Draycote Fishing Report w/e Sunday 17th September 2017
Telephone 01788 812018
Another week where the quality of the fishing has been directly linked to the weather conditions. Some big westerly & south westerly winds significantly hampered the action on the first four days of this reporting period. Conditions improved by the end of the week, which as expected, hailed the return of some fine top of the water sport. A total of 268 anglers netted 874 trout giving an overall rod average of 3.2 for the week. Whilst action has continued for the dry fly enthusiasts in the boats, increased evidence of fry feeding has also been seen. Large numbers of roach and perch fry are now being found in fish that are being prepared for the pot. Photo on our facebook www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore
Monday began on a SW wind which quickly developed into a powerful westerly &we saw only 9 rods on the water. They had no real alternative but to hunker down in Rainbow Corner & only 10 fish came to the net. Tuesday was also a blustery day but, despite rough conditions on the bank, Mr C J Day did well with a 4 fish total as well as a 2lbs+ perch! Boat anglers commented on how tough things were in the wind but perseverance paid off for a hardy few with Ed Douglas netting 9 on Big Reds & Bobs Bits. Dave Ward had half a dozen to Bibio Hoppers & Ray Cramp took an 8 fish limit on lures. Mr C Butler caught 10 rainbows with best fish weighing in at 4lbs 5oz taken on silver fry patterns fished deep. Nick Righton also did well on his evening boat with 5 to the net on CDC emergers. Wednesday saw a return of very strong westerly winds with gusting above 30mph at times. Only three boats ventured out & were once more forced to fish the only shelter available up in Rainbow Corner. Whilst most anglers drew a blank, Mr J Lawrence did exceptionally well to land 8 on size 12 & 14 Bibio Crunchers.
Windy conditions continued into Thursday& the fishing remained hard. Eight anglers braved the bank managing eight fish in total whilst 15 anglers, out in six boats, netted a total of 27. Friday saw a welcome drop in the water temperature to 15with the wind settling to a 6-8 mph WNW & overcast skies. Â The fish reacted accordingly & a total of 221 were taken during the day by the 53 rods on the water. Jim & Richard Hall enjoyed a morning boat together& landed 4 rainbows each on very small dries tied by Jim on size 18s. Paul Davison finished his boat session with 19 to his midas dries & the pairing of Messrs Naylor & Houlton also had fine sport on Hoppers & G&H Sedge with a 33 fish total. Mr Wakeham boated a brace of fish the best being a fine brown trout of 7lbs 4ozs whilst Kevin Rees stuck to his self-tied small bob bits to net 17. Brian Lowson & Ian Malpass mixed Big Reds & Red Midas for 8 & 7 respectively. Again, most of these fish have been taken on drifts out over open water especially within wind lanes or slicks. Some good sport was also enjoyed by bank anglers with Gordon Slack taking a fine 4lbs+ bar of silver on a buzzer pattern at the Tower Bank. Brian Warwick fished buzzers on the Cornfield landing five rainbows with Colin Grainger landing a brace on a small red sugar lump emerger in Toft.
Saturday was overcast with a light north westerly breeze and some light showers in the afternoon. Dries once again worked really well as did the washing line and buzzers, despite the lack of a good hatch. Lots of good numbers came from A buoy and along the Draycote dam. Biggin bay also fished very well as did the central area around P, X and Y buoy. Once again Toft shallows fished with limited success, with lots of fish showing around the central area of G buoy. These fish have been a bit shy over the last couple of weeks but with the recent drop in water temperature (15’c), it shouldn’t be long before they really switch on.
Draycote regular Melvin Severn fished the rudder to good effect boating 12 fish. Mr J Bellamy caught 16 fish from the bank on PTNs. Mr P Davis had 10 fish to the boat on a variety of patterns. Mr Ian Colclough organised the TEFF Fund raising match on Saturday with a total of 23 rods taking part. The group managed a rod average of 6.7 between them with the match being won by Mr Paul Davidson with a total of 19 fish to the boat. Second place went to Mr Tony Baldwin and third place went to Mr Richard Slater. Biggest fish of the day was 55cm long and was caught by the match organiser, Mr Ian Colclough. Well done to all those who took part.
Sunday started much like Saturday but with a colder bight to the northerly breeze. Mr George Leaton caught 12 fish along the Draycote dam and the flat stones on damsels, with fish up to 4lbs in weight. Mr M Nolan caught 9 fish from the bank. Mr Nick Dunn caught 10 fish from a boat. Draycote regular Jim Smith caught 19 fish on dries around Y buoy. Mr Ian Bradfield caught 8 fish from a boat, all on dries. The Stanley Harrison Trophy was the prize for Mid Northants anglers on Sunday. A total of 21 anglers took part, netting 69 fish between them for a match rod average of 3.2. Well done to all those who took part.
Weekly Boat Draw
Congratulations to Mr John O’hara of Nuneaton who is the winner of this weeks free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 268 Number Trout Taken:275 Number Trout Released:599
Total Catch: 874 Weekly Rod Average: 3.2
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 19:30
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 19:30
Boat Part Day: 08:30 until 14:00 -Â 14:00 until 19:30
Last 4 Hours from: 15:30 until 19:30 (Ticket sales available from 15:15)
Gutting Room Closes: 19:00
All Anglers to be off site by: 19:45
Fishery News
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!
Dates for your diary:-
Competition Contact
Angling World Holiday Final, All Boats Booked for this event Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th September c/o John Horsey
Troutmasters Final 9th October. See Fishery staff.
As is so often the way at this time of the year, many fish tend to gravitate towards the aerators as a comfort zone & naturally many anglers wish to get in amongst the action there. Please be aware that the area is a strictly no anchoring zone.
We also respectfully ask that all anglers demonstrate good boat manners & etiquette when fishing in close proximity to other vessels there & elsewhere in general. Incidents have been occurring where anglers have rudely reversed back up their drift into oncoming boats or have cut straight into the path of a drifting boat instead of taking their turn returning to the top of the drift. This is unsporting, spoils the action & enjoyment of others & understandably leads to frayed tempers. Should you find yourself at the receiving end of repeated displays of such poor boatmanship & bad etiquette, we ask that you phone the lodge in order that we can come out to rectify the situation ourselves as deemed appropriate.
Boat Cleanliness:
Our hard pressed team strive to maintain the boats to a high standard of cleanliness. Anglers are kindly requested to respect their endeavours by keeping their vessels shipshape & litter free. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding the unnecessary practise of pulling muddy anchors on board. These should be shaken clean before being lifted into the boat. Your assistance in this regard will be most appreciated.
Guiding & Tuition:
Why not take your own fishing further with a day out on the water with England Internationals and fishery staff Lee Henfrey or Tom Bird? Whether you wish to get to know the water better or hone a particular skill, our guides can help to improve your catch rates. Visit the website www.flyfishguiding.co.uk for more information or book a slot by calling the lodge on 01788 812018.
Keep up to date with the latest catches and fishing posts from our in-house fishery ranger and guide Tom Bird, by following him on Facebook. Tom has been catching some great fish this season and posting pictures of the fish as well as a light write up on how he has been catching them.
Early Morning Anglers
Due to a number of complaints from the residents of the houses by the main gate at Draycote, could all anglers arriving early in the morning please keep noise to a minimum level, and if waiting for any more than a few minutes, please switch off your engines. Main gate is open from 7.30am
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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