Feedback & Reports

This beat made my first attempt at wild stream fishing really enjoyable, one small trout of approx 10cm caught on hairs ear nymph and released,

1 Trout

Fished from around 9am until 11.30am, finding two feisty little hungry trout in the lower half of the beat. Dropped in to the top half under the electric fence and played around in the deeper water, watching two chub patrol around whilst tempting one smallish fish (didn’t see what it was....I suspect a small chub) to a nymph twitched back under the trees. An interesting beat, with the lovely backdrop of the old mill and sound of the water wheel in motion. Delightful!

2 Trout

Well another muggy one when I bowled up at the lovely Arrow Mill beat at just before nine . . . Was actually overcast to begin with , which was a pleasant change , slight breeze too.

Tackled up with my usual six foot two weight , and a tiny tungsten hares ear nymph , starting down by the bridge , still low on water , and very clear . Did see one decent trout scarper upstream . .

Had first take half way in the nice shaded pool between the bridge and the weir pool , as usual , pretty little Arrow fish , about eight inches , quickly released . Second fish was in the weir pool , great little fighter , I guess being well oxygenated has plenty of puff !!!! Again about eight inches and a splashy goodbye from him too !!!!!

I did enter the river agian in the usual spot about a hundred yards up from the weir pool , the river here is almost chalkstream like , and a couple of belting chub seen too !!! I changed the heavy nymph for a lighter PTN , cast upstream in the fairly deep shaded water , and almost had a take straight away , again nice little fish ditto in size agian , working upstream , actually gets very deep in places even with the lack of water coming from the skies !!!!! Another good solid take , only stayed on a while , and he was off . . . . .

A fun three hours , three lovely little Arrow fish caught , and a pleasant mooch up this lovely beat , shall give it a bash again next week during the evening , happy days !!!!!!!!

3 Trout

Quite a cool day , refreshing breeze, pools 2’-3’ deep running to a couple of inches over gravel. No sign of any fish at all from 10.30 - 2.30 tried various flies not sure if the Brexit issues have put them off ????

I arrived at 8 o'clock after 2 days of heavy rain ,which followed and marked the end of the heatwave of 2018 as it will be known. It would have been later if I had got a coffee from the place we passed on the road,but Red said she did not think it looked an establishment that cleaned their equipment,Red is usually right about these things.The river was fresh and clean unlike its lowland cousins unwashed appearance would have been. I walked the lower beat,the little 6 foot 3 weight would work well with trees and willows caressing the surface.No trout were moving despite armadas of water boatmen and some having mass regattas at every bend. I failed to catch anything except trees,and returned at 4 pm to repeat the same but included a swim when the bank under the electric fence,which on advice I so carefully limbo d,vanished beneath me, I eventually hauled myself out clutching the actual nettle ,the dry scorched grass coming away in my grasp ,Red said she expected I squealed like a baby,she is usually right about these things .This is a great beat as lots of variety,mill pond,riffles and slow deep sections ,I learned a lot,mostly that a really really long wading stick is a good thing and that,chest waders and life saver are highly recommended .So,no fish,despite using all my dry fly's and nymphs, but a privilege to be on this beat.

Well turned up at one , an absolute scorcher . . . . . . Again !!!!! 31 degrees reading on my truck when I tackled up , thinking I must be mad !!!! Walking down to the start of the beat by the bridge , there was some activity , two rises right under the alder trees !
I initially opted for a single PTN , as water is low and very clear , although could do with a dam good flush through now , as the mucky slime is starting to form on rocks etc . . .
First little brownie , about seven inches a bit unexpected was half way up in a shadowy pool between the bridge and the weir pool , nice little fish quickly returned , second was up in the weir pool , slightly bigger , feisty little fish , maybe eight inches , admired then returned . . .
I did give the top section a crack as some fish seen above weir pool , and one huge chub seen too !!!i went a hundred yards up were access is just about doable , and cast to likely areas , having a strong pull on the nymph , initially wondered if it was a good brownie , only too bring a cracking chub to the net , superb , gave the six foot rod a good workout !!!!! Had another decent lively chub on after that , again perhaps around a pound and a half , quickly released , then mooched back down to the weir pool , cover the fast deeper water again . . .
This time however , a different fight again , as my PTN nymph was taken . . . . Only to be into a lovely beautifully marked perch . . .
So all in all a real mixed bag , with two brownies , two chub and a perch . A fun three hours although the Arrow is definitely in need of some h2O now !!!!!! Shall head back hopefully when some precious water gets things going , perhaps this weekend some downpours are due . . We shall see !!!!!!

2 Trout, 2 Chub, 1 Other

Turned up at the lovely Arrow Mill beat at half eight , sunny hot and still the same as the last few weeks to be honest , and in fairness could have done with coming about two hours earlier . . .

Fished from the start of the beat , down by the bridge , river still holding a bit of flow considering , although another foot would be great !!! A couple of rises seen tight in under the alder trees , and the bottom section up to the weir pool has some nice trouty features , although up past the weir is fenced off tight too the banks , looking very tricky to fish with a fly rod . . . . Some nice fish seen in there on a precious recce of the beat . . . .

Rigged up my trustee six foot , two weight two tiny tungsten nymphs , working the likely places , had the first brownie on in the small pool about twenty yards down from weir pool , great little fighter , about eight inches , and quickly released . Second fish was from the weir pool , perhaps same stamp in size , maybe a touch bigger , did also have a third on , but slipped the barbless hook after nearly coming to hand . . . . A super beat , although the section from the bridge is only a couple of hundred yards , great for an hour or two , shall give it a shot one evening next week on the dries . . .

Spoke with the owners , lovely couple , and some huge grayling have been seen above weir pool , will have to think of tactics on how to approach them , a fun hour and half , two little Arrow brownies caught and released and in a superb setting with the old mill standing grand and looking cheery in the sunlight , back soon !!!!!

2 Trout

Fished for a couple of hours after lunch (not the best time of day). River in good condition with mayfly rising - no fish rising or seen. Some lovely damsel flies: these, the garden flowers and the sound of the weir and water wheel was enough!

I had just over two hours during the afternoon on my first visit to this appealing beat. It was an overcast day and the water was still running a bit cloudy. There was a reasonably good hatch of mayfly and a small amount of surface activity. With first a Grey Wolff and then a Grey Drake I managed to miss an embarrassingly large number of offers (most of them from fairly small fish so far as I could see) and then lost a better size one. It's not always easy to get to the banks above the weir. Beware of the electric fence which rewarded my carelessness by giving my back a terrific thump as I climbed under it!

good evening session but no fish. did see some fish rising and managed two takes. one from a decent fish