Weekly Fishing report week ending 3rd October 2021

Weekly Fishing Report: Thornton, Eyebrook, Draycote

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

“New Email address”  thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

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

Week ending 3^rd October. Weekly Rod Av 2.9  Water temperature 16c+

Wet & windy start to the week, most anglers cancelled, Terry Evans waited until the wind as forecast swung to the west and then went out and fished in the shelter offered by the village, main car park & dam, fishing buzzers he caught 7. Wind dropped further at 6pm with fish moving that last hour in front of the pontoon.

Tuesday and Wednesday the rain and wind continued. Despite the weather those that did venture out had some sport. Tuesday Pete Cox caught 4 for his mornings visit with P Wrigley catching 6 both fishing emergers and dries. Peter Wurm fished the last two hours in torrential rain bur again enjoyed good sport catching 4 on small shipmans. Wednesday buzzers & hoppers caught 5 for T Evans, Thornton member G Weatherdon caught 4 on a Fab, with All water member Ian Leach caught 6 on fabs & crunchers with A Lockton fishing size #14 black, green & red buzzers to catch his fish.

Thursday and the last day of September turned into a wet & windy day with few rods willing to go out fishing. Thornton Member P Wrigley despite the weather fished in the shelter of the main dam & caught 8 on emergers & dries. Dave Cross fished the last 4 hour session again took our advice & fished the shelter of the dam with black hopper & small G&H sedge catching 5 & losing another 3.

Friday proved to be the most difficult day of the week, wind picking up in front of the storm forecast for Saturday. A rod average of 2 for Friday with Chris Sayer and Mick Cross the best boat with 5

Saturday and the forecast heavy rain arrived, most anglers cancelled but the fishing was good with a rod average 4+ with Ian Brearley top boat with 8 trout on #12 buzzers on a washing line

Sunday was as forecasted, windy & wet with few rods out fishing. Thornton member Andrew Wilson caught 6 on a buzzer with All water member Mark Hunt fished through the worst of the weather but was rewarded with 17 trout on bobs bits, big red & floating fry

Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

“New Email address”  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Week Ending Sunday 3^rd October            Rod Average   2.6    Water Temperature 15 °C

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

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

 And what a change in the weather as Monday morning arrived, with very strong winds, cooler temperatures, and heavy rain. Most anglers did the sensible thing and waited a while before taking to the water, heading up to the western end of the reservoir where it has been fishing well, and some shelter could be taken from the elements. Both John Dickens and Kevin Rees (in separate boats) used dries in the form of bob’s bits to tempt their fish to the net, catching 4 and 5 respectively. Draycote regulars James Maplethorpe and Trevor Moore used a washing line and nemo crunchers to boat 10 fish between them. Both Mr M Lewis and Mr B Davies also managed to catch 10 but kept their method a closely guarded secret.

Draycote member Ian Richardson fished with fellow member Bob Barfoot with the pair landing 9 fish, there best method was to use pheasant tails nymphs on the droppers an a Booby on the point around N Buoy and the Hensborough Bank. S Radcliffe fished with M Hill with the pair landing 10 fish on hoppers and buzzers and other dries. Fishery Manager Tom Bird fished with James Alexander with the pair landing about a dozen fish using a Midge tip line a daddy on the top dropper, nymphs in the middle and a FAB on the point. The best area was drifting off the Hensborough Bank towards M Buoy and then off the Outlet into the open water.

A bright but chilly day Wednesday with a real Autumnal feel about the day, the wind was quite strong from the Northwest during the middle part of the day. On the boats season ticket holder Dave Kennel & Eddie Mitchell landed 11 fish between them with Dave landing the majority using a Fast Glass with 2 FABS. Ray Rawlings landed 7 fish using foam daddies fished on a Midge tip line around A, B & E Buoy. Draycote season ticket holder Peter Elliot landed 17 fish on dries and also washing line techniques with the majority of the fish being taken around A Buoy M Buoy and the Hensborough bank.

A wet and windy day Thursday with a number of anglers opting to move to a more pleasant day to be out in the water. However the angler that did fish enjoyed some good sport despite the conditions. On the bank Neil Berry landed 3 fish and lost 2 other fishing by the Willow Tree in Toft, Neil used an orange foam daddy on the point and then a Soldier Palmer on the dropper. The key was to pull the flies through the wave with the fish keen on chasing the flies. On the boats Draycote season ticket holder Gordon Bramwell landed 9 fish, with 4 of them taking daddies fished dry and the other 5 falling to a FAB on the end of a washing line. Fellow Draycote member Lee Patten also fished from a boat landing 8 fish pulling a booby near the surface landing fish in Rainbow Corner and then along the Farborough Dam.

Friday was yet another blustery day with some scattered showers, but brightened up as the day progressed. Overall Draycote fished pretty well. The Civil Service ventured out for  their match in which in 18 anglers caught a total of 61 fish, giving a competition average of 3.3. Outside the match season permit holder Jamie Scott boated 7 fish on a mixture of foam daddies  and snakes. Former fishery manager Kevin Hart netted half a dozen fish on popper fry patterns. Stan hillman took to the bank for an afternoon session  to also net half a dozen fish near the Valve Tower, all coming to floating fry patterns. Steve Brown fished the bank in Rainbow Corner, catching a brace, one of which was a 5lb brownie.

Saturday was a very wet and windy day here at Draycote Water. A fine drizzle started about 9 o’clock and this turned into a heavy downpour before lunch. As a result of this many anglers cut their day short and headed off towards indoor venues, for perhaps a warm fire and a comforting pint or two. Jim Dempsey and Ivor Jones managed 5 fish to the boat on the rudder, using intermediate lines and snakes. Mr Rob and Mr Ray Green caught a respectable 4 fish before the deluge started,  whilst Mr J Maxwell and Mr J Cockburn had 8 fish to the boat between them.

Thankfully Sunday, it was a much dryer day than the previous day, however, the reservoir did see some strong winds at times. Draycote bank regular John Crowley decided to fish from a boat for a change and enjoyed good sport landing 9 fish. John used a washing line when the cloud was about and then changed to an orange blob when it got sunny with his best area drifts around M buoy. The all abilities friendly fly fishers enjoyed a day on the water with the members landing 28 fish between the 12 of them, their best tactic’s being washing line or daddies twiddle just under the surface around A Buoy, M Buoy, and the Hensborough Bank. Top fishery Guide Lee Henfrey took Jamie Brookbank out on 4 hour guide. Jamie wanting to look at different methods and flies to help him progress on his fly fishing journey. It was a very successful morning boating 10 fish with the best method being a RIO Midge tip with a mini snake on the point, cruncher on the dropper and a daddy on the top dropper. With the best area being drifts halfway along the Farborough dam wall. As we enter into the back end of the season Lee is the perfect guide to take you out and improve your catch rate as he truly is a master of sunk line work. For bookings give Tom a call on 01788 812018.

Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

“New Email address”  eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Week ending: 3^rd Oct 21                 Rod Average: 4  Water Temp: 16C

As we come into the final week of September, the fishing has been outstanding. The dry fly sport being provided through fishing daddies and hoppers has seen a lot of happy anglers come off the water after a good day’s fishing. At times, the weather hasn’t really looked that favourable for fishing dries, but the fish still came up and had a go.

After such a busy week on the water, you would think the fish would be taking a bit of a break from pulling on fly lines. But on Monday, S. Cranston and M. Cronin managed to get well in to double figures each. All water season ticket holders S. Orton and G. O’donoghue managed 14 to the boat while fishing daddies. The fish were all over the lake with a good head of fish moving through the open water about 300M North of the draw off tower at the dam.

Tuesday seen the wind speed increase slightly just as the weather reports had predicted. All the boats out on the water managed to land fish. But top rod on the day was D. Jinks with 11 fish to the boat. His boat partner K. Warner managed 10, All on Daddies! Staff member Steve was enjoying a day away from general duties by getting out on the water to fish a few daddies. He was over the moon to get a double hook up of browns on daddies just outside Dogwoods Bay.

Wednesday seen quite an increase in wind speed coming out of the North west. The wind was perfect for drifting from Dogwood Bay towards Harrisons corner. The only down side was that the further you drifted, the faster you would drift. Early indications showed our anglers were catching well along the buoy line just outside the pontoon area. Some anglers were venturing further along the Leicestershire bank and drifting out into open water.

Thursday was a quiet day with only 5 boats out. 6 members of the Paisley Patterns group travelled down from Scotland for the first of three days fishing. Fishing in the main basin using bobbies and Fabs they boated 50 fish between them, a good start for their trip. Season ticket holder, Dave Etty, fished a morning session from the bank and had a nice brace.

Friday morning saw some heavy rain which carried on till about 10 o’clock before slowly petering out. With some stronger winds coming from the west, and a heavy overcast sky and the odd shower, conditions looked good for some top of the water sport in the main basin. This proved to be the case with a rod average of over 7 for the 27 anglers that fished. Successful patterns included dries, especially daddies, blobs, small black and green bobbies, and small buzzers. With the fish in the top couple of feet of water, flies presented on the surface or sub surface on washing lines or straight lined were the favoured methods. Mr Maxwell and Mr Adams recorded a catch of 29 to their boat using daddies, Diawl Bach’s and buzzers whilst the 6 members of the Paisley Patterns group had another successful day, all recording double figure catches. Season ticker member, Mr Johnson had 15 and regular boat partners, Ged 0’Donaghue and Steve Orton also boated 15.

Saturday morning started well with a slight southerly wind and overcast skies which lasted till late morning when the rain started. This got progressively heavier as the day wore on. Despite the horrible conditions, some anglers were still doing very well out on the water. C. McMonagle done really well by bringing a cool dozen to the boat using dries, Daddies and CDC’s. Eyebrook Season ticket holder D. Etty managed to bring 4 fish to the bank using olive nymph patterns and Corixa patterns. A good sign that fish are starting to come back in to casting distance from the bank just over the top of the receding weed banks.

Sunday continued with the damp conditions and strong winds. C McMonagle once again was top angler on the day with more than double figures to the boat. This time he was fishing buzzers and lures. R. Grimshaw finished off a 3-day package with 9 to the boat. Yet again, this week has seen a number of groups and individual anglers take advantage of our 2-day and 3-day packages. Fantastic value for a few days on our waters that can be split between venues.

As we move into October, we should start to see the bigger resident Rainbows starting to emerge to feed on the fry in order to pack on a bit of weight for the winter months. This can be a fantastic time of the year where the bigger fish will bow wave after minky boobies across the surface or start hitting those bigger wiggly lures such as the Humungus. With this in mind, we are getting closer to this years Fur n’ Feather match. The match will be held on the 24^th October 2021. To ensure you and your boat partner are entered in for this match, give us a call at the lodge on 01536 770264. The fishery will be providing bacon Cobs in the morning and then some piping hot soup at the end of the day. All we ask for is a small donation to help support the EDFF and the AAFFF.