Eyebrook weekly report Week Ending 26th September 21

Weekly Fishing Report: Thornton, Eyebrook, Draycote

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Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

**New Email Address**: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy As we enter the period of the year with expected higher water temperatures at the Eyebrook we alter the average size of trout we stock. Our stocking policy for the Eyebrook is explained on our website Stocking Policy | Fly Fish Eyebrook – Leicestershire Trout Fishery

Week ending 26^th Sep 21               Rod Average: 4.5                 Water Temp: 17C

The week ahead was looking like it was going to be a good week with ideal weather conditions. The fishing was carrying on from last week with some fantastic top of the water sport and reports of fish hitting daddies out in open water as well as the occasional flurry of fry feeding going on.

Monday was a warm day with a nice breeze. A lot of the anglers headed for the Dam and the Netted bank area where there had been previous reports of fish in these areas in good numbers. Top rod on Monday was M Woolnough. He managed to get well in to double figures while fishing a white snake on an intermediate line in the morning and then moved on to fishing daddies in the afternoon. Season ticket holders L Bates and R Swinfield had a great day out with both of them getting around a dozen each to the boat while fishing small buzzers on a washing line while using a daddy as the buoyant fly on the point. Season Ticket holder T. Smith was fishing from the bank and managed to land 4 fish and lost a few others in play. It was good to see someone having a good bit of fortune on the bank.

Tuesday had a bit more of a breeze on the water which only made the fishing a bit more fun. There were lots of good numbers of fish caught and from nearly all areas of the reservoir. There were varying methods and lines that were working, but the main flies that kept being mentioned were the daddies.

Wednesday was still quite bright and warm with a gentle breeze. We had 14 anglers from the police practicing for their pairs match the following day. Between them, they managed to land 108 fish, giving them a rod average of 7.7. Eyebrook Season Ticket holder Karl Cowzer had a great day out on the water and landed a cool dozen to the boat while just fishing dries.

Thursday seen the Police pairs match taking place with 17 boats out on the water. The conditions were near perfect, and the fish were very obliging on the day. This made for a very interesting competition to see who would win the match. You can see the results on our Facebook page Here: www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

Eyebrook Season ticket holder Bob Margery ventured out on to the banks due to all the boats being out. He fished along the casting platforms on the Leicestershire bank and managed 5 to the net and lost another few during play. It looks like the fishing from the bank might be starting to pick up after a long hiatus. The weed is starting to recede, and the staff have been out trying to clear bank areas for access

Friday was a bit blusterier than the day before. The wind has started to shift around to a more south west westerly wind. The change in conditions can sometimes change the habits of the fish. Things looked as if they slowed down a little after a few days with the full fleet out on the water, but there were still a few anglers who were doing pretty well out there. We were joined by 16 anglers from the Cwmllynfell Fly Fishing Club who managed 89 fish between them in their first day with us, giving them a rod average of 5.5. a pretty good average after such a busy week on the Eyebrook.

Saturday was yet another busy day on Eyebrook with the full fleet out again although it was busy, it seemed to be a nice, relaxed sort of day out there on the water. Washing line with a foam daddy and buzzers/ nymphs seemed to be working best out on the water. Yet again Andy Miller was in action on a tuition day, he was introducing Simon Morgan, Alistair Tonnison, Andy Edmounds, John Edmounds & Mark Logston to the finer arts of presenting a fly to the trout. They all enjoyed the peace and serenity that Eyebrook provides and hopefully this will be the beginning of their fly fishing journey through life.

A few weeks ago, Alex Howe contacted the lodge to see if we could help him out. He was interested in learning to fly fish but wasn’t sure where to begin. As a wheelchair user he was unsure if we would be able to help out. Rest assured, we got him pencilled in for some casting lessons and Andy had him laying out a line on the water in no time. The staff made sure that a pontoon was cleared so that Alex could get out there casting and enjoy his tutelage from Andy Miller. We look forward to hearing more from Alex in the future and help him on his way to enjoying getting out on the water.

This week has seen a lot of folks booking in on the 2-day or 3-day packages as well as a few clubs joining us for a few days out on the water to enjoy the top of the water sport. In the next few weeks, we should start to see some of the bigger trout starting to emerge to feed on the fry to pack on some weight for the winter months. With this in mind, we are drawing closer to the Eyebrook Fur N’ Feather match on Sunday the  24^th Oct 21. Another fantastic match to put in your calendar. If you want to enter this match then give us a call at the lodge to be in with a chance of winning some lovely prizes from Fishery Management (UK) Ltd. Last years biggest fish was a 9lbs+ Rainbow caught by Eyebrook Season ticket holder Steve Lawrence. Lets see if he can do it again this year.

With September and October Being such busy months due to the incredible fishing, it really is essential to book boats well in advance to guarantee that you get one.

Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

**New Email Address**: draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Week Ending 26th September      Rod Average  3.9                Water Temperature  17 °C

ANGLER PARKING NOTICE

All Anglers please note that from Monday 23^rd August Severn Trent has requested that all anglers will now have to return their car to the main car park after unloading, if you require a yellow parking pass please ask for one in the lodge on the morning of your visit.

Severn Trent Event

Bank anglers please note; Severn Trent are now clearing up after the event last week. This will last until the 28^th September. All bank anglers are asked to only use car parks which are available, and to avoid areas which may interfere with this. Please also note that there will be some large vehicles and pedestrians moving equipment in the area between Toft car parks and the visitors centre.  

Willow Cutting

The Willow cutting which started at the beginning of September will continue through until roughly the first week of October. Please be aware that members of staff will be out with machinery working to clear areas of the bank. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Severn Trent Ranger Team for their help with this task.

A bright start to the week Monday with the wind coming from the Northwest. We had Treggaron Angling Club here starting their first of a three day break. When the anglers arrived in for lunch it seemed to be the anglers’ using snakes on Di 3 sinking lines were catching best. However in the afternoon despite the bright conditions dries really came to the fore with some good catches from the club reported to dries. Draycote season ticket holder Peter Elliot & Lee Patten found dries to be the most successful method with the pair boating 36 fish. With drifts around A Buoy, C Buoy & Y buoy being the most productive. C Cowan & C Smith enjoyed a great days sport landing 50 fish to the boat. The pair used a variety of tactics with Daddies, Snakes & Cat Boobies all being productive flies for the pair.

Light winds and bright skies Tuesday, however some broken cloud did arrive later in the day. Craig Cowan & Colin Smith fished in a boat around the Aerators drifting towards Y Buoy using snakes and FABs to boat 21 fish. Draycote season ticket holder Ian Reeve did long drifts across the middle with boat partner Steve Hibbard to boat 10 fish on a mixture of dries and daddies. Eddie Mitchell & Dave Kennell landed 16 fish to the boat drifting around A, B & N Buoy using a floating line with foam daddies, but the takes came once they had sunk subsurface using a figure of eight retrieve. Draycote member Kevin Rees landed 17 using small size 14 claret bits fishing around A & B Buoy.

Another bright day with winds coming from the South West, once again even with the bright conditions it didn’t seem to put the fish off taking flies just under or on the surface. Terry Evans & Joe Blinski fished in a boat using emerger pattens and dries to land 12 fish. Frank Sumnall & Dave Morris landed 15 fish on dries and washing lining tactics from around the Tower Bank and down towards Dunn’s Bay. Mr C Cowan & C Smith fished their final day of the 3 day break landing 22 fish to the boat. The pair drifted off the bank of the Aerators towards D Buoy and Dunn’s Bay using FABS, small snakes and Zonkers. Draycote Manager Tom Bird took Brian Moore out for a 4 hours guide with Brian catching all his fish on tan daddies just under the surface. With the best areas being Y Buoy & S Buoy. For any tuition & guiding bookings give Tom a call on 01788 812018.

A cloud start with the winds once again coming from the Southwest, however the cloud burnt off around lunch time leaving more bright skies. Draycote season ticket holders Tony Broadway & Jim Hall fished in a boat together landing 18 fish all taken on Big Reds. All water season ticket holder Paul Havard landed 9 fishing using a washing line on a floater with nymphs and a booby on the point. Kevin Reese once again used small Claret Bob’s Bits to land 15 fish. Dave Naylor & Steve Houlton landed 15 fish between then using Shipman’s & Hoppers. Mr D Craven using green holographic Diawl Bachs. All water members Chris Bobby & Lianne Frost landed 24 fish with Lianne using washing line and also daddies which Chris stuck to the dries. The best areas on the day were A Buoy, B Buoy, Tower Bank, S Buoy & Y Buoy.

Once again on Friday Draycote Water had southerly breezes with cloud cover, which cleared into bright conditions later on. The best of the fishing seems to be at the western end of the reservoir, with some boats catching at Croft Shoal and Y buoy. Toft Shallows is holding fish, but a touch colour in the water has kept the anglers at bay. Season permit holder Phil Mee had 4 fish on a washing line with buzzers on the droppers. Dennis Tidmarsh had 7 fish to the boat on humungus. Young Ed Douglas managed 11 fish to the net, all on dries. Ray Rowlings ventured into Toft Shallows, boating 4 fish on black and green snakes fished on a sinking line. Glen and Ian Speechley had 7 fish to the boat, all on foam daddies.

Saturday we had a number of anglers fishing ahead of the 6X4 team competition Saturday. The anglers practicing all reported good fishing put specifics on the areas and tactics was a little vague. Mike Laycock & Kev Wright landed 34 fish to their boat on dries. Peter Scholes also had a good day boating over 30 fish once again on dries. Tony Baldwin fished with Paul Davison with the pair landing 28 fish to the boat in either dries or washing line techniques. Mark Braun landed 11 fish using black hoppers and crunchers.

On Sunday, we held the 6X4 team competition, hosted by Paul Kitchen and Mark Rose of “The Renegades”. The match timings were  9am to 5pm, with the first 2 hours being ideal conditions, with overcast skies and light winds, but by 11am the sun had come out and the wind had strengthened quite a bit.  The anglers in the match split up with a number of boats heading towards X Buoy and P Buoy, while the rest of the field headed for the Draycote Dam around A, B & C Buoy. Overall the competition went really well with an average of 6.8. The main method used was nymphs on a washing line, but fish were also caught on dries and pulling blobs and boobies just below the surface. In third place were the “Reservoir Dogs” with 29 fish, second were “The Swifts” with 31 fish, making the “Last Casts” the overall winners with a total of 39 fish. Well done to all those who took part.

Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

**New Email Address**: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy As we enter the period of the year higher water temperatures we alter the average size of trout we stock our stocking policy for Thornton is explained on our website Stocking Policy | Fly Fish Thornton – Leicestershire Fly Fishery

Week ending 26^th September.  Rod Average: 3.9 Water Temperature:17c+

The mornings have that autumn feel to them, heavy dew on the grass with cooler temperatures. Monday fished well from mid morning to 6pm surprisingly little or no evening rise. Terry & John Evans fished buzzers & dries to catch their 19 trout, All Water Member P Walker fished cdc & fabs to catch his 19 trout, with Mr Humphries fishing a small #12 fab to catch his 5 trout. Thornton member Carl Bond fished the afternoon into the evening with cdc & daddies catching his 6 trout.

Tuesday and another busy day with all our boats out. Daddies, red or claret hoppers / cdc / buzzers & small #12 cocktail or biscuit fab were the best patterns. Member R Menhams caught 4 for his mornings visit fishing a daddy wet and buzzers to boat his 4 trout, member Don Howatt caught a dozen with another member P Cox catching 6 from the area in front of the stones. P Wrigley fished suspender buzzers #12 #14 to catch his 9 trout with All Water member Jack Hives catching 8 for his visit with day rod Emaid catching 6. Day rods P Crisford and M Beeson fished the last 4 hours catching 5 on fabs and daddies with another day rod M Page fishing dry daddies to catch his 3 trout.

Wednesday and a bit of a challenging day although buzzers, cdc, hoppers, daddies were still the best patterns to use. Thornton member Carl Bond fished buzzer & daddies on a washing line to catch his 5 trout, All water member S Windram fished daddies to catch his 5 trout with Davis Hussey also catching 5 trout on buzzers & diawls. Mark Cowley fished a white & silver minkie booby as a floating fry & caught 3 as the fry start to migrate towards the weed beds. D Cross fished the last 4 hours & caught 5 on buzzer, cruncher & hoppers with most been caught in front of the stones.

Thursday the afternoon and evening was the most productive part of the day with #10 minkie booby, #12 daddies & fab, #12 #14 hoppers, cdc and buzzers. M Litchfield fished fab and buzzer to catch his 5 trout, P Wrigley, M Huffer and P Mee all recorded 4 trout, S Williams fished the last 4 hours with his 4 fish all taking the small red buzzer. Float tubers, S Frakes, R Dunnett and T Ward caught 22 between them with the majority caught after lunch

Friday a bit of a mixed day with anglers reporting fish missed or lost. All water member Ian Leach got the measure of the fishing catching 10 on a midge tip with red buzzer, tadpole and orange fab, M Beck caught 3 for his morning session on a red buzzer with Dave Ploughman landing 2 for his mornings visit but reports losing another dozen. Some fish moving early evening with a #14 orange bodied Elk hair sedge and small red cruncher working.

Saturday most of the trout caught were in the top 3ft with #12 red cruncher, #12 fab, #14 Elk Hair Sedge, #12 daddies & #10 minkie booby. Thornton member M Clay caught 5 on buzzers, Neil Bates fished the afternoon session catching 4 on a fly he found in the boat with Paul & Sam Cook catching 6 on daddies & an orange bodied #14 Elk Hair Sedge pattern

Sunday and a busy day as we hosted the All Abilities Friendly Fly Fishers AAFFF & our local angling club Thornton Fly Fishers TFF.

The AAFF enjoyed an excellent full days fishing with 9 of their members catching 85 trout for an outstanding rod average 9.4 for the day with most of the trout taken on floating, midge tip an intermediate lines with dries, fabs and nymphs. Thanks to Mark Goodge for ensuring the AAFF day runs smoothly

Thornton Fly Fishers fished their single fly competition from 8.30am to 3pm. This year the chosen fly was a size #10 minkie booby. Each member was given 3 minkie boobies and could fish them on any line. 12 club members fished to a 4 fish limit with 4 members catching their limit with Tony Smith winning the comp, Alan Johnson was 2^nd with club secretary Peter Birdsall 3^rd

Thornton fly fishers will be resuming their winter programme starting on 17^th November with a fly tying and social evening, further details to follow