Feedback & Reports

17 x trout 6-10 inches plus various smaller parr, Rusty Klinkhammer and Monnow Gosling. A few mayfly around.

17 Trout

This is a very nice stretch of river, consisting mainly of shallow glides and pools, some quite deep. Caught four brownies, one of which was about 10oz, the others about 4oz. All taken on a dry (klinkhammer).

4 Trout

Day started ok, river running well and clear, two nice brownies about 4inches, both on pheasant tail nymph. From about 11.30am the water started to colour and the level started to increase. By 3.00pm the water was brown, but more worrying was a sewage scum forming on the back eddies.

2 Trout

Water level very low. No fish, unfortunately.

9 x trout, Rusty Klinkhammer, all very small fish to 7 inches. Still desperately waiting for promised rain.

9 Trout

Lovely brook to fish, definitely need a short rod. Most activity was just up stream from the parking spot with a number of fish rising, caught a lovely 9-10cm trout. Some movement further up stream close to upper limit. Would definitely return to this spot.

1 Trout

5 x trout 6-10 inches, Rusty Klinkhammer. Water still very low, but cooler now and shaded.

5 Trout

River levels very low. No fish caught or seen.

Good day at Bideford Brook, despite the extremely low water. 19 trout between 6-12 inches; nymphing under an indicator.

First time at the Brook this season. The water was clear but extremely low; must be the lowest I had ever witnessed. Many productive pools of the previous seasons only had inches of water. However, this made the deep pools very predictable. The brook was also a bit more overgrown, compared to the previous season. I felt that a 7ft rod was now too long. A 6ft rod might be ideal.

Started off with S14 Klinkhammer but had no response. So switched to nymph. However, the lack of flow made it tricky to nymph. Even the lightest nymph (2mm tungsten bead) just went straight to the bottom and stayed there. A bit of adaptation, by putting an indicator to lift the nymph off the bottom, got some slow drifts going. It felt more like fishing a Stillwater than a river.

The method seemed to work, picking up fish here and there steadily. To my good surprise, many trout came from shallow flats, less than knee depth. However, it was necessary to move at a painfully slow pace in order not to spook them and to make the first cast count. A lot of them were bow-and-arrow casts. Even so, I probably spooked more than what I had caught.

On a positive note, all deep pools held good sized trout, up to 12 inches; a stunning size for this little brook. They also put a deep bend on the 3wt rod. A fish like this really made our day.

Finished the day with 19 trout; with the biggest being 12 inches (pictured). All fish were caught upstream of the bridge. The Brook badly needs more water and I really hope we get more rain soon.

19 Trout

River levels low, but found a few suitable pools to cast into. Can see why they recommend a 6ft rod! Caught 4 fish,ranging from 6 to 10 inches. All took a #16 elk hair caddis dry.
More fish around but spooked easily with the bright sunshine through the trees. Wet waded the whole beat but a tree or two made for some tricky wading!

4 Trout