Draycote press day was attended by club members from the Draycote Fly Fishers and other members from the angling press. Keith Arthur, the host from Sky Tv’s Tight Lines programme, also attended with the TV crew. Fishery manager Craig Barr and Keith fished in Rainbow Corner, managing 22 fish between them. This can be seen on the Tight Lines programme this coming Friday, or the following week.
Thursday, the official opening day got off to a flying start. Weather conditions were near perfect, and boy did the lake respond. 60 anglers caught an incredible 1151 fish, giving a rod average of 19 fish a man!!!
Fish were well spread out and anglers on every stretch of the banks caught. The boats fished exceptionally well too, as the fish appeared to cover every bit of the shoreline around the lake. Reports quickly came in of fish being full of bloodworm and tiny snails. Coots have been seen diving close to the shore picking up weeds, which suggests the mild winter has failed to kill the weed right back, allowing for this early food bonanza for the trout.
The weekend, especially Sunday, saw near summer conditions and many anglers headed out with floating lines and buzzers. Lee Pattern took full advantage of the conditions and was rewarded with a fish of 7lb, although this was not the biggest fish so far. Mr R Blackwell caught a rainbow of 8lb 8oz from the bank on a black buzzer.
The best areas have literally been anywhere on the lake. The best flies have been Cats Whiskers, Black & Green Lures, Blobs, fab blobs, Boobies, black & Green buzzers and Diawl Bachs.
We now have a fully equipped tackle shop on site, gutting room facilities, toilet facilities and 30 free car parking permits for boat anglers.
Bank anglers as they did last year are also allowed to drive around the lake to fish, although we are restricted to allowing 30 cars at any one time. If your coming bank fishing call the lodge and book one of the 30 car passes.
Total number of rods 200
Total number of fish caught 2683 (2010 of which were released) Rod AV 13.4
Fish stocked pre-season 7000
Bank fishing commences at 7.30
Boat Fishing commences at 8.30
To Book telephone the fishing lodge on 01788 812018.
tight lines
Craig Barr