Sussex Trout Fishing … and Devon

The river had risen two feet and was unfishable. I visited every lake and checked the catch returns. Trout were rising all over Little Springs,  that would be too easy. I decided to fish Great Springs and use only dry flies. That would be a fairer contest. I watched the lake while having a cup of tea and chatting to a couple of members. There were a few Mayfly about but the trout were taking buzzers. The lazy head and tail rises were a dead give away. I walked around the lake to the point and sat on the seat. Trout were cruising along the edge of the marginal weeds and sipping down tiny flies. They were relaxed and confident because the weeds provided cover as well as food. While watching the trout I noticed one of the big blues in the centre of the lake.  It was cruising with a purpose, not dashing about. Obviously feeding. I decided to target them. Blue trout are rainbows that have been selectively bred to remove the red colouration, leaving them a silvery blue.

The lake had been stocked with three big blues a few weeks ago and two giants, both nearly 10lbs, last week. They had acclimatised quickly. I tied on a dry buzzer with a tag of white Neoprene foam to suspend it in the surface film. I thoroughly degreased the tippet with Tetenal Mirasol and cast the line so that it sat on the weeds. That way I had a decent length of line already extended but hidden from the trout. I sat and waited. It was a long wait, I resisted the numerous smaller fish rising around me. After twenty minutes I saw a blue trout in the centre of the lake, well out of casting range. With Polaroids it was easy to keep track of the fish. Eventually it moved towards me. I aerialised as much line as I could manage and dropped the fly about a yard away from the trout. To my surprise it tilted up and took the fly. I pulled the fly out of it’s mouth and then cursed. Repeatedly.

It was a great opportunity wasted. The fish swirled but didn’t appear spooked. It disappeared. I sat and watched the water again. Half an hour later I saw another blue cruising right to left, into the breeze, taking flies off the surface. It was at the limit of my casting range. I double hauled and cast high for wind assistance. The fly settled on the surface and the fish changed direction towards it. An unseen rainbow dashed past the blue and grabbed the fly. It’s antics put the other trout down. I rested the fish while taking a few photos.

When I next saw a blue trout it was moving from the main body of the lake along a channel in the weeds towards the shallows. It was feeding but well out of range.  I put the line on the top of the weeds and waited. The trout moved back along the channel, I lifted off and cast as far as possible. The fish approached the fly, rose in the water and gulped it down. I lifted the rod. The trout thrashed on the surface and I bent the carbon fibre to it’s test curve. I kept the pressure on the trout to get it in clear water. It weighed 3lb 6oz, one of the smaller blues. It started to rain heavily so I went for another cuppa. After an hour of watching the rain I left the lakes. It had been an interesting afternoon, next week I might try targeting the remaining blues if the river level doesn’t drop.

The weather was disappointing for mid-May. Grey, damp and with a strong south-westerly wind. I went to the top beats as they hadn’t been fished for a week. The fish would be relaxed. The big pool at Ladymead looked great but there was a lot of debris from the trees floating down the main current. I favoured a nymph, a dry fly would be hard for the trout to see amongst the leaves and seeds. There was nothing in the run under the near bank but my first cast to the top of the sand bank provoked a response. A good fish charged across the sand and took the fly. It fought hard for a few seconds and then threw the hook. The disturbance ruined the pool but as I turned to leave another fish jumped. I would return later.

I walked down to the Shallow Pool, there’s always a fish there. I started at the top of the pool and covered the deep run under my bank. Nothing. I flicked the fly near to the far bank and let it drift down and across. The Black Nymph was weighted and was probably dragging the bottom. On the second cast a big bow wave built up behind the fly and as I lifted into the fish there was a satisfying thump on the rod. It was a wild fish about 1lb and in pristine condition. The prettiest trout I have caught from the Rother.

I tried the pools further down the beat but despite the large numbers of Mayfly that were hatching, I couldn’t find another fish. Time to return to Ladymead. I thought my first cast to the head of the pool would produce a response but there was nothing. I walked back to the Land Rover and drove to Keeper’s Bridge to take a few photos. I saw a couple of newly stocked trout splashing about.

I saw a fly hatch from midstream and settle on a nettle leaf. It was a very small specimen and I wondered if it might be an Olive. It had three tails and was therefore a male Mayfly. It posed for photos, sheltering against the wind in a curled up leaf. It gradually climbed out of the leaf and flew away. A chaffinch ate it.

Alder flies were crawling everywhere. I found one on the bridge rail. It was easy prey for a passing bird. There were no swallows along the river, very strange.

I left the river and drove to Great Springs for a walk around the lakes and a cup of tea. There were thousands of male Mayfly spinners, rising and falling in columns around the fishing hut. There were columns of spinners along the banks and under the trees. I caught several in a net and then found one hiding under a daisy. The trout were queueing up downwind of the oak bench. Spinners were falling on the grass and into the water.

I will return to the river on Thursday. Hopefully the weather will improve and encourage the trout to rise.

The weather had changed, a warm breeze, some high wispy clouds and bright sunshine. No need for the Barbour jacket. I knew exactly where I was going to fish. On the last trip I had pulled a dry fly out of the mouth of a good fish. I checked the signing-in book at Keeper’s Bridge. The fish had not been caught. I walked down through the woods, the bluebells were just starting to fade but the wood anemones and wild garlic were in full bloom.

I walked downstream keeping an eye on the river but not casting. The sun beat down on the water and there was only a slight upstream ripple. Just enough to help me position the fly. I crept around the Alder tree and peered over the marginal nettles. No sign of life. I decided to start with a nymph. I thought the trout would be hiding under the bushes. There was a long branch across the river about three feet off the water. The other side of the branch the main flow ran alongside a bush. Petals from the Hawthorn trees floated past the bush. I cast sideways under the branch and flicked the rod tip to curl the leader around. By a miracle I consistently avoided the branch.

After twenty minutes a trout swirled at the nymph just as I was lifting off for the next cast. I changed the GRHE nymph for an Olive nymph and cast again. The fish rose close to me and took a small fly off the surface. Ten minutes later it rose again. I persisted with the nymph and eventually had a take. The trout charged around but I lead it downstream and netted it. It was about 1lb 8ozs,  not the fish I had seen on the previous trip !

The pool was trashed so I walked down to the riffle. I had a ‘rattle’ first cast, probably a small wild fish. As I was casting I heard a good fish rise and turned to see the ripples in the deep pool above the riffle. I sneaked through a gap in the bushes and saw a shoal of about ten big fish under the far bank. They were quite deep and I thought they looked like sea trout. I had to roll cast the nymph. It landed near one of the shadows, the shadow followed but then turned away. I changed to a Black Nymph and managed to roll the line out so the nymph plopped down amongst the shoal. One of the smaller fish charged at the fly and grabbed it. I expected fireworks but when I lifted the rod, the fish struggled a bit and then gave up. It was a chub. Three others followed it to the net. It was in stunning condition and weighed about 3lb 8ozs. Some of it’s companions were double the size.

I moved upstream about fifty yards and worked the nymph down and across alongside a row of trees.  After a few casts there was a solid take and a small fish dashed around like a Mackerel, the silver flashes and skittering fight suggested a sea trout. It took several yards of line but when I got it in the net it only weighed about 6ozs. I wondered what a big sea trout would do.

The sun was very hot and I didn’t have the energy to carry on. It had been a short but productive day. I had hoped a lot of Mayfly would be hatching. I will return one evening next week and wait for dusk.

I left home early for our regular Monday morning meeting to discuss the catch returns for the river and lakes. I peeped through the bars at Rotherbridge and saw a trout rising amongst the trees. After degreasing the tippet I flicked a nymph into a low hanging tree branch and pulled for a break. The fish disappeared. Another trout rose slightly further downstream and after several casts took the GRHE nymph. It screamed off down the river but after a very determined battle, it found the back of the net. It was about 1lb 8ozs and swam away strongly. A good start to the day.

I drove to Great Springs and had a cup of tea while watching the fish rise, there were very few birds about. The Mayfly were not hatching but I saw a few Olives. I found a male Mayfly spinner posing for me on a bluebell in the gusty wind. I went pond dipping in both lakes to see if the weed removal had reduced the numbers of upwinged flies.

I found lots of daphnia, hog louse, corixa, olive and damsel nymphs. Even a tiny fresh water mussel. The numbers in each lake were similar, the weed removal and treatment in the top lake doesn’t seem to have affected the pond life. The lakes were all stocked while I was messing about.

After another cup of tea I drove back to the river and had lunch at Keeper’s Bridge. The North wind was gusting upstream and it was difficult to cast but once the fly was in the water, the wind helped reduce drag. The river looked lifeless, no fish rising and no flies hatching.  As I walked towards the new riffle I found several pools where the Mayfly were coming off but there were no fish rising.

I sat on the grass for half an hour. The bend in the river enabled me to watch about a hundred yards of water in each direction. Nothing. I wandered down to the new riffle, there were lots of Mayfly and Yellow May hatching.

The wind was helping the Mayfly to dry their wings and lift them off the surface of the water. There were very few birds about so most of them made it to shelter. I didn’t see any swallows. I walked to Rotherbridge and found a fish rising just below the big Hawthorn tree on the far bank. It took a dry Pheasant Tail and the bright silver dashing around immediately told me it was a sea trout smolt. There were several rising in the pool opposite the farm but I couldn’t tempt another fish.

I went back to the riffle, there were several fish rising but not to my fly. I swapped it for an Adams,  my ‘go to’ fly when the fish are difficult. Andrew arrived in his Land Rover on the far bank and photographed me as I hooked another sea trout smolt.  I worked the pools below the riffle but the fish were spooked by my casting.

I made my way back to Keeper’s Bridge and saw lots of fish rising, mainly small trout. I eventually found a big fish sipping down Mayfly in midstream under a tree branch. It was a tricky side cast that needed a twitch to the left as the leader curled over. Miraculously I didn’t hook the branch. The fish came up slowly,  opened it’s mouth and gulped the fly down. I lifted the fly out of it’s mouth and laughed loudly at my incompetence. Frustrating.  The fish will be there tomorrow.

Convinced that I had spoilt my best chance,  I decided to leave for home. As I was walking back, berating myself, I saw another big trout circling in midstream taking Mayfly. The bank was very high and there was plenty of cover. I watched the fish for several minutes and tied on a spent Mayfly imitation that I had tied the day before.

I was looking down on the fish as it took. I waited a few seconds then lifted the rod. Success. It was a scramble netting the fish without falling in the river. It weighed about 2lb. I was exhausted but on the drive home I replayed the day’s events in my head. I had been driving and walking for over nine hours. A long but rewarding day.

It was a horrible cold, grey day. A strong wind from the north-east.  Not good weather for fly fishing. If I fished the river I could shelter from the rain in The Badgers. Alternatively, at the lakes I could shelter in the clubhouse with a cup of tea and chocolate biscuits. I visited all of the lakes, they were deserted. Fish were rising in the shallows at Little Springs but the other lakes looked lifeless. I decided on the river.

I went to the river and signed in at the fish pass. I walked to the shallow section of river below the fish pass and saw a good fish holding station above a large flat stone. It saw me and turned downstream,  it looked like a sea trout. A week ago I found, hooked and lost a big trout along the straight above the fish pass. It was hiding alongside a small bed of weed in mid stream and had snagged me there when I thought I had it beaten.

I sat on the grass just above the weeds and cast well upstream, I didn’t want to spook the fish with the first cast. I gradually cast closer to the weeds, using the current and the downstream wind to move the GRHE nymph across and down. When the fly reached the critical point the fish swirled and I lifted into it. It tore off upstream,  well away from the weeds. I thought it was foul hooked but when I got it close to the landing net I saw the nymph in it’s jaw. When the trout saw the net it dashed off downstream and took a lot of line. After several attempts I got it in the net. I was surprised by it’s size, it was bigger than I had thought. Ironically, the fish had taken the same GRHE nymph as last week. Not just the same pattern, the very fly ! It was about 2lb 8ozs and marked like a leopard.

I walked upstream and saw a fish rise. I sat and watched the water while I had a toffee. Andrew arrived in his Land Rover and I showed him the photo of the big trout, he said it was an over-wintered fish. While we were chatting the fish rose again. It took about an hour before I could convince the trout to take my fly. It was about 1lb 8ozs, a recently stocked fish.

I fished every pool on the way back to the fish pass but I couldn’t find a trout. I started at the top of the weir pool and had a take first cast. It was a sea trout smolt and came off just as I was about to bring it to the net. The trout were following the fly but turning away. I changed the fly and had a take, it was about 1lb 8ozs and I returned it to the pool. My arm was painful and I decided to leave. Just as I snipped the nymph off the tippet a good fish took a fly off the surface in mid-stream.  I worked a dry fly over the fish for ten minutes to no avail. It had been another good day, I looked forward to a glass of wine to celebrate.