Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website: www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre-payment policy. The 2022 details are on our website:  http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 02 October 2022       Rod Av:  5.0      Water Temperature: 15-16°

Monday brought with it a moderate to strong North Westerly wind & clear skies. As the day progressed the wind abated & the sky filled with dense cloud. Consequently, the reservoir fished better in the afternoon than it did in the morning. Regular visit Alan Withers had a very productive day conducting long drifts across the Main Basin. Alan fished the washing line most of the day with a black Foam Daddy on the point, a small, black Muskins in the middle & a Black Midas on the top dropper. By the end of the day he had 18 fish to the boat & reported a lot of interest throughout the day. Elsewhere, Mr Hensell & Mr Buxton also had a productive day, landing 12 between them, fishing intermediates & cats’ whiskers also in the Main Basin. The fish are still in the top 3ft of water & given the right conditions they will quite happily feed on the surface.

There was a cool, damp start to Tuesday with a moderate North westerly breeze that brought with some heavy, isolated showers. The unsettled morning weather had a detrimental effect on the fishing as early fish were difficult to come by. The afternoon brought with some settled weather, consequently, the fishing improved. Long drifts across the Main Basin, aiming at intercepting the heavily podded fish, was again the order of the day. The fish remained in the first 3ft of water throughout the day & were caught on a variety of methods. Foam Daddies featured well on the catch returns, whether fished on the surface or just under it, they were equally effective. Other methods that were small Snakes & Cormorants on either a Slow Glass or a Fast Glass. There are so many ways to fish the upper layers & it has paid to chop & change until a successful method for that period has been identified. Once identified remain vigilant for any subtle changes in the conditions or fish behaviour & adjust the method accordingly if required.

Wednesday was a busy day at Eyebrook with all the boats booked out. Weather wise, it was an overcast morning with a moderate westerly breeze followed be an afternoon of sunny intervals. The reservoir continues to fish well with most of the fish getting caught in the first 3ft of water on a variety of methods across the Main Basin. There was fish caught on lures being pulled on Fast Glass Intermediates, washing lined nymphs & Foam Daddies on tip lines & floaters & also on the Dries. Allan Withers had another excellent day, landing 14 fish on the washing line with small black flies: Daddies, Midas & Muskins. The Fishing For Fun club also had another successful day, having landed 53 fish between 10 of them. It was their second successive day at Eyebrook & over the 2 days they had over 100 fish which is a great return, well done to all. The recent cooler weather has encouraged the Browns to start moving with Mr Richardson landing & returning a beautiful specimen of an estimated weight of 7 – 8lb. The fish was caught around the weed beds along the Hawthorns on a Dawsons Olive.

Thursday saw the wind swing round to the North with solid cloud cover until early afternoon, where the solid cloud gave way to broken skies & periods of bright sunshine. The reservoir fished extremely well with a lot of fish caught in the first few feet of water on a variety of methods. All Water Members Paul Walker & Mark Hunt both had very productive days on very different methods. Mark opted to fish dries & caught throughout the day by changing his flies regularly to match the changeable weather, particularly in the afternoon. When it was bright, he fished Popper Minkies & Foam Daddies, whilst overcast, he fished small CDC patterns. Paul chose to fish the washing line with a FAB on the point & small nymphs above it. Both anglers fished from drifting boat, staying mobile & covering a lot of water. Paul’s most productive drift was from the 3 Trees on the netted bank to the Hawthorns. Regular visitors Danny Peet & Varley also had a great day landing over 30 fish between them on Popper Hoppers & Snatchers, conducting long drifts through the Main Basin. The benefits of a drifting boat this time of year is that you are covering more water in the search of actively moving pods of fish, rather than remaining static & waiting the fish to come to you.

It was a misty, still start to Friday. As the day progressed, so did the wind & by the mid afternoon it was a strong southerly that brought heavy rain with it. Those that did brave the elements, caught very well as the reservoir yielded a daily rod average of 6.3, as fish were caught from both the bank & the boats. The key point remained to keep your flies in the top 3ft of water as fish were again caught on a variety of methods.  Dave Porter & Tony Ward had a very successful day landing well over 20 fish between them, pulling FABs on a Midge Tips & a Hover Line, up in front of Robbo’s Cabin. Mike Christie also caught very well from the boat but this time on a Half Hog Daddy. Whereas regular angler Nigel Woolnough caught well from the bank in what were at best, extremely challenging conditions. Nigel landed a very respectable 3 fish from Mucky Bay.

Saturday remained a dry day & the wind had abated slightly on the previous day. The reservoir continued to fish well with a good number of fish caught in the upper layers on a variety of methods. As with previous days, it was all about presenting your flies in the top 2ft of water, whether that was Dries, Nymphs on the Washing line or Cormorants & Lures on the Intermediate lines. The Main Basin remains the most productive area & those who covered the water by fishing on the drift fared a lot better than those who remained static on the anchor. Eyebrook hosted the Dave Carter charity pairs match which saw 16 anglers take to the water & under fishery rules they caught 68 fish between them which gave them a rod average of 4.25. Congratulations goes to the overall winning pair of our very own resident guide Andy Miller & regular angler Dave Etty. Andy weighed in 3 fish for 8lb 1oz which was a cracking bag for the day. Thank you for all participants & those supporting the event who made for a very enjoyable day, well done to all.

Sunday was another very productive day where the Reservoir fished very well. We hosted the latest match for the Alex Booth Fly Fishers where 15 anglers took to the water & caught 93 fish between them which gave them a rod average of 6.2 which is an excellent return, well done to all. Top rod on the day was Kev Slater who had 17 pipping Andy Cotterill, who also had 17 fish, by a matter of ounces. Kev fished a Foam Daddy on the point & a Claret Hopper above it. Most of his fish came to the Claret Hopper. Elsewhere, All Water Members Sue & Neil Potts had a great day landing over 20 fish between them, drifting onto Robbo’s fishing the Washing Line. Eyebrook Season Ticket holders Roy Swinfield & Lynsey Bates also had a very productive day landing well over 30 fish on Foam Daddies & UV Crunchers. What is noticeable in the Main Basin, there are a lot of fish sat between 75 – 100m off the bank over the deeper water. As the water temperature continues to decrease these fish will begin to move closer into the bank in their search of food. It has already been noticeable that early in the morning there is a lot of Fry feeding activity around the pontoon. This bodes extremely well for the forthcoming weeks.

Only a few spaces available: The 2022 Eyebrook Fur & Feather will be held on Sunday 23rd Oct. The Fur & Feather is a Pairs Competition fished to a 12 fish Boat Limit & Fishery Rules. The price is £83.50 per pair which includes 2 x 6 fish Tickets & Boat costs, Members can use their season tickets & just have to pay for a member’s boat. For anyone who is interested please call the Lodge on 01536 770264 for bookings.

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022 details are on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:2 October       Rod Av:2.5     Water Temperature: 14c

As were officially into the autumn there is a definite change to the weather, noticeably cooler. Monday a cold, brisk northerly wind made for challenging conditions with anglers struggling on the day.

Tuesday was a better day, less wind & not as cold with anglers spreading themselves along the Thornton arm down into the Markfield arm. Mixture of flies taking fish from daddies, fabs, diawl bach to small fry patterns fished on an intermediate, tip lines or floater. T miles caught 7 for his mornings fishing down the Markfield arm, P Eville caught 5 with Paddy fitch catching 4 off the bank opposite the lodge. If your coming to fish the bank there is some weed about which you need to wade through, be sure to bring waders.

Wednesday, and were and were starting to see a few more fish taking fry patterns. Keith Cowen caught 4 on fry patterns and booby with R Price fishing a silver minkie booby to catch his 4 fish with Jamie Scott catching 7 on a daddy, diawl bach and fab during the late afternoon when the trout started moving. Markfield arm, opposite the lodge fished best.

Thursday a mixed day, Paddy Fitch fished the afternoon session catching 6 with L Serrano also fishing the afternoon catching 7 trout. Ian Leach fished a fab to catch his 4 trout with B Stone joining Paddy Fitch in his boat later in the afternoon and catching 3. David Hussey also fished the afternoon session catching 3 on a diawl bach. Later in the afternoon anglers reported a good rise down the Markfield arm

Friday with wind and strong wind forecast for the afternoon only 1 boat ventured out for a morning session, Chris Sayer who caught 5 trout

Saturday and were in that transition period of the autumn, some fish still on the dries while others are on the fry. Jan Webber caught 13 on  DI7, blue flash damsel and booby, L Serrano caught 11 for his afternoon session, Mark Hunt fished straight line buzzers moving to dries for the last hour to catch his 10 trout

Sunday, light winds, bright at times had anglers reaching for their floating & sinking lines. L Serrano returned for another afternoon session this time fishing a white minkie to catch his 8 trout. D Woodall caught 5 with 2 on a cdc pattern & 3 on a fast sinker and booby, during the last hour the trout did move across the main basin to the stones with P Cook catching 3 on daddies

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022. Details are on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

2022 Prices & details on our pre-payment visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  2^nd October 2022              Rod Av: 3.6      Water Temperature: 14 °C

A showery day Monday with slightly strong winds than we have seen for a few weeks, as there was a large pressure change. On the boats Draycote member Ian Richardson landed a cracking fish of 5lb taken on a cormorant at Dougie’s Gap along the Cornfield. Fishing the first day of their three day break Brent Vinall & Andy Birkett enjoyed good sport landing 11 fish between them. With all their fish coming to dries or Popper fry with Daddies being their best pattern on the dries. Eddie Mitchell & Dave Kennel boated ten fish using daddies and washing lining drifting over the open water around A & B Buoy. Draycote member Kevin Rees used dries all day to land 9 fish landing his fish on Bob’s Bits around B Buoy and Y Buoy.

Not the most pleasant day for the anglers out on the water Tuesday with gusty winds and some heavy rain at times. Mr Bailey fished for his second day or a 2 day package break. Coming off early due to the journey back to Scotland, Mr Bailey landed 6 fish in just over a morning session. Landing his fish on yellow owls and balloon caddis drifting off the top dam wall. Another boat fishing on a package was Andy Birkett & Brent Vinall who landed 9 fish between then on dries and also pulling cormorants just under the surface. Tony Baldwin enjoyed a good day on the water sticking to dries all day to land 14 fish drifting off the top dam wall over the open water towards B Buoy and Y Buoy. Season ticket holder Martyn Hancox fished for a few hours on the bank in the evening. Opting to use Minkie patterns at the Tower bank and was rewarded with a brace of fish including a cracking 5lb 7oz Rainbow that was returned to the water.

Wednesday started bright and sunny with a north westerly breeze, with good cloud cover coming along about 11 o’clock. The water temperature is down to 14 degrees now and visibility is very good. Fish are being caught in quite a few different areas on the reservoir such as, Rainbow Corner, along the Tower Bank, Middle Shoal and Toft Shallows. Draycote regulars Mick Cronin and Stan Hillman fished the Tower Bank and landed a dozen fish between them, with two of the fish weighing in at over 5lbs each. Tony Broadway also fished from the bank near the Valve Tower and landed 3 fish on suspender minkies and crunchers. Jim Dempsey and Rod Wilson had 16 fish to the boat between them using lures and sinking lines on the rudder. Ian Richardson and Bob Barfoot caught 17 fish. Ian and Bob drifted from Y to N buoy using a slow tip and a DI3 with cormorants and minkie boobies. Norman Perkins and Steve Orton had a dozen between them on minkie boobies pulled either on or just under the surface. Andy Birkett and Brent Vinnall had 24 fish to the boat between them on pin fry patterns and dries.

Thursday started with good overcast conditions, a light northerly breeze, and a fine drizzle of rain. On the bank husband and wife due Tony & Ruth Kirk enjoyed a good days sport landing 8 fish between them. Fishing at the Tower Bank using floating fry patterns they landed a cracking Rainbow of 5lb 8oz which can be seen on here www.facebook.com/flyfishstore C J Day, also fished the bank landing 5 fish on Minkies landing 3 from Toft and 2 from the Tower Bank including fish of 5lb, 4lb 2oz and 3lb.  On the boats all water member Kevin Hart fished with John Hoskins landing 24 fish to the boat. They found the fish at N buoy and used fry patterns with Kev opting for popper minkies to land the majority of his fish. Draycote member John Falconbridge used snakes and cormorants to land 12 fish. Brent Vinall & Andy Birkett enjoyed their final day here at Draycote with the pair boatng a dozen fish on dries and fry patterns. Draycote member Kevin Rees also fished dries to land 10 fish. Fishery guide Lee Henfrey took the two Lack brothers out for a 4 hour guide. With Lee they landed 10 fish on white snakes fished on intermediates with he best area being drifting from the top dam wall towards B Buoy with the majority of the fish coming half way between the wall and B.

It wasn’t the best weather forecast for Friday, with the wind picking up in the afternoon bringing with it some heavy rain. In these conditions, only 3 boats ventured out onto the water, eventually heading for the shelter of the Draycote Dam. At this time of the season, whilst the fish are not hard on the fry, they will take Snakes and other lure patterns, such as minkie boobies and cats whiskers. Dries will also work in the right conditions, as will a washing line, with a sparkler booby on the point, and crunchers or diawl bachs on the droppers. Season permit holder Ray Rawlings took a boat out for half a day and used white snakes to net 3 fish drifting on to A and B buoy.

Saturday dawned with a clear blue sky, and a cold westerly breeze. The wind picked up about 11 o’clock and blew most of the boats in to shelter along the Draycote Dam. Considering the conditions, the reservoir fished pretty well overall giving a rod average of 4 for the day. Quite a lot of the fish caught fell to lures of some type, but some were also caught on cormorants, nymphs and floating fry patterns. Ivor Jones and Jim Dempsey put a bakers dozen in the boat fishing sinking lines and lures on the rudder. Mr A McKenna and Mr A Clarke had 19 fish to the boat between them using black crunchers and sunken daddies. Mr Neil Loughrey had 17 fish on cormorants. Neil used a 3 foot mini tip drifting between A and M buoy on the Hensborough Bank.

Sunday morning was overcast and calm to start with but became brighter as the morning progressed. However, the bright conditions didn’t seem to the bother the fish with boat the bank and boat anglers enjoying good sport. Draycote member Paul Walley fished on the Tower Bank with a white mini snake to land 11 fish. Ian Weston also fished the bank at Lincroft Point to land 4 fish. On the boats Jon Crowley landed 6 fish in a short morning session using an intermediate with a black snake and a yellow dancer. Landing his fish drifting along the Farnborough Dam to the spit with 2 of his fish weighting over 5lb. Mark Thistleton enjoyed a good day landing 9 fish using snakes on an intermediate line drifting around B Buoy, Y and N Buoy. Kasidit Leoviriyakit, fished from the boat in the morning before switching to the bank for the afternoon. He landed 17 fish during the day with 12 coming from the boat using hoppers for the most part and then he pulled snakes on the bank. The best catch of the day came from the boat of Ed Douglas and Jim Smith who boats 40 fish. The used snakes on Di 3 sinking lines and also intermediates with Olive Snake in both weightless and Boobies being their best patterns. Finding the fish at N Buoy, S Buoy, P Buoy, M Buoy and off the Draycote Dam. They commented the key was long draws and then handing the flies at the boat and landed a number of cracking fish up to 6lb with sharp fins and silver rays on the tail.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website: www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre-payment policy. The 2022 details are on our website:  http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 25^th September 2022       Rod Av:   5.2       Water Temperature: 16-17°

Monday morning saw the anglers met with good cloud cover but with a flat calm. Anglers taking to the water found it initially difficult to locate fish as they were sat below the surface, not giving themselves away & there was no wind to aid a drifting boat to cover water. Once the fish were located though, they were caught on a variety of methods. Regular visitor Mr Skedd caught 9 fish on an Intermediate with Snatchers, John Ross had 7 fish up by the Willows on Dries & Diawl Bachs on a washing line. Down for a 3-day package, Mr Woods & Kay had 19 fish between them on Foam Daddies in the Main Basin & up by Robbo’s Cabin. Messer’s Kerr & Lamb also had a very productive day, landing well over 20 fish from the Main Basin area fishing imitative patterns high up in the water column.

Tuesday started with a gentle ripple with plenty of cloud cover. As the day progressed, the gentle ripple subsided into a flat calm & the plenty of cloud gave way to long intervals of bright sunshine. There were still plenty of fish moving however & these could be caught using Dries & the Washing Line. If a moving fish was covered, it would happily turn & take the fly. The most successful Dry fly patterns were Foam Daddies, Yellow Owls & small black flies such as a Shipman’s or Crippled Midge. Other successful patterns included FAB’s as a point fly on the washing line & Diawl Bachs & Crunchers on the droppers. There was fish caught all through the Main Basin at various times of the day with Robbo’s Cabin frontage, Harrisons Corner & across Dogwood Bay being the most consistent.

Wednesday saw the reservoir continue to fish well. The fish remained high up in the water column & continued to feed on the surface or just under it. Those that concentrated their efforts on targeting fish in the upper layers fared better than those who tried that little bit deeper on the sinking lines. Foam Daddies fished dry or sub surface on a washing line continued to take a high number of fish as did small black dries just like the previous day. Paul Davison had a very successful day on the Dries, landing 21 fish from various locations around the reservoir. Paul kept his flies busy by not letting them sit too long & he covered a lot of water by fan casting. Bill Woods & his boat partner Hugh Munro also had a productive day catching on Foam Daddies & small black dries. They landed 23 fish between them from the Main Basin & Robbo’s Cabin. As the water temperature continues to drop the fish will soon start to spread to other more shallower areas of the reservoir & there has already been reports of fish in Mucky Bay & over by the Willows.

Eyebrook fished even better on Thursday with a lot of anglers recording some very high returns. The fish continued to sit high up in the water column & were caught on a variety of methods if flies were presented in the top few feet. Whether it was Dries, Nymphs on a Washing Line or Cormorants on a Midge Tip, all proved to be successful during the day. Top Dry Fly patterns included the Midas, Foam Daddies, Popper Hoppers & Grunters so clearly flies with a larger profile were the order of the day. Whereas the most successful Nymphs were Red Ribbed Diawl Bachs & Nemo Crunchers fished on a Washing Line with either a FAB or small eyed booby on the point. The most productive area was the Main Basin & the frontage of Robbo’s Cabin, 100m out where Paul Davison & his boat Ian Bradfield had an excellent landing a very high number of fish, all on Dries from a drifting boat. Others who done very well were Season Ticket holder Keith Johnson who 20 on a Popper Hopper, Craig Nimmo had 15 on Cormorants & the Robert Lamb party, Paisley Patterns, who had 54 between 6 of them, most of which came to Dries.

Friday continued in the same vein as Thursday with a lot of fish getting caught high up in the water column from the area of the Main Basin. Dries proved to be more successful today than any other methods with Foam Daddies, Hoppers & small suspenders all catching a high number of fish. The Paisley Patterns enjoyed another excellent day, even more successful than the previous day, landing 82 fish between them.

Saturday proved to be a more challenging day due to the brighter conditions. The fish remained high up in the water column but were less inclined to take flies off the surface. There were still a few fish caught on dries, Mr Parsley landed 17 fish which is a great return in challenging conditions. Overall, those fishing just below the surface proved to be more successful than those fishing on it. Visitor anglers Martin Matthews & Ben Beckwith had great success fishing intermediate lines with Cat Boobies & FAB’s, landing a lot of fish from the area of the Main Basin. The Paisley Patterns, fishing the last day of their 3-day short break package, had yet another productive day. Whereas on previous days they had great success on the Dries, today they found that pulling a Foam Daddy just under the surface was the way to go. They have had an excellent 3 days, landing 169 fish between them, which gave them a rod average of 9.3 per day, per angler which is a great return.

Sunday, with its changeable weather proved to be more challenging. That said, there were still quite a few fish caught. Season Ticket holder Dave Etty had a good day on the boat, landing 10 fish on Foam Daddies & Diawl Bachs. Rob & Sam Edmunds had a very successful afternoon session landing 14 fish on the dries & Mr Montgomery landed 12 fish, most of which fell to a FAB. Over the weekend, resident Guide Andy Miller hosted a couple of Tuition Days, one on the Saturday & one on the Sunday. Both days were very productive & resulted in fish being caught in the Main Basin on Foam Daddies & FABs. All participants had very enjoyable days under Andy’s watchful eye. Well done to all.

Date for your Diaries: The 2022 Eyebrook Fur & Feather will be held on Sunday 23rd Oct. The Fur & Feather is a Pairs Competition fished to a 12 fish Boat Limit & Fishery Rules. The price is £83.50 per pair which includes 2 x 6 fish Tickets & Boat costs, Members can use their season tickets & just have to pay for a member’s boat. For anyone who is interested please call the Lodge on 01536 770264 for bookings.

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022 details are on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: 25^th September   Rod Av:2.4   Temperature: 15c+

Monday, we arrived to find some algae on the water with little or no breeze to move it. During the day a light breeze did pick up which pushed the algae downwind leaving clear areas to fish. During the afternoon anglers reported seeing good numbers of fish feeding at times with H Davies catching 5 on a hopper with other anglers picking up fish on popper hoppers, diawl bach.

Tuesday the breeze soon cleared the bit of algae we have. The fishing continues to be best during the late morning into the afternoon with orange daddy, claret or olive hopper, diawl bach #12 or #14, orange shipmans & shuttlecocks black with red tag or hare’s ear. Arthur Olding caught 8 on an orange daddy, R Sleigh & W Wilson fished the afternoon boating 4 fish during the rise. P Eville fresh from his success on Saturday returned & float tubed the last 4 hour catching 10 on claret hopper & orange daddy.

Wednesday, flat calm gave way to a breeze from the southwest with conditions looking perfect, except the fish hadn’t realised how good it looked. Overall not an easy day, a few fish moved during the last few hours but overall a challenging day

Thursday was similar to the day before fish moving at times but were not interested in the fly. Top rod was K Hart who caught 6 from his float tube.

Friday was a better day but again not overly easy. David Hussey caught 6 on diawls & daddy, Chris Sayer caught 5 as did E Snyman who caught his on dries. Steve Lewanawski caught 7 during the last 4 hour session on an olive nymph. John Bebbington fished a cats whisker to catch his 7 trout

Saturday a better day with a combination of fish that had been in for a while and recent stock fish been caught returning a rod average 3.1 Daddies, diawl bach, blue flash damsel, cdc, fabs took fish on floaters, midge tips and intermediates.

Sunday local angling club Thornton Fly Fishers hosted members of the Eyebrook Fly Fishing Club & Draycote Fly Fishing Association with some visiting Thornton for the first time. A relaxed days fishing with members of the 3 clubs getting to know each other with a break at lunchtime to compare catches & method over a cup of soup & hot dogs. At the end of the day they returned a rod average of 4.0 with T Smith top rod for Thornton, Lyndsey Bates on his first visit to Thornton also catching 10 & top rod for Eyebrook with Andy Lilley top rod for Draycote with 8.

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022. Details are on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

2022 Prices & details on our pre-payment visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  25^th September 2022              Rod Av:  4.9     Water Temperature: 15 °C

Overcast skies all day bank holiday Monday, with some heavy un-forecast rain in the afternoon. On the bank Mr Finch-Noyes and Mr Day enjoyed a “great day” landing 4 fish each on floating fry fishing at the Tower Bank. Also on the bank Draycote season ticket holder Mike Garner landed a brace with 1 coming from the Cornfield on a cormorant and the other on floating fry at the Tower Bank. On the boats Steve Pattinson & Gerick Eckard landed 10 fish to the boat using a washing line set up. The pair found that drifts from Rainbow Corner towards A Buoy to be the most productive area. Georgi Nickolov enjoyed a good days sport landing 6 fish from the boats, using a washing line with a FAB on the point a Daddy on the top dropper and a gold ribbed hares ear in the middle. The best catch of the day came to the boat of Mike Williams & Llyr Evans who landed 26 fish to the boat. The pair found the best flies to be Damsel patterns fished on floating and intermediate lines.

A very calm day Tuesday with little to no wind all day, with what little wind there was coming from the west. On the bank Stan Hillman & Mick Cronin enjoyed a good day landing 5 and 3 fish each. The pair used minkies at the Tower Bank and landed some cracking fish with a number of fish tipping the scales at 5lb. Brian Allwood also enjoyed a good day on the bank landing 4 fish. On the boats there was a number of good catches with the fishing seeming to be sat high in the water column. Pete Allen and Tony Broadway landing 11 fish to the boat using dries and a washing line with claret being the best colour on the dries. Draycote members Peter Elliot & Lee Patten landed 25 to the boat with Peter, using size 12 claret Bob’s Bits. With Lee Patten fishing a washing line and then dries. All water member Norman Perkins fished with Steve Orton with the pair landing 19 fish using minkie boobies on a floating line. James Raw & Michael Williams landed 30 fish to the boat ona washing line with a booby, FAB and Nymph combination. Paul Davison fishing with boat partner Simon landed over 30 fish to the boat using Ginger Midas.

A busy day Wednesday, with the Association of Major Fishing Club (AMFC) group 3 competition and also a number of boats practicing for the AMFC Group 1 match the next day and some boat ahead of the Airflo Team final on Saturday. The AMFC enjoyed good sport with the 30 anglers landing 154 fish for a 4.7 fish rod average with no competitors blanking. Winning the match was the English Police Fly Fishing Association who landed 45 fish between he 6 anglers. The teams next tactics was pulling FABs on an intermediate and also washing lining. Outside of the competition there was some good catching, although specifics where being kept quite due to the matches in the coming days. Members Chris Bobby & Lianne Frost enjoyed a good day landing 19 fish to the boat with Lianne landing the lion share with her best tactic being washing lining. Sean Hanlon & Lindsey Simpson landed over 25 fish to the boat also using washing lining tactics around A & B Buoy and Y & N Buoy.

The wind Thursday came from the Southwest with good cloud cover for most of the day, as a result the reservoir fished well with lots of good reports. Draycote member Stephen Dewhurst fished from the bank at the Swan’s Nest to land 4 fish. On the boats Draycote hosted Group 1s round of the AMFC with 36 anglers in 6 teams of 6 competing. The enjoyed great sport with he rod average for the match finishing at 8.47 fish per angler. Winning the day was Tunbridge Wells with all 6 anglers landing their 12 fish limit. The team’s best tactic was to drift over the open water around Y, P & N Buoy using a mix of methods. Some anglers fished dries, while other washing lined or pulled cormorants and FABS. However, once again specific tactics were being kept close to the angler’s chest with the Airflo match at the weekend. Outside of the match and the practicing boats members Ian Reeve & Colin Granger enjoyed a good day landing 14 fish to the boat on washing lining tactics with FABS and buzzers.

Friday saw the wind swung round to the Northwest for the day with the sun making more of an appearance. On the bank George fished from the Tower Bank landing a brace of fish on a minkie pattern fished over the weed bed. On the boats it was the practice day ahead of the Airflo Open Shield on the Saturday so as a result no one wanted to tell us details of how they had been getting on. However speaking to anglers the fishing had certainly slowed from the previous day. Although despite the sun the fish remained high on the water with the odd anglers who would let us know how they got on, saying dries and washing lining was still working. With the main areas being Y Buoy, N Buoy and Rainbow Corner.

Saturday was bright and sunny for most of the time with a light north westerly breeze. With the fall in water temperatures there has been a definite improvement in bank fishing, with catches coming mainly from the Tower Bank and the Swans Nest. Mike Garner used a floating fry pattern to net his fish from the area near the outlet. Stan Hillman and Mick Cronin both used minkies and floating fry patterns to net half a dozen from weed beds along the Tower Bank. Draycote hosted the Airflo Open Shield yesterday with 12 teams taking part, totalling 72 anglers. There were 496 fish caught in the competition, giving a rod average of 6.9. In third place were the Welsh Wizards with 53 fish for a bag weight of 100lbs 12oz. Second place was taken by the Alba Cats with 56 fish weighing in at 115lbs 1oz, and the winners were the Reservoir Dogs with 61 fish, and a bag weight of 118lbs 15oz. Well done to all those who took part. The main methods used were cormorants on a midge tip line, shuttlecocks, and a washing line with FAB’s and cormorants.

Sunday started with a heavy mist on the water and flat calm conditions. In the build up to the weekend’s competition, the reservoir has taken a bit of a hammering. Despite this, things turned out reasonably well as Sunday progressed, with some anglers struggling to put a fish in the net during the early part of the day. Sunday regular Jon Crowley picked up 8 fish in a morning session using a black snake on a DI5 around Farborough Spit and Toft Shallows. The boat pairing of Jim Smith and Young Ed Douglas had well over 20 fish to the boat but played their cards very close to their chests on methods and areas, as did David Hoppe and Peter Elliott who boated 16. Season permit holder Mark Thistleton caught half a dozen fish using olive snakes fished on a DI3 through the Aerators. Chris Discombe caught 3 fish using snakes fished on an intermediate line whilst drifting in the area around C buoy and the Valve Tower.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website: www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre-payment policy. The 2022 details are on our website:  http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 18^th September 2022       Rod Av:  3.1        Water Temperature: 16-17°

The week started with perfect conditions, a light to moderate southerly breeze with plenty of cloud cover. Subsequently, the reservoir fished very well with fish caught throughout the Main Basin on a variety of methods; Dries, Washing Lined Floaters & Traditional Wets. The fish remained high up in the column & were well spread, so the key factors were long drifts across the basin & fish your flies in the first couple of feet. There wasn’t an abundance of fish to be seen moving but they were sat under the surface, on the occasion they could be seen moving, if they were covered, they would happily turn on the fly & take it. Season Ticket holders Roy Swinfield & Lynsey Bates had a very productive day landing 17 fish between them. Roy caught on a Midas & Lynsey caught on Mallard & Clarets. Allan Withers & his boat partner, Mr Turner, also had 17 to the boat. They caught theirs on Foam Daddies, Crippled Midge & a Black Midas. Season Ticket holder Mr Johnson had 10 fishing Hoppers, 5 of which came from the Seat to the Willows area. All in all, it was a great start to week & with favourable weather forecast, the prospect for the week looks very good.

The reservoir continued to fish consistently well on Tuesday yielding a rod average above 4 for the second consecutive day. The wind had swung round to a northerly from the previous day but there was still plenty of cloud cover & the fish remained high up in the water column, sitting just under the surface. Fish were caught as far up as the Willows to all the way down to the Hawthorns, on or just under the surface. The Dries accounted for a good number of fish with Foam Daddies, Grunters, CDC’s & Hoppers proving to be the most productive patterns. Under the surface, the Washing Line was the percentage method with either a FAB or Foam Daddy on the point & small lightweight Black Buzzers on the droppers. Father & son duo of Nigel & Max Woolnough had a great morning session landing 20+ to boat, most of which came to the dries. All Water Member Paul Walker also had a very productive session, taking 15 fish throughout the course of the day on Buzzers, CDC’s & Foam Daddies. Regular visitor Jude Tuffs landed 11 fish on the Washing Line with a Candy FAB on the point, on what was another productive visit. As with the previous day, the fish appeared to be very “poddy” which means there would be a flurry on interest followed by periods of inactivity. This meant that the best approach would be a mobile one & those fishing from drifting boats were more successful than those who remained static.

Wednesday brought with it some early mist which quickly disappeared once the sun began to rise. As the mist lifted it revealed a flat calm & fish could be seen moving across the reservoir. Washing Lined floaters & Dries continued to be the percentage methods with the fish still sat high up in the water column. Successful Dry Fly patterns included the usual suspects for this time of year, Hoppers, Foam Daddies, Grunters & CDC’s. Whereas on the Washing Line, a Foam Daddy or FAB on the point with Diawl Bachs & lightweight buzzers on the droppers. As well as being a successful Dry Fly, Hoppers have also been proven highly effective fished just under the surface & twiddled back. The most productive area continues to be the Main Basin, with fish found as far down the reservoir as the willows which is indicative of the decreasing water temperature.

Thursday started with a good degree of cloud cover which gave way in the afternoon to some very bright &    sunny intervals & consequently the reservoir seemed to fish better in the morning than it did in the afternoon. Despite the brighter conditions in the afternoon, the fish remained in the upper layers & were still some caught on the Dries & on the Washing Line, just not as frequently as they were in the morning. All Water Member Ed Douglas had a very productive day on the Dries landing 12 on a variety of patterns, mainly Bobs Bits & CDC’s. Those fishing the washing line caught on Booby’s & FABs on the point & Diawl Bach & Buzzers on the droppers. When fishing the Washing Line in changeable weather conditions, remember by changing your point fly you can alter the depth you are presenting your flies. FAB’s contain less foam than Boobies so they generally sit slightly lower in the water. These subtle changes can sometimes make such a difference to your catch rate.

A strong, blustery North Westerly winds & clear, bright skies were the conditions that met anglers on Friday. Those that did venture out found the fishing somewhat challenging. The fish remained high up in the water column & those that could present their flies correctly, just under the trough of the wave fared better than those that could not. Season Ticket holder Mick Farrell achieved this by fishing Cormorants on a Slow Intermediate, landing 10 fish in the process from the Hawthorns.  Another Season Ticket holder Keith Johnson also had a productive day, landing 9 fish pulling Hoppers, drifting the open water between the Island & Robbo’s Cabin. Malcolm Petrie & Colin McMonagle, fishing Day 1 of a 2-day short break, found plenty of fish in Harrisons Corner & along the North side of Dam. They landed 11 fish between them on black blobs & reported they had a lot more interest.

There was a cold, clear & bright start to Saturday. A light to moderate westerly developed into a strong blustery North-westerly. A second consecutive day of bright, clear skies & strong winds made the fishing again, somewhat challenging. Boat anglers sought shelter from the prevailing winds & there was fish caught along the Hawthorns, 100 – 150m off the bank. Enjoying their day 2 of a 2 Day short break, Malcolm Petrie & Colin McMonagle had yet another productive day, landing 12 fish on various patterns & methods. They targeted the fish feeding in the upper layers & chopped & changed throughout the day to continue catching. For those interested in one of our short break packages please follow the link below: https://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/short-break-packages/ The short term weather forecast indicates less wind & more cloud cover which bodes well for the coming days.

Sunday started with a very light north westerly breeze with plenty of cloud cover. The cloud cover remained consistent throughout the day, whereas the wind by midday, had developed into strong & blustery north-westerly before swinging round to the north. The wind direction & speed made fishing previously productive areas effectively, somewhat challenging. We hosted the latest fixture in the All-Abilities Friendly Fly Fishers (AAFFF) calendar which saw 19 anglers take to the water. Due to the wind, they opted for an early weigh in at 1430hrs & by that time they had caught 26 fish between them, which given the conditions was a sterling effort. After the weigh in some opted to return to the water for the late afternoon, which, by this time had saw the wind begin to abate. This proved to be an inspired decision as the reservoir fished better with the more favourable weather conditions. Most of those returning added to the fish they had caught previously with All Water Member Roger Kerrison adding 5 to his bag & Dave Porter adding 3. The most productive areas were Harrisons Corner, Robbo’s Cabin & 150m out from the Hawthorns with Dries & Washing lined floaters proving yet again to be the most productive methods.

Date for your Diaries: The 2022 Eyebrook Fur & Feather will be held on Sunday 23rd Oct. The Fur & Feather is a Pairs Competition fished to a 12 fish Boat Limit & Fishery Rules. The price is £83.50 per pair which includes 2 x 6 fish Tickets & Boat costs, Members can use their season tickets & just have to pay for a member’s boat. For anyone who is interested please call the Lodge on 01536 770264 for bookings.

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022 details are on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  18^th September   Rod Av: 2.9      Water Temperature: 16c+ / 17c

Monday weather was good with anglers reporting good numbers fish feeding at times along the far end of the dam into green bay and later in the day across the mouth of the Markfield Arm. Brian Morris caught 7 on claret & olive hoppers. Jamie Scott continues to catch well using the 12ft fast tip catching 11 on black hoppers & fab. Following a colder evening & cool evening it’s the first time in months that our water temperature was 17c+, which is going the right way.

Tuesday the afternoon & evening fished best for most with Pete Cox the only angler to do well during the morning session catching 5. Pete Hunt fished diawl bach & shipman’s to catch his 8 trout. Andrew Wilson caught his first fish at 3pm but went on to catch 9 on daddies & diawls with D Hussey catching 10 during the afternoon session on Diawls & daddy

Wednesday a brisk north wind most of the day and a surprising drop in temperature during the evening. Most anglers fished daddies, hoppers with size  #12 #14 Diawl Bach, hare`s ear, black or olive buzzers with a few fish being taken on a humungus & silver booby. Barry Deeley fished a midge tip line with humungus to catch 10 trout. P Cox & N Scowen caught 10 down the Markfield arm on hoppers & quill buzzer with D Slesser recording 6 trout. Eli Snyman on his first visit to Thornton fished the afternoon session catching 5 on fab and diawl bach.

Thursday the rod average was 3.9 with shuttlecock buzzer, diawl bach, hare ear, cruncher, hoppers being the most productive patterns. All water member P Walker caught 15 on shuttlecocks & diawls with Ian Leach & M Cowley boating 28 for their visit with M Ravenscroft catching 6 for his afternoon session. Plenty of trout across the top of the Markfield arm with the dam & green bay also favourite areas.

Friday & Saturday proved to be more of a challenge, with bright weather seemingly putting the trout down. Better day on Sunday despite a fresh wind with P Eville fishing diawl bach & cat booby to catch 11 for his mornings visit with Mark Hunt fishing buzzer on a midge tip or single cdc on a floater to catch his 15 trout

The afternoon / evening session is still best with the water temperature continuing to drop, currently 16c+ expect to see daddies, hoppers, shuttlecocks, suspender buzzers being the best patterns with some fish coming to fry patterns

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022. Details are on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

2022 Prices & details on our pre-payment visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  18^th September 2022              Rod Av: 3.1      Water Temperature: 16 °C

Good conditions to start the week with light winds from the South, overcast skies with some quite heavy un-forecast showers around lunch. Draycote member Kevin Rees fished dries all day to land 6 fish with Bob’s Bit’s and Crippled Midge being his best patterns. Another angler who used dries to great effect was Ed Douglas who landed 14 fish on dries, drifting around N- Y Buoy across Musborough Shoal. Jim & Richard Hall fished the Aerators with nymphs to boat fish between them. The boat of Lee Patten & Stuart Lee enjoyed a good days sport landing 11 fish. They used 2 foam daddies and 2 nymphs fished on a floating line drifting from Rainbow Corner over to A buoy and then out over the open water to land their fish.

The wind swung around to the North for Tuesday but remained light throughout the day. With the water temperature now at 17 degrees and fish consistently taking dries off the surface, anglers are really getting some good sport as we move towards the back end of the season. Season permit holder Lorenzo Serano had a dozen fish to the boat using a combination of daddies and cats whiskers. Mr Alan Masters used minkies in Toft and on the Aerators to boat a total of 6 fish for the day. Seasoned member Ray Rawlings caught 4 fish, pulling foam daddies on a sink tip line near D buoy. Mr G England used a combination of daddies and fry patterns to net a total of 4 fish from a drifting boat.

Wednesday started calm and overcast with a heavy mist hanging over the water. This soon cleared leaving us in bright sunshine with a breeze much stronger than forecast. A much harder day fishing wise, with the rod average dropping to 1.9. Anglers reported being able to see fish swimming past the boat quite high in the water near the Valve Tower, but these fish seemed impossible to catch. Mr White reported on a good day with half a dozen fish to the boat, caught on a mixture of cormorants and daddies. Draycote stalwarts Ian Richardson and Bob Smith had 4 fish between them to the boat on cormorants and snakes. Mr Gary Russell also caught 4 fish using olive damsels fished on a DI3 line up in Rainbow Corner. Mr Brian Joseph took to the bank for an evening session and landed a stunning rainbow of about 5lbs from the area near the Valve Tower on a small fry pattern.

Thursday dawned with a rather brisk and cool north easterly breeze and good cloud cover. Colin Day fished the bank landing 4 fish and loosing a number of others. Colin, landed 2 from Toft and two from the Tower Bank. Using a tequila blob, black spider an a Diawl Bach. Draycote members Ian Reeve & Colin Granger enjoyed a good morning from a boat. The pair landed 13 fish in the morning using buzzers and snakes fished on Di 3 sinking lines over the Aerators and near Y Buoy. Kevin Rees used dries to land 7 fish with Bob’s Bits being his best pattern. Fellow member Gordon Bramwell enjoyed a great day boating 18 fish, however, he didn’t leave any comments on how he landed the fish. Thursday also saw the English Fly Fishers Association take to the water with 30 anglers fishing to a 8 fish limit with full catch and release measuring the first 5 fish. Overall the 30 anglers caught 121 fish for a rod average of 4.03 with the winner being Andrew Wightwick who had his 8 fish, narrowly beating Ray Storer by 2cm. The best tactic by the EFFA was to fish a washing line on various lines drifting over the open water around A & B Buoy.

A northerly wind Friday with a sunny start, however, we did see some cloud arrive around Midday. All water member Ed Douglas used a washing line set up on a 12ft Airflo slow tip to land 10 fish. Ed found the fish around Y Buoy and drifting around Rainbow Corner. Tim Grove on his final day of a 3 day break landed 7 fish using dries and also nymphs fished on a washing line. R Minor & S Cooper landed 5 fish to the boat on daddies. With the best being a cracking Rainbow of 4lb. C Butler landed 9 fish using a silver lure on a Di 3 sinking line. With his 4lb bag of fish weighing in at 12lb. All water member Craig Middleton landed 6 fish using daddies on a floating line around A Buoy and Rainbow Corner.

A cold night with the air temperature getting as low as 3 degrees. This teamed with the cooler Northwest wind meant that there was a definite autumnal chill to Saturday. Although there is still a fair bit of weed about near the shoreline, bank angling has improved quite a lot. Mick Cronin and Stan Hillman both did very well fishing off the Tower Bank on suspender minkies cast just at the edge of the weed beds. Both anglers had over half a dozen fish each and reported on catching fish up to 5lbs in weight. Mr N Hollingshead also fished the Tower Bank, landing a brace on damsel patterns. Out on the boats Mr Blythe and Mr Taylor  caught 7 fish between them using white boobies on a DI7 fished over Middle Shoal. Several anglers reported catching good numbers of fish whilst drifting near P buoy but unfortunately failed to say how they did it.

There was a fairly stiff and cool north westerly blowing on Sunday morning, which persisted throughout the day. The reservoir fished pretty well overall, with good returns from various areas on the water. The Tower Bank once again showed up on the catch return, as did Middle Shoal and the Hensborough Bank. Alan Grant caught two fish whilst bank fishing from Lincroft Point on minkies. Sunday regular Jon Crowley caught 7 fish from a drifting boat around Middle Shoal using daddies and midas. Mark Braun caught his 11 fish on black shipmans buzzers and diawl bachs. Kasidit Leoviriyakit and Neil Lyons had 20 fish to the boat between them using white boobies fished on a DI5 line up in Rainbow Corner.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website: www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre-payment policy. The 2022 details are on our website:  http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 11 September 2022       Rod Av: 3.5      Water Temperature: 17-18°

The reservoir started the week as it finished the last, fishing very well. Fish were caught on a variety of methods; Dries, Washing Lined nymphs & pulled blobs, all of which were fished on or just under the surface. The most productive area was the Main Basin with those adopting a more mobile approach, fishing from a drifting boat, proving to be more effective as some high catch returns were recorded. Jude Tuffs had a very productive day in the Main Basin, landing 18 fish on various methods. By adjusting her method in accordance with the changeable weather, Jude was able to catch throughout the day. Her most consistent fly patterns were Foam Daddies, CDC’s & on occasions, Blobs. All Water Member Kevin Hart joined visiting angler Andy Birkett for a day. They targeted fish in the upper layers using a delicate Dry Fly approach & their endeavours were rewarded with 24 fish coming to the net between them. The weather forecast remains very favourable for the coming week.

There was a damp start to Tuesday following the evenings heavy rainfall. The wind had swung again round the south, bringing with it an excellent amount of cloud cover. As the day progressed the settle morning gave way to a blustery, changeable afternoon. This reflected in the fishing as most of the anglers reported an excellent morning followed by a tougher afternoon. Fish were caught throughout the Main Basin by those targeting the upper layers of water, either using the washing line or fishing dries. The most successful Dry Flies were those with a larger profile, with Foam Daddies & Big Reds doing particularly well. Those fishing the Washing Line found that Buzzers or Diawl Bachs to be particularly effective on the droppers. As for the point fly, it varied, dependant how high they wanted to suspend the washing line. By using a Booby on the point, they were able to suspend their flies slightly higher due to the eyes of the boobies containing more buoyant foam than a FAB. During the brighter spells by swapping the Boobies for a FAB or a smaller eyed Booby they were able to resent their flies slightly lower, which sometimes can make all the difference. Another alternative fly that can be used on the point of a washing line is either a Booby Nymph or a Foam Daddy. Both of which, provide a more subtle solution to a Blob Booby or a FAB, if wary fish should switch off to the colour. Should you require your flies to sit even higher, just sub surface, it is worth swapping your top dropper to a buoyant fly, booby or FAB, as this will help you suspend your washing line in the first few inches.

Wednesday followed a similar pattern to the previous day, with the Reservoir fishing better during the more settled morning than it did in the unsettled afternoon. The area of the main basin continues to fish very with fish being consistently caught from various locations. The weed beds along the Hawthorns continue to hold fish & those drifting out from them caught well. Washing lined Floaters or Midge Tips with a Blob Booby or FAB on the point & imitative patterns on the droppers; buzzers, Diawl Bachs & Crunchers. Eyebrook Member Bill had a very productive morning session landing 10 fish, with an even split coming to both the Blob Booby on the point & the nymphs. All Water Members Clive Moore & Ian Jobe also caught very well, landing 20 fish to the boat from various locations around the Main Basin. As the week continues to bring cooler weather with some bouts of rain, the great start to the week looks set to continue.

Thursday saw the reservoir fish well in patches with some anglers doing very well & some anglers finding it challenging. Those fishing dries seemed to fare better than those fishing below the surface with Andy Birkett doing particularly well landing 14 fish, all of which came to the dries. Later in the day Andy decided to target the fry feeding trout by fishing the Barrons Pin Fry Dry & also Popper Fry over weedbeds. Staying flexible in your methods is important at this time of year when the fish have a multitude of items to feed on. Hoppers are another item that can appear on the fish’s diet in September & they caught well today. Hoppers are a versatile pattern that can be just as effective just under the surface as they can on it.

The reservoir fished well on Friday with some of the boat anglers catching well into double figures. Craig Middleton & Les Lerigo had a very productive day landing well over 20 fish between them on various methods. The Main Basin seems to be the most productive area & along the Leicester Bank from the Lodge to the Hawthorns. The weed beds along there have been holding a good number of fish all season. It has been noticeable over the last few days that there has been an increase in the amount of fry feeding activity that has been occurring in this area. A Popper Fry fished in & around the weedbeds has proven very effective of late. Dry Flies have also fished consistently well, particularly in smaller sizes. Season Ticket holder Mick Farrell had a productive fishing Size 14 Hares Ears CDC & also a Size 14 Claret CDC.

Saturday’s bright & winding conditions made for a challenging day. There were still fish caught though with the Main Basin proving to be a productive area. Washing lined floater with a Foam Daddy on the point & Nymphs on the droppers seemed to be the percentage method. The Nemo Cruncher is an excellent Nymph for this time of year & Mark Braun found it very effective landing 7 fish on it. The recent fry feeding activity continued with Mike Saunders landing 5 fish on Popper Fry around the weedbeds in a Last 4-hour session. That period of the evening, as the light begins to fade can be exceptional when it comes to targeting fry feeding trout.

Sunday was a busy day at Eyebrook. The reservoir fished well, most notably to the Dries with some high returns recorded. Fish were caught on a whole host of Dries; with Foam Daddies, Crippled Midges, CDC’s & Yellow Owls all taking fish. It was extremely important for anglers to cover moving a fish as it would often turn on a fly that landed in its vicinity. Although the Main Basin continues to hold a lot of fish there were also fish caught down by the Willows, the Seat & off the Island. The Island also fished well off the bank where Season Ticket holder Malcolm Thompson landed 3 fish in a morning session. As well as Dries, a washing lined Floater also caught well for some with regular visitor Chris Martin landing 8 fish from the North side of the Dam using a Candy FAB on the point & Diawls & Crunchers above it. Eyebrook also hosted a Thornton Fly Fishers Club match which saw 14 members take to the water, managing to catch 20 fish between them. Given the match was fished through the toughest part of the day that was a great effort.

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022 details are on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  11^th September   Rod Av: 4.0      Water Temperature: 18c

Monday and without doubt the afternoon / evening session is fishing best with the green bay, stones area fishing best. Andrew Wilson took a day boat but caught his 7 trout during the afternoon with diawl bach & muddler. Gary Owen fished the afternoon session catching most of his 14 trout on black shuttlecock buzzer with Thornton member B Stone catching his 19 trout during the last 4 hour session with a small hares.

Tuesday, the more consistent fishing is during the afternoon evening. Floating lines were best with buzzers, diawl bach, hare’s ears, shuttlecocks and dries best. All Water member Dave Skudder caught 8 for his afternoon visit with M Kidd & R Smith on their first visit to Thornton catching 14 during a last 4 hour session.

Wednesday, everyone caught but again the afternoon & last 4 hour session fished best. Dave Pritchard during the morning session fished static diawl bach & buzzer landing 3 trout but reporting countless hook ups which failed to stay on. Paddy Fitch fished the afternoon & late evening session, he took shelter from the thunderstorm but once it had passed the fish were up and about with Paddy catching 12 on hares ear.

Thursday with anglers catching throughout the day, although the afternoon & evening continuous to fish the best with an evening rise during the last 4 hours. Dam, green bay & stones continue to be the spots anglers head too but fish are starting to move across the main basin with M Ravenscroft catching his 10 trout during the afternoon / evening session across the entrance to the Markfield arm. Richard Dayman  Phill Cross caught 12 during a morning session on buzzers, daddies & diawl bach. Ian (aka the Hero) Leach fished with Mark Cowley catching 19 on fabs, hares ear & diawls.

Friday was a strange day, localised showers heavy at times, could have been a change in the air pressure, whatever it was the fish didn’t want to play with Carl Bond top rod on 5

Saturday & a much better day G England & A Lilley had an excellent morning catching 15 using a washing line tactic. B Sibley fished red buzzers & diawl bach to catch his 9 trout during a morning visit with K Cowen boating 4 as did N Bates.

Sunday, Jason on a day off from the Eyebrook fished with his father for a morning session catching 11 on fabs & blobs in the top couple feet. S Swinfield & S Zeleny also fished a morning session catching 8 with most of the other rods fishing the morning or afternoon / evening session catching between 2 & 4 trout

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022. Details are on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

2022 Prices & details on our pre-payment visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  11^th September 2022              Rod Av: 4.7      Water Temperature:  18°C

A good start to the week with the rod average for the day finishing at 4.6 fish per angler. Sunny conditions on the morning with cloud arriving later in the day and some rain along with it. Draycote member and boat partner Stuart Lee landed 17 fish to the boat. The pair fished dries all day even during the morning and the sunny period to land their fish. Another boat that opted for dries all day was Kevin Rees who landed 10 fish. Kevin’s best dries being a Bob’s Bits and also a hopper fished around B Buoy and the top dam wall. Bob Smith & Bob Barfoot landed 14 fish to the boat near N Buoy and the Hensborough Bank on Olive snakes and cormorants. All water member Lorenzo landed 23 fish from the Aerators also using olive snake and cormorants and commented on a “great day with phenomenal fish”. As he landed a number of large Rainbows with full tails and silver plumes running through their fins. Iain Barr fished with Shaun Porter ahead of the national final at the weekend, landing 16 fish but didn’t get any information on the areas or the method.

A cloudy day Tuesday with some drizzle at lunch which then did clear to leave clear skies for the remainder of the day. With good cloud cover and light winds, the fish responded well to flies fished higher in the water column. Stuart Lee over from Canada, once again took to the water making the most of his time over here. Fishing with Alex Urquhart the pair used dries to land 15 fish, with the fish being landed from B Buoy and drifts around the Draycote Dam Wall. Draycote members Eddie Mitchell & Dave Kennell enjoyed a good days sport landing a dozen between them utilising a washing line around M Buoy drifting out into the open water. Paul Goulding fished with Dave Reynolds with both of them in the national at the weekend. The pair landed 10 fish to the boat, using  washing line over the open water around Y & B Buoy. Andy Birkett fished on his own on his second day of a three day package split between here and Eyebrook. Andy landed 11 fish out on his own using a small popper fry on the point with crunchers on the droppers fishing over the open water in the middle.

The wind came from the South on Wednesday, however, did swing into the west when heavy rain and thunder arrived in the afternoon. On the bank fishing for a short 3 hour session Dracyote season ticket holder Tony Broadway landed 3 cracking fish. Tony’s fish all weighted over 3lb, catching them from the Swan’s Nest in Toft. He used a Snowbee Buzzer tip with a tequila FAB on the point and 2 size 12 crunchers on the droppers, with all three taking the top dropper. To see a picture of these great fish visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore Draycote member Pete Allen also fished from the bank landed 2 this tome from the Rainbow Corner using hoppers. On the boats dries seemed to be the best method. Kevin Rees fished near Y buoy landing 13 fish using Bob’s Bits and also hoppers. Also in this area was all water member Ed Douglas who landed 8 fish on dries. Former fishery manager Kevin Hart fished with Andy Birkett with he pair landing 13 fish to the boat all on dries.

Overcast skies and once again Southerly winds Thursday. It was also the first practice day for the anglers competing in the National final this coming weekend. As a result we had all 32 boats out on the water. However, with such a prestigious match,  the anglers played their cards close to their chest on how they had done. Although the anglers who did speak say they enjoyed good sport with double figure catches. The best tactic seemed to either be dries over the open water or washing lining. Although there was also fish caught tight into the Draycote Dam walls fishing with Sparkler Boobies and also small international sized popper fry.

The Friday the wind swung into the Northwest and as with Thursday the anglers kept the tactics very close to their chest on how the fishing was going. However, reports from the anglers said there was more fish caught on the Friday and the fish seemed to switch on. Outside of the match Tony Broadway landed a brace of fish from the Swan’s nest with another fish of 3lb landed. Ifor Bullock also fished on the bank landing 3 fish.

After the 2 practice days the weekend saw the 64 anglers heading out on the water in the English National final with the top 28 qualifying for next year’s Spring & Autumn international teams. With the weather both days giving the anglers some of the best conditions, we have seen in a couple of weeks. Light winds form the Northwest before moving around to the North Saturday with overcast skies for most of the day. As a result of the great conditions the fish responded well with a 6.1 fish rod average for the match. With a good spread of fish all across the Lake with Y, B, N, M and C Buoy’s and drifts around them all producing good scores. There was a range of tactics, however intermediate lines with a mix of boobies, daddies, nymphs and cormorants seemed to be best method.

Day 2 once again great conditions, with overcast skies and light winds. However, the wind had swung 180 degrees with a little more sun. Which certainly made the fishing a lot more challenging than the day before. With the rod average finishing the day at 3.6 fish per man, however the fishing did improve as the day went on with the fish seeming to come on more in the last 2 hours of the match, after switching off after the first hour. Once again, the same washing tactics worked for the first hour, however, it was then dries that really started to work especially in the latter part of the match. With the wind change the hotspots changed as well with fish getting caught around K Buoy, F Buoy, P Buoy, and off Farborough Spit. Overall the winner of the National was Mark Miles who had 7 place points. To see the full results please visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore

Outside of the competition we did have some good sport from the bank on Sunday. Season ticket holder Jon Crowley landed 5 fish from Toft using cormorants and an orange foam daddy. David Hoppe also fished in Toft and caught 4 fish including a cracking 3lb Rainbow fished on the edge of the weed bed.

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website: www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre-payment policy. The 2022 details are on our website:  http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 04 September 2022       Rod Av: 2.5      Water Temperature: 18°

The week began with a blustery North North-easterly which bought overcast conditions with some sunny intervals. The algal bloom was again prevalent so the search for clear water proved to be paramount. By motoring upwind anglers were able to find some clear water & those that did caught relatively well targeting fish in the upper layers. In open water where the water was more choppy, larger profiled dries such as a Foam Daddy seemed to be most productive. Whereas in the sheltered areas where the water was calmer, smaller profiled patterns such as CDC’s were more productive. Toff Crowther & his boat partner had a productive day, landing 14 fish between them, fishing Dries in clearer water, which is a great return given the conditions.

Tuesday brought with it the same blustery conditions as the previous day. The water quality in the Main Basin remained the same as the algae continued to get pushed into this downwind area. As the day progressed, clear patches started to appear up by the Willows, Seat & in front of Robbo’s Cabin. Those targeting these clear patches with floaters & midge tips were more successful than those fishing below the algae around the area of the Basin. There were fish caught on Foam Daddies fished on & below the surface & also on the washing line with dark nymphs or cormorants on the droppers.

Wednesday saw us host the England Disabled Fly Fishers (EDFF) Eliminator which determines who will represent England next season. With the same conditions as previous days 11 anglers took to the water & landed 25 fish, which gave a rod average of 2.2. Given the coverage of algae & blustery this was an excellent effort, well done to all. Congratulations to all those that qualified & a special mention must go to Steve Radcliffe who was top rod on the day with 6 fish. Steve used a washing lined floater, with nymphs on the droppers & concentrated his efforts fishing the clearer water upwind. Well done, Steve, 6 fish is a great effort. Thank you to everyone involved with the day it was a great honour for us to host such an event.

With regards to the algae & weather conditions, Thursday was very much a case of no change. The fishing remained very challenging with the search for clear water being of the upmost important. Clear patches amongst the algae vary from day to day, so it is worth while taking the time to have a look around the reservoir to identify areas to fish. Once clear areas are located, fish slowly & relatively high up in the water column or even on the surface. Which is exactly what All Water Member Ed Douglas did, landed 4 fish all on dries.

There was a dull start to Friday which brought some rain by mid-morning. The wind remained a moderate northerly throughout the day which continued to push the algae into the corner of the pontoons. There were fish caught from both the boats & the bank with the most notable catches coming from Mr Gilmour & Mick Firth respectively. Mr Gilmour managed 2 fish from the bank at the Hawthorns on a Black Cat fished slowly which is a great effort given the current situation with the algae & that the wind was blowing onto that bank. Whereas, first time visitor Mick Firth, managed to land 6 fish from the boat, all on Daddies. With generally cooler air temperatures, cooler evenings & the forecast of rain over the next few days, the rate of which the algae will disperse should begin to accelerate.

Saturday saw the wind change direction to a Southerly which began to break up & disperse the algae lingering around the Main Basin. Consequently, the water began to clear & the reservoir fished very well. Fish were caught throughout the area of the Main Basin & there were some high returns recorded. Kevin Hart & Dave Pacey had a very productive day catching on a variety of methods fishing the north side of the tower drifting towards Harrisons Corner. Other areas of the main basin that produced were the weed beds along from the Lodge down towards the Hawthorns where fish were caught on Floating Fry patterns. Fish were also caught on Foam Daddies & washing lined floaters with a FAB on the point & nymphs above it; Nemo Crunchers & Diawl Bachs.

Sunday was a busy day at Eyebrook. We hosted an Eyebrook Fly Fishers (EFF) club match & also the latest All Abilities Friendly Fly Fishers (AAFFF)s outing. The reservoir fished very well for both events. The EFF competition was a designated Single Fly match where the participants could only use 1 fly. They could use 2 flies, but they had to be the designated Fly: in this instance, a Brown Foam Daddy. It turned out to be an inspired choice as they caught 31 fish between them, giving a rod average of 5.1. Well done to all. The AAFFF had 14 anglers taking to the water, they landed 74 fish between them which gave them a rod average of 5.2. What was equally impressive was that every one of their anglers caught, that is a great effort. They caught on a variety of methods from pulling boobies to fishing dries with the majority of their fish coming from the Main Basin. Elsewhere, local angler Dale Birch popped down for short session; landing 7 fish & Sam & Rob Edmunds had a very productive afternoon fishing Dries by the dam on the north side of the tower.

All in all, it was a tough start to the week, with algae present in the Main Basin. This area, as we know, had been holding a lot of fish. Consequently, as the water quality improved later in the week, the reservoir began to fish very well. This upward trajectory looks set to continue with the predicted weather forecast looking favourable for the forthcoming week.

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022 details are on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  4^th September      Rod Av:2.3      Water Temperature: 18c+

As we move towards the end of August we can look forward to September with its shorter daylight hours which will help reduce the water temperature and turn the fish onto the feed

Monday we saw a few of the larger claret buzzers during the late afternoon, quite often a traditional Mallard & Claret will take fish. We don’t see many use the old traditional flies, J Davidson fished Invicta & zulu catching 2 trout a cracking 11/4roach but reported lots of interest. All Water member Ian Leach caught 5 for his visit on a floating line & fabs

Tuesday & the first morning you sensed a possible change in the air, much cooler with the water temperature at 19c During the day a good number of swallows & sand martins were down feeding with a few buzzer hatching through the day. Paul Martindale caught 3 on Hoppers & daddies with P Cox still catching on the midge tip & #12 Fulling Mill Sunburst Fab. Andrew Wilson followed the swallows & martins working the area from the corner of the wood across the Markfield arm finding straight line buzzer worked best catching 6 trout.

Wednesday a noticeably cooler morning with our water temperature down to 18.5c with plenty of martins & swallows on the water feeding. Andy Lilley caught 8 during his morning session on olive buzzer, midge tip, 18ft leader. P Wurm fished the last 4 hours catching 3 drifting across the main basin.

Thursday with martins & swallows working the water, water temperature 18c some fish moving but proving difficult to tempt. P Wrigley fished the morning session catching 4, Paddy Fitch opted for the afternoon session picking up 4 trout with Bill Stone also fishing the afternoon catching 7 in front of the dam. Majority were taken on floating, midge tip, 12ft tip lines with Diawl Back, Claret or Olive buzzer, emergers & dries

Friday with the cooler water 18c in the morning we enjoyed a better day’s fishing. All water member P Walker caught 14 with most taking a muskins, another all water member M Hunt caught 14 on a claret bobs bits, yellow owl and big red with Paul & Sam Cook catching 6 during the last 4 hour session on daddies, muddler and sedge, other anglers caught on black emergers & diawls with the rod average 4.4 for the day.

Saturday with a nice southerly and water temperature of 18c it looked perfect and didn’t disappoint returning a rod average 4 for the day. Brian Perrie caught 8 on a diawl bach and white booby fishes washing line, M Clay caught 5 for his mornings visit with Neil Jones fishing the last 4 hour session catching 6 on small olive buzzers & black dries

Sunday and following Friday & Saturday rod averages of 4, it was surprising that the daily rod average dropped back to 2 on Sunday. Anthony Stone fished daddy patterns to catch his 2 fish, missing others. Pete Hunt & John Thomson shared their usual Sunday morning boat catching 6 on diawl bach with Tony Smith fishing the last 4 hour enjoying good sport boating 5 trout to buzzers

Water clarity is good, our water temperature is steady at 18c / 18c+ ideal for were its required to give us good sport as we move into September

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022. Details are on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

2022 Prices & details on our pre-payment visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  Sunday 28th August 2022              Rod Av: 2.2      Water Temperature: 19.5 °C

Monday saw much more overcast skies than the previous few days, with a light southerly breeze. Those who ventured out were very much interested in the weekends competition results as well as methods used. Armed with advice on areas and tactics, most anglers made their way towards the Draycote Dam  and the Hensborough bank. I know some anglers did try dries as there were fish moving on top early on, and this method met with some success. Most of the fish caught fell to nymph patterns such as diawl bachs and crunchers, fished on either a floater or a midge tip line. Season permit holder John Dickens caught a total of 5 fish, on foam daddies and diawl bachs. Draycote stalwart Graham Homer caught 3 fish, once again on diawl bachs fished on a floater, whilst drifting in Rainbow Corner. Mr D Macdonald, visiting us on one of our package deals, caught his fish in the aerators using silver dabblers. Mr N Tomkins and Mr D Minall had 14 fish to the boat between them. They tried the dries first, and then moved on to a washing line and nymphs, with a FAB on the point.

An overcast start to the day, however the sun mad an appearance for the first part of the day before the cloud arrived around lunch time. Mr Hild & Mr Wood enjoyed a good day landing a dozen fish on wets, the pair drifted from the top dam wall towards B Buoy. Then later drifting down towards P Buoy from Y Buoy. Colin Granger fished with Ian Reeve for a morning boat landing 11 fish drifting from the back of the Aerators towards the tower bank. Mr M Francis also fished in that area landing 9 fish, and commented that the fish wanted anything small and red. Mr N Tomkins & D Minall landed a dozen fish to the boat with D Minall pulling on a intermediate while Mr Tomkins fished nymphs. The pair found the fish drifting from Y Buoy down to P Buoy. Fishery Guide Andy Miller took Dave Wright out on a beginner tuition session with Dave landing 6 fish, including his first ever trout. To see pictures of the session please visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore and for any guiding or tuition bookings give Tom a call on 01788 812018.

A very humid “muggy” day on Wednesday with he wind coming from the Southwest. Draycote members David Holding & Geoff Brooks enjoyed a good days sport landing 14 fish to the boat. The pair fished over the Aerators using a green pea on a midge tip line to land their fish. Another angler using a midge tip to good effect was John Honour, who landed 5 fish with his best pattern being a daddy. David Harrison fished over the Aerators using a black snake fished on a Di 3 sinking line to land 5 fish. Father & Son due Jim and Richard Hall enjoyed a good days sport landing 18 fish to the boat using Di 3 & Di 5 sinking lines and snakes with he pair landing fish from the Aerators and B Buoy. Once again fishery guide Andy Miller took to the water this time with Adam & Graham. The pair with Andy’s guidance enjoyed a great session landing 8 fish on snakes and also orange daddies.

A cloudy start to the day with a cool North wind while it looked like rain for most of the morning it wasn’t until midday we experienced a heavy rain shower with drizzle then continuing for a couple of hours. With the sun then making an appearance for the afternoon. Draycote member Mark Braun enjoyed a great day on the water landing 19 fish using snakes fished on a Di 5 sweep drifting through the Aerators. Fellow member Dan McElligott also enjoyed a great day’s sport landing 23 fish. Dan, also fished through the Aerators using an intermediate line with a barred olive snake booby utilising a roly-poly retrieve to tempt the fish. The Aerators were certainly the hotspot as Martin Ashby landed 14 fish from them. Using a snake on a Di 5 sinking line and then floating line and intermediates with cormorants to land his fish. Away from the Aerators Kevin Rees landed 12 fish all on dries with crippled midge being his standout pattern.

A challenging day Friday with very little to no wind all day and bright skies. As a result the Aerators proved to be the hotspot but with all the boat pressure the fish switched off. Fishery guide Andy Miller took two keen young coarse anglers out Tom & Thomas and with his assistance, helped them land their first trout on a fly rod. Draycote Member Peter Elliot fished with Stuart Lee from Canada with the pair boating 7 fish on nymphs fished around A & B Buoy. Fellow Draycote member Graham Homer also used nymphs to good effect landing 4 fish. Graham used Diawl Bachs on a washing line around Rainbow corner. We also had a number of anglers practicing for the Fly Dressers Guild John Watts competition, who kept there cards close to their chest on exact details on how they had caught but they did report it hadn’t been the easiest day with the conditions.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny with a light easterly breeze. Despite the colour in the reservoir and the warm water temperatures at the moment, Draycote continues to fish reasonably well. Debbie and Sean Gilbert only boated one fish but hooked and dropped quite a few off Lincroft Point and in Toft Shallows. Debbie and Sean used snakes on sinking lines throughout the day. Young Ian Reeve and his boat partner Rich Williams used snakes on sinking lines to boat 9 fish from the area in front of The Valve Tower and through the Aerators. Chris Discombe and Jim Brennan had half a dozen fish to the boat between them. Chris and Jim targeted the area of the deeper water near the Draycote Dam as well as the Aerators with sinking lines and lure patterns.

Saturday also saw The Fly Dressers Guild hold the John Watts Fishing Competition here at Draycote water, with 44 anglers taking part. The participants netted a total of 115 fish for a competition rod average of 2.6. In third place was the North Kent Oldies, second place was taken by Ayrshire, and the winners were Trout ‘n’ Gout. Well done to all anglers who took part.

On Sunday morning there was a light easterly blowing across the reservoir with bright conditions for most of the day. Early on there were fish showing at Lincroft Point with anglers having some success there on lures until about 11 o’clock. Once these fish switched off, anglers could be seen moving off towards the western end of the reservoir. John Crowley caught 5 fish on snakes and black boobies whilst drifting along the north shore and off Lincroft Point. Martin Ashby had a brace during a morning session using a floating line and cormorants whilst drifting in the Aerators. Roger Kerrison used hares ears to good effect, with him and his boat partner netting half a dozen fish between them.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website: www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre-payment policy. The 2022 details are on our website:  http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 28^th August 22       Rod Av: 2       Water Temperature: 18 – 19°

It was a bright & clear start to the week. As the day progressed the very light south westerly wind developed into a moderate breeze which brought with it some cloud cover & intervals of light showers later. Fish were caught along the Leicester Bank from the lodge to the Hawthorns, predominately on small dries with CDC Yellow taking most fish. Those that drifted from tight into the bank across into the Basin fared better than those who chose to anchor. All water member Mark Hunt had a very productive afternoon session landing 12 fish, all on Yellow Owls, drifting out from the Leicester Bank. This time of year, it is very important to adopt a mobile approach. The likelihood of catching is dramatically improved by fishing from a drifting boat as you are covering more water in search of feeding fish.

Tuesday brought with it a gentle south westerly & plenty of cloud cover. Throughout the day, the wind remained a south westerly but increased slightly & the consistent cloud cover gave way to sunny intervals. This reflected in the fishing as were fish caught consistently during the morning & it became more challenging during the afternoon. Fish were caught on Dries in the morning, CDC’s & Foam Daddies & during the brighter afternoon, washing lined floater or midge tip were the percentage methods. This was as to be expected as the brighter conditions forced the fish to sit that little bit deeper in the afternoon. All water member Paul Walker had a very productive day landing 17 fish. Paul continued to catch during the day by changing his approach to match the change in the conditions. He caught on CDC’s in the morning, Diawl Bachs in the afternoon & Fry patterns in the evening. Remaining flexible in your approach & adapting to the conditions is paramount if we want to be consistent in our fishing.

Wednesday started the same as Tuesday with a gentle south westerly & good cloud cover. As the day progressed though the wind increased & began to swing round, initially to a westerly & then a north westerly later in the day. By early evening the wind had abated leaving a very gentle ripple making moving fish easy to spot. The reservoir produced fish throughout the day with the Leicester Bank down to the Hawthorns & across the Main Basin being the most consistent area. Fish were caught again on Dries & washing lined Nymphs on a floater with Foam Daddies accounting for a lot of the fish caught. Later in the day the fish began to feed more aggressively & it became apparent that to illicit a response, a long steady draw of the Foam Daddies was required. Numerous fish came to this method throughout the late afternoon & early evening, as demonstrated by Nigel & Max Woolnough who landed 14 fish pulling Foam Daddies on or just under the surface.

The wind had swung round to a northerly by Thursday & it brought the warmer water from the shallower, northern area down to the cooler water in the Main Basin. This resulted in an algal bloom which was very dense in some areas & building. Consequently, this made the fishing challenging as the fish were adapting to the changes in water quality. There were a few fish caught however with the bank anglers faring better than the boat anglers as they fished the sheltered area of the Hawthorns, which was still relatively clear, with it being in the lee of the Island from the Northerly wind. The successful method for them was to fish a washing lined floater with nymphs & let them swing around on the breeze.

By Friday the Algae had become more widespread & denser which made for extremely challenging conditions. The lack of wind & high air temperature meant the Algae would intensify throughout the day. The conditions made it very difficult for the anglers to find clear water & consequently, it appeared to be a challenging day for all.

With slightly more of a breeze on Saturday there was renewed optimism amongst the anglers. Those that chose fish deep & under the Algae caught well through the day. Season Ticket holders Neil Shilton & Bob Margery both having productive days. Neil took to his float tube & caught 8 fish on lure patterns fished deep & slow on a Di 7 around the deeper areas of the reservoir, which was a great return. Bob Margery caught well using a Green Pea & landing 6 fish in a short morning session. The Green Pea, with its black profile would show up well in the coloured water & was a great choice of fly by Bob. Elsewhere, All water Member Lee Edwards took 5 fish on a White Humungus fished slow in the deeper water. When fishing coloured water, be that algae or sediment, fishing larger profiled flies on a slow retrieve will increase the likelihood of the fish seeing the fly.

Sunday saw a moderate East North Easterly wind that brought some good cloud cover with some sunny intervals. The consistent wind direction continued to push the Algae into the corner of the Pontoons, which resulted in some patches of clear water up wind. Anglers fishing in the clearer areas caught high up in the water column with washing lined floaters & on dries. Successful patterns being Foam Daddies in a variety of body colours & CDC’s in the softer water.

With the forecast for the following week looking consistent, the Algae should start to be getting broken up & dispersed which makes the prospects for coming week very promising.

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022 details are on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  28^th August  Rod Av: 2.0   Water Temperature: 19c+

Monday start of the fishing week with our water temperature 20c. Water clarity is good. Conditions for Monday morning looked good to us, although obviously not for the trout with the best of the fishing late afternoon onwards. J Scott caught 6 on diawl bach with the majority caught after 3pm, Bill Stone fished the afternoon session catching his 10 trout between 3.30pm & 7.30pm

It’s a bit like last week no rime or reason, one day the morning is best the next it’s the afternoon with the daily rod average all over the place. Monday afternoon was best rod average 4. Tuesday morning was best with a rod average 1.8 P Cox caught 5 on his small fulling mill sunburst fab and diawl bach, A Olding caught 4 on diawls for his mornings visit.

Wednesday all anglers caught with catches of 1 to 5 fish recorded, not easy, but some anglers reported pods of feeding fish which were not easy to tempt. We are seeing a few of the larger claret buzzer which is why the nemo nymph pattern, claret hopper and big red dries are working. Hopefully a change of wind to a cooler northerly will help.

Thursday a northerly wind but the fishing remained mixed, J Scott stuck to his 12ft slow tip & diawl bach to catch his 6 trout with most other rods catching between 1 & 3 trout on diawls, apps bloodworm & orange daddies

Friday & a better days fishing, P Walker caught 7 on crunchers, Carl Bond fished Fab, claret buzzer & humungus to catch his 5 trout, H Davies also caught 5 for his mornings visit with Lorenso fishing the afternoon session but opted for a DI7 & small white snake to catch his 7 trout

Saturday & the first time for some weeks our opening water temperature had dropped below 20c, were now sat at 19c. Fishing however was tough with M Hunt fishing hard for his 6 trout caught on a 6ft midge tip 20ft leader & heavy buzzer with claret or olive buzzer.

Sunday proved to be the most challenging day of the week, despite our opening water for the third morning in a row at 19c+  Pete Hunt did the best fishing a washing line static catching 3 trout for his mornings visit.

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022. Details are on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

2022 Prices & details on our pre-payment visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  Sunday 28th August 2022              Rod Av: 2.2      Water Temperature: 19.5 °C

Monday saw much more overcast skies than the previous few days, with a light southerly breeze. Those who ventured out were very much interested in the weekends competition results as well as methods used. Armed with advice on areas and tactics, most anglers made their way towards the Draycote Dam  and the Hensborough bank. I know some anglers did try dries as there were fish moving on top early on, and this method met with some success. Most of the fish caught fell to nymph patterns such as diawl bachs and crunchers, fished on either a floater or a midge tip line. Season permit holder John Dickens caught a total of 5 fish, on foam daddies and diawl bachs. Draycote stalwart Graham Homer caught 3 fish, once again on diawl bachs fished on a floater, whilst drifting in Rainbow Corner. Mr D Macdonald, visiting us on one of our package deals, caught his fish in the aerators using silver dabblers. Mr N Tomkins and Mr D Minall had 14 fish to the boat between them. They tried the dries first, and then moved on to a washing line and nymphs, with a FAB on the point.

An overcast start to the day, however the sun mad an appearance for the first part of the day before the cloud arrived around lunch time. Mr Hild & Mr Wood enjoyed a good day landing a dozen fish on wets, the pair drifted from the top dam wall towards B Buoy. Then later drifting down towards P Buoy from Y Buoy. Colin Granger fished with Ian Reeve for a morning boat landing 11 fish drifting from the back of the Aerators towards the tower bank. Mr M Francis also fished in that area landing 9 fish, and commented that the fish wanted anything small and red. Mr N Tomkins & D Minall landed a dozen fish to the boat with D Minall pulling on a intermediate while Mr Tomkins fished nymphs. The pair found the fish drifting from Y Buoy down to P Buoy. Fishery Guide Andy Miller took Dave Wright out on a beginner tuition session with Dave landing 6 fish, including his first ever trout. To see pictures of the session please visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore and for any guiding or tuition bookings give Tom a call on 01788 812018.

A very humid “muggy” day on Wednesday with he wind coming from the Southwest. Draycote members David Holding & Geoff Brooks enjoyed a good days sport landing 14 fish to the boat. The pair fished over the Aerators using a green pea on a midge tip line to land their fish. Another angler using a midge tip to good effect was John Honour, who landed 5 fish with his best pattern being a daddy. David Harrison fished over the Aerators using a black snake fished on a Di 3 sinking line to land 5 fish. Father & Son due Jim and Richard Hall enjoyed a good days sport landing 18 fish to the boat using Di 3 & Di 5 sinking lines and snakes with he pair landing fish from the Aerators and B Buoy. Once again fishery guide Andy Miller took to the water this time with Adam & Graham. The pair with Andy’s guidance enjoyed a great session landing 8 fish on snakes and also orange daddies.

A cloudy start to the day with a cool North wind while it looked like rain for most of the morning it wasn’t until midday we experienced a heavy rain shower with drizzle then continuing for a couple of hours. With the sun then making an appearance for the afternoon. Draycote member Mark Braun enjoyed a great day on the water landing 19 fish using snakes fished on a Di 5 sweep drifting through the Aerators. Fellow member Dan McElligott also enjoyed a great day’s sport landing 23 fish. Dan, also fished through the Aerators using an intermediate line with a barred olive snake booby utilising a roly-poly retrieve to tempt the fish. The Aerators were certainly the hotspot as Martin Ashby landed 14 fish from them. Using a snake on a Di 5 sinking line and then floating line and intermediates with cormorants to land his fish. Away from the Aerators Kevin Rees landed 12 fish all on dries with crippled midge being his standout pattern.

A challenging day Friday with very little to no wind all day and bright skies. As a result the Aerators proved to be the hotspot but with all the boat pressure the fish switched off. Fishery guide Andy Miller took two keen young coarse anglers out Tom & Thomas and with his assistance, helped them land their first trout on a fly rod. Draycote Member Peter Elliot fished with Stuart Lee from Canada with the pair boating 7 fish on nymphs fished around A & B Buoy. Fellow Draycote member Graham Homer also used nymphs to good effect landing 4 fish. Graham used Diawl Bachs on a washing line around Rainbow corner. We also had a number of anglers practicing for the Fly Dressers Guild John Watts competition, who kept there cards close to their chest on exact details on how they had caught but they did report it hadn’t been the easiest day with the conditions.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny with a light easterly breeze. Despite the colour in the reservoir and the warm water temperatures at the moment, Draycote continues to fish reasonably well. Debbie and Sean Gilbert only boated one fish but hooked and dropped quite a few off Lincroft Point and in Toft Shallows. Debbie and Sean used snakes on sinking lines throughout the day. Young Ian Reeve and his boat partner Rich Williams used snakes on sinking lines to boat 9 fish from the area in front of The Valve Tower and through the Aerators. Chris Discombe and Jim Brennan had half a dozen fish to the boat between them. Chris and Jim targeted the area of the deeper water near the Draycote Dam as well as the Aerators with sinking lines and lure patterns.

Saturday also saw The Fly Dressers Guild hold the John Watts Fishing Competition here at Draycote water, with 44 anglers taking part. The participants netted a total of 115 fish for a competition rod average of 2.6. In third place was the North Kent Oldies, second place was taken by Ayrshire, and the winners were Trout ‘n’ Gout. Well done to all anglers who took part.

On Sunday morning there was a light easterly blowing across the reservoir with bright conditions for most of the day. Early on there were fish showing at Lincroft Point with anglers having some success there on lures until about 11 o’clock. Once these fish switched off, anglers could be seen moving off towards the western end of the reservoir. John Crowley caught 5 fish on snakes and black boobies whilst drifting along the north shore and off Lincroft Point. Martin Ashby had a brace during a morning session using a floating line and cormorants whilst drifting in the Aerators. Roger Kerrison used hares ears to good effect, with him and his boat partner netting half a dozen fish between them.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website: www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre-payment policy. The 2022 details are on our website:  http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 21^st August 22       Rod Av:   3.3        Water Temperature: 19°+

After a stifling hot few days’ last week, Monday started with some welcome cooler weather although the forecast was for thunderstorms storms over the early part of the week. Although the Algae hadn’t totally cleared, there were areas of clear water out in open water of the main basin. Monday lunchtime saw some ominous clouds forming along with some moderate winds, but after an hour they passed to leave a nice summers evening with swallows, and a few trout, responding to the hatching fly life. Ian Jobe was top rod, taking 9 fish whilst float tubing alongside the netted bank. Ian used snakes on a DI7. Snakes were the most consistent fly with the anglers out in the other boats all recording fish to these patterns.

Tuesday brought with it overcast conditions & a warm air temperature. Throughout the day there was showers, some lighter than others. As the reservoir began to readjust from the recent hot spell anglers found the fish to be in a selective & picky mood. All anglers reported plenty of interest from the trout, be that follows or pulls but very few positive hook ups. This is to be expected really, as the fish will require time to adapt to the change in conditions & there is bound to be a small period of adjustment.

There was a strong to moderate Northerly wind on Wednesday which lasted all day. With it, it brought some heavy intervals of rain which petered out as the day wore on. The wind pushed the warmer water from the shallower, northern end of the reservoir down into the basin which did increase the water temperature. It also pushed the remaining algae into the shore & up onto the bank. During this period the water quality did decrease in the basin & the fishing became challenging & subsequently the anglers who went to the basin, struggled. However, the water quality up the north of the reservoir dramatically improved & consequently so did the fishing. Those who ventured up there, went initially in search of softer water, but it soon became apparent that there was plenty of moving fish. All water member Mark Hunt went up to the Willows & had an excellent day, landing 13 fish, all on dries: CDC emergers proving to be successful. Whereas regular angler Chris Martin caught very well, in the same area but this time on a washing lined floater, with Diawl Bachs up the line. The reservoir will continue in this short term, state of flux until we have a period of consistent & settled weather.

Thursday brought with it a 180-degree change in the wind direction, which meant the wind was now coming from the lodge. After an initial slow start, which is only to be expected after such a change in the wind direction, the reservoir fished well & produced a solid rod average of 4.4. Fish were caught all along the Leicester Bank from the lodge to the Hawthorns area on either a washing lined floater or dries. Resident Guide Andy Miller shared a boat with John Butler who was on a Guided boat session, & they had a great day landing plenty of fish all of which came to a Foam Daddy. Elsewhere, Mr Stern & his boat partner also had a very productive day, landing over 20 fish to boat, from the Hawthorns area. Their fish came to either a washing lined floater or dries & most notably, all in the afternoon.

Friday was a relatively quiet day & of those who ventured out, Ian Mcleod had the top bag, landing 9, all on dries from the boat. There were fish still caught in the Main Basin & along from the lodge to the Hawthorns. The fish remain high in the water column & have been caught on Dries & small nymphs, fished on a washing lined floater. As the water temperature continues to drop, the amount of time the fish will remain in the surface layers will increase, especially during periods of cloud cover. In these situations, don’t wait to see moving fish to put the Dries on, give them a try as large proportion of fish will come blind to well-presented Dry Fly. By “blind” we mean that you haven’t cast to rising fish & the fish has simply came up & taken your fly. If larger Dry Flies are receiving a lot of attention but not resulting in positive hook ups, try scaling down hook sizes or even a smaller pattern entirely.

Saturday saw the reservoirs good form continue with plenty of fish being caught from both the boat & the bank, yielding an impressive daily rad average of 6.9.  Season Ticket holder Malcolm Thompson landed 14 fish from the bank fishing a Washing Lined floater with Diawl bachs on the droppers at the Bell. From the boats, dries yet again proved to be a very productive method with Hares Ear, Midas & Foam Daddies being amongst the more successful patterns. Fish were caught from various locations throughout the day, from the Willows to the Hawthorns the fish were sat high up in the water column & willing to take flies just under or off the surface. Another season ticket holder, Bob Margery opted to fish below the surface & landed 16 fish in a morning session using a Geen Pea & a White lure. Also, Andruis Papeika & his boat partner had a very productive day, landing over 20 fish between them on Hare’s Ear’s which is a great return.

Sunday brought a bright start to the day, with a gentle south westerly breeze which stiffened during the day. The clear blue sky gave way to periods of broken cloud cover which varied in length & density. The reservoir fished well again, however due to the changeable conditions it did not quite hit the heights of yesterday. Fish were still caught from both the boats & the banks. Malcolm Thompson & Dave Etty both caught from the bank down by the Bell & the Hawthorns fishing either CDC’s or Nymphs on a floating line. The most productive area from the boats remained the Main Basin with plenty of fish being caught on either Washing Lined Floaters & Midge Tips or on the Dries out across the open water. Mr Radcliffe had a very successful day landing 11 fish. He targeted the fish in the upper layers by using a Midge Tip & Cormorants for most of the fish & Dries for the others. Changing your approach throughout the day to match the conditions can often pay dividends & this can at times, make all the difference.

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022 details are on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  21^st August      Rod Av: 3.8      Water Temperature: 20c – 21c

Monday quiet day with rods watching the forecast & waiting for the weather to break. Tuesday few rods out with the forecast for cooler conditions & a chance of rain later in the day.

Wednesday with overnight rain giving us ¾ inch of rain, much welcomed. Breezier day with a cool northerly will help to reduce our water temperature, its already dropped 3c since Sunday afternoon sat at 21c this morning. Despite the rain which fell steady we have little or no runoff as the ground absorbed the rain. Only 1 rod out Dave Pritchard, he found the trout moving off the stones managed to hook 7 trout on a montana but only landing the 1 trout.

Thursday, overcast morning, with the anglers heading for the dam wall, green bay & stones. Anglers reported trout moving in pockets, locate a pocket of these feeding trout, put on a small #14 diawl, #14 #16 olive buzzer, dries & you were into fish. Carl Bond & his brother caught 11 on buzzer, S Windram fished #14 diawl & caught 6 but lost just as many. S Orton fished with N Perkins catching 12 on dries & emergers. L Serrano fished a washing line, small daddy, small nemo & diawl to catch 27 with Paddy Fitch & Bill Stone catching 29 for their afternoons visit.

Friday Chris Sayer fished pheasant tails to catch his 7 trout with John & Tom Davis fishing diawl bach & damsel nymph to catch their 8 with Richard Smith fishing a short morning session catching 3.

Saturday & a couple of rods found the winning combination, B Perrie fished diawl bach & hoppers to catch his 22 trout with L Serrano fishing the afternoon session close along the main dam to catch his 20+ trout on damsel & pheasant tails. Lorenzo returned to Fish Sunday afternoon catching 12 on daddies & diawls, Emad caught 6 for his morning session with K Walker also fishing the morning session to catch 5

A mixed week with the daily rod average seesawing from 1 to 8, with the water temperature down to 20c, lower evening temperatures we can look forward to steadier, consistent fishing during September.

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022. Details are on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

2022 Prices & details on our pre-payment visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  Sunday 21^st August 2022              Rod Av:3.1      Water Temperature: 19  °C

A cooler start to the week, with the wind coming from the Northwest making it a much more pleasant day to be out on the water. Although the water temperature remained high sitting at 22°C meaning the fish could still be found further down in the water column. Jim Dempsey fished for a half day using the rudder to land 6 fish. Jim found the fish off the Draycote Dam using a black snake, commenting that the fish seemed to be about 10-15 feet down. All water member Lorenzo Serrano landed 8 fish using snakes and boobies around B Buoy, A Buoy, and the Aerators. Fellow all water member Ed Douglas also fished in these areas landing 11 fish on boobies fished on a Di 7 sinking line and a figure of eight retrieve. Fishery Guide Lee Henfrey headed out on the water for  2 hour experience session with young anglers Leo & Seb Sharp. With the help of Lee the lads landed 4 fish to the boat back drifting white snake boobies near the Draycote Dam. Pictures of the session can be find here www.facebook.com/flyfishstore.

A cooler start Tuesday with some drizzle in the afternoon, however it did get very Humid in the afternoon before rain mixed with some thunder around 6pm. As a result of the slightly cooler temperatures, the water temperature dropped a degree to 21°C. As a result the fish moved slightly higher in the water column. Rob Floyd & Nick Loughrey landed 6 fish to the boat using a Di 5 sinking line with a booby on the point and Diawl Bachs on the droppers. With drifts around C Buoy and the Value Tower proving to be the most effective area. Dave Reynolds & Paul Goulding also found the fish sitting higher in the water. As the pair landed 8 fish to the boat washing line on intermediates. Martin Ashby fished for a half day landing 5 fish from the Aerators on snakes using a sinking line.

Heavy overnight rain certainly gave a much fresher feel to the day Wednesday with a brisk Northeast wind. Draycote member Mike Garner fished from the bank landing 4 fish from along the Cornfield on cormorants. A good sign that the fish have moved closer to the bank with the change in weather. On the boats the fishing was a little challenging as, the big swing in weather conditions seemed to put the fish off the feed. Beginner member Simon Enstock landed a brace from E Buoy in Biggin Bay using a black and gold humungus and a booby. All water member Chris Bobby fishing with Mark McCleod landed 6 fish to the boat using “various boobies on various lines in several places”. So I think its clear to see from that report that was no standout method for the day the key was to just keep on the drifting searching the water.

A grey start to Thursday with he water temperature dropping down to 20 degrees, with some drizzle around first thing in the morning. On the boats all water member Paul Havard landed 8 fish using a 3ft midge tip and a washing line. With 6 fish taking the black crunchers on the droppers and 2 on the tequila booby on the point fishing in Rainbow Corner. Frank Sumnall & Lester Booth landed 14 fish to the boat using nymphs fished on a floating line or a Midge tip around Rainbow Corner & B Buoy. Draycote member John Dickens landed 9 fish with 6 of them coming to crippled midge in the last hour as the fish came on the feed. Dave Kennel fished with Alec Urquhart with the pair landing 14 fish using a washing line with a mixture of nymphs FABs and daddies. All water member Ed Douglas also used a washing line to land 10 fish drifting around Y Buoy.

A bright day Friday with quite a gusty Southwest wind at times. We had a number of boats on the water with anglers practicing ahead of the John Horsey angler’s world holiday final on Sunday. Dave Reynolds & Dale Griffiths landed 21 fish to the boat using nymphs fished on a washing line. Ben Dobson & Ian Gaskell also enjoyed a good days sport landing similar numbers. Ben had the lion share of the sport using a Di 5 sweep and a gold arsed Cat Booby. Jon Crowley enjoyed a great 4 hour session on the boats landing 10 fish from B Buoy & Y Buoy. Jon used a Di 7 sweep sinking line with a black and gold snake to land his fish. Draycote Member James Alexander fishing with a work colleague  landed 10 fish to their boat. Fishing with snakes on a Di 3 drifting from C Buoy to Y Buoy.

This weekend here at Draycote we hosted the Anglers World Fly Fishing Championships. The practice day on Saturday went pretty well overall, with lots of anglers being very tight lipped about where they were catching and on which method. From what we can gather, lots of anglers fished over the deeper water across A, B and C buoy, straight lining nymphs on a floater or midge tip line. One angler in particular said he caught at M buoy on the Hensborough Bank, pulling two blobs with a diawl bach in between on a DI3. Fish were showing early on in the day, inside the golden triangle, but no one seemed to catch in that area on Saturday.

And so to the match day on Sunday. Competitors were very excited to get out on the water, and it was noted that there were many different types of set ups between the anglers first thing in the morning, all avenues were going to be explored. At the start, all boats headed west, up to the deeper water near the Draycote Dam, as well as M buoy and the front of the Overflow. Towards the close of the competition, with boats moving ever closer to the pontoon, from the lodge we could see anglers bending into fish near J buoy. The total number of fish caught for the competition was 308, producing an average of 3.1, with the top three rods netting ten fish apiece. Third spot went to Mark Miles, with a bag weight of 20lbs 11oz. Gordon Leavy came second with a bag weight of 20lbs 12oz, and the winner on count back, with a bag weight also of 20lbs 12oz, was Paul Tweddle. Congratulations to all anglers who supported the competition.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website: www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre-payment policy. The 2022 details are on our website:  http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 14^th August 22       Rod Av: 2.8          Water Temperature:  22 – 23°C

It was a stifling hot start to the week, soring air temperatures & very little breeze resulted in the Algae appearing in full bloom. However, there were areas of clear water out in open water & it is best to work these areas intensively, trying various methods & depths until you can locate the fish. It sometimes pays to ignore the few fish you can see as these may not be interested in feeding & target the fish you can’t.

Tuesday saw no let-up in the oppressive weather with ever rising temperatures & no breeze whatsoever. The weather did little to help the Algae as much of the reservoir surface remained perfectly still. The main difference on Tuesday was the number of diving birds working the water which indicated that there was clearer water below the algae. Armed with this information anglers were advised to fish deeper in search of clearer water & therefore the fish. Out guiding a client, fishery Guide Andy Miller heeded this advice & had a successful session finding fish a Booby on a Di7 across the open, deeper water of the Main Basin. Andy also found that fishing the hang to be a key component of his success. Elsewhere, Paul Cramp out practising for the weekend’s 6 x 4 landed 7 fish which is excellent given the conditions. Paul again fished deep using a Di7 & was also able to find a few clearer patches which usually resulted in interest from the fish.

Wednesday brought with it a welcome consistent breeze from the East. This assisted in pushing the algae into a localised areas which resulted in an increase of clearer areas. The reservoir fished better therefore, yielding a daily rod average of 3.8 which is good given the water temperature & patches of algae. Those who fished deeper were the most successful using boobies on a Di 7 with the best areas being the north side of the tower in the main basin. All water members Clive Moore & Ian Jobe caught well in the basin, landing double figures & whilst out practising for the forthcoming 6 x 4 competition at the weekend Neil Cohen had 7 fish to the boat. The fishing is challenging at the moment but there are fish there to be caught if you are willing to go after them.

Thursday was another challenging day as the easterly breeze continued to push the algae towards the lodge. The air & water temperature continued to increase which exasperated the fish further & this reflected in the catch returns with 8 anglers catching 4 fish. Down on a 3-day package break, Neil Heath & his boat partner, Allan Withers, fished Boobies & Diawl Bachs on a Fast Glass & 3 Sweep over the deeper water of the Basin. With yet more Easterly winds expected, dispersing the algae into a specific area, the prospects for the rest of week look very promising.

On Friday All Water member Ian Jobe took to the water in his float tube & caught 9 fish on a Humungus Booby fished on a Di 7 deeper & slow in the Main Basin. This is an exceptional return given that the conditions had not changed from previous days & one of his was one on Eyebrook’s resident Browns; estimated at 10 – 11lb. The fish was not weighed, remained in the water during the unhooking process & swam away strongly. Well done, Ian, that is an absolute cracking fish, fully deserved. Elsewhere, fish were also caught by boats anglers concentrating their efforts on the deeper water of the Main Basin.

With no change in the recent weather & another day of easterly winds the water clarity on Saturday began to show signs of improvement. As you would expect, the reservoir fished better than it had of late. It was a busy day with many anglers out practicing for Sunday’s latest round of the 6 x 4 Competition. Most of those concentrated on fishing deep using a variety of methods & there was some very strong returns were recorded. Either buzzers fished deep, straight lined on a Floater or Midge Tip or Boobies & Cormorants on Di 7s or Booby Bashers seemed to be the order of the day. In addition, Season ticket member Neil Shilton was out for his weekly session in his Float Tube. Neil fished deep in the Main Basin & caught 6 fish, which is a great return. It will be very interesting to see how the reservoir fishes for tomorrow’s competition as there were a lot of reports of a lot of interest from fish; pulls & lost fish. This indicates that the reservoir is on the verge of fishing well.

Saturday saw Eyebrook host the latest round of the 6 x 4 Competition organised by Mark Rose & the Renegades team. It is an excellently run competition which has its ethos firmly embedded around angler development & introducing more anglers into competition fishing. 52 anglers took to the water & produced an excellent rod average of 3.8 fishing a variety of methods relatively deep. Anglers caught on tip lines with heavyweight buzzers & also with boobies on fast sinking lines with long drifts across the Basin from Robbo’s Cabin & the Netted Bank areas. Congratulations goes to Warren Langridge who landed 10 fish which is an excellent return given the conditions & congratulations to the Renegades who were the top team on the day. With cooler weather forecast for this coming week the outlook for Eyebrook looks excellent. The water temperature will cool & the fish will begin to move up in the water column.

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022 details are on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  14^th August      Rod Av: 1.7      Water Temperature: 22c+

Start of a new week with a forecast giving another heatwave. Monday our saving grace was the breeze which came and went during the day. Pete Hunt fished cdc during the first hour as fish were moving catching a couple before moving to a diawl bach finishing the day on 9 trout. The Davies fished the morning session with a washing line setup catching 6 on buzzers. Water clarity remains good

Tuesday, little if any breeze coupled with higher daytime temperatures had the morning session to early afternoon fish best. P Cox fished the same successful method as last week, found feeding fish in green bay getting success on a midge tip with a #12 Fulling Mill Sunburst Fab & diawl bach catching 6 for his mornings visit. Jamie Scott caught 4 on a 12ft slow tip to diawl bach & buzzer with Mark Cowley catching his 3 on daddy, diawl & apps. With the temperature rising through the day very little activity during the evening.

Wednesday, with another high temperature day forecasted we recommended that anglers fished the cooler morning session. We got the anglers out early at 7.30am with fish to be seen feeding from when they went out along the dam wall, green bay, orange buoy. With only two rods out they both hooked fish a day rod fished a sinking line with black tadpole hooking two but frustratingly losing them by the boat. All water angler Mark Hunt fished a 12ft tip line, buzzer & micro booby. Our varied stocking policy with smaller average triploids stocked for the warmer summer months is certainly working, the smaller triploids remain higher in the water & are still feeding, and they recover & return better. You can read details on our stocking policy on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/ 

Thursday and Friday with the air temperature pushing 29c, again we recommended anglers fished the cooler morning session & got the boats out earlier at 7.30am. Very little to report, trout were moving but feeding on huge hatches of small / tiny green midge. Hopefully with cooler weather forecast next week we start seeing improving numbers of the larger buzzer #12 which will be far easier for us to replicate.

Saturday & Sunday followed the same as the two previous days, few anglers about, little to report. Fish finder showed the fish at all depth from a few feet down to 20+ feet.

The change in the weather, for the better should see a fresh breeze at times, lower daytime & night time temperature which will lower the water temperature

We recommend you call the lodge for latest update 01530230807

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022. Details are on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

2022 Prices & details on our pre-payment visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  Sunday 14th August 2022              Rod Av:  3.2     Water Temperature:  22°C

Draycote was mirror calm with clear blue skies and very warm on Monday morning. These conditions prevailed through most of the day which made for some difficult fishing for some. Mr P Flay ventured out in the afternoon for a few hours and netted 3 fish from the deeper water up near the Draycote Dam. In house guide Lee Henfry took Mr David Copson and his grandson out on one of our 2 hour experience sessions through the warmest part of the day. They used a DI5 sinking line and white lures to good effect around B buoy, boating 6 fish in total.

Tuesday was another dog day of summer, flat calm and bright with hardly a breath of wind. The fish have definitely pushed down now into the deeper parts of the reservoir, but some anglers have proved that in the right areas with the right tactics, there is good sport to be had. The best area is up on the Draycote Dam. Anywhere up there around B buoy and the Valve Tower, using DI5’s and DI7’s with lures has put fish in the boat for most of our visitors over the last few days. Dave Reynolds and Andrew Lewis had a dozen fish to the boat “On the deck” using sinking lines and lure patterns. Dave and Andrew fished at the western end of the reservoir near B and C buoy over the deeper water. Mr Andrew Lewis boated 4 fish using much the same method, whilst Mr G Head caught 3.

Thankfully there was a ripple Wednesday, although it was still another scorching hot day. The best method was fishing down in the water column where the fish had moved looking for the cooler water. All water member Paul Havard landed 4 using a black and gold Humungus, using a RIO Deep 6 drifting from Y Buoy to B Buoy. Draycote member Phil Waters fishing in the same area at B Buoy to also land 3 fish. Frank Sumnall fished with D Morris with he pair landing 5 fish to the boat using sunk lines and a mix of boobies and mini lures, picking fish up at various drifts across the lake.

The wind came from the Northeast Thursday, with the high temperatures remaining. As a results it was a quite day at the fishery, with only a few boats deciding to take to the water in the afternoon. Stuart Wallace down on holiday from Scotland enjoyed a good afternoon’s sport landing 6 fish. The method Stuart opted for was a black snake fished on a Di 5 sinking line at B Buoy. Andy Brown also fished for the afternoon landing 5 fish. With the key like Stuart, a dark coloured fly fished on a sunk line. Andy, used a black humungus on a Di 7 fishing from B Buoy to the valve tower. With the warmer water temperatures currently at Draycote the fish are sitting deeper so focusing around the deeper water using fast sunk lines has been the key to catching with dark flies providing the best sport.

Friday dawned with no change in the conditions, except for a light north easterly breeze. Not the easiest day out on the water, but Draycote did return an average of 2.3. Deeper tactics are the order of the day, with sinking lines and lures producing the best bags. Ged Argyle netted 5 fish using black and gold lures in the top 6 to 10 feet of water, drifting around the Aerators, the Valve Tower, B buoy and A buoy. Barney and his group of anglers used the last 4 hour permit to net 4 fish between them on snake patterns fished deep. Fishery manager Tom Bird ventured out onto the water for a couple of hours through the middle part of the day. Tom used a DI7 sweep and black and gold snakes to net 5 fish from a drifting boat. Tom worked the area around the Aerators and the Valve Tower, as well as B buoy.

What a brilliant day at Draycote Water on Saturday. Despite the current weather conditions the fish are taking lure patterns and small competition sized boobies fished on sinking lines. The reservoir returned a rod average of just under 9 yesterday with most but not all the catches coming from around A,B and C buoy. Sean Devlin boated 10 fish whilst drifting from Y to B buoy using black snakes on a sinking line. Season permit holder Mark Braun had 26 fish to the boat around A buoy, using black and gold boobies fished on a DI5 and a DI8 sinking line. Mr Richard Slaters party of 6 anglers caught a grand total of 61 fish between them. The lads fished over A, B and C buoy using amongst other things, gold arsed cat boobies, again on sinking lines. Draycote regular Tim Davies netted 3 fish during a morning session, on sparkler boobies and sinking lines, in the deeper water at the western end of the reservoir.

Yet another bright start to the day on Sunday with only the hint of a breeze. Draycote season ticket holder Jon Crowley landed 6 fish including a brown. Jon, fished at A & B Buoy using a Di 7 sinking line and a sparkler booby to land his fish finishing at 12 to beat the worst of the heat. Fellow season ticket holder Endi Seglins  also used boobies’ fish on a Di 7 sinking line at A Buoy to land 8 fish in just 3 hours in the morning. Gavin Lau enjoyed some good sport landing 3 fish on olive or black booby snakes. Gavin, found the fish between B Buoy and the Valve Tower with his best fish tipping the scales at 4lb. Fishery guide Lee Henfrey took Pietra Diaz out for a morning session giving her some tips on catching in the hot weather. They landed 5 fish to the boat using booby bashers and snakes fished out of the back of the boat. With Pietra landing a cracking 4lb fish which can be seen on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/flyfishstore

With the hot weather due to break on Monday evening and into Tuesday, we are expecting to see a reduction in water temperatures, which should bring the fish back up in the water column.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website: www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre-payment policy. The 2022 details are on our website:  http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 7^th August 22       Rod Av: 3.6          Water Temperature:  19 – 20°C

A cloudy start to the week, however, the cloud soon burnt off resulting in a hot muggy day, with a cooling westerly breeze. This seemed to be to the fish’s liking as they continued to enjoy the harvest provided by the abundant fly life here at the Eyebrook. Eyebrook regular Ed Douglas was afloat and enjoyed a fine day’s sport fishing his favoured dries. Ed netted & returned 15 trout, whilst all water member Lorenzo Serrano netted over 20, again fishing dries on the drift. There were 2 other boats that recorded double figure hauls & all other anglers caught from the boats. The most successful methods were fishing dries across the main basin & in amongst the weed beds along the Leicestershire bank or fishing a washing lined floater with diawl bachs and FABs. Successful Dry Fly patterns were again, Dry Damsels, Foam daddies & Yellow Owls.

The reservoir continued to fish well on Tuesday with many anglers catching well into double figures. The successful methods were yet again either Dries Or Washing Lined Floaters with Diawl Bachs up the line & FAB’s on the point. All water member Mr Walker had a very successful day catching a high number of fish on either the Dries or Diawl bachs on the Washing Line. Mr Walker found that by chopping & changing between his CDC Dries & the Washing Line he was able to continue to catch throughout the day. It serves as a gentle reminder that just how important it to ring the changes even if we are still catching to keep the fish coming to the net consistently. In addition to CDC’s, other successful Dry Fly patterns included Foam Daddies & Yellow Owls. The Daddies have taken a lot of fish of late in a whole host of colours; Tan, Olive & Orange being the most successful.

Wednesday saw us host the England Disabled Fly Fishers (EDFF) Presidents Cup. 13 anglers were met with a strong south westerly wind & overcast conditions which made things challenging. Despite the conditions, the 13 anglers caught 52 fish between them for a rod average of 4 which is excellent. Congratulations to Dave Porter who was top rod on the day with 10 fish. Most of the fish caught were all caught in the upper layers of water with dries proving to be the most productive method. External to the competition, regular angler Ed Douglas returned for a second visit of the week & had a very successful day, landing well over 20 fish on dries. Whereas Ian Jobe & Clive Moore ventured out for their regular Wednesday session & had well into double figures between them fishing high up in the water column. The most productive area remans the Main Basin, from the Island to Robbo’s all the way into the Dam wall.

The English Fly-Fishing Association (EFFA) held a Summers Members Day on Thursday where Eyebrook’s excellent form continued. 28 anglers caught 146 fish for an overall length of 6053cm between them which gave them a rod average of 5.2. Congratulations goes to Mike Carr who had an overall length of 343cm which saw Mike pip Jeff Hickson by 2cm, very fine margins indeed. For the second consecutive day, the reservoir has yielded an excellent competition rod average which is testament to the success of our current stocking policy. Elsewhere on the reservoir, Chris Bobby & Mark Macleod had a great day on the Dries & Washing Line landing a high number of fish to the boat & Mr Scott landed 9 fish on a Foam Daddy. The Main Basin fished well yet again & the most successful patterns were Foam Daddies, CDC’s, Yellow Owls, Diawl Bachs & FAB’s.

As a potential result of the recent strong northerly winds carrying warmer from the north of the reservoir down to cooler water of the south, Friday brought with it an Algal bloom which made the fishing somewhat challenging. Fish were still caught however, but not in the previous numbers that they were. Those targeting the Damsel feeders around the margins seemed to fair better than those sat over the deeper water of the Main Basin. Those fishing around the weed might well have found the weed acting as a filter to the particles of Algae, therefore providing clear water in & behind the weed. An Algal bloom is a seasonal hazard of fishing large reservoirs during the warmer months, however there are ways to successfully counteract it & still be successful. One of the most obvious ways is to simply avoid it by fishing up wind where the water would be clearer or by searching for clear areas where the Algae isn’t as prevalent. Another way is to fish underneath it. Algae tends to move across the water in a dense band, by varying your approach you can sometimes find clear water underneath the Algae. If we cannot find clear water, it sometimes pays to fish dark flies, as these standouts more in coloured water, very slow to give the fish more chance to see them, There is no doubt that an Algae bloom makes fishing more challenging but by thinking laterally about what we are trying to achieve we can still catch.

Saturday started with a very gentle South-westerly breeze which over the course of the day, swung round to a strong northerly. The moving Algae again made fishing challenging but there was still plenty of fish course on a whole variety of methods. As previously mentioned, finding pockets of clear water seemed to be the key. As the wind swung round the Algae was simply getting pushed around the reservoir so there were no obvious clear locations. There was, however, intermittent patches of clear water amongst the blooms, so by utilizing long drifts anglers were able to come across clear areas. Season Ticket holder Bob Margery had a very productive morning landing 7 fish, 4 of which came in the same drift from The Bell over to Harrisons Corner. Bob fished a washing lined floater with Diawl Bachs on the droppers. Practising for the forthcoming England Ladies Mixed Pairs, Leanne Frost & Chris Bobby had 10 fish to the boat, targeting fish in the upper layers. To amplify the importance of water clarity, when they came across clear patches, the interest from the fish came thick & fast with Leanne landing 3 fish in quick succession. Other methods that seemed to work were Dries on occasions & also FAB’s fished static on a Fast Glass. To illicit a response from the fish, changing methods frequently also seemed to work, with Daniel Tranter landing 6 fish, using 3 different methods.

It was a bright clear start to Sunday. The wind was initially a light South Westerly that developed into a moderate North Westerly by the end of the day. The Algal bloom remained from the previous day & thickened throughout the day as the air temperature increased, making the fishing extremely challenging. 18 Anglers took to the water for the England Ladies Mixed Pairs competition & they caught 25 fish between them which produced a rod average of 1.4 which given the conditions was a great effort. Congratulations goes to Leanne Frost & Chris Bobby, who followed on from the previous day’s success by landing 5 fish between them & taking top pair for the day. Well done to everyone involved on what can only be described as a challenging day, It was great to see you all. Later in the day it became apparent the Algae had begun to clear up in the northern lee areas of the reservoir as the constant wind had begun to push the Algae down towards the harbour. A few days of a consistent wind direction will increase the prospects of finding clear water.

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022 details are on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  7^th August     Rod Av: 3.2     Water Temperature: 20c+

Monday & the first day of August. Water clarity is good with increasing numbers of a light coloured buzzer size #12 hatching during the day & daphnia showing in the water. Floating line or the various midge tip & longer 6ft & 12ft tip lines are working best with small hoppers, daddies, cdc, diawl bach, cruncher & damsel patterns working best. Main dam, in front of the main public car park & green bay most productive areas. Pete Hunt caught 7 on diawl bachs, R Keeber with grandson Tom caught 5 with Carl Bond catching 4 during the late evening session on a red buzzer, black buzzer & diawl bach

Tuesday, refreshing light rain & a brisk south westerly in the forecast. Pete Cox headed for the area in front of the public car park & dam area, found fish moving off & on, fishing with a midge tip small yellow fab on the point & a diawl on the dropper he caught 11 for his mornings visit. P Cross & S Windram caught 6 for their mornings visit on an orange daddy with Andrew Wilson catching his 4 on diawl bach & buzzer

Wednesday anglers reported fish moving off & on in front of the main public car, dam & stones. Nev Welsh fished with his grandson Jacob who was visiting from New Zealand catching 4 on a diawl bach for their mornings visit. Pete Hunt & John Thomson fished a morning session fishing a washing line they boated 6 on a diawl bach.

Thursday surprisingly cool northerly helped to keep the trout high in the water with the area in front of the main public car park, orange buoy, dam, green bay & stones still producing best to floating or midge tip lines with small fab, diawl bach, orange daddies best. P Mee caught 9 for his mornings visit fishing diawl bachs, Scotty Wilson fished orange daddy to catch his 12 with Jamie Scott & P Wrigley catching 8 each. Jamie Scott success these past few tips is to fish a 12ft slow tip with diawls & fabs.

Friday & similar conditions to yesterday. The morning to teatime session is fishing best with a diawl bach #12 #14 a must have nymph on the leader. Small Fulling Mill Mini Fab Sunburst, damsel, orange daddy & diawls were the flies that caught best with a midge tip or floating line best. All Water member P Walker caught 19 on diawl bach, fab, damsel, Chris Sayer caught 10 for his mornings visit on a diawl bach, Bob Jones caught 8 fishing a washing line with diawls, Olive buzzer while John Bebbington caught 5 on pheasant tail orange thorax, Diawl & Fab.

Saturday same northerly breeze but a brighter day. Anglers opted for the same approach as the day previous with fish at times to be seen feeding on the surface. Jan Webber decided to take a look down the Markfield arm towards the farm bank & caught 4 trout on a blue flash damsel. Green Bay continues to produce with Brian & Alison catching 5 for their mornings visit with M Clay catching 7 on buzzers from the same area. Mark Hunt caught 9 from various spots around the reservoir with a big red been his most successful pattern.

With the brighter Sunday weather the morning session fished best with the green bay area fishing best. Pete Hunt & John Thomson boated 8 for their mornings session fishing the washing line with a Bejesus booby, buzzer and diawl bach.

With the weather forecast for the coming week looking warm the morning session will fish best, we will endeavour to have the boats ready & out before 8.30am

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022. Details are on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

2022 Prices & details on our pre-payment visit our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  Sunday 7th August 2022              Rod Av: 3.8      Water Temperature: 19 °C

A cloud start to the week, however, the cloud soon burnt off leaving a bright hot day. Dave Adams fished from a boat over the Aerators to land 6 fish on the morning. Dave used a floating line with an orange daddy with Diawl Bach’s on the droppers. Draycote members Ian Richardson & Bob Barfoot landed 7 fish to the boat, using a washing line set up. The duo used a Midge tip line with a booby on the point and cormorants on the droppers to land their fish with Rainbow Corner being their best area. John Dickens opted to fish dries even in the bright weather and was rewarded with 5 fish falling to Bob’s Bits and daddies. Mark & Liz Dermot over from Ireland landed 10 fish on the first of a 4 day break. The pair fishing washing line set ups and dries taking ling drifts over the open water. All water member Andy Lillie fished with Graham England boating 18 fish between them. They found the fish drifting from the Hensborough Bank toward M Buoy, with a washing line being the best tactics with a sparkler booby on the point, as the fish were “full of sticklebacks”.

A blustery day Tuesday with 17mph winds coming from the Southwest, however, it was a very humid day with high air temperatures. Once again, the water fished well with the anglers producing a 6.3 rod average. Draycote member Peter Elliott & Lee Patten landed 34 to the boat with Peter sticking to dries all day with Bob’s Bit being his top pattern, while Lee opted to washing line. Due to the wind the best area for the duo was to fish off the Draycote Dam wall drifting towards A & B Buoy. Rob Middleton enjoyed a day on the water landing 15 fish, using a washing line with a Daddy & FAB with nymphs on the middle. Like the rest of the boats Rob caught around A Buoy and drifting the Hensborough Bank towards M Buoy. Mark & Liz Dermot on their second day of a 4 day package boated 17 fish all on daddies. Another boat taking advantage of our package breaks was Nigel Evans & Bill Surtees, who landed over 25 fish on Big Orange (A Big red variant).

The gusty wind remained Wednesday with overcast skies to start with however, the cloud did clear leaving a bright afternoon. Despite the conditions Draycote produced a rod average of 7.5 for the day. The fish seem to be holding in the top few feet of the water and are well spread throughout the reservoir. The vast majority of the fish fell to dries, with some caught on buzzers on a washing line and some on lures. Jim Dempsey used the wind and the rudder to net 17 fish on long drifts across open water. Liz and Mark Dermott had 16 fish to the boat using a mixture of dries and nymph patterns. Mr Evans and his boat partner used the big red to good effect boating 25 fish on the drift. In house guide Andy Miller took George Turlas out for a guided session to net 14 fish from Rainbow Corner to M buoy, using foam daddies and snakes.

High cloud and fairly calm conditions greeted us at Draycote Water on Thursday morning. Once again Draycote produced, with a good rod average (5.1) coming from a wide variety of areas on the reservoir. Fish were falling to many different patterns and techniques, and seem to be constantly on the move, foraging for food, but keeping to the top few feet of the water. Season permit holder Tony Broadway had a good day out on a mixture of dries and nymphs, catching a dozen fish during a morning session. Another season permit holder with a dozen fish to the boat was Colin Grainger. Colin used a floating line with pheasant tail nymphs and diawl bachs. Colins boat partner Ian Reeve, who has been catching some good quality fish lately, had 6 fish to the boat on PTN’s.  Lee Tones had 15 fish to the boat on hares ears and crunchers with an orange fritz booby on the point. Lee used both a floating and midge tip line and was drifting by the Valve Tower. Liz and Mark Dermott, on the final day of their trip with us here at Draycote boated 15 fish between them. Liz and Mark used a combination of dries and buzzers fished from a drifting boat.

Friday morning was bright, sunny and calm. The conditions did not bode well for a good days fishing but nevertheless, Draycote was once again on good form, producing a daily average of 4.6. Season permit holder Ian Reeve has been putting the hard work in lately and it has been paying off. Ian and his boat partner had yet another good day out, netting over 20 fish on a mixture of olive and white snakes drifting near the Valve Tower. Mr A Scott also caught over 20 fish using FAB’s, diawl bachs and daddies. The father and son pairing of Frazer Duffy senior and junior, netted 18 fish drifting in Duns Bay, Biggin Bay and Alberts Bottom. Season permit holder Ray Rawlings netted 5 fish using a mixture of dries and nymphs fished on a washing line. Ray caught his fish drifting around D buoy in Duns Bay, as well as Toft Shallows.

Cambridgeshire’s Invicta’s FFC held their Carr Cup competition on Saturday. Simon Peck won the competition with 10 fish on a floating line with FABs on the point and a winning bag weight.

28 anglers competed in the competition with a rod average of 5 and most anglers chose rainbow corner or the Valve Tower to C buoy.

Saturday had very light, high cloud with light breezes, and these conditions stayed with us for most of the day. Despite this, the reservoir seems to be holding up quite well. The fish can now be caught right throughout the water column, with fish being taken on anything from dries on a floater and nymphs on a midge tip, to snakes on a DI7. The deeper parts of the reservoir are best through the warmer parts of the day, whilst some fish are being caught in shallower water during the mornings and evenings. Peter Elliott and Lee Patten had over 30 fish to the boat using a washing line and nymphs, from various areas around the reservoir. Season permit holder Mark Braun used white snakes and boobies fished on DI7’s and DI3’s to net 22 fish. Mark kept on the move, drifting around B and Y buoy. Lester Booth and Martin Greatbatch used both wet and dry flies on floating lines to net 11 fish between them from a drifting boat. Draycote regular Ed Douglas caught 7 fish on a mixture of lures and dries drifting in the deeper water at the western end of the reservoir.

Bright conditions prevail at Draycote Water, and it looks like they are set in for the next few days. Sunday fished well, all things considered, with once again fish being caught throughout the water column. Dries weren’t working as well as they have done this past week, with most returns being made with midge tip or sinking lines, using nymphs or lure patterns. John Crowley netted 9 fish during a morning session on FAB’s, diawl bachs and a hot head damsel. John fished down in Toft Shallows as well as taking long drifts over K buoy. Richard Walker fished through the early part of the day to net half a dozen fish around B buoy using sinking lines and snakes. Mr Eatough and his son had a brace on diawl bachs whilst fishing along the bank in Toft Shallows.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website

www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Week Ending: Sunday 31 Jul 22       Rod Av:   4.5          Water Temperature: 18-19 °C

Monday saw the blustery weather from the previous week continue. The moderate to strong south westerly that started the day swung around to a west-northwest direction which brought with it some isolated showers & a cooler air temperature. This had an impact on the prolific Damsel hatches that had featured previously. The hatch did not occur until much later in the day & by mid to late afternoon the hatch was in swing. This reflected in the catch returns with anglers departing earlier in the day not doing as well as those who stayed a little later. One angler who benefited from this was All Water member Stuart Ponter who had 10 fish to the boat from Dogwood Bay. Stuart caught all his fish on Foam Daddies, brown & natural coloured during the day & once the Damsel hatch was in full flow, he swapped to a Blue Foam Daddy & continued to catch. For those who want to target the Damsel feeders it is worth remembering that prior the hatch, the fish will be feeding hard on Damsel nymphs sub surface, intercepting the Nymphs as the swim towards the weed beds.

There was gentle west north westerly breeze on Tuesday, bringing with it a gentle ripple & a cooler air temperature. As the day progressed, the gentle breeze dropped resulting in flat calm conditions. It was a very quiet day with only 5 boats taking to the water. Those that did venture out caught on Damsel nymphs & Foam Daddies fished around the weed beds from Dogwood to Sam’s Dyke. The water temperature continues to drop & as a result, there was a lot of fish moving across the Main Basin for most of the day. With the cooler weather due to continue, the surface activity will be increase & the outlook looks excellent for the rest of the week.

Wednesday brought with it a flat calm & a surface layer of mist which is indicative of a cool night. The flat calm gave way to a gentle ripple by mid-morning & it brought with it a build-up of cloud cover. Some algae about but with our water temperature at 18c it was a day for the dries with blue dry damsel, daddies, big red, cdc taking some of the better catches from across the main basin & down along the weedbeds. Jude Tuffs caught 10 for her visit, Mark Hunt fished cdc to catch his 12 trout with Lianne Frost & Chris Bobby fishing a big red to catch theirs. D Jeffrey & C Martin fished buzzer patterns to catch their 14 trout. Mr Holmes fished the afternoon session from 3pm catching his 9 up to 6.30pm on a cdc daddy.

Thursday saw the reservoir continue to fish well to the dries with fish taken on Grunters, Foam daddies, Hares Ears & Adult Blue Damsels. John Duncan landed 12 fish with most coming to the Grunters & Nige Savage had a very successful day fishing Suspender Hares Ears. All Water Member Ed Douglas was another who had a very successful day, landing 17 fish on a mixture of dries & nymphs on a Washing Lined floater. The best area remains the Main Basin with fish being taken from Dam right the way up to Robbo’s Cabin. Those targeting fish in the upper layers were more successful than those fishing deeper. There are still fish feeding hard on Damsels in & around the weedbeds along from the lodge to Sam’s Dyke. They can be caught fishing Damsel Nymphs in the morning sub surface & later in the day on Adult Blue Damsels once the Damsels begin to hatch.

Friday started with a very gentle breeze from the north which had pushed any remaining surface algae into the south corner of the dam around the pontoons. Fish could be seen moving across the Main Basin, with a large number of fish seen in front of Robbo’s Cabin. Ian Jobe ventured out in his Float Tube & had a productive day. He initially went out targeting the deeper fish & after a little interest he decided to move up in the water column. This proved to be decisive with Ian landing 7 fish & reporting a lot more interest from fish higher up. The anglers fishing the upper layers were catching fish on both Dries & the Washing Line from various locations around the Main Basin. Drifting was difficult due to the lack of wind, therefore, to maintain a mobile approach, frequent moves were necessary until the fish were located. The most productive patterns remain Foam daddies, Dry Damsels, CDC’s & nymphs.

A flat calm & an overcast sky greeted the anglers on Saturday. As the day progressed, a slight breeze developed from the southwest which formed a very inviting ripple across the Main Basin. With the water temperature of 19 & the overcast sky, the fished were sat high up in the water column & happy to feed off the surface. The reservoir fished extremely well with high catch returns recorded from both the boats & the bank. Malcolm Thompson landed 15 fish from the bank which is an excellent return for bank fishing in July. Malcolm fished the area known as the Bell, wading out to the weedbeds & targeted fish feeding in/around the weedbeds with Dries. From the boats there were some very high numbers recorded. The best method seemed to be fishing long drifts across the Main Basin with either a Washing Lined Floater, with a small booby or FAB on the point with nymphs on the droppers, or by fishing Dries. As reported earlier in the week, Foam Daddies in various colours remain the most productive Dry Flies. It is also worth trying Big Reds, Crippled Midges & the Midas, especially during the windier days forecast for the coming week.

Sunday saw the wind swing round to the Northwest & build throughout the day. Periods of overcast gave way to sunny spells as the increasing wind brought changeable conditions. The reservoir continued to fish well from the bank with Malcolm Thompson returning for a 2^nd day & landing 4 fish in a short session, all on dries & all around the weed beds. That means he has had 19 fish off the bank over the 2 days which is an excellent return for bank fishing in July. Dave Etty also enjoyed a productive bank session landing 6 from the Hawthorns area on Hares Ear CDC’s, once again fishing over the top of the weed. The boat anglers continue to catch, fishing CDC’s & Foam Daddies at various locations around the Main Basin.

With the weather forecast for next week looking favourable the reservoir should continue to fish very well.

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Eyebrook is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Can we remind members & day rods of our pre payment policy for 2022 details are on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: 31^st July       Rod Av: 3.2      Water Temperature: 21c+

Monday surprising how strong the northerly wind blew during the late afternoon into the evening. It seems to be fishing better late morning into the afternoon / evening. Trout remain high in the water taking daddies, hoppers, small fab, small muddler with Lorenso finding a team of traditional wets fished well as well. Best area along the dam, green bay and across the mouth of the Markfield arm. Andrew Wilson caught his 4 on hoppers & muddlers with Lorenso catching 12 on daddies & team of traditional wets.

Tuesday with a northerly breeze it kept the trout in the top surface layers with the majority of anglers using a floating, various tip lines & sink tip lines with daddies, small fabs, small muddlers, diawls & crunchers. Fish seem to be in pods with various pods along the dam wall, green bay & in the mouth of the Markfield arm. Usually, the arms don’t fish during the warmer weather but Kevin Hart decided to take his tube up the Thornton Arm to see if the fish were still there from two weeks ago. He found feeding fish between 12.30pm & 4pm fishing a lightweight #5 outfit with small fab, diawl bach & crunchers he caught 7 trout. Along the main dam J Scott fished a 12” slow tip line with fab, diawl & daddies to catch his double figure catch with P Cox catching 17 on small fabs & P Hunt fishing diawl bach to catch 10. Dennis Barnes caught 3 on a small white booby pulled across the surface but reported lots of fish prepared to chase but wouldn’t take the fly. Water clarity has improved the algae has dropped out of the water.

Wednesday anglers reported pods of fish moving at times, getting them to chase or follow the fly but proved trickier to hook. Stuart Thompson fished small diawls to catch his 4 trout with Howard Davies fishing his version of the muskins to catch his 6 trout. Green bay proved productive for Ian Leach catching 10 on fab and diawl with Ian Brearley fishing daddies for his 4 trout. I Shepherd fished a Montana and hares ear for his 4 trout.

Thursday and again reports of trout feeding but proving difficult to tempt with Kevin Hart top rod on the day with 6 caught on a cruncher and fab fishing from his float tube in front of the dam. No real pattern to the day with anglers picking up odd fish on a variety of flies fished on a floater or tip line

Friday, conditions looked similar too Thursday and yet it fished far better on Friday with a rod average 3.7 Daddies, Blue Dry Damsel, cdc, diawl bach worked best with Lee Henfrey on a day off from Draycote catching 11 for his mornings visit fishing 2 dry blue damsel patterns, fishing them static was the successful method. Chris Sayer caught 6 for his mornings visit on dragonfly nymph patterns with Ian Leach & Mark Cowley catching 12 on diawl bach, olive cdc in the green bay area. Majority were caught on a floating line, washing line or one of the midge tip to 12ft tip lines. Productive area, main dam, green bay & across main basin

Saturday with the breeze in the west and cloudy anglers report trout moving, on occasion in good numbers but they were difficult to tempt. Maciek caught 4 on dries with Dave Woodall also catching 4 on a small dry sedge with Rob Anderson also reporting 4 trout. All water member Mark Hunt cracked the code by using a small Bibio, bobs bits and big red to catch his 20+trout from in front of the main car park along the dam, fishing long leaders with the flies static was the key.

Sunday a very quiet day, for the fishery & site with few general public about, everyone was at home watching the commonwealth games & the football. Only 2 rods fished for the morning session only catching 1 trout on a sedge pattern.

We are seeing an increasing number of light coloured buzzer hatching size #12 and this morning I spotted the first of the August claret buzzer. First time in a while I’ve seen daphnia in the water and you can still see damsel nymphs swimming upwards to hatch. Water Clarity is good

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Draycote is explained on our website www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

Week Ending:  Sunday 31st July 2022      Rod Av: 5.0    Water Temperature: 18°C

Monday saw a bit of a  change in the fishing here at Draycote, with good returns coming from quite a few different areas of the reservoir. The fish have definitely moved up in the water column with most catches now coming to either a washing line on a floater or a midge tip, or dries. The best areas are Rainbow Corner right on the dam wall, C buoy to D buoy and down in the bottom of Toft Shallows near the Nature Reserve. Season permit holder John Dickens had 28 fish to the boat using dries such as bob’s bits and daddies. Chris Discombe used crunchers on a washing line to net 7 fish from Rainbow Corner. Both Graham Homer and Martin Ashby used daddies to net 9 and 6 fish respectively. Bob Smith and Ian Richardson had the grand total of 36 fish to the boat between them. Bob and Ian used bob’s bits in a size 12, as well as culs, before moving over to hot head diawl bachs and crunchers to net their fish from Rainbow Corner.

Tuesday started overcast and a bit muggy, with hardly a breath of wind. There were plenty of fish showing early on around the pontoon and out across the reservoir towards X buoy. During the course of the day a ripple did arrive and the great fishing that the anglers experience on Monday continued. Colin Day fished from the bank to land 5 fish taking 3 from Toft using a Jack Frost lure and the other 2 coming from Rainbow Corner on gold sparkler. All water member Paul Walker fished in Rainbow Corner from a boat to land 17 fish using Diawl Bachs, crunchers and daddies. Jem Dunn & Phil Thomas enjoyed a good day afloat boating 24 fish between them. Their hotspots being A Buoy, Rainbow Corner and C Buoy using a washing line with Black size 12 Diawl Bachs and then a foam daddy or a Biscuit and Tequila FAB. All water member Ed Douglas landed 16 fish with 11 of them coming to dries. Ed, fished in Rainbow Corner and used a daddy and CDC shuttlecock on the point. Another boat pairing using dries to great effect was Lester Booth and Nigel Nixon who landed 16 between them on dries. The fished around B Buoy with a Big Red and a Red Shipmen’s being their best pattens and commented on the “excellent fishing”.

An easterly wind Wednesday with overcast conditions. Fishing from a boat in Toft, Draycote members Colin Granger & Ian Reeve enjoyed a good morning’s sport landing 20 fish to the boat using various lures. Frank Sumnall & D Morris fished a washing line with a foam daddy on the point and then holographic diawl bachs on the droppers to boat 8 fish picking fish up from various points across the reservoir. Martin Ashby fished for an afternoon to land 9 fish using daddies on a floating line with the Aerators being his best area. Member Graham Homer fished in Rainbow Corner using Diawl Bachs and black buzzers to boat 6 fish using a floating line.

The wind remained in the East on Thursday with overcast skies, it looked a great day to be out on the water, and this proved to be the case with the rod average for the day finishing at 6.2 fish per angler. Season ticket holders Peter Elliot & Lee Patten landed 21 fish between them, Peter, opted to fish dries all day to land his 11 fish. With Lee fishing a washing line and also dries. Tony Broadway & John Clifford enjoyed a good morning’s sport landing 16 to the boat. Tony used a neutral density with a Minkie, whole John opted for a floating line. Landing the fish around the Aerators and C Buoy. Fellow season ticket holders Ian Richardson & Bob Barfoot landed 20 fish to the boat around the Hensborough Bank & Rainbow Corner. They used a mix of methods taking fish on Bob’s Bits, washing lining on a Midge Tip using a tequila booby and then nymphs on the droppers. The best catch of the day went to Kevin Rees who landed 30 fish all on dries, Kev fished drifting around M Buoy using CDC Culs to take his fish. Also commenting on the amount of fish over the 3lb mark.

A bright start on Friday here at Draycote led into sporadic cloud cover and light breezes. Once again the rod average turned out to be very good with anglers making good returns from several areas around the reservoir. Rainbow Corner seems to be about the best area, with the Hensborough Bank, the  Valve Tower and the Dam Wall in Toft Shallows also holding fish. Quite a lot were caught on dries such as CDC’s and foam daddies yesterday, with a few fish falling to buzzers. Season permit holder Ray Rawlings netted 4 fish on Foam daddies around A and M buoy. Paul Cramp used buzzers, cdc’s and the midas to boat 7 fish. Mr A Hodgekiss had 5 fish to the boat in Rainbow Corner, all on dries. Mr Frazer Duffy netted a total of ten fish on dries, whilst Mr Dave Reynolds had 17.

Yet another good day on Draycote Water. With good cloud cover and light breezes throughout the day, anglers made some good returns on Saturday. The Farborough Dam has switched on in the last few days with a good head of fish sitting between T buoy and the wall. Although Rainbow corner continues to be the hottest spot on the reservoir, the Valve Tower and the bottom of Toft Shallows are also producing some good returns. Mark Braun netted 16 fish from a drifting boat using CDC;s as well as blobs on a midge tip line. Sean and Debbie Gilbert had 8 fish during a half day session which all fell to klinkhammers. Lester Booth and Nigel Niixon had nearly 30 fish to the boat and remarked on “A brilliant Day”. Lester and Nigel fished up in Rainbow Corner and along the Hensborough Bank and used dries such as foam daddies and the midas. Season permit holder John Dickens had 11 fish to the boat during an afternoon session also using foam daddies as well as bob’s bits.

Overcast humid conditions Sunday, as a result the fish remained in the top few feet of the water column. Draycote member Jon Crowley landed 11 fish in short 5 hour morning session. Jon, fished at Rainbow Corner and the Hensborough Bank using orange daddies before switching to a black and gold snake also taking fish at the Swan’s Nest. Father and son due Fraser Duffer Jnr & Snr fished from a boat to land 18 fish. The pair used daddies and a washing line around Rainbow Corner and A Buoy. Another, father, and son boat was Gary & David Turner who also used daddies to land 10 fish in a morning. The pair also landed some cracking fish with 2 over 3lb 8oz and one tipping the scales at 4lb. James Collins & Sean Martin landed 22 fish between them using a variety of flies with dries, buzzers and lures all catching.

 Thanks to Draycote Fly Fishing Association for running their “Try Fly Fishing Event” with casting instruction and an opportunity for a taster session from a boat at Draycote on Saturday

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