Dreycote Dry Fly.

Draycote Dry Fly. Note: This was a fishing trip that really started over two decades ago when John Wilshaw was the Editor of Trout Fisherman. He knew full well at the time that I had a peculiar fascination with Dry Fly fishing, perhaps it is one of those idiosyncratic things, that after fishing in forty fathoms for sea fish for so long, it really was a marvel to me that fish would feed off the top of the water. His words to me then were that Draycote Reservoir enjoyed some of the best Stillwater dry fly fishing to be found anywhere and that I should make the effort to get up to the West Midlands. One of those things in life, I never seemed to have the time to make it up to Draycote, but “Wilshies” words were never forgotten.   At the end of May this year when Dave Malpas and I were on the last of our Spring fishing trips on Blagdon, he mentioned that he was fishing Draycote the next week. That was it, what can you say!!  “you are a long time pushing up daisies”, it had to be done, I was going to fish Draycote. We booked a couple of mid week days in early July because all the portents were that this was the time of year that the dry fly would be starting and the hard fighting Draycote fish would be looking to feed off the top. That sounded good to me! Dave’s advice to me was to get busy tying some Shipman’s buzzers, but that I should make sure I had plenty of orange Hoppers, not just ginger Hoppers, but flies with a bright reddish orange hackle. Are we fly fishermen daft or what? It cost me £35’s for a shocking orange Chevron Hackles cape. The only consolation came when Dave said to me “that’s the right colour!” Some hours later I had a two dozen Hoppers which I thought would last the two days. I also tied some of them with a Paraloop hackle, because this method of hackling has proven itself to me to be the best method ever, to make a fly that will float high in the water and look much more natural than some of the abortions carrying foam flotation that seem to be popular these days!! Boy… did those Draycote fish like them!! This method of hackling allows the fly body to float deeper in the surface film whilst the Paraloop hackle is focussed on the top of the fly body giving a great deal of buoyancy. With the pheasant tail knotted legs also dimpling the surface of the water, this Hopper variation is as much an emerger as it is a dry fly, which is why I think it works so well. 170 miles up the motorway and the box of tricks delivered me to Dave's front door. These road navigator gadgets don’t always go the way you want, but they get you there in the end. Marvellous for finding fisheries!! The next morning dawned with the promise of some dampness, low grey clouds and an insistent wind, it wasn’t the weather that we expect in early July, but what the heck we were going fishing. An hour later I met Keith Causer for the first time. Keith leases Draycote from Severn Trent  and has run the fishery for several decades. He runs and stocks the fishery superbly well and is a gentleman in the true meaning of the word as well. Coffee, some banter and information duly dispensed we went fishing. I had called John Wilshaw the week before and there he was on the dock waiting for us. By the time we had caught up with who had caught what in the past few years, Ireland and a  few other things not discussed in polite company, off we went fulfilling a promise made many years ago. Then the torrential rain, thunder and lightening started. Fishing in Ireland teaches you that discretion is the better part of valour when the sheet lightening starts, waving carbon fibre lightening conductors around is not really a good idea. So our day came to a premature end with a wet and splashy ride back to the dock. Not exactly the weather we expect in the first weeks of July, but one thing is for sure, we will try again John, that is a promise… After an evening of sampling the Powers Whisky from Dave's drinks cabinet. Dave and I did get a fairly early start in what the Irish would call a “soft” day. The thunder and lightening had passed on to those deserving people in Europe, leaving us with some showers and for a few hours at least, a light wind from the north west. We had talked on the way home the day before about fishing Rainbow Corner but with the change in wind direction Dave made an executive decision saying  that Toft Bay would be the place to go if we wanted to fish the dries, which was fine with me, it was sheltered and not so far to motor. When we got to Toft there was a slight chop absolutely perfect for the dries, problem was the fish hadn’t read the script!! Not a sign anywhere of fish feeding near the top. So it was Blagdon tactics. Eighteen foot leaders, a Diawl Bach on the top dropper, a green buzzer on the middle and a black buzzer on the point. “Don’t go less than eight pounds breaking strain” Dave said to me “there are some real bruisers in this lake!” It took us an hour to get a fish each, but by then we could see an occasional fish rising and glassy patches of water amongst the wavelets where fish were turning very close to the top. All change, dry fly it was then! Off came the fluorocarbon and on went a monofilament leader with fairly short fluorocarbon droppers. I think the fluorocarbon tends to sink too easily even after it has been greased up, monofilament will float for twice as long, but even then I get a bit fussy about greasing up with Mucilin and de-greasing the fluorocarbon droppers, so that the line to the fly is not lying on the surface giving the game away to the fish. It takes a bit of work to keep it like this, but I honestly believe it pays real dividends. I rigged up with two orange hoppers, a size 10 on the point and a size 12 about two feet away from the point fly. Fishing dry flies fairly close together creates a dilemma for the fish and where there is confusion instinct takes over, which is precisely what we want.. There it was, the first Draycote fish on a dry fly for me. The fish had sipped the point fly in like a little beauty. That’s what I like about fishing dry fly, the fish really don’t seem to like the fact that they have been taken for a sucker. With my line cutting the water like a cheese wire Dave gives a whoop and he is in as well! For the next few minutes it was like Keystone Cops as Dave and I ducked and weaved our lines so that we could use the net in turn, all the time laughing like a pair of adolescent pensioners! Hey do we care… why else do we go fishing! Draycote is a superb fishery, well worth a visit. Unless you live locally, one day is not enough…enjoy! Fact file. Address Draycote Water Trout Fishery. Kites Hardwick, Rugby, Warwickshire. CV 23 8AB. Telephone. 01 788 812018.

This was a trip in 2008 before the hiatus and closure of the fishery. The word is that 2011 will see this wonderful fishery open again. Dave and I will be there. All things bearing equally!!

Contact: russ@reelfoto.com 

Made with Xara

Published Trout Fisherman.   2010.