Monthly Archives: December 2010

DEVON

30 Thursday Dec 2010

Posted by in Devon

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I am drawn to Devon by its beauty, its peace, its pace and way of life, its people who have ‘time’, and its pure variety of fishing…the steeply sided valley through which flows the pacy river Lyn in the north; the bigger, more adventurous Torridge and Taw rivers in the north east of the county; the delightful little streams of the Duchy waters flowing into, and including the Dart; and of course, the picturesque Teign.

Devon offers plentiful fishing through a number of hotels, and all of them are my 2nd favourites. (see: ‘Musings 1’)…and also through a Passport system, initiated by the Wye Usk Foundation, and now making waters in more parts of the country more accessible.

Part of the joy of a week in Devon is to drive from venue to venue and to be enthralled.

Did you ever see wild horses frolicking on Exmoor, careering over grass and tarmac, oblivious to people and cars?

You have seen the sheep sheltering roadside on Dartmoor from the winds, haven’t you?  They own the moors, and it is their space, not yours or mine!

And how can you not just adore the narrow lanes overgrown with colourful wild flowers, and to hell with the scratches, and let’s hope there’s nothing coming in the opposite direction, because I don’t think I could reverse this thing back up that incline!

It is impossible not to love this dreamy county.

I ‘conquered’ Devon during many visits in the nineties and the early ‘nought-ies’, but this year I fished a new river for the first time –

May 2010 – the Otter

The River Otter takes its name from the creatures which once thrived on its banks.

It originates from the little Otterhead Lakes close to the Somerset border and flows for 34 miles to enter the English Channel at Budleigh Salterton. The Deer Park Country House Hotel outside Honiton has five miles of deliciously fishy water, and non-residents are welcome to fish it for the modest fee of £20!

Tonka Too bumped its (wrong) way around a big hay field to the parking space between 2 and 3. Excited to see a fish rising just in front of me, it took two casts to net him on a small Grey Wulff,

then and I walked downstream to the wooden bridge at the bottom of 4, and worked my way up.

I found one deep pool at the bottom of 3, where a good fish was making ploppy rises, and whilst both Olive CdC and a pale Elk Hair caddis, failed to excite him, when a CdC May did, I had a ferocious fight on my hands and netted this beauty of 1 1/2lbs.

I fished beats 4 & 3, and enjoyed a great variety of water. Interesting pools and glides, shallow riffles, stony bottomed and easily waded, and streaming weeds produced good fly life on the sunny day, it was for me. I noted caddis galore, a few mays, and some caenis. Enticing runs are formed by a number of man-made weirs, of which there are four, on beat 2, alone.

After a short snack, it was to beat 1, for half an hour, before having to head west to meet Sue at Exeter, then on to Chagford for a fun filled weekend with Jan & Peter, and a house full (and a morning on the Teign at Fingle Bridge, introducing Peter to river fishing for the first time (and he did very well, too)

My day at the Deer Park water yielded 8 fish, all of which, apart from the specimen, were in the 6 – 8 “ size, indicating a nice healthy stream.

Isle of Wight

24 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by in Isle of Wight

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Yes of course it’s a county, and a websearch of the trouting opportunity took me to the Isle of Wight Freshwater Angling Association – www.isleofwight-fishing.com ,and an email to them explaining my mission elicited the following very helpful reply-

Tony / good luck a day ticket from scotties tackle newport or sandown fish …river yar alverstone… by the church park and fish from the mill to the black railway bridge disused now ……several deep streches can be found and trout lurk there

Derek

Derek Holmes, I now know, is Chairman of the club. How very kind…and tempting !

Derek’s encouragement is supported by the Environment Agency webpage http://www.iwight.com/living_here/environment/estuaries/images/isle_of_wightrivers.pdf

which states – “The Eastern Yar and River Medina both have populations of small wild brown trout, characteristic of chalk stream headwaters.”

The Club’s website suggests that Wightlink is their preferred ferry, and the crossing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne leaves every half hour and takes just 40 minutes. Scotties in Sandown is 10 miles from Sandown, so, I reckon the run down from London, with a pit stop and waiting time, then the journey to the riverbank should take under three hours, so let’s get online, and book it.!

September 2010 – the Yar

Well, it actually took a lot less because I drove from Amesbury, where the night before I has fished the Avon until dark and enjoyed a cracking evening at Durnsford taking two browns and three grayling from D1 on an olive Klinkhammer through the evening rise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Give yourself an hour and a quarter from Salisbury way” the Wightlink telesales woman said, and well within an hour of leaving my overnight hotel, I was planning on an early arrival and some breakfast at the terminal…until I hit the wall of traffic descending into the city on the M275.

To say I was concerned about missing the ferry was an understatement, but misplaced because the saver fare was easily transferable, and I was in no hurry nor pressure to return home, and in a way, wondered whether waiting until dusk was the better plan, because the day was bright and sunny, and not conducive to catching my prize.

Scotties in Sandown is a gem of a shop –

But, “we don’t do day tickets on that stretch of the river”, although a phone call, supported by the Chairman’s email produced one for the modest sum of £8, as it did a route map –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On arrival at the mill, whilst noting the muddy water, I was expectant and feeling lucky, flushed with last evening’s success, and some early casts of a gold headed PTN produced two dace.

But a wander upstream revealed a tight little stream where fallen trees remained where they fell,

and bankside vegetation grew unimpeded to narrow even more, a stream where there may be trout ‘lurking’, but none showed that morning in the murky water.

So I went in search of the Medina, which, just above the tidal reach in Newport looks trouty.

I flicked a nymph into the run below a sloping weir to no effect….I was probably poaching anyway!

I cannot give up on the Isle, and will do some more research on the Medina.

It’s a pretty island and with no roads of scale, everything is easy paced and somewhat pedestrian, and it is probably a pleasant place to live. Now…..and not to be beaten (!), when fishing with Peter Lipscomb on the Itchen, he mentioned that he has a house on the Isle and will speak to friends there to see if….

DERBYSHIRE

08 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by in Derbyshire

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2009 was the year I discovered just how good the trout fishing is in Derbyshire!

Rivers are fed through limestone and flow clear as Tanqueray, through the dales, with free flowing and prolific ranunculus, and consequently, enough insect life to support a good head of browns, and in the Wye, wild rainbows, too.

July 2009 – the Wye.

In the Midlands on business and staying at the Cavendish in Baslow, I arranged through the hotel, to fish the Monsal Dale waters.

It rained heavily through lunchtime, but cloudy skies cleared early afternoon, and I met riverkeeper, Stephen Moores, who introduced me to the Cressbrook & Litton Flyfishers’ Club fishing hut, and imparted some useful tips and clues!

My fishing log declares “I am in love again!”

No wonder.

Free rising fish give any river a special attraction to a dry fly fisher and I had a great afternoon catching on Klinkhamer and Elk Hair caddis patterns. Fly life in Wiltshire’ chalk streams has diminished markedly, in recent years, and I forgot how exciting it is to see beats alive with fish. The waters are varied above the hut with easy wading making most runs accessible for mile or so, although some clambering is necessary to enter where you feel fewer anglers have. Having walked and fished thus far, a herd of frisky cows, and a rather larger bull, were a bit of a put-off for bravery.

En route, I was broken by two fish which struggled so much harder than the browns I netted, that I convinced myself they were probably rainbows. I read conflicting data on wild ‘bows in the UK. Either they breed only in the Derbyshire Wye, and the Hertfordshire Chess, or they do so in more counties, but I have found no firm evidence to support the latter, only press conjecture.

Two and a half hours was enough, and in any case, the heavens opened again, and heading back to Baslow, I drove to Monsal Head (what a view!) and onward past small villages where the rains drained in flood through lanes which made driving feel like surfing.

A pint of good ale, and remarkably the sun came out again, so back to the beat below the hut !

Fishing to dusk, saw even more rising fish and enough eager to take Tups Indispensable and Sherry Spinner, that I felt blessed. I love this Cotton and Walton territory and I want to experience more of it.

I am embarrassed to reveal how much the hotel billed me for the day. Suffice it to say, that a call to Stephen, will be cheaper by 75% or so, than for me!

May 2010 – the Derwent

The Peacock at Rowsley is a legendary fishing hotel. Its rooms are spacious and comfortable; its food is excellent, and it is equal top of my #2’s (see ‘Musings 1’), and it sits on the bank of the Derwent just upstream of its confluence with the Wye. It offers fishing on the Haddon Estate water, but also on the Darley Dale Fly Fishing Club water, below Rowsley, which is where I headed. The visitor beat begins about halfway and extends upstream, so there was so much water to fish!

It was drizzling when I arrived at 330pm and the temperature could only have been circa 6C. (well it was May!), but the river was in good order and highly fishable, even if a tad coloured. Weed growth was evident but sparse, and the conditions then did not favour Halford.

So over to Skues, and with a PTN on the point and a teal and orange on the dropper I quickly had three fish from the narrowing flow ahead of a fast run just a hundred yards from Tonka Too, and they were so eager to be caught they could only have been in the river for a short while!

I walked to where the Wye entered. The sun came out and temperature was notably higher.

Four things happened –

i)                    I took off my wading jacket,

ii)                   fish were rising in the pool below where the streams merged

iii)                  I went ‘dry’,  alternating between CdC, and olive Klinkhamer.

[please see a new post at ‘Musings   4’  – like many, I am very concerned.]

iv)                 I caught fish….lovely grayling, and wild browns.

I caught…I missed….I waded downstream. And in three to four feet of water it was easy over its gravely bottom, and in the warmer weather, I had such a great afternoon that three hours and a dozen or so fish (five wild browns), was enough and completely satisfying.

My love affair with Derbyshire is alive and well.

And dinner at the Peacock was scrumptious!

WILTSHIRE

03 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by in Wiltshire

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I have been a member of the Salisbury & District Angling Club (SDAC) since 1995, and whilst living in Kent, but now in London, I have managed to get down to fish the club waters on some ten days or so, every season.

I have always been intrigued by Salisbury and the Plain, and have read Edward Rutherfurd’s marvellous fictional historic novel “Sarum” three times!!

I just love this part of the Britain because for me it resonates with mysticism and wonder, with its big skies, its tumuli, its sleepy mornings, rolling chalk hills and rape covered acres, colourful lanes, (I can forgive the noise of its military presence) …and it reeks of history. The Roman spirit lives on in (Old) Sarum, and those VERY straight, slightly elevated and angled (for run off) roads….and its biggest attraction to me is obviously its luxuriant streams, offering the angler the ubiquitous Avon and the elegant Wylye, and the challenges of the diminutive, but gin clear, Ebble and Bourne.

The Itchen excepted, I prefer the Wiltshire streams to those of Hampshire.

I feel comfortable in Wiltshire.

It is the most serene and most peaceful County in our Land.

The change in pace from the Capital is obvious and agreeable.

Sustenance during the important lunchtime break is available from a myriad of great pubs, where the quintessential English Ale is the norm; food is generally local, seasonal and therefore fresh; and overnight accommodation is easy to find and a welcome is guaranteed.

I am excited every time I hit the M3, knowing the exit to the A303 is 45 minutes away, and I am about to enter another place…may be I am a Druid!?

My favourite SDAC beats are –

Avon

Preferring solitude when fishing I will always plum for the beats between Amesbury and Salisbury, where, whilst taking mainly stocked fish, there is a good head of wild browns (and grayling), too. I enjoy the Simon Cain re-engineered and wild fish beat below the iron bridge in Amesbury; the wading beat below the Mill;

and the wading beat above the sleeper bridge at West Amesbury, but less so since the extraordinary excavations and diversions by the new owner of Moor Hatches. So I have not fished there for a couple of years, and must try it again next season….it has always had a good fly life and free rising fish, and just before dusk, can be manic!

The Durnsford beats are my favourites, though, and working downstream, 18, 11, 12, and 1 & 2, have been the most productive over the years. The joy of the Durnsford stretch is the extraordinary variety it offers.

Wylye

Stapleford and Druids have both given me hours of pleasure. The water depth some years ago during the worst abstraction, fell so much that the resident swans would swim upstream, in formation and, heads down, eat all  the weed, removing cover and food and ruining the fishing. Happily this is in the past!

Fishing into the right hand bend below the old hatch pool, from the Druids bank has yielded my largest fish. And there is always a number of good fish holding below the left bank on the bend above the hatch pool, too. Olives, Iron Blues, Beacon Beige, BWO and Elk hair caddis have proved to be the catching flies through the season….

Nadder

The Nadder is a greensand river and tends to colour up, but offers a different challenge to the chalkstreams. The Meadows beat wins hands down for me, and I am delighted that wading has been introduced. Dry fly catches the browns…nymphs might attract a chub, and there are plenty under the trees toward the bottom of the beat.

Ebble

This year I fished the Ebble for the first time at Longbridge.

What a pretty piece of water, which yielded a handsome fish of a pound from among the flowing weeds towards the top end, and away from the roadside distractions.

Bourne

I love the tricky waters of the Hurdcott beat, as much as I dislike the turgid Upper Bourne Fishery! It was in summer 2009, when in bright sunlight, and reeds as high as they would grow, I stood on the wired sleepers, across the mid-beat section, and cast into the narrowed stream where only about a five foot width of water could be fished at that time….and first cast had a fish which crashed into and out of the foliage, and when netted, turned out to be the largest grayling I have caught….circa 2lbs. The water is four or five feet deep, but to catch a specimen from there was a surprise as well as a wake up call!!

I have never tempted a brown into my net from the Bourne!

SDAC

‘Our’ Club is very special.

The twelve miles or so, of pristine mainly, chalk stream fishing it offers is very varied. Free fishing or via the beat and disc system, I have rarely, if ever, been unable to fish my chosen water for that day. Members are courteous and always willing to share what they see of the day, and the fishing is ‘patrolled’ by a small team of bailiffs, protecting the Club and its members from incursion.  Investment in fishing quality is constant, and the Club is always eager to expand its offering, for an annual subscription, which is modest for what is available. We are lucky to be led by an energetic team, and we Associates (resident far from Salisbury) are also lucky for the local volunteers who support riverside initiatives with the generous giving of their time.

BERKSHIRE

02 Thursday Dec 2010

Posted by in Berkshire

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A visit to the Barton Court fishery on the Kennet at the end of a season some years ago was unproductive and had to be put right! Another web search revealed a nice fishery available nearby, through Simon Cooper at fishingbreaks.co.uk

September 2009 – the Lambourn

The beat flows through the Donnington Grove Hotel ( and golf course) grounds outside Newbury. The hotel General Manager, Christopher Strong, beautifully spoken and adorned rurally in corduroys and magnificent red socks, greeted me warmly, thanked me for visiting and helpfully informed me where best to park, and access the stream.

It is rarely more than 15 feet wide, and casting is tight with overhanging branches, and bank side vegetation, in plenty, to catch the wayward. The stream is crystal clear and flows over a stony bed with plenty of weed for cover. Some staking work has been done to modify flows and create more. The stream is lightly stocked and in the bright sun of mid morning, my Cul du Canard (olive) produced two stocked fish, and five wild browns. After clouds covered the sky, the temperature dropped and the fish stopped feeding as the barometer fell.

The beat is delightfully challenging, and one has to be a little wary of hooked golf balls, some of which littered the bed a hundred yards upstream of the bridge. I could really love the Lambourn….it is a gem of a small chalkstream, and in many respects, more fishy, and more delightful to be on than some of its grander Wiltshire cousins.

A nice postscript to a great day and a complimentary note from me to Simon, elicited this response…

“Many thanks for your report and kind comments; that is a mission I have never          come across. You might hit a problem if someone pedantic classifies the City of London as a county!”

It is well worth checking out this review of Donnington Grove by Simon, at  – http://www.youtube.com/user/cyclopsworld#p/u/12/VucVBgriwPw

July 2010 – the Kennet

Well return to Barton Court I did, on the occasion of Iain (Sorell’s) visit from Connecticut for the British Grand Prix, where hopes were high for a McClaren and British one-two, in the guise of Jensen Button and Lewis Hamilton. You know that did not happen, and in any case, some Berkshire trout were more important.

The river on our visit was in good order, but it seemed the only fish taken then and in previous days, were to nymphs. Right by the bridge off the car park, there were several browns sunbathing adjacent to low hanging branches, and I tried what every visitor must to appeal them, but I have never seen such dismissive arrogance as they gave me, and I withdrew! But to the run just below them where the sluice has scoured out the deepest pool and back eddies, and some lunkers (an American expression used to describe large mouth bass!) could be seen feeding several feet down. And a couple of casts later a 5lb rainbow succumbed to a PTN. Tough blighter, but a greedy one which had probably been caught before and was still too stupid to be unable to discriminate between the real thing and mine!!

My goal was for Iain to secure as much enjoyment from the Kennet as he gave me on the Housatonic and the Farmington, so my task was more to guide.

To give this fishery its due, it offers very varied waters, and being gin clear, it lovely to sit and watch dace, perch, roach, and some large bream, mixing it with our preferred quarry. And, very early Iain was into a nice brown –

It was nevertheless a quiet day (only another rainbow, and a perch came to our nets), but we took the opportunity to explore the whole fishery, and this revealed the beauty of its carriers.

For a short film showing you just how lovely it is –

http://www.youtube.com/user/cyclopsworld#p/u/16/i1458aYvXYA