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.