Our good friend Peter Anderson headed down to Devon in search of trout. The plans needed to be altered a bit but everything turned out just fine in the end.
We struggle to get to Devon. Every year two friends and I book a night away in Devon so that we can fish together. Usually we cancel, we have been flooded off more times than I can remember. This year looked good though, the rooms were booked and the weather was set fair(ish). Then I got an email. We were planning to fish the Dart. Was I aware, my correspondent asked, that the system was closed when we planned to fish because they were hosting the Commonwealth championships. No we were not aware!
Some hurried emails and phone calls sorted us out. A day on the Thrushel, overnight at the Arundel Arms, then a day on the Lyd. I trundled south through steady rain but wasn’t too worried. The south west was set to miss the worst of it and we were promised a sunny afternoon with the odd shower. We met at the hotel and David Pilkington, the Fishing Manager, greeted us with a smile and broke the bad news. We could fish the Thrushel…..but it was high and coloured. Better to fish the top beats on the Lyd and beat 19 was free, would we like it…..would we ever!
So off we went. Through some narrow lanes to the parking spot. We tackled up and I noticed that I’d left my waterproof behind, no matter, we were going to have a sunny afternoon with the odd shower.
The upper Lyd is a lovely, intimate little stream. Narrow, lots of tree cover and fairly easy wading over gravel but with the odd patch of slippery bedrock. Although we were a long way up towards the head of the river, this was not Dartmoor pocket water, it was well behaved! There were lots of very shallow stretches but plenty of inviting pools, many tight to the bank sheltered by overhanging trees – this was challenging fishing.
A shower started. I fished the duo and after half an hour I had a fish….it wasn’t big! This sort of water is perfect for fishing the duo and my combination of size 16 hare’s ear under a size 14 oppo produced a stream of fish. The shower continued, in fact the wind increased and the rain turned to hail and I began to think it could get really nasty with a very black sky. The rain eased but didn’t stop, it was a very long shower. After a couple of hours we had had enough, the fish were coming but without a waterproof, I was wet and starting to get cold. The warmth of the hotel bar beckoned!
The following day was glorious. We had a chat with David who told us that the Lyd was “big” with a tinge of colour but it was falling. Off we went. The river looked perfect to us. We were on the Sydenham beat which is bookable through the Westcountry passport scheme at £15 per rod per day for an awful lot of water. We tackled up in front of the Manor House which is being renovated then crossed the bridge and accessed the upstream beat. Access was tricky. A strong barbed wire fence with stiles over which were some unpleasant brambles and in most cases a steep drop to the river. I have fallen in here before so I was very careful. There are places to get in the river safely and in we went. The river here is bigger than yesterday’s beat, but it is hardly big. This part of the beat had plenty of fallen trees too, it was not short of character!
It was a slow start, probably because I was fishing too shallow. I put on a size 14 hare’s ear with a 2.5mm tungsten beat and suspended it 30 inches below the oppo. I picked up a tiddler. Fishing a bubble line brought three more. And so it went on with small fish coming steadily, all to the nymph though, in spite of the odd mayfly coming off and plenty of insect life, I didn’t see any fish rise. A deeper, slower run tucked close into the bank brought solid resistance and I was into a better fish – a grayling over a pound or so. Another around the 10 oz mark followed.
I moved downstream of the bridge where access was easier and the river was wider with fewer fallen trees and relatively open banks, but it was just as lovely. Fish came steadily and the trout generally were a little bigger. We had a great session, over 30 fish between us in four hours on one of the loveliest rivers I have fished. Most of my life is spent on chalk streams, this was a very welcome change.
Read more from Peter via his Walks and Fishes blog