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Post by Pete Tyjas on Oct 21, 2019 9:21:26 GMT
I have heard mixed reports of how the season was for friends ranging from not great to pretty good.
Personally, fishing farther down the river for a majority of the season meant I didn't have to worry about low levels but when the weather was at its hottest I either stayed off the river or fished early or late and just targeted rising fish.
I've spent more time just fishing the dry and waiting for fish to show themselves and really enjoyed it.
The highlight was probably catching the biggest trout I'll ever catch in Devon, some great hatches and good company but I am still saddened by the pollution incident on the Mole.
So, how was yours?
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Post by boisker on Oct 21, 2019 19:28:40 GMT
Mixed Pete... Great sport nymphing through late March, April into May. I enjoyed it so much it tempted me into buying a 10’ Marryat pro... 3/4w... nice rod, and had some very cool sessions with long leader where I was really pulling them in. Loads of fun at the Monnow social weekend in May, with a couple of extra days thrown in meant i fished pretty much all day from early until late for 6 days on the run... different beats and /or rivers each day. Then an amazing few weeks on a dry through June on the Otter... biggest stamp of fish I’ve consistently caught... 5 or 6 fish 12-17” long pretty much guaranteed each session.... and then like you Pete, towards the end of that period I caught what will probably reman my biggest wild brown on a devon river for a long time. Since then, either low water levels with hot weather, work, some crappy personal commitments and more recently rain makes it feel as though I have hardly fished since early July. But can’t complain... that 4 week period through June will take some beating
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Oct 22, 2019 9:39:10 GMT
Good to hear you have had a mixed and enjoyable season.
How do you find the Marryat?
I had one of the early versions in 10ft 3wt when we were still trying to figure out euro style nymphing a while back but haven't seen much about them since. Does it nymph and cast a fly line well?
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Post by boisker on Oct 22, 2019 18:03:50 GMT
So far very good, although i didn’t get a huge amount of use out of it before the river’s plummeted. I’ve pretty much only used straight through chameleon in 15lb to a sighter, fished it that set up with nymph, two nymphs and a dry dropper as well. Unfortunately once the rivers got really low I stopped nymphing and only fished with dry... so left the Marryat and used the GS... if they’d come up for a dry fine, but I left them alone sub-surface’...... Downlocking reel, dull black finish, nice action for casting nymphs,... nice rod. I haven’t got around to buying a 3wt line yet, my 4wt feels a tad heavy for my tastes, but I do like a lighter feeling line/rod... so I expect if using a traditional line it will feel a lot nicer casting a 3w. But, saying that it still cast nice loops with the 4wt, was accurate and had plenty of feedback. I may get out with it this week.... couple of hrs on the Tone...... fingers crossed Talking of lines Pete... a Rio single Spey line arrived today... as recommended to me on Saturday at the open day....advice was to choose the line with the Spey tasks in mind rather than overhead. Had a quick 30 mins on grass with it this afternoon, great for the Spey (not surprisingly) but compared to my usual SA mastery trout it feels like I’ve stuck a brick on the end of my line when overhead casting.... feels real heavy. It actually casts fine overhead, turbocharged in fact... stick the head out the rod tip with perhaps a metre overhang and it zips out to the backing just on a PUALD... I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but delicate it sure ain’t
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Oct 25, 2019 8:18:29 GMT
Yes, the single spey is a a clunky but it does overhead, we've used them to teach beginners as they load the rod really well.
Anyone else have any thoughts on their season?
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Post by yeoman on Oct 25, 2019 12:38:53 GMT
Hi Pete,
Pretty average for me, some nice fish and fishing from early May to mid June, then a bit slow after that save for some decent evening Sedge fishing. Had a nice couple of days Barbel fishing on the Wye in early July, not fly...and a bit of lure fishing for Bass over the summer and thats about it. Hardly saw a Salmon, let alone catch one.
Cheers
Ben
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Post by terry on Oct 25, 2019 18:46:10 GMT
I thought that last season was poor for me but in honesty this one was probably worse. I did not venture very far from my beloved Dartmoor but it just seemed to me that the numbers of fish were just not there.. I have to admit that my outings were not very well planned for a retired old git.. e.g. trip to Colliford ( an annual trip for me since it opened) really strong east wind and bright sun so the inevitable struggle with one fish. My only other ventures were to Fernworthy with one blank and one fish, similar conditions to Colliford. The worst thing about this season was how quick it has gone. Forgive my ramblings I’ve just watch the latest Brexit news and probably had a few glasses of wine too many. Roll on March 2020.
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Dude
New Member
Posts: 37
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Post by Dude on Oct 25, 2019 20:24:41 GMT
My season was the best since moving to Devon 3 years ago. On the dart i saw more sea trout jump on any single night than i did in the whole of last season combined. I didn't see any salmon apart from one i caught which was a fluke whilst sea trout fishing at night. I concentrated on a few pools and really got to know them rather than rushing from pool to pool trying to cover as much water as possible and not taking a break. I met some of the other fishermen on the bank who helped my massively, last two years i hardly saw another person fishing the dart. Last autumn i had a lesson in single handed casting with Geoff Stephens which was awesome and helped me get to grips with fishing a smaller tree lined river. Consequently i spent much less time hooking trees and getting frustrated and managed to winkle a few sea trout out. I had a baby last christmas so time has been limited and going out at dusk after the baby goes to bed for the sea trout suited me perfectly. Bass fishing this autumn has been great, when the weather has cleared enough to get out there. In my local creak about 2/3 less mullet showed up this year and so didn't put much effort into fishing for them. This is the first year in over 30 that i have not fished the Wye. My dad was on one of the best beats of the lower river 3 days a week when conditions were suitable and only had one fish and went days without seeing a fish in the summer which is unheard of and so i didn't bother.
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Post by halfstoned on Oct 25, 2019 20:38:59 GMT
Not too bad for me this season, actually managed to catch some fish on my Mayfly patterns after failing last season. Definitely caught more on the dry fly in fact the duo seems to be losing it’s effect for me, lots of brown slime coating the nymph on every cast. Still depressed about the lack of fly life , most sessions involve throwing various genetic patterns with little chance to practice any entomology. Maybe the low water of 2018 had an effect so let’s hope for better next year.
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Post by pusser on Oct 28, 2019 16:26:57 GMT
I've had a good season on Taunton Club waters (my first season with the club). Particularly on the tone where I've probably averaged 14 or so fish per 3-4 hour session, and this has included some very nice sized Grayling. I renewed my membership of DAA but didn't get to fish there at all (although i'll renew again next year). One thing I did note this year was the definite lack of hatches - I fished pretty much every week through the season - so I've pretty much been fishing nymphs with an indicator (which I've found to be very effective and good fun).
Fortunately I am able to fish right through, on the Tone, for Grayling so, my season will just continue straight through.
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Post by johnesmithson on Oct 31, 2019 19:05:44 GMT
Pretty good overall: bookended the season with my best ever East Dart brownie on dry fly in late April, and finished with a cracking seatrout from a North Uist loch earlier this week. It had been very slow going with cold north and east winds, and it took a Goat's Toe fished on a very slow intermediate line just as the light was starting to fade. Unhooked at the water's edge and shot off like a torpedo. Didn't do as much trouting on Dartmoor as usual this year, but made up for it with some exciting loch fishing on Lewis where I got a couple of grilse and a fair few seatrout. Roll on next year! All the best, Johnny s1249.photobucket.com/user/johnesmithson/media/PA280570_zpsksifywl5.jpg.html
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Post by mojo on Nov 5, 2019 16:49:51 GMT
One of my better seasons, caught one fish on opening day on the nymph, I'd tied loads over winter, never used a nymph again, dries for the rest of the season and my average size was much bigger, but no woppers.
Mo
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Nov 13, 2019 9:06:41 GMT
Hi Pete, Pretty average for me, some nice fish and fishing from early May to mid June, then a bit slow after that save for some decent evening Sedge fishing. Had a nice couple of days Barbel fishing on the Wye in early July, not fly...and a bit of lure fishing for Bass over the summer and thats about it. Hardly saw a Salmon, let alone catch one. Cheers Ben Yes, salmon were a little harder to come by. I managed a couple and Emma had one too. We put some hours in too. I'll be interested in seeing what the catch returns for the area look like. There seemed to be more sea trout about where I fish though.
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Post by Ray Kendrick on Nov 21, 2019 4:58:10 GMT
Hi Pete, over my way 2019 was slow in regards to Steelhead, but today I was thrilled to catch and release a couple. Hopefully things won’t freeze up before I get a chance to get out again this year, but if it does, at least I ended the year with a fish in hand, and I’m really enjoying this switch rod as it really helps turn over the weight on the leader. I’ve recently retired so it’s been great being able to fish when the conditions are right. Ray
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Nov 26, 2019 15:48:50 GMT
Wow that looks pretty cold and proper steelhead conditions!
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