Feedback & Reports

Short morning session on dries. 1 brown trout caught. 2 other takes missed.

1 Trout

7 Trout

Fished for about 3hrs after work, 6.30pm - 9.30pm. A few fish on nymphs from riffley sections in the first part of the evening, until the fish really started looking up as dusk fell. Another 5 vibrant Arrow fish - rich yellow bellies and bright red spots in big halos - fell to a size 18 CDC dun, with as many again missed connections/long distance releases. But I think the highlight of the evening was my closest ever encounter with an otter. I was hunkered down on my knees, tucked into the bank, trying to avoid spooking a small pod of rising fish in one of the slow, clear pools, and give myself enough room to cast underneath all the bankside foliage. About 15 yards upstream of me, he plopped into the water from the opposite bank, swam down the pool and set about harassing the trout I'd so painstakingly stalked - a magical, incredibly frustrating thing to watch in clear, shallow water. Eventually he popped his head up, close enough that I could have tapped him on the nose with my rod tip, took one look at me and disappeared down stream with a splash, which I took as my cue to call it a night.

8 Trout

River in good condition with some insect life including a few mayfly. Only one rise seen during a full morning. Otherwise no fish visible. Tried both dries and nymphs to no avail. There is new fencing along much of the beat with stiles to ease access. However, bankside vegetation is rampant, there are many fallen trees and much of the water is overhung with branches making casting challenging even when wading. It would not require a huge effort to cut back the vegetation and trim a proportion of the lower branches. The benefit to anglers would be enormous.

For obvious reasons a first visit for almost two years. River in good condition, lots of new fencing and a few large trees down but still a lovely beat. I fished till lunch time initially sticking to dry flies to no avail - the fish weren't tempted. When I switched to a Black Magic nymph four strong, healthy trout were caught in the shaded riffles.

4 Trout

I have hesitated before submitting this return but I am going to tell it how we found it. Fished from 10am till 4pm. Conditions were warm with a mixture of overcast and sunny spells. First time on this beat. We parked in the layby, crossed the field and turned downstream on the nearside bank with a view to working our way back up. Very nice, very new, very substantial 3ft or more barbed wire fencing almost to the bottom of the beat with only a couple of stiles. From the fence to the river was very overgrown severely limiting access. Eventually got into the water and waded back upstream. The stream bottom is a combination of small boulders and large slabs. Quite slippery. Care definitely essential. My colleague managed to hook a few fish but only got one to hand - which we believe was a salmon parr. I hooked a WBT of about 7inches - to hand. On the way upstream we met a few obstacles - fallen trees etc. which, together with the fencing and overgrowth created difficulty for getting out. We called it a day when we got back to the point by the layby. We haven't fished the upper part of the beat yet but our advice would be if you intend to go downstream, get onto the far bank as soon as you can. I find it difficult to understand why such substantial fencing is required to separate a field of oats from the river! If this is to be operated as a fishery, then reasonable access to the river must be offered. We aren't wimps and have fished many of the wild streams but barbed wire and waders are incompatible. It would have been a minimal additional cost to install stiles at more frequent intervals to offer the paying fisherman access to what looks like a beautiful stretch of water. We will return and try the upper stretch of the beat but based on our experience, to describe this as double bank fishing is somewhat misleading.

1 Trout, 1 Other

A lovely part of the world, though we were unlucky to see very little fish movement at all today. One bite that went un-set was all we saw. Access is pretty good, with lots of recent fence work having been carried out.

What a lovely river with a great deal of careful long-term management. Water clear but falling back. Hatch of mayfly,BWO ,other ephemera & a few small sedge but very few rising fish. 3 good fish over 12 in and several lost even though apparently securely hooked. Paradun and tungsten HE.

5 Trout

Ten wild brown trout up to 11” on the dry fly, mostly Grey Wulff, and about the same number again seemingly well hooked but never netted. Handful of mayfly in the afternoon with nice increase in fly activity at about eight o’clock.

10 Trout

Quality challenging fishing. Caught on nymph spider and dries.

11 Trout