Winter solstice

Technically, the solstice is in a couple of days time, but the days are so short and the nights so long right now that it matters not. The weather in Devon recently has been all over the place, a lot of very mild days, plenty of rain, and some frost and snow. The Tamar peaked at over 8 feet last week, and Dartmoor was wearing its white cap, today we are fog-bound and totally devoid of any wind. 

The good news is that despite poor salmon catches in what was really quite good water, we have had a relatively good lot of salmon spawning, and the spawning season seems to be a long one. The first salmon redds were seen on the Upper Lyd as early as 21st November, surprisingly early given that the water temperatures were then still quite high, which inhibits the fish ripening. Colder weather brought temperatures down to more normal levels, around 8 degrees C last week, with plenty of salmon cutting redds on the Thrushel and main beats of the Lyd. On December 14th a salmon was seen going up over Hartley weir on the Lyd on Beat 3, indicating that it was a fish still moving upstream and yet to spawn. So with all the doom and gloom about salmon stocks ( watch out for the new catch-and release regulations set to come into force next season) rattling about, there is still hope for future generations of fish.

So, with all this talk of next season, may Alexander Jones and myself wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and Tight Lines for 2018.

David Pilkington 

A pair of salmon on the upper Lyd. Note the small peal and trout lying just downstream, still hopeful that the hen fish will shed a few more eggs. Nourishmest is in short supply at this time of year.

Grayling fishing was possible at times, when river levels were low and clear enough. Our grayling total this season has been at record levels, a product of both excellent stocks of this beautiful fish, and the fact that more anglers are targeting grayling with many of the new styles of nymph fishing. 

A frosty morning on the river Wolf, hoar frost on the dead riverside vegetation. A long wait before the river comes to life next spring.

Otter tracks and a scrape/scent mark on the clean sand left after the last spate, beside Beech Tree pool on the Lyd. Fly floatant bottles for size comparison.

Autumn rains, Autumn leaves

The past two months have seen exceptional rainfall over the Westcountry, with spates occurring consistently every few days. The water was often hopeless for trout fishing, while night sea trouting was pretty well killed off completely before July had even ended. A huge spate in early August saw the Lyd peak at just over 1.8 meters, while another in early September put the Tamar up to 1.76 meters. Trout and sea trout fishing is just about to close down, while we have another fortnight left for the salmon. With 14 fish on our catch charts so far, plus two more from Endsleigh, we have already exceeded last year's rather poor catch of only 13 salmon, while the sea trout total is likely to be just a few fish less than last year (137).

The view down the Tamar at Lyd Foot pool in the first week of August. The monster Lyd spate was proportionally much higher than the Tamar, and has produced a massive bank of gravel and stones right across the pool, running diagonally from the Devon to the Cornish bank, and clearly visible in this photo. The normal tail of the pool can be seen several yards downstream in the distance. It has not stopped salmon from lying near the head of the pool in the Tamar run, which produced fish of 7 and 12 pounds a few days after this shot was taken.

An 18 inch Lyd sea trout. Just a few casts previously David had a take from a salmon which he had just seen show, when this peal took it behaved more like a salmon and until almost in the net David believed he was playing a small grilse.

In early September John Rigby and party came for a couple of nights sea trout fishing, but had to contend with daytime instead due to high and coloured water. It was not a bad call, with John's fish above being well eclipsed by one of four and a half pounds for Steve Lidgate, unfortunately we do not have a picture. This is likely to be our biggest sea trout for this year.

Eliza Pettit with her first salmon, taken on a Beginner's Salmon Course last weekend. The fish was a 22 inch fresh grilse, from Lower Tunnel pool on beat 7B, which took a small Park Shrimp tube fly. The hook and fly came out as soon as the fish was netted, and can be seen in the net. The fish never left the water, and swam away strongly. Eliza's father, James, had an eight-pounder from Tunnel pool only half an hour later.

David Pilkington, hooking a leaf about every third cast, in Silver Doctor pool on the Lyd. As a highly experienced fly fisher who took his first salmon 50 years ago, and with an intimate knowledge of the Arundell Arms water, David spectacularly failed to catch any of the three different salmon which showed in the pool a few minutes after this shot was taken. He is currently seeking advice on technique from Eliza.

Fun in the sun

Low water has persisted for much of the first part of the trout season, but there has been some fine fishing on our rivers. Sea trout are now running in increasing numbers every night, and we are making forays to the coast in pursuit of the bass.

David Pilkington failing spectacularly to catch a nice trout rising in this tasty little run on the Ottery

A stealthy approach in low clear water.

The reward, a cracking wild brownie in top condition.

David Chapman of the Westcountry Rivers Trust demonstrating kick-sampling for invertebrates on our Wild Trout weekend. Note full summer elegance.

Striding through a gentle surf for bass on the north Devon coast.

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Charlie Coups with her first night-caught sea trout, a beauty of  3 pounds 4 ounces from the Lyd.

David exhibiting the level of concentration needed to catch wild trout. Note the downward glance at a fast moving reflection of a bird on the water surface, the upward glance to determine if it was a cormorant, and the trout taking full advantage of this to take and eject the mayfly. Expletive deleted. It was a mallard.

April trout fishing

In the words of T.S. Eliot, April is the cruellest month, stirring dull roots with spring rain. Well, true enough, except for the rain, which has been totally absent for the month so far. Some nights have been cruelly cold, frost early, to be swept away by a hard bright sun, not exactly what the fisherman would order, but then, it is April. A symptom of the cold conditions has been the number of grayling still being taken by trout fishers - as the water warms the grayling become preoccupied with spawning and are seldom caught, but are still featuring regularly in catches on our rivers. 

The staring eye of a grayling, taken on the River Ottery yesterday on a nymph. Note the overshot top jaw, indicating the primarily bottom- feeding habit of the grayling.

 David Pilkington about to land a cracking two-and-a-half pound rainbow on Tinhay lake for young Hugh Shilson, fishing on a four-day beginner's courses. Note that we are huddled in winter coats. 

Total focus and concentration on the lad's face as the fish veers away from the net.

Marilyn Whitmell with a five-pounder from Tinhay.

The moment a trout fell for the nymph on the Ottery, necessitating a rapid strike.

Grannom ( Brachycentrus Subnubilis) are still the main hatching fly, although the first of the Black Gnats are already on the water in small numbers - when they really get going, so will the trout,

Superb footage of a dog otter feeding in the shallows at the tail of Willow Pool on the Tamar. Otters regularly work the shallow stickles for loach and bullheads, if you watch this one carefully you can see his jaws chomping. Darren Saunders, fishing wet fly on our beginner's course, was concentrating so hard on his fishing that he failed to see the competition in his pool for several seconds.

The trout season is upon us!

March on the river - spring sunshine and the chance to fly fish once again. Realistically, the fish are still recovering from spawning, and very little fly will be hatching this early in the year. The water is still cold, and we have been close to freezing overnight. However, who could not enjoy a day like this?

In the absence of a rising trout, David tries a nymph in a tempting little pool on the river Wolf.

A nymph of the stone-clinging variety, a heptagenid.

This stone was crawling with Simulium larvae. These little guys will soon pupate in their distinctive flat-sided conical cases, before emerging in swarms as Black Gnats.

A close-up of another heptagenid. The head and leg segments are all angled downwards like the spoilers on a racing car, to allow the nymph to cling onto stones even in a fast current.

The sight of a rising trout prompts a change to the dry fly. A dry Grannom Emerger - how could any trout resist this? 

Here's one which couldn't!

The barbless hook held well, but came out easily.

Absolutely stunning colours of a wild river Wolf brown trout - the adidose fin is always bright red, but the spot on this one is quite unusual.

Winter is not really gone while the blackthorn blossoms.

An underrated flower, the blackthorn is so pretty at close quarters.

Alex really likes photographing nymphs!

Daffodils will very soon be over, but the riverbanks are a riot of them at present.

Preparations are afoot

Meteorological spring is now officially upon us. Dog's Mercury and Purple Toothwort are in flower on the riverbank, and all thoughts are being concentrated on the season ahead. Some lovely and deadly flies are being tied in anticipation, quite how any fish could possibly resist them remains to be seen. The river trout season opens again on March 15th, and for some it cannot come soon enough.

Frogspawn in the ditches

Frogspawn in the ditches, snowdrops on the banks. A new sense of impending Spring is creeping through the woods and fields. A blush of bright fresh green is now showing as the new leaves are breaking on the hawthorn, and the wild honeysuckle is flushing a delicate sage-green as the life of another season starts to appear. The first Grannom were seen on the Tamar, and a fish was seen rising last Sunday. It took a dry grannom emerger on the very first cast, not the hoped-for grayling, but a brownie. A few more brownies, along with a peal kelt and a couple of very silver ( and quite early!) sea trout smolts, took the nymph intended for grayling. A brace of grayling did oblige, along with a better one which wriggled free of the barbless hook before the leader could be touched - under accepted rules of engagement, this fish definitely lost, not caught.

Can you see this man? If so, he would like his money back from the Army surplus store. Fortunately, the cormorants were lulled into a false sense of security.

Mankind may have thought himself very clever when he hit on the idea of using a hook to catch fish, but as ever, Mother Nature was there long before. This is the last thing many smolts and other fish see, prior to disappearing alive down the gullet of our least favourite waterside bird. Our licence from Natural England allows us to shoot one cormorant per calendar month, during the winter period only, so that is it for February. 

Floods!

It had to happen - after one of the driest winter periods on record, heavy rains have put all our rivers into bank-high spate. The Tamar reached 2.5 metres by mid-morning, with the Thrushel covering the fields on Beat 5. We can only hope and pray for the safety of all the eggs in the gravel, but with the potentially named storm 'Doris' due tomorrow with more heavy rain and 70m.p.h. gales, who knows how much damage could ensue.
The little gang of Tufted ducks on Tinhay Lake, varying almost daily in composition but up to 3 drakes and 3 ducks at times, have now disappeared. They have been around for a good couple of months, but have obviously been tempted elsewhere by the now prolific flashes. The level of the Lake is still well down, and hopefully should not cover the grass for the start of this season. Reservoir levels throughout the South west are also still remarkably low, no doubt South West Water are feeling slightly relieved by this rain.
Alex is at this moment on a plane somewhere this side of New Zealand, he has suffered from some severe gales out there in the past month, so the lad should feel quite at home when he returns to Lifton tomorrow.
Hazel catkins are well out, currently almost horizontal in the wind. Having caught a pilchard on a fly a couple of weeks ago, I feel very content to rest on my marine laurels for a while, the sea can wait for calmer times.
Cheers to all. David

Slowly but surely, the World turns

Late January, still remarkably dry, and pretty cold. At last, the axis of our planet is tilting back towards summer, no longer is it pitch black at 8 in the morning, and the sun is now setting at 5 in the evening. Despite the cold (ice and frost most mornings) and the slow pace of change, Nature is beginning to acknowledge the encroaching new season. Mallard are all paired up, and woodpeckers are drumming in the Lyd valley, informing any other bird about who is nesting where, and with whom.
The midday sun now has a little more presence, enough to make yours truly strip down to shirt sleeves while wielding a post banger on Bottom Beat yesterday. The broken fence, maintaining shade and cover on Hairy Mary pool, is now back up after being demolished by a tree last season. Alexander Jones is still locked in mortal combat with some huge trout in New Zealand, he will need to re-adjust to our little brownies again soon.
So far the settled dry weather has kept the rivers nice and steady, great news for the salmon and sea trout eggs buried in the gravels, and the low temperatures are actually just what they need for correct incubation. It has been quite chilly when immersed to the groin in the Tamar trying to catch grayling, but a lot of fun, enlivened by a few out of season brownies and an odd peal kelt, along with a grayling or two. Bruno Vincent showed us all how to do it, with seven grayling to 12 inches from the Lyd last weekend. Memo to self; 'Must try harder'.
Tight Lines, David Pilkington

A very Happy New Year, and tight lines for the 2017 season.

Greeting for the new year to all our guests and readers of the blog. Alexander Jones ( who does all the clever stuff on the blog with photos, videos etc.)is just about to touch down in New Zealand for a month of trout fishing, so there will only be text in the next few weeks from the resident Luddite.
Minus 6 on the Tamar this morning, water splashing from the gauging weir has left a pendulum of ice the size of a rugby ball on the hanging brambles. Now that the main spawning season is over, I am delighted to report that we have seen more redds, of salmon, sea trout and brownies, than we have for several years. Although this may be in part to the fact that we have had relatively low water, making the redds more visible, it is still an excellent sign. We now pray for no devastating floods, as we have had so much of in recent winters, which must have done terrible damage to the slowly incubating ova.
Grayling fishing has been possible for most of the time, this again is due to the lowish river levels. Now that things have turned much colder, the fish have been harder to find, but can still be caught by searching the likely pools with deeply sunk nymphs.
Cormorants are about, and we are having no trouble filling our cull quota. Goosanders have also appeared on our rivers in the last month. The seemingly eternal debate with Natural England about a licence to control these serious salmonid predators goes on, with another meeting forthcoming. Maximising smolt output can only be beneficial to our salmon and sea trout, so fingers crossed for a sensible solution soon.
Meanwhile, from a Devonshire sparkling with frost in the low winter sun, all the very best for the season ahead. David Pilkington.