Feedback & Reports

Dull drizzling day and relatively cold. Nothing moving. No fish caught.
I have to face it that I enjoy wild stream fishing more in principle than practice , may well be something to do with my barbed wire management and lack of close presentation skills ! Maybe another day

A bit cooler today and strong downstream wind. Started with dry fly but soon gave that up as casting and control was pretty impossible in the wind. Fishing a Copper tungsten nymph in the heads of the pools got plenty of attention.
Landed 6 Trout of around 6 inches missed and lost plenty more.

6 Trout

Started fishing the WUF beat of the Lugg at about eleven , having fished a club water further down for an hour , and picked up two crackers on an olive nymph by half ten . . . . . Had some light refreshments , and was itching to get going again . .. . Sunny , clear and blue blue sky , already by eleven some serious insect activity , including some yellow Sallies on the go !!!!!

I did chop and change dry Adams for olive tungsten nymph just to cover the deep pools , although four out of the six fish from the Litton beat were on the Parachute Adams , all between seven and ten inches , great fun , nice confident splashy rises to the fly too , excellent !!!!

Didn't fish the full beat today , and fished this stretch for three hours , spot on. The Lugg brownies are starting to perk up big time , nivoce to see , and the colours of them are superb as always . . . . .

So that rounded off the day nicely , just a few hour s in this peaceful valley , six gorgeous brownies to the net , and four on the Adams , idyllic , back very soon , when the mayfly is in full force !!!!!!,

6 Trout

Not the most productive day unfortunately. Weather was good with occasional showers, river was very clear with a manageable flow - all looked good. The beat is not the most accessible (fenced with relatively few access points) and wading is obstructed by fallen trees, cattle gates and overgrowth but we were not deterred and approached it upstream with optimism. By the end of the day we had hooked five fish and netted none. We lost count of the number of flies taken by the 'tree trout'. But are we discouraged? Not on your life. We will be back!

Arrived at this beat for an afternoon session in the bright sunshine, as expected no fish rose and I opted for a pair of deep jig nymphs fished in the dark holes along the beat. Two fish of a good average size fell for the point fly. More flies lost than fish as any chance of take had to be within inches of structure to reach where the trout were hiding. A nice beat I would visit again.

2 Trout

My first visit to a wild stream beat. Fair bit of sun, little bit of hail. Didn't have time to get through whole stretch so I will have to revisit sometime. No catches today but certainly saw fish in the water and splashing about. Need some more practice it seems...

Living the dream again , last day of a mooch around the wild streams for a bit anyway , well about a week or so !!!!!!!! So gave the Lugg at Litton a crack today , checked Byton gauge before hand , not looking toooooooo bad at 0.57 m could have done with a bit less , but we'd never go fishing if rivers these days were as up and down as they are !!!!!!

Tackled up usual outfit , had a chat with the lady from Lower Litton Farm house , and took a bimble down the valley to the start of the beat . . . . Water looking great , running a bit heigh but clear as gin , so opted for tungsten olive nymph and GRHE nymph , give them a go . . . .

Was quite some time before I had a good take , usual savage hit by the Lugg brownies , lovely colours , as always , about eight inches , slipped back in , spot on , first Lugg brownie of the season , happy days !!!

Second fish was half hour later , another deep pool , snatched at the fly , could see him turn on it in the deep clear water , again feisty fish , about ten inches , admired and slipped back in , no more takers over the four hours , saw a cheeky stoat rummaging along a hedge row , pickings looked a bit slim ,and a fat rabbit would have sorted him out for a few days !!!

Anyway , not much insect wise going on down in the Lugg valley , a few grannom seen and saw a dozen LDO's perhaps the main party will be this afternoon , had an enjoyable four hours , from nine till one , perhaps later would have been more beneficial , still a couple of fit Lugg brownies to the net was spot on , be back when these teddy bears start taking off the top !!!!!!

2 Trout

Lovely day but not a of of action. Sporadic, low intensity hatches but no rising fish. Finally got a take on a speculative iron blue dun - then lost the fish.

Decided after working my last night shift to have another crack at the lovely Lugg beat at Litton , so having meandered around roadworks on the outskirts of Leominster and Pembridge eventually got to Lower Litton farmhouse at one !!!! Lovely weather , sunny, a slight breeze ,and when I got down to the stream , plenty of insect activity , with sedges and upswings in abundance . . . .

Tied on an eighteen Parachute Adams and to be honest no real interest in the first two decent pools and not a touch in the riffley water either . . . . Change fly to tan klinkhammer , and had a savage take of a beautifully marked brownie , about ten inches and tubby too !!!

Next trout Also took the klinkhammer with ferocity , and superbly marked as well , again perhaps ten or eleven inches , things were looking good . However sport slowed down and it seemed that the fish were instantly of the boil and refused several dry patterns , and no interest in nymphs either . . . . .

Had a chill out were the huge old willow straddles the stream , sat there had a smoke and pondered my next move ! On with a larger Adams , seemed to do the trick , nice splashy rise in the broken water , dooooooh !!!, missed him , then the next two in a row , eventually contacting with the fourth fish , scrappy little fighter , of about eight inches . . . .

A fun few hours , and a nice way to spend the afternoon on your Birthday , didn't quite make it to the top end of the beat , as had to get back to the Ponderosa , as "Mrs A "had organised a nice meal at The Riverside Inn , what could be better to finish of a lovely day , three beautifully marked Lugg brownies , followed by some posh nosh at The Riverside with my other half , spot on . . . . . .

3 Trout

Gave the little Lugg a shot this morning , tentativly viewing the water as I was walking down , looked still a bit coloured , and running about half a foot higher , had been keeping an eye on the Lugg cam , and boy did it rise quickly with that deluge we had , still it was a case of I'm here now so let's give it a bash . . . .

Fished from nine till twelve , and although a bit coloured , rigged up my small streams outfit with hot orange tungsten nymph on point , and my flashback gold head PTN as my dropper , first fish surprised me in one of the deep pools , hammered the PTN and gave a good run around on the six foot rod too . . . . About ten inches and the usual cracking colours . . . . . Quickly released . .

Second fish again took the PTN , and again a good scrapper , perhaps twelve inches , gorgeous spots , slipped back in . . . .

There is a couple more trees down enroute , and one huge alder has ruined a lovely pool , which is a shame , still managed to clamber around it . . . Of sorts !!!!!!

Only fished about three quarters of the beat , rain showed after an hour , not quite what the forecast was , expecting it later in the afternoon . . . Still that's life hey !!!!

Third fish hit the hot orange tungsten nymph , and with gusto another scrapper , this one maybe eight inches , still lovely colouration and wished him well for the winter months . . . . .

Last fish before calling things a day , again hit the PTN , about ten inches , Quickly admired then slipped back in . It seems that although risen , looking at the bank side debris , it was considerably higher , and the water has really eroded into some of the pools , and they are deep deep !!!!!!

Was a fun , if not drizzly three hours , four lovely Lugg brownies to hand , and real escapism as always , tackle packed away , shopping time at Morrisons , oh joy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 Trout