Fishing The UK, Fly Fishing in Devon, Exeter, South West

After almost a month of beautiful weather something had to give. April being famous for it’s ’showers’ decided to make a fool out of everyone by turning the rain up to eleven. I don’t mind the rain except when it makes the water of the upper Teign rise to an unfishable level. With a little re-adjustment and finger crossing my Easter plans to fish the Teign came to fruition.

Checking the upper Teign webcam (thanks Nick!) I loaded up the car and headed out. For those looking at the webcam, if you can see the boulder on the top right nearest the bridge, the vegetation on the left in the river, and the boulder in the bottom right then you are good to go.

I was using a goldhead / tungsten bead nymph suspended beneath a foamed top Klinkhammer. This always serves me well on the Teign especially when the fish are taking both off the surface and below. The Klink acting as both a fly and a bite indicator. The water was still a little on the high side so the fish were hard to the bottom. Getting the fly down quickly and efficiently was important. Degreasing the leader, putting a tungsten bead on the point and a goldhead at mid water  helped. I found the Salmon Par almost immediately (awesome to see the river is so healthy) and with a few adjustments I managed to hook some small but perfectly formed wild brownies.

For those interested in learning more about the upper Teign check out the UTFA website http://www.upper-teign-fishing.org.uk/ – A tip, you can buy tickets from the Fingle Bridge Inn. The pub however does not open until 11am.

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - It feels good to be a Gangsta

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Upper Teign - fishing for wild brownies

Kennick Reservoir opened it’s 2010 season on March the 27th. Being one of my favorite still water fly fishing venues in Devon it was great to be back on the bank. Fishing was slower than I expected, even the mighty Sunburst Blob struggled to find the fish. After trying a number of spots, depths and flies I resorted to dragging a booby along the bottom attached to a Hi-D line. On the second cast while varying the retrieve (they liked it slow) I hooked into a spirited Kennick Rainbow. I had forgotten how lean and fit the fish are, even with a 7WT rod it is hard to keep the trout under control while making those initial lunges. In 4 hours fishing I landed 6 and lost 3, a great days sport. The weather took a turn for the worst so called it a day when my hands became blocks of ice. My camera got soaked too so sorry for the lack of photo’s.

Today was also a chance to try my new Hardy Demon 9′6 7WT rod. Nothing to report other than it is worth every penny. It is hard to describe how much of a difference a rod of this caliber can have on your casting (even someone as terrible as me), it is pretty amazing really. Ideally I would of liked a Demon Reel but my Wychwood SLA is an amazing piece of kit and it really doesn’t look out of place. Another purchase was a Cortland 444 sinking line. A very slick (also incredibly thin) easy to cast line. Casting a sinking line all day can become tiresome (scary in some instances), the Cortland 444 however is a pleasure to use. I cannot emphasise how important it is to spend as much as you can on Fly lines, that extra £10-15 makes an enormous difference.

I am aware that the Wychwood Truefly SLA reel has been a victim of it’s own success. Demand exceeding supply. Fear not, Nick Hart quite literally has a tower of Wychwood SLA reels in the Hart Fly Shop available NOW – Buy one, you know you want one.  Check out the new Wychwood Quest range of travel fly rods too, they look and feel great.

(p.s. I am in no way affiliated with the Hart Fly Shop, I just do it for the love)

Hardy Demon 7wt rod and Wychwood Truefly SLA

Hardy Demon 7wt rod and Wychwood Truefly SLA

Hardy Demon 7wt rod and Wychwood Truefly SLA

Kennick Reservoir - Rain!

Hardy Demon 7wt rod and Wychwood Truefly SLA

Sneaked out a 9lb 8oz Rainbow this weeked from Tavistock Trout Fishery.  The fish looked considerably smaller in the deep gin clear water, watching it follow and eventually hit the lure was awesome to watch. It was also impressive to see a large number of sizeable trout being caught by other people. The ‘Dump truck’ avoided capture, a rather large Brown that took pleasure in turning away from my fly at the last moment on several ocassions. He better watch out.

Tavistock Trout Fishery - 9lb 8oz Rainbow trout