Eyebrook fishery report 18th April 2021

Weekly Fishing Report: Thornton, Eyebrook, Draycote

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Week ending 18^th April 2021   Water Temperature: 10c     Rod Av: 6.4

Cold start to the week with sharp early morning frost with a cold Northerly, North Easterly wind which reduced our water temperature to 9c

The cooler conditions & angling pressure have moved the fish a bit further off the bank & pushed the trout further along the banks past the lonesome pine down towards the farm.

Not surprising therefore that a sinking line with boobies, cats whisker & dawson`s olive worked best on Monday

Tuesday & Wednesday fished similar with anglers reporting catches to black buzzer fished static or under the bung or sinking lines with boobies and cats whiskers with the majority of anglers concentrating their fishing to the Thornton arm opposite the lodge, wood bank & down past the lonesome pine. Look out for swallows & martins working the main basin especially during the early evening as the buzzer hatches are drawing fish to the surface across the main basin, the start of our evening rise

Thursday our water has gone up to 10c, another frosty start but with improving daytime temperatures. Most of the anglers headed towards the corner of the wood with buzzers & small black cormorants working well. From early evening fish were rising across the main basin from the stones to the car park to another good buzzer hatch

Friday & a busy day at the reservoir with angler still finding good numbers of trout off the wood with cruncher, black buzzer & cormorant patterns fished on a floater or intermediate. An increasing number of trout to be seen feeding across the main basin.

The weekend and again the majority of the anglers headed to the bank opposite the lodge and the wood although the anglers who ventured further up the Markfield arm toward the farm reported good catches from this area. Again another good rise in the evening from the stones across to green bay and in front of the dam

We welcomed Thornton Fly Fishers our local angling club to their first visit of 2021 they returned a club rod average of 5.8 with trout up to 3lb6oz recorded. Details on the club are available via their website Thornton Fly Fishers Club (simpl.com)

Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Week Ending 18^th April 2021      Rod average   10.0    Water Temperature 9°C

Monday started cool, however when the sun broke out it soon warmed up making for some lovely conditions. As the sun warmed the water the fishery experienced another god buzzer hatch. The sun caused the fish to be pushed off the bank making it challenging for the bank anglers. Although season ticket holder Bob Smith took 7 fish all on a blue flash damsel in Dougie’s Gap at the top of the Cornfield. The boats faired much better being able to access the fish feeding hard on Buzzers at the edge if the drop off. With buzzers being the order of the day for most of the anglers, Dave Bailey fished at the Toft side of Farborough Spit taking 24 all on buzzers. With Carl & Frank Chambers landing 19 fish. Draycote Fishery Manager Tom Bird and Fishery Ranger Lee Henfrey enjoyed some great sport all on buzzers with some fantastic, overwintered fish caught to see pictures of their day visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore

A lovely spring day Tuesday with blue skies and warm sun, once again buzzers featured heavily on the catch returns. Season ticket holder James Kelly landed 6 from the bank using a washing line with buzzers in the droppers and a FAB on the point. With the sun out it was again the boats that faired best, Gary Haskins fished with Richard Hood landing 55 fish to the boat. The pair used buzzers on either floating line or a midge tip to take the fish with he Hensborough Bank being the most productive area. Chris Webster & Martin Barrett fished the same area on buzzers to take 45 to the boat. Ian Morris opted for Toft using Diawl Bachs and buzzers to take 30 fish. With Brendon Thomas fishing the Farborough Dam wall and the spit to take 17 fish including a cracking Rainbow of 4lb 8oz.

A mor overcast day Wednesday, which caused the fish to sit closer in to the banks and as a result the bank anglers fared much better than in the previous days. Phil Mee landed 17 fish on buzzers from the bank, with his best fish being 4lb. Stan Hillman took 14 fish from the bank fishing at the tower Bank. With season ticket holder Brian Allwood taking advantage of an afternoon landing 5 fish including a cracking 5lb Rainbow. Jim Hall on the bank took 15 fish all in Buzzers from the Cornfield and Biggin Bay. On the boats again it was buzzers that took the majority if the fish all water member John Kirk landed 22 fish all o buzzer from Hensborough and the Outlet. With season ticket holder Tony & Nick Parker landing 31 fish to the boat on buzzers and crunchers.

Yet another fine day for fishing at Draycote Water. With light breezes and the rod average topping out at 10 today, there was plenty of sport had by all and sundry. Once again the main catches have been on the buzzer, ( any colour, as long as it’s black ), with lures and blue flash damsels also putting fish in the net for some anglers. Tony Broadway had 17 fish off the bank on buzzers fished deep. Ian Richardson had 24 fish off the bank on buzzers, hares ears and boobies down in the Cornfield and remarked on how good the fish were.  Mr C Squires caught 6 fish from the bank on black buzzers fish deep, again remarking on the quality of the fish. Bob Smith netted 15 fish from the bank in Dunns Bay, again using buzzers fished deep. Out on the boats Lee Patten and Alec Urquhart used buzzers on the bung to great effect, netting over 50 fish between them by the old pipe in Biggin Bay. Martin Foster and John Vyse had a good day on the boat netting well over 30 fish from the Cornfield and Dunns Bay, again on buzzers. Chris Discombe and Jim Brennan caught over 20 fish from a boat using buzzers on a washing line from various points around the reservoir.

Friday was a great day to be out on the water with cool temperatures and light breezes. Once again the bank fishing is going really well with Mr M Miller and Mr M Smith catching 16 fish between them from Lincroft point on buzzers. Draycote regular Mr John Pearson had 20 fish from the bank on buzzers, remarking on the quality of the fish. Mr M Nolan caught 18 fish from the bank by the old pipe in Biggin Bay on buzzers.  Mr R Clews, returning to fishing after a long break, caught a total, of 5 fish from the bank, one of which was an overwintered 8lbs 8oz rainbow.  Season permit holder Steve Lees netted 7 fish from the bank, all on damsels. The boat anglers are also enjoying some great sport with Lee Nolan and Glen Thompson netting over 50 fish between them on snakes. Rob Middleton and Steve Peart caught over 60 fish from a drifting boat using FAB’s and buzzers. Jim Dempsey had 29 fish to the boat using lures on sinking lines.

It was a bright and frosty start on Saturday morning, which soon cleared up, with a large number of fish showing along the Farborough Dam and across the front of both pontoons. On the bank Mark Braun fished in Biggin Bay using a team of Buzzers on a floating line to land 20 fish. Draycote bank regular Mark Parsley also enjoyed good sport on Buzzer this time on the Tower Bank. On the boats season ticket holders John Kirk and Richard Dayman enjoyed good sport on the Hensborough Bank on buzzers. Terry & Tony Ball used Damsel patterns to take 35 fish to the boat. Using Blobs to great over 80 to the boat Brian Shields and Dave Morris catching the fish in Biggin Bay and various other marks of the reservoir.

A very bright start to the day Sunday with light winds, however, this did not seem to bother the fish as good catches were reported from both the bank and the boat. Draycote season ticket holder Paul Walley fished on the Tower Bank using FABS and buzzers to land 21 fish. Fellow season ticket holder Mark JJ and Stephen Dewhurst all used Buzzers on the Tower bank to take their fish. Slav & Johnny fished on the popular last four hour ticket on the bank landing 9 fish between them. The All Abilities Friendly Fly Fishers enjoyed a good day on the boats using buzzers to land their fish Mark Goodge & Horace Wood found a number of fish around J buoy using Buzzers. Elsewhere Dave Davis & R Oliver once again used buzzers to take 44 fish to the boat. Draycote season ticket holder Paul Mitchell fished with Tim Burn like the bank anglers at the Tower Bank to land a total of 59 fish to the boat, unsurprisingly all on Buzzers.

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Weekly Rod Average: 10.8                Water Temp: 9c

Following on from a fantastic week’s fishing last week, Eyebrook is seeing a distinct change in the weather. With blue skies and the wind dropping off, we are presented with conditions that a lot of anglers would not favour. But despite this, the fishing continues to be on top form. The fish are still quite close to the banks. Most of our anglers are enjoying success on floating lines and midge tips fishing washing line method or straight through Buzzers and Diawl bach’s. Some anglers looking for a good workout are having success pulling blobs and FAB’s on sinking lines from a boat, with Di3 seeming to be the line to go to.

With easing of COVID restrictions and the hairdressers and pubs opening, Monday and Tuesday were pretty quiet. This was probably down to people treating themselves to a long overdue haircut and a pint at their local. Signs of some level of normality are returning.

Wednesday has been a lot busier, with a small group of anglers from the Higham Ferrers Fly fishers joining us for a day out on the water. The fish are still very much gorging themselves on buzzers all over the lake. Some of our anglers have been moving around out on the boats and finding large pods on the Rutland bank now. With the wind coming from the East, Eyebrook season ticket holder Roy Swinfield ventured over to the willows to fish from the bank and got in to double figures of fish on buzzers. He said he lost count of the number of takes he had and fish in and off again. The day ended with a Rod average of 12.75. the fishing has been pretty spectacular for some anglers hitting the right spot at the right time.

Long term fishing buddies and Eyebrook season ticket holders Richard Watson and Bill Whittle joined us on Thursday for a morning session. When they returned, Richard said they had blanked. But he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face long enough to convince me. They had an amazing morning session fishing buzzers and small nymphs to get both of them well in to double figures to the boat and with plenty of action in between.

The good sport continued from both the bank and boats on Friday with an overall rod average of nearly 11. There were several double figure returns made by the bank anglers with Roy Swinfield and Lyndsey Bates using buzzers to good effect. Ian Jobe had a highly successful day finding fish in several areas of the bank as did day ticket angler, Mr Normington.  All water member, Phil Mee took to the water in a boat and had a very successful afternoon, fishing washing line style with a diawl bach, a buzzer and a FAB on the point, whilst Mr Davies and Mr Baldock had a creditable double figure catch, using a montana as well as the more usual Diawl Bach and Buzzers.

With the weather starting to warm up and the sun being high in the sky all weekend, we started to think this would push the fish out in to deeper water. However, the fish did not seem to mind at all, and they kept coming thick and fast for a lot of our anglers. The usual spots have still been producing a lot of action and there are a lot of pods of fish out there still to be discovered.

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