Thornton Weekly fishing report 2nd May

Weekly Fishing Report: Thornton, Eyebrook, Draycote

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Week ending 2^nd May    Rod Av: 3.6    Water Temp: 11c+

I wasn’t surprised to read were having the coldest April since 1970, our water temperature this week dropped back, however, I’m not complaining, were seeing the best April rises for years with fish feeding on the buzzer hatching all day

Monday and another frost and cold easterly wind, anglers generally fished in the shelter of the wood with the successful anglers coming off their floaters to fish with sink 3 or 5 sinking lines with damsels, olive booby or black & green tadpole.

Tuesday, a rare treat, flat calm with whatever breeze coming from the south. The excellent hatch of black buzzers with fish to be seen feeding most of the day from the Thornton arm opposite the lodge across to the stones & dam wall. Black hoppers & black buzzer size 12 fished best although the fish moving in the evening were tricky, its time in the evening to get off the anchor & drift, it allows you to cover more water & puts your fly in front of different fish every cast.

Wednesday a quiet day angler wise due to the forecast, we’re back to the north, north easterly cold winds, the heavy rain that was forecast missed us. Anglers opted to fish in the shelter of the wood bank, the wind wouldn’t settle in one direction and veered from a northerly to an easterly off & on during the day. Anglers reported fish moving on & off for most of the day with black buzzer size 12 been the most effective pattern, although an intermediate or sinking line with a damsel or cats whisker also worked.

Thursday and the water temp had fallen back to 11c+ fish to be seen feeding off the surface with the best sport to be had in the Thornton arm & main car park across the middle. Plenty buzzers hatching.

Friday, at last light winds, flat calm at times, with the trout again rising all day from in front of the lodge all the way across the middle of the reservoir to the stones. Lots of buzzer hatching, a grey buzzer size 10 / 12 & an olive buzzer size 14, photo of the buzzers on our facebook page,  www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore  With the majority of the trout being taken on buzzers & suspender buzzers member Alan Smith found a silver invicta worked best for him. Great evening rise.

Saturday and another day with the trout rising well, at times close to the bank along the Thornton arm and wood. They weren’t easy preoccupied on the buzzer hatches, the boats that drifted enjoyed the best of the sport

Sunday fish again moving feeding hard. Floating, midge tip and intermediate lines worked best with damsel pattern and grey / black buzzer size 12 / 10 and size 14 olive buzzer. Suspender buzzer also took fish, but again with so many fish moving a drifting boat scored best.

This past week our water temperature remains cool for the time of year but that has not affected the hatches see photos of the buzzers hatching on our social media pages. Water clarity is excellent. Time to fish low diameter leaders, with boats on the drift starting to catch better than the anchored boats.

If your short of time, get out for the last 4 hour evening rise, you’ll see plenty of trout moving.

Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Week ending 2^nd May 2021          Rod Average: 4.3         Water Temp: 10’c

A warmer feel to Monday with the cold East wind dropping slight to single figures, as a result the fish responded well with some great catches on buzzers. The Tower Bank continued to produce for the bank anglers with season ticket holder Ian Richardson, landing 12 fish on buzzers. On the boats all water member Ian Jobe enjoyed a great day’s sport landing 35 fish. Ian, fished from an anchored boat at the School slips fishing a team of buzzers on a floating line. Draycote member Lee Patten used a snake on a Di 5 sinking line to take over 20 fish. Fishing the afternoon Matt Osbourne & Pete Whealan landed 24 fish on a mix of buzzers, damsels & minkies.

The first cloudy day we had in a long time, as a result the fish fed high in the water and when the wind dropped out later in the day the reservoir was boiling with fish. However the flat calm conditions did make it tricky to get the correct presentation. On the bank Norman Perkins fished the Tower Bank on Buzzers to land 15 fish, with Draycote season ticket holder Steve Lees & John Falconbridge landing 8 fish each again on buzzers. On the boats Ian Morris landed 22 fish on Diawl Bachs fished on a washing line around Rainbow Corner and commented on “the good fish & good fishing”. Using Gold headed Hares Ears in Biggin Bay Adam Hollins landed 16 fish.

A vastly different day Wednesday with heavy overnight rain and a breeze North wind, which later swung to a strong North East wind. Fishing on the bank Alan Bettles enjoyed a great day’s sport landing 16 fish on black buzzers in the droppers and a white and green lure on the point. On the boats season ticket holder James Alexander landed 7 fish in Biggin Bay on a snake. Jeff Ide enjoyed a great days sport landing 27 fish from Alberts Bottom in Biggin Bay. With the vast majority of Jeffs fish taking a blue flash Damsel fished on the point of a team of flies. Draycote/ Guiding & Tuition Manager Tom Bird took fly fishing newcomer Tom Thorpe out for his firs ever go at Fly Fishing with Tom landing his first ever fish.

Another cold wind Thursday this time from the North West, however, in the afternoon the wind did drop and the temperature rose causing the fish to be seen feeding on the surface. Season ticket holder Tony Broadway landed 21 fish from the Tower Bank fishing with a FAB on the point. John Hall fished on Lincroft point using a weighted Green Pea landing 13 fish and enjoyed “good days sport”. On the boats Richard Walker enjoyed a good mornings sport landing 15 fish using various Damsel patterns at the Overflow. Richard also landed a cracking Rainbow of 5lb which is pictured at www.facebook.com/flyfishstore Season ticket holder Alec Urquhart fished with Johnathan Wood with the pair boating 22 fish using a mix of Diawl Bachs and Buzzers fished on a washing line with a FAB on the point. Fellow season ticket holders Paul Mitchell & Eddie Mitchell enjoyed a “Fantastic Day” boating 40 fish using a Midge Tip line and a team of buzzers held up again on a washing line with a FAB with he fish being caught through Biggin Bay & Dunn’s.

The wind changed around at various point Friday going from the straight North to a North West then into a straight West. As a result of all the wind changes the bank anglers found it a bit difficult, Jim Hall landed 5 fish on buzzers in the morning before calling it a day. The boat angler faired much netter with season ticket holders Peter Elliot & Lee Patten landing over 60 fish. The pair found the fish at the School Slip using Buzzers and Crunchers fished deep on a floating line with a slow nearly static retrieve. Dave Bennett & boat partner Chris Smith landed 26 fish in a morning season fishing along the Draycote Dam using Blue Flash Damsel Patterns. Russel Swimbourne fished buzzers at Hensborough and Rainbow Corner landing 18 fish.

A bright but cold start to Saturday with a light north westerly, which then clouded over in the afternoon. A good day on the bank for Mr M Braun who netted 7 fish from the bank in Duns Bay on buzzers. The boat pairing of Les and Karl Lerigo netted 16 fish between them, commenting on  “a good day”. Karl had 2 fish over 6lbs whilst Les weighed in a rainbow of 9lbs 8oz, all from rainbow corner. Mr B and Mr T Ball had a great day again up in rainbow corner, having well over 30 fish to the boat on buzzers, the best of which was 5lbs 8oz. Ian Ross and Mike Garner used buzzers and damsels to good effect, netting 17 fish, one of which was in excess of 7lbs. Mr M Schofield caught 8 fish from a boat using buzzers and holographic diawl bachs fished deep.

Again a sunny start to Sunday with an air temperature of about 3’c. It was mostly flat calm through the morning with a small storm and hailstones coming through about one o’clock. This in turn lead to cloud cover and a light breeze through the afternoon, and improved fishing conditions. Season permit holder Paul Walley used FAB’s to good effect on the Hensborough Bank to net 9 fish, whilst Mark Johnson Jones caught 4 from the bank using FAB’s and black buzzers. Mark Edwards went out for an afternoon session on the bank, netting 5 fish again on buzzers. It was tough going out on the boats to start with, with anglers commenting that things didn’t pick up until after the storm. The boat pairing of Mr K Harding and Mr M Clarke had 18 fish to the net on various methods.  Richard Walker had 5 fish to the boat on lures but said that he had dropped twice that number. Paul Mitchell and Mr T Burn had over 30 fish to the boat using small buzzers, the best of which was about 4lbs. The usual suspects of Ed Douglas and Jim Smith also had over 30 fish to the boat on buzzers, quite a few of which were caught drifting across the front of the pontoon. Mr L Foster and Mr D Webb had 7 fish apiece to the boat in Rainbow corner, mainly on buzzers.

Foremark Fly Fishers held a competition on Draycote water on Sunday which was attended by 9 anglers. A total of 38 fish were caught,( the best of which was 3lbs 12oz ) giving a competition rod average of 4.2. Well done to all those who took part.

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Week ending 2^nd May   Weekly Rod Average: 11.2 Water Temp: 12c

Following on from an amazing week on Eyebrook, where we had many anglers enjoying the fantastic buzzer fishing.

Monday kicked off this week with an impressive 11+ rod average. Anglers are reporting large swathes of fish from the Island, all the way to the nature reserve boundary line. Most of these fish are falling to washing lined buzzers or straight through Diawl bachs and crunchers on floating lines and midge tips.

Tuesday and we have just had Roger Charles pop into the lodge to the lodge this morning to tell us that he has had a fantastic morning catching rising fish on a ginger hooper from the bank at the Chestnut tree. Truly a sign that the fish are now coming up in the upper layers of the lake to feed. Everyone seems to be focused on the Leicestershire bank, but there are plenty of fish rising all the way from Robbo’s cabin up to the Stoke dry car park on the Rutland bank. A slight shift in wind direction would make for fantastic sport from the bank. One of our Pike anglers had a pleasant surprise when he landed a large Perch. The Perch weighed in at 4lbs 1oz, apparently beating the previous Eyebrook record of 4lbs.

Wednesday arrived along with some strong winds coming out of the North East which in turn has made fishing the Leicestershire bank pretty much unfishable for the bank anglers. The Rutland bank is offering the much-needed shelter for the bank anglers, float tubers and boat anglers alike. From what I saw in those areas the day before, I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised, there were a lot of fish moving in the surface yesterday. Today marks the 3^rd day of D. Quigley and J McGuiggan’s 3-day package with us at Eyebrook. They’ve had 3 days of fantastic sport from the top end of the reservoir, mostly fishing buzzers, but having some great action on the CDC Yellow Owl’s, an Eyebrook favourite.

Thursday brought some harsh cold North Easterly winds which made fishing from drifting boats quite difficult. Those that ventured out on the boats headed into the more sheltered corners of the reservoir and still managed some really good bags of fish throughout the day. Most of the bank anglers struggled to get out in to areas that the boats could reach.

Friday the whole fleet out in the morning, obviously, a reflection of how well Eyebrook has been fishing this past week. Things have been really busy in the shop, with the phone ringing off the hook and lots of customers looking for guidance and advice as well as those little bits of kit that they need. The fishing still looks to be prolific and anglers reporting pods of fish feeding heavily on buzzers and Damsel nymphs. With light breezes in the afternoons and the temperatures rising, anglers are starting to take fish on the dries. All water ticket holder Phil Mee was so happy after practically living on the lake for a week, he even dropped off some cakes for the staff.

Saturday continues to be really busy, and we are receiving calls from anglers desperate to get out on to the water to enjoy the amazing buzzer action. Dan Goodlie joined Mr Eyebrook (Andy Miller) for an hour’s casting tuition. He had a thoroughly entertaining introduction and could not wait to get set up with kit. A very experienced Coarse angler, he is looking forward to getting stuck in o his fly-fishing journey and his future visits to Eyebrook and beyond. It was a pleasure to spend a bit of time with you to help you get started.

Sunday weather reports were showing that we should have been getting a westerly wind at around 5 – 7mph. However, looking out on to the water, at times it looked and felt more like a Northerly wind. Bank anglers and boat anglers were reporting that the conditions were a little different to what they were expecting. Eyebrook Ranger Jason took to the water on his day off with his friend Shak, who managed to whittle out a stunning 4lbs 8oz Rainbow. Jason and Shak decided to try and stay away from the crowded areas and search the other parts of the lake that weren’t getting as much attention. Sometimes doing your own thing can produce results. Well done Shak.

Yet again, Eyebrook legend, Andy Miller was joined by a group of 5 for a day’s tuition. Robert and Victoria Carr, Richard Hartland, Keith Arnold and Andrew Sturrock enjoyed an entertaining day with Andy, learning all the basics. From setting up the rod’s and tying on leaders, through some entomology to gain an understanding of the trout’s diet. Then on to some casting basics. Then under Andy’s watchful eye, they ventured out on to the water to put in to practice what Andy had taught them. We hope you all had a pleasant experience and plan to visit us again in the near future.