....and Out like a Lion!

March came in like the proverbial lion, and went out yesterday like several lions, all of them in a very bad temper. Winds reached 70 m.p.h., trees were felled across the county, with many main roads and countless minor ones impassable, and 9 feet of surf on the north Devon coast. Fortunately we had no particularly heavy rain to discolour the water, and this afternoon Alex's camera captured these images from the river Thrushel. 

There was very little fly, although we saw several grannom on the Lyd in the morning. The trout came well to a small pheasant tail nymph, typically very fast, in the manner of true wild fish. Easter is predicted to be a little warmer, which should bring out a few large dark olives along with the grannom, and may offer some sport to the dry fly.

Fist cast of the season.

First Trout

Second Trout

Purple Toothwort on Willow stump

One can see why it's called 'Toothwort'.

An Eclipse

This mornings activities in the cosmos ( barely visible through thick mist at Lifton, just a Cheshire Cat smile from the rim of the sun) were eclipsed by Alex and David's endeavours on Beat 13 of the Ottery today. The last major obstruction is now gone, and for anyone who loves small-river fishing the beat is now looking very tempting. Once the mist had cleared, and the moon retreated to its rightful place, songbirds and butterflies revelled in a bit of Spring warmth. If only this nagging north-easterly wind would back to the south-west, the trout would also respond.

Tadpoles are hatching at the lake, and the toads are now spawning there. The Equinox is also upon us, longer days than nights again - pass me the fly rod.

In Like a Lion...

March is living up to its reputation, the first few days being cold, wet and windy, with rivers high and dirty. But now, despite a grey day, signs of spring are everywhere. Hazel catkins are bursting, classic lamb's tails swaying in the breeze, and spring flowers, including the rare parasitic Purple Toothwort, growing on the roots of alder and willow. There was even a fish rising in the tail of Black Doctor pool on the Lyd, although not much of a hatch of fly was seen.

There are rumours of salmon down on the lowest beats, trout fishing opens this weekend, midges are bringing trout to the surface on the lake - where the rooks are building high in the trees. Oh to be in England.

Winter Update.

David and Alex have braved the crossing into Cornwall and been working on the Arundell Arms' Ottery waters. The Ottery provides some of our most delicious and tranquil water in which to fish for wild brown trout. Come May there will be no finer place to be.

In need of a trim.

Otter tracks in the sand

Spot the salmon redd.

Re-arranging the furniture.

There is always plenty of work to do on the rivers in preparation for the encroaching season. The Wild Trout Trust manual for habitat improvement is very keen on the installation of large woody debris, but we think this may be going a little too far. Hopefully the offending ash tree will not be in one of the best trout pools on the Tamar by the time serious fishing is under way.

David and Alex have already done some trimming on the Lyd, and as soon as conditions are suitable they will be making forays into Cornwall and working on the Ottery. Dartmoor lies under a blanket of snow this morning, with more to come over the weekend, but the snowdrops are out and a cock blackbird is singing his heart out in the hotel garden.

Fish for the Future

A quick look around some of the main spawning sites a couple of weeks ago revealed plenty of sea trout on the redds, and a few salmon. Another look yesterday in the same areas confirmed that while salmon numbers are still below average, a few more fish have now spawned, and the seeds are set for the grilse of 2018, and the salmon of 2019.  What makes this all the more encouraging is that this winter's spawning has taken place in reasonable heights of water, and not the howling, thrashing floods of the past two seasons.
We have a decent winter spate raging now, after heavy rain overnight, but at least most of the eggs are now already in the gravels, and will take their chance with Nature. One thing over which we do have some control is rod exploitation, and after two poor salmon seasons, and a nationwide collapse in salmon stocks, we at the Arundell Arms are willing to stand up and be counted, and will be implementing a 100% catch-and-release policy for salmon as from next season. In reality this doesn't change things very much, as we are pretty well doing this anyway. Major rivers around the country, including the Wye and the Scottish Dee have already gone down this route.
Catch-and-release may not be the answer to all the problems which our salmon face, but at least gives us the comfort that what fish have made it to our waters, and back into their natal rivers, will not be killed by our fishers.                                                                                                                            
The debate on this is opening up everywhere, other fisheries on the Tamar are now talking about it, and if a voluntary agreement could be achieved it would hasten the end of netting on our estuaries. Meanwhile, a very Merry Christmas to everyone, and great hopes for a good season in the New Year.