Thanks to all those that gave advice on the Tamar last week. I headed over there this weekend in the hope of a day time sea trout on the Arrundel arms water. My friend and I arrived at 9ish and met the friendly river keepers who recommended a couple of Tamar beats. Unfortunately when we arrived 30 minutes late, the river was the colour of coffee and we could only see a couple of inches. After another 30 mins (10.30am) the river was totally coloured with no visability whatsoever. Seeing as we had already parted company with our money for the beat, we fished through the wind and the rain anyway in the hope of getting seriously lucky but to be honest we knew it was probably futile. On reflection we should have never cast a fly but the river keepers were upbeat at 9 so what can you do other than have a go? Ah well there will be other opportunities and the river looked really enticing bar the water colour.

Thanks again for all the help and advice last week. I could see that on another day the river would be a lovely one to fish...

Bye for now,

Robbie

Years ago I booked 4 days at the Arundell Arms with fishing on the Tamar. Same thing, bucketloads of rain washed out everything for 3 days, with trees being washed down the river with all the rain. We did get some sport however on the little Lyd (? sp) which seemed not to be as affected as the main river. The keeper (David P) said that fly was out of the question and suggested upstream spinner. I got into loads of tiny bars of silver, and it was amazing to see them coming up out of depths to hit the spinner as it came downstream swinging in an arc towards me.

There were bits of trees floating past on Saturday too! It was crazy really. One minute I was trying to slip my flies under some tree branches the next I was dodging branches as they dropped off trees and washed down the river. My mate and I had travelled a long way to fish the Tamar this weekend. Having fished all over the place for many years I felt that the river keepers were perhaps a little misleading about our chances and the fishabilty of the river, but at the end of the day we could have and perhaps should have done an about turn as soon as we arrived at the Arrundel Arms and saw the rain coming down. I did learn one very important lesson: Never pay for your day ticket beat until you have laid eyes on it and do not trust what the river keepers or anyone else says for that matter about fishability of the river unless you have seen the water on that day for yourself. On arrival at the river it was clear that the water was totally coloured and not really fishable. We should have gone straight back to the hotel and asked for a 'wash off policy' - like the Wye and Usk foundation operate. Lovely beat though (on another day I'm sure it would be great) and to give them their due the river keepers were very friendly and knowledgable people.

Robbie

In your first post you said that there was 2" of visibility then 30 minutes later it was chocolate.

Could it be entirely possible that the lads from the Arundell had checked the river earlier that day and it was fishable when they looked?

Its very frustrating when you travel long distances to fish and the weather kills it i did the same this weekend salt water fly fishing.

WCB

__________________
http://devonschoolofflyfishing.com/ The BEST Fly fishing tuition guiding in Devon

http://funkyflytying.co.uk

The Tamar is very nearly a spate river. It comes up and dirty in a very short space of time. If you look at the topography of the area, all those hills and valleys mean quick run off.

I understand entirely the frustration at being washed out. I rent some expensive beats in Scotland and some times your lucky with the water and some times your not. That's fishing rivers unfortunately.

Here's a very good tip that I use to maximise my chances when day ticket fishing. Check out the 5 day forecast of the area you intend to fish. The site below will give you the chance to weigh your odds up, if it shows rain all week, then you can be pre-warned.

Sometimes hotel water can be less economical with the truth, for commercial reasons. Google tackle dealers and angling shops in your intended area. They will usually give you impartial help.

www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5dayforecast.


Hope this helps

Johnny

__________________
I won a £1,000,000 and spent most of it on prostitutes, drink,trout fishing, cars, cocaine, cigars and the rest I wasted...

Thanks guys,

Thats very useful information.

Robbie

Hi Robbie,

Tim here (I spoke to you in the morning at the hotel!). Sorry you got washed out on the Tamar; when we checked the rivers at 8am before coming to work, they were high but fishable. Obviously the very heavy rain had a rapid effect on the water, and I remember saying that the river may still rise when I saw you. These are spate rivers and will rise very quickly!
As I said when you arrived, you just missed getting a beat on the Lyd, which was looking more favourable at the time. The Lyd also rose to a huge spate within a few hours and most rods left by lunchtime. In the last two days we have recorded two inches on water in our rain gauge
Sadly, that's fishing and I hope it hasn't put you off visiting again!

All the best

Tim @ Arundell Arms

PS: All rivers are now in bank high flood!

Robbie - forgot to add...

We would also have gladly charged you for a half day's fishing if you only fished the morning. Let us know next time you visit and we shall sort it out for you

Tim

Sorry that you had no luck on the day Robbie; the Tamar does tend to colour up quite quickly, unfortunately, but for all that, youcan take fish under those conditions, even with fly.
It is largely a question of knowing your water, which, given the circumstances and your short time there, you were unable to do. A tactic I have employed on this water, when faced with such conditions, is to put up a 3" copper/brass tube, on a WetCel 2. My fly choice is invariably something with a silver body and bright red & yellow bucktail wing. If this doesn't get down, then thread up two in series!

Hope that you will have more success next time..Have you thought of a day at Endsleigh? They have some really excellent fishing available.

All rivers are now unfishable, as I write, and more heavy rain forecast for the next few days.

Chough

P.S. Here are some views of the river under more favourable conditions, last season.

Great pictures and thanks for everyones advice.

In particular thanks to Tim at the Arrundel Arms who wrote in. Don't worry the adverse conditions have not put me off returning to the Arrundel Arms hotel as it was clear that on a good day there is some excellent looking water and my friend and I very much liked the set up. In fact it was really good to see a fishing hotel operating as a fishing hotel. I have seen many hotels forced away from focussing on fishing due to intense commercial pressure and I'm sure the Arrundel's success is down to the ownership and management as much as the excellent water available.

I'll be back and this time I hope will say my prayers to the rain gods!

Robbie