Thornton Weekly Report
Week ending 4th February
Tel 01530 230807
The 2018 season opened on Thursday 1st February to a cold North Westerly. As reported earlier the rain during the past month had put some colour in the water although by opening day our visibility was 14inch+
With a preseason stocking of 3000 trout anglers headed towards the known early season hot spots, opposite the lodge & wood bank.
The strong north westerly by midmorning blowing onto the shallows opposite the lodge had the bank anglers moving to fish the sheltered shallows from the lonesome pine down towards the tern raft.
First back to the lodge with his 4 fish limit was Draycote regular Alex Twaites who found the fish all the way down the Markfileld Arm to the tern raft weighing 4 fish for 12lb including a brace of overwintered trout. Mr C J Day had travelled from Worcester and he also found the trout all the way down by the tern raft catching 9 including a 4lb overwintered brown, photo on our facebook page www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore top pattern for the day was green & white lure
Our second day of the season & the north westerly wind persisted & was particularly cold, again the bank anglers along with boat anglers headed for the shelter of the Markfield Arm with the best of the sport been enjoyed during the early afternoon. Thornton member Szymon caught 14 from the bank fishing opposite the lodge & around to the lonesome pine. Draycote fishery warden & guide Lee Henfrey caught 13 with Lee finding the fish at the top of the Thornton arm, Draycote member Rodger Kerrison on his first visit to Thornton caught 7 on a cats whisker, with I Hyde on his first visit to Thornton catching 7 from the top of the Thornton arm
On Saturday we had a calmer day, although wet it felt warmer & we enjoyed the best day of the season to date with bank & boat anglers catching trout from the top of the Thornton arm all the way along to the bottom of the Markfield arm to the tern raft. Howard Davies bank fished & caught 9 trout, Chris Goodwin & Mick Glover shared a boat catching 21 trout on cats whiskers, Jan Webber got his season off to a flying start with 9 trout with Vince Aronica enjoying a great bank session catching 16
Sunday & the colder conditions returned, Szymon returned to fish the bank catching 9, Dave Wilson & A Wolloff shared a boat catching 12, Keith Cowen caught 6 with Brian Sibley catching 10 with the majority falling to green & white lures. By Sunday our visibility had increased to 2ft
Bank anglers, we recommend you bring waders
Rod average 3.9 Water Temperature 6 degrees
Best Area: Top of the Thornton arm & down along the shallows opposite the lodge along the wood past lonesome pine to the tern raft, trout are well spread, but very close to the bank
Best Method: Floating Line, Midge Tip, Intermediate with white & green lures, small green pea, snakes
Opening Times
Main Gate, Lodge & Bank fishing open 7.30am
Full Day Boat: 8.30am – 5.00pm
Morning Boat: 8.30am – 12.30pm
Afternoon Boat: 12.30pm – 5.00pm
All anglers offsite by 5.15pm
Dates for your diary: We are attending the BFFI show www.bffi.co.uk 10th & 11th February come along & meet the fishery staff from Thornton, Draycote, Foremark & Eyebrook we will have our full range of RIO fly lines, SAGE fly rods, Redington Rods, Vision Rods- Jackets-Waders & wading boots, Shakespeare rods & selected Snowbee items.
RIO DAGE DAY: We will also be taking bookings for our popular RIO SAGE day hosted at Draycote on May 6th with Simon Gawesworth of Rio & Jim Fearn of SAGE on hand to take you through the full range of Trout, Salmon & Saltwater rods & lines with the opportunity to take a SAGE rod matched to a RIO fly line out fishing for a free 1hr30min session with a guide from a boat, pre- booking essential details on www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk RIO & SAGE DAY PAGE