To celebrate National Fly-Fishing Day, Nigel had arranged an other work-party in the sunshine to improve the access on Beat No 1. Many members don't even try this one, and frankly it is tough going, with little cover, and it's deep and featureless in the lower section, with steep banks and few platforms.
We've done a lot of work today however, and there are now several sets of steps and some ropes and even a ladder. We've also cleared out some of the debris, including a few of the dead trees spanning the river. As it is above chest-wader depth in many places (even with this very low water level) some of the work was hairy and not without incident, but all good fun. We didn't get beyond the first field, but that was where the access was most difficult.
That beat has not traditionally been stocked, but always had had wild brownies, chub etc and some rainbows.
This year however, it was stocked early on, and rainbow catches improved significantly, and there are still rainbows there now, and probably will be for some time. Parking is in the layby near the bridge, then climb over the 5-bar gate (at the hinge end) and skirt the field down to the river and you should soon spot the various access points. Some are well above the water level, so a long-handled net is a good idea here.
Many thanks to John, Richard, Ian and Keith as well as Nigel of course (and I brought the doughnuts), for another enjoyable and useful day. Beat 1 is now definitely open for business.
Tight Lines
PeterB
P.S. At the moment, the road down to Smallbridge has roadworks and is supposedly closed. We did manage to access the bridge from both directions on Saturday, however it may be partially closed, at one end or the other, if you decide to visit in the next week or so.
Comments