Feedback & Reports

Lovlely valley, great place, river clear. Warm, dry day but very windy. Dry fly seemed to be the order of the day. Nothing rising small amount of fly life each run and hole look very fishy. Eventually caught on duo set up. Saw kingfishers and dippers. Total - 3 brown trout to 5 inches.

3 Trout

River & weather perfect in this beautiful location. Plenty of fly about and thought I was in for a very enjoyable day. Never saw a rise or a fish the whole day, not even a small one. The river was totally dead. Very, very disappointing and will not be visiting again. Sorry, but I have to come to the conclusion that this fishing is poorly managed.

3 Trout

Arrived about 4pm, fished for a couple of hours. Cattle (including a bull) in the first field by the footbridge so be cautious.
Big mayfly hatches visible, caught a nice browny about a pound on a small dry imitation. River appears quite high from the rain and the holes are very deep at the moment. As such it is difficult to wade continuously. Apart from the cattle drink, access to the river is also difficult as the vegetation is thick from edge of field to bank.

1 Trout

First time on a wild stream and had a lovely evening on the Arrow. Started off nymphing through the runs and riffles but only caught trees and bushes as it took some time to get used to the river and how accurate the casting has to be. Eventually got me eye in but still couldn't seem to find any fish. At about 7pm a few fish started to rise so switched to dries and caught a cracking trout at 11inches and another at 8 inches, both safely returned. There was a much better fish rising very tight under a over hanging branch which I couldn't tempt and eventually spooked but I went home at 9pm very happy. A beautifull place to spend an evening with dippers, kingfishers and even a male goshawk patrolling up and down the side of the wood. The fish was just a bonus. Thanks WUF. Would definitely return.

2 Trout

I arrived at the beat early morning. The weather seemed perfect, the river was in good condition and having not fished this beat before everything was looking good for a great days fishing. I couldn't see any fish showing so I started with a nymph for a while without any joy but towards late morning, as temperatures began to rise, hatches started to appear so I changed my tactics to presenting just below the surface with a variety of emergers without success. At midday I took a break and at about 1pm I saw the first Mayfly. The Mayfly hatch went on for at least two hours or more and at one stage the river surface was awash with them (no pun intended). I fished on though this hatch and beyond to no avail and finally gave up at about 6.30pm having not seen a fish all day but it hasn't put me off from trying again on this idyllic stretch of the River Arrow.

Nice place to fish, perfect conditions but saw no fish rising despite lots of insects coming off the water.

The triumph of hope over experience is a remark attributed to Dr Johnson on the subject of second marriage, but it might just as well apply to my repeated visits to this beat. It is a really beautiful place on a river that fishes so well on its other beats, but many of my visits here have been blank. The only excuse I can offer this time is that the river was quite high and carrying a bit of colour. I saw very little fly life all day and no signs of rising fish. The breeze got up through the day and when the forecast rain arrived in the early evening I headed home. Ah well, there's always next time...

The river was up an inch or two and coloured but didn't look too bad. Managed to catch 3 brownies to 13 inches between the bottom of the beat and the bridge. Returned to the car for sandwich break and on returning to the river found both the heigh and colour had increased. Fished on a while but eventually beaten by the rain.

3 Trout

Lovely water. Nice weather but unfortunately blanked. Some sporadic hatches of fly during the day.