Feedback & Reports

Looked at the lower beat first but decided on the upper as it's a little more open. This is a gem of a stream, which is absolutely stuffed with trout. Easy fishing it isn't, however, and with crystal clear water and a lack of meanders, a long cast is necessary. The section from the old weir upstream of the farm to the 'no go' area is probably the best and was enough for about 4 hours of fishing.

A gusty side wind meant a lot of untangling from trees/fences yesterday but when a cast landed in roughly the right place, there were plenty of takers. Ended up with 8 trout to 12" and saw spooked fish shooting past me which were approaching 2lbs. All fish caught and released on dries - black parachute or hawthorns.

After fishing the Pinsley in the morning, headed upstream and fished this beat for the first time. 18 wild brown trout. Nothing massive; most of them around the 4-5" mark but a few larger ones around 9-10". Lost/failed to connect with about the same number. Again, all fish came to dry hawthorn, black parachute or black klinkhammers. A wonderful stretch of small river fishing.

5 Trout. 4 grayling, 1 Salmon Parr mostly on PTN, a few others hooked and lost. All in the 8" to 10" range. No fish retained. Very enjoyable on a very peaceful beat. Despite the lack of flow in the long gutter up from the water works, a small hatch brought many fish to the surface for a short time around mid afternoon.

Despite an overcast day and low water I decided to only use dry flies. The scenery is spectacular here and as I set up among banks of bluebells watching a kingfisher, I just could not help myself tying on a dry fly. I fished the lower beat in the morning and rises were very sparse. Despite this I managed to persuade two wild trout of 10-12 inches to rise and come to hand before release. The low water meant I could wade through the whole of the bottom section, and I had great fun. Just before the 2pm beat changeover rises started appearing but it was time for me to drive to the upper beat. Simply beautiful, but the very sparse rises were very difficult to cover in an unhelpful breeze and I only added one fish for my trouble. I planned to fish into the evening but late afternoon the rain came in and the gloom over Sugar Loaf, the rumble of distant thunder and a distant crackle in the air convinced me to end a very enjoyable day. I would certainly have caught more fish using wet flies, but my intention had been simply to go fishing today - rather than to just catch fish.

Nil caught.
A large run of Salmon (& Shad) pased through Wyesham on Friday morning - Over 30 large (upper teens / twenties) - seen jumping as they came into the various pools. Only oine of the six rods had a touch, but none caught.
Water temperature 59", 7" on gauge, #12 & #14 small black silver flies on floating lines with intermediate sink tips, were advised the Ghillie Ray Morris.

3 trout returned.

Saw plenty of Salmon moving through the lower beats, nothing would interest them though. Unfortunately swap over at 1pm left us with the majority of time in the uppermost beat which was very difficult and no sign of anything.

No joy despite a few rises from the lower half of the beat. Conected with a tiny tiddler but not much else. Beautiful weather although the river was very low and is in desperate need of some healthy rainfall.

5 brown trout (C&R) - 5~8" caught on black gnat emerger/olive klinkhammer. Plenty of fish rising in the afternoon, many missed takes....unbelievable really. Promising little stream. Needs a clean-up...plenty of litter & debris around.

Very bright day, clear skies no cloud, light breeze. 2 brown trout both about half a pound and one small grayling. Fish rising intermittently to black flies. Fish caught on an artificial hawthorn fly. A fair number of fish seen but difficult to catch due to the conditions. This is a lovely stretch of river which I had to myself all day. The upper part of the beat above the weir is difficult to access and even more difficult to cast on in the wooded area.There were many large shoals of fry in the margins which seems a healthy sign.