Feedback & Reports

There was a touch of frost on the grass as I made my way down to the start of the beat at 9.00am. The early morning mist was followed by bright sunshine and virtually no wind. Crystal clear water meant I could see the fish but they could see me too. Amazed to see a whole flotilla of small trout, side by side queuing up for passing food in the shallow section of the weir pool. Needless to say my fly line scattered them in all directions spooking everything in that part of the river.

Unsurprising then that six of my eight fish came from the upper more enclosed and shaded section of the beat. Nymphs cast upstream into undercuts and riffles accounted for all but two of the fish The exceptions were tempted by a Klinkhammer. Three fish were about 12”, the best of which was caught below a bush besdide the uppermost cattle drink approaching Hergest Bridge.

8 Trout

Got to the beat about 8.15am. Chilly to start with until the sun burned off the morning mist. Then, with only the slightest breeze the weather was at it's autumnal best. The flushing effect of the recent rains had transformed the Arrow since my last visit to the wild stream beat back in August.
Fish could be spotted feeding subsurface in the obvious spots. The combination of a Klinkhammer Duo trailing a PTN proved productive from the first cast at the bottom of the beat. By mid-afternoon seventeen fish had come to hand. All were in excellent condition with more than half of sufficient size to have me reaching for my net. Of those just one came to the Klinkhammer and one other in the last half hour when I tied on an Adams out of curiosity.
Drove home listening to that remarkable World Cup Rugby match between Japan and South Africa. All in all quite a memorable day out.

17 Trout

Water level low and very clear, big contrast to the Wye two days earlier. Saw quite a few fish mostly upstream of the parking spot but seems they were not feeding or very spooky. Access not impossible but had to limbo under some barbed wire fences.

River low and clear and a bright sunlit evening. Very easy to disturb pools when wading. However, got rises to small dry flies in the streamy water. Missed most of these, hooked one 6" brownie.

1 Trout

Only 2 weeks ago this little river was alive with Mayfly. With their departure it has become surprisingly quiet; very few hatching insects and hence few rising fish. What fishing could be done was sight fished with upstream nymphs.

3 Trout

For those interested in fishing a mayfly hatch - it has started at Hergest Court. The flies hatched on and off all afternoon. At anytime there were a handful of flies struggling on the surface of the water and unlike the previous report this time the fish were taking nothing else. Whilst I sat and had my lunch I spotted only one fly, in twenty minutes, that escaped either the fish or the birds.

This beat (I have only ever fished the downstream half) has undergone some significant clearance work since I was last here - this is both good and bad for the angler. Overall the water level is now significantly lower throughout the beat and there is less holding water for fish - I also sensed the fish I caught were smaller than on previous visits (although one fish did reach 14 inches). On a positive, the beat is now much easier to both wade and cast and some streamy runs have been developed.

8 Trout

An entertaining afternoon and evening on the Arrow. Fish were rising but the stiff downstream breeze made it a challenge targeting them with a 3 weight line.
There was enough activity to keep me interested from start to finish. A trickle of large Mayfly hatched during the afternoon. Just occasionally one was taken by a trout (sometimes by a bird) but they were mostly ignored, along with my imitations. However, I had plenty of fun with a Rusty Klinkhammer. It brought significantly more fish to the surface than I could hook, four came to hand. I also had another three to a size 16 weighted GRHE including a beautiful, plump and strong 12 inch trout from the pool just below Mill House.

7 Trout

Extremely wet day, river at good height. No rising fish or fly life seen. All fish caught with pheasant tail nymph fished up stream, best would be around a pound all in excellent condition.
First time on the Arrow, good interesting fishing but access could do with improving as some really excellent parts are not fish able even with a 7 foot wand.

7 Trout

A beautiful, bright Spring day with an intermittent easterly (upstream) breeze. Virtually nothing was hatching, just the occasional Large Dark Olive and the odd Grannom. I can’t have seen more than two fish move in seven hours fishing. However, a Klinkhammer Duo above a size 16 GRHE resulted in plenty of sport along the length of the beat. Nine Trout to hand and several more pricked. All were good fish with three over 12 inches.

9 Trout

Despite a steady trickle of olives hatching all day; the feeding activity was sub-surface. All fish caught on beaded pheasant tail nymphs fished upstream into the deeper, faster runs.
This is a lovely stretch but not for those who don't like casting into the south-westerly wind; which always accompanies my visits here.
The road works to the beat have now been completed.

6 Trout