Feedback & Reports

Lovely weather day, river running well and clear. Plenty of a variety of flies appearing, but I did not see any rises. Fished all day with a gold bead hares ear on the point and unweighted nymphs on the dropper, trying to ‘match the hatch’ as they appeared. Landed 8 mainly from the streamier water, up to 9 inches, and missed a few sharp takes. Also a few parr, lots of them around. Also a first for me, 2 at 6 inches each at the same time. Not exactly on my bucket list but fun anyway !!

8 Trout

Visited this beat again after fishing it on Weds. My fishing partner Andy had 5 fish - 2 x 5" and 3 x 8". I had one at 5". Fish taken on Hare's Ear Para 16, Adams Irresistable 14, Adams Para 16 and a Hare's Ear bead nymph 14. The river was slightly higher and more coloured than Weds. All fish returned safely.

6 Trout

Fished from 10-4. Intermittent rain. River in excellent shape, nice height, clear water. My fishing partner, Andy, was christening his new 7 ft rod and reel to good effect - 1x 11/12": 3x 8": 2x5". All on deerhair comparadun, size 16. I had two at 8" on a para Adams. A good day in which we barely covered half the water. All fish returned safely.

8 Trout

Fished from 10-4. Intermittent rain. River in excellent shape, nice height,clear water. My fishing partner, Andy, was christening his new 7ft Rod and reel to good effect with 1x 11/12": 3 x 8": 2 x 5". All on deer hair comparadun, size 16. I had 2 x 8" on a para Adams. A lovely day during which we covered barely half the water. All fish returned safely.

8 Trout

Excellent morning on this beautiful river. The water was dropping and clearing after the recent heavy rain. Most trout took a scruffy hairs ear, although I did raise a couple just before midday when there was a brief hatch. 20+ to the net, between 6" and 10" and one giant at 14" from the bottom of a deep pool. This remains one of my favourite streams.

20 Trout

River low. Fished same beat similar time last year and The winter has seen a number of trees down in the river and associated land slides, not an issue generally though. Has resulted in quite bad silting and a fair amount of blanket weed but the trout and a few salmon parr were still playing. Trout to 11” on a mixture of beaded jigs, March brown nymphs and CDC and Elk dries.
Great stretch but needs a good flush through.

12 Trout, 2 Other

A hot and humid few hours, river probably the lowest I’ve seen it in 11 yrs, almost unrecognisable since the floods and storms. 2wbt to hand 10/12 ins on grey duster parachute, missed a few snappy takes on Griffith Gnat. Average fly
Life for time of day, 2 kingfishers gave a high speed fly past and a glorious drive over the top from Painscastle. Yeah, a very Pleasant afternoon .

2 Trout

Fished from 8 -3. Spent the morning at Hergest, river is low with slimy green weed, needs a wash through. Unfortunately most of the deeper pools have suffered from last winters torrents with trees down blocking casts nevertheless took 5 trout between 8” and 10” and a few fingerlings. I fished duo using a #14 olive para Klink as the indicator and tiny gold bead hares ear nymphs on the bottom. All of the fish took the Klink so continued with just the dry.

By 12.30 I had covered the whole beat and decided to head home via the Clettwr which although on my doorstep I’ve not fished for several years. What a difference in water quality! Clear and a good depth. Spent three hours of climbing taking 4 trout between 9” and 10” all to the same olive klink.

To aid anyone who plans to fish this beautiful but challenging beat I should point out that the white painted marker posts which used to lead to the beat start are no longer there. There are two paths take the lower and be prepared to scramble down to the stream when it feels possible but take care. This path becomes almost impassable after a while. When returning to your car there is a path from the footbridge , counterintuitively take the left fork and the path climbs back around and is clear of fallen trees. Great stream full of fish!

9 Trout

The water was low and muddy. In the evening, when I went, there was little sign of fish except for a few splashy tiddlers. I tried a nymph with no success.

A pleasant day "social distancing" on the Edw. The full and fast-flowing river restricted wading somewhat and I could get no response to the nymphs I was offering. Doubtless the heron that I disturbed below Hergest falls was more successful. It was good to see early signs of Spring, but a shame about the plastic waste that is everywhere you look if you look hard enough.