Draycote Water weekly report week ending 4th November 2018
Telephone Number 01788 812018
This week saw several frosty starts with the temperatures reading below zero with hard frosts on the ground and an icy pontoon first thing in the morning. The winds started off North the same as the previous week. However, this swung later in the week into a south easterly. With the sun being present for most of the week with only a few cloud days this did make things slightly tricky for the bank anglers, although overall a good week. With a total of 179 visited the fishery landing 765 fish for a week’s rod average of 4.3.
A hard frost with temperatures at -2°C at 7am teamed with North Easterly wind meant it felt a lot colder Monday, time to layer up for the autumnal weather, check out the Greys Micro Quilt jacket on our online website https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/shop/greys-micro-quilt-jacket/.
With the bright sun not really warming things up until around lunch. On the bank the fishing was more challenging than previous days, likely to be due to the frost pushing the fish out to the deeper water for the first part of the day. Jude Tuffs fished the Cornfield using a washing line to land 6 fish. Season ticket holder Kevin Rees fished Lincroft point landing 18 on washing lined nymphs, with most of his fish coming later in the day once the temperature had warmed. On the boats John Herriot enjoyed a very successful 8 hour guided session with Lee Henfrey. John has booked the day wanting to learn more about the water, retrieves and methods. After trying various tactics John finished the day with 17 fish from around the deeper water off Farnborough spit with a di 5 sinking line with two boobies. To book Lee to learn all about fishing towards the back end of the season call the lodge on 01788 812018.
Another cold start although with the wind swinging into south west meaning the same wind chill wasn’t in the air. Brian Allwood fished the Swan’s Nest for a morning session landing 5 fish on olive buzzers. Fishing in Biggin Bay, Brian Warwick enjoyed good sport landing 12 fish on washing lined nymphs with Diawl bachs being his best patterns. Fishing along the Cornfield and Lincroft point Lee Patten & Peter Elliot again used a washing line with crunchers to land 16 & 18 fish each, including some lovely silver fish. Out on the boats Tony Plummer & Colin England landed 10 fish between them on minkies fish half way along the Farnborough Dam.
With the wind in the South East there was a much warmer feel to the day, although the day still started with a frost. The change in the wind meant that the Swan’s nest looked the best option for the bank anglers. However, the fish weren’t playing ball in the morning there and it wasn’t until the afternoon when they started to fed. Ed Douglas fished from the bank using a washing line to land 9 fish. Out on the boats Ian Reeve enjoyed good sport fishing around the spit landing 16 fish on pink snakes fished on a sinking line. Ian also landed a fantastic rainbow that tipped the scales at 6lb 12oz. Eugene Hughes used di 5 and di 7 sinking lines to great effect landing 17 fish with the best patterns being snakes, minkies and humongous. Eugene found that his best areas to be S buoy, M buoy and out in the middle. In house guide Lee also took to the water on a day off to land 15 fish on humongous boobies fished on a di 5 sinking line.
The wind swung back to a North West on Thursday with a much milder overcast conditions. On the bank from the Cornfield Brian Warwick landed 11 fish on a washing line with diawl bachs. Fishing on the corner of Dunn’s Bay before it goes to the Tower Bank. Ifor Bullock landed a lovely 6lb 4oz brown on a minkie that was returned to the water to fight another day. Kevin Rees once again fished from the bank at Lincroft point to land 13 on washing line tactics. On the boats Ed Douglas enjoyed a great start to the day landing 6 fish before 10am on dries. Ed used Bob’s Bits and hoppers over the shallow water Croft Shoal & Farnborough Spit, he then switched to boobies on a di 5 to land another 6. John Hurst & P Watson landed 16 between them on sinking lines and lures from around the end of the Farnborough Dam wall. Fishing over Croft Shoal husband & wife team Cheryl & Gareth Bullman enjoyed good sport landing 10 fish between them on di 5 sinking lines with suspender minkies and humongous boobies on the cast.
The return of the hard frosts Friday with the wind swinging back to a South Westerly with sun all day. The bright sun teamed with the south west winds made things tricky for the bank anglers. Although Tony Broadway did manage to land 4 fish on a washing line from the Cornfield. While John Dickens fishing from near the old pipe in Biggin Bay landed 6 fish on shrimp patterns. John Hoskins fished from a boat to land 17 fish on minkies and other lures fishing around the school slips, croft shoal and the spit. Mr N Banham also enjoyed good sport from the boat fishing over Croft shoal landing 15 fish on snakes. Lee Henfrey & Tom Bird took advantage of a day off to take to the water from a boat. The pair enjoyed great sport with a cricket score catch between them. They found the fish on the drop off around Farnborough spit in the morning with the fish willing to take snakes & Tubes, before they moved to Croft Shoal. Fishing the deep water to the right hand side of the shoal the pair landed some great fish including a cracking 5lb brown for Tom to see pictures from the day visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore. Just before heading in they tried half way down the Farnborough Dam and found good numbers of fish hard on the bottom with humongous boobies being the key.
A difficult day Saturday with the weather making the fishing challenging, with a mix of sun then cloud with winds from the south of 20mph. Jim Hall landed 6 fish on shrimps from the Swan’s Nest fishing from the bank as well as other pulls and offers. On the boats Jim Brennan & Chris Discombe landed 3 each on snakes and minkies around the Farnborough spit. Dennis Tidmarsh & Rod Goldthorpe landed 5 fish again on snakes also from Farnborough spit. Local angler Darren Fox visited the fishery with a group of friends from work for a social day with the 3 boats landing 9 fish between them.
A gusty day with the wind coming from the South east with overcast conditions that then turned to rain around lunch time making for a miserable autumn day. However, the fishing wasn’t miserable with several anglers recording good scores. On the bank John Falconbridge landed 8 fish using a washing line with nymphs while fishing from the Outlet. Stan Hillman also enjoyed good sport from the bank landing 6 from Rainbow Corner. However, it was really a day for the boats after their success at the Eyebrook Fur & Feather Martyn Price & Dave Hancox enjoyed good sport landing 22. The pair found that di 5 sinking lines with olive snakes and perch patterns the key to success landing fish from the spit in the morning before moving to Croft Shoal in the afternoon. Tim Burn & Paul Mitchell also enjoyed good sport landing 26 fish, using midge tips and floaters fishing a washing line with a FAB on the point and Diawl Bachs on the droppers. The best areas for Tim & Paul being drifting along Farnborough Dam, ahead of going over to Croft Shoal for the afternoon. Ed Douglas & Jim Smith finished the day with 41 fish to the boat using a mixture of boobies and snakes. Starting the day on Croft shoal using a Di 5 and a snake and a RIO Single Hand Spey 3D with a minkie the pair soon got to over a dozen to the boat. Before moving up to the Draycote Dam wall to land some lovely 4lb silver bars on di 7 and boobies. The day was then finished up fishing along the Farnborough Dam to the spit again on the di 7 sinking lines and boobies.
2019 Season Permit: If you’re interested in the availability of a season permit at Draycote or our New All Water Membership allowing the flexibility to fish any of our waters contact the Draycote Lodge 01788812018 or email lodge@flyfishdraycote.co.uk
Weekly Boat draw
Congratulations to Ed Douglas from Banbury winner of this week’s free boat draw.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 179 Number Trout Taken: 167 Number Trout Released: 598
Total Catch: 765 Weekly Rod Average: 4.3
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 16.30
Boat All Day: 07:30 until 16:30
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 13.00
Last 4 Hours from: 12:30 until 16:30 (Ticket sales available from 12:15)
Gutting Room Closes –16:00
All Anglers to be off site by: 17:00
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, NO RUDDERS 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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