Feedback & Reports

This lovely beat which produced two trout, one of 16 inches and another of about 8. Beautiful.

1 brownie caught on fly, river was a little bit high and still quite brown but never the less a very enjoyable day out in very picturesque surroundings.
Fish caught was around the pound mark and in excellent condition.

1 Trout

River in great condition, weather better than forecast. Wonderfully varied and long beat, wading straightforward in the main but with one or two tricky parts caused by fallen trees. Decent amount of fly life but only two risers in 5 hours. An otter swam straight past me, bold as brass, which I thought might be the cause of my struggle to catch and then within 5 minutes I connected with a beautiful 12" brownie on a heavy nymph.

1 Trout

The river was at 1ft 5inches on the local webcam and running fairly clear. The weather was cool (12 degrees) and the wind variable. There was a reasonable amount of fly life, both aquatic and terrestrial, but the fish did not seem very interested and very few fish showed during the day. Finished with a few fish to 10-12inches.
When we arrived there was a kayak lesson in full swing! 2 instructors and 4 teenage pupils in the main meadow below the footbridge. We moved them on but only after they had wrecked the fishing in that stretch. They claimed they had permission to launch in that meadow but would not give their names or contact details.

3 Trout, 4 Grayling

Fishable on the day, just. Water up over the path/track that runs alongside the river but access to some nice pools. Would fish here again despite nil return when the water is lower and clearer - great spot.

Wet fly used as despite a good hatch there was little surface activity. Trout caught were small and were returned. Barbless hooks used.
The river was a little cloudy following the previous rain but otherwise was in good condition.

3 Trout

11 x trout 6-10 inches, Rusty Klinkhammer and Deer Hair Emerger. A cloudy afternoon with a big wind and occasional showers. The odd fish rising, understandably enough, seemed to be focused on what was falling out of the trees. However, towards the end, I was surprised to see a mayfly, my first this year. That seemed pretty early, but all the hatches have been early this year. I put it down as a curiosity, but before too long there were some more on the water and I came across several splashy risers coming up steadily for them which studiously ignored the little Klinkhammer when put over them. I was rather caught on the hop as I had no "big fly" pattern with me, but I resorted to an outsize Deer Hair Emerger in my regular box with the idea that I would at least be able to imitate the big slanting wing. This did the trick and accounted for a couple of nice fish at the end. A pleasant chat with a gentleman from Gloucester who was leaning over the bridge and thinking about buying a Wild Stream roving ticket. I recommended he does, because a modest outlay on the ticket can get you an awful lot of fun over a season.

11 Trout

4 trout up to 8 inches, 3 on dry fly, 1 on a bead head nymph.

4 Trout

Spinner/worms.

4 Trout

Lovely lake. We were left alone in peaceful surroundings with just the cattle for company. We caught 4 small carp up until they completely switched off at around 2pm.

4 Other