Devon School of Fly Fishing Team blog

It’s a funny old game. The leaves are falling, the tempertaures have fallen and there’s some colour in the water and you know what? The fish are biting pretty good.

I am out on the water just about every day and there have been a few mornings when I have peered out and thought mmmmm, this might be a toughie. It’s not like I don’t like the tough days. In fact I really like them. They are the days when you really think about fly selection, where you are going to fish and what might do the job for the day. I’ll carefully think about the beat we’ll be fishing and what will be the best for the conditions. Those I have guided will know I will have them leaping into the truck to try another beat if the one we are on isn’t fishing.

I was guiding Gavin at the weekend and it turned out to be one of those days where everything slotted into place just as I always hope they will. I took him to one of his favourite beats and we had a bunch of fish including a sea trout that we saw shoot out of his hidey hole and nail the Copper John we were fishing. It did his best to weed Gavin but some well executed side strain did the job and we netted the fish. We headed back for lunch at the hotel where the chefs always like to come up with something interesting to eat. Rob said he had come up with the ultimate fisherman’s lunch which he calls the Manwich. Tell you what, it is ideal fishing fodder.

We hit another beat after lunch and fish were soon on the dry. As the day went on the fishing went in pulses of activity but we took advantage of them. Just as we called it a day, the skies opened and the rain fell. It couldn’t have been better timing.

Just back from guiding on the chalk with the legend that is MFD. Report to follow shortly!

The Devon School of Fly Fishing. Fly Fishing Tuition, Fly Fishing Lessons and Guiding- Fly Fishing in Devon

I have just finished a few days fishing with my fishing buddy Ray (The Dude). He was over from his new base in Denmark for some fishing and hadn’t really picked up a rod for a while. I had been thinking how long it had been since we had chucked a line together and I reckon it was in Montana last year.

He had flown into Heathrow so we thought it only right that we started with a day on the chalkstream and so we headed to a venue that we have spent so many happy times fishing. I went up early as we were going to fish the next day and stayed in the most excellent Grayling House B & B. Grayling House is owned by Rick and his wife Lorraine. I remember the first time I stayed there and Rick answered the door in a Simms fishing shirt and I knew I was in the right place. The rooms and breakfast are also stunning.

Rick pops one back

As The Dude wasn’t due ’til later I asked Rick if he fancied a fish for a few hours, which he leapt at. We strolled up the river casting to rising fish and caught a few nice ones. As well as running an fantastic B & B, Rick is an excellent fisherman, fly tyer and great company on the river too. If you are in the Salsibury area look them up, it is worth it!

The Dude had arrived and had sniffed us out on the river and as it was dark we thought it best to head to the pub for dinner and a few drinks.

Another one for Dude

End of day grayling

Next morning the sun was out and the fish were rising. Dude was in to fish straight away and I watched him pick up trout and grayling. I got into the river and followed him upstream, thankful that he’d left me a few fish to catch. There was one run I was watching him fish and it looked to me like it was almost a fish a cast!

As with every proper fishing trip we ate some junk for lunch then had a tailgate dinner which for Ray was a Chinese and for me one of the best fish and chips I think I have ever had. It looked as though things were getting cooler and quieter at 7pm but the bugs and the fish got a second wind and we fished on late before heading down the A303.

For the Devon leg of the trip I wanted to show Dude some places he hadn’t fished before, so on the first day we headed to the river that shan’t be named. It was cloudy with some light rain when we left home but when we got there the cloud stayed but it warmed. Perfect. I hung back and watched Dude get off of the mark and then went up and found some water to fish. Dude told me he had been reading the latest Gierach offering and he had mentioned that when fishing with a buddy he would leave 3 large stones in an obvious place where he had got in so that his fishing buddy knew where to get out. We tried it and it works really well. The day was perfect and we fished long and hard and just had a packet of chocolate biscuits for lunch.

A fish from the nameless river

under the tree Dude!

A fish for me from the nameless river

Planning for the last day was easy. We had always planned a trip up to Dartmoor but other trips had got in the way, so this was to be the destination. Weather was ideal and the first stream we headed to had some great pocket water that I know the Dude likes to fish. After a sausage roll (we’d had a barbie the previous evening so there were a couple left over) we fished Cherry Brook. I love Cherry Brook. Although small it is easy to think that there are only small fish in there but I have seen some real hogs that have come after smaller fish that my guests have hooked. I even let out an expletive when I saw this and spent the rest of the day apologising!

Picking a pocket

It is also easy to think that you need to fish tiny flies on Dartmoor. While this is often the case, the monster 14 1/2 incher we had the other week was on a size 14 and Dude fished a 16 on the first stream we fished but we did go down to a 20 for Cherry. The fish don’t read the books!

Dartmoor trout

We walked, talked and fished. It was such a good day with rising fish and we headed back for an ice cream and last look at the river. Where we stopped there were people, dogs and just about everything else and the fish were still rising just beside them I guess they just get used to it all. The hardest part would have been trying to make a cast with all the tourists about.

Cherry Brook trout

So that is the trip. It was great, as ever, to fish with Dude I miss him so much now that he lives abroad but we are already planning another trip. His daughter Mia is showing an interest in fishing and Mia if you are reading I hope you’ll join us one day!

Fly Fishing in Devon The Devon School of Fly Fishing- Fly Fishing Lessons, Guiding and Fly Fishing Tuition

I’m probably being a little previous (at least I hope so)  that the river has had a more autumnal feel to it this week. Fishing has felt a little tougher, although it has been a pretty good season so everything is relative I guess. The starts have that cooler temperatures to them and it has meant it has taken a bit of time for fish to start looking at flies and 4pm has been a good time to get into some good caddis hatches.

I sort of feel a bit guilty hearalding the end of summer and a shift into autumn, especially as it is mid August so I hope I am well and truly wrong and that we get a nice Indian summer to end off the season.

Maggie at one with the Taw

It feels like Exmoor is still getting the lion’s share of rain when it falls, which is good for those fishing the tributaries and those below the Mole junction of the Taw but, like I said earlier, the season has been a good one to us further up the line and one that I hope continues.

I have been tying flies a bit more of late and after a day on the river I give a bit of thought to what has gone on and how I can tie something that might be of use when I am working. During the season tying is more of a necessity than a hobby, so that I have enough of the right flies just in case a few go astray. I do it because I need to and I don’t have a problem with it but I like to get them done and ready rather than lavishing great love on them. That having been said I have really been enjoying it of late and have come up with a few easy to tie patterns that like the description says are easy to tie and catch a few fish. Foam has been one of the main materials and I have a balloon caddis that takes a few minutes to tie and floats like a cork and an emerger pattern that sits right in the film of the water and the fish love it. I’ll post some up at some stage.

Fly Fishing in Devon Fly Fishing Lessons, Tuition and Guiding in Devon

I can’t remember how many times I have said to myself, Emma and have probably written here too that I intended to do more fishing this year. It hasn’t played out that way but it makes those days when I have a rod in my hand even more special.

It is also great when you get to fish with people that are great company and superb fishermen. Jim Williams ticks both of those boxes for me in a big way. I speak to Jim a fair bit as I think we share the same views about life, business and fly fishing. Namely, that they should all be fun, not complicated, shrouded in mystery and not to be  taken too seriously.

Jim had fished one of the beats here a few years back but I was keen for him to catch a few fish on the Taw and then to head up to Dartmoor the next day. We met at the hotel, had some coffee and hit the river.

It is interesting to watch and learn how other people fish the water you know so well and it was great to see Jim catching fish from the off. As we both had a few days off it wasn’t about catching huge numbers but about sharing the fishing together and enjoying the whole thing. We decided to just fish some dries and see what happened. It worked just fine!

We headed back to mine where Emma had prepared a curry which we wolfed down and then we popped out to have a look for some sea trout. We dropped by the hotel to pick up Daran who I had been guiding for a few days to see if he wanted to tag along. He did and we hit the water. Daran had a good pull off of a fish and I sat back and watched the guys fish. We were all a bit tired so headed back pretty early for a nightcap at the hotel where we ended up talking fishing for a good long time.

Next day I took Jim up to Dartmoor and to a few of my favorite stretches. Once again, within minutes he was in to fish and the pattern pretty much continued. I think we only fished about 3 patterns the whole 2 days but the highlight was watching Jim pick the pocket water of a stretch I like to head to. It was great seeing him enjoy it so much. I have a feeling he’ll be back!

We both like fishing light lines and were both fishing 2wts for the couple of days. I have a new 2wt that I am over the moon with and I think it will be my main rod from now on. Jim is a huge fan of 10ft rods and fishes them almost exclusively. I think he was one of the small handful of people who were first to do so, whereas now they are a common site for me on the river. He really thinks about tackle and what he is trying to achieve with it and puts it to such good effect in both his fishing and teaching.

Jim, it was a real pleasure buddy and I can’t wait to hit the Coln with you. To read Jim’s report and much better photos on our trip click HERE.

Fly Fishing in Devon Fly Fishing Tuition, Guiding and Fly Fishing Lessons in Devon

The great thing about fly fishing is that there are no communication barriers needed to understand what a fellow fly angler is trying to say, even if they don’t speak the same language. A few nods and a look at the fly boxes is often enough to show the other person exactly what they need to know.

I was recently guiding Raphael who was over from Spain for 3 days of fishing with me. Despite what I have written above, Raphael spoke excellent English and made me slightly embarrassed that my few words of Spanish didn’t really do me proud.

We had a great time on the river and it was a real pleasure to be able to show him a nice variety of water. He was an excellent angler who covered the water perfectly and caught plenty of Devon trout.

He liked to use his flies, some of which were a little different to those I normally use, but they worked really well. So well in fact that I took a good mental note and have tied up a few as I think they will make great additions to my box. The flies are quite similar but there subtle little differences that sometimes can make the difference.

I am sure Charles Darwin would see them as a sort of natural selection of the patterns that have been slightly changed to suit their natural surroundings, or in this case trout, but it is nice to see these little alterations work here too. I know when I am tying flies that I tie a few and wonder if a slight change might work. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t but I love trying things out!

Fly Fishing in Devon Fly Fishing Lessons, Tuition and Fly Fishing Lessons in Devon

I had always had this little fear that when the mayfly was over that the fish had feasted so well that it would take them time to get back into the swing of things again. Thankfully this has not happened and the fish have fed right the way through. Last year I seem to recall that it was black gnat that was the hatch that really got them going again but caddis and Blue Winged Olives have been the main hatches that the fish seem to be most interested in on the Taw.

Dave learns to fly fish a river

The caddis have been pretty heavy starting at around 11am and then stopping for a bit, starting again around lunchtime and then starting and stopping until evening. It has meant that it has looked like all you needed to do is tie on your favourite caddis pattern and go catch all the fish. If only fishing and come to think of it, life, were that easy. It hasn’t been though and just the slightest trickle of BWO’s has been lurking about in the background that has really got the fish going.

We always like to take a bit of time to watch the water but you really need to watch even more closely to see just the smallest of hints that tells you to think a bit more about the fly selection you make.

Interestingly we are still getting some pretty good numbers of mays coming off but the fish seem to just ignore them now. How is it they can gorge on these big flies and then just switch off of them? Is it just a case that you can get too much of a good thing?

I was lucky enough to be out guiding Paul last week and I know he has had a really busy time looking after his wife Margaret after an operation and project managing a house rennovation. He was dying for a day of fishing and so I took him out to cast a fly at a few fish. Despite not having the chance to get a fly rod in his hands for a bit he fished liked a demon and had plenty, including picking up a well earned sea trout. Really, really well done Paul!

Well done Paul!

Fly Fishing in Devon Fly Fishing Tuition, Guiding and Fly Fishing Lessons in Devon

Just sometimes everything slots into place and gives you that nice feeling that you are doing your job as a fly fishing guide as good as you hope and, more importantly, what your guest hopes too!

I was guiding Stephen who I have guided a couple of times before; the first time I guided him several years ago he managed a memorable 16 inch trout on a dry. As I am writing this I seem to remember that this was one of those hunches that worked out but that story will keep.

This time, we had picked up a few trout as a blue winged olive hatch had started to get going and we came to a spot that I have had some success with in the past. It is a place I know sea trout like to hold in. I didn’t land any from there last year, although Gavin was broken by a really big fish that snapped at a mayfly with a pretty chunky leader on. The year previously though, the best spell I had was 7 fish hooked in 3 days. Sadly not all came in but it was nice as we got them to take in bright sunshine.

So, we came to this spot and I told Stephen that it CAN be a good spot but to be honest it hadn’t produced this year but the water level had come up a tiny bit and it was worth a try. Stephen’s first cast was a little short but a small trout hit it anyway although it came off. Next cast was one the money. Right under the low branch and into the pool. “Whack!” Sea trout don’t go whack but I thought it would add to the dramatic effect!

Stephen struck and he was in to his first sea trout. It wasn’t a huge one but that didn’t matter. Land mark fish can be whatever size as they are special ones. He was over the moon and we moved up and saw a couple of larger fish move but they didn’t play ball. Stephen, there will be next time and thanks very much for your note:

“Hello Pete

Just a note to say thank you for the excellent morning and for your patience in helping me to make real progress in getting back into river fishing.

I don’t know whether or not the photos you took were any good but I should be interested to see the one of the sea trout.

Again, many thanks and I look forward to seeing you again before long.

Stephen”

I really enjoy guiding the “long shot” fish. I know we can catch sea trout at night and during a spate, but it is kind of neat when you can do it in bright sun and low water.

Fly Fishing in Devon Fly Fishing Tuition, Guiding and Fly Fishing Lessons in Devon

I am just back from 4 days of guiding Pam and Alan on a Dorset chalkstream. I sort of know the water from a trip in the distant past when I fished it with my good friend Ray (The Dude) a few years back.

I really like these trips on waters I am not so familiar with as it test me as a guide and fishing chalkstreams also allows me to work on the fish spotting skills which I thoroughly enjoy. It is good for a guide to do this every now and again as it gets you thinking a little more and lets you work on honing your skills on a water you might not know so well.

"nice cast Alan, this could be the one"

It can sometiimes be easy to tie on the old faithfuls that work at home but they might not do the business on a different water. I am a firm believer that a guide doesn’t have supernatural skills as to when fish are biting but they simply read and analyse the conditions and fish the water and make fly selections accordingly. Guiding is about showing your guests why you are changing your flies or why you are changing the setup a bit, not gazing into the distance and muttering something about a special feeling or saying that your big toe is throbbing and the fish are coming on the feed…well, thats my view!

Pam does the business

I want my guests to be able to see why conditions have changed and then if they are fishing alone they have a really good idea of some things that might work to tip the scales in their balance.

Another fish for Alan

Anyway, the trip was a great one and Pam and Alan, as always,  fished beautifully and caught plenty of fish.  We had a mixture of bright sunshine followed by rain on the last day but it was great fun!

Fly Fishing in Devon Fly Fishing Tuition, Guiding and Fly Fishing Lessons in Devon

It feels like I have looked up and we are coming to the end of June. It has been a great season so far and it feels like there is lots more to do and fish of all sorts to be caught. One of the things I did promise was to fish a bit more this year but I just haven’t really had the chance yet but I have promised myself I’ll put that right from now on.

Glyn takes a breather...love the jacket!

I have been loving the great caddis hatches we have been having  and, as has been the case for most of the season, we are tying on a dry and it is doing the job. I have to admit that I was a little nervous of what the fishing would be like after mayfly but they still appear to be happy to feed, despite a few looking as though they wouldn’t be out of place on the oche of a darts tournament!

David works a nice pool

The rain has been welcome and I did lose a day to a heavy coloured river but it didn’t rise enough to really make the next days unfishable.

It was great to meet up with Glyn and David again and we managed some nice fish on the day. While I was with Glyn, David excitedly told me about the fish that had taken his fly and headed deep and broke him off. It might just have been another sea trout. He did console his lost fish with a really nice 11 incher though. Glyn fished the best I have seen her and her day was made by an otter swimming right past her on the river. She smartly reeled and wandered off to the next pool!

DFP christens my new net

The legend from Portland was back in town and had some unfinished business with the Taw that he put right landing a number of nice fish and giving my brand new net a good working out. Dave from Portland you were on fire!

Murky weather but the fish were still biting for Gavin

Gavin was also back for some trouting. We fished in just about every weather you could imagine but the river stayed just right and the fish were biting. He had a number of really nice fish and a new personal best of 13 inches. We almost got a photo of it but the slippery customer saw a chance and rightly went for it.

A 13incher that was a little camera shy!

My good friend Toby has a new site that has his excellent photos and words that might be of interest. Take a look Here

Fly Fishing in Devon Fly Fishing Tuition, Lessons and Guiding in Devon

Well, we have had some rain at last. It feels as though all I have done is watch the water levels continue to fall and what little rain we have had until now has not made much of an impact.

The two Alans out for a days guided fishing

That having been said, the fishing has been pretty good. We’re through what has been a really memorable mayfly season and are now enjoying some great caddis and blue winged olive hatches. It has been great to tie on a dry and enjoy seeing the fish like what we cast to them.

Bob lets one fly

I have not tied on the ever faithful klink as much as I usually do and am giving other patterns more use. It will probably come as little surprise that they are little different from the usual offerings and my guests on the river have seen that, as ever, we like to look at things from a slightly different angle!

Gary knows its a good fish!

The rain over the weekend has brought the river up and given it just about a couple of inches of visibility, but I have a feeling it is going to drop pretty quickly again but my fingers are crossed it has been enough to bring a few more migratory fish up to us.

Steve and a fish caught on something a little different!

I thoroughly enjoyed giving a talk to the Worcester Fly Dressers Guild the other Saturday about fly fishing in Devon although I was a little nervous of handing over some of the flies I use for them to look at!

Fly Fishing in Devon Fly Fishing Guide, Tuition and Fly Fishing Lessons