching on small lures fished with sinking lines. Draycote regular Geoff Preston caught five working through the deeper water from B to C buoy and also at the bottom end of the aerators. Season permit holder Dave Adkins had an 8 fish tally, mainly on Pheasant Tailed Nymphs.

Thursday started bright and sunny with a light northerly breeze and seemed to fish really well considering the conditions. Season permit holder Colin Grainger caught 4 from the bank. Jude Tuffs paired up with Tony Broadway for a day afloat & they brought a total of 21 to the net. Peter Elliott and Lee Patten fished together & caught 22 fish between them from a boat on dries. Mr K Allison caught 7 on black CDC’s, PTN’s and Big Reds whilst Kevin Rees was back on the water & managed 13 fish, again all coming to his own Crippled Midge & Bob’s Bits variants. John Dickens also stuck to the dry fly theme and landed nine. Season Permit holder Paul Liversidge enjoyed a day to remember as one of the three trout he netted during his boat session was a six-pound rainbow!

Friday also started off bright but it clouded over at about 1pm. Ian Richardson bank fished the Overflow on the Hensbrough Bank to land 7 rainbows. Ian fished a Minkie booby on a floating line targeting early fry feeders. He also teamed the fry pattern up with a small olive nymph which also caught. Out on the boats Mr Williams and his boat partner Nick Mead managed an impressive 29 fish total all on red & brown dries. They fished around the top end of the lake with drifts around A & B buoy proving effective. Another boat pairing fishing dries to great effect was that of Mr B Jones and Mr G Wood. Using Crippled Midge and Shipman’s Buzzers, again around the deep water of A, B and C Buoys, they boated 31rainbows. In-house guide Lee Henfrey took England youth hopeful Demi Powers for a short 2 hour coaching session ahead of the England Youth National at Draycote in early September. The pair boated 17 fish in their session with Lee showing Demi the art of sinking line work. A 3 inch a second sinking line was the best density during their session with a booby on the point with a blob on the top dropper.

Saturday saw Invicta Fly Fishing Club take to the water to fish in a friendly Club Competition. The method for the day was dries, again with the top end of the venue being the most productive. Dave Summers used dries to land 14, with Big Reds and Midas being his top patterns. Tony Day landed ten, again using dries with Crippled Midge being his best pattern. Also catching 10 fish was Mr David Moore. Outside the club match, father and son duo of Mike and Dave Mee landed 17 with dries and small fry patterns producing the results.  Paul Davison fished all around the top end drifting around the Inlet, Rainbow Corner, A & B buoy and the Draycote Dam to landed 38 fish. Paul’s best pattern was a Midas – not surprising really as he invented the pattern. Well done Paul – a great result! Nigel Nixon and Lester Booth enjoyed good sport too, again to dries, but this time red was their colour of choice with the pair netting 14 between them. They also found their fish all around the top end of the lake.

Sunday saw another good day for top of the water sport, and once again it was the deeper water at the top end of the lake producing the results. Richard Dayman and boat partner John Kirk landed 20 fish boat fishing around Rainbow Corner and the Inlet. They found washing line tactics was the key to their success. Mr D Ford & Mr T Wallace also boated 20 fish with Mr Ford using a mixture of dries and buzzers while Mr Wallace fished dries all day to land his fish. Mike & Dave Mee returned for their second day on the water and used Diawl Bachs fished on a washing line to boat another seventeen. They found drifts from B Buoy to A Buoy produced the best results. Shaun and Liam Gaskell took to the water hoping to enjoy good sport on dries, and that is exactly what they had. The two brothers landed 27 all on dries with a variety of patterns used. They did comment that red was their best colour. Paul Davison also returned, but this time accompanied with Tony Baldwin. The pair boated 42 fish all on dries with Midas being the best pattern. Paul commented that the fishing has been great from the start but when a fall of flying ants hit the water in the afternoon it was fantastic sport.

Weekly Boat Draw

Congratulations to Ms J Tuffs of  Market Harborough who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:

Number Rods:  259       Number Trout Taken: 371     Number Trout Released: 709  Total Catch:   1080       Weekly Rod Average:  4·16

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until 20:45

Boat All Day:  08:30 until 20:45

Boat Part Day:  08:30 until 14:30 –  14:30   until 20:45

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

Gutting Room Closes: 20:15

All Anglers to be off site by: 21.00

Fishery News

Tuition Days- Beginners Courses

Saturday 14^th October Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird.  Currently four places available

Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book or for further information

Trout Masters

Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!

Dates for your diary:-

Competition                                                                         Contact

TEFF Fundraiser.  Dry Fly Championship 16^th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117

Angling World Holiday Final – 23^rd and 24^th September  c/o John Horsey

Troutmasters Final – 9^th October. – See Fishery staff.

Boat manners & etiquette:

As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.

We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of  taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.

Boat Cleanliness:

Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.

Guiding & Tuition:

Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates.  Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 6^th August 2017

Telephone 01788 812018

Another changeable week, on the weather side of the fishing. Bright near flat calms one-minute giving way to strong winds and stormy conditions. As a result, there were times when the fish didn’t know if they wanted to be feeding the top 2ft or hiding from the sun the depths. This did mean that at times during the day the fishing was tricky. However, for the most part of the week, fish could be caught in the top 2ft either fishing washing line tactics or dries. Overall 290 anglers visited to the water catching a total of 895 trout for a rod average of 3·08.

A tough start to the week, with strong winds making the fishing challenging for most, with the wind coming from the south west. Dave Adams did enjoy good sport on a short half day morning session. He fished in Rainbow Corner with a fiery brown Shipman’s to land four. Kevin Rees concentrated his efforts around the flat stones area of the Draycote Dam drifting out towards B buoy. Kevin used crippled midge patterns to winkle out 6 fish. Another angler whom solely fished dries on the day was season ticket holder John Dickens fishing around the Outlet to A buoy to land 12.

Tuesday saw another bad day with regards to the weather. Whilst overcast conditions greeted the anglers, so too did a strong gusty south west wind. James Scott took to the water and fished over the aerators with sinking line and snakes to land 5 fish. In house guide Tom Bird took to the water with John O’Hara who landed 7 fish. The pair also fished over the aerators with lures to catch. Simon Guthrie and son Elliot fished sinking lines and boobies over the aerators to catch into double figures for the boat. Simon’s dad Chris also fished using dries to land half a dozen from around B buoy, C and E buoy into Biggin Bay. Norman Perkins also caught well landing 8 cracking fish from Rainbow Corner and the aerators. Norman fished a variety of methods from dries to lures.

The fishing improved on Wednesday with good catches being recorded by most anglers. Ian Conyers was amongst the better catches landing 10 rainbows from along the top dam wall and Rainbow Corner. Geoff Preston took to the water on Wednesday for a half day morning session accompanied by his granddaughter and they boated 10 fish on the rudder. They found the fish from B-C buoy as well as over the aerators. Season ticket holder Dave Adkins fished at the Outlet with a PTN and a Minkie to land seven. The Guthrie’s returned to the water once more, this time boating 28 fish between the 4 of them, fishing dries drifting from the outlet to N buoy via A buoy, with Big reds being their best pattern.

A very windy day Thursday with speeds being 24mph again from the South West, combined with powerful gusts. As a result, the boats had a restriction to the top end of the lake with no fishing below Lincroft Point. Eddie Mitchell and Alex Urquhart boated 9 fish from Rainbow Corner and the top dam wall using a mixture of dries and washing line. On the bank season ticket holder Colin Granger landed 3 fish from the Overflow on dries during his morning session. However, top honours on the day again go to the father and son team of Simon and Elliot Guthrie who boated 11 fish fishing dries in white horse waves. Once again, the pair found the fish drifting from A-N buoy with big reds being the top pattern.

Friday saw conditions improve with a drop-in wind. Ronnie Gent and Tom Bird took to the water the pair landed over 25 to the boat. With the best areas being Biggin Bay, the flat stones to B buoy and then down the bottom end of toft. They found the fish keen to take a mix of boobies, blobs and cormorants fished on a di 3 or 5 line. Then later in the day washing lining with two fabs and two crunchers through the middle worked well. Also, out on the boats Mick O’Farrell and Richard Slater landed 20 fish all on dries drifting between D and P buoy. Another boat partnership using dries to great success was that of brothers Nick and Jem Dunn. Finally, Mr B Jones & Mr G Wood had great success in the final 2 hours of the day landing 24 rainbows on hoppers from Toft.

Saturday saw the any line heat Anglers World Holidays Fly Fishing Championship, with 31 anglers competeing for 7 places plus the wild card for the biggest fish for a space in the final which is to be fished here at Draycote on the 24^th September. Great conditions with some light winds and overcast skies, looked perfect for great catches. However, the weather did cause some issue with storms moving in during the afternoon causing the winds to increase and heavy showers to come through together with thunder and lightning in the distance. The fishing got off to a great start in the first hour with rods bending, the hot spot being around D Buoy. The sun did then come out for a period making it challenging and the fish went off the feed. Cloud cover did return though which resulted it the resumption of catching. At times, the increasing wind speeds did make presentation difficult. Despite this  the 31 competitors caught a total of 140 fish representing a rod average of 4.52. The overall winner of the match was Richard Slater who fished small dries in the morning to land 10 fish then a switch to washing line in the afternoon caught him a further 5 giving him a total of 15. In second place was Dave Franklin who also fished a mix of dries and washing line to take his 10 fish. In third Ian Gaskell used pulling tactics on a di 3 to land 8 before a switch to washing line late in the day produced a further 2. The best areas in the match were around D buoy, Biggin Bay, P buoy and H Buoy to Farnborough spit.

Sunday saw the floating line only day for the Anglers World Holidays Fly Fishing Championship, this time with 39 anglers fishing for 11 places in the final plus the wild card. A sunny start to the day with gusty south west winds made catching early difficult, although the cloud cover did come around lunch as a result around 3pm when the weather has settled the fish really came on the feed. The overall winner of the day with a 15 fish tally was Peter Elliott.He fished dries for most of the day around P Buoy, D buoy but later switched to nymphs on a washing line. Ben Robertson fished the washing line to come second with 14 fish again from similar areas. In third place Nick Dunn also fished dries to land 12 fish with D buoy and P buoy being his best spot. Several of the other qualifying anglers found fish around C buoy drifting onto the Tower Bank. The fish in this area of the lake where feeding very high in the water. As a result, many tactics were employed to catch them either small dries with Bob’s Bits performing well. Another tactic employed was two boobies and two hoppers and a fast figure of eight retrieve keeping the flies no more than 2 inches under the surface. Finally, a washing line with either hopper, cormorants and nymphs also proved effective. Overall the 39 anglers caught 216 fish for a rod average of 5·54 with no blanks. Well Done to all the qualifiers over the two days and we look forward to welcoming you to Draycote for the final on the 24^th September.

Weekly Boat Draw

Congratulations to Mr Ian Reeve of Rugby, who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:

Number Rods:  290       Number Trout Taken:  452    Number Trout Released: 443  Total Catch:  895        Weekly Rod Average:  3·08

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until  21:00

Boat All Day:  08:30 until 21:00

Boat Part Day:  08:30 until 15:00 –  15:00   until  21:00

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

Gutting Room Closes: 20:30

All Anglers to be off site by: 21.15

Fishery News

Reservoir Dry Fly Masterclass

On Thursday 24^th August 2017 Draycote Ranger and Fishery Guide Tom Bird will give a presentation on reservoir dry fly tactics. The presentation will include tackle set up, fish spotting, fly selection and presentation. During the presentation Tom will reveal the secrets that have led to his remarkable success, both as a member of the England squad and the Five Nations Team. The presentation will take place in the Sailing club. Doors open at 18.30hrs. The presentation will start at 19.00 to 20.00hrs. Ticket are priced at £5.50 each. A bar and refreshments are available.

Call the Draycote lodge 01788 812018 to reserve your place. NB: Demand has been high & there are only ten tickets remaining.  Find more information on www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore   

Tuition Days- Beginners Courses

Saturday 14^th October Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird.  Currently four places available

Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book or for further information

Trout Masters

Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!

Dates for your diary:-

Competition                                                                         Contact

TEFF Fundraiser.  Dry Fly Championship 16^th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117

Angling World Holiday Final – 23^rd and 24^th September

Troutmasters Final – 9^th October. – See Fishery staff.

Boat manners & etiquette:

As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.

We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of  taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.

Boat Cleanliness:

Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.

Guiding & Tuition:

Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates.  Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 30th July 2017

Telephone 01788 812018

A mixed week with regards to weather, with days of heavy rain and blustery conditions followed by near flat calms and bright sun. These changeable weather conditions did mean that the methods kept altering. Overall it has been a good fishing week, with creditable catches being reported every day. The rod average for the week worked out at 3·54 with 263 anglers catching a total of 933 trout.

Overcast conditions with a north westerly wind kicked off the week on Monday. Season ticket holder Kevin Rees drifted around the Tower using dries to catch 19 fish. Crippled midge and Bob’s Bits being his best patterns, even having to go down as small at size 16 on the crippled midge when the lighter winds arrived towards the back end of the day. James Maplethorpe enjoyed a half-day session with Jim Smith with the pair landing 18 fish to the boat. James had the majority of the sport using orange hoppers. The pair found the fish around the Tower and down along the Flat Stones going into Rainbow Corner. Another notable catch was that of Jan Salter who landed 4 fish and lost another 3 while out fishing for the first time with in-house guide Tom. Jan used dries to catch all of her fish, presenting them on various drifts from P buoy to X, and out from the Flat Stones.

A very different day on Tuesday, with virtually no wind to speak of for the whole day. Although good cloud cover could be seen in the morning, the sun made a very warm appearance around mid-day. As a result, an algae bloom popped up making the conditions in many areas of the lake challenging. The best location on the day was the boils, with good catches being recorded there. Jude Tuffs used a weighted lure on a floating line around the boils to land 9 cracking fish. Jamie Scott also chose the boils landing 14. Jamie used a variety of sinking lines but found a 7 inch a second sink rate to be the best. His top “flies” were snakes in olive, white and black. Also out on the water was John O’Hara being guided by Tom Bird. John landed 17 fish on a variety of methods. While the cloud was over in the morning dries were the best method with red midas and daddies being the top patterns. However, when the sun came out a change to a di 7 and tubes kept John in the action. He landed some beautiful specimens with his 8 fish limit weighing in at 22lb 6oz.

A complete change in weather on Wednesday with persistent rain for most of the day up until about 5pm combined with a breezy southerly wind. These wet and slightly blustery conditions did keep some anglers away, although those that did come enjoyed some great sport. Russ Logan and Henryk Pyez enjoyed good sport drifting over the boils towards the Tower Bank and Duns, landing well into double figures on dries as well as small lures fished high in the water on intermediates. Graham Pearson and son Gareth enjoyed good sport using a di 5 sweep and tubes to land 16 cracking fish. Graham commented that the fish came up in the afternoon and were hitting the tubes close to the surface. John O’Hara returned for the second day out guiding with Tom Bird. They found the fishing slight trickier with lots of lost fish on the boils in the morning. However, it wasn’t till a change to dries and a move toward A buoy in the afternoon John really started catching well finishing the day with 9 cracking fish – with red Harry Potters being the top pattern. Scott Graham and Lucas Van Geest enjoyed some fantastic dry fly sport in Rainbow corner landing 20 fish between them on an afternoon boat. Gary Turner and his father enjoyed a good session utilising our ever-popular last four-hour ticket. They landed 11 fish with their best pattern being a Black Midas.

Another good fishing day Thursday with overcast conditions for most of the day and winds coming from the South West. Season ticket holder Peter Elliott fished dries all day all over the lake catching well to end with a total of 21 to the net. Peter’s best patterns on the day were Bob’s Bits and Crippled Midge. Terry Bayes and Ash Cooper landed 13 fish to the boat drifting from Rainbow corner and the Outlet past A buoy. The pair used a mixture of nymphs and mini lures. Also, out on the boat was Gareth Jones with two Airflo guests. Between them they used a mixture of dries, blobs and snakes to land 34 fish. They found the fish from the Flat Stones going towards B buoy and Rainbow Corner towards A buoy. Mr Barnaby & Mr Ball made use of their rudder on an afternoon boat to land 20 between them. All fell to tubes fished at various marks around the venue, with the Boils being the hotspot.

Mr C.J. Day fished the bank Friday from the corner of the Hensbrough Bank to land 4 rainbows on snail patterns. Fishing from a boat, Sean and Michael Hanlon landed 23 using a variety of methods with dries using Crippled Midge being Sean’s top pattern whereas Mick favoured a sparkler booby fished as part of a washing line to land his fish. The pair found the fish around the Outlet, Inlet, Flat Stones, A buoy and B buoy. Also fishing in the same areas as Sean and Mick were Mr B Jones and Mr G Wood who landed 22 fish to the boat all on dries. Mr Glantz and Mr Evans used small dries to land 10 fish drifting from Rainbow Corner.

Saturday again saw very favourable for conditions for fishing with a south westerly wind and overcast for much of the day. As a result, top of the water tactics proved the most effect method. Richard Copper landed 19 fish all on dries with Big Reds as well as a red CDC being his top patterns. Richard found the fish well spread across the lake catching from the Flat Stones, the Outlet, Inlet and as well as Toft Shallows. Matt Nuttall also used dries to land 11 cracking fish. Frank Sumnall used both washing line tactics and dries to land 13 fish with his boat partner also catching 9. Tom Finney used washing line with Jelly FABS and Crunchers to net 12 fish, with Tom commenting that static was the key to positive takes as a lot of fish could come and show interest but not take if the flies where moved. Lee Patten and Charlies Abrahams fished out from Rainbow Corner out into the deep water of the middle using dries to land 21 fish including some fantastic full tailed specimens. Keith Harding & Mike Clarke fished dries all day to bring a 23 fish total to the boat with the best patterns being red Bob’s Bits, Midas and Crippled Midge. Lester Booth and Nigel Nixon once again fished dries to land 14 fish to the boat with CDCs, black and red hoppers being their best patterns.

Sunday started off with overcast conditions with wind from the south west, however sharp showers and intermittent sun provided the backdrop for the rest of the afternoon. John & Mick Hanlon shared a morning session on the bank and found feeding fish off Lin Croft Point. Nymphs & caddis patterns accounted for six to John’s rod with four for Mick. Although regular & season ticket holder Richard Walker managed nine to the net, it proved to be a challenging day on the water for the boat anglers with the rod average for the day dropping to 2·5. The venue hosted the gathering of the Mid Northants Fly Fishing Association competing for their Chairman’s Trophy. Thirty two competitors fished to a six fish limit and our congratulations go to Pip Jeffs who won the event with a six fish bag weighing in at 13lbs 6oz.

Water temperatures have continued to fall to more acceptable levels with today’s morning reading showing 17°C. This in turn has brought many fish properly back on the feed & also better spread once more around the venue & not so heavily concentrated in the aerators. Showery conditions are forecast for much of the coming week though, so remember to ensure that your wet weather gear is packed!

Congratulations to Mr J Powell of Brecon, who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:

Number Rods:  263       Number Trout Taken:  339    Number Trout Released: 594  Total Catch:  933        Weekly Rod Average:  3·54

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until  21:15

Boat All Day:  08:30 until 21:15

Boat Part Day:  08:30 until 15:00 –  15:00   until  21:15

Last 4 Hours from:  17:15 until   21:15 (Ticket sales available from 17:00)

Gutting Room Closes: 20:45

All Anglers to be off site by: 21.30

Fishery News

Reservoir Dry Fly Masterclass

On Thursday 24^th August 2017 Draycote Ranger and Fishery Guide Tom Bird will give a presentation on reservoir dry fly tactics. The presentation will include tackle set up, fish spotting, fly selection and presentation. During the presentation Tom will reveal the secrets that have led to his remarkable success, both as a member of the England squad and the Five Nations Team. The presentation will take place in the Sailing club. Doors open at 18.30hrs. The presentation will start at 19.00 to 20.00hrs. Ticket are priced at £5.50 each. A bar and refreshments are available.

Call the Draycote lodge 01788 812018 to reserve your place. NB: Demand has been high & there are only ten tickets remaining.  Find more information on www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore   

Tuition Days- Beginners Courses

Saturday 14^th October Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird.  Currently four places available

Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book or for further information

Trout Masters

Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!

Dates for your diary:-

Competition                                                                         Contact

Angling World Holiday Heat 5^th and 6^th August – Visit website

TEFF Fundraiser.  Dry Fly Championship 16^th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117

Angling World Holiday Final – 23^rd and 24^th September

Troutmasters Final – 9^th October. – See Fishery staff.

Boat manners & etiquette:

As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.

We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of  taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.

Boat Cleanliness:

Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.

Guiding & Tuition:

Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates.  Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 23rd July 2017

Telephone 01788 812018

The warm temperatures continued through until the middle of the week making the fishing difficult for some. With overnight showers from Wednesday onwards, and water temperatures cooling, more and more anglers are having good sport in the top few feet of the water, mainly at the western end of the reservoir. There has been a lot more surface activity in areas such as the flat stones, B buoy, A buoy, rainbow corner and the aerators. Dries seem to be the main order of the day, with most anglers fishing them blind from a drifting boat, as opposed to casting to rising fish. Patterns such as fiery brown hoppers, crippled midge, big reds, CDC buzzers and of course bobs bits, are showing up on the catch return on a regular basis. The weekly rod average was 4.4 with a total of 824 fish caught by 185 rods.

On Monday Mr D Brookes had a good day on the bank catching 15 fish from the tower bank on shipman’s buzzers and crunchers. Mr P Hedges caught 3 fish from the same area. Kevin Rees caught 8 fish from a boat on dries. Mr R Ellis and Mr J Hurst had 11 fish to the boat on cormorants and small fry patterns.

On Tuesday Ed Douglas caught 21 fish from a drifting boat, 9 of which came to dries. Mr Ian Morris reported having “a very good day”, catching 17 fish from a boat, using damsels, Invicta’s and muddlers over the aerators.

Wednesday dawned with light showers and a stiff easterly breeze which was due to move round to the south by mid morning. Mr Tom Johnson and Mr Dave Bied took advantage of the early overcast conditions to net 24 fish from a boat on daddies and hoppers. The boat pairing of Mr R and Mr E Clark boated 12 fish between them. Mr Kevin Barnett caught 4 fish from a boat. The bank fishing proved very difficult with season permit holders Brian Froggit and Dennis Tidmarsh catching 1 and 2 fish respectively.

Over night rain helped the rod average shoot up to a very respectable 4.6 on Thursday with many boat anglers catching their quota and more. Ed Douglas caught 26 fish from a boat on buzzers and dries. John Dickens had 12 fish on dries. Ian and Richard Reeve caught 30 fish between them in various areas around the reservoir on snakes, buzzers and diawl bachs. Mr Ian Pugh and Mr Tony Whitcher caught 32 fish between them from a boat. Mr Paul Angel caught 15 fish from a boat in an afternoon session using static nymphs and dries. Paul fished around A and M buoy and over the aerators. Messrs Frazer Duffy (senior and junior) caught 12 fish between them during an evening session.

Friday started with heavy showers, putting about 6 inches of water in the boats. This eased off by about 9 o’clock but sporadic downpours continued throughout the day. Again bank fishing was slow, with only a few catching 1 or 2 fish. The boats again faired a bit better with Mr D Naylor and Mr S Houton netting 23 fish between them. Mr Robert Lindsay caught 6 fish from a boat using a tequila booby right in the surface. Mr Graham Homer caught 3 fish from a boat. Mr A Guest and Mr A Dowell caught 7 fish between them, again from a boat.

Saturday was again overcast with a slight southerly breeze and light showers in the afternoon. These ideal conditions gave us our highest rod average of the week at 7.6. Mr Jim Dempsey managed 24 fish to the boat. Season permit holder Mr Roger Kerrison caught 8 fish.  Mr S Fowler and Mr G Darby caught 14 fish on black buzzers and red diawl bachs. Mr N Mead and Mr I Tearle netted 30 fish from a boat using fiery brown and red hoppers. They fished in areas such as the flat stones and the aerators. Draycote regular Jim Smith caught 20 fish from a drifting boat on dries. Mr T Finney caught 11 fish from a boat on nymphs, sparklers and FAB’s. Steve Peart and Ollie Jenkinson caught 17 and 13 fish respectively, with Steve taking his drifting off the back of the boils with dries. Mr Iain Barr and Mr Mark Rooney caught 30 fish between them from a drifting boat around b buoy to the tower. The pair found the fish willing to take dries in the morning with Midas being Iain’s best pattern and a small Hare Ears CDC for Mark. In the afternoon a switch to Iain’s latest Jelly FABs really produced good results. Iain commented that the key to success was to fish them completely static. Iain’s latest Jelly FABs are available in the lodge.

Sunday was overcast with a slight westerly breeze for the morning and conditions looked ideal. In the afternoon very changeable weather did make for spells where the fish switched off, but after 20 mins of settled weather and they came back onto the feed. Out on the boat for the morning was season ticket holder Dave Pacey and Paul Lloyd. The pair fished over the boils on an intermediate line with a small minkie to boat 23. Another pair out on the boats was that of Keith Harding and Mike Clarke who landed 27 fish to the boat. Keith fished dries all day with the Midas being his best pattern, while Mike did fish dries he also found success on the washing line using small crunchers and FAB combination. Martin Introna and Julie Emerson took to the water in a boat landing over 20 fish. The pair found fish along the aerator line and then through the middle. Julie commented that they fished mini lures in the morning. Then a switch to dries later in the day really produced the results as the fish would just follow the lures, whereas dries produced the positive takes. Jim Smith took to the water once again armed with his trusty 5 weight and dries. Jim landed 34 fish all on dries, with his best patterns being Big Red, Orange Hopper and CDC Yellow Owl. Jim found the fish around the aerators then out towards B Buoy. Another pair fishing dries to great success was the boat of Mr F Duffy & Mr F Duffy. They found the fish all around B buoy and the top dam wall with big reds and shipman’s being the best patterns. Mr Kasit Leoviritakit enjoyed his first ever trip to Draycote. Before he returns to the water in October for the Trout Master final. He landed 10 fish from around the aerators using hoppers, big reds and shipman’s.

Congratulations to Mr I Morris of Shipston on Stour, who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:

Number Rods:  185       Number Trout Taken:  121    Number Trout Released: 703  Total Catch:  724         Weekly Rod Average:  4.4.

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until  21:30

Boat All Day:  08:30 until 21:30

Boat Part Day:  08:30 until 15:00 –  15:00   until  21:30

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

Gutting Room Closes: 21:00

All Anglers to be off site by: 21.45

Fishery News

Reservoir Dry Fly Masterclass

On Thursday 24^th August 2017 Draycote Ranger and fishery guide Tom Bird will give a presentation on reservoir dry fly tactics. The presentation will include tackle set up, fish spotting, fly selection and presentation. During the presentation Tom will reveal the secrets that have led to his remarkable success, both as a member of the England squad and the Five Nations Team. The presentation will take place in the Sailing club. Doors open at 18.30hrs. The presentation will start at 19.00 to 20.00hrs. Ticket are priced at £5.50 each. A bar and refreshments are available.

Call the Draycote lodge 01788 812018 to reserve your place. Find more information on www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

Tuition Days- Beginners Courses

Saturday 14^th October Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird.  Currently five places available

Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book or for further information

Trout Masters

Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!

Dates for your diary:-

Competition                                                                         Contact

Angling World Holiday Heat 5^th and 6^th August – Visit website

TEFF Fundraiser.  Dry Fly Championship 16^th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117

Angling World Holiday Final – 23^rd and 24^th September

Troutmasters Final – 9^th October. – See Fishery staff.

Boat manners & etiquette:

As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.

We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of  taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.

Boat Cleanliness:

Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.

Guiding & Tuition:

Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates.  Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 16^th July 2017

Telephone 01788 812018

As I’m sure you are all aware, the weather has been very changeable this week. The fishing was good from the boats to start with, flattened out through the middle of the week, and then slowly improved as we headed into the weekend. The colder evenings have helped lower the surface temperature a bit, as has the odd shower or two, but the surface temperature is still hovering around 19’c. All week we have been dogged by changing wind directions. This has unsettled the fish and also spread the brown algae bloom throughout the reservoir, colouring the water from one end to the other. As I write this report visibility is around 8 feet or so. All this does not give the anglers much confidence, but again those who keep on the move and vary their tactics should finish the day having had some good sport. Generally, most fish are still being caught in the top few feet of the water, with a washing line and nymphs, or a team of dries being the best methods. The bank angling is still sporadic, (well it is July), and at this time of year we all know that reservoir fly fishing is a game of patience.The weekly rod average was 3.4.

On Monday we had a limited number of rods with very varied results. Mr N and Mr M Woolnough did really well on small CDC’s and green buzzers, netting 26 fish from a boat. Draycote regular Mr Steve Barby Had a “Great day” , catching 19 fish, again from a boat. Season permit holder Mr Ed Douglas spent all day out in the boat and netted over 50 fish, 10 of which fell to dries.

Tuesday dawned with the arrival of some of the Draycote regulars and members fishing the bank. The overflow and rainbow corner were the chosen spots and did produce sport for some.However the north shore proved difficult, as a previous algae bloom had washed into Dunns and Biggin bay. Mr Gordon Slack and Mr Peter Allen had 4 and 3 fish respectively, bank fishing in front of the overflow. Season permit holder Mr Ian Richardson caught 7 fish, bank fishing from the front of the overflow on big reds, a daddy and nymphs. Season permit Mr R Keeber caught over 14 fish from a drifting boat. The boat pairing of  Mr J and Mr R Clark caught and released 12 fish from a boat. Mr R Deeley and Mr S Salvin caught 6 fish from a boat in rainbow corner using red holographic diawl bachs.

Wednesday was a more challenging day for fishing, despite being overcast with a good breeze. Mike Weaver faired best, netting 10 fish from a boat using damsels and diawl bachs. Draycote regular Jude Tuffs caught a total of 4 fish from a boat. Higham Ferrers FF took to the water in 5 boats and although they found it tough going, most managed to catch, with a total of 24 fish between them.

Thursday saw the rod average rise to 5.1, with a large section of the Draycote members putting in a stint on the bank. Whilst again the bank anglers found it a bit difficult, those who ventured out in boats seemed to have the best of the sport. Bobs bits seemed to be the right pattern for Draycote regular Lee Patton, who boated 16 fish on size 14’s. Ed Douglas faired well out on the water yet again, this time netting 23 fish on various dries. Yousef Dar made the journey down from Manchester to catch 24 fish, again on dries from a drifting boat. The boat pairing of Eddie Mitchell and Dave Kennel did really well, boating 23 fish between them on, yes, you’ve guessed it, dries. Mr M Yates caught and returned 11 fish from a boat using a crippled midge.

On Friday the water temperature dropped down a bit from it’s midweek high of 22’c to a more fish friendly 19’c. With a strong northerly and overcast conditions it promised to be a good day. Mr K Smith and Mr C Wilkins had 18 fish to the boat between them. Ian Richardson had 11 fish from the bank on olive nymphs and snail patterns. Mr A Crawford caught 8 fish in rainbow corner. Mr B Jones and Mr G Wood caught 16 fish on dries. Mr Steve Barby had “a great day”, boating 10 fish. Mr John Haynes caught 6 fish from the bank during an evening session.

Saturday proved yet again to be an ideal day for fishing despite the odd early shower. Mr S Crane caught 4 fish from the bank. Mr Mark Thistleton caught 6 fish from the tower bank on black cdc buzzers. The boat pairing of Mr Des and Lee James caught 13 fish between them from a drifting boat. Mr M Osborne and Mr B Harris had 22 fish to the boat  on dries. Draycote regular Jim Smith caught 9 fish during an evening session.

Sunday was overcast with a steady breeze and light showers mid afternoon. In general the fishing was good with a rod average of 3.3. The boat pairing of Mr M Price and Mr D Hancox caught 10 fish from a boat. Mr Mike Weaver Boated 8 fish. Mr R Walker and Mr P Davis caught 6 fish between them from a boat. Draycote regular Mr Jim Smith caught 16 fish from a boat on dries such as CDC’s and crippled midge. Mr S Williams and Mr S Hawkins had 12 fish to the boat on dries in rainbow corner. Mr P James and Mr L Carter caught 5 fish from a boat during an evening session.

The Midlands counties match, organised by Kirby fly fishers was held on Sunday with 5 teams taking to the water. The match was won by Kirby FF with a total weight of 64lb 5oz. Thanks to Martin Brown for organizing & the 5 club teams taking part Kirby Fly Fishers, Foremark Fly Fishers, Colwick Fly Fishers, Derby Fly Fishers & Leicester Fly Fishers.

Congratulations to Mr Rodney Dangerfield of Milton Keynes , who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:

Number Rods:  263       Number Trout Taken: 390     Number Trout Released: 524  Total Catch: 914          Weekly Rod Average:  3.4

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until  21:45

Boat All Day:  08:30 until 21:45

Boat Part Day:  08:30 until 15:00 –  15:00   until  21:45

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

Gutting Room Closes: 21:15

All Anglers to be off site by: 22:00

Fishery News

Reservoir Dry Fly Masterclass

On Thursday 24^th August 2017 Draycote Ranger and fishery guide Tom Bird will give a presentation on reservoir dry fly tactics. The presentation will include tackle set up, fish spotting, fly selection and presentation. During the presentation Tom will reveal the secrets that have led to his remarkable success, both as a member of the England squad and the Five Nations Team. The presentation will take place in the Sailing club. Doors open at 18.30hrs. The presentation will start at 19.00 to 20.00hrs. Ticket are priced at £5.50 each. A bar and refreshments are available.

Call the Draycote lodge 01788 812018 to reserve your place. Find more information on www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

Tuition Days- Beginners Courses

Saturday 14^th October Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird.  Currently five places available

Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book or for further information

Trout Masters

Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!

Dates for your diary:-

Competition                                                                         Contact

Angling World Holiday Heat 5^th and 6^th August – Visit website

TEFF Fundraiser.  Dry Fly Championship 16^th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117

Angling World Holiday Final – 23^rd and 24^th September

Troutmasters Final – 9^th October. – See Fishery staff.

Boat manners & etiquette:

As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.

We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of  taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.

Boat Cleanliness:

Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.

Guiding & Tuition:

Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates.  Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 9^th July 2017

Telephone Number 01788 812018

The continuing hot weather has once more had a negative impact on the fishing this week. The weekly rod average was 2.9 compared to 3·8 the previous week. Increases in water temperature saw a mid-week peak of 24°C in the upper layers which led to extremely hard fishing conditions on Wednesday & Thursday in particular. It was also a very challenging weekend for most rods. Sustained high temperatures & sunshine have also contributed to the build-up of an algal bloom which, although not excessive, has spread throughout the venue. Whilst early mornings & the end of the day have proved to be the best times on bank & boat, it has nevertheless been more challenging for the bank angler as fish drop off the shorelines in search of cooler water layers.

Monday started well with favourable conditions & pegged temperatures. Rod Wilson shared his boat with Jim Dempsey & both enjoyed fine sport on the rudder taking 18 & 10 respectively using a variety of tubes, mainly on a Di3 sinking line. Rod’s best fish was a rainbow weighing in at 4lbs 4ozs. Kevin Rees got back on the water with his dry flies & his scaled down crippled midge patterns accounted for 22 fine rainbows. John Clifford also went afloat for a short stint to net six.

Tuesday dawned with even better weather conditions – overcast with a light breeze. Forty-nine rods ventured out & many enjoyed brisk sport recording a day’s total of 252 to the net for an impressive rod average of 5·14. Virtually all of the action was to be had on the surface or high in the water column. Peter Elliott partnered Lee Patten with Peter netting 20+ fish, mainly to dries, & Lee sticking to washing lined diawl bachs using mini boobies on the point. Ed Douglas fished his usual “dawn to dusk” boat day ending with a 34 total, of which 14 came to dries. Ed took fish in the aerators but also found them along the Draycote Water Dam, as well as off-shore from the Inlet & Rainbow Corner. Dave Adkins, like many others this week, stuck to the vicinity of the boils where he fished Pheasant Tail Nymphs in the surface to finish with a 5 fish weighed bag totalling 14lbs 10oz with another 12 caught & released.

Wednesday, to the contrary, saw a huge rise in air temperatures with bright sunshine & near flat calms. Not unexpectedly, things became pretty dire on the banks where not a single fish was recorded as caught. Beyond sport in the aerators, the boats also struggled & the rod average descended to 1·4 for the day. Mr Worrall made the best of things though & weighed a fine five fish bag which had come to white snakes fished (…. you’ve guessed it) through the boils! Simone Jukes was also able to tempt four rainbows up to 4½lbs.

Thursday continued in the same vain – compare the Ed Douglas & Kevin Rees results with those of Monday. Ed had four whilst Kevin struggled to net a brace!  Although the threatened thunderstorms failed to materialise; the hot, humid, & bright conditions continued making things hard for all. As always, there are always exceptions & congratulations go to Geoff Preston who took a four-fish limit, with a further 8 returned whilst fishing a large damsel pattern during his morning stint. Visiting from the Isle of Man, Philip Bell-Scott also got the measure of the fish with a twelve-fish tally. Also in the aerators, he started his session in the morning taking fish off the top on dries & nymphs & then found that he had to follow them down as they worked deeper & deeper towards the end of the morning. Action for him dried up at about 13:00 by which time he was on a Di7. He was back in action once more on Friday for a short stint which was aided by a cooling 12-14 mph westerly. Top of the water tactics accounted for a further 14 before he had to leave. On the other hand, regular Jamie Scott was able to fish out the whole day. Also keeping to the aerators, Jamie used a combination of olive leeches, black boobies & blobs to record an end of day tally of twenty-four to the boat. Ian Reeves took out an evening boat to join in the action & managed to net eleven to snake patterns.

Gruelling conditions sadly greeted anglers on Saturday with 20°C+ temperatures a rapidly developing algal bloom & much bright sunshine. Fishing was particularly hard for the twenty anglers competing in the HASSRA annual finals, especially as they had decided to make the aerator area out of bounds for their event. Their biggest bag was a brace of rainbows weighing 4lbs 8oz for John Heppell representing the North-East Region with the largest fish, a rainbow of 2lbs 11oz falling to the rod of Paul Woodward, representing the W.Mids. It is a pleasure to congratulate Paul on this achievement as he is new to the sport & indeed attended one of our tuition days earlier in the spring in preparation for this event!  As daytime temperatures eased back, Jim & Tom Marriott took to the water to fish dries. Their efforts & timing were rewarded with a 14 fish tally, well divided at 7 apiece. Sunday was a similar story weather-wise, especially as the venue was hosting club events including Kirby FF, Colwick Park FFC, Alex Booth &  the LDFFA, most of whom had made their arrangements way back. Nevertheless, many found some good sport with particular credit having to go to the boat of Messrs Wilson & Masters who avoided the overcrowded aerators & took a fine bag of fish on drifts from Rainbow Corner down the Hensborough Bank. In total, they weighed in a dozen rainbows with a further six released having used a combination of buzzers on floating lines & dries. Draycote regular Jim Smith, who is currently continuing on fine form, stuck it out with dries targeting individual moving fish & amassed a great catch of 14.  Ian Bradfield fishing with the LDFFA stuck to the boils and caught 12 by the end of their day session whilst Mike Cox & Howard Smith decided to start & finish late & managed 6 & 8 respectively for their evening stint.

Rain & cooler temperatures are forecast tomorrow which will hopefully cool things down somewhat & assist with water clarity & get those trout properly back into feeding mode. Of possible interest for comparison purposes, over the last five weeks the weekly rod averages have been 2·6, 3·98, 3·22, and 3·8, with 2.9 for this reporting period.

Congratulations to Mr R Henderson of Tamworth, who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:

Number Rods:    262     Number Trout Taken:  279    Number Trout Released: 485  Total Catch:   764        Weekly Rod Average:  2.9

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until : 22:00

Boat All Day: AM 08:30 until 22:00

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

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

Gutting Room Closes: 21:15

All Anglers to be off site by: 22:15

Fishery News

Tuition Days- Beginners Courses

Saturday 14^th October Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird.  Currently five places available

Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book or for further information

Trout Masters

Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!

Dates for your diary:-

Competition                                                                         Contact

Angling World Holiday Heat 5^th and 6^th August – Visit website

TEFF Fundraiser.  Dry Fly Championship 16^th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117

Angling World Holiday Final – 23^rd and 24^th September

Troutmasters Final – 9^th October. – See Fishery staff.

Boat manners & etiquette:

As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.

We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of  taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.

Boat Cleanliness:

Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.

Guiding & Tuition:

Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates.  Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

Follow Us on

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

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 2nd July 2017

Telephone Number 01788 812018

The previous fortnight caused surface water temperatures to rise above 20°C. This weeks cooler nights has seen temperatures return to a more trout friendly 18°C. Due to this drop-in temperature, the fish have risen in the water column, feeding well in the top 2 feet of the water. This meant a washing line with buzzers, or dries, really came into their own with impressive catches coming to both methods. This week 286 anglers caught a total of 1105 fish for a rod average of 3.8.

Monday started with a near flat calm and a very light ripple picking up in the afternoon, which brought with it some cloud. With conditions like this it looked like a great day for dries, and indeed the best catches came to this method. Richard Pelly used size 12 big reds around the boils to land 22 in a morning session. All Richard’s fish apart from 2 came to fish he had covered. Also using dries to great affect was season ticket holder Kevin Rees who landed 21. Kevin fished in various spots around the lake with the flat stones and B buoy producing well. His top patterns were bobs bits and the crippled midge. Mark Hunt fished dries on the last four hours off Farnborough spit to land some cracking fish including a 5lb 10oz specimen rainbow.

The wind increased and swung round into the East on Tuesday. Normally an easterly here at Draycote knocks the fish off the feed although thIs was not the case Tuesday with impressive catches being recorded. Season Ticket holder Ed Douglas fished Tuesday and found small 16 shuttlecock CDC’s the best pattern, with Ed landing 18 on them. Ed found the fish drifting from the Farnborough Dam to J buoy, coming out from Biggin Bay and around B buoy. Steve Barby also enjoyed good sport drifting around various marks on the reservoir to land 16 fish. Fishery Ranger Tom Bird also took to the water on a day off, enjoying fantastic sport. Tom found the fish willing to take dries in the morning with crippled midge being the best pattern. A switch to a washing line with two FABS and two nymphs really proved affective with over 25 fish coming to this method. Tom’s best area’s where drifts from F buoy and S buoy and from Farnborough spit to H buoy.

Wednesday was another cool day with the wind coming from the North West, and a persistent drizzle for much of the day. While it may not have made for the most pleasant fishing conditions for the anglers, it certainly didn’t put the fish down or off the feed. Out on the boats season ticket holder Ed Douglas landed 21 on dries again with small size 16 CDC’s being his best pattern. Also on the boats season ticket holder Dave Kennell and boat partner Paul Mitchell landing 17 to the boat, fishing in a variety of areas catching on all methods from pulling to dries practicing for the Alex Booth competition on Thursday. Also getting into the fish was season ticket holders Colin England and Tony Plummer, with the pair landing 26 fish to the boat, fishing the washing line in Toft, Biggin Bay and near the aerators. Chris Heyburn and Julie Chandler landed 11 fish to the boat fishing around 50 yards of the cornfield. The pair used buzzers and damsels to land the fish with red bloodworm buzzers being the best colour.

Thursday saw the Alex Booth Charity Match take to the water with 55 competitor’s fishing to a 6 fish limit with 2lb hour. The anglers could then continue fishing with catch and release for pleasure until the official match finish time of 6pm. Overall the 55 anglers took 166 and returned a further 100 fish giving a rod average of 4.8. Many methods caught well, from pulling blobs on a fast glass in Toft, the washing line in Toft and out over the deeper water, and finally dries played a major part with good fish being caught on all methods. The best bag from the match without time bonus was caught by Mick Glover with his 6 fish going 15lb 8oz. The quickest six fish from the match came from Dave Kennel who caught his six fish by 12.45 using blobs in Toft. The heaviest fish fell to Eddie Mitchell with a lovely overwintered Rainbow of 3lb 13oz. Outside of the competition Tony Broadway fished the bank along the Cornfield to land, 17 fish. Tony used the washing line to tempt his fish with 11 coming to a tequila FAB with the others coming to small buzzers. On the boats, outside of the competition Eugene Hughes has good day landing 25. Using a fast glass teamed with FABS, Blobs and small lures. Most Eugene’s fish came from the Tower bank, in the middle and at the deep water towards B buoy.

Friday dawned with strong north westerly breezes, good cloud cover and the chance of some scattered showers. The fishing turned out to be slightly more difficult than the previous few days but there were still some good numbers caught from both the boat and the bank. Season permit holder Mr Dennis Jones landed a respectable 5 from the bank in toft, on size 14 Diawl Bachs. John Hoskins caught 6 fish from a boat on crunchers and Diawl Bachs. Draycote regular Mr Steve Barby had “a great day” with 9 fish to the boat. Mr M Moore caught 7 fish from a boat on crunchers, diawl bachs and dries.

Saturdays light westerly breeze with sometimes sunny spells was a more comfortable but difficult day. This didn’t spoil things for Draycote regular Seth Severn, who boated 15 fish from around middle shoal on the rudder. The usual suspects of Ivor Jones and Jim Dempsey had a reasonably good day as well, boating 14 fish between them from various points around the reservoir. 5 fish were caught by Mick Cronin from the Tower bank whilst Season permit holder Martyn Hancox caught 2 fish from the bank during an evening session. Mr Trevor Rodwell, also fishing from the bank with his newly repaired rod, also caught 2 fish.

Sunday started with a very strong north westerly, calming to a steady 10 to 12 mph with bright conditions. The fishing was challenging for some with only a few rising fish here and there. Chris Discombe and Jim Brennan were doing really well on the Hensborough bank, coming in at lunchtime to buy more humungus boobies and red holographic diawl bachs. They finished off their day with 18 fish between them. Mr L Booth and Mr P Hallam had 14 fish between them to the boat using various dries around the valve tower, B buoy and C buoy. Mr Ronnie Gent and Mr Mark Rowson had 18 fish to the boat using various methods around the reservoir.  Draycote regulars Chris Aubrey and Ian Reeve caught 9 fish during an evening session.

Weekly Boat draw:

Congratulations to Mr M Severn from Derbyshire, who is the winner of this week’s free boat draw.

Weekly Stats:

Number Rods:  286   Number Trout Taken: 417  Number Trout Released: 688 Total Catch: 1105           Weekly Rod Average:  3.8

Current Fishing Times:

Bank:  07:30 until : 22:00

Boat All Day: 08:30  until  22:00

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

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

Gutting Room Closes: 21:30

All Anglers to be off site by: 22:15

Fishery News

Tuition Days- Beginners Courses

There is currently one place still available on this coming weekends Tuition course on Saturday 8^th July, hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird. If you know of anyone who might be interested in taking up the sport, why not pass on our details and get them to give us a call on 01788 812018.

Saturday 14^th October Tuition Day, Hosted by Kevin Hart and Tom Bird.  Currently five places available

Call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book or for further information

Trout Masters

Draycote has joined the Troutmasters Competition. Entry forms can be found next to the booking out sheets. You will need a member of staff to countersign your entry. Good luck!

Volunteer Boatmen.

We require volunteer boatmen for the England youth match taking place here at Draycote on 10^th September 2017. If you would like to assist with this event then please contact us on 01788 812018.

Dates for your diary:-

Competition                                                                         Contact

Angling World Holiday Heat 5^th and 6^th August – Visit website

TEFF Fundraiser.  Dry Fly Championship 16^th September – Ian Colclough – 01543 689117

Angling World Holiday Final – 23^rd and 24^th September

Troutmasters Final – 9^th October. – See Fishery staff.

Boat Cleanliness:

Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.

Guiding & Tuition:

Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates.  Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.

Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.

Tight lines,

The Draycote Team

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