Feedback & Reports

Three small grayling less than 1/2 pound. Rising to spider patterns.

One grayling (12 inch) and one out of season brown trout. The weather was cold and heavily overcast, but dry and still. The river was showing 1ft 4in on the lugg camera and was reasonably clear and falling.
Overall a disappointing day given that the conditions were ok. The beat is generally easy to access except for the lower end weir which is almost impossible to access due to barbed wire on the very old stile. We fished most of the beat but did not connect with any grayling shoals - perhaps next time!

Lovely day with the river only about a foot above normal and slightly coloured. River temp 10 deg C same as the air temp as I started. This is a cracking beat but the fish were difficult to find. In the end managed 3 grayling all about 12 " and one oos trout about same size. Fished Czech nymph hard all day and lost quite a few heavy point flies on the bottom. Nevertheless enjoyed the day.
Saw several dragonflies (in November!) and some pesky comorants which I shall put on the cormorant watch website.

I had a good days fishing and managed to catch some small grayling on dry fly. I also lost a grayling of well over a pound at the net. It took a weighted nymph. Also caught and returned 1 out of season brown trout. Would it be possible to install some styles/crossing places at both ends of the field to aid getting over the barbed wire?

Windy day, sun shine and showers - fished middle of beat from first wooded area upstream to weir. Caught 18 fingerling Grayling largest 5" and 4 OS WBT. Klink hammer and PTN (size 18) on dropper. At one point cattle had entered the river for at least 300 mtrs ruining any chance of fishing; the lack of fencing to keep the animals out will have a longer term impact on this section of the river

A disappointing day with only small grayling moving to the fly, with the largest being 7" taken on both Grey Duster and a variant Red Tag. However this wasn't surprising given the state of the river which was probably between 12 and 15 inches below normal. Flow rates were negligable overall and in parts static making it difficult to move the fly to the fish that were rising. The weather conditions were good if a little bright and because the river was low and very clear made stalking interesting. This looks like a very good beat with a look of a chalk stream about it which probably fishes better with the extra water. Despite all this I felt the day was very enjoyable, and one I would like to try again in a better flow.

Water very low and clear with slow flow, caught a few fingerling grayling and wbt/salmon par but never saw anything of any size. We need rain to liven things up.

Two Grayling at 9 & 10" was something of a disappointment on what looked like a perfect day. Nothing was rising but there were prolific shoals promising great sport when they're next in the mood. Tried everything from dries (battered by what I guess was Grayling fry?), nymphs and spiders (success with Black & Peacock and a Black Green Caddis). Fished round the bottom weir with no action, skipped the lower wooded section which looked very difficult, the open middle section is obviously easy to fish except for the marauding tiddlers. The controversial wooded stretch above the weir can be fished but isn't a stroll and I failed to catch here. On the parking front I'm not sure what the problem has been but I followed WUF instructions to the farmyard and was directed to a spot by the barn, it's then a 5-10 min walk to the middle of the beat. Finally I found a pair glasses in the water - gold rimmed with tortoise shell arms, if the owner is reading I'm sure WUF can put us in touch.

After making several enquiries as to the access to the footpath, we were told by one of the house holders that due to the construction of horse padocks. The foot path to the beat is now only accsesable from the gate of the field just past the last house in the row.
Now creating a large dog leg in the indicated pathway to the centre of the beat. The water level was very low. We did not spot any fish of size and caught 1 4 inch brown on a black beaded nymph. At the time there was a very blustery down stream wind. The eddies were full of leaves, just to add to the difficulies of 2 novice river fishermen. The bottom part of the beat was inaccessable.

The river has two distinct personalities on this beat. Below the footbridge the river is backed up behind a high weir situated at the bottom of the beat.The river here is almost static and more like a canal with thick slimy weed covering the river bed. I did see several decent trout in this section, but standard river techniques proved to be ineffective. Perhaps stillwater tactics might suceed in this part of the river.

Above the footbridge the river is completely different, with glides, pools and riffles, and some flow. This section produced for 2 rods fishing alternately, 2 trout to 35cm and 25 grayling, mainly small, but including a specimen of 46cm.

There is a lot of LWD in the river at the top of the beat, but also some good holding pools and lies. The wide riffles are teeming with fry.