Feedback & Reports

Set alarm for 4.30am, overslept due to a cracking movie on film 4 and arrived at 9am instead of 6am. Fish rising on arrival and took a few to cdc shuttlecock size 20. Then the sun rose and the rises stopped, in fact everything stopped. I have fished this beat a few times and never really struggled, well today I did. Switched to size 18 bead-head and only managed a few more. Lost a few also. Water levels were low and moving at a snails pace which does not really get me excited. Fly life minimal during the midday period. Hoping for some rain to put some pace back into the water.

7 Trout

Fishing was not possible for most of the beats length due to it being completely overgrown to the waters edge with steep banks making landing any hooked fish impractical. May be suitable for pike fishing in winter? Tried all methods to catch where it was possible to get to the waters edge unsuccessfully.

One fish caught on worm with popup.

1 Trout

Bright start turning cloudy with a bit of rain in the late afternoon. Not much evidence of life, only occasional rises under very low branches - assume taking terrestrials falling in to the stream. Nothing seen hatching all day, I wonder if this is something to do with the huge amounts of thick brown algae coating the stream bed in all but the fastest flowing of sections? The only stones showing signs of invertebrate life were those in the quick sections clear of growth.
All fish were in the 4-6" bracket taken from the deeper pools on the lower half of the beat on GRHE and a black magic nymph, except for a grayling taken on the surface on the top half on a black F-fly under an overhanging branch.

3 Trout, 2 Grayling

A really satisfying session. The water was low and clear as tap water. Fished during from afternoon until 9pm. The fish ranged between 5 and 9 inches and all fell for either a copper beaded PTN, white beaded PTN or white beaded stipped quill nymph. I don't think they were too fussy, being keen to take anything so long as I could get close enough without spooking them. Consequently, stealth was the key as I tip-toed, crouched and kneeled my way up the stream.

17 Trout

4 trout caught. 2 on worm, 2 on spinner. 1 brownie returned.

4 Trout

1 Trout

Hot & Sunny day. River very clear and despite trying various baits 2 anglers blanked, one barbel for one angler and 4 to another. Fished into evening but without any noticable increase in activity.

5 Barbel

My first visit to this beat so I settled into a comfortable swim towards the bottom of the Island where there is a good flow and reasonable depth. Clear skies and low water meant that my expectations were not high but after about half an hour I had a good bite which resulted in a pristine barbel of 7.5lb. A smaller one followed 15 mins later and then a small chub. It then went quiet so I tried a swim towards the top end of the island but after a biteless hour I returned to the first swim where I picked up a further small chub. With the heat becoming uncomfortable I left around midday. This is a great addition to the available beats with safe parking and easy access and if the hearsay from the campers can be believed then there is potential for large catches in the right conditions. The other bonus is that canoe traffic seems remarkably light compared to other stretches I have fished.

2 Barbel, 2 Chub

1 eel caught fished pellet.

7 Barbel, 5 Chub, 1 Other