Weekly fisheries report 11th June 2023

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

2023 Stocking Policy Details of our stocking policy for Thornton is explained on our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/stocking-policy/

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Week Ending: 11^th May   Rod Av: 1.9    Water Temperature: 19c

Monday and a quiet start to the week with only a couple of members out. Another day with low cloud and a north easterly wind. Fish were seen feeding on the pin fry out in front of the lodge & pontoon with fish to be seen feeding on the pin fry in front of the main dam, stones but especially in the green bay area.

Tuesday, similar weather to Monday but with more boats out fishing. For the past week we have observed as we opened up fish feeding in the Thornton arm, in front of the lodge & pontoon, we suspect their feeding on the newly hatched pin fry. Anglers are also reporting fish along the stones into green bay & out in front of the main dam. Andy & Christine Warren caught 4 for their mornings, Barry Deeley also caught 4 using a fast sinker with an orange minkie or an intermediate with a silver humungus. Andre Russell float tubed catching 4 on a variety of flies. During the afternoon session a couple of members caught fish feeding on pin fry by fishing a size #14 teal blue silver, an old traditional wet fly pattern which often works when trout are on the fry. Cooler easterly winds have dropped the water temperature to 17c

Wednesday, another morning with low cloud & cool easterly wind. Plenty of trout still to be seen feeding opposite the lodge & pontoon. With the continuous easterly anglers are fishing the morning session 8.30am to 3.00pm as were not getting a great evening rise. During the morning anglers reported fish moving most of the morning but were not easy to hook. Stuart Thompson found fish moving off the stones into green bay landing 3 caught on a #16 diawl bach. P Hunt & J Thompson also reported seeing good numbers of fish moving, but found them difficult to tempt, they both moved to booby patterns boating 5 trout for their mornings visit.

Thursday another low cloud morning & a cool easterly wind. Anglers reported seeing fish move in various areas, opposite the lodge, stones, green bay and corner of the wood. Some fish were taken on small pin fry patterns #14 silver thorax pheasant tail, hares ear, silver invicta, diawl bach while others were caught on a fast sinker with booby and bloodworm patterns. Jamie Scott caught 4 on a small booby, John Foster and Tim Harewood also caught on a booby. Tony Lorrimer fished a yellow rabbit pattern to catch his 5 trout with D Plowman catching 3 for his mornings visit. B Holland hooked 6, landing 3 on a size #16 black buzzer with orange cheeks. Morning session continuous to be the best time to fish 8.00am to 3pm

Friday, strong easterly wind but a bit more blue sky and sun. Wasn’t a great day for the fishing we saw a number of fish moving opposite the lodge, corner of the wood & green bay with the only angler finding a method that worked was Chris Sayer catching 1 from the corner of the wood & picking up a further 3 fish from green bay.

Saturday the wind shifted all day, north easterly to an easterly to a south easterly and back again, it was certainly the warmest day of the year for us. Ironically the best days fishing all week with a rod average of 3.0

All anglers reported seeing fish all day in various areas, in their words, smutting. They saw fish in green bay, stones, corner of the wood, opposite the lodge and down the Markfield arm past the tern rafts in the shallows next to the weed. Most found the fish that were smutting difficult to tempt moving to fish a booby pattern, orange, red or pink on an intermediate, sink 5 or sink 7. The fish they caught were mostly feeding on the daphnia but also had pin fry, damsels & small buzzers in them. The best catch was Ian Brealey who fished a small dry blue damsel pattern catching 5 but reported a number of fish swirling at the fly.

Sunday and the warmest day of the year. Boats that went out early reported seeing fish smutting especially along green bay and corner of the wood. T Long took our advice and headed into green bay catching 3 trout on small buzzer before 9am.

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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/

2023 Permits & Pre Payment for Boat Bookings Details of our Day Permits, Package Breaks & our Boat bookings pre-payment policy visit our website.

https://www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Exclusion Zone  Due to the work being carried out on the Hensborough Bank there is an exclusion zone in place, clearly marked with yellow buoys. Under no circumstances are anglers to enter this area as there are divers in the water.

Week Ending:     11^th June  2023      Rod Av:  3.0        Water Temperature:  18°C

A cloudy start to Monday morning with that steady breeze still coming from the north east.  Season permit holder Richard Walker had 3 fish to the boat on cormorants down in Toft Shallows. Young Ian Richardson caught 7 fish on the School Slips and the Tower bank using a DI5 line and the Draycote damsel. Mr Tim Burns had 8 fish to the boat on diawl bachs between the swans nest and the nature reserve buoys. Staff member Kevin Jones nipped out for a couple of hours between shifts and netted 3 fish on mini snakes and a DI3 down in Toft Shallows.

A cloudy start to Tuesday, and a little drizzle in the air, with no change in the wind. Colin Day fished from the Cornfeild off the bank to land a brace of fish leaving just after lunch. Using an intermediate line and a damsel booby. All water member Kevin Hart landed 9 fish, using a washing line with Diawl Bach’s and crunchers with a tequila booby on the point. Taking his fish from Lincroft Point, Cornfield and A Buoy to Rainbow Corner. All water member Ed Douglas used dries all day to land 10 fish with a Shipman’s being his best pattern. Another angler using dries all day to land 10 fish was Draycote member Kevin Rees who found crippled midge to be his best pattern. Jake Munro’s party of anglers fished their 3^rd day on Tuesday, with the anglers landing 60 fish between them. With Jake commenting “if they had landed every fish they have hooked and lost it would have been over 100 fish to their boats” The best tactic was to washing line buzzers with a tequila FAB on the point, with dries also working. The best area being A Buoy to Rainbow and then down in Toft.

A cloudy start with he sun breaking through in the afternoon around 1pm. Draycote members Jim Hall & Tony Broadway fished on a morning boat landing 11 fish using a Di 3 with snakes. With the pair fishing around A Buoy and Rainbow Corner. Fellow member Martin Foster & John Vyse used a washing line to land there fish with buzzers on the droppers and a Tequila FAB on the point. Catching in Toft, Rainbow Corner & Biggin Bay. Brothers T & J Evans landed 15 fish from around the Outlet using buzzers, Diawl Bach’s and Hares ears. Fishing there final day here at Draycote, Jake Munros party once again landed over 60 fish to the their boats. Fishing near the wall in Rainbow Corner, they used a wide variety of methods to land their fish, from washing line, the bung, snakes and dries.

Yet again more Northeast winds and cloud to start the day which later broke giving bright sunshine. All water member Paul Havard landed 6 fish and commented on the “lovely silver” qualities of them with the best being a 4lb 8oz Rainbow. Paul, landed his fish using a small booby snake on a Di 3 sinking line drifting from Y- B Buoy. T Hughes & D Brocklesby landed 15 fish to the boat fishing in Rainbow Corner. With N McCall & T McCall fishing in the same area landing 18 fish. Andy Brown enjoyed a good afternoons sport landing fish on a black and gold humungous. Before changing to a foam daddy as the day progressed into evening.

Friday dawned with that unrelenting sunshine and a cool wind still blowing from the north east. The reservoir can be unforgiving at the moment, unless you are willing to keep on the move and push down onto the fish as the day progresses. Ed Wilson and Alan Masters had 11 fish to the boat between them using buzzers in Toft Shallows and Biggin Bay. Season permit holder Rob Edmunds caught 16 fish using diawl bachs and buzzers, one of which weighed 4 lbs 12 oz, and was caught from Lincroft point. Davis Stott used white lures to net  4 fish on Toft Shallows. Draycote regular Will Hunt used sedge patterns to net 5 fish from the area around G buoy.

The same weather conditions greeted us on Saturday morning but the day turned out completely different. With a good head of fish in the reservoir Draycote really switched on for most anglers, with fish being caught right throughout the water column and in practically all areas. There were fish being taken on small dries through P buoy and Y buoy, as well as 40 seconds down on a DI7 and snakes just off Musborough Shoal. Staff member Mark Braun used damsel boobies fished on a DI5 drifting near M buoy. Chris Bobby and Leanne Frost had 17 fish to the boat on dries through the middle of the reservoir. Mr J Campbell had over a dozen fish to the boat using a DI7 and snakes once again, through the middle part of the reservoir. Des James and Mathew Griffiths of Ospreys Fly Fishers used dries through the morning in the form of CDC’s, to net 7 fish between them up towards Rainbow Corner. After about 11:30 or so the water went very calm and both Anglers switched to DI7’s with olive lures. During the second half of the day, Des and Mathew boated another 11 fish between them.

Very warm flat calm day conditions, however, later in the afternoon/evening we had a very heavy thunderstorm which certainly put some rain down in the couple of hours it was over the lake. Sunday, saw the Draycote Fly Fishers Association hold the annual John Hanlon Senior memorial match. Always a popular event for the club with so many Hanlon family members still fishing here at Draycote. With the conditions it was a challenging day for the anglers fishing. Winning the day was John & Sean Hanlon with 6 fish caught in Toft. In second place Brian Froggatt & Adrian Burton with 4 fish then in 3^rd Place was Michael Hanlon & William Hunt with 3 fish. Another event taking place was the England Ladies mixed pairs with 8 pairs heading out hoping to win the silver salver. Overall the pairs caught 75 fish for a 4.69 rod average a great result in the conditions. With the majority of the anglers fishing and catching on dries, Chris Bobby, England Ladies Manager commented on the number of fish moving. The Winning the match was our very own Lee Henfrey fishing with Gwyneth Mooney. The pair had 14 fish catching at Musborough Shoal near N Buoy using the bung with a blob under it to land their fish. In second place was Sam & Rob Edmounds with 12 fish beating Cherylanne Beasta & Alex Hayward also with 12 fish, by landing their first fish quicker. There was also some cracking fish caught with Gwyneth & Rob both landing fish over 6lb and a large number of 5lb fish also caught.

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Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report –

Tel: 01536 770264  Mobile 07834 581424

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/

2023 Permits & Pre Payment for Boat Bookings Details of our Day Permits, Package Breaks & our Boat bookings pre-payment policy visit our website.

https://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: 11 Jun 23       Rod Av:  7.8    Water Temperature:   18 °C

It was a chilly start to the week with a stiff North Easterly wind & consistent cloud keeping the air temperature down. Subsequently, there was no prolific Damsel hatch as in previous days. The reservoir still fished very well however, with Dries being the most effective method on the day, especially from the boats. For the boats, the general area of Stoke Dry was the most productive area where anglers caught very well on CDC patterns & Foam Daddies. All Water Member Mark Hunt had a great afternoon session, landing well over 20 fish on a single Dry Fly. Regular fishing partners Lyndsay Bates & Roy Swinfield also had a great day landing well over 30 fish on Yellow Owls & CDC Hares Ear. From the bank, Sam’s Dyke continues to fish well with Mr Cownley landing 12 on Damsels, Daddies & Buzzers.

The cold start to the week continued Tuesday with the wind shifting around to the East by early afternoon. There was consistent cloud cover all day & the fish fed confidently high up in the water column. The most productive area was Stoke Dry to the Tern rafts & along the Leicester Bank around the Chestnut to the Cowshed. There was a lot of fish caught on either a Washing Lined floating line or Dries with brown Foam Daddies being one of the most consistent flies, pulled just under the surface. Those fishing the washing line found that smaller nymphs on the droppers worked best with a Damsel booby on the point & some even done well with a small FAB on the point. Paul White had a great day landing 21 fish up at Stoke Dry on Washing lined Crunchers. All Water Members Norman Perkins & Arthur Olding had 18 & 16 respectively. Norman caught on a Washing Line with a Damsel Booby on the point whereas, Arthur caught his on the Foam Daddies pulled under the surface.

Wednesday brought with it lighter winds & solid cloud cover. As the day progressed the cloud broke resulting in some bright intervals. The reservoir fished very well from both the boats & the bank with not only some excellent returns recorded but some cracking fish coming out too. Sam’s Dyke to Cowshed fished well for the bank anglers, this despite the wind blowing onto the Cowshed, with fish feeding close in on the Damsel Nymphs. Mr Jennings had a great day landing well over 20 fish from the general area of Sam’s Dyke. From the boats, Stoke Dry was the most productive area with some very high returns & some good quality, fully finned, 4lb fish showing as they fed hard on the bountiful aquatic life up there. All Water Member Rob Middleton had a very productive day landing over 20 fish on Foam Daddies, as did boat partners Mr Brown & Martin, who caught theirs on Daddy’s & Crunchers. The most productive methods from the boats were Foam Daddies & Nymphs fished just under the surface on either Floaters or a 12ft Slow Tip & Dries with CDC Emerging patterns, Hare’s Ears & Yellow Owls, featuring high on the catch returns.

It was another chilly start to the day on Thursday caused by a moderate Northerly breeze that yet again brought with it plenty of cloud cover. By early afternoon, the cloud cover had disappeared revealing a clear, bright sky for the remainder of the day. The change in conditions did not detract from the excellent, recent form that Eyebrook had been in, as the fishery went on to record a daily rod average of 9.76, the highest of the week. The boat anglers fared better than the bank anglers as the bright conditions in the afternoon pushed the fish out into the slightly deeper water. On the boats the fish were still caught high up in the water column from the first couple of feet to the surface with the most productive methods being a washing lined slow sink tip or floater & Dries. The northern end of the reservoir was still the most productive with Stoke Dry to the Tern rafts being a notable hot spot within that. There were some high catch returns recorded with CDC Emergers, Yellow Owls, Damsel Nymphs, Foam Daddies & small Nymphs all featuring very highly on the catch returns.

After an initial overcast start to the day, the skies did not take long to clear on Friday & coupled with a reduction in the wind, the air temperature felt a few degrees warmer. Despite the bright skies, the reservoir fished very well with fish taken throughout the day on floating lines & dries. Stoke Dry continued its excellent form as it has over previous days, but what seemed to make the difference to anglers catch rate was the size of flies being used. Anglers who fished smaller flies, caught more consistently than those fishing larger flies. Father & son, Nigel & Max Woolnough enjoyed an excellent day fishing dries catching a very high number of fish, initially from the Willows but then later down at Stoke Dry. Eyebrook members Bill Law & Ian Steele also had a great day down at Stoke Dry landing another very high number of fish. There was no great change to productive fly patterns, Dries & Nymphs but the common denominator was that they were small which is hardly surprising given the amount of pressure Stoke Dry has received.

Saturday saw a reduction in the wind & very bright conditions from the off. This driven the air temperature up which would surely mean an increase in Damsel activity around the reservoir.? This proved to be exactly the case as there were a lot of fish caught on Damsel patterns, whether that was Damsel Nymphs or Dry adult Damsel patterns such as the Blue Foam Daddy. Hoppers fished wet also featured on the catch returns as the fish took them sub-surface more than likely as Damsel Nymphs. Eyebrook members & regular fishing partners Bob Margery & Steve Lawrence had a very productive morning session landing over 40 fish between them from the area of Stoke Dry.

Weatherwise, Sunday was very similar to Saturday with clear skies, low winds & high temperatures. Stoke Dry still produced with anglers finding that by scaling down both leader diameters & fly size the fish continued to come, not in the high numbers of earlier in the week but they still came none the less. All Water Member Kev Hart & his regular boat partner Dave Pacey had a great morning session, landing 24 between them from Stoke Dry on small Nymphs & Dries. Eyebrook member & regular Float Tuber, Neil Shilton also had a productive session landing 7 trout adopting a mobile approach. Neil also had the additional bonus of landing a 23lb Pike. Although not his intended target species, this is still a great fish. Sunday also saw us host the Invicta Fly Fishing Club for a Club match which saw 27 anglers take to the water & they caught 183 fish between them which gave them a rod average of 6.7. Given the conditions this was a great return.

At the start of the week, the water temperature was 16°C & by the end of the week it was 18°C, a 2°C increase is a significant rise in temperature, yet the reservoir still produced & fished very well. The forecast for the week ahead indicates that temperatures will continue to rise, so it could be an interesting week ahead.