Sussex Trout Fishing … and Devon

The club barbeque had a vintage atmosphere about it. The marquee, the club house and the somewhat ornamental lake made a quintessentially English country scene. It was reminiscent of ‘The Shooting Party’ by Isobel Colegate but with Trout instead of Pheasants.

The grass had been mown, the marquee had been strung up by the lake and the weather was lovely. Wine, food and fishing. A perfect Spring day in good company, surrounded by glorious Sussex countryside.

Generally I like to fish alone but this was a social occasion with a fishing theme. A chance to chat to other members, exchange fishing stories and sit in the 72 degree sunshine by the lake. After the club AGM formalities there was an auction of tackle, most of it by Hardy and Sharpes. My favourites. The catalogue was full of nice things. I took my cheque book but restrained myself.

Eventually the time came to set up my rod. I had changed the design of my leader. I’d been suffering from the butt of the leader and the tip of the fly line sinking. This is not a problem on the river because the cast is usually fished out in less than thirty seconds but on a lake the duration of the cast can be five minutes. Too long for a slowly sinking leader, it drags a dry fly under. So I chopped eighteen inches off the butt of a Leeda 5lb tapered leader and superglued it into the fly line. The butt of the leader had been considerably reduced in diameter and floated nicely in the surface film. I used a longer tippet to compensate for the shorter leader.

We walked down to Lower Figgs and I started with a black neoprene buzzer, size 14, fished just under the surface. On the first cast a fish slammed into the fly and fought like a tiger.

The water was very clear with a slightly brown tint. I could see the cruising fish ten yards from the bank and about a foot under the surface. I waited for a bigger fish to come within range and put the fly down about a yard ahead of it. It took the fly, jumped and threw the hook.

My ghillie captured the exact moment the fish escaped. Good photography. I caught two more fish before the sun and wine took control of me. We had a siesta on the edge of the lake before the long walk back to the club house. A very enjoyable day out.

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I looked at the ‘GaugeMap‘ app on my tablet and saw that at Halfway Bridge, the level was 0.54m. Not as low as I had expected. The weather forecast for Petworth was good, a South Easterly breeze of 10mph and bright, hazy sunshine.

I got to the river at 12:30 and went straight to Keeper’s Bridge. The river was coloured, it’s difficult to know if this is caused by run off from the potato fields or algae. A similar thing happened last season just after the potatoes were planted.

I sat next to the parapet of Keeper’s Bridge and watched the water upstream for about thirty minutes. Carefully. I hadn’t set my rod up. Nothing moved, no flies hatched. There were a few terrestrials about but the river looked dead. I have seen this before, one minute the river is dead and then suddenly, trout start rising everywhere. I fished the pool below the Alder trees from the North bank for about an hour. Then I wandered upstream along the South bank to the Sandy Pool and fished the tail of the pool. The shallow water was clearer but I had no takes. A fish rose higher up the pool, it looked like a Dace or a small wild Trout.

The sun was hot, the pub was calling. I had a pint of Cornish Orchards Gold Cider which was nothing like the cider we were given at Fullers Griffin Brewery. I’ll stick to beer.

I’m looking forward to the club barbeque on Sunday. Last year I caught a 6lb brownie at the barbeque, that will be difficult to beat.

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Rotherbridge looked cold and barren so I went to Keeper’s Bridge. The water was coloured and there was a stiff breeze from the West but it was warm-ish. I saw a fish rise just downstream of the Alder trees so I sat in the sun on the North bank and worked the pool from top to bottom. Nothing. I wandered up to the Sandy Pool but the Aberdeen heifers had just been released into the field and I couldn’t concentrate with them charging around behind me. A Trout took a fly off the surface but it was not interested in my nymph. I tried a dry fly but the fish had spooked. I crossed back to the South bank and went downstream where a few Alder flies were hatching. I moved slowly looking for a feeding fish but found nothing.

After a couple of hours I had lost concentration and decided to have a cup of tea at the lakes. Along the lane the fields had been prepared for the potatoes.

At Great Springs the fish were feeding close to the bank, taking buzzers in the calm water. I used a black neoprene buzzer with the hackles chopped back. It was a good imitation of a hatching fly and was taken just a few inches under the surface. I had about five Roach and a small Trout. I lost a good Rainbow as it charged through the weeds and off into the middle of the lake.

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Should I fish the river or one of the lakes ? I was undecided but as I approached Petworth the Land Rover swung left at the mini roundabout and took me to Keeper’s Bridge.

The river had a greenish tint and it was a bit high, 0.068m on the  Halfway Bridge gauge. I walked down through the wood and the wild garlic was overpowering. As I was setting up my rod a fish swirled near the bridge. It moved into the shallow section between the Alders and the bridge. It rose several times and I was confident that I would get a take. The wind was very strong and presentation was difficult. I think my clumsy casting put the fish down.

I crossed the bridge and walked up the North bank to the Sandy Pool. I concentrated but couldn’t get a take. After a couple of hours I wandered back up through the wood, packed up my tackle and had a pint at the Badgers. No fish but a nice afternoon walk. I imagine the river will be stocked tomorrow ready for the Bank Holiday weekend. No Monsters this season.

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The weather forecast was good for the entire day and I was anticipating another session on the river hunting for monsters. However, when I got to Rotherbridge the wind was very cold and blowing from the North West. It didn’t look very inviting so I drove up the old railway line to Keeper’s Bridge and had lunch while admiring the Bluebells. The wind was upstream and getting stronger.  There was no shelter anywhere on the middle beats and I decided to go to Little Bognor, deep in the woods, rather than freeze to death on the river. As I drove up the lane to the lakes a storm cloud was gathering and the dark sky was a nice contrast to the crops.

As I got out of the Land Rover the storm arrived. It was a cross between snow and hail, pea sized bits of dry polystyrene bounced all around the hut. It disappeared after a few minutes and the sun came out.

I started fishing just under the branches of the Willow on the top lake and had a take first cast on a Black Spider. I moved to the other side of the tree and had another take. I hooked both fish but they wriggled off. Barbless hooks !

I changed to a size 14 dry fly that I had tied the day before. I thought it looked good but the Trout were not impressed and after an hour I swapped it for a Pheasant Tail nymph. I caught a wild brownie about 4oz just off a weed bed. I was getting cold so I left the lake early. As I type it is snowing and the lawn is turning white, very spooky weather.

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