Feedback & Reports

Nil catch. Started early and saw fish in Maddox about 3/4 way down and Vanstone just off old groin. Canoeists started at 8.30 and then in procession from 11.30 onwards and made fishing virtually impossible so gave up at 12.30. Good work by Mick the ghillie in making it a more pleasant place to fish with good access.

Water at 11" on Fownhope gauge, 62F, cloudier than expected after overnight rain. Cloudy am and rain / sun pm. No rise in water. Many salmon showing in Vanstone throughout the day and a few others in other pools. About 150 canoes between 11:00 and 14:00, mostly well behaved and competent - however two collided with us. Very difficult fishing during this time.
Fished whole beat from Cottage Pool down. Difficult access into Cottage, however rest of beat has cut paths leading to some of the pools. Floating lines, small flies / 0.5" tubes, no fish caught. Great to see new road access & parking.

Lots of fish showing through the day, which was bright and sunny. Hooked and lost a fish at 8pm on the fly.
At Seven Sisters the day before we had shad on the fly and on spinner. Again, lots of fish showing but none caught in the bright and sunny conditions.

1 16LB Salmon caught on a Deveon Minnow from the Vanstone, caught on the 16th at 5.45pm. Nothing caught on the 17th but plenty showing through out the day but not taking. Looked like they had been caught before.

Blank today, I'm afraid, although there were a couple of pulls in the Lines which did not stick. Lots of fish on the beat showing, just to make it all the more frustrating. Promised cloud and showers did not materialise, so it was a bright and hot day. Another rod, however, wisely made an early start and got a nice fresh-looking fish from the Vanstone just after 7 o'clock. This beat is now looking quite civilised with strimmed paths to the pools, cut steps, and now we have the parking in the right place also.

River level a bit high, but taking a fly well. Had a fish of about 12-13lbs, reasonably clean but not fresh into the river, caught in the Vanstone pool on a flying C.
Mick has made a great job of improving access to the river and the new parking area is a major improvement.

1 Salmon, 2 Chub

Lovely afternoon and perfect conditions. Vanstone bouncing with fish, one grabbed the fly as I stripoed in but didn't hook up. Parking is now back in the correct place and makes this beat a pleasure to fish.

A good many fish showing along the stretch, but particularly in Vanstone. Hooked a good fish in the Dog Hole, unfortunately the hook pulled after some 5 minutes, and then hooked another smaller fish by the Stones, which again the hook pulled. Very frustrating!

Slightly coloured salmon of about 15lb from Maddox at about 9.00 am on a Cascade. Fished till 6 pm, but no other takes. Saw a lot of fish in Vanstone and several of the upper pools - mostly a bit coloured, but the odd fresh looking one.
The access to the upper pools has vastly improved since I last fished this beat in 2013 - well done WUF!

1 Salmon

My father was fishing with a fly not sure what type - saw quite a few fish but caught none as he slipped on the river bank and hurt himself so fishing had to be abandoned.