Feedback & Reports

Fished from 1pm to 5pm. Huge hatch but nothing rising so fished with Pheasant Tail Nymph and caught 2 trout and 1 grayling (all around 10ins) in shady sections of river (there was bright sunlight most of the afternoon). This is a nice little beat very close to parking, which would be handy for the less able.

Very little fly (a bit disappointing for mid September really, though it was rather cool and pretty windy at times - a few PWs, Sedges and Spinners in the early to mid-afternoon). Hardly a rise and the couple which rose to my duo dropper, I missed! Did have twenty fish though. Ten grayling, mainly of 8-10", with a couple bigger, and two 14" 1.25 pounders plus ten trout, none bigger than 10". All fish taken on tung-head nymphs, either fished duo or Czech nymphing the dubs and deeper runs. A skinny pink nymph fished duo was well appreciated by the trout and flashback PTNs and a couple of HE patterns caught the rest.
Whilst the guidelines for the beat do say that the riparian owner may have a guest fishing, I was very disappointed, as I waded up past the cottage, to be told that someone was fishing the beat upstream. No mention of this had been made when we met at 9am when she knew that I had paid for and would be fishing the beat. Maybe accounts for fewer fish being caught in the upstream section? If I had known that I would be sharing the beat with someone else I would have fished elsewhere. Whatever, I think it would be very helpful when the riparian owner is in residence and wants a guest to fish, if she informs WUF of this in advance so that paying clients can pick a day when they can either guarantee having the beat to themselves or share with a collaborating angler. Perhaps WUF can pursue this suggestion further?
P.S. Parts of the beat, including some major pools, now need pole saw treatment from the winter maintenence crew. Did some gardening en route for access as well, so some attention needed here too. Needs putting onto the "to do" list.

WUF note - The current arrangement with the riparian owner is outlined in the notes. It is not always possible for the owner to inform us of guests fishing at short notice hence the flexibility of the arrangement.

An stunningly beautiful stretch of river but fishing was slow (may have had wrong approach) as we only fished three swims, one 5lb8oz chub made the wait worthwhile.

R O-Jo had a 12.5 lb slightly coloured fish from the Vanstone at 12.30pm on a size 6 Alley variant. J L had a 5 lb coloured grilse from Maddox at 5.30pm on a size 6 Cascade and earlier lost a good silvery fish about 100m above the electric lines on a size 8 Arndilly Fancy. All on sink tips.
An excellent day. Recent clearance of bank vegetation on the lower pools is very helpful. Despite WUF's excellent pool notes, it's difficult to find the entry and exit points for the upper pools. Some marker posts and clearance of paths through the jungle would make a big difference to fishability of the upper pools.

After several salmon parr, hooked a very big grayling only for it to get away. After that my fishing went downhill and I struggled, catching just the odd troutlet and small grayling and more parr ( all on small wets). A lovely day though and great fun trying different techniques in the myriad of different swims that are on offer. Can't wait to come back to try some of the swims I never had time to fish.

Its funny how you read other feedback to prep yourself for a first-time trip to a beat and we had built a mental picture of having to abseil from the car to the water to find 3 fishable spots seperated by about a mile walk.
We found the river at or close to Summer level in a stunning area of woodland and meadow. There's very little of the first field (about 400yds) that isn't fishable with a little effort although as we are on a long outside bend it isn't surprising that the bank is high and, in parts, steep. Sometimes a chair was practical, for some areas sitting on your unhooking mat makes more sense. If the water is up more than 3 feet then the flatter sitting areas will be fewer and roving will make more sense.
We only fished this field and tried about 7 or 8 spots, catching from 4 of them. Pellets and feeders accounted for 7 barbel and 6 chub.
J took a walk up to the top of the fishery where its quite shallow at these levels but shouldn't be ignored when there's a bit of water on.
For the float-fishers the bottom field is trotting heaven and a couple of nice chub responded even though we weren't properly prepared for that option (having read the feedback).
Lovely stretch, great fishing, thanks WUF.
PS Watch out for a farmer carrying a large claw-hammer. He was not happy about rubbish on the bank and the lethal effect on his cows. We felt obliged to remove a couple of bagfulls of beer cans and assorted picnic wrappers and a broken garden chair. I suspect canoeists stopping for lunch but anglers might be blamed.

Fished the West bank from North to South in the morning with no luck. Continued after lunch and caught four rainbows of apprx 1.5lbs in weight. Lost two more. Two caught on fly and two on mepps spinner. MW breeze and some heavy rain showers. Fished the East bank in the afternoon but blanked totally. Another pleasant venue spoilt by large amounts of litter whose location clearly indicates that it is left by those fishing.

2 Barbel caught and 2 slipped the hook. Not as productive as previous visits to this stretch but an ejoyable day nevertheless. Usual feeder and pellet tactics used.

Fished all day to sunset, 2 small trout 1 grayling.

3 hours fishing from about 2pm to 5pm. Didn't catch or feel anything. There were fish rising, however, in sparse numbers.