Storm Frank

Storm Frank passed over Devon yesterday, to give us the biggest spate of the winter. We have (so far!) missed the devastating floods which have been hitting the north of the country, but the Tamar burst her banks for the first time this winter and inundated the flood plain - which is what flood plains are designed for by nature.

A howling gale and incessant rain made it a tricky day for shooting some of the Westcountry's best pheasants down at Pentillie Castle, at least it was not too cold.

We hardly dare to look at what havoc has been wreaked on the river banks, there were already several tree fallen, some of which will have been relocated we know not where.

Please do not call to book a day's grayling fishing for a little while!

Click on the video below to see the river in action.

The river Lyd at Lifton Bridge, with the spate pretty well at its peak.

The Tamar at Polson Bridge. 

The view upstream from Polson

The Lyd in Lifton. One very big and dirty river, almost filling the bridge arches.

T'was the week before Christmas...

While Scotland now has snow, and Cumbria is struggling to dry out, the South West has endured the mildest autumn ever. Some of the night temperatures would have been acceptable for July. Along the hedge bottoms and grass verges the new growth of grasses and weeds is reminiscent of April. And all through the past couple of months it has rained, and rained, and rained. We have forgotten what the sun looks like, and are in danger of succumbing to S. A. D. Grayling fishing remains a distant dream, as millions of gallons of dirty water roll down the rivers, and river maintenance work is restricted to the upper levels of the bank. Most telling of all the signs of Nature, for the past two mornings a cock blackbird has been singing his heart out in the hotel garden, and getting a response from his rival in the next garden.

Campions add colour to the winter riverbank

The tiny, dainty Cranesbill is out of place for late Decmber

The hazel catkins look ready to burst.

Click the arrow on the video below, to see a hen salmon (mid-screen) completely immobile, lying hard on her redd in a strong clear flow on the upper Lyd. The cock fish, who was hovering nearby drifts past, showing a spot of fungus on his nose. Their eggs will be the grilse of 2019, or the salmon of 2020, and we wish them well.

The camera cannot lie?

These photos show Quarry Pool, one of our best and easiest fished salmon pools, in before and after mode. We have trimmed the encroaching bramble patch, which was catching the back-cast of those who favour overhead casting, and also tidied up various limbs and bushes around the neck of the pool, including some on the opposite bank, which required passports, visas, inocculations etc., to allow us to cross into Cornwall. The panoramic layout of the photo gives the impression that the Tamar curves smoothly to the right, those who know the pool can rest assured that we have not actually moved the river.

Quarry pool 'Au naturel'.

After some fettling.

On a wider note, a foray onto the higher reaches of the Lyd last week failed to reveal any spawning salmon, but I am now happy to report that yesterday on beat 3 we saw the first redds. The weather has been extremely mild, night temperatures well above the seasonal average for the daytime, along with wet, dull and generally miserable conditions. A sharp drop in water temperatures would now really get the fish spawning, and everybody could by now benefit from seeing some sunshine.

November

Guests who only see us during the summer sometimes ask 'what do you do in the winter?'

The answer is dictated to us by weather and water conditions. When the rivers are low and clear enough we often steal an hour to fish for grayling. Otherwise, there just happens to be 20 miles of river-bank which needs to be maintained and kept fishable, so this is the mainstay of our winter work. Overhanging branches always seem to be growing just where one wants to cast, and when these hang down from a main trunk at a great height, the job is significant.

Soon enough now, the sea trout and salmon will be spawning, and we hope to capture some photos of this in the next two or three weeks. The woodcock will be flighting in on the next full moon, so there may also be the need to accept an odd shooting invitation! 

David fishing the Lyd in water which was clear enough, but really too high for much hope with the grayling. 

A cast below Hartley weir on beat 3. The height and force of the flow clearly shows on the weir. A few small trout came to the nymph, the lady of the stream kept her nose down and her mouth closed. These consistent high flows have encouraged salmon and sea trout to push upstream to their spawning grounds.

The otter leaves his mark on a  riverside stone, note his urine has killed off the moss. His spraint is there for other passing otters to take note. Adult male otters are fiercely territorial and will kill young males trying to move into their stretch of river.

Serious tree surgery on Silver Doctor pool on the Lyd. The limbs being addressed were hanging down to within a few feet of the water surface, but grew out from the trunk some 30 feet higher. Our tree surgeon used his ropes and climbing kit to go another 15 feet up to reach them. Please note that we are still using the imperial system of measurement!

October Salmon Fishing

October has often been our best month for salmon, 2015 being no exception. A series of spates has combined to give excellent water for the last few days of this season and several salmon have been caught, and all released in line with our current policy. A beginners' salmon fly fishing course over the weekend of 10th and 11th October produced two fish for the pupils, with another hooked and lost and fish seen showing in most pools on the Tamar.

David fishing the Lyd in stunning autumn sunshine

Adam Fozard with his first salmon, a coloured hen of between 5 and 6 pounds, from Snipe pool on Beat 8A

The distinctive blunt head of Adam's hen fish

John Bramall with his first salmon, a well coloured cock fish from Lyd Foot pool on beat 7A, taken on a conehead Cascade tube. David reaching for his tape measure.

The fish measured 26 inches.

Observe the much longer jaw and kype of the cock fish. 

A Change of Season.

Two-thirds of an inch of rain overnight has put some extra water and a lot of colour into our rivers this morning. Both salmon and sea trout were leaping at Hartley weir on the Lyd, one sea trout clearing the weir with one single five-foot jump, another running up over the side of the weir from the third box of the fish-pass with a rooster-tail of water pluming behind. 

Before the weather broke we had over a week of Indian Summer. With grayling in mind David fished the Tamar and had a fine out-of-season brownie, six ladies of the stream up to 12 inches, and a shining dace. If we were counting salmon parr it would have been four species in a half-hour.

A ten-inch brown trout in full breeding livery 

The lady could not resist a flashback pheasant tail nymph

Dace like the same fly

Some Water, and Some Fish.

The month of September has seen progressively greater amounts of rain falling on Devon's green and pleasant land. Salmon have been taking advantage of this to run our rivers, with eight fish landed this month and another four lost by our rods. The ground is now well soaked and water levels are remaining consistently high,being topped up by more heavy showers as I write. The scene is set for a good run of fish for the final three weeks of the season.

Trout fishing has been tough at times in the high water, and night fishing for sea trout has effectively been put to bed for the last few days of this season. All eyes are on the weirs as fish head for the spawning grounds, and with all our salmon (total to date 16) now being released we look forward to an exciting back-end to the salmon fishing, which closes on October 14th. 

David Pilkington enjoying exercising his 13-footer in big water on the Tamar

Alex Jones playing a salmon on the Lyd

The 27 inch hen fish is safely released

A slightly stale cock fish in the net

May June Update

 May and June have been a frenzy of activity at the Arundell Arms. As the water has  warmed our rivers have sprung into life. Excellent trout fishing has been had on gnats and Mayfly. 

A small spate at the beginning of June brought up a handful of salmon, and the hotel rods caught three while the water lasted, including hotel instructor David Pilkington's  splendid cock of  32 inches.

With June moving along the thoughts of a few will turn to the night. Those who have already ventured out have landed a handful of fish, but with cold nights set to end the best is still yet to come...

Black Gnats swarming a patch of summer sunshine.

Black Gnats swarming a patch of summer sunshine.

The cream of the season

Late May has always traditionally been the very finest time for trout fishing. Mayflies, black gnats, many different olives and sedges are all hatching, with mayfly and olive spinners dancing in the lee of the trees in the afternoons. Can there be a better time to be out on the river? The may blossom on the hawthorn says it all.

A marbled sedge fly

 A tricky cast under the overhanging branches.......

.....rewards the angler with a trout.

]An empty mayfly nymph case. Note how the interior remains perfectly dry, and allowed the dun to exit the case and fly away without ever touching water.

A beautifully coloured ten-incher.

Dry Fly time approaches

The recent weather has done all sorts of crazy things. Three weeks of blazing sunshine has brought out the leaves, and some days were close to tropical, but the nights were very cold. A few trout rose at times, and if you hit it right there was a good chance of some decent fishing, but overall the rise has been at best sporadic, and nymph fishing has been far and away the most successful tactic. As May approaches we should see things improve, although a frost this morning and bitterly cold northerly winds are not helping. There are increasing numbers of flies hatching. Along with various olives there are still a few Grannom, and the first of the Yellow May Duns were out on the Tamar last Saturday. Odd Hawthorns were also in the air, but the prime dry fly for the start of May is the Black Gnat. Stones in the river are already encrusted with their pupae, so their emergence is imminent. The trout are tucking their napkins under their chins as I type!

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 A female Large Dark Olive dun.

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A male Large Dark Olive dun, note the much larger eyes (all the better to see you with!) and claspers at the base of the tails.

Spring update

Alex and David found the Spring sunshine irresistible yesterday, and combined a final tidy-up of Beat 15 on the Ottery with a spot of fishing.In spite of the warm sunshine, the water was still quite cold, indeed there had been a slight frost overnight. Only a few flies were seen hatching, and with the river still fining down from the last spate, we started with nymphs.

David working upstream on a likely run at the bottom of Beat 15.

The first fish of the day, a lean but feisty ten-inch brownie.

The stunning colours of the true wild brown trout. Note the cream edge to the anal fin.

Tracks on the stones show where browsing nymphs have disturbed the silt as they fed on algal growth overnight.

A Stonefly nymph

An Olive nymph

Another Olive nymph

An Olive nymph next to Simulium larvae

The tracheal gills are visible on this Olive nymph

A sea trout smolt, which took a dry Grannom pattern, showing the distinctive black edge to the caudal fin. We await his return as a three-quarter-pound school peal in late July.