Feedback & Reports

The water was low and clear. Lots of fly’s hatching and 1 trout caught on a dry.

1 Trout

water very skinny, wintery showers, one very silver troot which looked as much like a peal\finnock as a wbt. Great to be out but prob won't be back until there's some more water

1 Trout

Fished upstream March dry and olive pattern to begin as spotted a few trout rising 4-6". Switched over nymph after no rises to but didn't get any takes. First time out on the beat and some very large trees in the water preventing wading upstream, nice weather. Must be my technique is lacking as there were definitely fish on the feed.

3 x trout 6-12 inches, Gold Bead Hare's Ear. Rather a cold start this morning and fish not very active. However, a 12 inch fish from a deep hole is a good one for this little stream. Dealt with some old barbed wire obstructing access, but watch your step getting in and out.

3 Trout

6 x trout 6-10 inches, Gold Bead hare's Ear. End of a pleasant, sunny afternoon with lots of wild daffodils out in the fields and a few fish actually rising.

6 Trout

9 x trout 6-10 inches, Goldbead Hare's Ear. Severn tributaries open today, and this is one of three local to me. I had to fish early so started in a frost - not quite ideal - with upstream nymph, and found a few fish in the runs. Surprised to see one fish rising. The stream is looking somewhat battered by late winter floods (the last one went over 2 metres) and there is one fallen branch which necessitates getting out of the channel and going round by the bank. The channel itself is clear but look out for barbed wire on the banks where fences have been knocked down.

9 Trout

Last opportunity for trout fishing, a very nice day till the rain came late afternoon. River running strong but only slightly coloured, given some fly life appearing decided to speculate with klink and para. Missed out on a couple of pools either too deep for me to wade or total tree cover, but found willing fish elsewhere. Landed 7 at 8” to 10”, and missed as many. All In v. g. condition. No dog walkers either!! Excellent end to the season.

7 Trout

Fished from about 10.00 to about 4.00pm. Not surprisingly very shallow. Water very clear. Not really a wild stream in my opinion due to the village proximity and well-used footpath. I removed a carrier bag tied up and full of rubbish from the stream. I think the sewage works half-way along should be mentioned in the description as it does smell and you can hear the hum of it for a section of the beat. Also, the village dog walkers understandably enjoy letting their dogs paddle, but it rather defeats stealthy fishing tactics! Caught the WBT and roach at the very end of the beat in a deeper pool on a GRHE. I think the roach and trout were competing with each other. Lots of knocks, then the roach and eventually the trout. Not spooked by 15+ casts!

1 Trout, 1 Other

Red letter day at Bideford brook. 26 WBT and 2 Roach to hand.

The water was very low and clear, despite the recent rains. Expected the fish to be easily spooked. Tried a different setup today; underlining my 3wt setup with 2DT line. Quite pleased when the line landed with almost no disturbance. On a beat with more space, a long rod w/ French leader would be a better option. When combined with Joe Humphreys’s “long-range” bow-and-arrow cast and a snail-pace-wading, I was able to get the fly to the fish in unfishable spots, without spooking them.

26WBT between 6” and 11”; no monster but great to have them by number. Around 10 took size 14 Klinkhammer and the rest took size 18 PTN, both fished single due to my lack of competent to cast a duo with bow-and-arrow. A little pain to have to constantly change them to suit the water but it was well worthed. The Roach took the nymph.

Also met quite a few people walking / dog-walking on the footpath. This was a little surprising, especially when intentionally picked a weekday with lousy weather. Spoke to a few, which turned out to be very nice and polite people. They mentioned the path got very popular as people wanted to stay local during the pandemic, including many dog walkers.

Great day and nice people around. Could not ask for more!

26 Trout, 2 Other

V low level in parts, but water was moving at a decent pace considering. Absolute scorching hot day (32+ degrees), but wouldn't have known as the pools are very well sheltered with foliage cover. Had a few takes from small brownies, however nothing caught.