Draycote Water weekly report week ending 17th June 2018
Telephone Number 01788 812018
Report
Some fantastic action experienced by many this week – most notably for those out in the boats on dries. A total of 261 anglers visited the fishery with a total catch for the week of 1247 trout recorded. This represents a weekly rod average of 4.6.
The week started very bright & very hot on Monday with only a slight ripple on the water from the NNW. Whilst most found these conditions hard three rods stood out from the crowd. Rod Wilson fished tubes deep on the rudder for a six fish bag weighing 22lbs. His total catch of 16 fish included a brown of 7lbs. Dermot Murphy fished under the watchful eye of guide Tom Bird, assisting him with his buzzer techniques. He netted 15 in total topped by a magnificent rainbow of 4lbs 12oz – all from Toft. Brian Moore also enjoyed a red-letter day – his best ever in fact. He fished a weighted red buzzer deep at anchor off Lin Croft to land over twenty. He described how he dare not put his rod down as takes proved to be so violent! An overcast start greeted anglers on Tuesday. Surface pulling tactics worked in the morning with Lee guiding John Powell out over open water. A team of hoppers saw 16 to the boat by the end of the 4-hour session, with rainbows up to 4lbs. Peter Fisher also boat fished but presented gold head damsels deep together with grey & black buzzers for a 14 fish tally. Season rod Paul Walley fished an afternoon boat to land one for the pot with a further 9 caught & released. His catch included a rainbow of 4lbs+ & all came to a tungsten beaded damsel nymph off Lin Croft Point. Darren Fox is getting himself back into the sport after a few years break and took time to have his casting skills polished with a 1:1 casting lesson with Tom prior to going out for a four-hour evening guided session afloat. Fishing claret buzzers in Toft he was quickly into fish, ending with 8 to the buzzer plus a further two on dries. The bank anglers had a harder time, but Ken Key managed a well-earned brace, as did Brian Allwood.
Wednesday saw a sunny start with some cloud cover build up as the day progressed & the wind swinging into the SW. Very few anglers fished the bank, which remained hard. Nevertheless, John Stanley took a nice brace in the evening. Regular bank angler & season rod Ian Richardson decided to go afloat and enjoyed “First Class sport” anchored at various spots along the Hensborough Bank. He stuck to dries taking 9 rainbows on Big Reds. John Dickens also fished dries but on the drift over the middle. He landed a dozen on a mix of Crippled Midge & Bits. The boat pairings of Draper/Shiers and Campbell/Gillett both stuck mainly to the buzzer theme and had “really good days” with combined tallies of 16 & 13 respectively. Kev Hart also went afloat on a day off & enjoyed fine sport from pin fry feeding fish mainly around A Buoy. He landed 11 on a variety of home tied patterns. Thursday was a day of extremely high winds, described by Al as “blowing a hooley!…” with the SW wind moving into a westerly. Only 14 anglers ventured out onto the water, but some fine sport was had. Lee Patten & Peter Elliott stuck to dries all day with drifts of the main Draycote Water dam. In the high winds this area was in fact the only viable proposition for the day. Both caught consistently- mainly on Big Reds in size 10 – and by the end of the day they had netted over twenty apiece. Darren Woodness & Dave Parker did similar but stuck more towards Rainbow Corner. They too ended the day with over 20 fish each. Only Colin Grainger braved the bank for a brief morning session & landed a very creditable five. The day’s fishery rod average ended on 9. Frantic boat angler sport continued into Friday, made all the more pleasant by a drop in the wind to a light WSW breeze. Although a bright sunny start, many pin fry feeders remained around A to B Buoy, whilst off the School Slips & Flat Stones buzzer feeders were being caught. Dave Kennell & Eddie Mitchell were back out and this week it was Eddie’s turn to record their biggest fish – rainbow of 4lbs 12oz. They enjoyed steady sport on both nymphs & dries for a joint total of 18 netted. Enjoying day 2 of their three-day break, Darren Woodmass & Davie Parker had another joint 40+ day experiencing tremendous sport to CDCs & Midas dries. Lee & Rob Hankins had an amazing day too. They both recorded 6 fish limits & returned a further 38! They fished Invictas, Black Bits, Red holographic diawl bachs & FABs. Martin Greatbatch & Lester Booth shared a boat & alternated between dries & wets ending the day with 23 to the net. Another great day for the venue with the rod average on 9.6.
Saturday started off with light winds and overcast skies with a little bit of drizzle around in the area as the day progressed these winds strengthen building to a 18mph south westerly with the cloud remaining. Unsurprisingly in these conditions the boats opting to fish rudder techniques enjoyed great sport. Mr Melvin Severn used two di 7s with a tube to land 12 fish around the deep water at B buoy. Melvin found that the tactics to go deep rewarded him with bigger fish as his 6 fish bag weight was 19lb 8oz. Rudder regulars Jim Dempsey and Ifor Jones enjoyed a red-letter days sport landing a fantastic 42 fish to the boat. The pair used Di 7 sinking lines with a mixture of tubes and snakes once again around the deep water around B buoy and the flat stones. Once again on the last day of their three day break the boat of Darren Woodmass & Davie Parker enjoyed great sport with 38 fish coming to the boat. They found that in the strong winds the fish wanted Midas fished on a short line and almost dapped on the water. The pair found the fish along the top dam wall and drifting from the inlet over towards B buoy. Over the three days Darren & Davie have really enjoyed some fantastic sport landing over 130 fish between the two of them in 3 days. Martin Introna & Julie Emerson enjoyed a great days sport with over 50 fish to the boat the pair found the fish all around the top end of the lake around Rainbow corner, inlet and Hensbrough. Using a wide range of methods if it was fished within the top 3ft of water, tactics such as dries, washing lining and pulling all accounted for a share of their fish. Saturday also saw Guiding & Tuition Manager Tom Bird host another bank tuition day, which was a great success with all the participants going away full of the joys of learning a fascinating new hobby for the years to come. For details on our next courses please visit www.flyfishtuition.co.uk.
Another overcast days with slightly lighter winds Sunday, with these types of conditions its hardly a surprise that dry flies made up a large part of the catches on the day. Mr M West drifted out of Rainbow Corner towards A buoy using big reds to land over 20 fish to the boat. Another boat who found big reds the key to good sport were season ticket holders Jim Smith and Ed Douglas who fished a half day landing an impressive 40 fish to the boat on big reds. Jim & Ed found the fish drifting off the Hensbrough bank towards M buoy and the school slips, along the top dam wall and out off the overflow. Guiding & Tuition Manager Tom Bird enjoyed good sport on a day off, fishing with Gareth Jones. The pair landed around 35 fish to the boat using claret crippled midge and hoppers drifting from the inlet towards B buoy and along the Draycote Dam. Fishing the last four hours Darren Fix enjoyed good sport landing 12 fish using midas and big reds drifting from rainbow corner to A buoy.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to John Powell of Penybryn the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 261 Number Trout Taken: 222 Number Trout Released: 1025
Total Catch: 1247 Weekly Rod Average: 4.7
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 21:45
Boat All Day: 07:30 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
Dates for the Diary
Alex Booth Annual Charity Match – Thursday 28thJune
A few places remain for this prestigious event. Please contact organiser Roy LEWIN on 07762 746 825 to reserve your spot.
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!
Troutmasters Final – Monday 8th October – See Fishery staff. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FISHERY WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE DAY FOR THIS BOAT & BANK EVENT
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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