The mission, a days fishing without the wives finding out. Prospects of success low. Furtive plans are laid by PM, text and telephone, hush hush, can’t say too much. More “Allo Allo” than MI5. The rendezvous is set for the Dore, near Dore Abbey at 10.00hours. The early bird is there before me again, this time he’s got his feet under the kitchen table enjoying a cup of coffee and getting a tip for the 2.10 at Hereford! As we tackle up we are briefed on the beat; “Head down the river until you get to the fence, you can’t miss it, it is the army base’s, fence. If you go in there you’ll get shot”. “And the top of the beat?” “It ends at the footbridge, if you get caught in there the witch will put a spell on you. I’d say you’re better off risking being shot”. We were told without a trace of irony.
The Dore (From d’or – of gold) runs through the Golden Valley to Pontrilas, 2 miles below this beat and where the first Grayling were successfully stocked into the system over 100 years ago. The river runs through fertile mixed farmland and despite the usual silt problems has loads of free moving gravel for trout and grayling to spawn in. It is also the site for the first major reintroduction of the Water vole as part of the Project.
The River Monnow Project coppiced, with a light hand and fenced this stretch 2 years ago and the re-growth has been stupendous. We peer into the river and first impressions are not very encouraging; “bit cramped in there”, “not very fishy”, “Don’t worry it will look better when we are on the water” High banks and trees make it look very enclosed but all these thoughts are soon to be removed.
The fence is unmissable, 12’ chain link topped with barbed wire, canted over toward us and a river gate to stop tanks set over the river. Could not get in even if you wanted to and God knows what the breathables would look like afterwards, if you tried.
On the river, which would average about 3m across, it is intimate but eminently fishable and very fishy looking. As we tackle up an admission is made that my partner in crime has fessed up to his wife, under normal circumstances I would have let him know what a wuss he was but I couldn’t because my plan had also been found out because I had been too stupid. Mrs Cranefly, who can smell a lie in a Polecat’s jockstrap, spots me putting on my ‘fishing shirt’, you know the type, nice deep chest pockets, loose fitting and a fetching shade of faded khaki. “That’s your fishing shirt” (she never forgets because she washed it with a new pair of some fashionable trousers of hers and the colour ran, not from my shirt, which would have improved the trousers no end but to my shirt which took on monstrous hues for many a trip) “Yes, I think it is”. “You’re going fishing”! “Um Um uhhhh uh…. I might be”. The game was up.
The reason for the trip was not to bore you with the trivia of our lives but to begin a series (intermittent, I suspect if our respective wives have anything to do with it) on the DT waters available on the Monnow system so here goes. We are on the Tan House beat of the Dore, see
www.monnow.org.uk for the contact details of all of them. The farm does what looks like an excellent B&B and is next to Dore Abbey and Dore Abbey Gardens so there is plenty to do and see as well as fish.
Fishing begins, one of us nymphing and the other on the dry, nothing rises on the first pool that forms from a run in alongside a tree root and then splits into a back eddy and the run out to a gravel bar, A few flicks of the dry yield nothing and the heavy brigade are called in. to yield the first fish of about 12" and a 6”er. On the next pool a cast into the tail attracts one to the para Greenwells and another. Neck and neck. Up the river we go alternating between nymphs and dries as rises and river conditions present the most favourable technique.
I give way to the nymph at a beautiful run and a good fish is on, a 3/4lb grayling is released. A cracker of a fish for this size of stream. The other thing we notice is that they all take like lightening and fight like crazy.
Even through the heat of a very hot day they rise throughout. I think that this is because the river is reasonably shaded and runs surprisingly deep so keeps cooler than a comparable more open stream.
It took us 5 hours to fish the length of the beat, and avoid shots and spells. It has a huge head of second year trout and grayling coupled with good numbers of fish to 12” but there is plenty of cover and holding water for much larger fish to hang out. One for mayfly time next year to really find out. But this river will fish well in the hottest weather, even during the day fish will rise.
The cost, £10 and a cup of coffee thrown in, if you are lucky, is great value. A pair of secateurs might be advised to go along with a rod of no more that 7’ and chest waders are almost essential.
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