Weekly fishing report week ending 25th September 2022

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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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: 25^th September   Rod Av:2.4   Temperature: 15c+

Monday, we arrived to find some algae on the water with little or no breeze to move it. During the day a light breeze did pick up which pushed the algae downwind leaving clear areas to fish. During the afternoon anglers reported seeing good numbers of fish feeding at times with H Davies catching 5 on a hopper with other anglers picking up fish on popper hoppers, diawl bach.

Tuesday the breeze soon cleared the bit of algae we have. The fishing continues to be best during the late morning into the afternoon with orange daddy, claret or olive hopper, diawl bach #12 or #14, orange shipmans & shuttlecocks black with red tag or hare’s ear. Arthur Olding caught 8 on an orange daddy, R Sleigh & W Wilson fished the afternoon boating 4 fish during the rise. P Eville fresh from his success on Saturday returned & float tubed the last 4 hour catching 10 on claret hopper & orange daddy.

Wednesday, flat calm gave way to a breeze from the southwest with conditions looking perfect, except the fish hadn’t realised how good it looked. Overall not an easy day, a few fish moved during the last few hours but overall a challenging day

Thursday was similar to the day before fish moving at times but were not interested in the fly. Top rod was K Hart who caught 6 from his float tube.

Friday was a better day but again not overly easy. David Hussey caught 6 on diawls & daddy, Chris Sayer caught 5 as did E Snyman who caught his on dries. Steve Lewanawski caught 7 during the last 4 hour session on an olive nymph. John Bebbington fished a cats whisker to catch his 7 trout

Saturday a better day with a combination of fish that had been in for a while and recent stock fish been caught returning a rod average 3.1 Daddies, diawl bach, blue flash damsel, cdc, fabs took fish on floaters, midge tips and intermediates.

Sunday local angling club Thornton Fly Fishers hosted members of the Eyebrook Fly Fishing Club & Draycote Fly Fishing Association with some visiting Thornton for the first time. A relaxed days fishing with members of the 3 clubs getting to know each other with a break at lunchtime to compare catches & method over a cup of soup & hot dogs. At the end of the day they returned a rod average of 4.0 with T Smith top rod for Thornton, Lyndsey Bates on his first visit to Thornton also catching 10 & top rod for Eyebrook with Andy Lilley top rod for Draycote with 8.

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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:  25^th September 2022              Rod Av:  4.9     Water Temperature: 15 °C

Overcast skies all day bank holiday Monday, with some heavy un-forecast rain in the afternoon. On the bank Mr Finch-Noyes and Mr Day enjoyed a “great day” landing 4 fish each on floating fry fishing at the Tower Bank. Also on the bank Draycote season ticket holder Mike Garner landed a brace with 1 coming from the Cornfield on a cormorant and the other on floating fry at the Tower Bank. On the boats Steve Pattinson & Gerick Eckard landed 10 fish to the boat using a washing line set up. The pair found that drifts from Rainbow Corner towards A Buoy to be the most productive area. Georgi Nickolov enjoyed a good days sport landing 6 fish from the boats, using a washing line with a FAB on the point a Daddy on the top dropper and a gold ribbed hares ear in the middle. The best catch of the day came to the boat of Mike Williams & Llyr Evans who landed 26 fish to the boat. The pair found the best flies to be Damsel patterns fished on floating and intermediate lines.

A very calm day Tuesday with little to no wind all day, with what little wind there was coming from the west. On the bank Stan Hillman & Mick Cronin enjoyed a good day landing 5 and 3 fish each. The pair used minkies at the Tower Bank and landed some cracking fish with a number of fish tipping the scales at 5lb. Brian Allwood also enjoyed a good day on the bank landing 4 fish. On the boats there was a number of good catches with the fishing seeming to be sat high in the water column. Pete Allen and Tony Broadway landing 11 fish to the boat using dries and a washing line with claret being the best colour on the dries. Draycote members Peter Elliot & Lee Patten landed 25 to the boat with Peter, using size 12 claret Bob’s Bits. With Lee Patten fishing a washing line and then dries. All water member Norman Perkins fished with Steve Orton with the pair landing 19 fish using minkie boobies on a floating line. James Raw & Michael Williams landed 30 fish to the boat ona washing line with a booby, FAB and Nymph combination. Paul Davison fishing with boat partner Simon landed over 30 fish to the boat using Ginger Midas.

A busy day Wednesday, with the Association of Major Fishing Club (AMFC) group 3 competition and also a number of boats practicing for the AMFC Group 1 match the next day and some boat ahead of the Airflo Team final on Saturday. The AMFC enjoyed good sport with the 30 anglers landing 154 fish for a 4.7 fish rod average with no competitors blanking. Winning the match was the English Police Fly Fishing Association who landed 45 fish between he 6 anglers. The teams next tactics was pulling FABs on an intermediate and also washing lining. Outside of the competition there was some good catching, although specifics where being kept quite due to the matches in the coming days. Members Chris Bobby & Lianne Frost enjoyed a good day landing 19 fish to the boat with Lianne landing the lion share with her best tactic being washing lining. Sean Hanlon & Lindsey Simpson landed over 25 fish to the boat also using washing lining tactics around A & B Buoy and Y & N Buoy.

The wind Thursday came from the Southwest with good cloud cover for most of the day, as a result the reservoir fished well with lots of good reports. Draycote member Stephen Dewhurst fished from the bank at the Swan’s Nest to land 4 fish. On the boats Draycote hosted Group 1s round of the AMFC with 36 anglers in 6 teams of 6 competing. The enjoyed great sport with he rod average for the match finishing at 8.47 fish per angler. Winning the day was Tunbridge Wells with all 6 anglers landing their 12 fish limit. The team’s best tactic was to drift over the open water around Y, P & N Buoy using a mix of methods. Some anglers fished dries, while other washing lined or pulled cormorants and FABS. However, once again specific tactics were being kept close to the angler’s chest with the Airflo match at the weekend. Outside of the match and the practicing boats members Ian Reeve & Colin Granger enjoyed a good day landing 14 fish to the boat on washing lining tactics with FABS and buzzers.

Friday saw the wind swung round to the Northwest for the day with the sun making more of an appearance. On the bank George fished from the Tower Bank landing a brace of fish on a minkie pattern fished over the weed bed. On the boats it was the practice day ahead of the Airflo Open Shield on the Saturday so as a result no one wanted to tell us details of how they had been getting on. However speaking to anglers the fishing had certainly slowed from the previous day. Although despite the sun the fish remained high on the water with the odd anglers who would let us know how they got on, saying dries and washing lining was still working. With the main areas being Y Buoy, N Buoy and Rainbow Corner.

Saturday was bright and sunny for most of the time with a light north westerly breeze. With the fall in water temperatures there has been a definite improvement in bank fishing, with catches coming mainly from the Tower Bank and the Swans Nest. Mike Garner used a floating fry pattern to net his fish from the area near the outlet. Stan Hillman and Mick Cronin both used minkies and floating fry patterns to net half a dozen from weed beds along the Tower Bank.

Draycote hosted the Airflo Open Shield yesterday with 12 teams taking part, totalling 72 anglers. There were 496 fish caught in the competition, giving a rod average of 6.9. In third place were the Welsh Wizards with 53 fish for a bag weight of 100lbs 12oz. Second place was taken by the Alba Cats with 56 fish weighing in at 115lbs 1oz, and the winners were the Reservoir Dogs with 61 fish, and a bag weight of 118lbs 15oz. Well done to all those who took part. The main methods used were cormorants on a midge tip line, shuttlecocks,  and a washing line with FAB’s and cormorants.

Sunday started with a heavy mist on the water and flat calm conditions. In the build up to the weekends competition, the reservoir has taken a bit of a hammering. Despite this it turned out reasonably well as Sunday progressed, with some anglers struggling to put a fish in the net during the early part of the day. Sunday regular Jon Crowley picked up 8 fish in a morning session using a black snake on a DI5 around Farborough Spit and Toft Shallows. The boat pairing of Jim Smith and Young Ed Douglas had well over 20 fish to the boat but played their cards very close to their chests on methods and areas, as did David Hoppe and Peter Elliott who boated 16. Season permit holder Mark Thistleton caught half a dozen fish using olive snakes fished on a DI3 through the Aerators. Chris Discombe caught 3 fish using snakes fished on an intermediate line whilst drifting in the area around C buoy and the Valve Tower.

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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/

Week Ending: Sunday 25^th September 2022       Rod Av:   5.2       Water Temperature: 16-17°

Monday morning saw the anglers met with good cloud cover but with a flat calm. Anglers taking to the water found it initially difficult to locate fish as they were sat below the surface, not giving themselves away & there was no wind to aid a drifting boat to cover water. Once the fish were located though, they were caught on a variety of methods. Regular visitor Mr Skedd caught 9 fish on an Intermediate with Snatchers, John Ross had 7 fish up by the Willows on Dries & Diawl Bachs on a washing line. Down for a 3-day package, Mr Woods & Kay had 19 fish between them on Foam Daddies in the Main Basin & up by Robbo’s Cabin. Messer’s Kerr & Lamb also had a very productive day, landing well over 20 fish from the Main Basin area fishing imitative patterns high up in the water column.

Tuesday started with a gentle ripple with plenty of cloud cover. As the day progressed, the gentle ripple subsided into a flat calm & the plenty of cloud gave way to long intervals of bright sunshine. There were still plenty of fish moving however & these could be caught using Dries & the Washing Line. If a moving fish was covered, it would happily turn & take the fly. The most successful Dry fly patterns were Foam Daddies, Yellow Owls & small black flies such as a Shipman’s or Crippled Midge. Other successful patterns included FAB’s as a point fly on the washing line & Diawl Bachs & Crunchers on the droppers. There was fish caught all through the Main Basin at various times of the day with Robbo’s Cabin frontage, Harrisons Corner & across Dogwood Bay being the most consistent.

Wednesday saw the reservoir continue to fish well. The fish remained high up in the water column & continued to feed on the surface or just under it. Those that concentrated their efforts on targeting fish in the upper layers fared better than those who tried that little bit deeper on the sinking lines. Foam Daddies fished dry or sub surface on a washing line continued to take a high number of fish as did small black dries just like the previous day. Paul Davison had a very successful day on the Dries, landing 21 fish from various locations around the reservoir. Paul kept his flies busy by not letting them sit too long & he covered a lot of water by fan casting. Bill Woods & his boat partner Hugh Munro also had a productive day catching on Foam Daddies & small black dries. They landed 23 fish between them from the Main Basin & Robbo’s Cabin. As the water temperature continues to drop the fish will soon start to spread to other more shallower areas of the reservoir & there has already been reports of fish in Mucky Bay & over by the Willows.

Eyebrook fished even better on Thursday with a lot of anglers recording some very high returns. The fish continued to sit high up in the water column & were caught on a variety of methods if flies were presented in the top few feet. Whether it was Dries, Nymphs on a Washing Line or Cormorants on a Midge Tip, all proved to be successful during the day. Top Dry Fly patterns included the Midas, Foam Daddies, Popper Hoppers & Grunters so clearly flies with a larger profile were the order of the day. Whereas the most successful Nymphs were Red Ribbed Diawl Bachs & Nemo Crunchers fished on a Washing Line with either a FAB or small eyed booby on the point. The most productive area was the Main Basin & the frontage of Robbo’s Cabin, 100m out where Paul Davison & his boat Ian Bradfield had an excellent landing a very high number of fish, all on Dries from a drifting boat. Others who done very well were Season Ticket holder Keith Johnson who 20 on a Popper Hopper, Craig Nimmo had 15 on Cormorants & the Robert Lamb party, Paisley Patterns, who had 54 between 6 of them, most of which came to Dries.

Friday continued in the same vein as Thursday with a lot of fish getting caught high up in the water column from the area of the Main Basin. Dries proved to be more successful today than any other methods with Foam Daddies, Hoppers & small suspenders all catching a high number of fish. The Paisley Patterns enjoyed another excellent day, even more successful than the previous day, landing 82 fish between them.

Saturday proved to be a more challenging day due to the brighter conditions. The fish remained high up in the water column but were less inclined to take flies off the surface. There were still a few fish caught on dries, Mr Parsley landed 17 fish which is a great return in challenging conditions. Overall, those fishing just below the surface proved to be more successful than those fishing on it. Visitor anglers Martin Matthews & Ben Beckwith had great success fishing intermediate lines with Cat Boobies & FAB’s, landing a lot of fish from the area of the Main Basin. The Paisley Patterns, fishing the last day of their 3-day short break package, had yet another productive day. Whereas on previous days they had great success on the Dries, today they found that pulling a Foam Daddy just under the surface was the way to go. They have had an excellent 3 days, landing 169 fish between them, which gave them a rod average of 9.3 per day, per angler which is a great return.

Sunday, with its changeable weather proved to be more challenging. That said, there were still quite a few fish caught. Season Ticket holder Dave Etty had a good day on the boat, landing 10 fish on Foam Daddies & Diawl Bachs. Rob & Sam Edmunds had a very successful afternoon session landing 14 fish on the dries & Mr Montgomery landed 12 fish, most of which fell to a FAB. Over the weekend, resident Guide Andy Miller hosted a couple of Tuition Days, one on the Saturday & one on the Sunday. Both days were very productive & resulted in fish being caught in the Main Basin on Foam Daddies & FABs. All participants had very enjoyable days under Andy’s watchful eye. Well done to all.

Date for your Diaries: The 2022 Eyebrook Fur & Feather will be held on Sunday 23rd Oct. The Fur & Feather is a Pairs Competition fished to a 12 fish Boat Limit & Fishery Rules. The price is £83.50 per pair which includes 2 x 6 fish Tickets & Boat costs, Members can use their season tickets & just have to pay for a member’s boat. For anyone who is interested please call the Lodge on 01536 770264 for bookings