Sussex Trout Fishing … and Devon

Memorable images from my 2023 season. It was a good year. The rivers were full and I caught a few trout.

River Plym

I fished on thirty occasions from March to the end of September, split evenly between Sussex and Devon.

February Water Nymphs

February in Devon was very dry, only 2mm of rain fell. The high moor dried quickly. The rivers and brooks were full but the water levels were dropping. We needed a lot of rain in March.

River Cad in March

At the end of March it rained. A lot.

Little Springs

The start of the season in Sussex was cold.

River Plym, Bickleigh

April was cold and wet, the rivers were full but the trout were not feeding.

Lower Beat, River Tavy – April

On 2 May I caught my first Devon trout from the River Tamar.

River Plym, Commando Pool

The mayfly hatch in both Sussex and Devon was good. I spent more time chasing mayflies at Little Springs than fishing.

Ephemera danica – Little Springs

On 21 May I caught my first trout from the River Rother.

Mayfly spinner – Little Springs

I mainly fished the Devon rivers with a GRHE nymph but occasionally used a dry fly.

River Tavy – June

It was a very hot June, the heat wave continued into July. The water levels were good. I was distracted by carp, on both dry fly and nymph.

River Tavy, Lower Beat – June

In mid July heavy rain washed the trout downstream. It took a long time for the fish in the pool below the old bridge to reappear. The river levels remained slightly high for several weeks.

River Rother – July

Unrelenting rain during August maintained good water levels and I had a wide choice of rivers to fish.

River Tavy, Lower Beat after John Constable

Heavy rain at the start of September produced several spates. High winds knocked a few trees over.

River Plym

At the end of the season all the stars aligned and I caught seven trout from a short stretch of the River Tavy. The fish were in shoals feeding on nymphs in the shallow glides.

River Rother – Fish Pass

On the last day of the Devon season, after the first of the autumn storms, the water level was up slightly and I caught a 3lb+ brownie from the Ludbrook Run on the Lower Beat of the River Tavy. Last day, last cast. A perfect ending.

River Tavy, Lower Beat – 3lb+

I walked my favourite Beat on the River Plym, salmon were running but I didn’t see any.

River Plym – Shaugh Bridge

I have a question. Where do the small trout go during a spate ? I watch the little fish racing around in the deep pool below the bridge in the village. I see them most days, they feed on nymphs stirred up by the children swimming in the fish pass. After a big spate there are no fish to be seen. They have all gone. Are they washed into the estuary to become sea trout ?

The bound volumes of my diary record nearly four hundred fishing adventures. This years online diary will be formatted and printed ready for the bookbinders to work their magic.

My favourite nymph, my car park fly. Tied on size 12 and 14 hooks, it accounted for most of my 2023 trout. Of course it did, I seldom used another nymph pattern.

The Hares Ear history is not well documented. It appears to have started life as a dry fly with a hares fur tail and body, a rib of flat gold tinsel and a starling wing. Halford is said to have dressed the pattern as a winged dry fly. In 1832 David Hemming of Redditch first tied and named the Gold Ribbed Hares Ear. The 1973 edition of John Veniards ‘Fly Dressers Guide’ lists a hair wing version using grey bucktail. There is also a wet fly version.

Shrimp ?

I learnt to tie flies from Dave Collyer’s regular column in ‘Angling‘ magazine and later, at his evening classes in Redhill. Daves’ books, ‘Fly-Dressing I and II‘ defined the authentic bill of materials for many fly patterns. He took great care to research each pattern, corresponding with creators like Richard Walker, Taff Price and Arthur Cove, his contemporaries. My tying style closely mimicked Dave’s and I later tied flies for him to sell under his name. He didn’t use hares ear fur, it was too short and the wrong colour. He used body fur and drew his inspiration from a 1968 edition of the American magazine ‘Field and Stream‘. Hence American GRHE.

Fry or mayfly nymph ?

The GRHE has many variations, possibly more than the Blue Flash Damsel, the popular multicoloured lure that looks nothing like a damsel nymph. What does the GRHE nymph imitate ? Nothing and everything.

On a long shank hook, tied slim, it looks like a pinhead fry or a mayfly nymph. Tied scruffy, round the bend, it looks like a shrimp. Like Dave, I don’t use fur from a hares ear. The guard hairs from a rabbit pelt form the tail and thorax while the soft, grey underfur from the rabbit is used for the body.

Weight is critical. I don’t like beads. I like lead wire. Aquatic insects don’t have brassy bubbles. Beads fatally damage carbon fibre, hitting the rod during a botched cast as if from a BB gun. Spooky trout flee when a bead hits the water. Beads obscure the gape resulting in poor hook holds and lost fish. Fine lead wire can form the taper of the body and thorax without bulking up. The weight of lead and therefore sink rate, is infinitely variable and a lifetimes supply of lead wire from Veniards is cheap.

I use a plastic Tiemco hook box, about the size of an old matchbox, to carry my GRHE ammunition to the river. It needs topping up. Each fly that I tie this winter will bring back memories.

Saturday 30 September, the last day of the Devon trout season. I had returned to Devon after chasing big trout in Sussex. I wanted to fish on the last day of the Devon season, irrespective of conditions. Storm Agnes, the UK’s first big autumn storm, fizzled out mid-week and left the river levels up slightly. The morning was bright and breezy so I waited until early afternoon. The sky became overcast and rain was forecast for the evening. Conditions were perfect.

I chose Bob Southwell’s “The Blagdon”, my much abused Hardy Marquis and an old Rio Creek WF4. I would celebrate the end of the season with tackle that imposed a relaxed approach. Catching trout was not my main concern, I would walk the Lower Beat of the Tavy and say goodbye to the river until next year.

I started in the middle of the Beat and had a take second cast as I lifted off. I missed. The water was coloured but not cloudy. Autumn leaves were funneled into the main current, some were trapped in the back eddies. I concentrated on the slack water on my side of the river. A cormorant flew past quite unconcerned by my presence. I hooked a few leaves and moved on.

I fished hard down the riffle below the island. Running the nymph under the trees and retrieving it through the slack water along my bank. Nothing. I was resigned to a fishless afternoon and quite content to wander downstream looking for photo opportunities. I walked downstream past the big pool, it was a washing machine. A heavy line and big lure might have found a trout but it’s a boring way of fishing.

The wide, shallow water at Ludbrook Run looked inviting and renewed my hopes of finding a fish. I lengthened the line and fished the nymph down and across. Twenty yards away, in midstream, I had a heavy take. A big fish became airborne several times and my heart rate soared. I was shaking, expecting the hook to drop out at any moment. The trout went on a long run downstream and I had to follow, the fly line was down to the curly bit near the arbor. The fish calmed down and plodded back upstream, shaking it’s head, rattling the rod.

I found a drainage ditch and slid down to water level. I slipped the nymph from a sliver of skin in the trouts jaw and watched it swim away. No handling. It was a miracle that the hook had held. I snipped off the fly and walked slowly back to the Defender in a daze. I smiled all the way home. I have caught many trout around the three pound mark when fishing the Sussex Rother. This fish was above that weight and in great condition. It fought like a six pounder, a truly wild trout.

It had been a remarkable afternoon. The Defender had started the first time of asking despite standing idle for two weeks. I’d had the pleasure of using a favourite rod and reel. The river looked stunning and I had caught my personal best wild trout. I cannot imagine a better way to end the Devon trout season. I celebrated with a large Lagavulin at the Leaping Salmon and bored everyone with photos of the monster trout.

I can fish Burrator Reservoir until the end of November and the Tamar for grayling until March. It will be a long time before I can visit the Tavy again.

Saturday, 23 September, 7:50am, the autumn equinox. Not that I was awake at that time. The transatlantic remnants of hurricane Nigel had dumped rain across the country and the river was unfishable. The lakes at Little Bognor were the obvious destination. The steep sides of the valley and the mature trees would channel the warm southwest wind up the lake and the low sun would set the autumn colours alight.

I chose to drive towards Fittleworth via Bedham and pause briefly by the entrance to Brinkwells, the home of the artist Rex Vicat Cole whose studio was rented by Sir Edward Elgar in 1918. I admired the magic trees, particularly the long dead chestnut. A sketch of the dead tree was included in Rex Vicat Cole’s book, British Trees, published in 1907. The dead tree has withstood nearly 120 years of storms, a testament to the strength of the wood.

The lake was covered in a thin film of dust and algae, liberally seasoned with leaves and beech mast. The breeze shifted the floating mat around the lake leaving patches of clear water. I used a long tippet and a neoprene buzzer which hung from the debris and gradually trickled down through the surface film, occasionally holding on bigger leaves. Perfect presentation.

Second cast, a large white mouth appeared below the buzzer and turned away. I waited for a second and lifted into a nice brownie. It fought hard but I bullied it into the landing net and tweaked the barbless hook from the corner of its mouth before releasing it further along the bank.

Trout were cruising about a foot below the surface, carefully sipping the hatching midges. I considered using a lighter tippet but thoughts of a four or five pound brownie dissuaded me. I moved along the bank and sat behind the trunk of a tree overhanging the water. I flicked the buzzer towards a feeding trout which took the fly and quickly surrendered. While releasing the fish another trout continued to rise under the tree canopy, undisturbed by my antics. I dropped the buzzer in its path and a large brownie immediately became airborne and headed towards the centre of the lake. The hook pulled. The tippet was strong enough but the small hook lost its grip.

I walked to the other lake and stood watching for twenty minutes. The silvery willow trees at the top of the lake contrasted with the mature oaks and the pastel sky made the scene complete. A romantic landscape, very John Constable. There were no signs of fish and I left without casting. After leaving the lakes I stopped at a gate to admire the view of the Arun valley. It had been a memorable afternoon, I will return in October.

16 September – It was more than two months since my last visit to the River Rother. The weather and chores had conspired against me. All morning the weather was extreme. Clear air, bright sunshine, 29 degrees and high humidity. I waited impatiently until late afternoon before heading south. I walked around the lakes and had a sandwich before exploring the river Beats.

The Fish Pass looked inviting, the shallows at Rotherbridge looked barren. A cormorant flew over. There were two members fishing at Keepers Bridge and after a brief chat, I drove up the old railway line and walked to Ladymead. I saw a couple of small chub rising to buzzers but no trout.

Back at Keepers Bridge, the river looked in perfect condition. The water had a green tint, was a cool fifteen degrees and the beds of streamer weed swayed in the current. No excuses. I waited until 6:00pm before setting up my rod and walking downstream. I warmed up my casting arm exploring the pool with the fallen alder tree, working a nymph under the branches and alongside the marginal weeds. I lost a couple of nymphs and moved on.

A trout rose below the bridge in a tricky position close to a bush and above a bed of streamer weed. I chose a bulky crane fly imitation with an extended body, knotted mono legs and hackle point wings. The fish liked the fly but the stiff, bushy dressing shielded the hook point. I missed. Twice. The trout went down, puzzled that such a tasty morsel had been dragged from it’s grasp. It didn’t rise again. I found another fish rising under the far bank, on a bend opposite an overhanging tree. I lost another fly on a botched attempt to cover the fish which also disappeared. It was good to be back on the river bank but I was rusty, out of practice.

17 September – Heavy rain at lunch time was welcome. By mid afternoon the east wind had cooled the air and the sky was overcast. I needed a thin jacket. Given the favourable conditions, I reasoned that the trout would rise earlier than yesterday. The two fish that I had found would have recovered from my amateurish attempts. For trout number one I started with a nymph. It skated in the current so I swapped it for a heavier pattern. After three or four casts to the far bank the line tightened and the fish battled all the way to the landing net.

Full of confidence I walked downstream seeking trout number two. I found a good position and put the landing net close to hand. I prepared the line and flicked the nymph across the pool to the far bank. Although I had prepared, I was surprised by the rapid response. A heavy thump on the line and the fish was gone. I was a bit annoyed as it felt like a good fish.

I walked the rest of the Beat, prospecting the likely holding places under trees and beside weedbeds, without a reaction. The New Riffle would surely hold a feeding fish. As I worked the riffle I noticed that the water level was rising and that the water had become dark grey, a sure sign that the earlier heavy rain had run-off the roads in Midhurst.

I left the river as mist started to rise from the water meadows. I was happy that I had connected with the two trout and that I had become reacquainted with the Rother. During the night thunderstorms raged for an hour and the river rose a couple of feet. I hope that it returns to its normal level soon.