Draycote has continued in sparkling from this week, with some tremendous top of the water sport happening. I managed an evening with Rutland Water regular Kevin Appleton, and between us we managed 13 fish to the boat with some exciting surface action with the trout racing up behind pulled boobies on a floating line.

The fish have been very high in the water and at times could be seen in huge numbers cruising through the surface waves feeding on the clouds of daphnia. Some very good fish have been caught too with many breaking the 3 & 4 pound mark. Peter Elliot who won the Lexus heat the previous Saturday returned in the week with John Hoskins. Between them they had over 30 fish to the boat, all on floating lines and nymphs – this was before it has been recently stocked !!!

With the fish being high in the water an old time favourite fly has been working wanders, the muddler. Pulled fast on floating lines, this has bought a lot of fun this last week, as fish have pursued them through the waves. Buzzers, Diawl bachs, crunchers and now daddies, have been working tremendously well, mainly on floating and midge tip lines. The fish are now all over the lake and can be caught pretty much anywhere. Rainbow Corner has harboured an incredible amount of fish recently, mainly due the fresh water being pumped in, many of them being good solid 3-4 pound fish.

Number of rods 182

Number of fish caught 269

Number of fish killed 741

Rod average 5.5

This coming Saturday is our first £1000 floating line only match. With the lake in superb form this looks set to be a cracking match. The entry is only £25pp plus fishing fees so why not have a go. The winners will take £1000 cash home on the day.(subject to number of entries) You can use any sized fly, but fished with a floating line only. Fish with your partner too! Match starts at 10am – 6pm To book a boat call 01788 812018

Tight Lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

It finally looks like the extreme heat of late is behind us. The fishing over the past few days has improved remarkably with the rod catches averaging over 4. Recent weeks has seen our water clouded with a mild form of algae, however for the past 4 days the water has returned to being crystal clear, with visibility  up to 30’ in several areas of the lake. This all round visibility should set the lake up for some cracking sport over the forthcoming weeks.

Rod Wilson landed 27 fish to the boat, fishing along the Draycote bank dam wall (next to the tower)using a rudder. Neil Bridges also landed 12 fish on the same day on a floating line and nymphs.

Nigel Bull landed the best recorded fish of the week, a 7lb 11oz rainbow, taken on a pheasant tail, fished on a floating line.

The best areas have been the aerators, Rainbow Corner, Tower bank, Farborough dam wall, and the Cornfields. This year’s fry have appeared in there thousands along all dam walls around the lake and one or two fish have latched onto them already.

The best flies have been damsels, Pitsford Pea, black buzzers, diawl bachs, small boobies, and blobs.

Best lines – floating lines, midge tip, di-3 or di-5 lines.

SATURDAY 10^TH AUG – £1000 CASH BOAT PAIRS MATCH. FLOATING LINE ONLY – ANY SIZED FLY. ENTRY £25PP + FISHING FEES – SPACE LEFT !! Fish with your chosen partner.

NUMBER OF RODS 140

NUMBER OF FISH TAKEN 220

NUMBER OF FISH RETURNED 259

ROD AVERAGE 3.4

For further information please call the fishing lodge on 01788 812018

Tight Lines

Craig Barr – www.flashattackflies.com

The heat wave we are experiencing is taking its toll as the fish have gone deep. Despite this, at times the lake has fished well, especially in the evenings, as fish have moved to the surface once the sun has gone down.

On Saturday we hosted the Rio Pairs match, with winners Iain Barr and Ed foster catching 13 fish for an impressive 36lb, with the biggest weighing exactly 5lb ! The match was fished to international rules only, and made that little bit more difficult by the use of floating lines only, not to mention the 32 degrees heat !!!!! Second place was won by two visitors from Belgium, Albert and Tony who bagged 6 fish for 18lb, and 3^rd place was won by Peter Elliot and Lee Pattern also with 6 fish.

Bank fishing has been tricky as the water round the margins has now been heated by the hot sun and very little breeze. The evenings and early morning have been the best times from the bank.

The boats have had the best of the sport. The aerators are full of fish and those who are prepared to fish over them for any length of time have done well. Leicester’s Dave Pacey, a newcomer to the sport, landed 16 fish from the aerators last night, in a 4 hour session. Toft Shallows has produced some good catches recently too.

The pontoon area is now surrounded by thousands of fry, many up to 6” long. One angler reported seeing a fish well into double figures hanging around !

Best lines have been floaters, midge tips and sinking lines.

Best flies – black or olive buzzers, owl buzzers, diawl bachs, hares ears, fab blobs, orange blobs and boobies.

Best areas – Tower bank, toft shallows, rainbow corner, the aerators.

COMPETITION NEWS

£1000 CASH PRIZE BOAT PAIRS MATCH – FLOATING LINE ONLY, ANY SIZED FLY. £25 ENTRY PP + FISHING FEES. SPACES STILL LEFT. Fish with your partner.

Lexus Individual 27^th & 28^th of July – the last chance to make the International final at Chew. There will be good qualifying odds for both these days !!

To book any of the competitions please call the fishing lodge on 01788 812018

Number of rods 230

Number of fish taken 375

Number of fish returned 291

Rod average 2.8

Tight Lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

The week started well with plenty of fish being caught near the surface. Indeed some anglers reported excellent sport on dry flies early in the day.

Rainbow corner through the Hensborough Dam produced some of the best fishing to drifting boats using floating lines and a mixture of nymphs and buzzers. Whilst other anglers did well on the boils and in deeper water using DI 5’s and DI 7’s with blobs and damsels.

The warm weather and bright sunshine has coloured the water slightly and pushed the fish deeper  from mid week . Consequently the best of the fishing has been from the boat, with bank anglers reporting better sport throughout the evenings.

COMPETITION NEWS

This weekend is the Rio Pairs floating line only competition, fished to International rules. There are 4 boats remaining for this event. The winners will win £1000(RRP) worth of Rio tackle. There are also prizes to 10^th place.

27^th & 28^th of July is the Lexus Individual competition. This is the last qualifying heat for the final.

TO BOOK ANY OF THE COMPETITIONS PLEASE CALL THE FISHING LODGE ON 01788 812018

229 anglers caught 1066 fish giving us a weeks average of 4.65

Best boat areas;

Rainbow corner and the Hensborough Dam

The flat stones, Draycote Dam and the boils.

The middle of toft shallows and Farborough Spit.

Best Bank areas;

Rainbow corner.

Lincroft point and the Cornfield.

The Tower Bank and Dunns Bay.

Best Flies;

Dry flies such as Soldier palmer and wingless wickhams.

Buzzers, Dawl Bachs and crunchers.

Blobs and Damsels.

Tight Lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

Draycote is now in top form with fish being caught everywhere, on all methods. Draycote hosted an AMFC match on Saturday and all bar 2 anglers bagged their eight fish limit from a field of 30 anglers !! The boats headed to all areas of the lake, highlighting the vast spread of fish.

The bank fishing too remains good, though on very bright days things have been tougher. Rainbow Corner remains a top spot, though good bags have come from the tower bank, Dunns Bay and Lincroft point.

The boats are producing fantastic catches with visiting anglers describing their experience as the best fishing they have had in years ! There has been over 70 fish above 4lb recorded this week, though many have come from the aerators. I managed an evening session and my partner, Garry Simpson, landed 28 fish over the aerators, many over 3lb. Garry took the majority of his fish on a yellow dog nobbler, where mine fell to Fab blobs. Toft Shallows is also producing some brilliant sport to buzzers and diawl bachs fished on floating lines.

The best areas have been all over the lake. The best flies have been, owl buzzers, black buzzers, olive buzzers, diawl bachs, dry bits, damsels, FAB blobs, and boobies.

Best lines are floating, slow intermediates and a DI-3.

COMPETITION NEWS

Sat 13^th July – RIO PAIRS – INTERNATIONAL RULES – FISH WITH YOUR PARTNER – WIN £1000 RIO TACKLE, 2^ND PLACE £700, 3^RD £600 – PRIZES TO 10^TH PLACE.

27^TH -28^TH JULY  LEXUS INDIVIDUAL – BOOK YOUR PLACE IN THE FINAL AT CHEW VALLEY.

SAT AUGUST 10^TH OUR 1^ST £1000 CASH PRIZE BOAT PAIRS MATCH.  FLOATING LINE ONLY – ANY SIZED FLY. £25PP ENTRY + FISHING FEES

TO BOOK ANY OF THE COMPETITIONS CALL THE FISHING LODGE ON 01788 812018

TOTAL NUMBER OF RODS 300

TOTAL OF FISH KILLED 933

TOTAL OF FISH RELEASED 1426

ROD AVERAGE 7.8

Restaurant now open above lodge at 10am serving breakfasts and other good food. Why not take advantage of our last 4 hour ticket for only £10, or take a boat for a further £10 !

Tight Lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

As predicted within the last two weeks, once the water clarity cleared, the lake would hit top form, and it has certainly done that in recent days, with the rod average topping above 9 over the weekend. Local anglers Tom Morris and Hugh Shrimpton said that on Saturday the aerators were swamped with 3” roach fry pursued by lots of fish crashing across the surface. Between them they landed over 20 fish between 3-4lb. Many were taken on tube flies.

Birmingham anglers Mike Clarke and Keith Harding landed 42 fish to the boat whilst fishing from the Hensbrough bank to Rainbow Corner. They took all their catch on buzzers and diawl bachs fished on floating lines. On Friday alone, 9 boat pairings  landed over 16 fish to the boat.

James Cavanagh fished from the bank, landing 5 fish, the best a 3-1/4 rainbow. He described his day as awesome ! Mr Serrano, a season ticket holder from Leicester, has had in excess of 16 fish 3 times from the bank this week, using a combination of damsels and buzzers.

The best areas from the boats are Rainbow Corner to the Sailing club building, the Farborough dam wall, Tower bank, the aerators and Toft shallows, though plenty of fish are now showing across the middle too. It could be said, park your boat anywhere and you should catch fish !!

The best bank areas have been the tower bank, Rainbow corner and the bottom of Toft Shallows.

Best lines – floating, midge tip and intermediates, though on brighter days faster sinking lines may be needed.

Best flies have been owl buzzers, red or green holographic diawl bachs, damsel lures, and given the right conditions CDC dries have caught fish.

COMPETITION UPDATE

Saturday the 13^th of July is our first major boat pairs match – THE RIO PAIRS FLOATING LINE ONLY.(Fished to International rules) You fish with your partner. There are 6 boats left for this event. Only £25 entry pp + fishing fees. Win £1000 Rio tackle for 1^st place and great prizes to 10^th place. Start time 10am – finish 6.00pm

Saturday August 10^th – £1000 CASH PRIZE boat pairs competition. Floating line only, any fly size. The pair with the heaviest combined bag weight will win £1000 cash on the day !

     CALL THE FISHING LODGE ON 01788 812028 TO BOOK A PLACE……..

Number of rods 205

Number of fish caught 399

Number of fish released 582

Rod average 4.7

Tight Lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

Finally the water clarity is clearing and the overall clarity is now good. This will hopefully set us up for a fish bonanza as the lake has not yet reached its true potential for this time of year. At times the fish have been high in the water and have often been feeding on buzzers off the surface. Pin fry are now in the boat harbour and fish have already started hoarding these up to the surface!

The Civil Service held there final match here on Draycote this last week, and 24 rods produced a 3.8 average. Match organiser Frazer Mcdonnel said it is the first time for as long as they can remember there has not been a blank in the final !

The bank is still producing some good catches. Holec landed 10 fish from the bank, and Mr Hancox landed 16. Buzzers have been doing well as have damsels.

The boats have had some varied catches this week. The occasional day with strong winds have hampered the preferred methods of many, buzzers. Tony Parker, a season ticket holder, landed 20 trout, 2 of which were over 5lb, the majority of which took the dry fly. Mr Hanlon recorded 4 fish for 14lb.John Worley stole the show with 8 fish, one of 8lb, 6.5lb and 5lb were amongst his 8 fish limit. He took the fish on the boils using an intermediate line and a black tadpole.

The biggest fish recorded this week was caught by Mr P Mann, a fish of 7.5lb. Plenty of foish between 3-4lb were also caught.

COMPETITION UPDATE

Saturday 13^th July – RIO BOAT PAIRS MATCH – FLOATING LINE ONLY, INTERNATIONAL RULES – FISH WITH YOUR PARTNER. £25 ENTRY PP. WIN £1000 RIO TACKLE(rrp) 2^nd prize £600(rrp).Prizes to 10^th place !! ONLY 7 BOATS LEFT !!

Lexus individual qualifying heat 27^th & 28^th July. Book you place in the final to win a lexus 4×4

AUGUST 10^TH – OUR FIRST £1000 CASH PRIZE BOAT PAIRS MATCH. FLOATING LINE ONLY, ANY FLY. £25 ENTRYPP. YOU GET THE HEAVIEST COMBINED BAG WEIGHT, YOU WIN £1000

Number of fish caught 360

Number of fish released 435

Number of rods 190

Rod average 4.1

To make a boat booking or to book any of the above competitions please call the fishing lodge on 01788 812018.

Tight Lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

Draycote is still plagued by coloured water, however the fish are on most days not deterred by this.Better fishing conditions this week has seen some great rises and fish have been taken on dries. The water temperature is creeping up and with this the fish are now higher in the water, and can often be seen moving.

The bank fishing is now more sporadic than of late as the fish at times are drifting into slightly deeper water, though in areas where there is weed growth and grasses the fish are sometimes in close feeding on snails ect.

Boats are now edging the better sport with fish now in all areas of the lake. The dam wall in front of the lodge (Farborough bank) is holding a good head of fish as fish are constantly rising there throughout the day, for at least the last 3 weeks !! Toft Shallows is too producing regular catches of good numbers of fish, enhanced by the warmer water temperatures.

An AMMFC match held at Draycote for 30 rods produced a rod average of 4.9. Mr J Douglas was the first angler to reach his 8 fish limit finishing at 13.05 hours after a 10am start ! Six other anglers also got there bag limits.

Tosh’s adventures(a regular group visiting from Scotland) had some cracking fishing over there 4 day stay with us. Big Tosh led the way with some superb fish, the biggest topping 8lb. Tosh used the bung to entice most of his fish, using a cast of Dennis the Menace buzzers. His rod average over the 4 days was 13!!

Best flies have been black and green lures, orange blobs, fab blobs, small boobies, buzzers, and Diawl bachs.

Best lines have been DI-3 & 5, Midge Tip and floating lines

COMPETITIONS

There are still boats available for the Rio Pairs Match on Saturday 13^th of July. It is a floating line only competition fished to International rules. Entry fee is £25pp + normal fishing fees. The winners will win £1000 worth of Rio Tackle

Lexus Individual 2 day heats July 27^th and 28^th – call fishing lodge for details

Saturday August the 10^th is the £1000 winner takes all boat pairs competition. Floating line only however any fly can be used ! Entry is £25pp + normal fishing fees on the day.

CALL THE FISHING LODGE ON 01788 812018 TO BOOK ANY COMPETITION

       (PRIZE FUNDS WILL BE DICTATED BY THE NUMBER OF ENTRANTS ON THE DAY)

Why not take advantage of our fantastic 3 day fishing packages – Excellently priced at only £145 for 3 days for 2 anglers. This is for a motor boat and 2 anglers taking 1 fish each per day,£185 for 3 days taking 8 fish per angler per day. We have arranged a fantastic deal with the Draycote Hotel for anyone wishing to stop in the area.(5 mins form the lake )Please call 01788 521800 for details( ask for Mina, and quote Draycote Fishing)

Number of rods 306

Number of fish killed 704

Number of fish returned 767

Rod average 4.8

Tight Lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

This Week has seen a change in fortunes for most as the fish are now frequently both in the surface and rising. The week’s warmer weather ahead should now see things really coming to life as the water finally gets a chance to warm up.

The banks have slowed a little this week as the fish respond to the slight increase in water temperature, and moved into deeper water. Saying that some good catches are still happening. Mick Cronin landed and returned 6 fish in an afternoon session, the biggest being 3lb. Lorenzo Serrano had a field day off the bank, landing in excess 30 trout, the biggest weighing 6lb 10 !! The majority of his fish fell to a selection of damsel variations fished on a floating line.

The boats have had the slight advantage this week with some superb catches being recorded. Neal Hume recorded 14 fish including a 6lb rainbow. R March and M Sargeant landed 31 fish to their boat. Jim Brown and his colleagues visited us from Scotland on our popular 3 day packages – they had rod averages of 16 per boat for the 3 days, with some real belters amongst them !!

Buzzers, Diawl Bachs, Crunchers have been the best performing flies across this week, however on two separate occasions I have taken fish on a size 14 yellow owl dry fly, as fish at times have been cruising the surface. Sinking lines are still having their day, and at times are still out fishing the more traditional approach.

Toft shallows, the lodge dam wall, and Rainbow Corner have been very productive areas for the boats, whereas the Tower Bank and Toft Shallows have been the better areas for the bank anglers.

COMPETITION NEWS

July 13^th – RIO PAIRS BOAT MATCH. WIN £1000 WORTH OF TACKLE. ENTRY £25PP + FISHING FEES –FISHED TO INTERNATIONAL RULES. FLOATING LINE ONLY. MATCH STARTS 10AM

JULY 27-28^TH LEXUS INDIVIDUAL HEAT.

AUGUST 10^TH – BOAT PAIRS MATCH TO WIN £1000 CASH.-FLOATING LINE ONLY, ANY SIZED FLY. THE HEAVIEST PAIRS COMBINED WEIGHT WINS £1000 CASH !! MATCH STARTS 10AM

OCTOBER 13^TH -2^ND £1000 BOAT PAIRS MATCH – RESERVOIR RULES.

TO BOOK ANY OF THE ABOVE COMPETITIONS PLEASE CALL THE FISHING LODGE 01788812018

NUMBER OF RODS THIS WEEK 293

NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT 524

NUMBER OF FISH KILLED 832

ROD AVERAGE 4.6

We currently advise if you intend to fish from a boat that you book with a couple of days notice.(especially weekends)

Tight Lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com