The week got off to a flying start with some great bags being caught on or near the surface. Former brand manager at Wychwood, Paul Richardson and myself managed a 1.3/4 hour session on Monday evening and to say we had the most perfect conditions was an understatement. The fish were everywhere and between us we landed 17 trout, and probably lost as many too !! All on dry flies – dry sedge, yellow owls(size 14) and F flies(size 14). Other anglers we noticed also took advantage of the bonanza taking plenty of fish.

Since then of course we had the return of the hot weather, albeit only 2-3 days. This however seemed to knock the fishing sideways for a few days, and the rod catches dropped, and a green tinge appeared in the water. Slightly cooler weather returned on Sunday and the fish responded. Mr B Allwood landed 13 fish , Ned Thomas landed 20 and Mr N Davies landed 15. This was before we stocked it today !! (An angler has just this moment signed out with 7 from the Cornfields from a boat using a team of hares ears!)

The best areas have been from the boats, though evenings from the banks at times have also been good. Floating lines with teams of nymphs or dries have produced the better catches, though sinking lines should always be at hand if needed.

The best flies have been, yellow owls, dry sedge, f flies, diawl bachs, crunchers, red nemo’s, blobs(fished as an attractor on a floater) and small boobies used for the washing line technique.

Sunday the 13^th is the 2^nd £1000 cash prize boat pairs competition. Fish with your partner and the match is fished to reservoir rules(except anchoring). Entry fee is £25pp plus fishing costs. Deposit is required when booking.

Sunday the 24^th of November  is our Christmas Fur and Feather boat match. Each angler is to bring a prize so that everyone is a winner. Excellent Christmas hampers are up for grabs for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place. Normal fishing fees apply. NO ENTRY FEE.

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

OPENING DAY 2014 SATURDAY MARCH THE 4^TH. BOOKINGS NOW BEING TAKEN.

Number of fish caught 312

Number of fish returned 289

Number of rods 268

Rod average 2.24

Tight Lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

Draycote has continued to fish well, though one or two have not found it so easy, highlighted by one anglers comment of “are there any fish in here”! I can assure you there are stacks of fish in the lake, they are just very occupied on very small terrestrials and for that reason it’s a little bit more tricky to knock them off their perch !!! On overcast days there are plenty of fish feeding on or very near the surface, especially in the wind lanes !

Yesterday(Sunday) was the England ladies National qualifier for the 2014 England team. Plenty of them had put in some hard work practice sessions and many of them were rewarded, however Rosemary Gunn stole the show, by not practicing at all and won the event with 8 fish by 2.30pm, 7 of which she had landed by 12.00 noon! Rosemary had started on a di-3 line, taking 5 fish on her first drift, followed by the 3 more on a floating line. Her boat Partner, Maggie Curtis also caught her 8 fish limit. Maggie took all her 8 fish on a floating line fished with a team of Diawl Bachs.The ladies rod average for the day was above 3 – am impressive performance by all !

The fish have remained very high in the water, and this has been critical to cracking the code to catching them. Your flies have needed to be(the majority of the time) within the top 1foot(higher at times) to stand a chance. Despite the majority of fish being in the surface the di-3 line has also produced some very good catches. I fished on Saturday with Martha Thompson and between us we had 4 fish in the boat by lunchtime on the di-3 line using Fab blobs and diawl bachs. Several of the England ladies took their catches on di-3 lines in the national on Sunday.

Neil Bridges of Coventry took the best fish of the week, and the 2^nd biggest brown of the season, landing a cracking brown of 8lb. Neil took this fish in the middle whilst fishing on the rudder.Ed Douglas landed 17 trout, 3 of them weighing over 4lb(estimated).Mr Mclellan landed 14 fish, all on a size 14 caenis pattern.

The bank in comparison has been slower, however the Tower bank has started to produce some good catches, with Rainbow Corner also producing some fish. The evenings is the best time from the bank at the moment.

Best flies from the boats have been – Green holo diawl bachs, red holo diawl bachs, crunchers, yellow owl dry fly, claret shipmans buzzers, daddies, hoppers, F- flies, tequila fab blobs, woofter booby, and various blobs. Size 12 in the nymphs and sizes down to 16’s with the dry flies have been working best. The best lines have been a floating line, midge tip and a di-3.

The best flies from the bank have been daddies, diawl bachs, small buzzers, and minkies

Sunday October the 13^th  is our next £1000 boat pairs match. Fished to reservoir rules, and fish with your chosen partner.The heaviest pairs weight wins £1000 cash. £25 entry fee pp plus fishing fees. Entry fee is expected at time of booking. The prize fund is subject to number of entrants and could therefore possibly change.

With the first hints of autumn these last few mornings, I predict the fishing to continue to improve over the next month or so. We recommend if you plan to fish from the boat that you do pre book one as we are busy over the next month, especially weekends.

Why not take advantage of our last 4 hour ticket, still priced at £10 for one fish and continued catch and release, or hire a boat as well for only £10(between 2 anglers!!!)

Number of rods 334

Number of fish taken 363

Number of fish returned 479

Rod average 2.5

Tight lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

Draycote is continuing in good  form, aided by general good fishing conditions over the past week. The fish have remained high in the water and have been generally caught in the top 1 foot.

Mr D Adams returned over 16 fish, all taken on diawl bachs, and Mr J Smith took 7 on cdc buzzers. Regular angler, and recent Lexus heat winner Peter Elliot, claimed the fishing was that easy on Friday, his two year old grandson could catch them!! (he landed over 20 fish) I fished myself with Leicester based Bob Eaton, and between us we landed 13 fish in under two hours, all on floating lines and a combination of fab blobs and nymphs.

A combination of nymphs and a booby on the point has been by far the most productive method recently, with dry flies, including daddies, also taking a good number of fish.

The best lines have been floating, midge tips or slow intermediates, though do not rule out sinking lines on brighter warmer days !

The best flies have been diawl bachs, crunchers, buzzers, daddies, dry flies, small boobies, blobs and fab blobs

The whole lake is producing fish, though Rainbow Corner and Toft shallows, renowned quality nymphing areas, have shone over the last week.

This weekend sees the England ladies qualifier here at Draycote water, and with the lake in its current form, it promises to be a good match. No fish have been stocked leading up to this event.

Why not enter our £1000 boat pairs match on Sunday the 13^th of October. Fished to reservoir rules. £25pp entry fee plus fishing fees.The heaviest pairs combined weight wins the cash !!! (Prize fund will be subject to number of entrants)

Number of rods 287

Number of fish taken 327

Number of fish released 593

Rod average 3.2

Booking a boat is recommended – please call the fishing lodge on 01788 812018

Tight lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

Draycote has maintained its impressive form and if anything has improved ! Top of the water sport has been fantastic, with plenty of trout now being taken on dries, even during the brighter days.

Our first £1000 floating line only pairs match was won by Rob Edmunds and Keiron Bonas, whose 16 fish weighed in excess of 40lb !

There are plenty of fish between the 3 and 5lb mark getting caught on a daily basis. Paul Roach and Mr G Pearson, regular Chew Valley anglers, had a two day stay at Draycote Water. Both days they had in excess of 20 fish to the boat, many of which fell to a team of dry flies on a floating line.

I myself was guiding two anglers on Saturday, and between them they landed 10 fish, but losing many too ! Fish were rising all day, right in the surfaces film, and fishing friend Andy Axon was consistently catching nearby on size 12 and 14 dries.

The best areas have been Rainbow Corner and Toft Shallows, however fish are moving right across the water in all areas !

We recommend when fishing at Draycote you use at least 8lb breaking strain tippet, as many anglers are getting ripped off, and when questioned the common theme appears to be they have been using 5lb leader, and on one occasion 3lb ! The trout here are renowned hard fighting fish, You have been warned !!!!

The best areas from the bank has been predominantly Rainbow Corner, with buzzers, diawl bachs, crunchers taking most of the fish, in particular size 12 flies.

Boats have had fantastic sport in many areas of the lake with Rainbow Corner and Toft Shallows certainly being the highlighted areas. Two anglers had “incredible sport” drifting from the middle of the lake to the bottom of Toft Shallows using floating lines and a team of hoppers pulled slowly across the waves. Floating lines with small nymphs( size 12-14’s) with a fab blob on the point have been hugely successful, fished very slowly and just keeping in touch with the line.

Best flies – black buzzers, dialw bachs, uv crunchers, shipmans buzzers, bobs bits, sedge hogs, yellow owls, daddy long legs,Fab blobs and boobies

Our next £1000 boat pairs match( fished to complete reservoir rules) will be on Sunday 13^th October. Deposit of £25pp will be required upon booking. The prize fund may alter subject to entrant numbers. Only 9 boats remain for this event !!

Number of fish killed 400

Number of fish released 771

Number of anglers 246

Rod average 4.7

Due to the demand for our fleet of 29 boats we recommend you do call to book one for your planned days fishing in the weeks ahead. Please call the fishing lodge on 01788812018

Tight lines

Craig Barr www.flashattackflies.com

Draycote weekly update 11/08/2013      Tel 01788 812018

This week has seen Draycote continue to give us some good sport with fish being caught in many areas of the reservoir. The slightly cooler conditions and the odd shower of rain have helped to  keep the fish moving in or near the surface.  Indeed, even through spells of bright sunshine fish have continued to be caught throughout the day.

The bank anglers have fared well this week with fish being caught in Rainbow corner, Dunns bay and off the Corn field. This will be partly due to the water level dropping off quite a lot in the last fortnight, giving the bank anglers better access to areas that where inaccessible earlier in the season.

The £1000 Draycote pairs match which took place on Saturday was entered by 20 anglers who got off to a “flying” start at 10:00am. They fished in many different areas of the reservoir and reported some hard fighting trout.

The day was won my  Rob Edmunds and  Keiran Bonas who took advantage of the boils being in bounds to catch a total weight of 16 fish for 47lb 5 oz. They walked away with the winner takes all prize of £1000 pounds. Well done.

As mentioned before the boats seem to be catching all over the reservoir with the best boat areas being the deeper water in Rainbow corner, The Tower bank and the boils area, Farborough spit and Lincroft point.

The best flies this week have been buzzers, diawl bachs, crunchers, damsels and muddlers. Daddies have produced some good fish from both the bank and the boat. On Saturday morning Mr G turner caught 7 fish on daddies from a boat, the best of which weighed 4lbs.

A total of 299 anglers caught 1312 fish giving an excellent summer rod average 4.4

Evening Rise: Why not take advantage of our last 4 hour ticket for only £10, or take a boat for a further £10

Opening Hours.

Lodge and Bank Fishing open 7.30am – 9.15pm

Full Day Boats 8.30 – 9.00pm

Last 4 hour Permit 5.00pm – 9.00pm

All anglers offsite by 9.15pm

Tight Lines

Craig Barr

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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