Feedback & Reports

Great day on this lovely little river, really wild & very challenging fishing. Used my 8’ rod without issue though I can see why 7’ 3# is recommended. Saw lots of brownies and initially had several bites/rises in various pools. Water low but plenty of deep pools and some perfect riffles where I caught one fish of 10” and another of 6” in perfect condition on golden bead green/red nymph, both returned. Few flies about, though the odd rise, so stuck with nymphs.

2 Trout

Tough fishing, lots of fallen logs and trees in river making it very difficult to make headway upstream.

1 Trout

2 x trout 8-9 Gold Bead Hare's Ear. A quick walk up the Cannop Brook on a cool and cloudy morning and managed to catch a brace while I was at it. Compared to Bideford Brook yesterday, the early spring storms have done a lot more damage. The whole wood looks like a giant's playground, with fallen trunks lying in all directions, but especially over the stream. As a result there will be much scrambling up and down the banks to fish this one this season. All the same, there will be plenty to go at when it warms up.

2 Trout

My last trip to Cannop Brook before the season ends. The fishing was excellent ; 20 trout and 1 perch.

Water level was extremely low but clear. Level dropped even more from the previous week. Started off with a Klink for an hour without much success, only two rises. Then decided to hang a nymph underneath (New Zealand style) and started catching steadily. Finished the day with 20 brown trout between 4" and 10", including a perch.

Great day and looking forward to coming back to the Brook the next season.

20 Trout, 1 Other

A short session on this delightful stream produced 5 small brownies taken on a size 14 Klinkhammer.

5 Trout

Afternoon fishing at the Brook. 19 trout, 5"- 10", size 14 Klinkhammer.
Took a bit of gambling on dog walkers this afternoon. Unfortunately it didn't pay off. The hot weather seemed to bring many dogs out and they all wanted to cool down in the river.
Fishing was good as long as the dogs didn't go in. All the stretch with clear water produced fish. Sadly it was only half of the Brook.
Will try early morning next time before the season ends.

19 Trout

Great day at the brook; 24 trout between 5 -10 inches. All took a size 14 Klinkhammer, fished single due to the extremely low level of the brook. Majority of the fish came from slack water and required a stealthy approach. Insect were hatching throughout the late morning / early afternoon, mixed with occasional falling-terrestrial. There were only two rises to the hatches but the fish happily came up for the Klink, fished blind.
As expected for the bank holiday Monday, the public footpath was very busy with families walking, cycling, and walking the dogs. Majority were friendly and polite. Quite lucky to only have two dogs joining me in the water.

24 Trout

6 x trout 6-10 inches, Monnow Gosling. Now the Forest is full of people, even early in the morning. The new bank-side path was busier than ever today, with family groups, each with at least one swimming dog, proceeding up and down. Twice somebody came up to where I was starting on a pool, looked at me, threw a stick in the water for the dog to fetch, and then asked : "Any luck?" It's very difficult not to sound bitter when engaging with one of these bozos. How can they be so unfeeling? Alas for human nature, particularly other people's! And then along comes a family with two dogs on leads, who watch me catch and release a fish, say "Hi" and ask some intelligent questions about the stream and the creatures which live in it. Why can't everybody be so pleasant and sensible so we can all enjoy ourselves? By the way, we have a highly successful crop of young dippers on the stream this spring.

6 Trout

6 x trout 6-9 inches, Monnow Gosling. Brookside path very busy this morning with walkers, swimming dogs, etc. The great British public is certainly out and about again.

6 Trout

6 x trout 6-8 inches, Goldbead Hare's Ear fished under Klinkhammer. It all stopped when I received the WUF message about 10.30 bringing fishing to a halt. This morning, in total, I met one woman walking her dog, about 20 feet away, dippers, yellow wagtails and a fallow doe. Much safer than a trip to the supermarket I reckon, and I'm doing a fair bit of shopping these day for elderly relatives and neighbours. Never mind, from now on I'm going to take up walking or cycling for my daily fresh air. Running would surely kill me!

6 Trout