I suppose I have had a bit of a writer's block for a few weeks, but since everybody's away on holiday now, you probably didn't notice. There haven't been many catch returns lately either, and a lot of those that did come in told a sorry tale. Beat 3 has not been yielding much recently, with a few rare exceptions, though beat 2a still has fish to find, if you work hard at it. Not much on dry fly, unless you venture out in the early evening, so nymphing in the faster or deeper spots is the best technique.
One technique I have used a lot lately is the downstream drift with a heavy nymph (often a jig quill) into the more inaccessible spots. The take often happens on the retrieve, probably as the nymph rises, and there have been quite a few follows.
One spot on Beat 2a where I've tried this was out of bounds last week, as a big bough had fallen off a large Ash, right across the river.
It was definitely a chest wader job to remove it, with saws and ropes, but between the 3 of us (Nigel, Keith and myself) we managed to cut it up, pull it up, pile it up and then stash it up on the opposite bank. You'll soon see no trace of it.
You'll also find the bank reinforced along there, where it was eroding, and a bit further around the bend, you may spot the absence of the big Willow that has probably claimed more out-of-reach nymphs than any other tree on the river.
The Ash won't be blocking the swim anymore, and the Willow won't be blocking the casts anymore, so make the most of the quiet period on the river.
Tight Lines
PeterB
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