Devon School of Fly Fishing Team blog

The great thing about fly fishing and I guess life in general is that you are always learning. I think that is why I like it so much. Yesterday I learnt something new, it was a new word. I had Dave over from Portland for the day and although he only had a couple he happened to mention that he had got a “taffle” I’d never heard this before but think it is a nicer word than a tangle. Although I don’t know if this is just a Portland thing or not I like it.

Just before I met Dave yesterday I popped in to the hotel for my pre fish cup of coffee. I’m not much of a coffee drinker but I love the brand the hotel uses. John, who I had earlier in the week, reckons it is real rocket fuel and a perfect kick start for a days fishing.

The weather was similar to what we had for most of the week, overcast and a bit murky. I thought we might be in for more of the same that we had exeperienced earlier in the week but as Dave pulled up the sun broke through and we walked down to the river in bright sunshine. It turned out that the mayfly were a little later and we had to cover some water to find fish that were rising but we got there and Dave managed our second best fish or the season (13 inches) on a great big may pattern. We had to swap patterns around a fair bit and sometimes the fish would like a more yellow pattern or sometimes a more subtle colouring but he did a great job.

I am so pleased that anglers are catching fish. Our catch board in the hotel is now only a handful of fish away from the entire total of last season already so I guess we must be doing something right.

I’m up on the chalkstreams next week with 2 guests for the week and am really looking forward to it. I stocked up on mayflies at Howard’s last week but didn’t think I’d have used so many down here so I’ll be back again today for more!

Dave into a good one!

Well, we’ve had some serious rain at last and I am pleased to say that I have seen a number of salmon moving into our beats. I was on the water with a guest and although the water was against us we counted 7 salmon showing in one pool. I guess the sea trout will be doing the same so watch this space!

It was good to meet up with friends old and new at the Devon County Show today and I have another couple of days to go. I really enjoy it and sounds like we have some good weather for the final couple of days.

Richard the trout slayer came back for another day yesterday and despite feeling a little under the weather he fished his whatsits off again and had a number of fish. We had to head high to find some fishable water so I decided on showing him Dartmoor. We covered some ground and fished short with small dries. The fish liked a black version of a scruffy klink in a size 20 and we had to throw the winning fly away as it had been chewed beyond repair.

It was really nice showing him a new spot and he also has developed a love affair with fishing “pocket water” I think we’d both like to have seen the size of the fish that broke him but sometimes its things like that which keep you coming back for more!

It’s been a bit like the Caribbean of late where we just get a short burst of rain and the weather picks up a bit afterwards. This has meant that the rivers are pretty low right now. This doesn’t seem to have hurt the trout fishing a great deal and the numbers of trout caught on the hotel’s waters are already 1/3 of the total of what they were last year. So if the quality of the fishing continues we should be in for a big year. We’ve had trout to 14 inches and plenty in the 10 to 12 inch range.

I heard of a 6lb salmon coming out just a few miles downstream and so they are not far off now. This is where some rain would come in handy and bring them to us!

We have had plenty of happy fishermen and women who have left some nice comments of late and have enjoyed what we are trying to do with our fly fishing school.

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the lesson on Sunday.

Trout was lovely for dinner. They cooked it really well.

Hope to be able to come out again and get some time on the river.

Cheers,

Kate

Hi Pete –

Thanks very much for a good day’s fishing; I greatly enjoyed it, and I
certainly will be back.

Cheers

Philip

Hello Pete

Many thanks for the coaching yesterday – I feel I learnt lots of useful things and am greatly looking forward to getting to the water to try things out again.

With best wishes

George