Feedback & Reports

The river was in great shape. Overcast conditions lingered on until early afternoon. Five fish early on from the lower half of the beat, all coming to weighted nymphs. Moving on to the upper stretch from about 11.00am the occasional fish started rising. A further nine fish taken on a Blonde Wulff and many others missed. All fish in the 8" -12" range and in perfect condition. Interesting to see Mayfly hatching from mid-afternoon and being totally ignored.

14 Trout

The weather was so grim that I didn't fish

Sadly, the weather made it unfishable

First time fishing a river so enrolled the help of professional guide Oliver Burch. He was very patient and informative without over complicating matters, money well spent. River was running high but not to much colour, a steady hatch of olives from mid morning through most of the day, caught 12 Browns up to 11" on Adams and klink, a great introduction to river fishing.

12 Trout

Although the weather forecast was unsettled, I chanced my arm and headed (for the first time) to Hergest Court. It was well worth the gamble. It really is a lovely stretch, especially the first (downstream) half of the beat. It becomes more difficult to fish as you proceed upstream. For a couple of hours after lunch the sun came out and with it a significant hatch of olives. This brought several fish to the surface. The river in places barely covers your boots but there are some good holding pools. I caught 2 WBT of about 6-8 inches on a klinkhammer. Using a 6.5ft 3# rod at times lacked the guts to punch through a tough downstream wind; so I fished a nymph with my Klink to make it easier to cast! Others will catch more but a combination of my early season tangles and the monsoon at 4pm meant I dashed for the car early and wet, but wanting to return.

2 Trout

Winter chainsaws have been out in force coppicing the lower end of Hergest Court. The stretch up to the footbridge felt very different indeed; fenced, clear of obstacles and easy to fish. First fish within 5 minutes a handsome, strong Brown of about 11”. The next a few minutes later was 9”. Both to a weighted PTN fished upstream. No sign of fish on the surface here or on my morning progress through the upper section. Three further fish of 8-10” came to a Copper John. All the fish were returned. An increasingly strong downstream breeze started making life difficult for light tackle in the afternoon so I pottered away feeling more than content with my first outing of the Spring.

5 Trout

Great sport in the morning, fishing nymph and Klinkhammer duo on the bottom half of the beat. 5 brown trout up to 11' and missed several others. The breeze strengthened and things went quiet at lunch time.

11 trout caught mostly 9" to 11". Beautiful beat well worth a visit.

An excellent and entertaining morning and early afternoon on the Arrow. I concentrated on the upper section of the beat. Three wild browns to the net and returned - all of 8”-10”. A further two shook themselves off. I was using a 5’ rod and fishing a weighted Pheasant Tail nymph size 14.

Neither of us had fished this beat for a while and it was definitely worth re-visiting. The day was cloudy with a couple of light showers in a stiffish breeze. The river was still carrying plenty of water but had cleared nicely after a week of dry weather. We both spent most of the first half of the day on the lower section of the beat taking seven fish between us. Later in the day one of us went further upstream towards Hergest Court itself and found some very good runs and riffles with some lovely fish in them. We each took another four fish in this session giving us a total of 15 for the day, best around 12". Light tackle is very helpful on this beat. We both began the day with small carbon rods but at lunchtime switched to a 6' cane rod and 5' glass-fibre and found this made a real difference.