Kris Kent heads to Yorkshire in search of trout
It was Sunday. There is no fishing on the Skirfare on a Sunday. This is an issue when you are on a weekend fishing trip up in the Yorkshire Dales. On two previous visits to the Falcon at Arncliffe, to fish the Skirfare, we had ventured across Wharfedale and into Coverdale to fish the Cover at Cover Bridge on the Sunday. On both occasions the Cover was high and coloured so we had retired to the tea rooms at Leyburn instead. When we woke Sunday morning and peered blearily out the window the clouds hung low over Littondale and the ruts in the track were full of brown water. It had obviously rained a good deal over night. We decided to try our luck again and set off for Coverdale. The road climbed out of Kettlewell and wound up the hillside and over the high moor before dropping into Coverdale.
The Cover
As we came down off the tops the upper Cover was running hard and brown so we were pleased to find it running low and clear near the confluence with the Ure. As we peered off the bridge by the Cover Bridge Inn a couple of small fish rose enthusiastically, our hearts cheered.
Cover Bridge Inn
Stuart Crofts had told me about the Cover and the Cover Bridge Inn over a decade ago and getting to fish it had been a long time coming. Having never fished the Cover before we weren’t sure what tackle would be appropriate. I put up a 9’ 2 weight, Paul chose a 7’9” 3 weight and Charles decided on his 7’ 4 weight cane rod. Clearly there was no consensus. Paul elected to head upstream whilst Charles and I would fish tag team starting at the bridge, the bottom of the Cover Bridge Inn’s beat.
Excitedly tackling up
Whilst Charles adjusted to casting with his cane rod I scouted ahead and found a few rising fish where a fast run hit a stone block wall. I cast a small bushy caddis into the fast water whilst I waited for Charles to catch up and missed a couple of lightning fast snatches at the fly. Charles followed me through fishing Klink and dink and had a couple of small fish on the nymph.
Klink and dink on a promising run
A little further up I found fish dimpling on a flat section under low hanging sycamores. I wasn’t sure what they were taking so I fished a small dull spider pattern on a dropper off a balloon caddis. The fish quickly spooked in the low clear water and slow flows but I persisted. Half way up the run a small trout smashed the caddis and I was off the mark. Chuffed to have caught a fish off the top in difficult conditions I headed upstream to see what Charles was up to. He’d found another fast run and managed to extract three more fish to 12” on the nymph. As we stood and shared tactics we spotted a couple of rises on the long flat pool that stretched out ahead of us. Despite my sneakiest sneaking about the fish evaporated on my approach. Wading up the pool I spooked a couple of small fish before spotting a better fish sitting in a deeper run, unfortunately it also spotted me and lazily made its way upstream and under a tree on the far bank.
At the top of the pool the river spilt in through a notch in the bedrock creating a fast tongue of water that pushed hard against the roots of an old ash tree. Charles lobbed the duo rig up into the fast water and tracked it back towards us. At the tail end of the fast water the Klink dipped and a fish flashed beneath as he struck but it didn’t stay on. A few casts later the same happened again. The third time Charles struck and the fish stayed on, a butter bellied brownie just under the pound.
A beautiful Cover brownie for Charles
The Cover Bridge Inn’s beat is very varied. Wide shallow pools, fast narrow runs, long open sections followed by tight overhung rapids. Having caught a nice fish we rested on the bank and enjoyed a coffee, chatting over the day so far. Charles thought he saw a rise so I left him enjoying his coffee to check it out. The Cover ran hard and fast undercutting the opposite bank. Sycamore and alder branches hung low over the run shading the tea stained waters. In ten casts I rose and missed eight small lightning-fast trout. At the top of the run the water was flatter and slower with a bubble lane bouncing off an old tree root ball. This time when the small trout snatched at my fly I managed to strike in time and the fish skittered across the pool and into my hand.
The thing that most amazed me about the Cover was how much it varied in size. One minute it was barely a few feet across the next you’d turn a corner and a wide pool stretched out before you. On the whole the wading was easy although getting up and down the banks could sometimes be a bit tricky. At one point the flat bedrock stretched out exposed by the low flows. It meant Charles could walk out and cover a promising fast run on the far bank. It looked promising but failed to produce even a tug.
Bedrock platform
Around the next corner the river widened and deepened, the flow pushed over into a very narrow band running down a rock wall. Whilst Charles tried a streamer I latched onto a rise at the head of the pool. I was distracted by Charles every time a fish nipped at the streamer’s tail but failed to attach itself and Charles would shout out in excitement. Getting a drag-free drift was tricky as the water between me and the fish rising in the fast water was dead flat. With a crafty mend I managed to get about four feet of drift before drag set in. On the fifth try the fish sipped the fly in gently and as I lifted the rod tip the fish drilled deep into the pool. It wasn’t a big fish but after a long wait it was very welcome.
A much appreciated trout
As I released the fish Paul appeared from upstream. He looked pleased with himself. Turned out he’d managed four trout on the dry fly. The fact they were on the dry was not a surprise, as Paul only ever fishes dry fly, we were more surprised he’d caught four. Paul and I shared a coffee before he had to head home. He had very much enjoyed his time on the upper part of the beat and Charles and I were a little disappointed we wouldn’t have time to explore it ourselves. We had spent the best part of a day and only got about half way up the beat.
We ran out of time as we reached the ‘Z Bend’. A sandstone bluff stretches three quarters of the way across pushing the river from the one side of the valley to the other. Water spilling into the pool above it from two channels creates a mess of currents before escaping under a sycamore and down a rapid.
The bluff
Fish were rising along the bubble lane but they didn’t show any interest in my caddis or Charles’ Klinkhammer. As we left the river the dirty water we had seen that morning driving in arrived. The river rose an inch or two and the stones on the bottom of the pool disappeared. For once our timing had been perfect.
Last cast
We reflected on our day during the long walk back to the Cover Bridge Inn and over a pint and a bag of pork scratchings in the riverside garden. This was Charles' first experience of fishing a freestone river and he had thoroughly enjoyed it, especially fishing it with his favourite cane rod. I could finally add the Cover to my "rivers fished" list. Win win.
You can buy day tickets to fish the Cover from the Cover Bridge Inn for the princely sum of £10. There is over two miles of fishing, more than enough to keep you busy for the day. The Cover Bridge Inn serves good food and has a wide selection of real ales.
www.thecoverbridgeinn.co.uk
Biography:
Kris Kent has been fly fishing and trotting for brown trout and grayling for over 20 years in the UK, Europe and Scandinavia. He is Chief Guide at Chalk Stream Dreams, Fishing Manager at Orvis in Stockbridge, PR Officer for the Grayling Society and helps out The Wild Trout Trust with their online communications and events.