Author: Nigel Rainton

The weather forecast was good and the river level gauge at Halfway Bridge read 0.12m, which was 4cm lower than my last visit. Two inches in old money. Things looked promising. However, when I arrived at Keeper’s Bridge I walked down through the wood and saw the water was still quite coloured. Nevermind, the Bluebells were at their best in the morning sunshine.

I thought the shallower water of the Top Beat would be clearer so I drove up the old railway track as far as I could and parked the Land Rover. I took my time setting my rod up and went to the Monster Pool. I fished it methodically for an hour but it was too murky.

I crossed the bridge and wandered up to the big pool at Ladymead and fished it for half an hour. There was too much drag to get the fly deep so, after a rest in the sun, I moved further up. The weather was glorious, a soft Southerly breeze and high clouds. The Bumble Bees were buzzing loudly in the tops of the Willow trees and I saw my first butterfly of the year, a Peacock. The trip had turned into a walk by the river. I lost my fly in a snag and took that as a sign …. ‘Stop fishing, go to the Pub’.

So I went to The Badgers and planned my next visit to the river. I knew the early part of the season would be difficult. The Monsters in the top Beat are thinly scattered over miles of river and they are hard to find. Mr Knight had entered a lost fish in the Beat Book but he didn’t say how big it was. Or which pool. Over my pint I resolved to persevere for another 2 weeks. After that the newly stocked fish will make it impossible to find a Monster.

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I took the Mk IV for an outing this afternoon, I travelled light. Just the rod, a landing net and some bait. There is nothing finer than a B James Mk IV Carp and a Mitchell 300 for carp fishing. The breeze was from the South and the air was clean, a lovely April afternoon.

I walked the bank until I found a group of carp, luckily the wind was from behind me and a gentle underarm flick was all I needed to reach them. They are crafty fish but I fed them to gain their confidence. Or so I thought.

Eventually a carp couldn’t resist the floating piece of malt loaf and I connected on the strike. I miss most takes. The split cane soon tamed the fish, the barbless hook dropped out in the landing net and the fish was returned without the fuss of an unhooking mat, scales and camera which so many carp anglers insist on using. I only had two slices of stale malt loaf but crusty white bread was just as good. I had three more carp from the shoal before they disappeared. They weren’t monsters but it was good fun. I celebrated with a pint in the Surrey Oaks.

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The recent rain had raised the level of the river and made it unfishable. The southerly wind was soft and the sun was shining when I left home but as I approached Petworth the rain started. There was only one car by the lakes, I had a cup of tea and set up my rod in the shelter of the club house.

While drinking my tea I watched the lakes, the Trout were head-and-tailing everywhere on Great Springs. Not splashy rises, proper ‘buzzer rolls’. I had the lake to myself for a while. I thought “This is going to be easy”, bad assumption. It was good to see that Tony had moved the wooden seat back to the dam end, that’s where it belongs.

I didn’t want to go home early and started fishing on The Point with a dry Adams. In two hours I had one half-hearted take. It was time for a change of fly. I switched to a size 16 buzzer and immediately started to get takes, from Roach !  The fish were only a few yards from the bank and the casting was easy. I hooked a Trout which snagged me in the bankside weed and got off. More Roach.

Then I had an idea, a ‘cunning plan’. Chop the hackles of an Adams and let it sink a bit. Instant success, three Trout later I had a break and another cup of tea at the hut. Then I found a better imitation of a buzzer in my dry fly box, a black neoprene buzzer that sank very slowly. The fish went mad for it and I quickly had another three Trout and some more Roach. Which was a bit greedy.

I had a chat with Tony before I left for home, he is off Bone fishing in Cuba, lucky man. As I drove away the rain stopped, the wind died and the sun came out. I took the fish to Nick and Jerry for supper.

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I parked next to the Keeper’s Land Rover which is often confused with mine. They looked like bookends. I stood in the pouring rain and chatted to Andrew, the Keeper, for ten minutes. Just long enough to get soaked. The weather forecast was correct and after lunch the sun shone in a deep blue sky. The wind was strong and downstream.

The Keeper said that the river had changed over the winter, tons of sand had been washed into the Beats and a few trees needed removing.

I started just above Keeper’s Bridge, then moved upstream to the Sandy Pool and finally round the bend to the Redd. The level had dropped a bit but the water was still coloured. The willow catkins were just starting to show but the trout weren’t. Nevermind, it was a nice walk.

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I was keen to get back on the river, the weather forecast looked OK and the river level had dropped. I got to Beat A about 11:30am and it looked just fishable, coloured and a bit above normal level. I started at the Monster Pool and spent quite a while working a black nymph around the pool but no takes.

The Monster Pool

I wandered up above the bridge, past the wood and as far as I could walk before I encountered a fence and hedge. It looks good in the wood and beyond, I will return.

An Oak tree had been broken at the roots by Storm Kate.

I had a chat with the Keeper, he said that the level is lower than expected because someone left the sluice open. I hope the rain stays away until Thursday.

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