Draycote Water Fishing report w/e Sunday 29thApril 2018.
Telephone Number 01788 812018
Report
Draycote has experienced a week of extremely windy, often wet conditions which made things difficult for all concerned. It proved to be something of a contrary period with many anglers struggling for a take, whilst others returned with good results. Winds have been strong at times and blowing from the south which frequently made conditions on the North Shore uncomfortable for the boat anglers & all but impossible for the bank anglers, who were also forced to contend with muddied up margins from the waves. Thus, anglers have had to be on their toes to find the fish. Rainbow corner, although very sporadic, did produce some good catches as the week went on, as did the near side in toft, from the Swans nest down to the big willow tree. Fish have generally fallen to either one of two methods from both boat and bank, either fast sinking lines with tube flies, blobs and boobies, or a slow intermediate/ midge tip and buzzers.
A total of 294 anglers caught 978 fish giving us a weekly rod average of 3.3.
A cold start to the week with low cloud teamed with gusty winds, however the day did remain dry. On the bank season ticket holder Ian Richardson landed 5 fish on a mixture of Damsels and Diawl Bach’s from the Swan’s Nest. Out on the boats visiting French anglers Gullernin Cauhrent and Fontaine Hecve landed 10 fish to the boat in Rainbow Corner on Damsels. Taking top honours for the day were rudder men Rod Wilson & Jim Dempsey who fished along the Draycote Dam on Di 7 sinking lines on tubes to land 34 fish to the boat with all the fish taking at 12ft down and included some lovely silver bars.
Light rain all day did keep some anglers away, but it didn’t seem to have any negative effects on the fish. Bob Smith landed 15 fish from the Swan’s nest on a mix of Damsels and Diawl Bach’s. Also fishing in Toft just down from Bob was season ticket holder Colin Granger who landed 7 fish on black buzzers and Diawl bachs, Colin also lost several fish. Out on the boats Eugene Hughes and Gary Owen landed over 20 fish to the boat on snakes and hot head lures on sinking lines from various areas around the reservoir with Toft and the Cornfield.
A bright start Wednesday, which started with light winds however they soon built to quite a strong Westerly. On the bank Jude Tuffs landed 6 fish from the Willow tree in Toft on buzzers. Due to the wind most of the boat opted to fish in Rainbow Corner and it turned out to the be correct move. On the boats visiting Irish anglers Raymond Flynn and Kevin McQuire landed 14 and 12 fish each all on buzzers on a floating line with a 15-18ft leader. Another angler using buzzers to great affect was Mr Swinbourne who landed 23 fish all on buzzers on a floating line, including some lovely overwintered fish.
The winds that had started to strengthen has the day progressed Wednesday had grown in strength throughout the night leaving a very windy day Thursday. As a result, the fishing was tricky especially from the banks as the hot spots from the previous days had become almost unfishable due to the wind. That not only made it difficult to get a line out but also had clouded the banks up. The boats however, did fair slightly better with 4 out of the 7 Irish anglers here on a 3-day break hitting double figures. Once again, they found the fish in Rainbow Corner on buzzers, the Irish lads found that the best team was to use an olive buzzer on the point teamed with small size 12 black buzzers on the droppers. Also, on the water were West Midlands Police for a social day before the inter-service friendly on Friday. A few their boats did venture down to the rough water in Toft, being rewarded with fish coming to buzzers and lures fished on sinking lines.
A fantastic day for ducks Friday with rain all day long which altered from either drizzle or heavy downpours. Although despite the waterproof testing conditions the conditions had improved from the day before with light winds coming from the north. On the bank regular Brian Warwick landed 4 fish from the Cornfield on buzzers. Once again taking to the water were West Midlands Police in their inter-service friendly the 11 anglers landed a total of 62 fish for a rod average of 5.2 fish per man. Top rod on the day was Steve Owen who landed 14 fish all on buzzers fish on a floating line along the Cornfield.
A cold start Saturday with rain and a chill from the Northerly wind. Mr M Braun enjoyed good sport from the bank landing 11 fish from car park 4 along the cornfield all on buzzers. Out on the boats the rudder men once again enjoyed good sport with Ifor Jones and Jim Dempsey landing 10 fish apiece fishing on di 7 lines and tubes. Also doing well from the boat were Ian Gaskell who fished with Bob Fitzpatrick with the pair boating 16 fish. The pair found either a black buzzer fish at around 11ft or dries targeting surface feeding fish the most productive method, with the areas being Toft, Biggin Bay on the buzzers then across the middle around X buoy for the surface feeders. Peter & Chris Orpin used size 14 olive buzzers near the Draycote Dam fished on a 15ft leader to land 14 fish to the boat. Also, out on the boats a group of friends from the North of England organised by Graham Bell made the trip for a weekend social. In the party John Brown and Andy Campbell enjoyed great sport landing 42 fish on various snakes and lures fished on sinking lines from Toft, Biggin and along the cornfield.
Season ticket holder Rodger Kerrison held a small catch and release competition between some friends Saturday and had written this small section on the day.
“A very cold, wet and windy Saturday saw fourteen local fishing buddies fished a friendly barbless hook catch and release match using the measuring tubes supplied by the fishery, giving us the opportunity to enjoy a competitive day, catch and safely return all 43 fish to fight another day. The competition was won by Mitch Brown with 8 fish measuring 330cm, and the big fish prize went to Jeremy James with a very impressive brown trout of 54cm, the rod average of just over 3 fish reflected the conditions. Many thanks to Ifor Jones and the Draycote staff Alan, Tom, Kev, Paul and Lee for their hard work and tactical advice and supplying a fleet of clean and tidy boats and most importantly a good stock of hard fighting trout”
For fully catch & release competitions we have purpose made measuring troughs with competition catch & release permits costing £14.00 call the lodge for details
An increase in wind speeds made for a gusty cold day on the water. Season ticket holder Paul Walley fished along the cornfield on small size 14 black buzzers to land 20 lovely trout. On the boats George Leaton enjoyed great sport landing 11 fish from Toft on Damsels. Also fishing down in Toft was season ticket holder Ricard Walker who landed 10 fish all on buzzers. Neil Deakin used friendly tubes fished on a sinking line to land 12 cracking fish from Toft, Biggin and across the middle. However top honours on the day went to the boat of John Hood and season ticket holder Ed Douglas who fished buzzer on a midge tip wo land 34 fish to the boat, the pair found the best area was croft shoal and most of the fish took on the hang with the buzzers at around 10-15ft.
Looking ahead to next week, the weather is due to come warmer towards the end of the week with light winds forecast. Which looks good for some great buzzer fishing on our RIO/Sage day Sunday 6th May.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Mr Eugene Hughes from London the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 294 Number Trout Taken: 208 Number Trout Released: 770
Total Catch: 978 Weekly Rod Average: 3.3
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until: 20:45
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 20:45
Boat Part Day: am 08:30 until 14:45 pm 14:45 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: 21:00hrs
Notice to all fishing guides & instructors
We continue to welcome independent guides & instructors on all our water.
However, to ensure in this world of potential litigation that all parties are covered, and on advice from our insurance company, if you are guiding or instructing a client at Draycote, Foremark, Thornton & Eyebrook you will in future be require to produce:
- A copy of your Liability Insurance, this you can email to us for it to be on file for 2018
- A copy of your Risk Assessment for that days guiding / instruction
If you are guiding or instructing and are unable to produce the required documents you will be refused access to the fishery.
To enable us to deal with all our customers quickly & efficiently we suggest you forward copies of your liability insurance for us to place on file and, prior to your visit, a copy of that days risk assessment emailed to the fishery lodge, this will enable our staff to get you & your client out on the water as quickly as possible.
We would like to thank the guides & instructors who have already forwarded copies of their liability insurance.
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!
Our congratulations go to Chris Traverse who, as detailed in this week’s report, has won his way through to represent the fishery in the “2017/2018 Final” to be held at Draycote on Monday 8th October.
Dates for your diary:-
Competition Contact
Loch Style Team Championships- 30th June/1st July- Angling Trust- www.anglingtrustevents.net Potential cash prize pot £8,000 and TV coverage
Scierra Pairs- 29th July- Phil Dixon- www.scierrapairs.co.uk
10th/11th August- Anglers World Holidays- www.anglersworld.flyfishingchampionships.uk
Troutmasters Final – Monday 8th October – See Fishery staff. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FISHERY WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE DAY FOR THIS BOAT & BANK EVENT
Fishery Management UK Ltd Stocking Further Update.
As previously reported, our trout suppliers have been in touch to update us that due to the extreme cold, wet & wintery weather conditions experienced during late February & March they have struggled to achieve sufficient growth rates to bring enough stock up to the 2lb+ (900g) trout size for our Draycote stockings booked during early April.
They have since advised that given improved weather conditions & temperatures, farm fish are now feeding well & packing on the desired weight. As a result, it is anticipated that things will be back to normal within a few weeks and our policy of introducing all our Draycote stock in the 2lbs+ range will be back on schedule.
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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