If you've crossed the footbridge at Harpers recently, you may have seen these two Pooh sticks caught up just below it. We thought we'd give them a helping hand so in we went with ropes and waders and chainsaws, and off they floated. Not wanting to waste anything, we snagged them again just above the Chain Pool, and as we happened to have a handy heap of stakes, staples, wire and tools, we converted them into several excellent deflectors. If any of you can remember the s

I confess that I had to miss the last two work-parties on the river, on 18th and25th, but of course Nigel was there, and he sent this brief report: "A dozen of us took the morning on Saturday 18th July to remove a fallen ash tree from one of the ladders on beat 3a. It took a while as it was a complex arrangement of branches and trees and was also quite a hefty tree trunk, but we managed it in the end. We also managed to instal some large woody debris as a deflector and clea

I decided to get up at daft'o'clock this morning and wander down to Beat 2a from Share Farm, and I had trouble finding the river. It was down to 16cm this morning which was as low as I've ever seen it. As the river was so low, I tried to cheer it up by fishing dry flies when there was nothing rising, though I was surprised twice by violent rises out of nowhere just as I was lifting off the fly to re-cast. I missed them of course, but by being patient, I did spot a few rises

I realise that the weather might not be ideal for a long walk just now, unless you get out very early (and a surprising number of members do). If you're getting tired or frustrated with flogging up the short stretches of 3c above the Tractor Bridge, or 3b above the Footbridge, try venturing a bit further next time you visit Harpers. If you cross the Footbridge or the Tractor Bridge and turn right, and follow down the left bank of the river almost as far as you can go, you w

We're just recovering from the last heatwave and they're threatening another one, and this time with a hosepipe ban for good measure; no surprise there. Many of you will already be aware, or be starting to realise, that the fishing gets more difficult now. We don't stock the river during the hottest months as the rainbows might not cope as the water temperature creeps up. Because we've got a lot of shady stretches and deep pools, our river is better off than many others, but

As the temperature climbs through the thirties outside, I thought I'd do a round-up of recent news. The fish below was spotted from field 4 at Trottenden (2A) very early on Saturday morning. It was relatively cool then, and OK for a few hours before the sun got cooking. I put on a size 18 Plume Tip and crept upstream towards him and tried a bow and arrow cast into the very limited spot. No response, so I crept closer until I could dangle the fly over his nose, and still no r

New members who attended the club day might be forgiven for thinking that nymphing is the only way to go on this river, and it's often true, after heavy rain, when the level is 40cm plus, and the water looks like drinking chocolate. The recent ridiculous weather has certainly created a lot of opportunities to cast a dry fly however, and yesterday evening one member, Andy W, reported a rare sight - a Trout feeding frenzy. Apparently the water was boiling with dozens of Trout

Yesterday was perhaps the last really hot day of this early heatwave, and perfect for new members of the TAOA to get together for this year's Club Day. We were treated to a very comprehensive seminar on 'River-craft' led by Peter Verrinder with contributions from Keith Tiley and our chairman Mike Wheatley. This started by describing the senses and perception of a trout, in terms of its sensitivity to movement, contrast and colour, and their vision, which is not binocular l

It's a very safe bet that almost nobody reading this blog has fished Beat 5, certainly not in recent years. Most of you won't have even tried Beat 4, at least not beyond the short left-bank stretch below the Green Concrete Bridge, where we've put in several ladders, steps and some deflectors. If you want some 'commando-style fishing' or at least a quiet and more adventurous beat, then cross over that bridge and follow the river down Beat 4 to where it forks, and on your rig

I don't know how long it will last, but finally today, the river rose to a decent level (33cm) from the painfully low 23 or thereabouts that it has been, for far too many weeks. It's even risen a bit higher still this eening. I was lucky enough to have chosen today to visit the river again, and it was such a pleasure to find a decent flow almost everywhere. Admittedly the very strong easterly wind and the bright sunshine, combined with very murky water, all provided excuses

Some of you will probably find it difficult to remember how bewildering our lovely river could be when you were first getting started. You could wander along a beat and miss two thirds of the fishing spots, assuming you could find your way to the beat in the first place. We have a lot of new members this year, and it's clear that some are experienceing that bewilderment that we did many years ago. So here's a few pointers on how to get going. 1. Look at the Beat Map . Do

Saturday morning saw Nigel leading yet another squad of keen volunteers down the river below the Tractor Bridge. There we installed no fewer than four ladders, and extended a deflector that was doing quite well, but should be even better now. This time we had two new club members joining the team, eager to explore parts of the river in more detail, and to meet fellow members and pick up tips. I think they probably worked out that most of us were there to chat and share o

I don't know if you realise how many different species of fish we have in our river, especially as we only record catches of Rainbows, Browns and Grayling. Of course at the moment we're not supposed to be catching anything except Rainbows and Browns, as all coarse fish are out of season. I'll attempt a list of what we've seen: Trout: Rainbows, Browns (both stocked), Wild Browns, allegedly the odd Sea Trout has been seen, but very rarely. Grayling, Chub, Bream, Roach, Rudd,

This season has got off to a racing start with loads of members taking advantage of the bank holiday weekend and decent weather (mostly). We've probably had more catch returns yesterday and today than for any other single day for many years (and there are still a few people yet to submit them ;-). I'm sure most of you have found the river amd its banks in a particularly good state, with more new ladders and steps than you can shake a stick at. Hats off to Stuart for manag

..... like an old fool, they say, and we had a whole bunch of them down at the river today to celebrate their special day - April Fool's day! Seriously, who would spend the best part of the day digging more steps at Share Farm and pinning trees into the river? Well, Andy, Chris, David, Ian, Keith, Matt, Niall, Nigel and I did just that today, and very enjoyable it was too, enhanced by the usual coffee and doughnuts, and some lovely home-made fennel-flavoured sausage rolls f

So what do you do between the end of the Winter Fishing season and the start of the new Trout Season on 3rd April ? Tie Flies? Reorganise your fly vest? Buy more essential kit? Some of us have spent a lot of the last few weeks (and will continue for a few more) engaged in Board Games. One very old favourite from our childhood seems to be particularly popular - Stakes and Ladders. The way it works is that you lug all the playing pieces down to the river, and there you either

Some of the more dedicated members of our club who join in the work parties may be familiar with the enthusiastic help of one of our younger members, Dexter Francis. Well, not only is he very helpful in restoring the banks, but he's been using his club membership to good ends as well. Congratulations are in order for Dexter who has recently completed, and been presented with, his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. He completed four sections: Volunteering Physical Expedition Ski

With just a week left until the end of the Coarse Season (on 14th March) and indeed of our own Winter Fishing Season, there have been a few more members taking advantage of the low river levels and the dry weather. Not many Grayling have been caught unfortunately, but there is a strong consensus that although catches have been fewer, the Grayling caught have been much bigger than in previous years. Not sure why this is, but it'll be interesting to see what happens in future

We've just had 3 fishable days on the river - perhaps for the first time this year, at least it feels like that. Of course it'll be raining again tomorrow, so maybe we shouldn't cast too many clouts just yet. To celebrate the brilliant sunshine and warm winds on Wednesday, we had another small but perfectly formed work party to repair some of the steps vandalised by the winter deluges at Share Farm. We put in a new ladder where the steps had ben completely eroded, down to

I know it's hard to believe, but yesterday (14th) was a beautiful day on the river, or at least the riverbank. It was so sunny, it made it difficult to take a photograph. It wasn't too sunny, or cold, to put off Andrew C, Andy W, Chris, David C, David M, Dexter, Ian, Keith, Matt nor me, from getting together to enjoy coffee and doughnuts, and Andrew's excellent homemade sausage rolls (thanks to Andrew's wife). We also did a lot of work as it happens, widening the track all