April Sea Trout!

With rumours of a few early sea trout showing on the Tamar, David Pilkington took a couple of hours to 'prospect' beat 4 at Endsleigh!
The result? David's earliest ever Tamar sea trout - a sparkling fish of 16in (approximately 1 1/2 lb) that David safely returned to the river.
The fish took a goldhead Wooly Bugger, fished in the tail of Leighgate Pool on an intermediate line.





As if one fish wasn't enough... this greedy brown trout hitched a ride on the dropper!

March Report

The odd salmon is now nosing into fresh water, along with some good-sized early sea trout. May should see the start of serious salmon fishing, with a chance of a fish well into the middle beats around Lifton.

Trout fishing started well, with Bob Wellard taking 3 wild brownies on opening day from beat 4 on the Thrushel, the best at 12 inches. A total of 37 trout and 8 grayling have come from the Arundell Arms beats during March, the best grayling a very respectable one-pounder by Matthew Knight from beat 9A on the main Tamar.

Fly hatches are starting to pick up, after a rather slow time with water temperatures quite low. Grannom have been more numerous than the large olives, and the month of May sees a real burst from black gnats, more olives, yellow may duns and of course the mayfly itself.

Trout season starts with a cracker!

Local angler and instructor, Bob Wellard, was the first angler out after trout on a glorious spring day on March 16th. Bob fished beat four on the Thrushel, and while fishing was not at all easy with few flies hatching and low water temperatures, he managed a beauty of 11-12in. In his own words...

Many thanks for a super afternoon on the Thrushel – I had a very relaxing time and managed to catch three trout – Best 11-12”
Used my 8ft 4” #4wt Scott G2, StreamCaster Line.
Fish caught on Klinkhammer & Gold Head GRHE Nymph.
Best wishes for a successful 2009 season.

Bob

Opening Day 2009

March 1st saw the opening day of the Tamar salmon fishing season. A small gathering took place on the banks of Quarry Pool, and hotel instructors David Pilkington, Tim Smith and Roy Buckingham were joined by a gang of local fly fishers to toast in the new season...


The day was a great excuse to enjoy a glass of bubbly on the riverbank!


A traditional Tamar salmon fly, the Yellow Torrish, was specially tied for the first cast of 2009 by David Pilkington.


The first cast.


Lunchtime saw (very!) spicey soup followed by a proper westcountry feast of pasties and saffron cake.

As expected, no spring salmon were encountered. A few fish were spotted crashing about in Lydfoot, but these were almost certainly kelts. Salmon fishing on the Arundell Arms water will start in earnest in late April and, in the meantime, the lower Tamar beats will be much more likely to produce a tide-bright silver springer.
A fantastic day was nevertheless had by all... here's to making it a yearly event!

Hotel in the snow

Here are a couple of extra pictures from last week's snowfall. Near Lifton in Okehampton, nearly two feet fell on Friday!

Snow in the valley

Here are a couple of pictures from earlier in the week, taken while working hard on the river bank.
We've given most of the Tamar beats a thorough trimming over the last couple of months - essential work to avoid decorating trees with flies!



Gerald Spiers (left) and David Pilkington take a breather on the freshly-trimmed banks of the Tamar's Railway Hut Pool.



A picture-postcard view upstream to Stump Pool.