Feedback & Reports

Fished from about 10.00 to about 4.00pm. Not surprisingly very shallow. Water very clear. Not really a wild stream in my opinion due to the village proximity and well-used footpath. I removed a carrier bag tied up and full of rubbish from the stream. I think the sewage works half-way along should be mentioned in the description as it does smell and you can hear the hum of it for a section of the beat. Also, the village dog walkers understandably enjoy letting their dogs paddle, but it rather defeats stealthy fishing tactics! Caught the WBT and roach at the very end of the beat in a deeper pool on a GRHE. I think the roach and trout were competing with each other. Lots of knocks, then the roach and eventually the trout. Not spooked by 15+ casts!

1 Trout, 1 Other

Red letter day at Bideford brook. 26 WBT and 2 Roach to hand.

The water was very low and clear, despite the recent rains. Expected the fish to be easily spooked. Tried a different setup today; underlining my 3wt setup with 2DT line. Quite pleased when the line landed with almost no disturbance. On a beat with more space, a long rod w/ French leader would be a better option. When combined with Joe Humphreys’s “long-range” bow-and-arrow cast and a snail-pace-wading, I was able to get the fly to the fish in unfishable spots, without spooking them.

26WBT between 6” and 11”; no monster but great to have them by number. Around 10 took size 14 Klinkhammer and the rest took size 18 PTN, both fished single due to my lack of competent to cast a duo with bow-and-arrow. A little pain to have to constantly change them to suit the water but it was well worthed. The Roach took the nymph.

Also met quite a few people walking / dog-walking on the footpath. This was a little surprising, especially when intentionally picked a weekday with lousy weather. Spoke to a few, which turned out to be very nice and polite people. They mentioned the path got very popular as people wanted to stay local during the pandemic, including many dog walkers.

Great day and nice people around. Could not ask for more!

26 Trout, 2 Other

V low level in parts, but water was moving at a decent pace considering. Absolute scorching hot day (32+ degrees), but wouldn't have known as the pools are very well sheltered with foliage cover. Had a few takes from small brownies, however nothing caught.

8 x trout 6-12 inches, Rusty Klinkhammer. A very early dawn raid to get ahead of the dog-walkers and I found some of the larger trout (by the standards of this little stream) were lying out on the pool tails. Very sorry to hear the news about Stephen over the weekend.

8 Trout

8 x trout 6-10 inches, Rusty Klinkhammer. An early morning visit and better result than expected given the very low water level.

8 Trout

Very pleasant day but very few fish seen, moving or rising. We each had one trout take but mine didn’t stay on! Both very small. No flies seen hatching - weather overcast, warm and dry Lots of Himalayan balsam seen along banks and also some Japanese knotweed

1 Trout

A lovely few hours back on this little brook with enough fish rising to keep me thoroughly entertained, and a couple caught and released.

2 Trout

Session spoiled by some dog walkers repeatedly using the stream bed as a thoroughfare.

1 Trout

10 x trout 6-10 inches, size 18 Rusty Klinkhammer. Early morning visit during a heatwave - the water is very low again but presumably refreshed by showers last week.

10 Trout