Thornton Weekly Report

Week ending 30^th June 2019

Tel 01530 230807

Special offer- Please check out www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers to take advantage of a great deal on our In house guides top patterns when fishing on the washing line.

With the sun for the next few weeks at its strongest strength its not surprising to see a rise in the water temperature, for most of this week weave opened to a water temperature of 18+c.

Morning session 8.00am to 3.00pm has fished best with the evening session generally patchy, moving one evening, not the next. We are seeing at times large hatches of caenis.

Monday overcast conditions G England caught 8 from the bank opposite the lodge and past lonesome pine, Andy Lilley boat fished a morning session catching 7 trout wit J Scott boat fishing the deeper channel

Of the Markfield arm with a DI5 small black snake, cruncher and buzzers to catch 32 trout.

Tuesday, Bill Stone bank fished catching 8 trout, Carl Bond fished the late evening with buzzer and orange blob to take his 5 trout.

Wednesday and a better day K Greaves & T Devonshire caught 9, P Hunt and J Thomson fished buzzers for their morning session catching 13, Colwick fly fishers fished the evening session generally finding it difficult except for K Saxton who fished buzzers deep to catch 10 trout

Morning session continued to be the most productive session during Thursday and Friday with T Miles catching 6 on damsel patterns & P Moore fishing buzzers and diawls to catch his 6 trout with Peter Wrigley & R Dunster boating 10 between them on buzzers for their mornings visit. Keith Coley & John Bebbington found the winning method with fabs fished deep to catch 20 fish between them, drifting out of the Markfield arm into the main basin.

Saturday and the forecast heat arrived with the anglers out in the morning before the full heat of the day finding the fish, P Mee caught 6 on buzzer and blob, D Mee caught 8 with Lee Henfrey taking a day off from his fishery ranger and guiding duties to fish the morning session at Thornton catching 27 fishing buzzers initially off a 12ft midge tip before changing to a DI7 and snakes.

Sunday and a cooler cloudier day, the morning session fished best once again, P Mee returned for another session catching 11 trout, P Hunt & J Thomson returned for their second visit of the week fishing black & red buzzers deep to boat 19 trout.

Best area is the deeper channel located in the middle of the Markfield arm, in front of the stones & across towards the buoys.

Floating lines with black or red buzzers, bloodworm patterns fished static & deep or sinking lines with snakes, boobies or fabs.

Morning session 8.00am – 3.00pm is currently fishing best.

Current rod average: 2.8

Main gate, lodge & bank fishing open 7.30am

Bank: 07:30 am till 10.00pm

Boat All Day: 08:30 to 10.00pm

Morning Boats:   08:30 until 3.00pm    Afternoon Boats: 3.00pm until 10.00pm

Last 4 Hours from: 6.00pm until 10.00pm (Tickets on sale from 5.45pm)

All anglers to be off site by: 10.15pm

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Thornton Weekly Report

Week ending 23^th June 2019

Tel 01530 230807

Weather Forecast: Were often asked which weather forecast we use, from our experience unfortunately we no longer find the BBC regional one to be accurate enough too many days lost to inaccurate local forecast.

We recommend for Thornton you use XC Weather available as an App on your phone or download to your computer, put in the fisheries postcode LE67 1AR

Fishing Report: With the unexpected cooler water conditions following the unsettled weather for early June and the rise in water levels our excellent sport continues with another good weeks fishing returning a rod average 6.0

Boat, float tube and bank anglers have equally shared the good sport with damsel, buzzer, hares ear, bloodworm, cruncher, diawls and dries all featuring in the returns.

Morning session has 8.00am – 3.00pm has fished the most consistent, the late evening session has been a bit more challenging as the fish switch onto the caenis

Monday P Cross and S Windram fished damsels for their catch of 16 fish during a morning session, Clive Holt & C Chambers fished an evening session with damsels and daddies to boat their 19 fish.

Tuesday & Wednesday were red letter days with those days a, averaging 9.0 A few of the outstanding catches Keith Cowen morning session with damsels catching, T Devonshire & K Greaves for their days visit 40 trout, Robert Menhams morning visit 15 on buzzer and damsels, Carl Bond fished the last 4 hours catching 11 on buzzers. Wednesday Phil Mee caught 30 for his mornings visit with Andy Lilley fishing the afternoon session with orange fab to catch his 18 trout. Bill Stone fished the bank over the newly flooded ground fishing size 14 buzzer to catch his 17 trout

Thursday P Mee returned for another morning session catching 25 trout, All Water Member R Jordan caught 11 on buzzers while Tony Lorrimer used his bunny patterns to catch 17 trout

Friday M Cross & C Sayer boated 11 for their morning visit, Jan Webber fished damsel and bibio patterns for his 11 fish with Scotty Wilson fishing a gold headed daddy and damsel to catch 25. Russ Martin bank fished opposite the lodge and in front of the wood catching 10 trout but losing as many, Mick Hewitt bank fished the same area for the last 4 hours catching 7

Saturday and the weather was brighter which made the fishing a little trickier, R Dunnet float tubed and caught 11 trout, Andre Russell float tubed catching 7 trout with All Water member N Shilton also float tubed and caught 14 trout. Howard Davie took to a boat for his morning session catching 11 on damsels

Sunday P Hunt & J Thomson fished buzzers to take their 13 trout, A Gunby caught 11 for his mornings visit with P Harris & K Mailie catching 16 on buzzers and bloodworm patterns

Water temperature is a cool 16c for the time of year with clarity good. Best areas opposite the lodge, woodbank for bank & boat anglers with the drift across the main basin producing for the boats.

Tom Bird Fishing Tips: With the water warming and the fish rising in the water the washing lining is fast becoming the top method of the moment. To coincide with this Guiding & Tuition Manger Tom Bird has written a blog post to help your catch rate when fishing the washing line which can be found at www.flyfishtuition.co.uk.  To go along with this blog we have also put together the Fishery Management (UK) ltd guides top flies for all venues for the washing line that can be found on the online shop https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/

Main gate, lodge & bank fishing open 7.30am

Bank: 07:30 am till 10.00pm

Boat All Day: 08:30 to 10.00pm

Morning Boats:   08:30 until 3.00pm    Afternoon Boats: 3.00pm until 10.00pm

Last 4 Hours from: 6.00pm until 10.00pm (Tickets on sale from 5.45pm)

All anglers to be off site by: 10.15pm

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Thornton Weekly Report

Week ending 16^th June 2019

Tel 01530 230807

Rain has bought our level up 3ft+ with clarity remaining good due to the crops in the fields & leaf on the trees controlling the run off, our water temperature at one stage dropped to 11c but is now 14c+ which is ideal for fly fishing.

The increase in the level & cooler conditions switched the fishery on with the rod average for last week 5.8 with some anglers getting well into double figures.

No surprise with the increase in the water level flooding the banks & the vegetation that the trout have moved in to feed on these areas opposite the lodge, wood bank & lonesome pine

Dawsons olive, damsel, buzzer & dries were the patterns that worked best with floaters, midge tip & intermediate being the lines of choice

The caenis are about in increasing numbers during the evening often referred to as the “fisherman’s curse” as the trout move about leisurely sipping them off the surface. Mu approach is to fish from a drifting boats, taper my leader down as far as I dare & fish a single fly, small tups or sparkle gnat.

Rods that caught well last week Phil Mee, A Lilley, N Perkins, H Davies, M Hunt, D Slesser, Szymon, P Hunt

Despite the weather Water clarity is good, the water temperature is an excellent 14c

Water level is 3ft+ down due to the continued work being carried out on the overflow

Compared to this time last year the fishing is excellent don’t let the weatherman put you off.

We have in stock the New Vision EKA fly rods offering excellent value from £99.99 details on our online shop Flyfishstore https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/shop/vision-eka/

Main gate, lodge & bank fishing open 7.30am

Bank: 07:30 am till 10.00pm

Boat All Day: 08:30 to 10.00pm

Morning Boats:   08:30 until 3.00pm    Afternoon Boats: 3.00pm until 10.00pm

Last 4 Hours from: 6.00pm until 10.00pm (Tickets on sale from 5.45pm)

All anglers to be off site by: 10.15pm

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Thornton Weekly Report

Week ending 10^th June 2019

Tel 01530 230807

A mixed weeks fishing, with the rod average for the week 1.9 despite 620 trout stocked on the 29^th May with another 620 trout 7^th June with another 620 trout due this week.

The evening rise was a bit hit and miss this past week with some really cold evenings for the time of year. The rain with its changeable cooler winds has bought us some benefit with the water temperature a cool 15c for the time of year which will benefit us as we move into the summer

Monday fishing from his tube M Claytton caught 14 trout on size 14 buzzer with J Oakes taking 10 on cats whisker from his tube with the productive area being the woodbank

Tuesday member Mick Glover fished on the drift with green hoppers catching 7 for his mornings visit. Wednesday morning fished well Richard Price fished snakes to take his 5 fish to 5lb8oz, R Gibbon also caught 5 with Phil Moore catching 8 to 4lb2oz.

The wet weather on Friday and Saturday saw few rods out with Jan Webber putting up with the persistent heavy rain on Saturday morning to take 5 on damsel patterns.

Sunday and improving weather saw all the boats out for the morning session 8.30am to 3.00pm, Andy Lilley caught 8 on black UV crunchers, Szymon caught 10, P Mee caught 7 with the corner of the wood fishing best, heavy rain put paid to the late evening sport.

Despite the weather Water clarity is good, the water temperature is an excellent 15c

Water level is 6ft down due to the continued work being carried out on the overflow

Main gate, lodge & bank fishing open 7.30am

Bank: 07:30 am till 10.00pm

Boat All Day: 08:30 to 10.00pm

Morning Boats:   08:30 until 3.00pm    Afternoon Boats: 3.00pm until 10.00pm

Last 4 Hours from: 6.00pm until 10.00pm (Tickets on sale from 5.45pm)

All anglers to be off site by: 10.15pm

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Thornton Weekly Report

Week ending 26^th May 2019

Tel 01530 230807

Thornton is currently 6ft+ down due to the continued work on the overflow. The valve is now closed therefore we shouldn’t see the level reduce by much more.

The week started well with R Menhams catching 12 on hoppers and buzzer , Steve Jordan and Graham Henfrey fished indicators and buzzers to catch 22 with Dave Wilson catching a 5lb. Tuesday Chris Sayer fished black buzzers for his 9 trout Richard Price caught 8 for his mornings visit on buzzer and blobs with Norman Perkins fishing the morning session catching 15 to 3lb8oz again on buzzer.

Middle of the week and buzzers continued to be the best patterns, Keith Walker caught 6 for his mornings session, Mr & Mrs Ryalls fished buzzers to catch their 6 trout with Jamie Scott fishing buzzer and cruncher patterns to catch his 8 fish

Tony Lorrimer used his bunny patterns to catch his 8 fish with tony commenting that all his fish were taken on the drift.

Fishery ranger and guide Lee Henfrey on his day off fished Thornton on Saturday catching 18 trout on a range of lines from a fast sinker to a midge tip and midge tip long

Buzzers were the stand out pattern this week with damsel, crunchers and hoppers also working well. Plenty of damsels starting to show with caenis about in the late evening, I use a tups or Charles Jardine sparkle gnat for caenis feeders

Water clarity is good, the water temperature is an excellent 15c

Main gate, lodge & bank fishing open 7.30am

Bank: 07:30 am till 9.45pm

Boat All Day: 08:30 to 9.45pm

Morning Boats:   08:30 until 3.00pm    Afternoon Boats: 3.00pm until 9.45pm

Last 4 Hours from: 5.45pm until 9.45pm (Tickets on sale from 5.30pm)

All anglers to be off site by: 10.00pm

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Thornton Weekly Report

Week ending 19^th May 2019

Tel 01530 230807

Thornton is currently 6ft+ down due to the continued work on the overflow. The valve is now closed therefore we shouldn’t see the level reduce by much more.

The low levels aren’t impacting the fishing with the rod average 3.6 for last week.

During any overcast periods the bank is fishing with the area opposite the lodge, corner of the wood & lonesome pine producing to damsel, buzzer & hare`s ears.

Boat anglers are finding fish in the same area as the bank but are also finding fish during the evening on the drift over the main basin.

The Thornton fly fishers match was won by Tony Smith with Martin Vernon second with 5 fish over 3lb+ recorded for their competition

Anglers are enjoying catching the larger fish were introducing with 3 fish over 5lb+ caught by R. Dunster, P Martindale & P Hunt.

We have buzzers, damsels and the first of the sedge we would expect to see the hawthorn fly this week

Water clarity is good

Main gate, lodge & bank fishing open 7.30am

Bank: 07:30 am till 9.30pm

Boat All Day: 08:30 to 9.30pm

Morning Boats:   08:30 until 3.00pm    Afternoon Boats: 3.00pm until 9.30pm

Last 4 Hours from: 5.30pm until 9.30pm (Tickets on sale from 5.15pm)

All anglers to be off site by: 9.45pm

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Thornton Weekly Report

Week ending 12^th May 2019

Tel 01530 230807

This current spell of weather, showery with cooler air temperatures are ideal for the midland reservoirs keeping the water temperatures to were they should be for the time of year 12c – 13c perfect for the type of fishing we expect, buzzer, surface activity and reaching for the floating lines, midge tips & intermediate lines

With a rod average 4.7 for the week Thornton is enjoying a good spell of sport with bank, especially if its overcast and boats enjoying the sport.

The same areas have continued to produce for a number of weeks now with bank anglers catching opposite the lodge, corner of the wood and down to the lonesome pine. Boat anglers are catching similar areas but are also finding fish off the stones.

Reasonable hatches of buzzer from small olive buzzers to a much larger black buzzer coming off we would expect to see a few hawthorn flies towards the end of this week

All Water member Paul Havard caught 6 for his visit reporting the smaller buzzer sizes worked best, Neil Pitfield caught 5 for his visit including a 4lb4oz rainbow. Another All water member Jamie Scott found blobs and fabs worked best for him catching fish up to 4lb8oz

Staff Police visited Thornton during the week averaging 6+ for their visit with M Cartlidge leading the way with 18 trout followed by S Owen on 10 with damsel and blobs working best for them

Friday and following a very wet Thursday the reservoir fished well again Mick Cross catching 7 trout to 3lb8oz, J Alcock fished from the bank and recorded 13 trout, S Swinfield caught fish to 4lb4oz

J Veasy bank fished the afternoon session using Diawl Bach to catch 6 trout with Simon Crane recording 4 trout for his afternoon bank session

Saturday was the day of the week Keith Cowen, A Lilley, Jan Webber, M Clay, M Hunt all recording double figure catches with fish of 5lb+ recorded. Damsel, cruncher, buzzer, hoppers were the patterns working best.

Sunday A Gunby returned two rainbows 5lb+, Szymon fishing with his young daughter caught 8, T Smith caught 9 with local angling club Thornton Fly Fishers chairman Dave Leavesley continuing his good season catching 8 off the bank using a damsel.

Floating line & midge tips are working best with damsel, buzzer, cruncher, diawls and hoppers best patterns

Water clarity is good, the work on the overflow continues with the reservoir currently 5ft down

Main gate, lodge & bank fishing open 7.30am

Bank: 07:30 am till 9.15pm

Boat All Day: 08:30 to 9.15pm

Morning Boats:   08:30 until 3.00pm    Afternoon Boats: 3.00pm until 9.15pm

Last 4 Hours from: 5.15pm until 9.15pm (Tickets on sale from 5.00pm)

All anglers to be off site by: 9.30pm

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Thornton Weekly Report

Week ending 5^th May 2019

Tel 01530 230807

This weeks special offer at our online store www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/

The cuckoo is the last of our summer visitors still to arrive, the swifts arrived midweek and is a always a sign that spring will in a few short weeks turn into summer

With another steady week for us at Thornton with the rod average at 3.3 with bank anglers taking advantage of our lower water levels and still catching opposite the lodge, corner of the wood and lonesome pine. Fish are close in during the morning or evening during the brighter part of the day they are moving out, if your coming to fish the bank bring waders

Boats continue to catch off the corner of the wood but are also finding fish along the stones and across the deeper water.

Good buzzer hatches and as we move into May look out for the hawthorn fly.

Floating lines, midge tip and intermediate lines are best with buzzers, Diawls, damsel and Dawson’s olive

Keith Cowen started the week in fine form taking his 6 fish limit during a morning session on damsels, D Button fished the afternoon / evening session also taking 6 trout

David Clayton bank fished on Tuesday catching 11 trout with the overcast conditions keeping the fish close in for most of the day, Mark Burrows bank fished catching rainbows of 2lb & 4lb4oz, Jack Hives and Sam Fielder shared a morning boat catching 11 between them. Symon caught 12 for his afternoon visit including fish of 5lb & 3lb8oz.

Thornton Fly Fishers angling club chairman continued his good run of form from the bank using a damsel to catch 5 trout for his short 4 hour session. Fish are taking dries with Mick Glover fishing a Big Red to catch 4 trout

Dawson’s Olive caught 16 trout for Howard Davies with Tony Lorrimer catching 18 again using his successful bunny patterns. Phill Mee took advice from the lodge and fished the late afternoon / evening session catching 10 on Thursday evening and 6 on Friday evening

Terry Ord and Brian Rutherford enjoyed two days catching 25 trout on dries and buzzers

Saturday Mark Burrows retuned for a session from the boat catching trout 4lb8oz and 2lb8oz, Jan Webber caught 6lb rainbow with Mark Hunt catching 10 to 5lb2oz

Sunday Dave Skudder caught 5 for his morning’s visit with Neil Bates fishing a damsel to catch his 8 trout

Water clarity is good, the work on the overflow continues with the reservoir currently 5ft down

Main gate, lodge & bank fishing open 7.30am

Bank: 07:30 am till 9.00pm

Boat All Day: 08:30 to 9.00pm

Morning Boats:   08:30 until 2.30pm    Afternoon Boats: 2.30pm until 9.00pm

Last 4 Hours from: 5.00pm until 9.00pm (Tickets on sale from 4.45pm)

All anglers to be off site by: 9.15pm

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Thornton Weekly Report

Week ending 28^th April 2019

Tel 01530 230807

Another steady week for Thornton with bank and boat anglers catching with the area opposite the lodge, corner of the wood and lonesome pine best for bank anglers with boats fishing corner of the wood, stones and in the evening drifting across the main basin

Monday Mark Stone caught 5 for his 4 hour mornings visit, Bob Jones float tubed with damsel and buzzer patterns for his 7 trout. Tuesday Pete Hunt continued to use his successful patterns of cats whiskers and buzzers to catch 11 trout, by Wednesday were starting to see an improving evening rise with buzzers and suspender buzzers taking fish with Peter Wurm catching 6 during the last 3 hours and Clive Holt catching 9 again during the late evening session on traditional wets

Tut Miles caught 5lb rainbow on damsel, Phil Mee also caught a 5lb rainbow, P Hunt caught 5lb8oz with Keith Cowen over two trips catching 12 trout for 32lb

The Troutmasters fish off was fished on Sunday with Andy Lilley going on to represent Thornton and R Miller going to represent Foremark, the very best of luck in the final been held at Draycote water.

Water clarity is good   Our rod average 3.4

Due to the continued maintenance work on the Thornton Dam overflow the contractors have dropped the level of the reservoir further and currently were 5ft+ down, the work is scheduled to be completed by late July

Buzzer & Indicator Fishing As it’s the time of year for buzzers and indicators Tom Bird has written a new blog http://www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/ explaining the method we also have an online shop offer on indicators this week https://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/offers/

Main gate, lodge & bank fishing open 7.30am

Bank: 07:30 am till 8.45 pm

Boat All Day: 08:30 to 8.45pm

Morning Boats:   08:30 until 2.30pm    Afternoon Boats: 2.30pm until 8.45pm

Last 4 Hours from: 4.45pm until 8.45pm (Tickets on sale from 4.30pm)

All anglers to be off site by: 9.00pm

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Thornton Weekly Report

Week ending 21^st April 2019

Tel 01530 230807

Buzzers, it seems to have taken a while to get our buzzer sport going but this was the week when the trout seemed to click onto the buzzer with a good evening rise to be had towards the end of the week.

With the water level down 4ft due to the continued work on the overflow its strange how the corner of the wood down to the lonesome pine continues to be the most productive area for most of April.

Some good sized fish been taken again this week, D Barnes 4lb, N Perkins 4lb1oz, M Clay 3lb12oz, L Langley 3lb13oz & S Lewandski 5lb photo on www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

Floating line, Intermediate and when it was bright and still a sink3 were the lines to have with you this week with olive or black buzzers from size 14 – 10, blobs, damsels, cats whisker.

Corner of the wood down past the lonesome pine was the area that fished well for bank and boat anglers with the drift in the evening from the end of the stones across the main basin the area to fish the evening rise towards the end of the week.

Water temperature has at long last picked up been between 11c – 12+c for most of this week, which explains why our buzzer sport has suddenly picked up.

Notable catches for the week, Pete Hunt 11 trout, D Leavesley 18 off the bank, Jan Webber 14, M Clay 14, D Jones 10, with anglers fishing from float tubes Szymon 9, A Russel 10, Bob Jones 7

Water clarity is good

Our rod average 3.2

Our water levels are down 4ft due to the continued maintenance work on the overflow,

Main gate, lodge & bank fishing open 7.30am

Bank: 07:30 am till 8.30 pm

Boat All Day: 08:30 to 8.30pm

Morning Boats:   08:30 until 2.30pm

Afternoon Boats: 2.30pm until 8.30pm

Last 4 Hours from: 4.30pm until 8.30pm (Tickets on sale from 4.15pm)

All anglers to be off site by: 8.45pm

You can follow us on our Facebook page

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