The Lady obliges

After almost a month of endless 4-foot spates, a few dry days have at last allowed the rivers to drop to a low enough level to allow grayling fishing. Last Saturday four rods ventured out on to a still high but clear River Lyd, and caught a total of 9 grayling, the best a cracker of almost 2 pounds. They also managed a plethora of brownies and salmon parr, and two sea trout. All the fish were taken on nymphs, some fished the Czech nymph style, others used a single nymph with an indicator. Heavy tungsten-beaded nymphs were needed to get down quickly in the high flows. Some showers are forecast for a day or two, and then it looks like an anticyclone is going to settle over Europe, to give cold but dry conditions which should be ideal for tempting a few more 'Ladies' from the streams.

Arundell Arms River Maps - Now Available!

Local artist David Measey has been hard at work over the last few months and has produced this lovely map of our rivers and fishing beats. High-quality prints are available at only £29.00 each. Please call us on 01566 784666 if you would like to order one.

2013 Season Totals

The very hot dry summer impacted severely on salmon catches during 2013, and the very low water levels made trout and sea trout fishing fairly tough at times.Salmon; 14, of which 13 were released. Only one fish was taken on spinner, the rest being on fly. Best fish 14lbs, for Charlotte Jones, on a small Black Bear Green Butt tube, in Quarry pool on the Tamar on the last day of the season, October 14^th.Most salmon were taken in the final 3 weeks of the season, when we had at least some water in the rivers. We also had one fish from our rod on the Lower Tamar, and two by our rods at Endsleigh.Sea Trout; 138, of which 102 were released. Best fish 8 lbs, for David Pilkington, on a Black Tadpole from the tail of Quarry Pool, on falling spate water on 28^th May. Considering the drought, sea trout ran quite well, with reasonable catches for rods night fishing from mid-June right through July and August. Surface lures in particular caught a lot of fish, with the beats on the river Lyd, as usual producing the best fishing.Brown Trout; 1,820, virtually all released. Best fish 14 inches, for Ian Hardman on a Parachute Adams from Home beat on the Lyd on May 26th. Several other very good fish were taken, including fish of 13 inches for Phil Davies on the Thrushel and another the same size for Mike Walton from the Ottery. Trout fishing was excellent during late May and June, before the water levels really dropped away, and also perked up in September as things cooled down slightly.Grayling; 58, all released, best fish 1 ½ pounds for John Fawcett, on a nymph from the Ottery in May. Several other good grayling were taken, including fish of 15 inches for Luke Bannister from the Lyd in October.
Since the salmon fishing closed in mid-October we have had deluges of rain, putting the rivers into full spate and making grayling fishing an impossibility. Salmon and sea trout have had more than enough water on which to run, and I am looking forward to watching them spawning, when it will be possible to get a better picture of what the true numbers of fish were really like this season.

David Pilkington