Feedback & Reports

No fish from just below the bridge, only bit of water I could get at!!!, right hand bank brambles and electric fence and high banks, left hand bank had Himalayan balsam almost running the entire length of the beat, where there was none banks were to high to access bank, I understand it is wild stream fishing but this felt a little bit like a forget about it fishery,really needs attention. surely the WUF has some responsibility to control this invasive weed on their waters???. I'm more than happy to help where I can regarding maintenance and weed control.

Fishing Passport Note: Thank you for your offer to help, we will be in touch regarding volunteer opportunities very soon. Himalayan balsam is a problem throughout the catchments, except for the Monnow where after an intensive programme over several years it has almost been eradicated. Unfortunately, current methods of dealing with it (pulling, strimming and spraying) are extremely time consuming, costly and have to be comprehensive to be effective. However, the Foundation will be soon starting some balsam rust trials, which we hope will be the answer in keeping this prolific invasive plant in check. In the meantime, our limited resources are going towards eradicating Japanese knotweed and the noxious Giant hogweed.

Well after a mega busy day at work , shift finished at two , wanted to give a stream a bash , and obviously with the weather beaming down at 32 degrees , opted for Court of Noke , with its deep pools , and shaded areas , when I turned up at half six , flow looked good , and clear . Nice to see the balsam jungle has been flattened totally , and only stands on the river margins now , so no jungle manoeuvres before getting out into the open fields , a most pleasant experience now too !!!!!!

So arrived at the river not so hot and bothered , as was normally the case after wading through ten foot height balsam and nettles !!!! Hope they don't re grow next season though , as the work done is superb , give that man an M.B.E. spot on . . . . .

Fished a tiny Parachute Pheasant Tail , and a ballon caddis this evening , some great takes , although mainly cast to risers , which from about half seven were more frequent , and sport was pretty good to be honest , fish ranged from eight to ten inches , lovely colouration , bullied in and released very quickly . . . . . Lots of sedge activity tonight , and had some lovely takes on my Ballon Caddis , Great fun !!!

Fished right up to the bridge pool , where I had my last fish on the Parachute PT , nice confident take , and by ten to nine , brought five crackers to the net , and three long range releases , so all in all with it being the hottest day in the U.K. this year , was content with the sport this evening . The fish still seem pretty active in this beat of the Arrow , nice to see . The local kingfishers also busy up and down lovely sight also . . . . . . . A fun two and a half hours , time for home , and a very very cold can of Strongbow , just to round of a good end to the day . . . . . . Spot on ,, back to Noke soon !!!!!

5 Trout

A lovely evening, fished for a couple of hours from 6.30pm. Gentle SW wind, the odd fish rising. It’s a great stretch of river. However: the banks are generally steep along the length of the beat; complicated by jungle-like summer growth of nettles, brambles and Himalayan balsam. All in all rather frustrating. Yes, you can wade, but for the deeper pools you do need to exit the water and then spend a while looking for another entry point. I’ll come back for the grayling in the winter when the undergrowth has died back.

Wanted to give one of the Arrow beats a bash this morning , a bit of a change , plumbed for Court of Noke , weather was overcast , reading fifteen degrees ; when I parked up at the field pull in at ten to six . Fancied another early one , preemptive strike !!!! Assuming it may get warm again !!!! A bit of a breeze , but pleasantly mild . . . Bimbled down to the gate , waded through the seven foot heigh Himalayan balsam which is always a pleasant chore here !!!!! Nice to get out into the open fields !!

Fished a small Parachute Adams , and CDC and elk this morning , six lovely fish to hand , two of them real clonkers , gave me a good run around in the deep pool , great fun , lovely colours as always with the Arrow brownies . . . . . Takes were confident on the Para Adams and CDC& elk , hitting them hard , did see some mad sedges around at sevenish . . . . Wonder if they get dizzy from there flying antics !!!!

A fun two hours here , fish ranged from eight to maybe thirteen inches , lovely tubby strong fish , and the water height here is still a shade above normal , which is great for nearly July . . . Been a while since I've fished Noke , but a really pleasant couple of hours . . . Spot on !!!!!!!

6 Trout

Fished 5:30am-9am. Rain came in and water quickly muddied. Should have packed up earlier. One pull on pheasant tail nymph. Other than that not interested. Wading was impossible in places, had to track back to find entry points as bank is raised.

Yes! I might have decided to wash the car instead, but common sense found me arriving at the Arrow around 1:30pm. I was hopeful that the trout might still be up for surface activity with a few straggling mayfly around. However, although the mayfly action was lacking, 9 beautiful Arrow brownies obliged to a rusty Klink carefully dropped into likely runs. 3 of the fish were clonkers, and all put up a spirited scrap!
The river banks are getting pretty overgrown now, so expect a few stings, stumbles and the odd unseen drop! A lovely 3 hrs.....and the car actually doesn’t look that bad!

9 Trout

Poor fishing in the middle of the day, not enough shade and water slowing down too much as I got closer to the big downstream weir. The Motley wood beat is better in that respect, more shaded & with more flowing water upstream of the 1st weir.

Trout between 8-10 inches on may fly, lost a good one which didn’t take well to the may fly attached to my rod and decided to race around in all directions!

4 Trout

Quite surprised to see the whole left bank cleared. It make casting and fishing easier but not sure if the trout are keen to drop into tails from the deep holes until last hour of daylight. Few fish rising, mainly juveniles. Best fish at 11inches.

3 Trout

One rise seen. A few mayfly about. Lovely evening.