Feedback & Reports

A day fishing this beat during a Mayfly hatch a few years ago remains my most memorable day fishing. Since then there has been clearance work performed on this best; I assume more work has been done since last season. It isn't good news for the fly fisher. Much of the beat is now too shallow to fish and other sections resemble a canal with virtually no flow. There are short sections that contain fish but it's not what it used to be.
WUF note: this problem is down to the drought we are now experiencing

1 Trout

Fished no more than 300 yards of the best upstream from the access point from 15:30 to 18:00 on a rather overcast and humid afternoon. A little rain about 17:00. Caught one 8" BT on a gold head PTN and long distance released another on the same fly. A steady mayfly hatch from about 17:00 brought a number of fish to the surface. I spent the last 30 minutes trying to catch one particular fish which despite managing to move half a dozen times I failed to hook. Nevertheless a wonderful few hours on a fine, wild beat. Excellent value.

1 Trout

The morning overcast persisted but it grew steadily warmer and more humid as the day wore on. An amazing variety of birds were intent on picking off emerging upwings but the trout weren’t interested. Occasional movement subsurface seemed to be from smaller fish. I worked hard for my trout. I tried a variety of dries and emergers with little success. One fish rising in a shaded glide took a rusty Klinkhammer but the other five all came to small weighted nymphs. Best fish 8”.

6 Trout

2 fish taken. Lots of mayfly but relatively few fish rising. Fish taken on mayfly nymph. River looks healthy and lovely location /scenery. Wading harder than the description but maybe this was partly due to strong flow of the river

8 Trout

Last year I fished this little river in a mayfly hatch and whilst there were regular flies hatching on Friday they hatched in far fewer numbers. Despite this, using a mayfly pattern seemed the best way of encouraging a rise. By late afternoon it was all over, although we did catch a couple more of fish on nymphs. I have normally never remained beyond this quiet time but as the sun was still shining we stayed and at about 7pm for 30 mins there was an evening rise when the fish showed themselves again - the fact we didn't add to our tally at that stage was due to nothing other than our own incompetence.

2 Trout

WUF / LAFA Wild Streams Day - Feedback
Two small trout (6" and less!) on a deep nymph.
Despite the general lack of fish, I enjoyed the day very much and would like to thank the organisers and our 'enthusiastic amateur' guides for their help and generosity in sharing skills, knowledge, and top tips. I learnt a lot and will now 'attack' the wild streams with renewed confidence.
Some discussion at the de-brief concerned the difficulty of allocating beats for such events. My suggestion to aid the process would be to perhaps provide an opportunity when booking the day to express interest in the type of beat / difficulty where experience was desired. In my case, I was looking specifically for advice on how to tackle the smaller streams with very limited size 'pools' and awkward access. Some form of provisional allocation could possibly be then made prior to the day.
As a further hopeful suggestion; any chance of a repeat performance aimed at Small Stream Grayling?? Put my name at the top of the list please!

2 Trout

Now the clearance work on this beat has matured the result is a much improved river for fishing dry flies, with long streamy stretches developed with room to cast. With warming weather having prompted a healthy mayfly hatch I spent a peaceful day making my way upstream. The fish seemed to be happy to take a mayfly imitation. I was also accompanied by a kingfisher and a curious cow. This is fast becoming one of my favourite beats.

12 Trout

Two weeks on from my last visit and the Arrow was a more familiar height and colour. A week of cold mornings (during which County cricketers have endured snow showers) seems to have put a pause on the season. An early afternoon hatch of Olives on the upper section induced a brief rise and three fish to hand in quick succession. Other than that it was nymphs fished through the bends that proved successful. Three fish were in the region of 12”, the rest 6”-8” and all perfect. Stopping to change a fly at one point I glanced up and saw a Kingfisher at close quarters surveying the river from it’s perch. They really are remarkably beautiful birds.

7 Trout

I’d stayed overnight locally full of enthusiasm for the new season and flushed with some unexpected success on the Kington wild stream beat the previous afternoon. So, it was somewhat disconcerting watching it snow as I ate my breakfast. Overnight rain meant that the river was still pushing through strongly and coloured, certainly fishable but I regretted leaving my wading staff at home. As the day wore on the sun came out and eventually there was a sparse hatch of Olives but no response from the fish (wish I could identify the small, dull coloured bird that was acrobatically taking the Olives in flight). I tried GRHE, PTN, Kite’s Imperial and an Adams all to no avail. Finally facing up to the prospect of total failure I fished an Elk Hair Caddis above a size 16 Hare’s Ear nymph very slowly in the pool below the old mill. It’s amazing how one fish can transform your day. A beautiful 12” trout took the nymph and came to the net - Happy.

1 Trout

Beautiful stream but difficult in the very cold weather that we have had.