Feedback & Reports

Very nice stretch of river with plenty of well established swims, although some of them are tricky to access. Unfortunately the fishing was quite slow for most of the day, but did pick up in the last hour or so of light. In the end, I managed 6 Barbel with the biggest at 7lb 10oz and a small Chub of around a pound after trying several different swims.
I did come across one man who was fishing without a ticket, but he did apologise and leave when he realised it was a private stretch (I also pointed him towards the WUF website). Maybe putting some signs up at the entrances would help prevent this in the future?
Thanks again WUF for a great day out :)

Back again full of hope but no dream start like the previous day but two fish early on then very quiet so decided to go roving. Good decision - finished the day with 8 Barbel - biggest 6lb 14ozs average size around 6lb and 4 Chub biggest 4lb 8oz which if it hadn't been spawned out would probably have topped 5lb. Brilliant fishing in a lovely lovely place. Thanks WUF for all the work you do.

6 x trout around 8 inches, fishing a Klinkhammer on a warm evening with rain on the way. Very pleasant couple of hours, except for the mosquitoes which are very much present this year.
I have an impression that the number of trout in Bideford Brook is reduced, although the average size is higher by an inch or two than it used to be in previous years. They are still small by most people's standards! The landowner currently has a report under investigation by the EA concerning a sewage overflow here. This is not connected with the outflow from the treatment works (which goes directly to the Severn estuary), but the raw sewage inflow to it via a pipe buried under the stream. This pipe overflowed via manholes into a field above the brook during May floods.

Water clear and at 11". A few oncers rising most of the day when the wind dropped but no consistent rise at all (some small olives, yellow mays and latterly sedges and gnats but, by and large, fish showing little interest at the surface). Most risers suspected as being small trout and parr. Had about 25 fish between with a few more trout than grayling, plus lots of parr. Fish taken on nymphs, spiders and on surface patterns. The majority of fish were caught by GM whose Elk Hair Caddis proved excellent on the day and completely out-performed small emergers. Got cold later and no evening rise. As usual a lovely place to spend a day.

Caught a dozen chub up to 4lbs and a couple of dace all on trotted sweetcorn over hemp.

A tricky downstream wind made presentation challenging but fishing a small GH grhe, New Zealand style under an olive May dun worked well. A total of 21 fish, 5 trout parr and 16 browns from 1/2lb to 1 1/2lbs. All in beautiful condition and returned safely. A great day out.

Never having fished this beat before and with some spare time we took a look the day before to get some idea of where we were going and what to expect. Directions were a little confusing but eventually we found the beat after a fair walk. The majority of the swims we could find were either overgrown or too high from the water to be able to net the fish properly and neither of us felt comfortable enough with what we found so we decided not to fish.

2 Rods Caught 12 Barbel to 8lb 3oz and 9 Chub. All caught on Pellet & groundbait feeder. Pleasure to fish this stretch as always credit to Colin for maintaining easy access to the fishing.

3 trout on klinkhammer/nymph. Nothing seen rising until just before I left at 7:30pm.

Lovely days fishing, no sign of the Armageddon forecast from the telly, breezy and bright but none of the promised showers. Much cooler than during the week.
Caught consistently through the day on small nymphs, (pheasant tails), and dries, Klinkhammer and small CDC olive. Fished some of the streamer deeper water with heavier jigs and bugs and tended to account for the better fish.
A good number of trout and grayling to a pound and a half.
Lots of gnat about during the day and plenty of sedge around in the evening, though generally didn’t see many fish rising.