Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

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: 22 May    Rod Av: 2.3  Water Temperature: 16c+

Monday & the forecast for heavy rain kept the anglers away, as it was no rain & not too bad fishing conditions with fish moving off & on during the day. Bill Stone caught 5 for his 4 hour visit with Andrew Wilson fishing a washing line with buzzers to catch his 4 trout.

Busy day Tuesday with all of the boats out. Trout remain high in the water with water clarity gin clear. Time to fish leaders as long as you can with as low diameter leader as you can manage. If fishing dries the anglers fishing a single small dry #14, #16 are doing best. Phill Mee & Steve Fairgrieve fished a morning session catching 9 trout to 3lb on diawl bach & buzzer. Kevin Hart took to his float tube catching 8 trout including an overwintered 3lb+ rainbow on a washing line, fab, nemo cruncher & diawl. Pete Cox fished a black pudding cruncher, pattern tied by our new fishery ranger Jim Sheehan catching 7 trout. Another good evening rise with fish moving in front of the lodge & from in front of the main dam across the main basin into Markfield arm.

Wednesday & again a wrong forecast kept rods away which was a shame as fish were moving again off & on during the day with a good evening rise as James Smith discovered fishing the last 4 hour session with fabs & emergers to catch his 4 trout

Thursday, the forecasted rain did eventually arrive, this morning the level is the same, water clarity is “gin clear” with fish sipping off the surface mopping up last night buzzer & the first of the caenis. It was a surprisingly challenging day considering the number of trout feeding off the surface. David Hussey fished sub surface with diawl bach and buzzer to catch his 12 trout for the day. Barry Deeley decided to fish deeper with a sink 5 and a humungus and booby patterns picking up 5 trout. Peter Wrigley fished the afternoon session fishing a long leader off his midge tip with an apps bloodworm catching 10 trout. Those surface feeding trout need a subtle approach, long tapered leader to a fine diameter point, single dry #14 #16 similar to an F fly, bobs bits, emerger pattern, don’t cast too often pick out the trout working its way towards you cant 6 to 8ft in front giving you enough time not to disturb the surface & for you to get the presentation right, allow the fish to move onto the fly. When its calm and I’m using small dries emergers I always opts for a tapered leader, to help turnover and presentation.

Friday and Saturday we had good numbers of fish rising all day from in front of the fishing lodge across the main basin. They weren’t easy to tempt with some of the anglers deciding to ignore the trout moving on the surface reaching for their Sink3, Sink 5 or Sink 7 lines with damsel, Dawson olive, fab, blob or booby. The anglers who had success with the surface feeding trout fished long leaders with a single size #14 emergers and shuttlecocks, this worked for Mark Hunt who caught 12 with M Clay catching 14

I often find when the fish become preoccupied with the smaller #14 #16 flies a tapered leader will help with turnover and improve presentation.

Sunday and again a good number of trout sipping off the surface in front of the lodge greeted the anglers as they got into their boats. These fish are feeding on caenis from the night before and small black buzzer and a small vivid green buzzer, size #14 #16 on a long leader, possibly a single fly is the way to approach them. Trout are well spread across the reservoir with anglers picking up fish from all over the reservoir. Some anglers are finding the straight line buzzer or bung is fishing best with others using a sink 3 or 5 with damsel patterns, blobs or booby. Kevin Hart & Dave Pacey during the afternoon found good numbers of trout moving down the Markfield arm fishing 5 & 5 weight rods with fine leader & small emergers, cdc caught 22 trout mostly during the afternoon.

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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/

Week Ending:  Sunday 22nd May 2022              Rod Av:  3.6      Water Temperature: 15 °C

Monday started warm with a fairly light breeze and good cloud cover. Draycote season ticket holder James Kelly fished on the bank in Toft to land 3 fish with the fish all taking Diawl Bachs. Out on the boats Rob Plume & John Stephens landed 16 fish on Buzzers fishing around the Outlet, with the boat of James & Jarvis also using these tactics to boat 15 fish. Draycote season ticket holder Ian Richardson & Bob Smith had 20 fish to the boat at the Hensbrough Bank. The pair fished straight line buzzers and commented on another “lovely day”

A very warm day Tuesday with a blustery southerly wind which picked up even more in the afternoon, then to finish the day we had a torrential down pour. Tim Grove & Gordon Byers on their second of 4 days enjoyed a good day’s sport landing 20 fish to the boat. They fished in the corner of the Hensborough bank on buzzers at anchor. Also landing 20 fish on Buzzer was Tosh Storrar & Rob Plume who fished just up from them further along the Hensborough Bank. Keith Allison & Peter Williams enjoyed a good day landing 22 the pair used a mix of buzzers, muskins and Diawl Bachs to land their fish. All water member Roger Kerrison enjoyed a good day landing 12 fish all on nymphs fishing at the school slips.

Wednesday started bright with a light breeze and then clouded over as the day progressed. These days it’s much easier to point out where not to fish, as the place is fishing so well, (famous last words). The daily rod average seems to be cruising along above six or so this past couple of weeks and doesn’t look set to change anytime soon. With just a few exceptions, most of the fish caught are coming out of the top few feet of the water column, on diawl bachs, buzzers and crunchers, fished on a floating or midge tip line. Some good bags are also coming to small dry fly patterns on the drift. Young Ed Douglas was using dries to good effect, netting 16 fish from various areas around the reservoir. Taking advantage of one of our three day packages, Tim Grove and Gordon Byers had well over 30 fish to the boat, all on buzzers. Mr Mike Gillett had a bakers dozen just off the School Slips using black buzzers on a floating line. The best of the bank fishing was Mr Colin Day, who caught 6 fish from the Hensborough Bank using the washing line method with black buzzers and an orange booby.

Thursday was overcast to start with and a bit foggy, with a mild westerly breeze. Things brightened up fairly quickly which made for a bit of a change in tactics for some anglers, as the fish moved away from the bank and further down in the water column.  Tony Parker and Andy Axon used buzzers and nymphs fished on floating lines to boat over 20 fish from various areas around the reservoir. Tim Grove and Gordon Byers had nearly 30 fish to the boat on buzzers and damsels from Biggin Bay and the Hensborough Bank. Out on one of our last 4 hour permits was Gary and David Turner, who caught 3 fish between them, as well as a large perch which tipped the scales at 3lbs 8oz. The Police fished their boat match today between Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Cheshire Police. The match was won by Cheshire Police with a total bag weight of 81 lbs 8 oz. The top rod in the competition was Anton Duerden with 9 fish to the boat, using a washing line with red diawl bachs and muskins.

Friday looked very promising with good cloud cover, a light south westerly, and the odd spot of rain here and there.  On the bank Stan Hillman enjoyed a good day landing 10 fish all on Hares Ear’s fishing in Biggin Bay casting into the wind. Also on the bank Tony & Geoff Harris landied 8 fish between them fishing in Rainbow Corner. On the boats Gordon Byers and Tim Grove enjoyed the last of their package break landing 14 fish once again all on buzzers. Kevin Hart & John Hoskins enjoyed a good day in the boat landing 26 fish all on buzzers and crunchers. The pair found the fish at the Saddle Bank and the Overflow. Draycote members Martin Foster & John Vyse enjoyed a good day fishing at the school slips landing 10 fish on black buzzers and Diawl Bachs. Fellow season ticket holder Kevin Rees used dries all day to land 8 fish with size 14 Bob’s Bits being his best pattern,  drifting from the Dam Wall towards A & B Buoy.

Another busy day at the fishery with all the boats once again taking to the water. Visiting from Wales the Wyn Philips party of 8 boat enjoying good sport on Dries and Diawl Bachs, with Rainbow Corner and Biggin Bay their best area. We also had the Herts Fly Dressers Guild talking to the water with their 8 anglers landing 24 fish again from Rainbow Corner. Father & Son Ian & Liam Gaskell enjoyed a good day’s sport landing 20 fish. The pair took all their fish on buzzers fished in Rainbow Corner drifting towards A Buoy and out from the Hensborough Bank towards M Buoy. Anton Byfleet & Daniel Wilkinson enjoyed a good day landing over 20 fish to the boat again with buzzers, landing the majority of their fish once again from Rainbow Corner. Fishery Guide Lee Henfrey took Jon Allen out for a 4 hour guiding session with Jon, enjoying a great session. The best method was either washing lining buzzers on a long midge tip or the Bung. If you’re interested in booking a guided session, please call Tom on 01788 812018.

A light south westerly on Sunday with a bright start, and good cloud cover rolling in as the day progressed. Anglers have reported a lot of fish showing in the surface of the water, seemingly preoccupied on very small flies. To that end some anglers are having more success on sinking lines such as DI 5’s and even Airflo’s booby basher, with lure patterns such as snakes and minkie boobies attached. Indeed, Season permit holder Jim Smith used the booby basher and snakes to net over a dozen fish from the deep water at various points around the reservoir. Jim Reported that his best area was about 70 yards out from the Draycote Dam. Mark Braun used a DI 5 and olive snakes to net 14 fish, again from a number of the deeper areas around the reservoir. Richard Walker netted 8 fish during a morning session, and weighed in 4 fish for 10lbs. Mr Paul Cushnie used a combination of buzzers and dry fly patterns to tempt 17 fish to the net. Draycote stalwart Ian Reeve had 9 fish to the boat. Ian used foam daddies and various other dry fly patterns whilst fishing along the Hensborough Bank and up in Rainbow Corner.

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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/

Pre-Payment
We will be asking you to pre pay when you call to book. If your unable to make your visit or the fishery needs to cancel your visit due to weather conditions, you will be entitled to a full refund or move the booking to another date. Further details visit our website http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 22 May 22       Rod Av: 6.3       Water Temperature:  18°C

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.

There was a damp & unsettled start to the week as Monday bought with it a light but changeable wind & varying amounts of cloud cover. The fishing mirrored the changeable weather with what was a relatively slow start but improved as the day progressed resulting in a very high rod average of 10.5. The best method on the day was fishing dries along the Leicester Bank with yet again Sam’s Dyke proving to be very productive. During brighter spells, when the conditions weren’t quite right for the dries, washing lined buzzers on a floater proved to be the better option to ensure anglers would still catch. As late afternoon turned into early evening there was a noticeable increase in surface activity as the trout responded well to the evident rise with some great catch returns being recorded from both the boat & bank anglers. The most productive dries during this period seemed to be Mayfly, CDC’s, Crippled Midges & Hoppers. The most productive areas throughout the day were Dogwood Bay to Sam’s Dyke, around the Island & up to the Chestnut.

Tuesday saw the reservoir continue to fish extremely well to the dries, even during the frequent spells of bright sunlight. Fish were caught consistently throughout the day from both the boat & bank with good numbers of fish being caught all along the Leicester Bank. Sam’s Dyke, the Island & Mucky Bay remain very productive areas along this bank where some excellent catch returns have been recorded. Enjoying an excellent 3-day short break package, Andrew Bentley & Peter Andrew had a very large number of fish over the 3 days, catching all their fish on either Nymphs on the washing line or dries. Visiting anglers Billy McCranaghan & Alan Martin were also down on a 3-day package & they had such a productive 3 days fishing the dries that they opted to extend to a fourth day. Best Dry fly patterns for day have been Yellow Owls, Hoppers & Klinkhammers. In addition to Dries, Diawl Bachs & Buzzers have continued to catch plenty of fish from both the banks & boats. For anyone interested in booking a short break please follow this link  Short Break Packages | Fly Fish Eyebrook – Leicestershire Trout Fishery

A warm sunny day to start with cloud that arrived a little later in the day and a huge thunderstorm to end the day at Eyebrook. Once again the fantastic fishing continued with the rod average over 8 fish per angler and just to ensure this continues the lake was stock with a further 2,500 fish. Eyebrook season ticket holder Neil Shilton enjoyed a good day in his float tube working along the Leicester bank landing 20 fish. On the bank fishing near the Hawthorns Tony & Ruth Kirk enjoyed a great session landing 18 between them fishing a washing line. Wednesday regulars Clive Moore & Ian Jobe fished near the Island to land 22 fish to the boat including a cracking 5-6lb Tench caught on a buzzer by Clive. To see a picture of this great fish please visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore. Visiting anglers Billy McCranaghan & Alan Martin once again enjoyed a fantastic days sport landing a cricket score on CDC shuttlecocks and also buzzers, fishing in Sam’s Dyke.

Once again, the sun made an appearance for most of the day, with some cloud arriving a little later in the day. Fishing from the casting platforms for a short morning session was season ticket holder D Lawrence who landed 5 fish all on size 12 crunchers and buzzers. On the boats all water season ticket holder Paul Havard enjoyed a good day landing a dozen fish with red holographic diawl bachs and a Bejesus booby on the point. Mr Alan McGuire enjoyed an “excellent day” using dries and Diawl Bach’s to land 23 fish fishing in Sam’s Dyke and near the Hawthorns. Mr J Forsyth & G Ross used orange and green Diawl Bachs and a green headed Damsel to land 34 fish between them with both flies being size 12. Bill Wood & Jim Kay fished in Mucky Bay with Yellow Owls and small buzzers to and 17 fish to the boat and enjoyed an “excellent 3 days fishing” Fishery Guide Lee Henfrey took to the water with Draycote RIO Masters teammate Sam Smith. The pair enjoyed a good day’s sport landing over 40 fish to the boat taking fish from Sam’s Dyke, Mucky Bay and The Cow Shed. Lee opted to fish a washing line with hares’ ears and Diawl Bachs with a booby on the point. While Sam stuck to dries all day with CDC patterns being his best flies.

Friday and it’s nice to see another busy day at the Eyebrook with anglers enjoying excellent top of the water sport. M Farrell fished the big red dry catching 17 trout with cdc & hoppers catching 10 trout for Dave Etty fishing from the bank with D Naylor & S Houghton catching 17 on hoppers and sedge patterns. Sue Potts & Sam Edmonds caught 18 for their visit before they travel to Scotland to fish with the English Ladies team in the International, best of luck to you and the team from all at the Eyebrook. Bank fishing continues to fish well with the platforms, Sam’s Dyke, Chestnut to the cow sheds offering excellent bank sport with K Johnson catching 20, B Livingston catching 10. Damsels starting to show with sedges in the evening.

Saturday brought with it a stiff breeze with very sunny intervals which made the conditions challenging at times. The Leicester bank in its entirety still holds plenty of fish which can be caught either washing lining a floater with a Foam Daddy on the point & small nymphs above it or by fishing Dries; CDC Emergers & Yellow Owls have taken a lot of fish of late. All water Member Lee Edwards, had a very productive day from the boat, taking 24 fish, all of which came to CDC Emerger patterns. What has been apparent is that the fish will sit over the cooler deeper water and the frequently move in & out of the shallows to feed. As a result, they can, on occasions be caught in very shallow water that is extremely close to the bank. There has also been plenty of fish moving out in the open water, across the main basin from Dogwood Bay across to the Netted Bank. The presence of Damsel nymphs in the water seems to increase daily.

There was a gentle start to Sunday with light south westerly breeze with bright sunny intervals. Sunday was a busy day on Eyebrook; we hosted the All Abilities Fly Fishers & also the latest round of an Alex Booth Fly Fishers competition. The All Abilities caught 120 fish between 26 anglers giving them a rod average of 4.61 for the day. They caught on various methods from washing lined floaters to dries. Top rod for the day was Ian Bradfield who had 12 fish on Popper Hoppers. The Alex Booth Fly Fishers also had a good day catching on a variety of methods targeting fish in the top couple of feet of water. They caught 77 fish between 15 of them which gave them a slightly better rod average of 5.1 for the day. Congratulations to Kev Slater who was the top rod with 12 fish for 23lb 2oz. Kev was followed closely by Riccardo in 2^nd place with 10 fish for 21lb 6oz & 3^rd was Roy Lewin with 11 fish for 20lb 14oz. Both parties recalled a day of missed opportunities with their flies receiving a lot of interest & plenty of fish being “bumped off”. Eyebrook also continues to fish well from the bank with Eyebrook member Steve Lawrence having a very productive morning session & All Water members Albert Coles & Rob Edmonds also had a great day from the bank. By scaling down the size of the flies they were able to continue to catch throughout the day on Dries. The best areas continue to be all along the Leicester Bank from Dogwood Bay to the Cowshed & also there have been a few moving fish reported across the ma

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

Pre Payment

We will be asking you to pre pay when you call to book. If your unable to make your visit or the fishery needs to cancel your visit due to weather conditions, you will be entitled to a full refund or move the booking to another date further details visit our website www.flyfishthornton.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  15^th May      Rod Av: 3.6      Water Temperature: 14c – 15c

Monday a pleasant start to the week with the wind forecast to freshen as the day went on. The morning session anglers seemed to enjoy the best of the sport with a washing line & buzzers, muddler pulled through the surface & dries taking fish. M Bazeley & F Chambers caught 11 for their mornings fishing, Andre Russell fished from his float tube to catch his 8 trout with R Menhams catching 4 trout for his 4 hour mornings fishing. Steve Windram fished from mid morning to early evening fishing a washing line to catch his 9 trout. Anglers reported good numbers fish moving but were coming short.

Tuesday with a change in the weather a blustery to strong at times south westerly. Most anglers fished in the shelter offered by the village bank & dam wall which wasn’t a bad area with fish moving at times but not as easy to tempt as expected. Mr Elvy & Mr Bossington caught them on black dries with James Smith fishing the last 4-hour session which produced a good rise taking his 7 trout on hopper, shipmans & fab. A black popper hopper & #14 grey bodied elk hair also attracted plenty of interest during the evening rise.

Wednesday and the much needed rain greeted the anglers with the same blustery south westerly wind. Despite the conditions the anglers enjoyed good sport with Jim Carrier & J Bradbury catching 12 for their mornings visit. Barry Deeley fished an intermediate with a damsel pattern & a floating line with buzzer & cruncher to catch his 12 before the heavy downpours drove them off the water.

Thursday again a bit blustery at times but with the wind dropping during the evening we had an excellent evening rise. David Hussey fished hawthorn & buzzers to boat his 16 trout with Ian Brearley catching 13 on damsel, buzzer & dries. Kevin Hart took to his float tube, fished along the stones into green bay with a washing line, fab-diawl-cruncher to catch his 19 trout. Bob Jones is enjoying a successful season at Thornton on this occasion catching 12 on damsel, buzzer & diawls.

Friday & yet another blustery day but once the wind fell away during the evening we had another excellent evening rise. Greg Weatherdon fished the morning session with buzzer, damsel & dries to catch his 7 trout, Jamie Scott caught 11 mostly on #12 black buzzer in front of the dam. John Bebbington fished a short afternoon session catching 6 for his visit.

Saturday and a brighter day with trout moving off and on during the day from in front of the lodge down and across the main basin and into the Markfield arm. Boat anglers are starting to get the best of the sport as the waters gin clear and the sun gets higher in the sky. Jan Webber caught 9 for his visit with Martin Clay catching 12 on buzzers for his mornings visit. B Perrie fished hares ears and diawl bach to catch his 7 trout. Mark Burrows popped down for a 3 hour evening session & caught 4 trout. Another good evening rise.

Sunday with a change of wind direction from the favoured westerly to an Easterly which definitely slowed the fishing. John Thomson and P Hunt caught 6 fishing the washing line for their mornings fishing with Dave Slessor catching 5. Mark Hunt fished the late afternoon session up in green bay and found a single dry, Grunter pattern worked better than a team of flies as he went on to catch 7 trout including some overwintered trout

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

Pre-Payment

We will be asking you to pre pay when you call to book. If your unable to make your visit or the fishery needs to cancel your visit due to weather conditions, you will be entitled to a full refund or move the booking to another date. Further details visit our website http://www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending:  Sunday 15^th May 2022              Rod Av: 4.9       Water Temperature: 14 °C

Monday started with light Southeast winds; however, these winds did increase as the day progressed. Draycote member Dave Smith used a Midge Tip line with Diawl Bachs and Buzzers to land 9 fish from the school slips and Toft. Paul Newnam & Matt Crisp enjoyed a good day landing 17 fish to the boat using a washing line with a FAB on the point and then buzzers on the droppers. John Dickens used a mixture of buzzer, black and green lure and also dries to land 22 fish while out in a boat. Catching from the Hensborough Bank and Biggin Bay. Fellow member Lorenzo Serrano also used buzzers to land 16 fish from Biggin Bay.

A cloud start to the day, put the sun did break out in the afternoon with a strong Southwest wind to go with it. On the bank Draycote member Brian Allwood landed a cracking fish 4lb 8oz which took a buzzer, fishing in Alberts Bottom in Biggin Bay. The picture of this cracking fish can be found on www.facebook.com/flyfishstore Also on the bank Paul Walker landed 3 fish in a half day from the old pipe in Biggin Bay on Buzzers. Another bank angler who landed 3 on buzzers was Bernard Stebbing who fished the last 4 hours. On the boats Draycote members Ian Richardson & Bob Smith landed 30 fish to the boat. The paid used straight line or washing lined buzzers along the Hensbrough bank to land the fish and commented “a cracking day, silver torpedoes”. Chris Discombe fished in the middle from Y- X Buoy using a green lure to land 11 fish having an “excellent day” Dan Mcelligott landed 24 fish with 6 coming to buzzers and the rest falling to a white snake on an intermediate line, with the school slips and the Hensborough Bank being the hotspot. Jeff Ide fished for the afternoon landing 9 fish all taken on dries with his best being a rainbow of 4lb 7oz.

Draycote experienced some much needed rain on Wednesday which didn’t stop until around 3pm, as a result it was quite day. Mr D Stott fished for a morning from a boat landing 11 fish, using Buzzers fished on a straight line at the Hensborough Bank. This is the first time Mr Stott had used this method and showed how effective it can be. Draycote Fly Fisher member Neil Berry fished with his friend Lawrence Greasley using black lures to great effect landing 7 by Y Buoy.

A breezy and bright start to Thursday morning with once again a good spread of fish throughout the reservoir. Paul Havard fished from a boat up on the Hensborough bank to land 13 fish on buzzers and nymphs. Young Richard Walker had 8 fish to the boat on lures fished along the Draycote Dam. Season permit holders Mr J Vyse and Mr M Foster had over 30 fish to the boat between them on black buzzers from various areas around the reservoir. Chris Bobby and Leanne Frost had a bakers dozen whilst keeping on the drift on dry fly patterns. Mr M Osborne drifted along the dam wall near the Swans Nest to net 18 fish on a fast glass line and black and green lures. Mr P Williams commented on “A Great Days Fishing”, after netting 7 fish on a teal and black and bobs bits. Draycote stalwart Tony Plummer used buzzers fished along the Draycote Dam to net his 8 fish and called up to let us know what a good day he’d had. Ed Douglas had a good day out on the dries. Ed kept on the drift in various areas of the reservoir, netting well over 30 on small patterns.

Friday started overcast and fairly calm with the promise that it was going to blow up a bit as the day progressed. Sure enough, as forecast, there was quite a strong westerly blowing across the reservoir from about eleven onwards, with a fair amount of the boats seeking shelter under the Draycote Dam. Om the bank Colin Day landed 2 fish from Rainbow Corner on buzzers, however, the boats done the lion share of the sport. Draycote members Ian Richardson & Bob Smith landed 34 fish all on buzzers either fished on a straight line or a washing line at the school slips and the Hensborough Bank. Draycote RIO Masters team member Sam Smith enjoyed a good day’s sport landing 22 fish on small buzzers at the Hensborough Bank and Rainbow Corner. Scott Miller & his boat partner landed over 40 fish using buzzers in Rainbow corner and The Hensborough Bank

A very different day on Saturday to the previous day with little or no wind, teamed with bright  sunshine. They were certainly not ideal conditions to say the least, with some anglers struggling to find feeding fish. Some anglers reported that they could see plenty of fish moving in the surface in various areas around the reservoir,  but that they didn’t seem to be interested in feeding. Bank anglers didn’t have a lot of luck in the bright conditions, with only the odd fish caught here and there. Mike Garner netted just one from the Cornfield on a diawl bach, while Will Hunt caught a brace from Lincroft Point. Season permit holder Mark Braun had 16 fish to the boat on a white snake fished on a DI 7 line around A, B and C Buoy. Scott Miller and his boat partner netted 25 fish, drifting from T Buoy to X Buoy using 2 FABS and 2 nymphs on a floating line with the fish picking out the FABS on the top dropper and the point.

It was a bright start to the day on Sunday with the promise of a light south easterly breeze and good cloud cover by the afternoon. Considering how well Draycote has been fishing lately, we were all looking forward to hosting the England qualifier as well as our regular Sunday pleasure anglers, and in true fashion, the reservoir did not disappoint. Ken and James Maplethorpe fished just off Lincroft Point out towards E Buoy, and boated well over 30 fish between them on size 12 black and olive buzzers on a floating line. Season permit holder Le Lerigo used a DI 7 line and lures to net 9 fish, one of which was a beautiful brown trout which tipped the scales at 6lbs 8oz, which was returned. Sunday regular John Crowley netted 7 fish from the bank by the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay and Toft Shallows, using buzzers on the bung. Ed Douglas boated a total of 12 fish, 7 of which came to the dries. The Draycote round of the England Qualifier was a well attended event with 28 rods taking part, who produced a rod average of 8 for the day. For details of the positions and results check out our Facebook page.  www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

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Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

Pre-Payment

We will be asking you to pre pay when you call to book. If your unable to make your visit or the fishery needs to cancel your visit due to weather conditions, you will be entitled to a full refund or move the booking to another date. Further details visit our website http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/day-permits/

Week Ending: Sunday 15 May 22       Rod Av: 7.9       Water Temperature: 14 °C

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.

Monday morning produced a nice ripple on the water which grew choppier as the day progressed. With the westerly wind favouring the Leicester bank, which is currently holding a lot of fish, it was no surprise that the bank anglers found the conditions to their liking. Roy Swinfield fished buzzers on a washing line to net over 20 fish from the island. Lyndsey Bates also took over 20 fish during his evening bank session. Despite a strengthening wind, the bank continued producing into the evening, with anglers fishing the last 4 hours from the bank enjoyed some good sport. The strengthening wind made the boat fishing a bit more difficult, although Mr Winterburn and Mr. Stanbridge boated 13 fish during their afternoon visit. Eyebrook regular Kenny Waters went afloat in one of our 2 wheely boats and took 8 fish, keeping 6 for the pot. Most of the day’s catches fell to natural patterns such as buzzers, diawl bachs and Muskins fished either straight lined or washing line style. Damsel nymphs are starting to show, and it won’t be long before we start to see the adults hatching.

Tuesday brought far from ideal conditions with a strong wind & bright sunlight for prolonged periods. This, however, did not seem to detract from the fishing as there was some excellent catch returns being recorded from the boat & bank producing an impressive daily rod average of 10.6. All water member Jamie Scott had an exceptional day catching fish throughout the day on washing lined buzzers with a Damsel Booby on the point & switching later to the dries, where he continued to catch using a Foam Daddy & Crippled Midges. The bank fished very well later the dries where CDC emerging patterns seemed to be order of the day with numerous bank anglers catching well into double figures. The most productive areas remain the Leicester bank from the Hawthorns all the way around to the Cowshed from both the boat & bank where the fish continue to feed hard on the abundant aquatic life that is present. For the more adventurous anglers, Stoke Dry is also holding a good number of overwintered fish where in the right conditions they can be taken on dries. Fishery Guide Lee Henfrey hosted Tony & Kai for a short 4-hour session. They had an excellent morning catching numerous fish washing lining buzzers in Sam’s Dyke where the fish could be seen clearly swimming under the boat.

Wednesday certainly a day of two halves with a south westerly moderate wind greeting the anglers in the morning before increasing to a strong northerly during the afternoon bringing with it spells of heavy rain before settling back to a light south westerly for the evening. Washing line, straight line buzzers and dries worked during the day with the platforms down to Sam`s dyke, hawthorn in the afternoon in Mucky bay with the Chestnut to Stoke Dry also fishing. A Meadows on a three-day break package enjoyed another excellent day with their boat catching 30 trout. David Keeble fished a washing line with diawls as well as dries and emergers to catch his 14 trout, Mark Hunt fished Amber & black hoppers for his 14 trout during a late afternoon visit with L Bates fishing a floating damsel and buzzer to catch his 20 trout. Overall despite the afternoons weather a good days fishing.

Thursday saw yet more great sport here at Eyebrook with the rod average for the day finishing at 8.4 fish per angler. Stuart Normington fished from the bank, enjoying a red-letter day with some great sport landing 28 fish on buzzers and Diawl bachs. Jude Tuffs also fished from the bank in Sam’s Dyke near the fence line landing 9 fish all taken on dries. Utilising a float tube to great effect was all water member Andre Russell who landed 15 fish working along the Leicester bank and into Sam’s Dyke. Fishing from a boat in the morning Mr M Layman & Mr J Baker landed 21 fish using buzzers and then CDC dries to take their fish from Mucky Bay. Ant Middleton & Graham Walker enjoyed a good day landing over 40 fish to the boat using buzzers on a washing line also dries landing their fish in Mucky Bay and The Chestnut tree. Eyebrook hosted a contingent of Northern Police Forces who took to the water for an internal competition and a great day was had by all the anglers with them landing over 110 fish between them.

Friday 13^th was unlucky for some, namely the trout, with the brook returning an excellent daily average return in excess of 8, for the 40 odd anglers who took advantage of a lovely spring day, albeit becoming blustery as the day wore on. As was the case all this week, the go to methods were washing lining buzzers and diawl bachs, straight lined buzzers or  the bung with buzzers and diawl bachs. Dries were also accounting for numerous fish, with Amber & black hoppers, yellow owls, hawthorn patterns and CDC being some of the successful patterns. Both the bank and boats were successful with the Leicester bank holding fish all along from Dogwoods to the Cow sheds, with Sam’s Dyke and the island being particularly fruitful. Ruth and Tony Kirk netted over twenty between them and regular, Mr Johnson also had over 20 fish during his bank session. Float tubing was also rewarding with season ticket member, Ian Jobe taking 20 fish during his afternoon paddle. Mr Nesbitt landed twenty odd fish during his boat session, whilst Ben Robertson and his three colleagues landed an average of 16 apiece during their afternoon and evening session. Other boat anglers moved away from the Sam’s dyke and Mucky bay area and found less crowded conditions as well as lots of fish along the willows, the netted bank and Robbo’s. The evening saw an informal get together for members of the Eyebrook fly fishers, some of which enjoyed some successful bank fishing before enjoying an evening   Bar- B -Q, details of which can be found on their face book page.

Saturday and another busy day at the Eyebrook with the boat and bank anglers enjoying the good sport with buzzers, shuttlecocks, cdc emergers and dries all taking trout. Eyebrook member S Sibley fished 4 hours during the morning from the bank landing 6 trout to 3lb8oz on cdc buzzer, cdc also accounted for a 5lb rainbow for Mr Jacobs. M Farrell & C Marrs took a boat up to Stoke dry fishing cdc emergers to catch their 50 trout. Were seeing the trout starting to favour smaller flies than the week before with #12 & #14 olive or black buzzers taking a good number as Darren Dodd discovered fishing Sams Dyke catching 26 for his visit. A few Mayfly starting to show with R Ron catching 4 trout on a mayfly pattern. Billy McGranaghan & Alan Martin down on a three day package fished the last 4 hours catching good numbers during the evening rise. Details of our short break packages on our website www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/short-break-packages/

Sunday brought with it some nye on perfect conditions & Eyebrook’s excellent form duly continued. There were some very high catch returns recorded from both the boat & bank. Sam’s Dyke, once again is proving to be a particular hot spot with fish falling to a variety of methods from Washing Lined Floaters to Dries. On the washing line, small nymphs & buzzers on droppers with either a Foam Daddy or FAB on the point will elicit a response from the natural feeding fish. Whereas on the Dries, Yellow Owls, CDC’s & Hawthorn Fly’s will be enough to generate interest from the trout feeding up & around the surface. The fish are well spread along the Leicester Bank from the Hawthorns to the Cowshed with some slightly bigger fish being caught on the north side of the Island. Stoke Dry is also harbouring some of the larger fish where fishing Dries in the shallower water, when the conditions allow, seem to be the percentage method.

Eyebrook hosted Mid Northants Fly Fishers for a friendly competition where 16 anglers enjoyed a great day from the boat. All participants caught, with some catching well into double figures giving them a rod average 7.5

The Eyebrook is enjoying an excellent season.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

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Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

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:  8^th May       Rod Av: 6.2     Water Temperature:14c

First full week of May & at last we have good numbers of swallows & martins working the water with the buzzer hatches increasing every day. Water clarity is good with the water temperature 13c+

J Bennett, Wick, Miller, Vallance & Bolton on the first of their 3-day package fishing Thornton today with Draycote & Eyebrook later in the week. Thornton didn’t disappoint them with a rod average 14 for their visit. All water member Dave Ravo decided to bank fish using a midge tip with Fab, diawls & buzzer he caught 14 trout. Bob Menhams fished a short 4 hour morning session with a floating line & damsel, buzzers & diawls to catch his 7 trout.

Tuesday with an overcast morning and light rain the trout moved all day across the reservoir. A sign on how high in the water the trout were was clearly shown by Richard Price and I Schofield who caught 15 on an orange muddler stripped across the surface. P Mee fished a combination of midge tip & floater with buzzers & diawls to catch his 12 fish from the lower buoy area. Arthur Olding fished opposite the lodge with orange cheeked buzzers to catch his 10 trout for the morning session. The flat calm during the evening made for challenging fishing during the last 4 hours

Wednesday, every says we needed the rain therefore we cant complain! Best conditions were during the morning with a noticeable drop in air temperature during the early evening. Trout remained high in the water with Jamie Scott catching 18 on buzzers, damsels in front of the wood. Kevin Hart took to his float tube catching 12 from the main car park to green bay. David Rowbotham fished a morning session fishing a fab to catch his 8 fish, with a washing line & buzzers catching 9 trout for P Hunt & J Thomson for their mornings visit.

Thursday was a day for buzzers & diawls during the day with emergers & dries during the evening. John & Terry Evans fished straight line buzzers to catch their 18 trout with P Mee also catching his 15 trout on buzzers & diawls. Ian Brearley fished diawls and a small fab to catch his 7 trout with the area from the lower buoy to the top of the Markfield arm fishing well for them. P Wrigley used a bloodworm pattern to catch his 9 trout with Barry Deeley using a combination of midge tip with cruncher & buzzers or a sink 7 with boobies to catch his 7 trout. Tony Lorrimer caught his 12 trout from all over the reservoir on his bunny patterns

Friday Graham Clark fished the bank catching 10 opposite the lodge & off the corner of the wood on damsels & buzzers. Greg Weatherdon fished booby & damsel pattern to catch his 11 trout with M Beck fishing the morning session with buzzers to catch his 11 trout. With hawthorn flies being blown onto the water during the afternoon D Dyer fished a small black daddy pattern to catch his 6 trout

Saturday was an excellent day’s fishing with a rod average of 9+ with trout been caught with floaters down to fast sinkers. K Cowen caught 9 on a cats whisker and tequila blob, Kevin Hart & Dave Pacey caught 20 fishing a washing line with fab, diawls & buzzer. Intermediate with crunchers during the morning with a single black bobs bits  caught 20 for Mark Hunt with B Perrie, B Sibley, M Clay & H Davies all catching double figure numbers of trout.

Sunday Keith Cowen returned for a second visit, he headed into green bay and fished a cats whisker, damsel, tequila blob, tequila booby to catch 12 trout. Andy Lilley fished dries to catch his 11 trout with Jason on his day off from working at the Eyebrook fishing with his father during an afternoon session catching 12 on blob and small daddy

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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 8^th May 2022              Rod Av:  4.4      Water Temperature:  13°C

The bank holiday Monday saw a number of anglers taking to the water taking advantage of the long weekend. On the bank Draycote season ticket holder Paul Walley landed 7 fish from the Swan’s Nest. Paul used a intermediate line teamed with a FAB to land his fish. On the boats John Dickens enjoyed a good day’s sport landing 17 fish using a washing with buzzers on the droppers and a FAB on the point. Another boat who using a washing line to great effect was Ross Wilson & Bill Brown who landed 41 fish to the boat. Ross & Bill found the afternoon to the best time of the day with lots of fish moving over Musborough shoal near Y & N buoy. While they tried dries for the fish moving on the surface it was a washing line with Diawl Bachs that produced the goods. The boat of Lee Cartmail & Paul Cramp landed over 27 fish to the boat and enjoyed a “Brilliant days fishing” again using a washing line to great effect.

Near perfect conditions to start Tuesday with overcast skies teamed with a gentle ripple. However unfortunately these didn’t last with he wind dropping out completely later in the day. All water member Ed Douglas landed 17 fish using a washing line for the majority. However, Ed did land 6 fish on dries with Ed concentrating on the open water in the middle of the reservoir. Fellow member Dan Mcelligott landed 22 fish using blobs pulled quickly on an intermediate line. Dan commented “the blobs needed to be pulled as fast as possible and it was great fun”. Fishing there final day of a three day break Ross Wilson & Bill Brown landed 22 fish with their best tactic being olive Grunters just fished slightly under the surface. Dave Atkins fished around Y Buoy to land 11 fish using a Di 3 sinking line and a white snake and commented on the “good fish” he landed using this method.

Overcast conditions for the main on Wednesday with some very heavy rain just after lunch which thankfully did clear as the day progressed. On the bank C.J Day landed 7 fish using black buzzers and a blob. Also on the bank for the afternoon was season ticket holder John Falconbridge who landed 6 fish using buzzers on Lincroft Point. On the boats All water members Phil Mee & Horace Wood enjoyed a good days sport landing 28 to the boat using buzzer at the School Slips & Hensborough Bank. Another angler enjoying good sport at the school slips was Chris Discombe who landed 16 fish again on buzzers. Draycote season ticket holder Dan Mcelligott landed 19 fish from a boat in the corner of the Hensborough Bank using a small blue flash damsel taking the majority of his fish in the afternoon. Jeff Ide landed 17 fish on buzzers fishing in Biggin Bay for the afternoon.

A bright day on Thursday with light breezes and sporadic cloud cover at Draycote Water. The fishing is still holding up pretty well with good returns from all four corners of the reservoir. Rather than giving out areas to fish it seems that if you avoid the Draycote Dam and the Farborough Dam, you should catch just about everywhere else. Once again if pulling is your thing, you don’t want to be too deep, but much better returns are coming from using small imitative patterns on a floater or a sink tip line. Bank fishing seems to suffer a bit in bright conditions, with catches dropping to twos and threes, but out on the boats it’s business as usual. Young Dave Smith had a bakers dozen using diawl bachs and buzzers fished on a midge tip line with a foam daddy on the point. Season permit holder Paul Havard reported “Buzzers Galore”, whilst boating over 20 fish up on the Hensborough Bank. Ian Richardson and Bob Barfoot caught 17 fish between them whilst straight lining buzzers in Biggin Bay and commented on “A lovely day”. Ed Douglas persisted with dries to net 17 fish from a drifting boat in various areas around the reservoir. Draycote regulars Jim Dempsey and Rod Wilson netted over 30 fish on snakes fished on a DI 5 around C Buoy.

Friday was overcast with quite a gusty south westerly at times. Those who wished were able to sit in the lee of the wind for a comfortable days fishing up on the Hensborough Bank, Rainbow Corner and the Flat Stones. Other anglers worked their way through Biggin Bay, the outer markers and Toft, drifting onto fish using floating or sink tip lines with buzzers and diawl bachs. Out on the bank Peter Allen fished up in Rainbow Corner to net a total of 7 fish on Orange headed buzzers. Mr C Massey bank fished off Lincroft Point and netted a dozen fish on black and green lures. Out on the boats Ian Muir and Peter Edge had 17 fish on buzzers. Mr T Fox and Mr A Smith had 28 fish between them, again on buzzers. Mr A hodgkiss had 8 fish to the boat from Rainbow Corner using buzzers and crunchers on a floating line. The Draycote Fly Fishers held a bank match on Friday evening which was attended by 13 of their members, netting 22 fish between them. In third place was Mark Johnson Jones with 2 fish, second place went to Les Lerigo with four fish to the net, and first place went to young Dave Adkins with a grand total of 5 fish. Congratulations to all those who took part. Also mentioned in dispatches is Anthony Barrow who, during his first evening out with the DFF caught a brace from the bank, well done sir. The next match will take place on Friday 20^th May 2022.

Saturday morning started bright and sunny with quite a strong northerly breeze. Conditions were changeable through the afternoon with high cumulus cloud, making the fish move up and down in the water column throughout the afternoon. As a result, not the easiest of days, with anglers having to constantly change tactics. Those who persevered, following the fish as they moved, had some good catches on a wide variety of patterns. Mike Garner had a good day on the bank, fishing in the Cornfield. Mike used nymphs fished on a floating line to net 4 fish. Upon opening his bass bag outside the lodge we were all surprised and pleased to see a beautiful fully finned Rainbow, which tipped the scales at 5lbs 1oz. Season permit holder Mark Braun netted 8 fish from the bank in Biggin Bay and Lincroft Point using buzzers and a black lure. Visiting angler Mr Paul Grevett caught 10 fish from  a boat off Lincroft Point, using black lures fished on an intermediate line. Brian Cantlie used a midge tip line and hot head, red holographic diawl bachs to net a dozen fish off the Draycote Dam. Mr Andrew Brown had a total of 18 fish to the boat using the washing line method, with buzzers and a FAB on the point.

Sunday looked like a great day to be out on the water, with a light south easterly breeze and plenty of good high cloud cover. Regular Sunday bank angler, season ticket holder Jon Crowley enjoyed a good days sport landing 16 fish. Jon, used the bung with black buzzers fishing at the Swan’s Nest in Toft and then at Car Park 8 near Biggin Bay. All water member John Kirk also fished on the bank enjoying a good day landing 5 fish. From the boats Ed Douglas enjoyed a good day landing 16 with the majority coming to nymphs, however he did land 8 of them on dries. Draycote member James Alexander enjoyed a great day landing 20 fish by S Buoy, using hot head Diawl bachs. Bob Shaw enjoyed a good day landing 12 fish from the School slips and also Toft using a mix of Diawl Bachs and buzzers.

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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 08 May       Rod Av:      7.4  Water Temperature: 14C

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.

Monday morning started with flat calm but overcast conditions. Eyebrook member Steve Lawrence washing lined an intermediate during this time to good effect catching numerous fish from Sam’s Dyke. Steve found by making subtle changes to his set up he was able to convert pulls into steady lock ups; by swapping the faster sinking buzzers to slower sinking Diawl Bachs he found that his flies were remaining in the “zone” for longer & therefore giving the fish more opportunity to take them. Additionally, the intermediate line is an excellent choice for fishing a flat calm; it breaks the surface film & there is no disturbance on the water’s surface from the line which can prove critical when the fish are occupying the upper layers. As the morning progressed the flat calm turned into a gentle ripple & Steve changed to a floater to continue to catch. Fish were caught throughout the day from boat & bank with some excellent catch returns being recorded. Regular visitor Roy Lewin & his boat partner had a productive day from the boat catching fish on a variety of methods; the most productive of which was fishing Yellow Owls & Big Reds in Dogwood Bay. Later in the day there was large hatch of olives along the Leicester Bank and as  a consequence, there were numerous fish taken on Olive patterns; Crunchers, Bob’s Bits, etc.., fished high in the water column later in the day.

Tuesday fished even better with overcast conditions but a slight increase in the wind strength. The Leicester bank continued to produce excellent results for both bank and boat anglers with numerous double figure returns. Eyebrook members, Lyndsey Bates and Roy Swinfield enjoyed nonstop action all day whilst bank fishing as did Bill Law and Steve Sibley. There was also similar success for visiting boat anglers with Chris Hartley and John Wilson each netting over 20 fish apiece on the first of their 2-day trip. Mike and Liz Rawson enjoyed a successful start to their 3-day trip with both taking a double figure catch.  As was the case on Monday, the fish remained in the upper layers of the water column with washing line or straight-lined buzzers producing excellent results. Some anglers though, switched from the successful buzzer and diawl bach patterns, to take advantage of the flowering Hawthorn bushes and fish hawthorn patterns, although the usual favourites such as Big Reds and Yellow owls also produced.

Wednesday seen a few horrible downpours during the day which may have slowed the fishing down a little. Mr Hartley and Mr Wilson had a great day out in the boat with each of them bringing over a dozen fish each to the boat. Mr Wilson also managed to land and return a 10lbs+ Brown Trout on a Buzzer while fishing buzzers on a washing line, not a bad way to finish up a 2-day package. Lots of boat anglers are enjoying some great sport at the moment. A few of the bank anglers are having good sessions as well. Mr R Charles managed 11 to the bank, and Ruth and Tony Kirk landed 18 between them on their second visit this week. The fish continue to feed in those upper layers with small buzzers and lake olives coming off. As well as these small flies, there are small daddies being blown on to the water and the Hawthorn flies are starting to buzz around quite a bit due to the hedgerows and the hawthorn trees start to bloom.

Thursday started off bright with a North westerly wind that topped out at 9mph, almost perfect conditions if there was a bit of cloud cover. Long term fishing buddies and Eyebrook season ticket holders L. Bates and R. Swinfield had a fantastic session from the bank while fishing Diawl Bach’s, Muskins and Corixa patterns. S. Normington was having the same sort of results on small black buzzers. Some areas of the lake are producing more fish than others, but the general consensus is that there are fish everywhere. Floating lines with small flies fished almost static are producing the results for those patient enough not to move their flies and let the wind do the work for them. The rod average is holding around 8 at the moment and with crystal clear water, the fish are enjoying a bit of a banquet out there.

Good to see another busy day at the Eyebrook with bank and boat anglers catching from the hawthorns to Sam’s dyke, chestnut tree down to Stoke dry and stoke dry up past Watsons cabin to the willows. Buzzers, olive nymphs, diawls, shuttlecocks and dries all caught trout. Best tactic with the buzzer is to fish them static. J Malcom and G Borthwick on their visit from Scotland fished dries to catch their 50 trout, Eyebrook member M Farrell fished cdc emergers to catch his 28 trout from Sam’s dyke and Stoke dry. G Hall caught trout weighing 4lb, 3lb8oz & 2lb with D Morton catching 11 trout of which 3 were browns that he returned. All Water member Sue Potts enjoyed her day catching 6 trout for her visit. Lots of hawthorn and pond olives about in the afternoon with a steady hatch of buzzer during the day.

Saturday a brisk northerly greeted the anglers with most of the boats getting out of the wind by fishing Sam’s dyke and down along Watsons to Stoke dry. \some of the bank anglers enjoyed the best of the sport with Bob Margery having a successful morning in Sam`s Dyke catching 20+ on buzzers with D Etty fishing the afternoon evening catching 12 on crunchers and diawls before moving onto the dries. Mr Vasey and partner down for the Phillips competition on Monday fished the afternoon session catching 12 from a boat. All water members Lee Edwards & M Ball caught 35 between them on yellow owls & black buzzers. We are starting to see the first of the damsel nymphs becoming active with a video of some around the pontoon found by Jason on Saturday, watch the video on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore interesting to note the variance in the colour, one was green the other a brown colour.

Sunday continued with some fantastic sport on Buzzers fished with a FAB on the point. With the water temperature hitting 14C we are seeing more fish coming up and confidently taking small emerger patterns and even occasionally going for something a little larger like a Hopper or Foam Daddy. A Black Foam Daddy can be a great alternative when the Hawthorne Flies are coming off. Jude Tuffs had a great day afloat landing 13 while fishing Washing line Buzzers with a FAB and then 2 Daddies in around Sam’s Dyke and Mucky Bay areas. G Chewter and W. Ormiston had 19 each to the boat during a 9 and a half hour session.

As this week has progressed, we have seen the rod average spike and then slowly drop off towards the end of the week. The factors affecting this would have been down to the weather being warmer and brighter as well as the fish in one area feeling a lot of pressure from the bank and boats. However, anglers that are venturing out in to other areas that have not had as much pressure have reported catching good solid over wintered fish that put up a hell of a fight.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

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Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

Watch Tom Bird explain how to fish the “Straight Line Buzzer” Subscribe to our Youtube Flyfishstore for the latest fishing videos, promotions & Special offers during 2022

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.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

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: 17^th April      Rod Av: 6.1      Water Temperature: 13c

With the glorious Easter weather, our water temperature has reached where we would expect it to be for mid April 12c – 13c.

Buzzer hatches are increasing during the day with the trout feeding within the upper water column. Monday black or olive buzzers fished on a washing line or under a bung. Late morning onwards has fished best with the willows & corner of the wood to the lonesome pine favorite, although we are seeing fish move over the middle channel in front of the lodge, across the main basin, and down the Markfield arm towards the tern raft. Good evening rise. All water member Ian Leach caught 10 for his visit, it was good to see Gordon Porter back out fly fishing and catching as he boated 6 with his boat partner S Thompson boating 5. David Woodall continues to catch steadily adding another 6 to his season’s tally mainly on a buzzer.

Tuesday the fish moved steadily from mid morning onwards. Lee Henfrey one of our Draycote fishery rangers and guide caught 20+ trout for his visit on the washing line with buzzers & diawls, but commented his catches improved when he switched to thinner diameter leader. P Hunt fished buzzers to catch his 19 trout with P Mee boating 10 for his visit. Andre Russell took to his float tube catching 7 for his morning’s visit. Norman Perkins pulled on his waders for a spot of bank fishing along the corner of the wood down towards the lonesome pine catching 10 on buzzers & blob. Brothers A Miles & T Miles caught 13 for their morning’s visit. Water clarity is gin clear, think about your leader setup & leader diameter.

Wednesday and a cooler easterly wind had most of the anglers fish the shelter offered by the wood. Fish moved off and on during the day with a good number of fish moving into the evening, especially the last 30minutes. During the day P Martindale fished buzzers and diawl bach to catch his 9 trout, David Hussey caught 14 on buzzers and diawls fishing opposite the lodge. Richard Price caught his 8 fish on blobs. During the last couple hours, we had an evening rise with Mark Hunt taking his 7 trout from Green Bay and in front of the dam on dries with P Wurm catching 3 trout during the last half hour of fishing

Thursday and the brisk cooler easterly wind continued with anglers once again fishing along the shelter given by the wood. Buzzers & diawls was once again the order of the day although Tony Lorrimer fished his bunny patterns to great effect catching 17 trout. Simon Weedon caught 5 on diawls, P Wrigley caught 5 on buzzers with P hunt opting to fish the sinking line to catch his 7 trout. Carolyn Brown caught a 5lb4oz rainbow photo on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

Friday a strong easterly wind which had a cold nip to it. Again anglers looked for the shelter offered by the wood bank. Buzzers, diawls, cruncher caught the majority with a few coming to blobs & fabs. Steve fished the afternoon session catching 16 on buzzers & nymphs, Lorenso, Chris Sayer & Jack Hives all caught double figures for their visit mostly on buzzers & diawls. Barry Foxon & C McMillan caught 14 on buzzers for their mornings visit with Draycote fishery ranger & guide Lee Henfrey enjoyed a mornings fishing to himself catching double figures

Saturday and another day of fresh, colder easterly winds. Once again the anglers used the shelter offered by the wood to fish in some sort of comfort. Buzzers & diawls were the order of the day for the morning but with a drop in air temperature for the afternoon a sinking line with damsel, fab and small white snakes worked best. S Proffitt fished the bank catching 5 during the morning on damsel and buzzers. Kevin Hart & D Pacey fished size 14 buzzers to catch their double figure catch with Jan Webber fishing a cormorant pattern to boat his 18 trout. M Ravenscroft fished the afternoon session to catch his 10 trout with C Merryman and Jim Raeside catching 7 trout for their 4 hour late afternoon session

Sunday and no change to the weather a brisk cold easterly had all of the boats fishing in the shelter of the Thornton arm in front of the wood. Our local angling club Thornton Fly Fisher held their mornings boat pairs competition with Dave Leavesley and Norman Perkins winning this round, results on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore  Buzzers, diawls, damsels, small white snakes worked during the day.

Our water clarity is gin clear.

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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 24^th April 2022        Rod Av: 7.4       Water Temperature:  10°C

A great end to the bank holiday weekend Monday with yet more lovely weather, light southwest winds and warm sunny conditions. On the bank Draycote season ticket holder Stephen Dewhurst laned 6 fish from the Swan’s Nest in Toft using a team of buzzers. Also on the bank Adam & Brian Joseph fished on the last four hours with the paid landing 12 fish between them. Using a mixture of buzzers and Damsels from Lincroft Point. On the boats Mark Thistleton landed 14 fish on Buzzers from the School Slips and Biggin Bay. Dan Mcelligott landed 13 fish using a RIO Midge tip with and a team of buzzers. Draycote season ticket holder James Alexander fished with his Father in law Sharpy taking advantage of the afternoon boats. The pair landed 14 fish all on buzzers and enjoyed a fantastic afternoon out on the water. All water season ticket holder Ed Douglas enjoyed a letter day fishing a 6ft midge tip with a washing line with crunchers on the droppers. Ed, landed his fish from Biggin Bay around 40 years from the old pipe. Richard Reeve also enjoyed a good session landing over 20 fish from Biggin Bay from the boats.

The wind swung on Tuesday into the North, with the good fishing continuing with the rod average for the day 7.1 fish per angler. On the bank all water member Ken Key landed 4 fish on a mix of buzzers and cat’s whiskers. Draycote member Mike Garner landed 9 fish from the Cornfield on buzzers and cormorants. On the boats Peter Elliot & Lee Patten landed over 40 fish to the boat in Toft Shallows using a washing line with a FAB on the point and buzzers on the droppers. The Philip Cresham party of anglers from Ireland enjoyed good sport from the boats along the Cornfield using black buzzers with their best boat landing 35 fish. Jess Ide landed 18 fish all on black Diawl bachs along the Cornfield during a morning session.

The wind remained in the North on Wednesday this time with a bit of east as well. On the bank Mick Cronin and Stan Hillman enjoyed a good day’s sport landing 22 and 12 fish each from the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay and also Lincroft point on buzzers. On the boats John Dickens enjoyed a red letter days catch near the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay using buzzers on a floating line then a white and green lure on a Di 3 sinking line. Martin Brown & C Partridge also fished in Biggin Bay landing 36 fish to the boat on dries. Members Paul Walker & John Falconbridge landed 42 fish to the boat on Damsels and Buzzers. Overall it was a great day on the water despite the cool Northeast wind with the rod average for the day finishing at 11.7 fish per angler with a great evening rise the last hour of the day.

Another day of Northeast winds and bright skies. The bank fishing was slower today during the middle part of the day due to the bright conditions. However, the anglers who stayed into the evening enjoyed a “good rise” as commented by Brian Allwood who landed 4 fish. Jamie Orme also commented that it wasn’t till 7pm when the fish came on the feed. It was a day for the boats who were able to get just over the drop off. T Evans & J Bilinski enjoyed a good day landed 29 fish to the boat on buzzers fished in Biggin & Dunn’s Bay. Jamie Scott & James Foster landed 39 fish from the School Slips on a mixture of lures and then Buzzers. Fishery Guide Lee Henfrey took Mike Bishop out for a 4 hour guide, with Mike wanting to look at fishing Buzzers. With Lee’s help Mike enjoyed a great day landing a dozen fish with the majority coming from the School Slips. For any guiding bookings please call Tom on 01788 812108. All water member Ed Douglas enjoyed another cricket score day on the boats fishing with a mix of crunchers, buzzers and a FAB. Again another good overall day on the water with a 8.7 fish per angler rod average.

Friday dawned with the wind still blowing from the northeast, uncomfortable here on the south side of Draycote Water, but not so bad on the leeward shore where anglers are still enjoying some great sport. Yet another good rod average from boat and bank anglers alike, with fish being caught mainly in Biggin Bay, The Cornfield and Lincroft Point. There is also a good head of fish in front of the School Slips and drifting out over M buoy. Young Chris Pallot commented on a fantastic day out. Chris fished off Lincroft Point using buzzers on the bung to net 10 fish, which he said took the buzzers at between 6 and 10 feet. Season permit holder Sean Gilbert netted 7 fish on buzzers along the northern shore and remarked on a good day out. Ian Richardson and Bob Smith had 23 fish to the boat between them using buzzers and blobs on a floating line, around Lincroft Point and Biggin Bay. Paul Walley took to the bank to net 8 fish using a DI 3 and boobies in Biggin Bay.

Saturday came with little change in the weather. An overcast day with still that northerly wind and a bit of a nip in the air. Good sport is still to be had along the northern shoreline on small imitative patterns with the odd angler using lures fished on a sinking line to good effect. Mike Garner had 4 fish from the bank in the Cornfield using crunchers and a blue flash damsel. Mark Thistleton took to the bank to net 7 fish on damsels and buzzers. Darren and Luke Dodd used a mixture of damsels, blobs and buzzers to entice 15 fish to the net. The boat pairing of Adrian Gorman and Kevin Egan had well over 30 fish to the boat in Biggin Bay using a black diawl bach with a red cheek. Mr D Watson had a bakers dozen to the boat using static buzzers in Toft Shallows.

It was a cold start to the day on Sunday morning with the sun splitting the sky, but a cold north easterly blowing on the water. The bright conditions did not have a detrimental effect on the fishing with some high catch returns being recorded from both boat & bank. The sheltered north shore was again the area that what most productive; in particular Biggin Bay where Draycote member Mr Brown caught a high number of fish washing lining buzzers on a Rio Hover line. Due to the recent colder winds the fish have seemed to have dropped down in the water column slightly & are currently sat at around 4-6ft where they will happily take buzzers & nymphs fished either straight lined on a floater/midge tip or washing lined on an intermediate. With settled weather forecast, the outlook for the week ahead looks very promising & the fish should start to move up in the water column.

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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 24^th April       Rod Av:11.6  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.

Monday seen the weather conditions continue to be favourable for our anglers with light winds forecast for the coming week and no real sign of rain coming in. The Rod average for the week before was sitting at 11 and is a great indicator of how well Eyebrook has been fishing lately. There is still a good head of fish to be located between the point of the Island and Sam’s Dyke. A few reports coming back that there are fish off Robbo’s Cabin area that have been taken on Diawl Bach’s and Buzzers. The fish are high in the water at times and can be taken on dries when the conditions are right. There are quite a few Anglers managing to get in to double figures from both the bank and the boat.

Tuesday seen Eyebrook continue its amazing form with the Rod Average staying north of 10+ Lots of anglers were doing well on Muskins and Pheasant tail patterns as well as Damsel Nymphs. Most people are opting for floating line, but there are a few that have been doing well on midge tip and 6-foot tips as well. Washing line with small Buzzer/ Diawl Bach patterns and a damsel booby can be a fantastic go to method at this time of year. Sometimes you can’t fish your flies slow enough. Fishing flies down to size 14 will help hold your flies up in the water while those fish are in the upper layers. Yet again, there are pods of fish being found all the way from Sam’s Dyke all the way around the Island and up to the top side of the Cow Sheds. Across on the Rutland bank, Fish have been caught at Stoke dry and along to the willows. Apparently, there are a lot of fish through that area that nobody is fishing. Surprisingly, there are only a few anglers coming back from these areas that have had a fantastic days sport. D. Willacy finished up his 3 -day package with well in to double figures and commented in our Booking in for that his 3 days were brill!! With him managing to get in to treble figures. Outstanding !!

Wednesday seen a little change in the wind with a bit of a chilled easterly, this however, did not stop the fishes from snacking on Buzzers all day long. The reservoir continued to fish well with a daily rod average of 15.8. The fish have been caught all around over with the higher catch returns being recorded from the boats as the fish have been sat in the slightly deeper water due to the brighter conditions.  The McNair group, consisting of 5 boats, had an excellent day with their party catching well & between them they had a rod average of 26.6 which is a great effort, well done to all. Small buzzers & nymphs fished on continue to take most fish on floating & midge tip lines that are fished very slow or static either straight lined or on the washing line with a FAB on the point.

Thursday’s cooler weather brought by the prevailing north easterly winds continued to chill the upper layers of the reservoir which curtailed the top of the water fishing for the time being. There were however still plenty of fish caught to buzzers & nymphs fished slightly deeper resulting in a very respectable rod average of 10.4 for the day. Straight lining seemed to be percentage method for the day with a Blue Damsel fished on the point taking a good number of fish for many of the anglers. The best areas remain off the Island, Sam’s Dyke & over the opposite side of the reservoir from the Seat area down into Stoke Dry. It has been noticeable that the fish are more willing to take smaller fly sizes with the higher catch returns are being recorded by those fishing Size 12s & 14s. It has also been noticeable that there are a lot of fish beginning to move up towards the Stoke Dry area. They are moving up the cooler wind towards the sheltered banks where the water is slightly warmer & the aquatic life more abundant.

The cold north easterly wind continued for Friday which resulted in the water temperature dropping down to 12 degrees. This did not seem affect the daily rod average too much as there was still plenty of fish caught from various locations around the reservoir. Eyebrook member Mr Farrell had an excellent day, recording a high catch return he took fish on a midge tip using Muskins & Diawl Bachs from a boat. As to did member Ian Jobe, who braved the winds in his float tube fishing the Willows to Stoke Dry area. Small buzzers & nymphs remain the percentage patterns, fished on floating & tip lines or even under an indicator; each has proved to be very successful. Despite the blustery conditions being far from ideal, All Water Member Mark Hunt managed a very respectable 8 fish, fishing a single Daddy which goes to prove that it is better to fish one fly effectively than multiple flies ineffectively. It also goes to prove that the fish won’t take much encouragement to feed off the surface.

Saturday brought a deterioration in the weather with strong north easterly winds building throughout the day. The conditions made fishing the west side of the reservoir extremely challenging. However, for those who did brave the elements in that area there were some rewards to be had with fish still getting caught around the Point area with black & green lures fished extremely slow. In these prevailing winds, by far the most productive of area was the sheltered bank of the Willows with plenty of fish being caught from both the boat & bank all the way down to Stoke Dry. Being relatively sheltered, the water was slightly warmer and those fishing natural patterns; Nymphs & Buzzers, caught consistently well throughout the day. Eyebrook members Bob Margery & Steve Lawrence had an excellent morning session off the bank catching a high number of fish between them fishing buzzers. In addition, boat anglers fishing in this area also caught very well, finding fish in relatively water the washing lined Diawl Bachs seemed to be the order of the day with a high number of fish falling to this method.

Sunday seen the weather continue with blustery Easterly winds The conditions were a little challenging for a lot of anglers trying to fish the Leicestershire bank. A majority of the fish were caught on the Rutland bank with Jordan Gayle brining 10 to the boat on a black lure between Watsons Cabin and the Willows. Colin Marriot managed 8 on Yellow Owl’s, Buzzers and red holo Diawl Bach. Eyebrook regular evening angler Tim Shepherd had a good last 4-hour session from the bank by landing a cool dozen. Flyfishstore guide Andy  Miller was once again on hand to take a group of novices through the first steps of their fly fishing adventures through life. Catch up with Rowan, Paul, Tojo, Ali and Owen on their tuition session on out Facebook page. www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

The stronger Easterly wind has finally started to move anglers away from the known hot spots and shown them that there are a lot of fish holed up in other areas of the lake. The past few days have shown that there are fish all the way down the Rutland bank as well. As the weed starts to grow, this area is fantastic for fishing the Damsel Nymphs as well as the usual favoured patterns.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

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 17^th April       Rod Av: 11       Water Temperature: 12C

It was a steady start to week with 17 anglers taking to the water & producing a credible daily rod average of 3.4. Fish were caught from both the boat & bank with natural patterns proving to be the most productive. With the water temperature at 10 degrees & the water clarity good the fish are feeding well on the abundant aquatic life in the reservoir & anglers who are targeting these naturally feeding fish are being duly rewarded catching fish on Diawl Bachs, Hares Ears & Buzzers. The most productive method remains the washing line with a FAB on the point with Nymphs above it, targeting fish in the top 3ft. The whole of the Leicester bank remains a productive area with fish consistently being taken from Dogwood Bay, Sam’s Dyke, Mucky Bay all the way round to the Cowshed.

Tuesday brought overcast conditions with the occasional sunny intervals & a light wind from the Southwest, which made for ideal conditions for fishing the Leicester Bank. Fish were again found in high numbers all along this bank from Dogwood Bay all the way round to the Cowshed. Most of the fish are falling to natural patterns fished extremely slow or static on floating lines & washing lined Midge Tips from both the boats & bank. Fishery Guide Lee Henfrey & his boat partner Nigel Keeber had an excellent morning fishing nymphs in the relatively shallow water of Sam’s Dyke. Using a variety of methods to catch their fish they found that by simply moving into slightly deeper water during brighter spells they were able to continue to catch. It serves as a reminder to remain vigilante to the changing conditions & adapt accordingly. Enjoying a 3-day boat package, Mr Quigley & Mr McGuigan also found fish in high numbers on the opposite bank at the Willows to Watsons Cabin, again feeding on natural patterns in the top 3ft of water. As the warmer weather looks set to continue the fish will continue to feed hard on the abundant aquatic life that we have a Eyebrook which should see our excellent form continue.

The number of anglers coming through our doors has steadily increased in the past week or so. Therefore, we are getting a lot of reports coming back from all over the lake. Most of these reports are telling us that anglers are doing well on Buzzers, Muskins and Diawl Bach. Folk fishing washing line with a FAB on the point are experiencing lots of tugs on the line rather than it locking up. This is due to the fish just mouthing at the FAB. Try swapping it out for something more natural looking, a Stealth Bejeezus Booby can work treats at this time of year due to damsel nymphs starting to make a move in the water as it starts to warm. D Quigley and J McGuiggan finished up their 3-day visit with an impressive haul to the boat and managing to get in to treble figures between them over the 3 days. Well done gents. Some of our regular season ticket anglers were getting in to good numbers of fish. Yet again, it shows that having an intricate knowledge of the water can pay off well. The banks are still churning out good numbers of fish as well. Regular bank angler Roger Charles has over a dozen from the bank in a morning session. The bank anglers are fishing a similar way to the boat anglers but possibly with shortened down leaders. 9’ – 12’ is more than enough to fish 2 – 3 flies on a floating line or midge tip from the bank. As the weed still hasn’t started creeping in, it has been offering our bank anglers freedom to roam and fish quite happily.

Thursday showed more settled conditions with light wind. The boats have been widely spread across the lake with a few of them concentrating on searching around the Island area. Sam’s Dyke is still producing fish in high numbers and anglers are now reporting that the fish have been coming out of Mucky Bay in good numbers as well. Black Buzzers, Blobs, FAB’s, Damsels and Booby Damsel Patterns are accounting for the majority of the fish. A few trout anglers have been caught off guard by some of the pike in the lake, as Jim Carrier had a pike while fishing from the bank that weighed in over 8lbs. For those chasing trout, the main methods are the bung with buzzers spaced at 2 ½ feet, 5 feet & 7 ½ feet, or fishing buzzers / Muskins / Hare’s ear on a washing line with a sunburst FAB on the point. Today was the first day of a 3-day package for 6 lads from the Paisley patterns team. As per usual, their catch return was impressive, but what these guys don’t know about fly fishing, isn’t worth knowing. Top Angling gents!

Friday 5-7mph wind from the SSE and very changeable during the day. A lot of anglers have noticed a change in how they are having to fish to catch fishes. In the cooler mornings, the fish seem to be having a go at blobs, FAB’s Booby Damsel patterns, as soon as it starts to warm up, they start hitting the buzzers. Washing line works well, but the bung still seems to be out fishing other methods.  All water ticket holder J. Scott had his PB Pike at 20lbs 8oz on Hot Head Damsel pattern. Steelie from the Paisley patterns team landed a Pike estimated to be 25lbs+. He caught it while fishing an egg fly under the bung. This caused quite a bit of confusion as well as surprise. Chris Moses and Bill Field also reported catching large Pike while out fishing for trout. There is always the risk of running in to one of our big toothy residents while fishing lure type patterns at this time of year as the pike will have recently spawned and will be trying to feed well to recover. Please treat the pike with care. They keep our fish stocks healthy and are a great indicator of how healthy a body of water is.

Saturday brought a 7-9 mph SSE breeze with bright conditions. The bright weather did not seem to detract from the fishing with plenty of high numbers of catch returns being recorded from both the bank & boats resulting in a daily rod average of an impressive 14.7. Fish continued to be caught on a variety of methods with the percentage methods still being the bung or washing lined & straight-lined buzzers or nymphs. Visiting angler Robert Lamb led the annual party of 6 anglers on a 3-day package who all enjoyed some exceptional sport over the 3 days. Between the 6 of them they caught over 500 fish over the 3 days which is an excellent effort by all & testament to just how well the reservoir is fishing. If you are interested in booking one of our multi-day packages which offer excellent value for money, please use the following link:http://www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk/about-us-2/short-break-packages/ . The most productive areas remain to be the Leicester Bank from the lodge all the way around to the Cowshed & on the opposite bank from the Willows to Stoke Dry.

There was a bright start to Sunday with a very light SSE breeze which stiffened as the day went on. Fishery Guide Lee Henfry & Eyebrook Fishery Manager Jim Wright ventured out on a short morning session & were duly rewarded by catching a high number of fish off The Island. They caught on a variety of methods targeting fish in the top 2 feet. The percentage method was the washing line with either using a FAB or a Foam Daddy on the point with small nymphs up the cast. In addition, Fishery Ranger Jason Pusey took his father out for a short session & they enjoyed a very productive morning, taking most of their fish on a size 12 Quill Buzzer with white cheeks. All water member Ed Douglas had an exceptional day catching a large number of fish from the Sam’s Dyke area. Ed caught primarily on Buzzers throughout the day, but he also caught well on the Dries later in the evening. As the settled weather looks set to continue for the week ahead, the prospect for top of water fishing will increase as the fish seem happy to move up & down the water column in their search for food.

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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/

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Week Ending:  17^th April       Rod Av:3.3    Water Temperature: 11c -12c

Surprisingly strong South Easterly wind on Monday, nothing like the forecast. Most anglers came off early with Steve Windram & P Cross finding a bit of shelter in the Markfield arm catching 11 trout on booby.

Better weather for Tuesday with our water temperature getting to 10c. Buzzer and diawl patterns worked best with the trout in the top few feet of the water. Andrew Wilson caught 8 on buzzer with L Serrano catching his 6 fish during the afternoon session also on the buzzer. With the wind falling away at 6pm it was good to see fish feeding off the surface.

Wednesday buzzer, red diawl and damsel patterns worked best with Mark Hunt fishing the late afternoon session with a single bobs bits dry to catch his 6 trout. Jamie Scott fished buzzers to catch his 8 trout with P Hunt fishing a diawl to catch his 5 trout. Anglers reported seeing increasing number trout feeding on the surface but were reluctant to take or came short, on and off.

Thursday and surprisingly challenging day, some fish moved off and on during the day with a reasonable number fish moving during the last few hours. David Woodall caught 5 by going deeper during the morning but changing to buzzer and diawls later in the day. Peter Wrigley caught his 4 on buzzers with David Hussey fishing the evening rise landing 3 on buzzer and diawl

Friday and a better days fishing with Chris Sayer catching 10 & Richard Price catching 12 for their mornings fishing with both anglers fishing fast sink lines, Chris with a booby whilst Richard fished a Tequila fab on a short 3ft leader. Adam Gunby found a few fish moving & fished a washing line with buzzers to take his 14 trout to 4lb8oz. Neil Bates fished the afternoon / evening session and despite fish moving found a sinking line with a cats whisker booby worked for him as he caught 5 trout. With our water temperature starting to push 11c we are seeing an improving evening rise to buzzer

Saturday, we opened to a water temperature 11c at long last were getting close to where the water temperature should be for the time of year. During the morning session some anglers found the sinking line with a damsel booby, cats whisker booby or tequila fab worked best. The fishing got better as the day progressed with the afternoon and evening providing the best of the sport. B Perrie fished olive buzzers to catch his 20+ trout, Mark Hunt fished dries all day catching 20+ for his visit with D Perkins catching 13 for his visit. Water clarity is excellent.

Easter Sunday was a quieter day as people spent time with their families. Mixed days fishing, R Knapp fished a tequila blob and fab to catch his 8 fish from the Markfield arm, Bob Jones fished a cats booby in the morning with diawls later in the day to catch his 7 trout with All water member D Skudder catching 7 for his mornings visit with them all taking an olive diawl.

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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/

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Week Ending:  Sunday 17^th April 2022              Rod Av:  8.5        Water Temperature: 10 °C

It was a bit bumpy out on Draycote on Monday with a strong south easterly wind. Biggin Bay was the place to be early in the day, but through into the afternoon it became a bit uncomfortable and coloured up slightly. Anglers could then be seen heading for the leeward shore where there was still some good fishing to be had. The day still produced a good rod average with boat and bank anglers making some good returns. Bob Smith and Ian Richardson netted 20 fish and remarked on an “excellent day, but the wind was not so good.” The pair fished near Duggies Gap using DI3’s with boobies and buzzers. Andy Birkett and Brent Vinall, taking advantage of one of our three day packages, had over 30 fish to the boat between them, on buzzers in the morning, and lures in the afternoon. Steve Peart had 20 plus to the boat using an olive humungus and then black buzzers.

A great days sport at Draycote with both bank and boat anglers enjoying some great sport with the rod average for the day finishing at 9.4 fish per angler. On the bank season ticket holder Peter Allen landed 14 fish on small Diawl Bachs fished at the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay. Fellow season ticket holder Colin Granger landed 10 fish from the bank also on the Old Pipe fishing size 12 Black Diawl Bachs. However, on the bank Colin Granger took top honours landing 20 fish in Biggin Bay on Diawl Bachs and mini booby damsel. Colins, catch also landed some cracking fish up to 4lbs. On the boat Andy Birkett fished his second day on his 3 day break landing a dozen fish near X Buoy using small dries. Bob Taft landed 22 fish in Biggin Bay using a white lure to great effect. Guy Nicholson & Si Nicols landed 28 fish in Biggin Bay using buzzers and FABs on a washing line including some cracking fish. Fishery Manager Tom Bird enjoyed a good day with Sam Smith landing a number of fish including some cracking overwintered fish. The pair used washing lining buzzers on a floating line over Musborough Shoal to see pictures of the day visit out www.facebook.com/flyfishstore

Another great day at Draycote, however, the slightly stronger winds meant the rod average was a little lower than the day before at 6.7. The bank anglers enjoyed great sport with the South West wind helping to present the buzzers swinging around on the wind. Gary Russell fished at the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay landing 15 fish including a 3lb overwintered Brown. He fished a washing line with a FAB on the point and buzzers on the droppers. Draycote season ticket holder John Falconbridge also fished in Biggin Bay to land 17 fish on buzzers. Mr D Jones opted to fish along the Cornfield using Damsels to land 7 fish. Out on the boats season ticket holder John Dicken using a washing line on a floating line in Biggin Bay to land 24 fish. Guy Nicholson & Si Nicols fished their second day of the 2 day break boating 28 fish using Damsels and buzzers from various points around the lake. Phil Harding and Tony Ball landed 23 to the boat with all the fish coming to Buzzers in Biggin Bay. Mick Cartlidge & C Woodhall landed 23 to the boat using a washing line with Buzzers and a FAB taking the fish from Biggin Bay and also along the Cornfield and into Toft.

A busy day at Draycote with all par one boat on the water and a number of anglers on the bank. There was very little to no wind for most of the day with a light ripple arriving later in the day, but even with the lack of wind the anglers enjoyed good sport landing 512 fish for a 8.3 rod average. On the bank season ticket holder Mike Garner landed 9 fish along the Cornfield on black Diawl Bachs and crunchers. On the boats Peter Elliot enjoyed a good days sport boating 30 fish on dries in the morning before washing lining buzzers in the afternoon. All Water member Lozenzo Serrano enjoyed a great day with 43 fish to the net just off Lincroft point using Diawl Bachs, Crunchers and Buzzers. Another boat catching well at Lincroft Point was Martin Foster & John Vyse who landed 31 fish to the boat on a washing line with black buzzers and crunchers. Ian Richardson & Bob Barfoot also used a washing line this time on a Midge Tip to land 35 fish and commented on a “brilliant” day. Also on the water we had West Midlands Police hosting a Inter-force friendly with the 13 anglers landing 158 fish for a 12.1 rod average, it nymphs there best catching flies.

A bright and sunny day here at Draycote on Friday with sporadic cloud cover through the afternoon. A light southerly breeze made for comfortable conditions throughout the day, in which anglers made some good returns. Some anglers did use sinking line tactics such as DI 5’s and snakes, but most stuck to floating or midge tip lines with teams of buzzers or diawl bachs. There was intermittent sport to be had on the dries when some cloud cover appeared, but patience was the key to success on that one. Bob Askew boated over 20 fish using a slow intermediate line with diawl bachs and crunchers. Bob caught his fish in the Cornfield and up around Y buoy. Gary and David Turner had some “Awesome fishing” on buzzers, netting 16 fish between them from the front of the School Slips. Season permit holder Brian Allwood was casting to some “Good rises” from the bank, netting 3 fish in total. Alan Masters and Edward Wilson had over 30 fish to the boat in Biggin Bay, Lincroft Point, The Cornfield and down in Toft Shallows. Alan and Edward used buzzers on a midge tip and a floating line and commented on “ A great days fishing”. Alex Campbell used the crippled midge to good effect netting 4 fish during an afternoon session. Alex fished P buoy, and then moved over to the front of the Hensborough Bank, drifting out past M buoy.

A beautiful sunrise over Draycote on Saturday morning lead through into a great day for fishing, although a little sunblock was required.  Despite the bright conditions, most of the fish are falling to small imitative patterns in the top few feet of the water column. The bank anglers are holding their own as well, as there seems to be a good head of fish feeding in close along the northern shore. Mr R Brook netted 8 fish from the bank in Biggin Bay using an orange and pink blob. Season permit holder Anthony Hart, also fishing in Biggin Bay, caught half a dozen using cats whiskers. Trevor Moore and James Maplethorpe used small buzzers on a washing line to net over 40 fish between them in various areas around the reservoir, remarking on a “super day”. Mr Nathan Brown caught 20 fish from a boat using buzzers and diawl bachs with a FAB on the point. Chris Discombe and Jim Brennan had 23 fish between them on small buzzers fished in Biggin Bay and off Lincroft point.

Yet another day of sunshine and light southerly breezes on Sunday, saw an improvement on what has already been a great week at Draycote Water. The fishing along the northern shore has been outstanding. Most of the fish caught have come to size 12 and 14 buzzers and diawl bachs, fished on a floater or a midge tip line. There have also been some great catches from the Tower Bank and the School Slips, with some anglers pulling lures on a fast intermediate or a DI 3. Season permit holder John Crowley netted 11 fish whilst bank fishing using a washing line and size 14 buzzers. Paul Walley caught 8 fish from the bank in Biggin Bay and Rainbow Corner on small black buzzers on a floating line. Young Richard Walker had 9 fish to the boat during a morning session on damsels fished on an intermediate line. Matt Crisp and Paul Newnam had nearly 60 fish to the boat between them straight lining buzzers and Diawl bachs in Biggin Bay, and remarked that it was “A brilliant day.” Debbie and Sean Gilbert said they had “A cracking day”  using a mixture of damsels, blobs and buzzers to net over 20 fish. Dan and John Mcelligott had 23 fiush to the net using black diawl bachs fished on a floating line.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

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:  10^th April  Rod Av: 3.3  Water Temperature: 9c+

Good start to the week with buzzer, diawl bach and cruncher patterns fished on floating, midge tip and intermediate lines doing best. P Mee fished a morning session catching 9 on buzzer, Mr Mansell & Bethel caught 8 for their visit with Darren Dodd fishing an afternoon catching 9 on damsel and cruncher patterns.

Tuesday a fresher wind with anglers looking for the shelter provided by the corner of the wood. Bob Jones opted for a cats booby on a sinking line catching 15, All Water member D Skudder on his first visit of the year caught 8 on diawls. A few fish coming off the bank but the strong wind made it difficult to fish.

The bank at Thornton can fish well during April, you will need chest waders.

Wednesday poor forecast had everyone cancel with the fishery cancelling Thursday due to average wind speeds exceeding our 25mph limit

Friday, better weather, but still cold. Mixed day with some struggling while others found the method. All water member Paul Walker fished buzzer, diawls & fab to catch his 20 trout with George Jackson finding the sinking line & booby was the method to catch his 11 trout with P Hunt fishing diawl bach to take his 8 trout

Saturday and another frosty start with the water temperature having dropped to 9c which is a full degree lower than we would expect for this time of year. Not surprising therefore that the booby caught the lions share of Saturday trout.

Sunday we welcomed 8 members of the All Abilities Fly Fishing, not the easiest of days with a cold breeze during the morning into early afternoon. Phil Bruce & Chris Davies caught 10 with a red diawl the successful pattern with Shaun Higgins and Felicity Appleton finding the fish in the afternoon catching 7. Thornton members S Swinfield and S Zeleny caught 9 on fast sinkers and booby along the lonesome pine with S Thompson catching 4 on buzzer and diawls for his mornings visit

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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/

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

Week Ending: Sunday 10^th April 2022       Rod Av: 2.7       Water Temperature: 8°C

A blustery start to the week which rather limited the anglers as it would have been a bumpy day over on the North Shore which had been the previous days hotspots. All water season ticket holder Peter Harris fished along the Hensborough bank landing 4 fish on buzzers and also boobies. Fellow all water Lorenzo Serrano fished with Tom Morris for the afternoon with the pair landing 5 fish from Biggin Bay. Draycote member Tom Gay fished for a morning landing 3 fish on Diawl Bach’s on a midge tip at the Hensborough Bank.

The wind made for a challenging day Tuesday, with a gusty South West winds meaning the North shore hotspots couldn’t be fished effectively. On the bank Draycote member Brian Allwood landed a brace including a cracking fish over 8lbs on a morning session, Brian took the fish from Car park number 8 near Dunn’s Bay. A brace on the bank seemed to be the average catch on the bank with 4 other anglers landing 2 fish each. On the boats John Jones landed 5 fish from the Hensborough Bank on Buzzers fished on a Midge tip line.

Another windy day with heavy rain showers in the afternoon. Draycote member Stephen Dewhurst fished from the bank in Rainbow Corner to land a brace of fish using Buzzers on a midge tip. Sam Smith fished for half a day from a boat landing 13 fish, Sam landed these from Farborough Spit. His tactic was to use a Di 3 or a Di 5 with a Black Humungus.

Thursday, unfortunately all boats were cancelled due to the high winds with the mean speed at times in the day hitting 30mph.

Friday was the complete opposite to the day before with a flat calm start, with a light breeze picking up n the afternoon. However there was cold start to the day with a frost first thing resulting in the water temperature being below 8°C. On the bank S King fished along the Cornfield to land 3 fish, using a team of buzzers. On the boats Graham Homer fished in Biggin Bay using Diawl Bach’s and black buzzers to land his 7 fish. All water member Craig Middleton fished with Steve Cullen with the pair landing double figures to the boat, finding the fish in a number of places across the reservoir but in no large concentration of fish with a Midge tip being their best line.

Another frosty start to the day Saturday, with more bright skies with a South Westerly wind. On the bank Draycote season ticket holder Mark Braun landed 7 fish from Car Park 8. With fellow Draycote season ticket holder Mike Garner landed 3 from the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay also on crunchers. Out on the boats Ian Richardson landed 5 fish using the Bung and buzzers. With Ian taking his fish from the Tower Bank and also Biggin Bay. Rob Plume & Ben Gilbert enjoyed a good day from the boat with the pair landing 20 fish using a Di 3 sinking line and Damsels in Biggin Bay. The boat pairing of D Baxter & Matt Smith landed 6 fish to the boat with Matt taking 3 of them on his first ever time fishing. Well Done Matt hope it’s the first trips of many.

A bit of a nip in the air again on Sunday morning, with southerly winds and bright sunshine. The rod average overall is in a good place, with successful days being had from the bank as well as the boats. The bank fished quite well on Sunday with John Crowley netting 11 fish on black and green lures from the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay. Mr Alan Tupping also did well, netting 8 fish in Biggin Bay using a damsel pattern fished on an intermediate line. Mark Johnson Jones and Mr J Fox Had 4 and 5 fish respectively from the bank on buzzers. Mr Tim Russell netted 4 from the bank  using damsels on a slow intermediate line. Season permit holder Out on the boats young Bob Askew had 11 fish whilst Ed Douglas had over 20. Paul Newnam and Matt Crisp had 25 fish to the boat between them using holographic diawl bachs, buzzers and crunchers. Peter Elliott boated 14 fish using buzzers on the bung and middas. Jay and Funky Ali had 5 fish to the boat between them during an afternoon session using damsels and buzzers. The Draycote Fly Fishers held their Spring Pairs Match on Sunday with good attendance. In third place was Richard Hanlon and Will Hunt with 3 fish to the net. In second place was Mike Nolan and Paul Ward with 4 fish. The overall winners on the day were Stephen Dewhurst and Paul Walley with 9 fish between them. Paul remarked that he used boobies on a DI 3 by the Swans Nest in Toft Shallows.

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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/

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Week Ending: 10 April       Rod Av: 6.6       Water Temperature: 10C

After a cold wild week last week, the conditions for the start of the week look a little bit more settled. The temperature has been increasing but there seems to be a constant wind speed sitting above the mid-teens this week. Monday seen Richard Watson and Bill Whittle visit us for a day out and it was good to see some long-term boat partners out on the water again. Richard managed to get up in to the teens while Bill had a nice Half dozen in a half-day session. Mark Woolnough had a great bank session fishing washing line static and just let the wind do a lot of the work for him. It’s a great way to fish. Other boats out on the water were finding fish from Pollards Jump to the Willows. From the Chestnut tree to the Cow Sheds and from Sam’s Dyke to the Island. There are still pods of fish moving up and down the bank from Sam’s Dyke all the way to the front of the lodge. Washing line with Buzzers or just a straightforward bung set up has been proving deadly. So, it might be time to give the snakes a rest for a little while. Buzzers are very much top of the menu at the moment.

1. Horner and G. Horner are visiting us for a 7 day period. They have been showing that they are getting to grips with the fishes feeding habits and where they seem to be hiding in the lake They have been fishing Black Buzzers and FAB’s to devastating accuracy and enjoying the fantastic sport on the lake. S. Farmer ventured out on the float tube. The wind was a little bit strong, but he managed a fantastic haul with fish falling to Black Buzzers, Red Diawl Bach’s and Tequila FAB’s he reported catching fish up to 4lbs and had a great day out there.

Wednesday seen the wind get up to 20mph. but due to it being a south westerly, there seemed to be enough shelter along the Leicestershire bank for boats to get in close and drop anchor. As well as the individuals who have joined us on the 2 and 3 day packages, The Police had half a dozen boats out and then a further 9 boatloads ventured out from the Soldier Palmers later in the morning. The Soldier Palmers were introducing some new anglers to fishing loch style from a drifting boat. Traditionally they would have been out on Rutland, but due to the winds, and the fact that Eyebrook could offer some protection for new anglers to experience fishing in this way was a great benefit to them. The Police had a rod average of 12 at the end of the day. The Soldier Palmers were about 4.5 and with all other visitors reflecting a rod average of 10.7 on the day, just shows how well Eyebrook is fishing even when the weather is against us.

Thursday was very high winds at 29mph for most of the day which called for the boats to be cancelled. Only one angler braved the elements on the day, All water ticket holder Ken Key. Despite the horrendous wind, he managed to catch 6 hard fighting rainbows from the casting platforms. Fortune favours the brave!!

Friday seen more settled conditions and we soon seen the anglers coming out to see if the strong winds had caused any disruptions to the buzzer fishing that they had been enjoying. It soon became evident that fishing the Bung with a couple of buzzers was still coming up trumps all over the lake. A few anglers were out practicing for the up-and-coming Scierra Pairs this weekend, we know that some of the comp anglers like to keep numbers close to their chest so sometimes the Rod average can be quite conservative during these periods running up to a big match. From the information we have been hearing, white boobies, corixa patterns and size 10 buzzers seem to be accounting for the majority of the fish being caught.

Saturday seen the weather improve again. The temperatures were still low in the morning but improved steadily during the day. Garry Mickley arrived on site bright and early and hit the bank in amongst a cold frosty snap. He fished away through the morning till just after 1 and managed to get well in to double figures and was top bank rod on the day. The bank sport is still fantastic at the moment as the weed has still to make an appearance. Most of the boats out on the day were yet again practicing for the Scierra Pairs match on Sunday, So there was limited information coming back at this point. Lots of anglers were being quite conservative with their catch returns in the hopes of not drawing attention to themselves the next day.

Sunday morning started off with a bitterly cold frost. The morning boatman had his work cut out for him as he was doing everything he could, to ensure our anglers were getting in to clean and safe boats for the Scierra pairs match. 23 Pairs were taking part and the remaining 3 boats in the fleet were booked out by Kirby Fly Fishers.

The first boat to return to the pontoon was Boat 11 with Ian Buckley and Mark Harrison at 11:23AM and weighing in a bag a 12 between them at 24lbs 04oz. Would this be enough to be the winners on the day or would they be pipped at the post by a boated pair that have found some bigger fish?

The Scierra pairs finished up with 19 of the 23 boats landing their 12 fish to the boat.

1^st Bruce Blackshaw & Mark Parsley

2^nd Ian Buckley & Mark Harrison

3^rd Paul Kitchen & Brian Blackett

4^th Terry Bayes & Pete Webb

The top 3 went through to the final later on this year. Terry and Pete may go through depending on future results.

Well done to all those involved and thank you to Phil Dixon for running such a well oiled event.

Damsel Nymphs fished under a bung was deadly on the day and those that saw bungs being used, seemed to automatically assume that they were fishing buzzers. Sometimes you need to think outside the box.

The next week or so is starting to fill up fast, so it’s best to call and get booked in to avoid missing out on a boat for the day.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

Visit our Fisheries Websites: www.flyfishdraycote.co.uk   www.flyfisheyebrook.co.uk  www.flyfishthornton.co.uk

Online Shop: www.flyfishstore.co.uk      Tuition & Guiding: www.flyfishtuition.co.uk

Fishery YouTube Channel: YouTube Flyfishstore

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:  3^rd April   Rod Av: 6.8   Water Temperature: 9c+

Monday and another day when buzzer, diawl bach, cruncher and damsel patterns caught the majority of the trout. The bank opposite the lodge, wood and down past the lonesome pine continues to produce but with the water temperature creeping to 10c+ fish are starting to move across open water. L Ford caught 9 for his mornings visit, all water member P Walker fished buzzer and diawls to catch his 30 trout with Thornton member Bob Menhams catching 10 on buzzers and damsel during his 3 hour morning session. Keith Cowen had another excellent day catching 12 on damsel and cats whisker.

Tuesday and a similar day to Monday, all water members P Mee and H Wood caught 20 for their visit on diawls and buzzer. M Litchfield fished a washing line, booby on the point, diawl bach on the dropper to catch his 10 trout. Russ Martin fished the bank for 4 hours, catching 4 trout opposite the lodge. Thornton member H Davies fished a standard black buzzer to catch his 10 trout with D Leavesley fishing the afternoon session with damsel and buzzer to catch 7 trout to 3lb13oz. Long leaders and fish the flies slowly was the winning method.

Wednesday and a rod average 10. A Iliffe & R Morton caught 8 for their mornings visit fishing opposite the lodge. P Mee fished with Malwina and had an excellent day on buzzers with B Deeley finding a sink 5 line worked best for him as he caught 11. Water clarity is good with the water temperature 10c. We saw the first of our larger grey black buzzer on the water, as their numbers increase the trout will turn more and more onto the buzzer

Thursday, snow showers, stronger winds & freezing temperatures saw everyone cancel apart from Tony Lorrimer who was rewarded with 20 trout, deservedly so considering how cold it was, with all of his trout taken on his rabbit fly patterns.

Friday and an ever so slight improvement to the weather. Not surprisingly our water temperature has dropped to 9c+. Most angler reached for their sink 3, 5 & fast sink 7 lines although J Jessop & P Hopkins caught their 24 trout at the lonesome pine fishing a floating line with fab and diawl bach. Chris Sayer caught 21 and his boat partner A Warren caught 11 for their visit with S Fairgrieve catching his catch on diawls and buzzer. Water clarity is good.

Saturday with a -3 greeting the anglers & the pontoon frozen it was nearly 9am before the boats went out. Most headed for the corner of the wood & down towards the lonesome pine with A Lilley & G England finding fish on their very first cast with a standard black buzzer helping them to their catch of 40 fish to the boat. They also offered advice to G Parsons & I Parsons helping them to catch a trout apiece on their first time fly fishing. Jan Webber made a point of trying various areas of the reservoir, the tern raft, green bay catching his 8 fish on booby with members M Clay & B Sibley boating 12 trout between them.

Surprisingly at 7pm with our water temperature at 9c & air temperature at 3c we had our first good evening rise of the season. With warmer temperature and increasing buzzer hatches it will only get better & better of the season video on our facebook page  www.facebook.com/FlyFishStore

Sunday and another cold frosty morning with anglers having to wait beyond 9am for the pontoon to thaw. Nearly everyone headed towards the corner of the wood and lonesome pine with Szymon Zabrzenski & M Vickers boating 17 with most of Szymon taking an olive buzzer. S Paranha & L Lawrence caught 9 for their visit with Peter Wurm catching 6 for his mornings visit. Another reasonable evening rise with Simon & John Crane catching 5 for their late afternoon evening visit.

Water clarity is good.

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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/

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

Week Ending: Sunday 3^rd April 2022       Rod Av:   5.1       Water Temperature: 7°C

A very misty start to the week Monday, with the fog taking till nearly mid-day to clear. With the fog around in the morning it was much colder than previous days, however, once the fog had been burnt it left a lovely warm afternoon. On the bank Michael Burnett landed 9 fish from Biggin Bay using a Damsel on the point teamed with buzzers on the droppers. Fishing just up the bank at car park 8 season ticket holder Mark Braun landed 8 fish using a sinking line and an orange booby. Out on the boat Stuart Foulds enjoyed a great days sport landing 16 fish using black buzzers on a midge tip line from Biggin Bay. Another boat who enjoyed good sport in Biggin Bay was that of Ian Richardson & Bob Barfoot who landed 16 fish between them. The pair used buzzers under a bung to land their fish, but it wasn’t until the fog cleared and the day warmed the fishing improved. All water season ticket holder Michael Ravenscroft fished for the afternoon landing 7 fish on a GRHE taking his fish from around the Spit and also the Cornfield.

A cloudy day on Tuesday, with the day certainly feeling a little cooler with the Northeast wind. However, these overcast conditions did mean the bank fishing improved. Alec Thwaites fished for a morning landing 6 fish from the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay using a blue flash Damsel on the point and buzzers on the droppers. All water season ticket holder Ken Key also fished at the Old Pipe to land 7 fish. However top honours from the bank went to Draycote season ticket holder Dave Kennel with 28. Dave, fished at Car Park 8 between Biggin Bay and Dunn’s Bay using a Midge tip line with a booby, buzzer and FAB combo with the majority of the fish taking the FAB. On the boats Father and son duo Jim & Richard Hall landed 25 fish on Damsels in Biggin Bay. Tim Grove enjoyed a good day in Biggin Bay using buzzers to land 21 fish a good start to his 3 day package break. All water season ticket holder Ed Douglas landed 33 fish using a team of buzzers on a Midge Tip fishing at various points around the lake from Biggin Bay to Rainbow Corner. Overall a great days sport was had by nearly all the anglers as the rod average for the day finished at 9.3

Where did those warm sunny days go? Calm cool conditions greeted us on Wednesday morning with the promise that the air temperature was going to drop through the afternoon. And still the fish seem to be enthusiastic enough with Biggin Bay being the place to be for most of the anglers. Season permit holder Dave Smith returned 15 fish on a Rio DI5 sweep line and a yellow FAB. Tim Grove was once again on the buzzers, this time netting 18 fish. Ray Rowlings netted a dozen fish. Ray used a couple of different methods, the washing line with buzzers and a FAB on the point, and black snakes on a sinking line, all in Biggin Bay. Matt Pittaway used small booby snakes to great effect by the old pipe in Biggin, netting 15 fish in total. Matt shared his boat with fellow season permit holder Ian Reeve,  who had well over 20 fish. Ian used the small booby snake but also put a washing line to good use with a mixture of buzzers and diawl bachs.

A bit of a shock to the system this morning despite the weather forecasters getting it right, with a strong northerly wind and some quite heavy snow at times. Luckily, the best of the fishing was in Biggin Bay, with those large trees affording some shelter. Tim Grove braved the conditions to net 10 fish on the final day of his 3 day break, all on the buzzer. Mr Ian Watts netted 6 from the bank in Biggin Bay on a wide variety of patterns.. Season permit holder Endi Seglis had 4 fish on lures fished on a sinking line, once again in Biggin Bay.

Another cold day here at Draycote Water with a stiff northerly blowing into the lodge. Still some anglers wrapped up warm and ventured out. Draycote regular John Hall took to the bank and fished in the Cornfield where he caught 2 fish on damsels. Season permit holder John Dickens caught 5 fish from a boat in Biggin Bay using a DI3 and a cats whisker. Les Lerigo had 4 fish to the boat during an afternoon session. Les fished tight in to Lincroft Point, using a DI7 and black and green lures.

Avery calm and frosty start To Saturday morning with fish showing very early on around the pontoon and in the harbour. The fish seem to be holding again along the north shore although they are proving a little more difficult to catch. Some anglers are picking fish up from the bottom of Toft Shallows but these seem to be hard on the bottom and are taking lures fished on heavy sinking lines.  Season permit holder Alan Grant caught 6 fish from the bank fishing on Lincroft Point, and said that he found the fish hard on the bottom.. Mike Garner ventured out onto the bank to net a brace on diawl bachs by the Old Pipe in Biggin Bay  Les Lerigo picked up 7 fish from a drifting boat in Toft Shallows on a DI7 and black and green lures. Mr Bishop caught his 4 fish on black lures from various points around the reservoir .

Another cold start to the day, but it did warm up in the afternoon with the appearance of the sun. On the bank Draycote member Jon Crowley enjoyed a good mornings sport landing 7 fish from the Hensborough Bank on size 14 black buzzers. On the boats Richard Walker also fished for the morning taking 11 fish, Richard fished in Biggin Bay and Dunns Bay with a while Damsel Gold head to land 11 fish. However, the best catch came from the boat of Peter Elliot & Lee Patten who boated 37 fish. The pair fished in Biggin Bay using a team of Buzzers fished on a washing line close to the surface to land their fish. All water member Peter Harris also enjoyed some good sport in Biggin Bay put opted to use a booby to land his 9 fish.

This was certainly a week of two halves with regards to the weather, with the colder temperatures experienced towards the end of the week really throwing the fish off their stride. However, with warmer settled weather ahead, we should once again experience some great fishing.

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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/

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Week Ending: 03 April       Rod Av: 7.4      Water Temperature: 10C

Monday saw a misty start to the week due to the cooler temperatures overnight. However, this did not seem to affect the water temperature which was a healthy 11 degrees. It also did not deter the fishing with some good catch returns being recorded from both the boat & the bank. All Water Season Ticket holder Mr Duncan had a particularly successful from the boat whereas, Fishery Manager Jim popped down for quick session from the bank & caught a respectable 8 fish in a couple of hours. Jim’s successful tactic was to fish a washing line static with a Sunburst Fab on the point & buzzers up the cast in Dogwood Bay. The washing line is an excellent method for targeting fish that are sat in the top 3ft of water. As the wind dropped during it was noticeable just how high the fish were sitting in the water column as fish could be seen rising across the reservoir.  The most productive areas of the reservoir for both the bank & boat anglers remain the Netted Bank to the Willows & Dogwood Bay all the way around to the Chestnut area.

With the weather forecast starting to turn colder, anglers were keen to get out on the water to enjoy the great sport that Eyebrook has been offering lately. Eyebrook Season Ticket holders Bill Law and Ian Steele managed a cool dozen each to the boat on a morning session in Mucky Bay. Roy Lewin and Mike Smith done a little better than Bill and Ian in and around the same sort of areas. Other Anglers were doing exceptionally well from the bank areas and are getting some great sport all the way up at the Cow Sheds and even in front of the Stoke Dry Carpark area. Anglers are still reporting buzzers accounting for most of the fish, but they are willing to take Cats Whisker, Damsel Nymphs as well as black and green lures. When the conditions are right, there has even been reports of individuals picking up fish on CDC emerger patterns.

Wednesday felt like autumn was making a comeback. The temperatures have tumbled since the weekend and the forecast of rain (possibly snow) has had anglers reconsider spending time out in the great outdoors. Only a few brave souls ventured out. All water ticket holder and Eyebrook regular, Ian Jobe had a great day out trudging the Bank and managed to bring well in to double figures to the net. Despite the biting colder wind, Ian was tempting fish up to take Hog Daddies and emergers. Todd Passingham put in a long shift out in a boat in adverse conditions to bring half a dozen to the net.

Thursday felt like the dead of winter again. That cold North Easterly was causing a few waves down at the pontoons in the morning and then we were hit with a flurry of snow before we even got a chance to sort boats out for a few individuals looking to go out for a day on the water. With a North Easterly wind, Anglers can still find relatively calm water to fish in around the Sam’s Dyke are or even close in on the Rutland bank between Stoke Dry and the Willows. Flurries of Snow continued to hit Eyebrook throughout the day making uncomfortable conditions. Our intrepid anglers decided that they would happily leave the boats at the pontoon and venture out on to the bank. After a few hours of battling the elements they both came back in. On this day, the fish won, but only because the weather helped them.

Friday started off Bitterly cold again and due to the rain and the construction work for the new spillway. The main track up to the lodge was yet again impassable due to the mud on the track. We strongly encourage all visitors to Eyebrook to use the Alec Lane gate for access.

The wind has lightened up a little from what was originally forecast the day before but even an 18mph wind coming out of the North East can be quite rough at the lodge end of the lake. When there’s a wind like that, Sam’s Dyke and tight in against the wooded areas of the Rutland bank can offer refuge for anglers willing to battle the biting cold wind. David Fisher Finally managed to put 5 fish in the boat after battling the Elements on the day. He started off over by the Willow tree in the morning and finished up in Sam’s Dyke in the afternoon. David seemed to time everything perfectly by coming off the water for a warm cuppa, a few minutes later the weather unleashed merry hell on Eyebrook. None of us could believe the snowfall that appeared on the 1^st April 2022.

Saturday morning was bitterly cold, but we had clear skies and a light wind on the lake. Gary Mickley was first in the door and raring to get out on the bank. He was then closely followed by a few of our regular Pike anglers who decided they would have a nice hot coffee before heading out on to the water on such a cold morning. Martin Blakeston was the morning boatman and reported that it was a little bit difficult to get the boats started due to the freezing temperatures. The harsh weather was intermittent throughout the morning, but by the afternoon, the weather started to make a pleasant change. Andy Tatman and His Dad Paul popped out for a bit of fishing and asked for a bit of guidance. Fishery manager Jim hopped out in a boat with them for an hour or so and helped with leader set up and fly selection and managed to get them to slow down the retrieve enough for those buzzers to fish effectively, resulting in Paul landing 2 fish in a short session and Andy missing a couple. They both thoroughly enjoyed themselves and were grateful for the staff looking after them. Despite the cooler air temperatures, the water temperature has remained at 9 degrees which kept the trout feeding on the abundant buzzer hatches around the reservoir. The general pattern has seen the fish are feeding slightly deeper in the water column during the colder mornings; coming to straight lined buzzers & lures fished slowly. Then as the air temperature increases throughout the day they are moving up & getting caught on the washing line on either the nymphs or buzzers on the droppers & the FAB on the point.

On Sunday we hosted an inter club bank match which saw 16 members from our 3 reservoirs take to the banks. A friendly & sociable competition that was fished to specific rules where the prizes were awarded for the largest & smallest fish caught. The winners were Steve Lawrence with lovely Rainbow of 3lb 13oz & Ian Jobe with a well-proportioned Rainbow of 1lb 10oz, each taking prizes for their respective catches. The competition was very successful with all anglers catching & everyone enjoying themselves. In addition, our resident instructor Andy Miller hosted a Tuition Day for 5 would be anglers. Under Andy’s tutelage all the participants went through the “peaks & troughs” of learning to cast a fly & through their hard work & application, coupled with Andy’s knowledge & experience; they caught a few between them at the end of the day. Eyebrook member Neil Shilton had a great day out in his float tube recording a very high catch return from various locations & All Water members; Adam Gumby & Steve Jordan had an equally successful day from the boat fishing close in at Dogwood Bay. The fish have remained relatively high in the water column all week with the most productive method being washing lined nymphs or buzzers with a FAB on the point. The key has been to fish your flies slow to static & where possible, fishing slightly across the wind & allowing your flies to swing around on the breeze. It is also worth noting that a mobile approach will maximise your chances of catching be that from a boat or the bank as demonstrated by Neil Shilton’s success from his float tube.

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:  27^th March    Rod Av:9.0       Water Temperature: 10c

Monday & a great start to the week with a rod average 10.8 Majority of the anglers took to the boats with Paddy Fitch deciding to fish the bank for the afternoon & been rewarded with 16 trout caught close in on the margins opposite the lodge. From the boats P Hunt caught 14 with L Serrano catching 20+ with the majority of the boat anglers catching on Intermediate or fast sink lines with booby, cats whisker or diawls. Water clarity is 3ft.

Tuesday with our water temperature creeping closer to 10c+ mark when we would expect to see more fish coming to the floating lines as the trout switch onto the buzzer. Trout haven’t yet fully switched onto the buzzer with our catch returns indicating buzzer, diawls, blue flash damsel, bloodworm, blob, cats whiskers and booby patterns all taking fish with anglers fishing a midge tip down to a fast sinker. Opposite the lodge continues to fish well for the bank anglers with A Topping catching 15 and Paddy Fitch 13. From the boats a number of anglers caught double figure catches, P Mee, Tut & Bet Miles, P Cox, P Wrigley, R Dunster, P Walker & Steve Windram. Opposite the lodge, in front of the wood, corner wood into the Markfield arm fished best with the trout to be found either tight to the bank or as the day got brighter 30 yards off the bank. Another excellent day with the rod average 10+

Wednesday with the catch return showing increasing numbers of trout taking buzzer and diwal bach with the midge tip, intermediate and slow sink lines best. Steve Fairgrieve and P Mee shared a boat fishing buzzer an diawls to catch their 25 trout, Ian Leach a new All Water member Ian Brearley fished diawls an damsels to boat their 28 trout wit C & R Grice fishing damsels to take their 16 trout.

Thursday and a cracking warm March Day, flat calm with the bright conditions called for long leaders. Tony Lorrimer caught his 10 trout on his rabbit patterns, member D Rechtorik fished a midge tip with diawls & buzzers to catch his 16 trout with D Slessor and his son catching 18 for their visit. Dave & Sharon Ryalls fished a DI3 with an orange and tequila blob to catch their 13 trout. Opposite the lodge and wood remains favourite with anglers who are venturing further up the Markfield arm finding increasing numbers of trout.

Friday and another excellent day’s fishing. Sun was pleasant on your back and its helping to raise our water temperature and with-it increasing numbers of buzzer hatching. Most anglers concentrated their fishing opposite the lodge, wood and the corner with S Zeleny & S Swinfield going further into the Markfield arm been rewarded wit 12 trout. G Clark bank fished mainly along the corner with a damsel and an ace of spades, now there’s an old pattern you don’t hear of much, but it worked helping him to his 14 trout. Bill Watson had his best day ever catching 23 trout with J Law also catching well into double figures. With a daily rod average 9.8 most anglers enjoyed good catches. Intermediate long leaders with blue flash damsel, diawls and buzzers was the winning combination for most.

Saturday`s catch return was all buzzer, diawl, damsel patterns with the intermediate, sink 3 lines with long leaders and the flies fished slow catching best in front of the wood and down past the lonesome pine. David Inglis & Ron Fullelove caught 20 for their visit with A Lilley & G England having a great day catching theirs all on buzzers. Ian Leach caught 12 as did K Cowen. Our Water temperature hit 10c for the first time definitely going the right way.

Sunday the easterly breeze felt cooler but that didn’t stop the fishing with trout during part of the day to be seen feeding through the surface. Bob Jones fished black buzzer and blue flash damsel to catch his 20 trout with his boat partner S Brooks fly fishing for the first time catching 8, well done. Dave Slessor enjoyed another good day catching 20+ with George Jackson finding a small sparkler booby and small white booby helped to catch his 15 trout. C Burdett fished buzzers to catch his 6 trout finding a few fish out over the deeper water

Overall, an excellent weeks fishing

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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/

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

Week Ending: Sunday 27^th March         Rod Av:  5.8       Water Temperature: 8 °C

Another lovely day Monday with the air temperatures reaching 16°C in the later part of the afternoon, however, a frost did make the fishing slow to start with. Dave Atkins fished from the bank along the Cornfield to land 4 fish using a 12ft slow tip with a Damsel on the point and Muskins on the dropper. On the boats John Dickens landed 12 fish using a black and green lure and buzzers. All water member Dave Smith landed 8 using small black buzzers fished under the bung and also landed one using a foam daddy with the fishing taking off the surface. The best catch of the day went to Ian Morris who used a floating line with Diawl Bachs and black buzzers to land 21 fish. Ian fished at Rainbow Corner, The Inlet and Lincroft Point to land his fish.

Once again the great fishing Draycote has seen in the previous few days continued Tuesday with a rod average of 7.2 fish per angler. On the bank Stan Hillman landed 5 fish from the various points around he reservoir on a team on buzzers. However, it looks like the last four hours with the sun dipping in the sky was the best time for the bank With John Hayden landing 10 fish from the Cornfield using a Damsel and a mini cat’s whisker. However, it was certainly a day for the boats as the sun pushed the fish out over the edge of the drop offs. Draycote season ticket holder Phil Waters enjoyed a good days sport landing 13 fish using a mixture of buzzers and nymphs. All water member John Duncan landed 11 fish on his first ever trip to Draycote. Ed Douglas fished in Biggin Bay using an Airflo 12ft Slow tip with a mixture of nymphs and a FAB to land 29 fish including a cracking 5lb 7oz rainbow. Kevin Hart also used buzzers and cruncher this time with a booby on the point to land 38 fish. Kevin fished at the Willow trees at the bottom of the Cornfield using a Di 3 to land his fish.

The sunny conditions remained on Wednesday, however there was a lack of wind. This lack of wind made the fishing drop off a little from the great sport we have been seeing, although the fishery still produced a number of good catches. Tom Cosford fished from the bank along the Cornfield using small size 14 black buzzers to land 7 fish. On the boats Iain Johnston landed 15 fish using a floating line with black buzzers, fishing along the North Shore with a very slow figure of eight retrieve. Draycote member Chris Discombe landed 10 fish from Biggin Bay using small black buzzers static. Mr Francis also used buzzers and a black and green lure to land 13 fish with his most productive area being D Buoy.

A very flat bright day here at Draycote, with saw the buzzer once again hatching in good numbers, however the majority small in size. As a result of the bright flat conditions it was certainly a day for the boats. Fishing for a morning session Emad, using sunk lines with boobies to land 13 fish from near Lincroft Point. All water season ticket holder Ged O’Donoghue fished with Steve Orton with the pair landing 22 fish to the boat using black buzzers on a floating line. Another all water member using black buzzers to great effect was Jamie Scott, who landed 22 fish, however Jamie had to use small size 12 & 14 black buzzers and fish them deep near the drop offs to land his fish.

We are beset with bright sunny conditions and light breezes here at Draycote water, but as long as the fishing stays the way it has been for the last few days, who cares! Rod averages from the boat and the bank are very good of late with most fish falling to buzzers and diawl bachs fished on either floating or midge tip lines. The best areas seem to be all along the north shore, with anglers strung out between Grays Barn and all the way up into Dunns Bay. You can if you wish, ply your trade up on the Draycote Dam where there is a good head of Perch mixed in with the odd trout, but trust me, it can be very frustrating. Mr C Massey chose to fish off the bank in the Cornfield and netted 8 fish on buzzers. All water season permit holder Mr Paul Walker had over 30 fish from the bank. Paul fished from Lincroft Point and the Cornfield using diawl bachs and buzzers on a floating line. Paul Walley fished an afternoon session and netted 5 fish from the bank in Biggin Bay, again on small nymph patterns. Out on the boats anglers were also fairing pretty well. Mr D and Mr T Moody had 20 fish to the boat along the north shore on black buzzers. John Dickens and Lorenzo Serrano had a bit of a red letter day with over 50 fish to the boat between them on cats whiskers.

Once again the sun was splitting the sky on Saturday morning, with a nip in the air to start with. As per the past few days report, the best of the fishing is to be had along the northern edge of the reservoir. In sunny conditions those fish will push out a bit into deeper water by the middle of the day, but it’s nothing that a bit of wading and a good cast won’t sort out. Whilst natural patterns such as buzzers, diawl bachs and crunchers are providing some good sport, pulling lures on a DI3 or a DI5 is also bringing some good fish to the net. Mr A Wheatstone caught 10 fish whilst bank fishing on the north shore on buzzers. Mr N Devine and his son took to the water for an afternoon session, netting 4 fish between them from the Cornfield on white minkies. Mr K Counihan and Mr M Kilford had 8 fish apiece to the boat on a mixture of humungus and blobs. Roy Palmer and Steve Jordan had a dozen between them using a pink FAB and buzzers. John and Dan Mcelligott used midge tip lines and buzzers with a FAB on the point to good effect to net over 20 fish, remarking that most fish took the FAB. Rob and Albert Edmunds had a good day out, netting well over 60 fish between them on booby snakes from various points around the reservoir.

Totally different conditions on Sunday morning with a foggy start and a definite cold snap in the easterly breeze, it wasn’t till around 1.30 when the sun finally broke through to give a bit of warm in the day. On the bank Ian Ross enjoyed a good day at the old pipe in Biggin Bay landing 6 fish on buzzers and Diawl Bachs. Draycote season ticket holder Paul Walley also fished in Biggin Bay on the bank landing 6 fish on Yellow Owl buzzers. On the boats Fishery Manager Tom Bird fished with Sam Smith with the pair boating 30 fish. They started the day in Biggin Bay with lots of fish moving to emerging buzzers, with the pair catching on a washing line set up. However, the wind swung slightly, and the fish dropped down so the pair swapped to a long midge tip to head down after them. Draycote member Ian Reeve landed 9 fish near E Buoy in Biggin Bay using a floating line with a Green pea on the point and Diawl Bach’s on the droppers. The best catch of the day came from the boat of James Maplethorpe & Trevor Moore, with the pair landing 57 fish. Fishing with buzzers on a long leader with a gold head hares ear on the point from a floating line. The best area was Biggin Bay anchored up about 40 yards off the old pipe and just inching the buzzers back to the boat.

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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: 27th March        Rod Av: 8.7          Water Temperature: 10c

Monday the 21^st March 22 started off still and cold. -2C according to the thermostat in the car on the way on to the Eyebrook. The conditions were hardly inviting as there was a distinct lack of wind and a cold mist on the water. Eyebrook Season ticket holder R. Swinfield opted to fish the Rutland bank in the morning and had a nice half dozen rainbows between Robbo’s Cabin and the end of the netted bank on small Diawl Bachs. By around 10:30am, a gentle southerly breeze was making a bit of a ripple on the water which in turn, started to produce a few fish for Mr D. Wall up by the Chestnut tree. At first, he didn’t think he was going to do any good up that far. But the fish have made it up in to those areas as well. Small Diawl Bach’s and Buzzers fished Washing Line Style was producing good sport. The day finished off with a rod average of just under 9, with a majority of fish being taken on Diawl Bach’s and Buzzer patterns as well as a few Blob’s and FAB’s There are still fish across the front of the casting platforms and the Hawthorne’s, Fish caught in Mucky Bay and along the front of the Chestnut Tree. On the other bank, there are still fish from the corner of the netted bank to the Robbo’s Cabin and there are also reports of fish up by the Willows.

Tuesday started off a little bit warmer than Monday but still had that spring chill in the air. As the temperatures are starting to get warmer, we are seeing that the fish are starting to move on to the buzzers. The warmer weather and buzzer feeding will see more anglers out on the water in the next few weeks. So, it’s a good time to start planning ahead and book your boat if you require one. F. Colman and J. Colman had a fantastic day out on the boats and managed well in to double figures each while fishing size 12 and size 10 buzzers. Eyebrook Season ticket holder D. Shaer managed double figures to the boat with buzzers and Damsels. Mr & Mrs Rawson managed 14 to the boat between them on the first day of their 3-day package.

Wednesday started off with a bit of a crisp chill in the air but looked like it was going to be a bright and calm day. Early morning discussions with Eyebrook season ticket holders in the lodge sparked intrigue from Fishery manager Jim, as 2 Season ticket holders had mentioned that fish had been actively feeding on Corixa as well as buzzers. These conversations happened at different times and independently of one another. One had witnessed the fish feeding, and the other found corixa in the gut of a fish he had taken for the pot. As the water temperatures start to rise, it’s always worth giving a Damsel nymph a swim. As we all know, Eyebrook does have some fantastic Damsel hatches.

Thursday started off pretty much the same way that Wednesday had. There was a slight change of wind direction, but the fish were still feeding in the same areas. Eyebrook season ticket holder Dave Lawrence had a nice morning netting 4 good fish from the casting platforms while fishing buzzers. J. Vasey and G. Curry rounded up a few days visit with 16 to the boat in a morning session before heading North again. Most of the anglers are becoming fixated with Mucky Bay and The Chestnut Tree areas. These are fantastic spots at this time of year due to the silty bottom providing great buzzer hatches that go on for weeks. There have been reports of some good over wintered fish that are 4lbs+ coming to the net. It’s amazing what buzzer season can produce out on the lake.

Friday was another lovely day out on the lake All Water Season ticket holders Phil Mee and Steve Fairgrieve had a cracking day with both getting into double figures. Phil Met Steve while helping with the All- Abilities Friendly Fly Fishers (AAFFF) and Phil has been showing Steve the ropes and seeing his steady progress out on the water since last Season. That’s what Fishing is all about. Lots of anglers were now starting to find that the fish are all over the lake and they are experiencing great sport from the bank and boat with a lot of anglers getting into double figures while fishing buzzers on a washing line.

Saturday saw calm weather at the start of the day with an easterly building as the day progressed.  Eyebrook played host to the England Ladies team who had an excellent day catching 173 fish between 11 anglers giving them a rod average of 15.7; the majority of which were caught on Buzzers around various areas of the reservoir. We also hosted 2 of our Taster Sessions throughout the day. In the morning father & son; Mark & Tom Haines, enjoy a successful session with both catching fish. Under the watchful of Fishery Guide Andy Miller Tom caught his first ever trout whereas his father Mark, thought he would raise the bar by landing a large pike on of all things, a Size 10 Black Buzzer. The afternoons Taster Session saw us host a group of 5 potential anglers who once again enjoyed a very productive afternoon. All participants caught trout & had a very enjoyable afternoon under the guidance of Fishery Guides Andy Miller, Lee Henfry & Fishery Manager Jim Wright. Overall, the reservoir fished very well on Saturday with some excellent catch returns being recorded from Boat, Bank & Float Tube. Season Ticket holder Neil Shilton had a great day in his Float Tube catching 20+ fish including a cracking Rainbow of 6lb 13oz. The fish are starting to disperse around the reservoir with the most productive areas being the Hawthorns, Sam’s Dyke, Mucky Bay down to the Cowshed. As the water temperature increases so is the aquatic life with most of the fish falling to natural patterns; Buzzers & Diawl Bachs fished either static or very slow.

There was a foggy start to Sunday that saw us host the England Ladies for a second day & the All Abilities Fly Fishers. Both parties had a very productive day with all anglers catching & some recording catch returns well into the 20s. Natural patterns, fished slow or static, either on floating lines or washing lined tip lines with a FAB or Booby on the point proved to be the most productive methods. In addition, Eyebrook hosted a Tuition Day for 6 budding fly fisherman who under a tutelage of Instructor Andy Miller had a great day. From starting the day as complete novices every participant went on to catch which is great achievement. By the end of the day, they had managed a very respectable 14 fish between the 6 of them. Well done all. The banks and boats remain equally productive with numerous fish caught from most areas of the reservoir. On the bank, Season Ticket holder Malcolm Thompson had a very good day fishing buzzers in Sam’s Dyke and there has been some excellent catch returns recorded from the Netted Bank to Robbo’s Cabin. In addition to fishing nymphs & buzzers on a washing line or floating line, Season Ticket holder Mark Hunt had a very productive day from the boat fishing Dries; Bobs Bits in Claret & Red. As the water temperature continues to increase the prospect of top of the water activity will also increase with the fish happy to rise in the water column in search of food.

With the obvious improvement to the water clarity, the Pike fishing this week has also improved. One of our regular pike anglers experienced a very productive day, landing over a dozen Pike up to 21lbs 8oz.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

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Thornton Fishery Weekly Report – 01530 230807

Email: thornton@flyfishstore.co.uk

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Week Ending:  20^th March   Rod Av: 6.5     Water Temperature: 8c

With an improving forecast and our water temperature creeping upwards, our fishing has certainly picked up with intermediate lines with buzzers and diawls featuring in Mondays catches. P Mee, L Serrano & H Davies all caught double figure numbers mainly on buzzers and diawls. Opposite the lodge along the Thornton arm, down to the corner of the wood and into the Markfield arm.

Tuesday water clarity 4ft+ with the water temperature creeping above 8c. Catch returns indicate intermediate with blue flash damsel, black buzzer and diawls taking the majority of the trout along the shallows of the Thornton arm, wood and down past the lonesome pine. This time of year the bank fishing at Thornton can be good with All Water Member Norman Perkins catching 13 for his bank fishing session, a word of advice, bring waders. Good catches from the boats with Carl Bond catching a personal best rainbow of 5lb2oz. P Mee fished again today catching into double figures on diawls and buzzer with his best rainbow weighing 4lb5oz

Wednesday once the rain arrived it rained all afternoon. With a rod average 2.2 for the day it was a bit more of a challenge than the day before. The successful patterns from the day before were replaced with booby and green peas patterns working best. By the end of the day following the rain our water level had risen but the clarity remained 2.5ft+

Thursday and an improvement with the rod average 3.5 with the afternoon fishing better than the morning. P Cox caught 8 with 3 of the trout caught in Green Bay. Robert Morton fished opposite the lodge with his best fish weighing 4lb12oz. The majority of anglers continue to fish opposite the lodge and down past the wood, as the clarity improves and our water temperature climbs we would expect to see the farm bank start to produce a fish or two.

Friday and a much better day considering the influx of rainwater two days previously with Friday producing a 4.4 rod average. As the clarity improves from the bank outwards Alan Topping fished black & green lures to catch 11 from the bank with G Clark catching 8 & S Proffitt catching 5 on a hot head damsel also from the bank. From the boats all water member D Slessor caught 14 for visit with Alan Johnstone fishing a fast sinker & booby to catch his 6 trout. A mixture of patterns worked during the day with boobies, green pea, damsel & diawl bach.

Saturday with a much stronger easterly wind developing during the day made fishing conditions uncomfortable but the anglers still returned a rod average 4+. Jan Webber fished an orange booby to catch his 12 trout with Mark Hunt fishing a Dawson olive booby to catch his 10 trout with Neil Bates fishing his old favourite, the cats whisker to catch his 10 trout during his afternoon visit.

Sunday with a breezy cold easterly during the morning giving way to flat calm conditions by late afternoon. Booby patterns worked best during the day with anglers using booby patterns from a midge tip line down to fast sinkers. Pam Shuttlewood & Steve Jordan caught 9 on boobies fished on fast sinkers drifting from the corner of the wood along the wood with D Slessor fishing a cats whisker booby from an anchored boat using a midge tip line to catch his 13 trout for his afternoons visit.

Considering the weather from Wednesday onwards wet, breezy and cold easterly winds I’m pleasantly surprised how well Thornton has fished this week

Water clarity is improving & will improve this week especially with the excellent weather forecast

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Draycote Fishery Weekly Report – 01788 812018

Email:  draycote@flyfishstore.co.uk

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Week Ending: Sunday 20^th March         Rod Av:   9.0       Water Temperature: 7°C

A great start to the week, with a real feel of spring in the air and the trout responded well to the slightly warmer temperatures with the rod average finishing at 9.63 fish per angler.  All water members Steve Orton & Ged O’Donoghue landed 20 fish to the boat fishing buzzers and a blob at the school slips. Draycote members Ian Richardson & Bob Smith also enjoyed a good days sport landing 25 fish on a mix of buzzers, diawl bachs, muskins and blobs. The pair found the fish at the Hensborough bank, Farborough Dam and Cornfield. Andy Berkett & Brent Vinall enjoyed a great start to their three day break landing 37 fish to the boat using Midge Tip lines teamed with a blob and various Nymphs. Landing the majority of the fish from the Hensborough bank but also taking fish from Rainbow Corner and the Outlet. Fishery Manager Tom Bird fished in a boat with Ed Douglas with the pair enjoying a great day’s sport. Not only catching good numbers of fish but also some cracking overwintered fish up to 5lb. The key to their success was to fish the drop offs along the Farborough Dam & Hensborough Bank with Midge tips an 18ft leader, blob on the point and 2 black diawl bachs on the droppers.

Another great day Tuesday with a sunny start, light winds with cloud arriving later in the day. It really did have a very springlike feel, as a result of this better weather the water temperature has increased to 8°C. This increase in water temperature has really got the fish feeding hard and the fishing was even better than the previous day with a rod average of 13.0. Peter Elliot & Lee Patten fished in Biggin Bay near the old pipe landing 20 fish each using a Fast Glass teamed with an Olive snake. On the boats Mr Moore landed 35 fish anchored near the old pipe with all his fish taking size 12 black buzzers. Andy Birkett & Brent Vinall enjoyed a good second day on their three day package taking 39 fish to the boat. The pair fished the same tactics of the day. With the highlight being when the fish began to rise about 5.30pm and Andy managed to land a 5lb 9oz overwintered fish. Draycote members Dave Atkins & Richard Hanlon landed 49 fish to the boat with Richard going for a Di 5 sinking line and a snake will Dave used a midge tip and nymphs. All water member Ed Douglas also enjoyed a great day landing 39 fish from the bottom end of the Cornfield near the Willow Tree. Again like the day before taking them on nymphs fished on a midge tip with a blob on the point.

Wednesday saw a drastic change in the weather which resulted in a prolonged period of heavy rainfall. However, the wet weather did not dampen the fishing with those braving the elements being rewarded with some excellent fishing. Tim Grove had a cracking day with 38 fish to the boat, the majority of which were taken on buzzers on a washing line. Andy Birkett & Brent Vinall yet again had an excellent day & signed off their 3 day package in style with over 60 fish to the boat. This takes their tally for a 3 day break to 157 which is an excellent return. The successful tactics were to fish small Nymphs & Buzzers almost static on Midge Tips and they caught in all areas of reservoir.

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Hensborough, Draycote Bank, Lin Croft, and The Spit were all areas that produced good number of trout during Thursday with a variety of methods working from midge tip all the way down to a fast sinker. Increasing numbers taking buzzers patterns as the water temperature slowly starts to rise. Other patterns working were damsels, blobs and booby. Matt Crisp boat partner recorded a 6lb overwintered rainbow with Tony and Ruth Kirk taking overwintered rainbows of 3lb+ and 4lb+

Friday dawned bright and sunny with a cool easterly breeze. Once again the returns for both boat and bank anglers were pretty good with quite a few good quality over wintered fish being caught. Mr Andrew Farmer remarked on having an unbelievable afternoon, having not caught a fish from the bank until 1pm. After that they were coming thick and fast on white lures, with numbers in excess of 30 fish to the net. Young Mike Oliver also did well from the bank, netting 20+ fish on black buzzers. Both Rob and Craig Middleton had well over 30 fish to the boat between them on buzzers, from various points around the reservoir. Greg and Ken Williams also had over 30 fish to the boat using buzzers fished on a floating line. Dan Mcelligott and Bob managed 18 and 21 fish to the boat respectively, on midge tip lines and black buzzers.

It is nice to have some sunshine for a change but the easterly wind that was blowing on Draycote on Saturday could have cut corn. The rod average remains high at 5.8, with a good spread of fish being caught throughout the reservoir. Notable areas are The Farborough Dam, Toft Shallows, Grays Barn, Biggin Bay, The School Slips and The Hensborough Bank. Most of the fish seem to be coming from the top 8 feet of the water and falling to a DI3 and snakes, or a midge tip line with black diawl bachs and a blob on the point. Season permit holder Les Lerigo netted over 20 fish from a boat on black and green snakes down in Toft and noted that in the bright sunshine the fish were hard on the bottom. Ryan Gibson and Craig How had their 20 fish from the Hensborough Bank on lures fished on a DI5 sweep line.

Once again a lovely sunny day here at Draycote Sunday, with he wind dropping slightly from the day before put remaining in the East. On the bank Draycote season ticket holder Jon Crowley landed 7 in a half day. Jon, used a team of buzzers to land his fish with the best buzzers being a Vicar and a yellow owl buzzer. With Biggin Bay and Toft being his best areas, also, on the bank fellow season ticket holder Stephen Dewhurst enjoyed a good day. Stephen landed 5 fish again with the fish coming to buzzers. Out on the boats Lee Patten & Peter Elliot also found buzzers to be the best tactic landing over 40 to the boat. With the commenting the buzzers had to be fished deep on a midge tip. Richard Walked fished over in Biggin Bay landing 15 fish, Richard found the fish again sitting a little deeper. Using a midge tip line, 12ft leader and a single weighted black and green nymph. Greg Howe & Ryan Gibson used black and green snakes to tempt their fish landing 18 apiece.

Overall it has been a great week here at Draycote with 1,691 fish caught for a weekly rod average of 9.0 fish per angler. With the weather set to get even better this coming week we expect the fantastic fishing to continue.

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Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

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Week Ending: 20th March        Rod Av: 4.0          Water Temperature: 8C

As this week starts off, we are seeing a bit of improvement in the weather with lighter winds and brighter days. Spring is well into full flow and we are starting to hear more song birds in the trees and hedgerows as well as seeing snowdrops, daffodil sprouts and some blossom on a couple of trees.

The bank anglers seem to be doing better than the boat anglers at the moment, but occasionally a couple of boat anglers are having some great sport. Eyebrook season ticket holders L. Bates & K. Jones were top anglers on the day catching up in around double figures. W Couldrick had a great day afloat getting in to double figures as well. Varying reports are coming in about methods and flies, but the method on Monday was a floating line and fishing a gold head Montana or Ali McCoist according to L. Bates. Good Angling!!

Tuesday started off crisp and bright with a light south easterly wind that was nice for the anglers on the bank. Eyebrook Season ticket holder D. Lawrence had lots of nips and pulls from the casting platforms. New All Water Season Ticket Holder Peter Harris rounded off a 2-day visit to Eyebrook with double figures to the boat while fishing a blob on a washing line to great effect. On the Bank M. Woolnough and N. Woolnough searched along the banks to find the right spot and were justly rewarded with well into double figures each. It just goes to show, if you are prepared to move and work as a pair you can figure out the right lines, leader setup and flies to catch consistently throughout your visit.

Wednesday started off quite still and a little bit colder than it should have been. The forecast was showing light winds from the southeast which will be swinging through to a north westerly by the end of the day. The banks continue to fish well with Mr Hardy taking 8 fish on small black buzzers fished on a floating line almost static. It is becoming more noticeable that as the days progress, the warmer afternoons are increasing the water temperatures which are in turn increasing the aquatic life within the water. This results in more fish being caught on nymphs in the afternoons with Black Buzzers & Diawl Bachs being the best patterns. Robbo’s Cabin to the Willows remain one of the more productive areas with the fish laying in the deeper water during the colder mornings and moving up in the water as the water temperature rises.

Thursday saw the wind switch round to the west southwest. The warmer winds bought an improvement to the fishing with some healthy catches; into double figures, being recorded from the boat & the bank. As on previous days the fish were caught predominantly on dark lures in the morning & nymphs in the afternoon. The most productive areas remain Robbo’s Cabin to the Willows with the more grown on fish being found towards the Willows feeding on the abundant natural food in that area. Water clarity remains an issue in some areas which can make the fishing somewhat challenging.

The wind swung around to the southeast on Friday & completely dropped down to a gentle breeze by the afternoon. Coincidently, as the wind dropped the fishing dramatically improved with some excellent returns being recorded. Numbers into the high teens were recorded by both bank & boat anglers, predominantly from the afternoon session, with the best areas being the Bell to Hawthorns & over by Robbo’s Cabin. The remaining colour in the water means that dark flies are the most productive with larger profiled lures being more effective during the colder morning sessions. Whereas, during the warmer afternoons, Black Buzzers & Black Diawl Bachs fished on a Floating Lines or a Washing Lined Midge Tip being the most effective.

Saturday was greeted with a stiff easterly wind that cooled the air temperature and the water clarity was down to 2ft. All of which made for challenging fishing conditions. Braving the elements in his Float Tube was season ticket holder Neil Shilton who had found a good number of fish up by the Willows area, relatively close to the bank & it is worth noting that these fish were sat in extremely coloured water. This serves as a gentle reminder that if a known fish holding area is indeed coloured, do not immediately discount it; it could well be worth a look.  The settled weather forecast for the coming week will result in an increase in the water clarity, this coupled with the warmer temperature it should be an excellent week for taking fish on natural patterns at Eyebrook.

Sunday saw another Easterly wind on the lake. The ideal locations were along the Rutland bank if you were looking for a bit of shelter for a calmer day’s fishing. Top rod on the day was Sam Edmonds who was in to double figures while fishing the Diawl Bach’s in the coloured water by the willows. Bob Margery managed a cool 9 to the bank on Blobs and Black & Green Lures. There are clear signs that the fish are starting to move towards feeding on the buzzers. There have been a few clouds of small black buzzers around. The fish have also been more likely to take lures in the morning and small nymphs in the afternoon.

The Week ahead looks to be warming up slightly and should see the buzzer life spring in to action, then after that hopefully we will have a return to some great dry fly sport. But don’t discount trying a few lures when the going gets tough.