Feedback & Reports

Day 1 was a blank the river had risen and there was lots of weed coming through dislodging the feeders and causing snags.

Warm, sunny and cloudy spells. River starting to come up, not too much colour. Still on the feeder with mag. Barbel up to 8lbs, most 5lbs upwards. Chub up to 4 1/2lbs.
got bitten off three times! 3 x by Chub and a Pike. Hard walk back up the slope again.

17 Barbel, 13 Chub

None caught. Water fairly coloured and no sign of fish today.

Ten pound fresh fish on a size ten cascade and a six pound fresh grilse on a black and gold FC(grilse returned).
River conditions good with water clearing.

2 Salmon

River looking good with clear water. Trout caught on dries towards the end of the beat, also 3 grayling. Trout caught between 10.5 and 17 inches, grayling up to just under the pound. 2 grayling caught on nymphs in the deeper faster runs. Very pleasant day on a new beat (for us).

8 Trout, 5 Grayling

6 x trout 6-17 inches, 6 x grayling 13-15 inches, Tungsten Hare's Ear and Pink Shrimp nymphs. A slightly unusual day. The gauge was up to 2 feet yesterday, down to 18 inches this morning, conditions which I thought might get me a salmon with a bit of luck. But when I got to the river, the colour was very dirty, visibility being less than 12 inches. I did persevere with the double handed rod and a big brassy fly for an hour or two after which, rather than go home again, I had a few casts with a new trout rod and French leader rig, just to see how it handled. I wasn't really expecting to catch anything much in the murky water, but as luck would have it, I bumped into a pod of decent grayling and a really nice trout sheltering in a couple of feet of water on the side of a ford.

6 Trout, 6 Grayling

2 x small brown trout, 6 inches. One decent fish raised and lost. Virtually no fly hatches and no rising fish seen all day. Water level low and murky. Not much flow either. Beat was extremely difficult to access due to severely overgrown banks, including Himalayan Balsam. Fishing upstream the permitted bank (the right) is not readily fished. Sadly I do not think I shall be returning to this beat in future.

2 Trout

Difficult day, water cloudy to start but cleared through day but the wind was much stronger than forecast and made fishing very difficult. The cattle are very inquisitive so be warned. Also as they get into the river in places that also muddies the water.
Thanks to W&U team for the fishing they provide in some lovely areas.

1 Trout, 1 Grayling

Tested the contents of my fly boxes today! River in good flow and slightly coloured, range of flies and bugs on the water. Trout were rising in some pools and deep runs but not in others. It also turned out they were being very choosy, and were picking off different food items in each pool. After I while I twigged that I had to try various dries/paras to find the 'right' one in each pool, and sometimes failed - they either ignored everything or ducked out after having a look. Did find the right fly occasionally to land 7 at 7" to 10". On sedge or tiny black fly or a pale olive - really enjoyed this, even though I only managed half the beat.

7 Trout

A tough day at Middle Hill Court with bright sunshine and river rising. Also a large amount of debris coming through.

1 Barbel