Feedback & Reports

The Fishing Passport description of this beat is misleading. There's no access to the river as written in description. The banks are very steep and heavily overgrown, it's actually quite dangerous as the growth of bushes by the bank is hiding steep slants and I actually fell twice, nearly broke my rod. Managed to fight through the bushes and other growth to 2 places, however no fish in the river spotted, casting problematic. Such a disappointment. 10 miles away a land owner by the little creek offered to try it out, the place was spotless, nicely maintained with easy and clean access, few graylings tagged. Conclusion - can't trust this website stories.

Could not fish as I could not find a safe place to get to water’s edge. The One place near end of pear tree avenue but needed a rope to make sure didn’t fall in as it was very lose. Very disappointing so left without a single cast.

Focussed on the upper stretch, from the island below the 'Rochford Road' bend to the junction with the Rea. Some good, fast/medium fly water, fished four hours until about 3pm. Small hatches coming off including some mayfly. A few rises from small trout. Access can certainly be challenging ...

Upstream Dry Fly fishing. 2 small Grayling of around 12cm in length. Along with 1 Brown Trout of just under 1lb

1 Trout, 2 Grayling

River fairly high so explored upper beat rather than fished. When levels drop, access should be reasonable, if tricky.

I wish I'd taken more notice of a previous feedback advising those unsure on their feet to be wary. I saw only 2 'pegs' that I could manage and opted for the one in the bottom section. River fresh and looked promising but no luck. Only fished for an hour. I drove my 4 x 4 along both sections with no problems. Plenty of wildlife including a healthy looking Heron! More of a rece but I could be back. Dropped in to the winery/bistro on the approach to the top section and had a lovely coffee and cake and a couple of bottles of wine (to take away!). Looked top notch with restaurant and craft gallery. Open Wed - Sun. I'll be back but not just for the fishing!

1 Trout, 4 Grayling

Flt fishing on a very warm day. River was clear but with good flow. I saw some huge chub, but sadly I scared them off before I could get close.
Access is a little adventurous due to the high bank, but if you look for the blue pipes sticking up, they mark where access points have been cut into the bank.
I did catch 7 minnows not sure if they count!?

5 Grayling

My first time on this beat with a light but steady rain pretty much all day. I walked up from the lower entry point so saw almost the entire beat and the majority is wide, slow moving flats with a few short, streamy stretches. There were a handful of upswings hatching all day but the only rises to naturals I saw were very small fish by a fallen branch halfway along the beat.

I didn't have any interest in nymphs or dries except for one channel where a grassy island splits the stream. There was a veritable school of grayling holding there and most casts saw a rise. 8 fish from 5-11 inches were released but there must have been 30-40 rises.

Access is really very tricky, particularly as the nettles and balsam are at full height right now and the ground was wet and slippy underfoot. There are a few marked entry points which are slightly easier but a couple of them descend in the middle of a quicker run - that means you have to fight through the jungle and down some steep drops to get in and fish from the bottom of some of the runs. I got a bit tired of the climbing and sliding so rather gave up on the top quarter.

8 Grayling