Draycote Water weekly report week ending 14th October 2018
Telephone Number 01788 812018
A windy week at Draycote culminating in this year’s third named storm – “Callum” -which hit us on Friday. Unfortunately, with constant wind speeds of up to 28mph, & gusts in excess of 50mph, no boats were allowed out on either Friday or Saturday. Nevertheless, some great sport was enjoyed by many on both boat & bank during the reporting period in which 167 anglers visited the venue catching a total of 785 for a weekly rod average of 4.7.
The fishery was closed on Monday as we played host to the Troutmasters Final. All competing finalists had to fish a boat & a bank session with a lunchtime changeover. The bank was split into five sections and our thanks go out to those regulars & season ticket holders who assisted us by acting as stewards. A two fish limit applied in both sessions followed by catch & release & it was important to score well in both sessions to secure the top placings. The fishery performed very well, particularly in the morning, but it did become blustery & chilly during the afternoon. All five bank sections produced good returns against an overcast backdrop & westerly wind. Chosen tactics varied massively with fish coming to nymphs, lures, snakes and dries! A total of 89 anglers competed with 404 rainbows netted for a rod average of 4.54 Our congratulations go to all for achieving their places as finalists but especially to the winner Anthony Meadows.
Tuesday was bright & breezy all day and, whilst some found it hard going, it proved to be a good day for dry fly fanatic Kevin Rees who boat fished with Bob’s Bits all day to net 18 fine rainbows on drifts down the Farborough Dam. David Jinks & Ken Warner also enjoyed good sport with a joint 15 to the boat. Mick Cronin & Stan Hillman stayed on the bank in search of fry feeders & returned 6 & 4 respectively. Tony Broadway also added another six to his tally from the bank at the Swan’s Nest using nymphs propped up with a FAB blob. The strong south easterly winds forecast for Wednesday did not materialise and although bright & sunny, some fine sport was enjoyed by most anglers. Colin Grainger bank fished nymphs at Rainbow Corner, The Overflow & then the Swan’s Nast, ending a fine morning session with 8 rainbows to the net. Tony Ward stuck to Toft using Crunchers & Diawl Bachs to finish on a fine 4 fish limit with a further six caught & released. Mr Francis boat fished & reported finding fish all over the venue. His more traditional team of Elk Hair Sedge, Butcher & Zulu accounted for nine rainbows to the net. Ian Morris concentrated on the Farborough Spit where he netted 9 fry feeders on Appetisers & Diawl Bachs. Messrs Heslop & Burnside also enjoyed their hectic day afloat with a total on 19 to the boat. Peter Biernacki fished the bank for the last four hours using black diawl bachs and also had an action packed session netting ten.
Thursday was probably the most consistent day of the week with fish coming in good numbers to boat & bank anglers alike. Bob Smith fished the bank at the Swan’s Nest using a combination of Boobie Minkies, Floating fry & Diawl Bach to land 11. Season rod Brian Warwick fished nymphs to also end on 11 whilst Ian Richardson stuck to his floating fry patterns to take 6. Out in the boat, Peter Fisher found fish taking very small beetles & had fine sport fishing dries for a 14 fish tally. John Dickens also stuck to his dries catching 13 on Bob’s Bits. Jim Marriott ended his session afloat with six to the net but commented on the huge numbers of nips, plucks, follows & abortive swirls to his flies – most notably in the vicinity of Croft Shoal. Cheshire Police were also a force on the water on Thursday with ten anglers boating a total of 49 rainbows up to 3lbs 8oz. Their top rod with ten trout to the net was Richard Hood. Geoff Brooks & David Holding chose to spend their boat day being guided by Tom Bird our Guiding & Tuition Manager. The pair enjoyed a great mornings sport under Tom’s watchful eye. With Tom Opting to put the pair on washing line techniques firstly around the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay, where Geoff landed a lovely 3lb rainbow. Before the wind increased and it meant a move over to the shallow water around Farnborough spit where the good sport continued. At the end of the 4 hour session the pair had landed 14 fish to the boat with lots of other fish lost. To contact Tom about a guided session going into he autumn fry session ring Tom on 01788 812018.
Friday saw the fishery effectively closed given the howling winds which had heralded the arrival during the night of Storm “Callum”. All boats had been cancelled and the fishery was effectively closed for the day. However, one brave soul did decide to spend a few hours on the bank late afternoon & was pleased to come up with a nice brace from the Overflow! Similarly, no boats were allowed out on Saturday with continuing adverse weather conditions. However, eleven hardy anglers ventured out onto the banks and some exceptional sport was experienced. Top honours to Tony & Ruth Kirk who literally fished from dawn to dusk but were rewarded for their efforts with catches of 22 & 12 respectively. They fished Toft & the Swan’s Nest taking most of their fish on Hare’s Ear Nymphs or Diawl Bachs. The rod average for the day was an impressive 5.1
The winds subsided for Sunday & boats were back on the water. It was however extremely wet with very heavy rainfall from dawn until late in the afternoon. It certainly was not the ideal day for 5 beginners to be introduced into the wonderful sport of fly fishing, on one of your bank tuition days hosted by Tom Bird. However, despite the weather a good day was had by all with some fantastic fish caught from the bank in Biggin Bay. To see pictures from the day please visit our www.facebook.com/flyfishstore. On the bank season ticket holder Mike Garner enjoyed good sport using a mixture of cormorants, Diawl Bach’s and Nemo crunchers along the Cornfield to land 11 fish. Out on the boats Ian Muir & Peter Edge enjoyed a good day boating 22 fish. The pair started out using hares ear nymphs in Biggin Bay before changing to dries in the afternoon to continue the good sport. Kieron & Brendan Thomas landed 18 fish again on Nemo Crunchers and red holographic Diawl Bachs. Alex Urquhart & Tim Burn landed 21 fish using washing line technique drifting through Toft and along the Farnborough Dam.
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Matthew Beecham from Webheath the winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 256 Number Trout Taken: 444 Number Trout Released: 745
Total Catch: 1189 Weekly Rod Average: 4.6
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 18:15
Boat All Day: 07:30 until 18:15
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 13:30
Last 4 Hours from: 14:15 until 18:15 (Ticket sales available from 14:00)
Gutting Room Closes – 17:45
All Anglers to be off site by: 18:45
Guiding & Tuition.
New for the 2018 season the Guiding & Tuition team will running a blog. The idea of this blog is to provide hints and tips from your guides to help keep you catching depending on the conditions, tackle reviews and write up of guiding sessions. To have a look at the blog please visit http://www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/
Dates for the Diary
Fur & Feather
This seasons Fur & Feather match at Draycote will be held on Sunday 25th November 2018. Fished as a pairs competition with 12 fish to the boat.
1st Prize Christmas Hamper for winning pair
2nd Prize 2 Bottles of Wine Each
3rd Prize Box Chocolates
Largest Fish Bottle Spirits
The match will be fished to fishery rules and will start at 09:30 and finish at 16:00. All those wishing to take part should call the lodge on 01788 812018 to book your boat.
Tight lines,
The Draycote Team
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