Feedback & Reports

First fishing of 2015 took me to the Arrow for winter grayling. The water was coloured but I gave it a go with both upstream nymphing with pink shrimps and trotting with maggots.
Both techniques produced fish. Nothing of any size but there are plenty of fish in this section of the river based on the number of bites I missed!

4 Grayling

Enjoyable day's fishing in cold, bright conditions on a very attractive beat. River running fast and quite clear. Bites hard to come by but I caught two smallish but beautifully conditioned Grayling, one 10.5" & one 9" long, to float-fished maggot from two different swims upstream of the access bridge. Good views of Kingfisher & Dipper added to the day's enjoyment.

2 Grayling

A bitter cold day with some sunshine. The Arrow was carrying a bit of extra water from recent rain and with a tinge of colour I was almost going to turn around and come home. My client was keen to try though and thanks to his enthusiasm we banked 7 grayling and lost one very good one, all to trotted maggot. Each fish was in perfect condition. Some of the pools had changed and a few fallen trees made certain runs I had in mind, unfishable. No trout, but we did catch a bullhead trundling bottom - haven't seen one of those since I was a kid, mad little thing. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable days fishing.

7 Grayling

8 x grayling 10-12 inches, 1 x out of season trout (wild) 11 inches, trotting. Another sunless and misty day, but warm enough at 10 degrees in the afternoon. Not too much colour in the Arrow, but still a bit high and turbulent. A few grayling in the edddies and slacks, but I couldn't find them in the runs today. The grayling weren't really keen and no big ones, but it was pleasant to potter along one of my favourite small river beats in Herefordshire. Tony the owner came along, looking to spot salmon redds.

8 Grayling

Really hard going, a bit too much water but perfect visibility for czech nymphing. Fish not interested at all. fished hard on the bottom under the rod tip and lost a lot of flies but couldn't seem to find any hard feeding fish. Two fish to 12 inches and one of 14, no small fish at all. Freezing until about 1pm, then cold rain. Fish all caught within half an hour of each other from middle of beat. A gritty day on the Arrow.

3 Grayling

I had been waiting all Winter to get on this stretch of the Arrow, but although I knew the river would be high and coloured, had to give it a go before the end of the season. Fished from the top weir down to the bridge, but only managed the one bite on legered maggot, a small grayling. Will have to wait for the cold and frost of next Winter to give it another go!!

1 Grayling

Tough conditions, nil caught.

We had a fantastic days fishing on The Leen, thank you. I think that the grayling population is very good due to the massive amount of small fish we caught (2 inches). However, I do think that the adult fish are not there in numbers, but the ones that are there, are very large.
We started fishing at the upper weir limit and covered the whole stretch, then returned to the upper half later in the day as we blanked in the lower section. I found some fish mid morning, caught 2 and lost one. My fishing partner was fishing just down stream and he had one at the same time. I found some fish later in the day and had 4 more grayling, one of these fish was a re capture as it had a split mouth from the scissors along (fully healed).
The weights were : 1.14lb, 1.15lb, 2lb, 2.08lb, 2 fish unknown, 2.09lb, 2.095 lb (caught twice).
I think the cormorants are having a good feast in this stretch and after talking to the farmer this was confirmed.
All in all, a superb, beautiful stretch of river that we thoroughly enjoyed fishing. I hope the lovely large ladies of the stream survive and put a smile on more anglers faces.

8 Grayling

We caught 6 good sized grayling and 2 brown trout between us. We were trotting with maggots and also caught lots of very small young grayling (2 to 3 inches long), which looks good for the future. One of the trout had a cormorant stab wound on its flank.

2 Trout, 6 Grayling

River in nice condition but disappointing fishing. Several cormorants seen. I'm sure they are not helping.

1 Trout, 1 Grayling