Feedback & Reports

Blanked. River very low - surprised to see it was even lower than in late July, and now with lots of large, green algal mats. Some runs that usually held fish even in late July were now much too low or slow; still saw plenty of fish but most were clustered in slower pools. They were extremely spooky with the water being so low and clear, not much hatching either so they were very difficult to fish for. I had to work hard for just three bites using delicate casts and realistic, footprint mayfly imitations - but unfortunately did not manage to hook any of them. I tried nymphs and caddis patterns too in various patterns but they got no interest at all (the sparse hatches late afternoon/evening were mostly mayflies though). It really needs a good spell of rain not only to top the river up, but flush all the green algae out. Still a beautiful beat though and saw plenty of wildlife including dippers, kingfishers, a pair of green sandpipers, grey wagtails and many Daubenton's bats skimming over the water at dusk. Fresh otter spraint on a rock near the beat start. Don't know if you're aware but in addition to the Himalayan balsam (which is pretty much everywhere these days sadly), there is a nasty patch of Japanese knotweed just on the bankside beside the 'beat start' sign. Thanks and look forward to returning when the river has got more water!

No fish for the guy from Germany ;) Had to arrange with this beat in the first minutes. Thought the morning would be best and started at 6 am. Unfortunately no fish were rising.
The upper and downer part of the beat were jungle and it was nearly impossible to get trough. So I concentrated on the middle part. Steep banks and muddy shoreline, so wading was tricky - you had to find the right spot.
Wind was freshing up so no dry fly fishing from 8am on.
Tried my best with the nymph, but didn't manage to catch a fish.
I've seen and spooked some fish and spotted a very nice huge brown, but didn't get her on the line.
Scenery was perfect and I think the evening would have been better.
Stopped fishing at 11 am and travelled further.
Next time next try.

Access is limited in a few areas. Managed to sight a few fish in the lower parts of the beat which looked best. Unfortunately no fish caught though.

Two brown trout, 11 and 18.5". Strange day - from fishing purgatory to heaven, I thought I was going to blank despite many bites until right at the end. For much of the afternoon there were good caddis hatches, some mayfly later too, and trout were rising but so difficult to catch. I must have had nearly twenty takes by 9pm and am usually fine at striking and playing, but I didn't land a thing. To start the strikes were very hard to connect with, and when you did they just seemed to have a knack of turning the hook, no matter the fly. I did connect with several decent fish, the first about 1lb instantly broke off despite only a normal strike at range - tested the tippet fluorocarbon and it was way less than the 3.9lb stated, could easily break it with my fingers (brand new Cortland Ultra Premium Fluorocarbon, over £16 for a spool and they claim it will revolutionise my fly-fishing. Well they are right there, my spool is utter rubbish). So off with that. I then also lost a couple of big fish from a run beside some willows - beefed up to 4.8lb tippet (admittedly a bit old, but seemed sound) but I could not stop them. Tried sidestrain just as they reached the willow branches/roots and ping they were gone. First maybe 2lb, second I didn't see but it went like a train. Then as the light started to fail I finally had another fish of c. 1-1.8lbs and turned it from the willows, only for it to roll off the hook near the net! I thought that was it and was cursing my luck, but the caddis hatch was building, and trout rising well to them so made some casts as I slowly made my way back. Straight away I had a fish of 11", then shortly after made the last cast of the day at dusk to the tail of a pool to what I thought were some small trout, little dimples and splashes, in water only shin deep. There was a small take and I thought 'well at least I have another, small fish'... and the water erupted as it barrel-rolled through the surface and then surged upstream. It nearly got in to some weed beds, then turned the other way and nearly lost me again by running over the sill of the pool. But I saw that and managed to run through the shallows just ahead of him - pulled the rod the other way and my splashing too persuaded him to to run upstream again. It was a good tussle but at least in the more open tail of the pool the odds were much more even than by those willows! He measured 18.5" to the tail fork, and was in cracking condition - broad across the shoulders and deep-bellied. I didn't mess about to weigh him - only took a photo, but he must have been at least 2lb 8oz, probably more like 2lb 12. He took an Elk-hair caddis, the other fish a klinkhamer - caddis patterns were the good dry flies throughout and dries generally better than nymphs. Also a few takes on superpupa caddis (emerger pattern), partridge and orange, goldhead and baetis nymphs. I would recommend fishing to dusk - the trout here seem to have PhDs in entomology and are very selective and fussy takers especially in sunny, low, slow water conditions, and the big ones are often in snaggy water... but at dusk they were slightly less cautious, the caddis hatch was amazing, and the big ones obviously come out into surprisingly skinny water as the light fails. I think the very low water conditions also didn't help in broad daylight, as many flows were slow - they had time to take a good look at your fly. But as a Devon angler currently worried about the trickle in many of our rivers, it's heartening to see a beat like this with absolutely abyssal depths in some pools even in such low water conditions - this beat will never dry out! I should add that the large pool area about 2/3 of the way up the beat is a beautiful spot to stop and rest - while I did so a hobby streaked by only about 12 feet away twice, hawking for large insects above this pool. Beautiful - I'm an ecologist by trade but have never had such a great view of one, didn't need the binoculars :) It's a stunningly beautiful river and even when you're getting skunked such a lovely place to be. It was privilege to be here, thanks to you and the owners for letting me fish here and taking such good care of it.

2 Trout

Odd day - from fishing purgatory to heaven, I thought I was going to blank despite many bites until right at the end. For much of the afternoon there were good caddis hatches, some mayfly later too, and trout were rising but so difficult to catch. I must have had nearly twenty takes by 9pm and am usually fine at striking and playing, but I didn't land a thing. To start the strikes were very hard to connect with, and when you did they just seemed to have a knack of turning the hook, no matter the fly. I did connect with several decent fish, the first about 1lb instantly broke off despite only a normal strike at range with my through-action fibreglass rod - tested the tippet fluorocarbon and it was way less than the 3.9lb stated, could easily break it with my fingers (brand new Cortland Ultra Premium Fluorocarbon, over £16 for a spool and they claim it will revolutionise my fly-fishing. Well they are right there, my spool was utter rubbish). So off with that. I also lost a couple of big fish from a run beside some willows - beefed up to 4.8lb tippet (admittedly a bit old, but seemed sound) but I could not stop them. Tried sidestrain just as they reached the willow branches/roots and ping they were gone. First maybe 2lb, second I didn't see but it went like a train - and I couldn't even slow it, big. Then as the light started to fail I finally had another fish of c. 1-1.8lbs and turned it from the willows, only for it to roll off the hook near the net! I thought that was it and was cursing my luck, but the caddis hatch was still building, and trout rising well to them so made some casts as I slowly made my way back. Straight away I had a fish of 11", then shortly after made the last cast of the day at dusk to the tail of a pool where what I thought were some small trout were rising, little dimples and splashes, in water only shin deep. There was a gentle rise and I thought, 'well at least I have another, small fish'... and the water erupted as it barrel-rolled through the surface and surged upstream. It nearly got into some weed beds, then turned the other way and nearly lost me again by running over the sill of the pool, but fortunately I saw that in time and managed to run through the shallows just ahead of him - pulled the rod the other way and my splashing too persuaded him to to run upstream again. It was a good tussle but at least in the more open tail of the pool the odds were much more even than by those willows! He measured 18.5" to the tail fork, and was in cracking condition - broad across the shoulders and deep-bellied. I didn't mess about to weigh him - only took the attached photo before returning him, but he must have been at least 2lb 8oz, probably more like 2lb 12. He took an Elk-hair caddis, the other a klinkhamer - caddis patterns were the best dry flies throughout and dries generally better than nymphs. Also a few takes on superpupa caddis (emerger pattern), partridge and orange, goldhead and baetis nymphs. I would recommend fishing to dusk - the trout here seem to have PhDs in entomology and are very selective and fussy takers especially in sunny, low, slow water conditions, and the big ones are often in snaggy water... absorbing, technical fishing but tricky - at dusk they were slightly less cautious, the caddis hatch then was amazing, and the big ones obviously come out into surprisingly skinny water. I think the very low water conditions also didn't help in broad daylight, as many flows were slow - they had time to take a good look at your fly. But as a Devon angler currently worried about the trickle in many of our rivers, it's heartening to see a beat like this with absolutely abyssal depths in some pools even in such low water conditions - this beat will never dry out! I should add that the large pool area about 2/3 of the way up the beat is a beautiful spot to stop and rest - while I did so a hobby streaked by only about 12 feet away twice, hawking for large insects above this pool. Beautiful - I'm a professional ecologist but have never had such a great view of one, didn't need the binoculars :) It's a stunningly beautiful river and even when you're getting skunked such a lovely place to be. It was a privilege to be here, thanks to you and the owners for letting me fish and taking such good care of it.

Fishing Passport Note : Great report BG. Thank you!

2 Trout

All weather day. Low river. Lovely beat. Completely secluded. 1 trout caught on a gold head Olive green nymph

1 Trout

Some good takes but nothing landed.

Only fished late evening. Warm & Overcast and threatening rain but none actually fell. Both fish over 2lb and caught on spent fly.

2 Trout

Bright & still. All fish caught on spent fly

6 Trout

Bright & clear. Fish caught on nymphs and spent fly

7 Trout