I’ve read the catch reports on opening day at some of the large reservoirs over the years with envy; double figure averages suggest the sport is amazing. I’ve though about going a few times but, for various reasons (not least the weather over the last few years), have so far never managed it. After a few months with no fishing, I was getting itchy feet so I booked a day off to go to the opening day at Draycote Reservoir. I’ve only been to Draycote once before, and blanked, but I’ve read good things about it so decided to try again.
Draycote is a good hour and a half drive, so I was up at the crack of dawn, clearing ice off my car (!), and made it to the reservoir around 8am. It was pretty cold at that time and it was forecast to remain cold, so I had layered up for the occasion. I’d been too late to book a car pass but there was a late cancellation so I managed to drive around the perimeter road which, given it’s a six mile walk around, was an added bonus. The wind had been south westerly all week and was quite strong in the same direction, so I decided to try on the north bank at Biggin Bay. This would mean casting into the wind but, in theory, it should be holding fish.
The banks were already quite full with keen anglers but I found a space which allowed me to cast slightly across the wind. Given the high waves created by the wind I started with an intermediate, to keep the line controllable. It had been cold for several weeks now and, being early March, I assumed it would be a day for lures, as there wouldn’t be much natural insect life about. However, I decided to hedge my bets with a Diawl Bach on the dropper and a weighted black humungous on point.
Casting across, and occasionally into, the wind was tricky but I managed to get enough line out. However, after thirty minutes I’d had no interest so changed to a damsel on the point (with a cruncher on the dropper) and then a black and green lure. The guy fishing to my right had already nailed three trout so I knew there were fish here, just not interested in my offerings so far.
By this time the sun was coming out and I realised how clear and shallow the water was. I remembered reading something about trying bright colours on bright days and thought I may be getting too deep, as I’d snagged the bottom a lot – so I decided to try an orange blob on the point which I thought would stay up in the water a little better. I haven’t fished much with blobs (or gaudy lures in general) but made a new year’s resolution to give them a proper go this year. The idea was to fish it with a medium figure of eight retrieve with the occasional pull to entice a take.
Within three casts I had my first fish of the day, a nice 2lb stockie but welcome nonetheless. I had a few other bites but nothing stuck. I still thought I might be fishing too low in the water, as the bites had come early in the retrieve, so I decided to change to a floating line. This proved to be a good decision as a further four fish then fell to the orange blob. I was consistently changing the dropper with a variety of more natural flies but with no interest. I had stuck with a relatively slow retrieve with the occasional pull and most of the takes came on the slow retrieve, with a couple on the hang.
As lunchtime arrived, and feeling fairly happy with my day already, I decided to try the opposite side (Rainbow corner) to get the wind behind me – my arm was tiring from casting into the wind. The conditions on this side were polar opposite; it was completely sheltered from the wind and with the sun still out, it felt like a lovely spring day. I was not very optimistic when I arrived as it looked very calm and the water was quite muddy but a couple of guys were leaving and said they had been catching all morning. I decided to stick with the orange blob for a few casts but also tried a buzzer, given the warmer temperature, silty bottom and calmer water. I slowed the retrieve down so that the buzzer would fish more naturally but within five casts, I’d caught another two on the blob – they just didn’t seem interested in anything natural.
Having caught more than on any other trip, I decided to have a little fun and try a few things out (instead of the orange blob). I cut the dropper off and stuck on an array of lures. I caught another two on a Tequila FAB, which was fun with lots of follows and two takes almost off the top of the water. Finally, had a decent sized over-wintered rainbow on a black and green lure.
An excellent day all round – ten fish, by far my most successful day’s fishing, fish caught on flies I haven’t really tried properly before and finally done an opening day on a large reservoir!
The Blob
