Draycote Weekly Fishing Report.
Tel: 01788 812018 email: lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk
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Fishery Report: Week ending Sunday 9th August
The government has announced that mandatory Face Coverings are to be worn within all shops in England from Friday 24th July. These can be a Buff type, scarf or mask etc.
This mandatory rule will cover our shops / lodges.
Overall this week 242 anglers visited the fishery landing 763 fish, producing a rod average of 3.15.
The week kicked off in fine form with a rod average of 3.9 fish per man with the majority of the fish coming out on dries fished out around the open water. The bank also fished well for this time of year with both Tony Broadway & Gordon Slack landing 4 fish each. Gordon took all his 4 fish in Dunn’s using a washing line. While Tony took 1 fish from the Cornfield, Dunn’s, Lincroft & The Overflow. On the boats Draycote season ticket holder Kevin Rees used Bob’s Bits drifting around the top dam wall to land 17 fish. Tony Fox & A Smith used dries this time CDC shuttlecocks and also F Fly’s take 25 fish between them. The pair found the fish drifting around C Buoy down to B Buoy and also around P Buoy. Tony Baldwin also enjoyed a good day on dries using a mixture of Midas and also Bob’s Bits, again Tony concentrated around the Sailing mark buoys and the open water.
Tuesday was a bit mixed weather wise, mostly overcast with some blustery conditions at times, but at least the rain held off. Bob Smith and Ian Richardson had 4 fish to the boat during a morning session, all on Daddies. Season permit holder Tony Parker caught 12 fish from a drifting boat around A, B and P buoys.
Mark Hunt had 8 fish to the boat using CDC’s and Buzzers. Mr D Eames caught 9 fish using Dries in the morning and snakes in the afternoon. Keith Coley and his boat partner Bob Taft caught 9 fish from a boat using Muddlers. Mr Graham England caught 3 fish during an afternoon session using Hares Ears and Shrimp patterns. One of Mr England fish weighed 4lbs. The boat pairing of Peter Elliott and Lee Patten netted a total of 16 fish, all on Dries.
Wednesday turned out to be quite blustery but dry day with the north shore almost unfishable at times. Mr Mark Franks had 15 fish to the boat on Claret Hoppers and a Red Stimulator around D buoy. Chris Malcock caught 6 fish on Diawl Bachs, while Ian Western caught 7. Mr John Honor caught his 7 fish on Daddies. The boat pairing of Don Coe and Gordon Byers had a dozen fish between them on Big Reds and Shuttlecocks. Season permit holder Colin Grainger fished the bank down by the Swans Nest to land 4 fish on PTN’s.
Thursday was almost ideal conditions for fishing, apart from a couple of light showers in the afternoon. There weren’t too many bank anglers out, and those that were, failed to give us any returns. Out on the boats all water season permit holder Phil Mee caught 5 fish on Daddies and Big Reds. Steve Orton also had 5 fish to the boat using Daddies, Crippled Midge and a Blue Flash Damsel. Gordon Bramwell managed to net 14 fish, all on dries. Lester Booth and Mr N Nixon had 17 fish to the boat using Claret Hoppers and Midas, over Middle Shoal and Toft Shallows. Draycote season permit holder Kevin Rees caught 12 fish using dries such as Bob’s Bits.
An extremely hot day Friday with temperatures over 30 degrees for most of the day. As a result the fish got knocked a little bit of their stride with the rod average dropping to 2.9 fish per man. Rob Edmunds& son Albert bucked the trend landing 20 fish in a half day session. The pair used a Di 5 forty plus line with 2 chained eyed humongous, using a roly-poly retrieve with the fish taking after “Hanging” the flies at the boat for a long period of time. They found fish all along the North Shore, around the weed bed off the Farborough Spit and also some larger fish in Rainbow Corner. Fishery Manager Tom Bird fished the Aerators with Fiancé Sarah, landing 12 in just a few hours. Tom opted to use a Barred Olive Snake booby on a Di 5, while Sarah used a weighted olive version to start with before changing to a single FAB fished on a floating line.
Another warm day Saturday, with slightly more wind than the previous day with he breeze coming from the North. Jim Dempsey and Ifor Jones fished the rudder using Di 5 sinking lines landing 6 fish between them, with tubes being the best pattern. They picked fish up in a number of places from Farborough spit to T buoy, Middle Shoal and also the Aerators. Mr M Wooley fished over the Aerators to take 4 fish all on a blue flash damsel. Out on the water we also have the Invicta Club, who have written a report on the day:-
Invicta Carr Cup Round 2 and Carl Hunter Bowl, 8 August 2020, report by David Moore
Another good turnout of 28 members fished Draycote on one of the hottest days of the year.
Blazing sun and water temperatures of 20’ to 22’ across the lake were far from ideal conditions as boats spread out from Toft to C buoy with tactics ranging from dries to Di8 and tubes.
By midday most boats had moved downwind towards the boils, drifting towards the dam and few rods had taken more than a couple of fish.
New member Sam Smith on his first visit to Draycote was paired with David Moore who had practiced a few days previously and they got off to a good start with both taking 2 on nymphs and daddies drifting close to the bank from D buoy to the tower before moving onto the boils and C buoy where Sam took 3 quick fish on tubes and Di7. A return to the original drift and switch back to midge tips brought a fish a piece before returning to the boils and a long drift to C buoy where David caught a 6lb-9oz brown on a green and white tadpole and Sam caught his 7th and match-winning fish.
Carr Cup table- topper Sam Edmunds was fishing with Mark Searle and after a slow start in Toft they pulled hard with tubes to take 5 fish each for the 2nd placed boat.
The 28 rods caught 53 fish reflecting a very hard day in the sun and 30’+ temperatures.
There wasn’t a formal weigh-in but the first 4 fish were killed with subsequent fish counting as 2lbs and it was clear that Sam Smith’s bag was the winner. David Moore weighed his 4 fish at 14lb-8oz and it was agreed they were top boat with 11 fish to Mark and Sam’s 10 and received the two permits kindly donated by the fishery.
A big thank you to Mark Searle for organising the day and to fishery staff Tom and Lee for their help.
For a picture of David’s fantastic brown please visit our www.facebook.com/flyfishstore
Sunday started a lot cooler with winds coming from the North and overcast skies to start the day before the sun broke through around 11.30am. The day saw the All Abilities Friendly Fly Fishers taking to the water in a club day. All the members enjoyed a great day on the water catching fish on dries, with popper hoppers being the best flies, with most of the fish coming from Toft. Although Mark Goodge did land some earlier on in the day around the school slips, the fish still came to the dries even in the sun. Season ticket holders Jim Smith & Ed Douglas landed over 30 fish to the boat, with lots of action again to dries. Jim caught a few earlier on in the day using snakes and tubes around Middle Shoal. Then when the sun broke through and the heat of the day started, Jim took a break and more relaxing way of fishing and went on the dries. To find much to his delight the fish were willing to come and take a well presented dry fly, with G buoy in Toft being the hotspot. Fishery Ranger & Guide Lee Henfrey went out with friend Nigel using the rudder, this proved to be a great call with the pair landing over 30 fish between them. Finding the fish from the Spit to T & J Buoy and then down the Farborough Dam Wall. Both Lee & Nigel found tubes to be the most successful flies with Lee on a Di 5 and Nigel on a Di 3. Overall despite the heat Draycote fished well producing a rod average of 4.08 for the day.
New Demo Tackle for you to take out and try: SAGE SONIC Fly Rods, RIO Slick Cast. We have the excellent new SAGE SONIC 10ft #7 demo rod for you to try, team it with our RIO Slick Cast #7 Gold or Grand fly lines. Call the lodge 01788 812018 to book your demo.
Bank anglers please note: The perimeter track is extremely busy with families, cyclists & joggers. Exercise caution while driving around the reservoir & observe speed limits
Our Online Shop www.flyfishstore.co.uk
Visit our online shop. We currently have a Fishery Management (UK) ltd Eyebrook Damsel Selection packs available. https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/shop/eyebrook-daddy-selection/
Competition
John Horsey Final August 23rd (Practice Day August 22nd ) event fully booked
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New Angling Trust Competition for 2020 with the Final in 2021 & Grafham Water
Angling Trust Loch Style Autumn Series 2020 with two heats fished at Draycote, further details
www.anglingtrust.net/page.asp?section=1888§ionTitle=AT+Loch+Style+Autumn+Series
Further details email Andy.Taylor@anglingtrust.net
Two heats at Draycote Draycote 6th September & Draycote 25th October
Fishery Management UK Ltd is pleased to announce that it will be hosting the first qualifier of the NEW Angling Trust Style Autumn Series at Draycote Water on Sunday 6th September. This is an exciting new competition where there will be cash prizes on offer for the top four anglers on the day. This is an individual, catch and release match where you will be paired with another angler in the boat. The match starts at 10am and will finish at 5pm with the angler who catches the most fish being the winner. In addition to the top four cash prizes, the top ten anglers will qualify for the spring final next year at Grafham Water on Saturday 3rd April 2021.
The cost of this match is £51.75, this comprises of a £30 entry fee and a fishing fee of £21.75. 70% of the entry fee goes back into the prize pot for this event. The remaining percentage goes to raising funds for the England seniors, ladies and youth fly fishing teams. The more anglers that enter then the greater the prize pot. We need 16 anglers for the heat to run with a maximum of 50 anglers on the day. If 50 anglers fish (ie a sell-out) then the prize pot will be £900 split as follows: 1st £360, 2nd £270, 3rd £180 and 4th £90. If we get the minimum of 16 anglers the prize pot will be £320 split as follows: 1st £128, 2nd £96, 3rd £64 and 4th £32. The more anglers that fish the greater the prize pot will be!
The match is to be fished from drifting boats and to international rules with regards to the flies to be used.
We will also be holding further qualifiers at Eyebrook on Sunday 11th October and again at Draycote on Sunday 25th October. These two matches will be to fishery rules.
So, whether you’d like to try competition fishing for the first time, fish your local club matches or are an experienced match angler this event is for you!
The event is booking only and this can be done at https://anglingtrust.net/competitions/draycote-water/
For further information please email Competitions Support Officer Andy Taylor at andy.taylor@anglingtrust.net or 07946 251826
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Tuition & Guided Sessions From July 1st we are pleased to announce that we have resumed our 1:1 casting tuition & 1:1 guided boat sessions. For the latest information on tuition under Covid-19 guidelines please visit www.flyfishtuition.co.uk. For bookings please call Tom on 01788 812018.
Opening Hours & Boat Session
Lodge & Bank Open – 7.30am – 20:45pm
Full Day Boat – 8.30am – 20:45pm
Morning Boat – 8.30am – 14.30pm
Afternoon Boat – 14.30pm – 20:45
Last 4 Hr – 16:45pm – 20:45pm
All Anglers Off Site – 21:00pm
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The local Angling Club is Draycote Fly Fishers www.draycote-fly-fishers-assoc.co.uk/