Weekly Fishery Report week ending 1st May 2022

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

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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:  1^st May       Rod Av: 5.9 Water Temperature: 13c

Improving forecast for the week, still easterly more of a breeze. Excellent fishing with buzzers, diawls, cruncher, Montana, cormorant, damsel, fab & small white snakes all featuring on the catch return page. Andre Russell fished from his float tube along the main car park & the first half of the dam finding good numbers of trout willing to take his flies. A Wither & boat partner caught 24 for their visit with R Menhams fishing just over 3 hours in the morning to catch his 6 fish on damsel & buzzer. L Serrano was back to enjoy the excellent fishing again catching double figures on buzzers & later in the day a sinker with damsel and small white snake. An impressive 11+ rod average to start the week

Tuesday we had fish moving all day from in front of the lodge down in front of the wood & across to the main car park. Buzzer patterns took the majority fished on a washing line or under a bung. Andre Russell & G Horsley float tubed catching 33 between them from the main car park & main dam, Ian Brearley fished damsel & buzzers to boat his 11 trout with Paddy Fitch fishing the bank catching 19 all on buzzer patterns. Lee Henfrey Draycote ranger & guide on his day off fished Thornton for a morning session catching on Fulling Mill & FARIO nymph and buzzer patterns, photo of the successful patterns on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

Wednesday although the winds were relatively light from the east it had a noticeable chill to it, possibly not as many fish to be seen moving as the day before. J Carrier caught 11 for his morning early afternoon session, Kevin Hart shared a boat with John Hoskins catching 24 on #14 quill buzzers, M Cani caught 12 for his visit. With the cool easterly the fish are coming short, try and fish as long a leader as you can and as fine a diameter.

Thursday was a tale of good catches and average catches with everyone agreeing it was a cool easterly breeze. Boats were spread further out across the reservoir from the corner of the wood to the lower buoy with some off the main car park. Lee Henfrey Draycote ranger and guide returned for another morning’s fishing on this occasion using a bung to catch his 16 trout. Pete Hunt caught 12 for his visit with Richard Price on 5. At long last it was good to see increasing numbers of martins and swallows over the water.

Friday with another day of a chilly easterly breeze the best catches were taken on Intermediate, S3 & S7 lines with Booby, Fab, Blob, Damsel & cats whisker taking good catches. Carl Bond fished an intermediate with buzzers catching 11 trout. Steve Meachem fished a Sink 7 with an orange booby to catch his 10 trout with Chris Sayer catching 16 for his visit. Anglers were spread out across the fishery from the Markfield arm to the lower buoy & from in front of the main car park & the first few hundred yards of the dam.

Saturday was a day of two halves. A warmer day which started with a frost. Anglers fishing the morning session dis best on a variety of sinkers. Keith Cowen fished a sink 6 with cats whisker & tequila blob in green bay to catch his 12 trout by 2.15pm. Dave Wilson also fished a sinker but with a short leader & a foam head buzzer to take his 6 trout during his mornings visit. Alison Toon & B Sibley caught 16 for their mornings visit with the fast sinkers again proving to be the most effective line, with Neil Bates also catching his 8 trout on a sinker. By late afternoon the breeze was from the west, martins & swallows were working the water with a steady buzzer hatch bringing the fish to the surface. Mark Hunt fished a damsel on an intermediate during the morning picking up the odd trout but once the rise started, he moved onto the floater & a bobs bits to catch his 11 trout. Water clarity remains gin clear, water temperature 13c

Sunday a quiet day with few rods about. With a westerly breeze the fish moved all day with an excellent evening rise. L Ford fished the morning session catching 5 on shuttlecocks, P Hunt & J Thomson fished buzzers to catch their 7 trout with Mark Burrows fishing the evening rise catching 5.

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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 01 May 2022              Rod Av:7.5         Water Temperature:  11°C

A great start to the week with lovely conditions greeting the anglers who look to the water, as a result the fish responded well with he rod average for the day finishing at 9.2 fish per angler. Draycote season ticket holder John Falconbridge fished on the bank land 5 all on buzzers. On the boats John Dickens fished in Biggin Bay using buzzers and also a green and white lure on a Di 3 to land 25 fish. Dave Smith fished at the school slips from a boat using a Midge Tip with a washing line with buzzers and Diawl Bachs and a foam daddy on the point to land 20 fish. Also fishing at the school slips. Dan McElligott enjoyed his best every day landing 31 fish, Dan used a RIO Midge Tip with size 12 Diawl Bachs fished on a straight line to land his fish. Ian Richardson & Bob Smith enjoyed a great days sport landing over 40 fish to the boat fishing along the Hensborough Bank. The pair used a mix of tactics from a washing line on a midge tip to the bung and also landed a cracking fish of 5lb.

A cold Northeast wind Tuesday, however, thankfully the day warmed up later on. Draycote member Pete Allen landed 7 fish from the bank using a white lure. Fellow member Bob Barfoot also enjoyed a good day on the bank landing 4 fish. On the boats Steve Orton & Ged O’Donoghue fished at the school slips using a mixture of blobs and buzzer to boat 34 fish. Also fishing up at the school slips was Dan McElligott fishing with partner Ellie, the pair landed 22 fish to the boat. With the pair enjoying a really good spell on a size 16 Damsel pattern fished on Midge tip. Lee Patten fished with Willy Warren with the pair boating over 30 fish using buzzers at the School slips and also Biggin Bay with both straight lining and the bung working.

Once again the Northeast winds remained on Wednesday, however, as with the previous days it didn’t seem to effect the fishing. On the bank Alan Bettles enjoyed a good day’s sport landing 11 fish all from Lincroft point using a white & green lure fished on a floating line. Also on the banking taking advantage of the last four hour ticker, B Joseph landed 13 fish. Fishing from Lincroft point using Damsels to take his fish. On the boats we had the Singleton party fishing on their final day of the 3 day break and enjoyed a great morning landing 67 fish between them. Over the three days the 4 anglers landing a very impressive 340 fish. Their best tactic was to use a Midge Tip line with a FAB on the point and 3 buzzers on the droppers, with the best area being the School Slips and The Hensborough Bank. Members Dennis Tidmarsh & Steve Orton enjoyed a good day’s sport landing 41 fish to the boat using buzzers, blobs and Damsels patterns. Roy Anderson enjoyed a great day’s sport fishing from a boat drifting into the corner of the Hensborough Bank landing over 40 fish.

Thursday saw a busy day at Draycote with all the boats out on the water, with other anglers also fishing from the bank. One such angler was Tony Harris who landed 8 fish fishing from Lincroft point using a Dawsons Olive On the boats we hosted the Civil Service regional qualifier for their final hosted later in the year. The anglers enjoyed a good day with some great catches caught by a number of anglers. However, the winner on the day was Dave Franklin who landed 14 fish with 4 weighting 10lb exactly. Outside of the match there was some other great catches, using the rudder Jim Dempsey & Rod Wilson landed 31 fish between them. They found the fish all over the lake using small tubes and snakes. All water member Ed Douglas enjoyed a good day landing 31 fish with 15 of them falling to dry flies including a cracking rainbow of 4lb 8oz. Draycote members Ian Reeve & Colin Granger enjoyed a good half day boat landing 25 to the boat using Di 3 sinking lines and small white and green booby snakes. Bill Ramage & Alan Bernard enjoyed a great second day of their 2 day break landing great numbers to the boat using a cats whisker teamed with buzzers.

A cold Northwest wind Friday in the morning which defiantly put a chill in the air, however, the sun did make an appearance in the afternoon to warm the day up. On the bank Mr C Massey enjoyed a good day landing 14 fish from Lincroft point using buzzers with a black and green lure to take his fish. On the boats John Hoskins & Kevin Hart enjoyed a good day landing 27 fish to the boat using buzzers starting at the Old Pipe in Biggin in the morning before fishing at the school slips in the afternoon. Tim & Dave Moody enjoyed a good day landing 21 fish to the boat all on dries with olive being their best colour. Craig Middleton enjoyed a great mornings sport using Diawl Bachs to great effect landing 13.

Saturday dawned bright and calm, and basically remained that way throughout the day. The bank anglers found it a tad difficult through the middle of the day because of the light, with only ones and twos caught here and there. The boats faired a bit better with anglers having to just fish that little bit deeper, still on buzzers and diawls, but either with a heavier point fly or by using a midge tip line. Trevor Moore and James Maplethorpe had over 30 fish to the boat between them. The pair used size 14 olive and black buzzers fished on a floating line to net their fish and commented on “A Fantastic Day”. Season permit holders Jed O’Donaghue and Steve Orton had a couple of dozen to the boat fishing off the School Slips using buzzers on a floater. Mr David Bartram had 16 fish to the boat up in Rainbow Corner. David used a black mini snake on an intermediate line to net his fish. Rob Plume caught 10 fish in Biggin Bay using a mixture of buzzers and diawl bachs. Draycote regular Mark Parsley and his boat partner Anton Byfleet had well over 30 fish to the boat again using buzzers fished on a floating line.

A light and chilly south westerly breeze was blowing across the water on Sunday morning with good cloud cover. By mid morning we had a fine drizzle of rain which brought with it sharp drop in air temperature through the middle of the day. Not the most comfortable of conditions but it didn’t seem to bother the fish too much. Anglers returned some great catches from practically every area of the reservoir from both boat and bank alike. There are a good deal of larger, over wintered fish now being regularly caught on the outer markers such as A, Y and P buoy, but so far, the Flat Stones and the Farborough Dam remain quiet. Season permit holders John Crowley and Anthony Hart caught 7 and 6 fish from the bank respectively. Both John and Anthony opted for the washing line method with a team of small black buzzers. Out on the boats  Bill Brown and Ross Wilson had 22 fish between them using a washing line in areas such as the School Slips and Lincroft Point. Steven Dewhurst had a bakers dozen from the swans nest. Steven opted for a variety of lines, and used blobs, buzzers and diawl bachs. Tony Parker and Tez Livin had over 30 fish to the boat between them on small nymphs, buzzers and dries. Les Lerigo fished olive snakes on a sinking line in Biggin Bay to net his 14 fish for the day, whilst Graham Currie used nymphs fished over M Buoy to net the same number.

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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/

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

Week Ending: Sunday 1^st May22       Rod Av:  10.6          Water Temperature: 12C

As the Building work continues at the Harrisons corner area of the dam, we are still asking our customers to come to the lodge via the Alec Lane gate.

As the Buzzer Season continues to get into full swing, Monday seen another fantastic Rod Average of 12+ with most fish falling to Buzzers, Diawl Bach and other small nymph patterns. Eyebrook Season Ticket holder Jim Reid popped in for a quick hour or so on the bank and was rewarded with a stonking Rainbow estimated to be around 7lbs. This lump of a fish fell to a red and black Buzzer while he was fishing from the bank by the Chestnut tree. Paul Jennings had a great day from the bank and managed to get well in to double figures while fishing CDC Dun’s in the Sam’s Dyke area. Neil Benjamin and Ian Simmons started their 3-day package off with 14 to the boat between them up in around Mucky Bay.

Tuesday seen lighter winds and more favourable conditions for comfortable fishing. It was a bit of a cold start with a bit of a chilly mist on the water but is soon warmed up. By around lunch time, there were reports of a good olive hatch coming off. Steady reports came in throughout the day that the go to method was fishing the washing line with Muskins and Buzzer patterns. A foam daddy or booby damsel on the point is a really deadly at this time of year. As the temperatures are starting to rise, some anglers are getting back to what Eyebrook has a reputation for, ‘DRIES!’ All water ticket holder Mark Hunt once again went against the trend and managed 12 to the boat while fishing a single CDC out on open water drifts.

Wednesday started off as a brighter morning with almost perfect conditions. The North Easterly wind has dropped down to a bit of a stiff breeze now, it’s still holding a bit of an easterly chill, but the fish don’t seem to mind. The positive side of having the stronger wind from the east, it has forced anglers in to areas on the Rutland bank for some shelter and they have been pleasantly surprised that there are some bigger fish holding over there. N Benjamin and I Simmons finished up their 3-day package with well in to double figures to the boat and landing upwards of 60 fish during their 3-days out on the lake. 14 Anglers from the Edinburgh Post office joined us for 2 days on the lake. The conditions were fantastic for the guys with them ending up with a rod average between them of 20+. Fr the first time this year, we have had a few anglers mention Sugar cube buzzers and small emergers like the Yellow Owl.

Thursday seen Eyebrook starting off chilly again, but the wind has dropped to about 7mph. the reservoir was busy with the whole fleet out and places were filling up fast in the diary for the coming weeks. Therefore, if you’re thinking about booking a boat on Eyebrook, it’s best to do it sooner rather than later. The same sorts of methods are working through the same areas. The fish are becoming a little bit cagey due to seeing so many flies in the past few weeks, especially in between Sam’s Dyke and The Point of the Island. There have been a few bank anglers catching well from the bank up around the Stoke Dry carpark area. Some boats have been moving into those areas and picking up fish all the way down to the Willows. Some bank anglers have done well from Robbo’s cabin to the corner of the netted bank.

Friday was yet another busy day at Eyebrook with 49 anglers taking to the water, catching a total of 487 of fish giving a daily rod average of 9.8. Fish were caught from all around the reservoir from both the boat & bank with the majority falling to small natural patterns fish slow – static. Floating lines & Midge Tips seemed to be the order of the day fished with either as washing lined or straight lined. It is also worth fishing an indicator which allows the fishing of multiple depths at once which has proven effective with the changing conditions & the fish fluctuate between depths.

Saturday turned out to be the best day of the week so far. The temperatures were starting to rise, and the cold Nort Easterly wind dropped off. The more settled and bright conditions were showing the fish following larger flies to the boat rather than that solid take. Andrew Farmer had a fantastic session from the bank and netted well into double figures. Kelvin Raby had a great day afloat and managed to snare most of his fish on size 14 Muskins and Diawl Bachs. Alan Dean had a dozen fish from the Hawthorne’s on small black Buzzers.

Sunday brought some very favourable conditions, with a steady ripple & a good bit of cloud cover. Fish were caught all around the reservoir from both the boat & bank with buzzers & nymphs fished on floating lines or midge tips catching the most fish. We hosted the Colwick & Foremark Fly Fishers who fished a friendly competition and caught 151 fished between them; giving them a rod average of 10.7 for the day which was a great effort. In addition to Nymphs & Buzzers, Damsel patterns have again proved very effective & with the water continuing to rise, the effectiveness of natural fly patterns looks set to continue. Under the right conditions & circumstances Dries have proven extremely effective & the fish have found them difficult to ignore. This proved to be the case for Mr Gowan who took 39 fish from Sam’s Dyke relatively late in the day. The entire Leicester Bank remains a productive area with fish being found in great numbers in various locations along it. The percentage methods remain washing lined or straight-lined small nymphs & buzzers fished extremely slow/static or dries when the conditions suit.