Feedback & Reports

OK - The Escley is an absolutely beautiful stream, but crickey it's not easy to fish. You need to be fit to get the best of it. The river is bordered on both sides by a barbed wire fence and it has very steep sides and in the lower half of the beat it seems that every 100 or 200 yards there is a fence across the river, which means climbing up the sides over the barbed wire, up past the fence, over the wire again scramble down to the river and carry on, all hopefully without breaking rod, getting net caught on barbed wire, tearing waders etc. But when you do get to the water, it is a joy to fish. Lovely deep pools below waterfalls, the air full of mayfly and other hatching fly, rising fish that will eagerly take a DHE, Grey Wulff, klinkhammers etc. Good luck !!

6 Trout

Real gem this stretch of river, plenty of fly life and a nice average size of fish; caught nothing smaller than 8 inches with biggest of the day been a hard fighting 16 inch trout caught on a parachute Adams. Spotted it viciously taking the Mafly that were trickling down the river. All over trout caught on either pheasant tail nymph or parachute Adams fished New Zealand style. Must return to this stretch!

10 Trout

Very warm day, water pushing through nicely with just a hint of colour.
Fish a bit slow to switch on but when they did you felt you had a chance in every pool. Mixed hatch with some Yellow May's and a darker version I couldn't Christen.
Most effective fly a small (size 14) French Partridge (I have fished a bigger FP hook size (10/12) here before but always felt it looked a bit disproportionate).
11 wbt caught and released. Beautifully conditioned, flecked in red. Biggest around 12", most plump 8"-10".
It is a scramble at times and I still haven't reached the top of the beat in 5 attempts. I don't think there is a better £10 wbt ticket in the UK.

11 Trout

Wow! What a long beat! We bugged out after about halfway. Great stream. 10 Trout caught, all on a Micro Glint Pheasant Tail Nymph. Good hatch of Hawthorn Fly. Fished Duo with the MGPTN below a Black Gnat. Unfortunately the lady who's home (just below the biggest pool/waterfall) abuts the stream doesn't like fishermen. Can I suggest to the Foundation that a beat map is drawn for the whole beat (it only shows the start currently), suggesting that anglers get out of the river below her property and return after it. This would avoid difficult conversations with someone who is unfriendly to fisher people and avoid the potential of spoiling an otherwise great day.

10 Trout

All fish on dry flies; Humpy and Kites Imperial from necks of pools. Most fish 10-14 inches. Lost and pricked many more. Lost a very big fish which just kept it's head down, felt like it could have been 2lb plus, perhaps it was a chub.

12 Trout

Fishing with approved WUF Fishing Guide Oliver Burch. Showery weather. All trout were rising fish caught on brown klinkhammer. Great day!

4 Trout

Started late in the day due to a work commitment that cropped up, funny how work has a nasty habit of ruining a good life. Got going around 1.00 and sent off up stream into what started to resemble an assault course (I've seen less fences on a race course). Around every bend it seemed there were fences across the river and I started to get a tad irritated with them after a while. Apart from the fences the water reminded me of the brook I fished as a kid in wellies with a net.

I managed to catch 9 trout between 7 to 12 inches. Packed up around 5 ish when I came across a coppicing party chain sawing and burning a scene reminiscent of apocalypse now
if it was your people then you really should block the day out

9 Trout

Plenty to hand today, between 15 and 20 in total. All took Olive emerger between 11am and 2pm. A solid hatch began at 1pm and the stream was alive for an hour with some heavy trout brought to the net, largest 16 inches. All were above 11 inches so very enjoyable. Mayfly were peeling off midday but trout were fixed on Olives. Quite early to see Mayfly on the Escley, it's usually the last week of May or the first week of June.

17 Trout

Had a couple of hours on the top half of this beat - wonderful sport. The water is in great nick just now. Great sport on nymphs and dries; plenty of olives coming off below the faster water and the trout were eager to take on the surface or in the pots. 12 fish to 12".

12 Trout

Nil. Water level good, a bit coloured, sunny but cold, no fish seen rising.