Fishing Reports

For this Fishing Reports page to be effective, we really need details of your catches. Please send these to Mike Weaver, who also uses this information for his reports in Trout & Salmon (email weaver.mike@virgin.net or telephone 01837 840911).

THE 2010 SEASON

August

26  August. At last some heavy rain and salmon have arrived, producing the best day of salmon fishing on the Upper Teign for many years. In the morning Bill Crumby caught salmon of 4 lb, 7 lb, 8 lb and 9 lb, plus a sea trout of 3 lb. And in the afternoon, Ted Crumby had a fish of 4 lb. Derek Myhill also got among the fish, catching three grilse around 4 lb each, while Derek Lockett had a grilse on a fly.

8 August. Trout member Janet Till enjoyed a morning above Fingle when she caught a brown of 13 inches on a 16 PT Nymph from Rocky Pool.

5 August. A night-time visit to Chagford Weir Pool produced what is probably the best brown trout on the UTFA fishery this season - a fish of 18.5 inches for Paul Forshaw, who also had a sea trout of 17.75 inches. He was fishing with Neil Osborne, who caught two sea trout - the best a fish of 22.75 inches (est over

4 lb). All were released.

Paul Forshaw with 18.5 in brown and Neil Osborne with 22.75 in

sea trout, both from Chagford Weir Pool

3 August. Robert Mason caught a sea trout of 4 lb on A Muddler at Upperton. Robert reports that he saw plenty of fish moving during his night-time visit.

July

July finished on a high for brown trout fishing, as Mike Weaver found on the last day of the month. In spite of the low level of the river, he found the fishing as good as at any time this season. Between 10.30 am and 1.00 pm the browns just kept coming up for a size 18 Klinkhamer as he fished from Black Pool up to the pools below Sharp Tor. A dozen fish from 7 inches to 13 inches were recorded and a big fish was lost after a prolonged fight in Rhododendron Pool - was it a big brown hooked in the tail or possibly a sea trout? As it never surfaced there was no way of knowing.

Mark Hill caught eight sea trout during July and, as usual, he made night-time visits to several pools. On two occasions he visited Chagford Weir Pool and Drogo Weir Pool on the same night, and it was Chagford that produced his best fish of 5 lb 12 oz on 29 July.

June

28 June. Darren Everitt took advantage of the England/Germany football match to have the river virtually to himself. He fished from 11 am to 6 pm from Fingle up to the Engine House and had over 25 fish, including 10 of 11 inches or more. Many of his fish came to a PT Nymph fished below an indicator fly.

22 June. Mark Hill fished two weir pools on the same night - Chagford and then Drogo. The first produced a sea trout of 3 lb 8 oz, followed by a fish of

2 lb 12 oz on the other. Since then he has had a sea trout of 1 lb 8 oz at Upperton and his guest Owen West had one the same size.

15 June. Another two sea trout of 2lb and 3lb for Andy 'marvelous' Waymouth from Upperton and one for Brian Parry on the same night.

14 June. Brian Parry had a superb day's fishing from Clifford up to Fingle and caught 33 recordable brown trout, all on the dry fly. The dry fly also worked well for Donald Arlett, with plenty of trout in a session below Fingle, including four between 11 and 12 inches and one larger.

11 and 12 June. Mike Weaver found swarms of black gnats over the river and plenty of trout rising between 10.30am and 1.30pm upstream from Fingle Weir Pool. A size 16 dry Black Gnat produced a dozen trout between 7 and 11 inches. Not another angler was seen. The following day he fished below Fingle Bridge from 10.30am to 12.00 noon and had five trout between 8 and 12.5 inches. And later on the same day David West had an enjoyable 1.5 hours in the evening below Fingle Bridge with an almost identical catch of four trout between 8 and 12.5 inches.

10 June. Nick Evens caught a superb sea trout, the largest to come off the UTFA waters this year from Drogo Pool - it weighed in at 6lb 4oz.

On the same night Lesley Bryant caught three sea trout from Upperton up to 2lb 10oz.

May

29 May. 19 competitors in the Federation of Peninsula Flyfishers regional qualifier caught 136 trout between 12 cm and 32 cm. For more details go to UTFA News page.

Mark Hill had four sea trout in May, from three different weir pools. Two fish of 5 lb 9 oz and 1 lb 12 oz came from Drogo, one at 1 lb 12 oz from Upperton and one of 1 lb 14 oz from Chagford on 29 May.

24 May. Simon Jefferies, Reg Wonnacott and Roger Halliday fished in the evening between 6 pm and 9 pm, when they caught around 16 trout, with six between 9 inches and 12 inches. Most were caught on small Sparkle Duns.

21 May. Another good day with the brown trout for David West, who was using a variety of dry flies. He caught 12 fish with six over eight inches and a best trout of 13.5 inches. Mike Weaver was fishing on the morning of the same day above Fingle and also found plenty of rising trout. Eight of his dozen fish were were between seven and 11 inches, but all came to the same fly - a size 18 Parachute Black Gnat.

Andy Waymouth's sea trout fishing has got off to a good start with four visits in May producing four fish, including the two biggest sea trout reported so far. On 5 May he started with a sea trout of 6 lb 1 oz, followed by fish of 3 lb on 6 May, 2 lb 9 oz on 10 May, and 5 lb 14 oz on 15 May.

15 May. An excellent four-hour session in the late morning for David West, fishing downstream from Fingle. He caught 16 browns, with many between 8 and 10 inches, and two at 12 inches - on small dry olives.

Slightly higher temperatures are at last bringing some trout to the surface. On the evening on 10 May, Simon Jefferies and Phil Hawking fished below Fingle and found a few trout rising, even though it was still rather chilly. Simon's best fish was a brown of 15 inches on a Klinkhamer and Phil's one of 10 inches.

Mike Weaver fished above Fingle on 10 May and below Fingle on 12 May, finding rising trout on both visits and the fish willing to take dry flies. In the early afternoon on his second visit the black gnats were beginning to swarm over the faster water and there was a fair hatch of olive uprights. His best two fish were both 11 inches.

May started with chilly nights still making it hard going for sea trout fishing but Ted Malleson went out on the evening of 1 May and had a fish on 1 lb 10 oz at Upperton.

April

27 and 28 April. Kevin Whitfield, a member from Essex, enjoyed two good days on his first visit of the season. On the first day he fished from Fingle Bridge downstream to just above Upperton and caught seven trout between 7 inches and 10 inches on a size 18 goldhead Hare's Ear on the point and a sparsely-dressed Black Spider on the dropper. The following day he fished from Mill End down to Fingle Weir and had six between 7 inches and 11 inches on a size 20 Pheasant Tail Nymph on the point and a size 16 Willow Grub on the dropper. On both days Kevin also caught a number of small fish.

Colin Pape fished for trout on four occasions in April and, although he reports that it was often tough going in chilly conditions, he was pleasantly surprised by the size and condition of the fish. On 4 April he fished below Clifford Bridge and had a trout of 10 inches in high water; then on 14 April he caught fish of 8 inches and 9 inches below Fingle; 21 April produced trout of 10 inches, 9 inches and 7 inches below Fingle; and in warmer weather on 30 April he caught trout of 12 inches and 10 inches below Fingle. All of the fish reported took Hare's Ear Nymph or Pheasant Tail Nymph, but a few small fish came up for a Klinkhamer. On three of his outings Colin never saw another angler.

First news of sea trout catches this season. Matt Cooper fished at Upperton on 26 April and had a fish of 18 inches (2lb 12 oz). He returned to Upperton the following evening and had two more sea trout of 3 lb and 18 inches. Matt reports that although there were no great numbers of fish in the pool, those that were there seemed ready to take a fly.

24 April. So far April has been a quiet month with few anglers on the UTFA water. The river is now at normal level but the water has remained cold, due to the night-time temperatures staying close to freezing. No salmon have been reported and the cold nights have kept the sea trout anglers off the water. The only reports of brown trout have come from Darren Everitt, who has caught some fish including one over 14 inches.

March

The 2010 salmon season opened on 1 February, but there are no reports of anyone wetting a line during February or so far in March and it is unlikely that any salmon had reached the UTFA fishery during February. Fishing for brown trout opened on 15 March and, as ever, Darren Everitt was on the river to greet the new season. He fished the stretch from Fingle Bridge up to Sharp Tor between 9.30 am and 1 pm. There was no sign of hatching insects or rising trout but he managed to catch two browns of 10in and 10.5in on a goldhead PT Nymph. He also caught several sea trout of school peal size - presumably spawned fish heading back for the sea.

THE 2009 SEASON

2009 was a good season for brown trout and a fair season for sea trout but catches of salmon were very disappointing. The total catch of brown trout was 1,079 fish over 7 inches with the best brown caught by Darren Everitt. The sea trout total was 178 and Andy Waymouth caught the most fish, with 43, and the biggest sea trout at 5 lb 10 oz. Second biggest season's catch was 37 for Richard Jackson. Only 15 salmon were caught, compared with 92 in 2008. Ted Crumby had the biggest salmon of 33.5 inches and Tom Hill's fish of 32 inches was the best on a fly. The two-week experimental extension to the salmon season ended on 14 October and no salmon were caught on UTFA waters, which remained low throughout the fortnight.

THE 2008 SEASON

The main feature of the 2008 season on the UTFA fishery was the almost continual high water, with the river rarely getting back to normal low levels. As a result, 2008 was good for the salmon angler, with more opportunities to fish than for many years. For the sea trout fishermen many nights were lost to high water, which also had an impact on trout fishing. The main details of the 2008 catches were as follows.

SALMON. 92 fish were reported (80 released), the best a salmon of 15 lb for Russell Scott-Lawson. John Malleson had the best salmon on fly – a fish of 11 lb 8 oz.

SEA TROUT. 119 fish were reported, the best a sea trout of 5 lb 7 oz for Richard Jackson. The best bag was four sea trout weighing a total of

10 lb 6 oz for Matt Cooper.

BROWN TROUT. 832 fish were reported, the best a brown trout of 15.5 in for Derek Myhill.

The October extension. 18 salmon were reported for the river as a whole, with 10 for LTFA members and 8 for UTFA members. Derek Myhill's 13 lb salmon from Upperton was the biggest and, although a few anglers persevered with the fly, all of the fish were caught on spinners.

THE 2007 SEASON

Catches of brown trout in 2007 were surprisingly good, in spite of many days being lost to the flood conditions in June and July. A total of 1,154 browns of 7 inches or above were caught, including plenty of large fish. The best brown of 20 inches was caught by Andrew Gooding in May, with several fish of 16 inches reported. Salmon fishing might have been better, considering the amount of rain, but 36 were caught, of which 30 were released. Richard Jewell had a salmon of 12 lb, and Ted and Bill Crumby were once again successful with the bigger salmon, with fish of 34 inches, 32 inches and 31 inches for Bill, and 11 lb and 10 lb for Ted. Ted Crumby had the only salmon in the October experimental extension. The sea trout fishing was very poor at a total of 62 fish, about a quarter of them being caught while salmon fishing. The biggest sea trout of 5 lb was caught by Richard Jackson.