Eyebrook Fishery Report, Week Ending Sunday 11 Sep 22.

Weekly Fishing Report: Draycote, Eyebrook, Thornton

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Eyebrook Fishery Weekly Report – 01536 770264

Email: eyebrook@flyfishstore.co.uk

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Week Ending: Sunday 11 September 2022       Rod Av: 3.5      Water Temperature: 17-18°

The reservoir started the week as it finished the last, fishing very well. Fish were caught on a variety of methods; Dries, Washing Lined nymphs & pulled blobs, all of which were fished on or just under the surface. The most productive area was the Main Basin with those adopting a more mobile approach, fishing from a drifting boat, proving to be more effective as some high catch returns were recorded. Jude Tuffs had a very productive day in the Main Basin, landing 18 fish on various methods. By adjusting her method in accordance with the changeable weather, Jude was able to catch throughout the day. Her most consistent fly patterns were Foam Daddies, CDC’s & on occasions, Blobs. All Water Member Kevin Hart joined visiting angler Andy Birkett for a day. They targeted fish in the upper layers using a delicate Dry Fly approach & their endeavours were rewarded with 24 fish coming to the net between them. The weather forecast remains very favourable for the coming week.

There was a damp start to Tuesday following the evenings heavy rainfall. The wind had swung again round the south, bringing with it an excellent amount of cloud cover. As the day progressed the settle morning gave way to a blustery, changeable afternoon. This reflected in the fishing as most of the anglers reported an excellent morning followed by a tougher afternoon. Fish were caught throughout the Main Basin by those targeting the upper layers of water, either using the washing line or fishing dries. The most successful Dry Flies were those with a larger profile, with Foam Daddies & Big Reds doing particularly well. Those fishing the Washing Line found that Buzzers or Diawl Bachs to be particularly effective on the droppers. As for the point fly, it varied, dependant how high they wanted to suspend the washing line. By using a Booby on the point, they were able to suspend their flies slightly higher due to the eyes of the boobies containing more buoyant foam than a FAB. During the brighter spells by swapping the Boobies for a FAB or a smaller eyed Booby they were able to resent their flies slightly lower, which sometimes can make all the difference. Another alternative fly that can be used on the point of a washing line is either a Booby Nymph or a Foam Daddy. Both of which, provide a more subtle solution to a Blob Booby or a FAB, if wary fish should switch off to the colour. Should you require your flies to sit even higher, just sub surface, it is worth swapping your top dropper to a buoyant fly, booby or FAB, as this will help you suspend your washing line in the first few inches.

Wednesday followed a similar pattern to the previous day, with the Reservoir fishing better during the more settled morning than it did in the unsettled afternoon. The area of the main basin continues to fish very with fish being consistently caught from various locations. The weed beds along the Hawthorns continue to hold fish & those drifting out from them caught well. Washing lined Floaters or Midge Tips with a Blob Booby or FAB on the point & imitative patterns on the droppers; buzzers, Diawl Bachs & Crunchers. Eyebrook Member Bill had a very productive morning session landing 10 fish, with an even split coming to both the Blob Booby on the point & the nymphs. All Water Members Clive Moore & Ian Jobe also caught very well, landing 20 fish to the boat from various locations around the Main Basin. As the week continues to bring cooler weather with some bouts of rain, the great start to the week looks set to continue.

Thursday saw the reservoir fish well in patches with some anglers doing very well & some anglers finding it challenging. Those fishing dries seemed to fare better than those fishing below the surface with Andy Birkett doing particularly well landing 14 fish, all of which came to the dries. Later in the day Andy decided to target the fry feeding trout by fishing the Barrons Pin Fry Dry & also Popper Fry over weedbeds. Staying flexible in your methods is important at this time of year when the fish have a multitude of items to feed on. Hoppers are another item that can appear on the fish’s diet in September & they caught well today. Hoppers are a versatile pattern that can be just as effective just under the surface as they can on it.

The reservoir fished well on Friday with some of the boat anglers catching well into double figures. Craig Middleton & Les Lerigo had a very productive day landing well over 20 fish between them on various methods. The Main Basin seems to be the most productive area & along the Leicester Bank from the Lodge to the Hawthorns. The weed beds along there have been holding a good number of fish all season. It has been noticeable over the last few days that there has been an increase in the amount of fry feeding activity that has been occurring in this area. A Popper Fry fished in & around the weedbeds has proven very effective of late. Dry Flies have also fished consistently well, particularly in smaller sizes. Season Ticket holder Mick Farrell had a productive fishing Size 14 Hares Ears CDC & also a Size 14 Claret CDC.

Saturday’s bright & winding conditions made for a challenging day. There were still fish caught though with the Main Basin proving to be a productive area. Washing lined floater with a Foam Daddy on the point & Nymphs on the droppers seemed to be the percentage method. The Nemo Cruncher is an excellent Nymph for this time of year & Mark Braun found it very effective landing 7 fish on it. The recent fry feeding activity continued with Mike Saunders landing 5 fish on Popper Fry around the weedbeds in a Last 4-hour session. That period of the evening, as the light begins to fade can be exceptional when it comes to targeting fry feeding trout.

Sunday was a busy day at Eyebrook. The reservoir fished well, most notably to the Dries with some high returns recorded. Fish were caught on a whole host of Dries; with Foam Daddies, Crippled Midges, CDC’s & Yellow Owls all taking fish. It was extremely important for anglers to cover moving a fish as it would often turn on a fly that landed in its vicinity. Although the Main Basin continues to hold a lot of fish there were also fish caught down by the Willows, the Seat & off the Island. The Island also fished well off the bank where Season Ticket holder Malcolm Thompson landed 3 fish in a morning session. As well as Dries, a washing lined Floater also caught well for some with regular visitor Chris Martin landing 8 fish from the North side of the Dam using a Candy FAB on the point & Diawls & Crunchers above it. Eyebrook also hosted a Thornton Fly Fishers Club match which saw 14 members take to the water, managing to catch 20 fish between them. Given the match was fished through the toughest part of the day that was a great effort.

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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:  11^th September   Rod Av: 4.0      Water Temperature: 18c

Monday and without doubt the afternoon / evening session is fishing best with the green bay, stones area fishing best. Andrew Wilson took a day boat but caught his 7 trout during the afternoon with diawl bach & muddler. Gary Owen fished the afternoon session catching most of his 14 trout on black shuttlecock buzzer with Thornton member B Stone catching his 19 trout during the last 4 hour session with a small hares.

Tuesday, the more consistent fishing is during the afternoon evening. Floating lines were best with buzzers, diawl bach, hare’s ears, shuttlecocks and dries best. All Water member Dave Skudder caught 8 for his afternoon visit with M Kidd & R Smith on their first visit to Thornton catching 14 during a last 4 hour session.

Wednesday, everyone caught but again the afternoon & last 4 hour session fished best. Dave Pritchard during the morning session fished static diawl bach & buzzer landing 3 trout but reporting countless hook ups which failed to stay on. Paddy Fitch fished the afternoon & late evening session, he took shelter from the thunderstorm but once it had passed the fish were up and about with Paddy catching 12 on hares ear.

Thursday with anglers catching throughout the day, although the afternoon & evening continuous to fish the best with an evening rise during the last 4 hours. Dam, green bay & stones continue to be the spots anglers head too but fish are starting to move across the main basin with M Ravenscroft catching his 10 trout during the afternoon / evening session across the entrance to the Markfield arm. Richard Dayman  Phill Cross caught 12 during a morning session on buzzers, daddies & diawl bach. Ian (aka the Hero) Leach fished with Mark Cowley catching 19 on fabs, hares ear & diawls.

Friday was a strange day, localised showers heavy at times, could have been a change in the air pressure, whatever it was the fish didn’t want to play with Carl Bond top rod on 5

Saturday & a much better day G England & A Lilley had an excellent morning catching 15 using a washing line tactic. B Sibley fished red buzzers & diawl bach to catch his 9 trout during a morning visit with K Cowen boating 4 as did N Bates.

Sunday, Jason on a day off from the Eyebrook fished with his father for a morning session catching 11 on fabs & blobs in the top couple feet. S Swinfield & S Zeleny also fished a morning session catching 8 with most of the other rods fishing the morning or afternoon / evening session catching between 2 & 4 trout

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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:  11^th September 2022              Rod Av: 4.7      Water Temperature:  18°C

A good start to the week with the rod average for the day finishing at 4.6 fish per angler. Sunny conditions on the morning with cloud arriving later in the day and some rain along with it. Draycote member and boat partner Stuart Lee landed 17 fish to the boat. The pair fished dries all day even during the morning and the sunny period to land their fish. Another boat that opted for dries all day was Kevin Rees who landed 10 fish. Kevin’s best dries being a Bob’s Bits and also a hopper fished around B Buoy and the top dam wall. Bob Smith & Bob Barfoot landed 14 fish to the boat near N Buoy and the Hensborough Bank on Olive snakes and cormorants. All water member Lorenzo landed 23 fish from the Aerators also using olive snake and cormorants and commented on a “great day with phenomenal fish”. As he landed a number of large Rainbows with full tails and silver plumes running through their fins. Iain Barr fished with Shaun Porter ahead of the national final at the weekend, landing 16 fish but didn’t get any information on the areas or the method.

A cloudy day Tuesday with some drizzle at lunch which then did clear to leave clear skies for the remainder of the day. With good cloud cover and light winds, the fish responded well to flies fished higher in the water column. Stuart Lee over from Canada, once again took to the water making the most of his time over here. Fishing with Alex Urquhart the pair used dries to land 15 fish, with the fish being landed from B Buoy and drifts around the Draycote Dam Wall. Draycote members Eddie Mitchell & Dave Kennell enjoyed a good days sport landing a dozen between them utilising a washing line around M Buoy drifting out into the open water. Paul Goulding fished with Dave Reynolds with both of them in the national at the weekend. The pair landed 10 fish to the boat, using  washing line over the open water around Y & B Buoy. Andy Birkett fished on his own on his second day of a three day package split between here and Eyebrook. Andy landed 11 fish out on his own using a small popper fry on the point with crunchers on the droppers fishing over the open water in the middle.

The wind came from the South on Wednesday, however, did swing into the west when heavy rain and thunder arrived in the afternoon. On the bank fishing for a short 3 hour session Dracyote season ticket holder Tony Broadway landed 3 cracking fish. Tony’s fish all weighted over 3lb, catching them from the Swan’s Nest in Toft. He used a Snowbee Buzzer tip with a tequila FAB on the point and 2 size 12 crunchers on the droppers, with all three taking the top dropper. To see a picture of these great fish visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore Draycote member Pete Allen also fished from the bank landed 2 this tome from the Rainbow Corner using hoppers. On the boats dries seemed to be the best method. Kevin Rees fished near Y buoy landing 13 fish using Bob’s Bits and also hoppers. Also in this area was all water member Ed Douglas who landed 8 fish on dries. Former fishery manager Kevin Hart fished with Andy Birkett with he pair landing 13 fish to the boat all on dries.

Overcast skies and once again Southerly winds Thursday. It was also the first practice day for the anglers competing in the National final this coming weekend. As a result we had all 32 boats out on the water. However, with such a prestigious match,  the anglers played their cards close to their chest on how they had done. Although the anglers who did speak say they enjoyed good sport with double figure catches. The best tactic seemed to either be dries over the open water or washing lining. Although there was also fish caught tight into the Draycote Dam walls fishing with Sparkler Boobies and also small international sized popper fry.

The Friday the wind swung into the Northwest and as with Thursday the anglers kept the tactics very close to their chest on how the fishing was going. However, reports from the anglers said there was more fish caught on the Friday and the fish seemed to switch on. Outside of the match Tony Broadway landed a brace of fish from the Swan’s nest with another fish of 3lb landed. Ifor Bullock also fished on the bank landing 3 fish.

After the 2 practice days the weekend saw the 64 anglers heading out on the water in the English National final with the top 28 qualifying for next year’s Spring & Autumn international teams. With the weather both days giving the anglers some of the best conditions, we have seen in a couple of weeks. Light winds form the Northwest before moving around to the North Saturday with overcast skies for most of the day. As a result of the great conditions the fish responded well with a 6.1 fish rod average for the match. With a good spread of fish all across the Lake with Y, B, N, M and C Buoy’s and drifts around them all producing good scores. There was a range of tactics, however intermediate lines with a mix of boobies, daddies, nymphs and cormorants seemed to be best method.

Day 2 once again great conditions, with overcast skies and light winds. However, the wind had swung 180 degrees with a little more sun. Which certainly made the fishing a lot more challenging than the day before. With the rod average finishing the day at 3.6 fish per man, however the fishing did improve as the day went on with the fish seeming to come on more in the last 2 hours of the match, after switching off after the first hour. Once again, the same washing tactics worked for the first hour, however, it was then dries that really started to work especially in the latter part of the match. With the wind change the hotspots changed as well with fish getting caught around K Buoy, F Buoy, P Buoy, and off Farborough Spit. Overall the winner of the National was Mark Miles who had 7 place points. To see the full results please visit www.facebook.com/flyfishstore

Outside of the competition we did have some good sport from the bank on Sunday. Season ticket holder Jon Crowley landed 5 fish from Toft using cormorants and an orange foam daddy. David Hoppe also fished in Toft and caught 4 fish including a cracking 3lb Rainbow fished on the edge of the weed bed.