Sussex Trout Fishing … and Devon

The river had risen a little since my last visit but I was keen to fish so I went anyway. When I got to Keeper’s Bridge and saw the river, I was relieved to see that it was just fishable. The green tint had disappeared and the water had a distinct muddy colour but it was not thick with sediment.  The current was pushing through and the wind was downstream, not the best of conditions. I walked slowly upstream looking for signs of Trout. There were none.

I started at the pool below the big Alder tree and felt that it was just a matter of time before I got a take. Although I was confident there were fish in the pool, the nymph was ignored.

I moved upstream to the Sandy Pool and decided to start at the top and search the pool with a nymph. I chose a loosely dressed GRHE nymph because the pale colour of the dubbing would be visible to the fish.  I covered the entire pool, casting down and across but I didn’t get a take. I was surprised not to have caught a fish in that pool, it looked so fishy.

I moved up to the long straight above the bend and saw a fish splash near the top end. It came up about every fifteen minutes but it was not feeding. I tried several different nymphs and a dry fly but they were all ignored. I didn’t think the fish could see the flies. I moved up to the first gap in the trees, the gap where I normally lose several flies. The shallow water increased the speed of the current so I cast slightly upstream and allowed the leaded Black Nymph to sweep round towards the bush on my right. After a couple of casts a good fish rolled over, grabbed the fly and was hooked. For about five seconds. I tried a few more casts but the pool was trashed.

I moved up to the next gap in the trees and repeated the process. On the first cast a Trout swirled at the fly but missed. I quickly flicked the fly back into the ripples and the fish had a second attempt but I lifted too soon and the fly ended up in the trees.

I heard splashing upstream and I went to the pool below the Old Riffle to investigate. While I was knelt on the tree stump a big fish jumped clear of the water in the centre of the pool, in the fast water. It was difficult to work the fly under the tree into the wind and I think I lined the fish.

I went back to the straight where the fish was still splashing in it’s earlier position. It jumped regularly but wasn’t feeding. I spent a while trying to tempt the fish with different nymphs. It looked a very pale coloured fish and may have been a Sea Trout.  The river seemed to be rising and the only sensible option was a pint at The Badgers.

The river had risen three feet during the week but then dropped back to 0.031m on the guage. I hadn’t fished the river since 27 July. I intended to walk the top two Beats and have a look at the improvements the Estate Maintenance Team had made to the river and the water meadow. However, after a long chat about the catch returns, I dropped off the paperwork at the office and then visited all the lakes. I took temperature and pH readings which were all normal.

I drove to Taylor’s bridge but then had to return to Keeper’s Bridge and sort out the saga of the lost Barbour bag. Although I left home at 10:30am it was 5:00pm before I threaded my line through the rod rings. As I was at Keeper’s Bridge I decided to stay there despite two other members presence. I walked through the wood and was surprised by the height of the Himalayan Balsam. I knotted my GRHE nymph to the 2lb tippet I used at Little Bognor but thought better of it and changed to 4lb Stroft GTM. A lesson remembered.

The river was just fishable. The current was a little stronger than normal and the water had an olive green tint. I thought it would be difficult to tempt a trout particularly as I was following another member down the Beat. I watched the river for a few minutes and saw a fish rise under the Alder tree. I sat on the grass and prepared to cast. Another fish rose just above the bridge. I watched downstream and another Trout rose below the bridge. The downstream fish were feeding, I decided to ignore the fish under the Alder and move down to the bridge. Chasing fish around is usually a bad idea.

I crept downstream but before I got to the bridge I saw a good fish rise at the end of the shallows. I worked a nymph through the water but the fish had moved back to it’s original position. I cast the nymph downstream into an eddy created by a newly fallen bush and the Trout immediately dashed at the fly. It took hold on the second attempt. It was a good fish and initially I thought it was a Sea Trout. It dived under the near bank but I bullied it out. It was a very pale brownie. My landing net was close at hand and after a few minutes, I eased the fish into the net and onto the bank. The fish looked slightly out of condition and had a red mark in it’s jaw. It had probably been caught before.

It was about 2lb 8ozs and it took a long time to recover in the landing net. An early fish boosted my confidence and I thought the fish below the bridge would be a formality. It was not. While exploring the Cattle Drink pool I saw another good fish on the bend so I moved down and resolved to stay there until I caught it. I repeatedly covered the fish, rested it and tried again but I couldn’t get a take. A smaller fish was rising below the tree on the bend but that disappeared when I presented the nymph.

On the next bend two fish were rising to midges. I changed to a dry fly and carefully presented it to both fish but they ignored my offering. I saw one of the fish as it rose to take a midge in mid current. I flicked the fly just upstream of the rise but it was ignored. The sun was in my eyes and the polaroids were not very effective. I couldn’t see if the fish had inspected the fly or just dashed away.

I was content with one good fish. Changing the tippet had ensured success. The other fish would still be there on Thursday. I hope the rain holds off.

Lasts weeks wind and rain had kept me away from the river. I’d monitored the water level every day hoping for a significant drop but it rose quickly and fell slowly. Before our regular Monday meeting to discuss the catch returns, I had a look at the river at Rotherbridge. It was high and coloured as I expected. I visited Great Springs a week ago to prove to myself that Trout could be caught despite the high water temperature. I was inclined to repeat the experiment at Luffs, a lake I haven’t fished much. It is open to the south westerly wind and drains a short valley that is mainly moorland. When I got to Luffs I walked along the bank looking for signs of fish in the shallows. A huge wasps nest made me turn back towards the Estate road. A young cormorant was fishing and did not react to my waving arms and shouting. I couldn’t find anything to throw at it. The combination of the wretched bird and the wasps spoilt my plans. I decided to fish at Little Bognor. As I drove away from Luffs the contractors were busy with a huge combine and a fleet of mega tractors cutting the wheat.

At Little Bognor I sat on the bench under the Chestnut tree beside the top lake and set up my rod. I didn’t miss any rings. I’d glued a new 5lb tapered leader to my fly line. To the end of the leader I tied a 3 foot tippet of 2lb mono. A very delicate approach because the brownies at Little Bognor are spooky.

The Trout were feeding very close to the edge of the lake so I crept behind a chest high clump of ferns and flicked a size 14 black buzzer close to the Willow tree. A trout inspected the fly but didn’t like it and moved away.  I changed the fly to a size 14 dry fly with a palmered ginger hackle and a neoprene tag. I trimmed the tag with my snips so that the fly sat low in the surface film. Several inspections later a Trout was fooled and sipped in the fly but it came adrift after a few seconds. Small hooks don’t hold the fish very well, especially when a palmered hackle obscures the gape of the hook.

That part of the lake went quiet, the fish had retreated to the other side of the Willow tree. I moved along the bank and hid behind a tree, casting through a gap in the trees and over the lily bed. I saw a fish rise, flicked the fly into the ripples and had an immediate take. I missed and everything went quiet.

I could see a fish feeding in the far corner of the lake so I crept round and stood behind another huge clump of ferns. The ferns are great for hiding behind but they reach out and knot my fly line. The fish was feeding in the roots of the fern. I lowered the dry fly over the top and dapped it as close to the bank as I could. It was impossible to see the fly. I heard a splash, gently lifted the rod and connected. I was as surprised as the Trout which put up a spirited fight, it was about 1lb 4ozs.

I had spooked the fish in every part of the lake so I wandered around the lower lake for a few casts and then drove home. It had been demanding fishing but not impossible.

There wasn’t much rain over the weekend but the level of the river had risen a lot then fallen a little. I crossed the North River at Billingshurst and saw that it was quite coloured. The Rother would be unfishable. I stopped at Riverhill to look over the Rother valley, the rain had knocked a lot of the wheat over. I visited the river at Taylors Bridge to walk Beat B and to take some photos. A new cow drink and some access points were being dug out. The landscape looked fresh and colourful. I didn’t see any signs of fish, the water needed to clear. Heavy rain is forecast for Wednesday and the river will probably not be fishable until next week.

I went to Great Springs and had a leisurely cup of tea. The lakes looked very inviting and a few fish were splashing on the surface. I was puzzled about the poor catch returns, how hard can it be? The water temperature was 20 degrees, still a bit warm. I waited until 5:00pm before settling down on the oak bench. I had the soft warm southerly wind behind me which would help turn over a long leader. As the water around me was clear of weed I tied on about ten feet of 2lb tippet and a size 16 black buzzer. Second cast the leader twitched and I lifted into a small roach. A few minutes later I caught another slightly bigger roach. The shoal moved away and I started to experiment with different depths and flies. I caught another roach on a trimmed down Coachman. I swapped to a lightly weighted GRHE nymph and allowed it to sink. At 6:00pm the leader slid away and I gently lifted the rod. Nothing. I could tell from the movement of the leader that it was a trout, I should have given it a bit more time.

I walked around Little Springs and on the south bank a huge bow wave approached me. I saw the fish turn, it was the monster Brownie that I had seen earlier in the season. It was nice to know it had survived the heat wave. I had a few casts but the water was too murky so I returned to the top lake. Fish were starting to show around the point but the wind was against me. I sat on the bench again and persevered with a deep nymph. At about 7:00pm the line paused in it’s drift across the ripples and I lifted very slowly. The Trout didn’t know it was hooked. It was about 1lb 4ozs. It had taken the nymph about four feet down, the water temperature was a bit lower at that depth. I had proved to myself that Trout could be caught with the right tactics. Next time I might try and repeat the experiment at Luffs. The sun was low over the river valley as I left, I should have started later and fished into dusk.

The morning was damp and chilly, the south westerly wind and grey skies were ideal for fishing. It seemed as if Autumn had arrived in July. There was no point in waiting for the evening and the light to fade, the sky was dull enough at 9:00am. I arrived at Rotherbridge at 11:00am and decided to fish downstream, Beat E, but on the North bank. I had never fished that stretch from the Rotherbridge Farm side and it would be like fishing a new river.

I started by the bridge, got snagged in the trees a few times and decided to explore as far downstream as possible. I fished the shallow stretch below the bridge, working the nymph between the numerous clumps of rushes and streamer weed. I saw a couple of fish splash but had no takes. The fish were splashing and leaping, they weren’t feeding. I walked down to the first bend but there was no sign of Trout under the trees. I found a crystal clear spring with a good flow of water. It was a miniature chalk stream full of shrimps.

I went further downstream and worked a few likely looking pools but the sun had broken through the clouds and the fish had gone deep into the tree roots. I fished a few pools on the way back to the bridge but I had lost confidence in the Beat and my concentration. I hid beside the bushes near the bridge and looked for Trout, one was rising under the trees but it was an impossible cast. I hooked the trees a couple of times and decided to have a short break back at the Land Rover. After a bottle of Lucozade and a toffee I reorganised my pockets and went upstream.

I hid behind the rushes and carefully presented a nymph but the downstream wind was getting stronger. After twenty minutes I found a more sheltered pool and methodically searched it with a GRHE nymph. No response. Black clouds loomed over the horizon and I had to shelter under the trees at the edge of the field. While waiting for the rain to stop I tied on a representation of a freshwater shrimp. First cast by the landing stage a wild trout followed the shrimp but veered away at the critical moment.

I walked up to the New Riffle and thoroughly covered it with a large black fly. I had a couple of heart stopping moments but it was streamer weed I’d hooked not a monster Trout. On my way back to the bridge I stopped on the bend and cast my fly alongside a bush on the opposite bank. A very large Trout followed the fly but rolled away back into deeper water. It had probably been caught before and saw through the deception. The wind speed had increased and it was very difficult to control my #3 weight line so I decided to leave and save my energy for the Orvis event the following day.