I visited the lakes a few days ago on a special mission. To help my grandson catch his first trout on a fly. It was a beautiful spring day, no jacket required. Success, he caught two. Mission accomplished.

Sunday. Sunny, the week before Easter. Not the best time to open my season but the river level was good and heavy rain was forecast all day Monday. The rivers would be out of action for several days. I had a new rod and it seemed fitting to use it on opening day. My favourite Beat on the River Plym was an obvious choice. The Beat is a mixture of pools and riffles which would give me a chance to work the new rod both upstream and down and across with a weighted nymph.

The water was crystal clear, the stones were bright and the woody debris had been washed away. I paddled in the margin, the water temperature was higher than I had expected. A few olives and March Browns were hatching but there were no signs of trout. I used a Rio #3 fly line with a long leader and tippet and chose a weighted fly to get down deep in the strong current. It was not ‘Euro’ or ‘French’ or any of the other modern fads, just a normal fly line and conventional leader.

I spent a while using the first riffle to experiment with the rod, a 10′ 6″ Sage ESN II #3. It was extremely light and the action suited a fast spate river. The length helped me keep in touch with the fly and position it accurately. First impressions were good. I fished a few pools, walking slowly upstream. The woods were silent, no dog walkers. I marked a few branches for pruning next weekend on the club’s workparty and picked up some litter.

The rod was great, it did the job well and enabled me to concentrate on working the fly. It’s more refined than my Hardy and it will be my rod of choice for the West Devon rivers.