Sussex Trout Fishing … and Devon

I went to look at the river early in the morning. The weir and fish pass looked inviting, the access to the river below the fish pass had been improved. I was tempted to start at the weir pool but I kept thinking about the large trout I had seen at Ladymead last Friday. I spent an hour with Andrew, discussing club matters and looking at his Tiger photos. The lower beats of the river were being stocked at lunchtime and I therefore decided to go to Ladymead.

At Ladymead the campers had gone and tranquility had returned. As I approached the pool a fish rose close to the bank. It was feeding, not just splashing about. While I threaded the line through the rod rings it took another fly. I was careful not to scare the fish. I slid across the grass and waited for the fish to show itself again. The dark shadow moved around the pool but the fish seemed to be aware of my presence and eventually disappeared. Having survived last season and the winter, it’s become a very clever trout. I need a cunning plan.

I walked downstream to the shallow pool, it’s guaranteed to produce a fish. I worked a Black Nymph down and across, through the centre of the pool where the fish usually take. I had a take but it was either a Dace or a tiny Trout. It wriggled free while I was laughing to myself. The wind was cold and I decided to go to Great Springs for a cup of tea.

Little Springs was being stocked and Great Springs looked barren. After a cuppa and a chat, I went down to Luffs to catch a Blue Trout. I had seen them stocked a couple of weeks earlier, most of them were nearly 4lbs. A couple of the ‘white ghosts’ were cruising around the deep end of the lake. They were easy to see in the dark brown water. I tried to tempt them with a variety of dry flies but they ignored them all. I tried a nymph without success. I moved around to the seat by the willow tree. A lot of fish were rising and I thought it would be easy to connect. After half an hour without a take I was losing interest and getting cold. I decided to leave and as I reeled in my line a fish grabbed my fly close to the bank. It fought hard, well above it’s weight. While I was unhooking my fish, the trout went mad, they were rising all around me. I hooked and lost two fish and then it all went quiet. I had scared the shoal and they had moved away into the centre of the lake. It was time to leave. I had trout for supper, it was yummy.

Thick cloud and a south-westerly wind were ideal conditions for catching a trout from the river. Or a sea trout. On my last visit, although I used a weighted Black Nymph, it hadn’t reached the bottom of the deepest pools. I decided to fish on the top beat as it is lightly fished and it  contains a lot of wild fish. I would need something heavy to get to the bottom of the pool at Ladymead,  about the equivalent of a number 6 shot.

When I got to Taylor’s Bridge and signed in, I saw from the sheet that nothing had been caught over the last few days. That was good news, the fish had not been traumatised. I walked up to Ladymead and watched the pool while I set up my rod. As there was nothing rising I tied on a heavy Black Nymph and worked it down the deeper runs. After about twenty minutes I saw a big brownie cruise up the centre of the pool and take several flies. It looked about 3-4lb. It head-and-tailed up the pool snapping it’s jaws at tiny flies. It was feeding confidently, it looked like it was taking buzzers although I couldn’t see anything hatching. I tried a GRHE just under the surface and although I presented the fly gently, just ahead of the fish, it ignored the nymph. It wanted a dry fly. I returned to the car for my dry fly box and rested the pool. When I got back the big fish was still cruising around.  A chub of about 2lb was also swimming aimlessly around. As it came close to me, it was wobbling a bit and I could see cormorant scars on it’s flanks.

I decided to wait quietly until the big trout came within easy casting range. I stood in the shallow water watching the trout patrol around the pool. It was a very dark brown colour with a big head. Probably an over-wintered fish. A couple of small trout were rising under the far bank at the tail of the pool and although they took my dry buzzer,  I missed both takes. I waited patiently for the big brownie but a group of young lads turned up on the far bank and jumped in the pool for a swim. Rats.

I walked downstream to the shallow pool and drifted a GRHE nymph down and across. At the usual place a big bow wave built up behind my nymph. I paused the drift and then drew the fly upstream. The fish took the fly but wriggled off after a couple of seconds. There must be a rock or depression in the sand at that position. There is always a fish in that lie. I was tired. I walked back to the car and had a relaxing drive home. I will return to Ladymead mid week when the campers have gone back to school.

I didn’t spend the bank holiday on the bank. I avoided the river at the weekend because a lot of members would be fishing and I like the river to myself. Early in the morning I visited all of the lakes and every beat on the river to collect the catch returns. I also took photos of the lakes to update the club website. I delivered the returns to the office and was free to fish at 2:30pm.

The weather over the weekend had been cold and windy. Some nice fish had been caught including a 3lb 8oz over wintered brown and a 5lb sea trout.  I should have been on the river bank.

Although I’ve made several visits to the river since the season started, there are stretches that I had not fished. The Fish Pass, Keeper’s Bridge and Perryfields all warranted my attention. I was undecided where to fish. The new riffle kept calling me back. The fast water is well oxygenated and there are millions of shrimps there for the trout.

The river level was steady at 0.032m, slightly down since last week despite the overnight rain. The promise of fish in the new riffle drew me to Keeper’s Bridge. I tackled up and walked very slowly downstream looking for fish. I didn’t see any. My first cast into the shallow water at the top of the riffle produced a take but I missed it. I concentrated and fished hard all the way back to Keeper’s Bridge but I didn’t get another take. I saw a sea trout jump, it was not interested in my nymph.

I left a remote camera in the woods while I was collecting the beat returns. It had been there for six hours but when I returned it had not been activated. A blank day but I enjoyed it.

On Thursday evening I planned to walk along the river and show a new member the best pools. We would chat about rivercraft. With a rod each. It would be more walking and talking than fishing. There were big clouds and a stiff westerly breeze which would help presentation. Excellent fishing conditions, no excuses.

We started at the Ladymead pool. We watched the water for rising fish while discussing the currents and sand banks. Polarising sunglasses were essential. We started exploring the run under the near bank with a weighted nymph. A fish splashed in the tail of the pool, right in the middle of the fast water. A few  casts down and across failed to get a response. We walked upstream,  stopping to look at the river’s features, the depth, the speed of the current and the weed beds. There were no flies hatching and the trout were well hidden.

Below Taylor’s Bridge the river had great potential, the flow and colour were perfect. A few beds of streamer weed were just reaching the surface. We sat beside the shallow pool, it was my turn to explore the pool. I worked a black nymph down and across the top of the pool, just below a bush. After five minutes a good fish rose and took a fly from the surface about twenty yards downstream. I continued edging down the pool, gradually working towards the critical square yard. I shuffled down the bank on my knees and covered the area, there was a swirl which could have been a ‘cats paw’. I lengthened the cast and swung the fly across the current. The line drew tight and the fish felt like a good one. It was a wild trout and it scrapped all the way to the landing net. It was about eight ounces and looked like a sea trout. It had a pronounced dark trailing edge to it’s tail, just like a chub. It swum away very strongly.

It was getting chilly and the light was failing so we adjourned to The Badgers to continue our discussions. We had converted the theory into practice and caught a trout.

Hot sunshine, 64 degrees with a southerly wind. I applied sun factor 30. The water level had dropped to 0.042m at Halfway Bridge. That is the normal summer level. We have had very little rain during the winter and no serious flooding. Stocked trout have over wintered but with low summer levels, they will be vulnerable to cormorants and mink. No fish are introduced into the river until late April so there are only over wintered and wild trout. It makes the fishing interesting because the next fish could be 3oz or 3lb.

We met at The Badgers at 10:30 despite three road closures and diversions around most of the County.  It was a long, hot walk to the new riffle but the water was in excellent condition.  The deeper runs through the gravel bed and the streamer weed were clearly visible in about three feet of water. At the downstream end of the riffle there was a drop off into deeper water. It all looked very fishy. We covered all of the pool without success and so moved downstream to the stretch above Rotherbridge.  There were fish rising below the big alder, they were testing the debris from the flowering tree to see if it was edible. We didn’t impress the trout and adjourned to Keeper’s Bridge for lunch.

After lunch we invoked Plan B and withdrew to Great Springs. It is impossible to blank at the lakes. My guest’s split cane rod was christened with a nice rainbow and we departed at 6:00pm having caught two pristine fish. It had been a long tiring day but it ended well. Another visit to the river was discussed for a month’s time when the Mayfly should be hatching.