Newcomers On The Lyd

This weekend's Beginners' Quickie Course was a washout on the first day... The brave participants persevered in the rain on the lake and the drying room was put to very good use by the end of the morning! The trout proved tricky to catch, with just one rainbow landed by 11 year-old Luke Hillier. The next day was a different story and blue skies graced the Lyd valley and a few wild brown trout made an appearance.



Tim's group took on beat one on the Lyd - a riverside packed lunch was, of course, essential!

The Devon Fly Rod Macnab - EXTRA DATE!

Following high demand for our exciting new challenge, an extra date (for up to six rods) has been added... Tuesday 19th August.
If you are interested, click HERE for more information.

The Devon Fly Rod Macnab - LAST FEW SPACES!

Our two dates for the above are nearly full now with only four spaces left on July 1st. If you haven't yet heard about it, click HERE for more details!

A single price of £420 covers two night's dinner, bed and breakfast, a full day's guided fishing for wild trout, bass and sea trout, a packed lunch and VAT.
Come join us; try the challenge for yourself and be one of the first to catch all three wild species of fish in one day!

Financial Times Magazine

Many thanks must go to Bob Sherwood, contributor to the Financial Times Weekend magazine, for a fantastic article on fishing at the hotel and Anne Voss-Bark. The full story was printed in last weekend's magazine, but a condensed version can be found here: Financial Times - Arundell Arms Story.
Although the weather was less than pleasant on the day, Bob (an AAPGAI instructor himself), Gary Champion and Anne Voss-Bark all caught fish on the Lyd, and the photographer did a superb job!

First On The Chart...

Tim Smith pinched an hour while David was teaching today and headed for beat 7a. After a fruitless run through Quarry Pool in the sweltering heat, the very first cast in the neck of Lydfoot brought a violent take... the first sea trout of the season was on! Tim eventually landed the fish and carefully removed the size 8 Stoat's Tail from its jaws before returning it to the Tamar. The fish was measured at between 22 and 23in, estimated at four pounds... a nice one to start the season with. Summer is here!

The Devon Fly Rod Macnab - DATE CHANGE

We've had to change a date for our exclusive challenge... the Devon Fly Rod Macnab
The first of the two available days has been moved from the 3rd to the 1st of July.
If you haven't heard of this awesome experience yet, click on the link above!

The Magnificent Seven (+1!)

Congratulations must go to the Mitchell party for taking to fly fishing with such apparent ease! The group of shooting pals hadn't tried casting a fly before, and after two days of guidance from David and Tim, were double-spey casting and side-casting wet flies to perfection on the Tamar. It was a shame that the trout didn't appreciate the deft skills, and proved rather hard to catch. Nevertheless, several small fish did fall foul of the flies! We hope to see you all again soon folks... 'twas a pleasure!

Bank Holidays Are Made For Fishing

(Click on the pics to enlarge them!)
The bank holiday weekend's Beginners' River/Lake Course saw a gathering of lovely folks descend on Lifton in some long-overdue sunshine. The first day saw everyone get to grips with casting quickly, so it was soon only fair to throw a fly or two at a trout...



Tom was first up, and the near five-pound rainbow just wouldn't give up! Taking his time to play the monster, Tom eventually had the fish in the net... what a great one to start on!



The last couple of days saw the course take to Lifton's rivers. Although conditions were perfect and the gorgeous weather more than welcome, no one thought to tell the trout! Although fish were hard to tempt, all of the participants managed at least one wild brown trout from either the Lyd or Thrushel.



Charles gets to grips with wading and the fine art of double spey casting!



Tony and Wendy enjoy a well-deserved al fresco lunch on the banks of the Thrushel.



Andy throws a line to be proud of...



... only to miss yet another lightning-fast brown trout!



Tom makes a relaxed cast with style... nice work.
And, of course, last but by no means least... the star of the show...



Thanks must go to Charles, Tom, Andy, Tony and Wendy for being a thoroughly enjoyable bunch to teach and to spend time with. We hope to see you all again soon!

The First Of Many!

After a busy day on a beginner's course, David and Tim dashed to beat 7a on the Tamar to try their luck. Just half a dozen casts later in the tail of Quarry Pool, and David's size 4 Pilk's Bumble was snaffled by something silver...



During the lively fight on the 7-wt sea trout outfit, Tim snapped away with the camera, and the fish tired



Just about fitting in the sea trout net, David estimated the first salmon of the year on the AA water at around 7lb.



Unfortunately, the fish wouldn't keep still for the 'grip and grin' shot, and flipped back into the Tamar to continue it's upstream journey!

Just to top a memorable hour's fishing, David and Tim spotted these characters as the light went. The red deer could hear the camera shutter over the noise of the river at 100 yards!