We have water!

Our last blog post was answered with style. The rivers are currently high and the Lyd is looking superb for salmon. The Tamar will need at least a couple of dry days before we can fish it with a fly.
A couple of fish were caught in the last two days; a six-pounder for Nick Brown from Bottom Beat and a four-pounder for Joe Sinclair on Beat 3. We are expecting fish today!
We still have some availability for the last couple of weeks, so don't hesitate to give us a call. Prospects are very good indeed!

River Report

We are hoping Sunday's forecast will come true as there may well be some rain on the cards. With a bit of luck this might give us an essential rise in river level for the last weeks of the salmon season.
The rivers have dropped back now to summer level and are running very clear. Salmon fishing is realistically on hold, but one or two night fishers have taken advantage of the low levels and had a cast for sea trout. The best fish in the last few days fell to Nick Oxby on beat 3 of the Lyd who used a size 4 WMD to land and release a four-pounder.
Trout fishing is tough in these colder conditions, with anglers working hard for their fish - nymphs have been the best approach. The fish of the season so far was caught by newcomer Elisabeth Royle on a black Copper John. The fish was weighed at 1lb 2oz and was caught in Flat Pool, beat 9a on the Tamar. Some superb grayling have also been showing with Mark Smith landing two big male fish on beat 3 yesterday, both approximately 1lb 8oz.
We'd really like some rain please!

River Report

A belated update on current conditions...
The salmon tally now stands at 35 fish for the season off Arundell Arms waters, with several more from our rods on Endsleigh. It seems daft writing this after the wettest summer for many years, but we could now do with some more rain to encourage fish to run to Lifton. The trout season comes to a close at the end of this month and cold water and winds are keeping fish from rising freely so nymphs are taking the lion's share. The rivers are in perfect order for trout fishing and we even have some hardy types looking to venture out after dark for sea trout... watch this space.
A bit more of the wet stuff would be much appreciated now to send this salmon season out as one to remember. We still have some availability for the last four (prime) weeks of the season priced at £40 per day for a private beat. Please give us a call on 01566 784666 for bookings and more information.

Friday Update

Despite bright sun and soaring temperatures, the Tamar is still too high and coloured for fishing. With a bit of luck it will clear enough by tomorrow. The Lyd is in fine form for a salmon or daytime sea trout and the trout streams are once again fishable and the fish rising very well for August.
Charlie Yeoward managed a 5 1/2lb salmon from Hairy Mary Pool on the Lyd on Wednesday on a WMD fly. Yesterday, hotel guest Alex Martin enjoyed a real sporting day (full report and pics to come) with a brown trout, two sea trout and an 8lb salmon on the Lyd, following by a stunning roe buck in the evening with our hotel stalker Simon. Not a bad effort all round!
We still have some last-minute availability over the weekend for salmon and trout fishing; we will need a fair few more dry days before the rivers drop to night fishing height.
The salmon total now stands at 31 to 15lb so far and 33 sea trout to 7lb 2oz.

Latest Update

While the Tamar is yet again in spate and resembling high-speed hot chocolate, the Lyd is fining down nicely and well worth a cast for a salmon or sea trout by day. While on the rivers yesterday, David Pilkington landed and returned 5 sea trout to 2 1/2lb on a Copper-head Black Tadpole on beats 2 and 3. It seems they are here in better numbers at last! We have plenty of last-minute availability for salmon and sea trout fishing this week/weekend and the forecast (for what it's worth) is for a dry, settled spell for a few days at least. It will be great to see the back of the current murky drizzle that has surrounded Lifton today.
With the rivers being rising and falling like a yo-yo this summer, several local anglers have been making full use of the 700-acre Roadford Lake (10 minutes up the road), and plenty of superb grown-on brown trout to 7lb have been landed. Well worth keeping in mind.

Typical Roadford brown trout - worth a cast when in Lifton!

July Report - Record AA Sea Trout!

Persistent rain throughout the Tamar catchment in July produced yet another month of unseasonably high water levels at the Arundell Arms. As a result, trout fishing was confined to the smaller tributaries and sea trout night fishing was pretty much a non-starter. On the upside, salmon fishing continued to be good, with a total of 15 landed (12 released) for the month of July, bringing the season total up to 29 at the time of writing. Most of the fish were fresh summer salmon of 8 to 10lb, with three grilse amongst them. One of the grilse was a first fish for Austin Weldon with a five-pounder from Oak Tree on the Tamar on a Park Shrimp tube - the fish was returned. Peter Ahluwalia caught and returned a lovely fish of just under 10lb from Lydfoot on the Tamar on a Black Ally’s Shrimp. Most of the other fish came to more locally-based rods who had the chance to fish in the short windows of opportunity between bank-high spates. July produced a very disappointing total of 17 sea trout at the hotel, a month were around 100 would be expected on a normal year - whatever that is these days. Night fishing was confined to about four nights at the end of the month when the Lyd dropped back to a level that made fishing possible. One fantastic fish made the effort all worthwhile for local rod Rob Swan however. On his fourth and final night of the Westcountry Sea Trout Festival, Rob hooked a big sea trout in a favourite lie on the Lyd’s beat 3 on a WMD Stinger sunk lure. After a tense battle in what is a narrow, snaggy piece of water, Rob landed, weighed and returned the new Arundell Arms record sea trout, a superb 26in hen fish of 7lb 2oz. Congratulations Rob!

126 brown trout were reported on the rivers during July, with most fish being caught on the smaller streams such as the Wolf and Ottery. In the high flows, wet flies and nymphs took most of the fish, although fish rose well on the few dry days during the month. Mr Puttock had a superb day on the Ottery at month end, with 25 trout caught and released to a Hare’s Ear.

With the rivers once again in spate at the time of writing, it certainly seems to be a salmon fisher’s year!

Rob Swan's magnificent 7lb 2oz sea trout: the new Arundell Arms record.

Rob Swan (left) receives his tackle prize from David Pilkington for winning the Westcountry Sea Trout Festival 2012.