April has seen some great early season fly fishing on the River Taw, here at The Fox and Hounds Country Hotel. Early in the month, rains kept the water levels high and water visibility rarely got beyond 12-18”, but we managed to get out a few times with heavier gear to throw some big colourful lures and streamers. We were rewarded with a few decent brownies and a few break-offs – which despite not seeing them, were obviously huge salmon or monster sea trout! Guest Mike K. picked up a lovely 14” brownie on a bright pink Dog Nobbler.
During the second half of the month, the water has continued to fall and clear making for some superb conditions. Most outings have produced a handful of fish with a dozen small browns caught the other evening, bringing the total for the past 2 weeks up to over 60. One of the most productive flies has been the bead head GRHE along with dark coloured nymph patterns, often with a bit of flash or colour in sizes 10 and 12. A pair of nymphs with a bead head on the point swung slowly across a run seems to be the ticket for success at the moment. Small lures are also working well and accounting for many of the bigger fish, especially in the deeper pools.
We’re starting to see more hatches in the latter part of the month and a few fish are starting to rise, so as we move into May we’ll definitely be carrying a lot more dry patterns in our fly boxes.
Over on the Torridge beats, Anthony reports that fishing has been a bit slower than normal so far, but that hasn’t stopped them landing a few beautiful sea trout this month, like the one pictured, caught by Jamie W.
For more information about fishing our beats on the Taw and Torridge, check out our River Taw and Torridge Fly Fishing page. Guests can add fishing to any stay and we have a great Dinner, Bed and & Breakfast package for anglers, which can be found on our Special Offers page.
We hope to see you soon and look forward to some great fishing in May.
We follow and strongly encourage safe handling practices including the use of barbless hooks and all fish pictured were safely released moments after being photographed.
