Charles Inniss is a familiar name to anglers in Devon. Especially those that fish the Torridge. Wayne Thomas tells us about the man and the river
On April, 10th 1932 an angler cast into a pool on the Madeira beat of the River Torridge below Beaford Bridge and between 10.00am and 1.00pm landed six magnificent salmon weighing 106lb the heaviest 32lb.
I met with Charles Inniss at his home in Sheepwash in early April 2011 eager to hear about his years beside the river Torridge. I had been privileged to read the draft of his enthralling recollections of life beside the River Torridge. The stories of people, fish and wildlife had engrossed me for several evenings and my appetite was whetted for an evening chatting about the Torridge and its history.
Charles moved to Devon with his family in 1949 and fished the Torridge for the first time at the age of six. Eight years later his father bought the Half Moon Inn and its fishing for the princely sum of just over £10,000. This was the start of a life of fish, fisherman and friendships entwined with the passing seasons beside this wonderful river that wanders through deepest Devon before entering the Bristol Channel in Bideford bay.
The scrapbooks at the Half Moon tell many tales of salmon and of historic catches. In the early part of the last century a weir at Chapel restricted the upstream migration of salmon at Beaford Bridge. Salmon would not pass this weir until May and would congregate below this obstruction in the early season. It was from here that the historic catch I opened this article with was landed. Madeira was the Torridge’s most famous stretch of river its reputation founded many years ago. This deeply wooded stretch of river beneath Beaford Bridge is certainly an enchanting place where time seems to have stood still.
I first fished at Madeira on an evening in 2009 and almost hooked a salmon on my first cast into Abbot’s Hill Pool. Far from the intrusive roads and the roar of traffic I was immersed in a scene of tranquillity with just the gentle sound of running water and the evening bird song.
I asked Charles if he had fished many other rivers and he told me that he was primarily a one-river man. Since 1972 the river had basically been his side of the family business and from March until the end of September each year every day was spent looking after the anglers who came to fish the Half Moon waters. After seven months of fishing and talking fishing it was time to lay the rod down for a while.
Reading through “Torridge Reflections” I was buoyed by his eternal optimism and heartened to realise that the rivers fortunes had taken a turn for the better despite all the doom and gloom talked by anglers. During the eighties the Torridge and many rivers in Devon were hit by numerous problems. Excessive water abstraction compounded pollution from both agriculture and industry.
The closing down of the Dairy Crest factory at Torrington and a major fire at the North Devon Meat Factory were undoubtedly beneficial to the well being of the river. In 1992 Roadford Reservoir came online and brought an end to the need to abstract from the river Torridge. Research during the lead up to Roadford being built highlighted the fact that the Torridge is particularly vulnerable to low flows during the summer months far more so than the Taw.
The factor of low flows and the river not holding its level for long inevitably means that the window of opportunity for salmon fishing is often a small one that should be grasped whenever conditions permit. This is not a recent phenomenon as the lack of prolonged flow is discussed in Lemon Grey’s classic tome, “Torridge Fishery” published in 1957.
I asked the inevitable question; how does the river compare to that of past days when it was perhaps closer to its prime? During the late fifties as a fifteen-year-old boy mad keen on fishing the Torridge had much to offer. The big difference was that back then there was a significant spring run that prevailed until the outbreak of salmon disease (UDN) in the late sixties and early seventies. Another major factor in catches of fish was also the introduction of restrictions on fishing methods.
The majority of salmon fishing on the Half Moon waters was spinning with thirty to forty salmon often landed by anglers by the end of April. Typically salmon fishing was conducted during March, April and then again in September as the season neared its close. This fishing pattern was and is influenced greatly by the weather patterns and water flows. He remembers that in those far off days the river would hold up well after a spate with good fishing lasting for perhaps ten days in comparison with modern times when three to four days is more typical.
Another change in the river is frequency of trout rising to take flies from the surface. Spring and summer nights when the entire river seemed to bubble with rising trout. This is possibly as a result of a change in feeding habits for there is still a very healthy population of trout within the Torridge. Lack of fly life is a worrying factor for it surely tells of something drastically wrong with the environment?
An indication that the river is perhaps improving as I write this is that lamprey numbers are increasing which is cited as an indication of a healthy river.
During the 1960’s Roger Rowe; of the Black Horse Torrington controlled several miles of fishing in the Torrington area. It is recorded that by the end of April it was common for up to a hundred salmon to have been landed from these beats. Phillip Martin who lived in Beam House controlled the fishing below Beam weir. He moved there in 1950 and on March 1st, opening day of the season he fished the weir pool catching four salmon during the morning which he considered reward enough for the day. Typically by the end of April the beats below Beam Weir would have produced in excess of one hundred to one hundred and fifty salmon. In 1954 that was a particularly wet summer the Brightly Beat produced over one hundred salmon. It was reported in a fishing magazine of the time that a Mr Lister had landed his 100th salmon of the season on August 14th 1954 Truly a salmon fishers dream summer!
Sea trout fishing on the Torridge peaked during the 1960’s with the river reported to be full of peal. Though during the 1970’s and 1980’s sea trout catches declined, but in 1987 there was a huge run of peal in the Torridge that corresponded with similar reports on the Taw and Lyn.
Charles biggest salmon from the Torridge weighed 16lb and his fathers biggest salmon was a fine fish of 27lb 8oz. In 1994 a large run of salmon came into the river in June. Martin Weeks was fishing the lower river and heard a commotion whilst night fishing for sea trout. Huge numbers of salmon were pushing into the lower reaches of the river. For several days following guests of the Half Moon enjoyed some exciting sport as the salmon waited in the lower pools for a spate. To protect the vulnerable salmon Charles declared the pools sanctuary areas.
After a September spate the salmon forged on upstream with fifty-eight salmon landed by Half Moon Guests in just a few days. At this time the Half Moon had three days a week fishing the Devon Wildlife Trust Water at Halsdon. David Sheriff fished this beat and landed a salmon estimated at between twenty-seven and twenty eight pounds. Each season sees salmon caught in excess of twenty pounds. A twenty-three pounder was landed in 2009.
In recent years a large sea trout estimated at 19lb was found below Beam Weir by a guest staying at the Half Moon. The largest sea trout he could recall was a sea trout of 13lb 8oz that was caught by an angler spinning near Sheepwash. In recent seasons there have been several double figure sea trout landed certainly more than used to be caught from the river. So as is often the case as fish numbers decrease so the size increases. This is strange for such a phenomena can be understood where lower fish stocks equates to more available food but with sea trout that do not feed in freshwater there is no logical explanation.
On sea trout fishing he stated that in contrast to the advice given on many rivers to wait until full darkness descends on the Torridge many sea trout could be tempted in the last hour of light. This could be in part due to the fact that the Torridge is seldom gin clear. Charles told me that one should fish for the sea trout with care and stealth. Save the favourite spot until that magic moment when the light fades from the day; “the operational time”.
Fly size for sea trout on the Torridge should in his view be on the small side with size 8 to 10’s typical, his favourite fly being a silver butcher and a small black and silver on the lower river. Charles related to me how Martin Weeks and his friends had started fishing the Lower Torridge in the early nineties and employed the large lures and techniques laid out in Hugh Falkus’s classic tome “Sea Trout Fishing”. Surprisingly they enjoyed little success but after talking with Charles and other local sea trout fishers they employed the small traditional sea trout flies used by local anglers. Their success rate immediately improved dramatically and they started to catch fish.
As to his favourite salmon fly this is the Thunder and lightning or silver stoats tail generally dressed on a double hook that fishes well as it transcends the stream.
The fishing on the Torridge is now of course fly only but in the past spinning was by far the most popular method of fishing. Charles told me that when spinning was first banned there were fears that it would be the end of fishing on the waters of the Half Moon. There was despair and anger amongst many local anglers when the byelaw was introduced during the early eighties. This was in part due to the fact that whilst the net fishery was reduced it was still allowed to continue depleting stocks.
The vast majority of guests fishing the Half Moon Waters employed spinning tactics to tempt the salmon and looking at the water this is understandable as many of the deeper pools are far from ideal fly pools. Records show that up to 90% of salmon caught pre nineteen eighties were caught using spinning tactics. This fact undoubtedly clouds any statistics relating to numbers of salmon caught. Perhaps painting a far gloomier picture on stocks than is truly representative?
I expressed that my own view is that the introduction of fly only has been a good move as it has made salmon fishing on the river more sustainable. In addition to this fly-fishing is far more in keeping with catch and release tactics causing far less potential injury than a spinner.
The restriction on methods has impacted heavily on many local anglers who have given up their sport having no inclination to adopt fly tactics. When conditions were right for spinning following a spate several anglers would descend along the upper reaches of the river with their spinning tackles and enjoy fine sport. Charles felt sad that these anglers were suddenly denied their sport.
One of anglings greatest joys is undoubtedly the people that one meets along the way and in Charles case this is certainly true. During many years at the Half Moon he made many friends and shared his love for the river with many characters. Even after the sale of the Half Moon Charles continues to advise on the fishing spending many hours encouraging guests with words of wisdom and tales of previous successes. I am sure that the most valuable gift he gives to guests is that of confidence for I am a firm believer that this is an angler’s greatest asset.
The Half Moon in its heyday was undoubtedly a thriving fishing Inn and Charles tells of days when he would send up to eighteen rods a day out onto the rivers beats. Many of these were trout fishers. There has been a big decline in the numbers of anglers fishing the Half Moon Waters. In its heyday the Inn would be fully booked from early April until the middle of June. Seven days a week; fully booked for three months a wonderful period of angling days and socialising.
The decline in fishing Inns throughout the West Country is certainly sad and I chatted at length with him on this and how many famous fishing Inns have closed.
In 1958 when Charles family moved to the Half Moon Inn there were at least six fishing Inns on the Torridge. The Black Horse Inn in Torrington, The Devils Stone Inn at Shebbear, The George at Hatherleigh, The New Inn at Meeth and Woodford Bridge at Milton Damerel all of these were fishing Inn’s with their own fishing beats. This decline in fishing Inn’s is reflected across the region and is a sad loss to the West Countries sporting heritage.
There are numerous factors that have contributed to this, one of which has been the decline in fish stocks. The restrictions on fishing methods, early season mandatory catch and release and of course the fluctuating economic climate. Another factor is that people can now travel to foreign climes in search of their fishing.
As the evening drew to a close I felt privileged to have talked with him and to have been given a glimpse into a life that has undoubtedly been greatly enriched by the love of the River Torridge over many seasons.
Seasons End
The salmon season on the Torridge normally ends on September 30th but for the last couple of years an extension has been granted by the Environment Agency to gather data on salmon runs.
Charles had invited me to visit the river with him one day and the season had evaporated at its normal breakneck speed so it was with thanks to the extension that my wife and I joined Charles in early October to visit a river Torridge beat made famous in Lemon Greys Classic tome “Torridge Fishery” published in 1957. Far from the nearest road nestled within rolling countryside not a sound from the modern world intruded upon our day beside a river lined with oaks, ash and other broadleaf English trees. Many anglers had cast their lines here over many years and shared a common interest; that desire to connect with nature through a rod and line. A lifetime of experience and angling tales flowed from Charles as he reminisced enthusiastically as the sun beat down from a clear blue sky. It seemed that every twist and turn of the river as it drifted through the valley held a memory of a life spent within its charm. I commented upon the remains of an old structure lying beside the river. This it would seem was the remains of a bridge built by Lemon Grey and destroyed in the year of the Lynmouth Flood of 1952.
Charles had to be home for tea and invited me to take my rod back to the river for a last few casts of the season. As the sun sank from the sky a salmon leapt from the water its flanks flashing silver. Each cast was made with optimism for he had given me a couple of his own flies to try and with them came confidence an essential ingredient in a fishers armoury. At last I came to a particularly fishy looking run. Cast my fly across the river and several yards below noticed a bulge in the water as a salmon rolled. A longer line was propelled; the line mended in the fast current. Then came that magical moment as life surged through the line and a salmon came leaping from the water its autumnal flanks illuminated in the glow of a fading season. For several minutes the battle ebbed and flowed until the salmon lay safely within the folds of the net. After gently un-slipping the barbless hook I posed momentarily with my prize as my wife Pauline captured the moment. The salmon was then lowered back into the river and allowed to swim gracefully away with a flick of its tale. Hopefully within a couple of months he will have ensured the future of the rivers hierarchy for generations of future anglers to seek and admire.
Charles Inniss’s book entitled “Torridge Reflections” is due for publication in the autumn of 2012 and is a tome I would whole-heartedly recommend to anyone who has an interest in people, fishing and the countryside.
It will be available from River Reads in Devon