River Taw

[Tawpug]

Not much to report I'm afraid. The river has run high for most of August and the fish have made the best of it by running thro' hard. I would have thought that the upper reaches of the Taw, Mole and Bray must be well stocked. I hear reports of good, clean salmon and grilse shooting thro and being caught in places that haven't been fished for years. More rain over the last few days has brought the river into flood again. The seatrouting is effectively finished for the year although there are always fish moving at this time - including some big, late run peal. We should be seeing some bigger late run salmon in September, especially off the big springs towards the end of the month. Hopefully they will stop in our beats for a while.

Tawpug

 

[Tawpug]

Massive rain. The mole is up 5-6 feet and in roaring spate. The Exe came up 8 feet toady. Stop bloody raining!!!

 

[Tawpug]

Taw is fining down but still has a lot of water. FishyRich lost a clean fish on Saturday morning so I took the long rod down last night and fished one of the two places that were fishable on our beats. Had a fresh 13 pounder on a sink tip/one inch gold balck and orange tube combination. Very exciting playing such a fresh fish in so much flow. Nice to see a fresh fish.

Tides are now building - the old estuary men will tell you that some big salmon run the river at this time of year. The river is dropping into fishable condition - largish flies on a medium sink tip. Lets hope we can finish with a flourish.

Tawpug

 

[Tawpug]

The river has dropped most of its colour but is still carrying a nice tinge. The river itself is still quite high with a lot of water coming down the Mole. There are fresh fish coming in off every tide at present and they are running through hard. No surprises there then - given the volume of water.

I heard of couple of salmon off the Mole on Saturday and I hear that there are grilse being caught down at Umberleigh. FishyRich went down with the long rod yesterday and was lucky enough to catch two salmon below junction - both around the ten pound mark; one was sea liced and bearing running marks and the other fresh but without lice. These are either late running summer salmon or the first of the Autumn greybacks. He also reported seeing a number of running fish moving in our beats - especially as it got towards the dimpsey.

Get the long rods out and get fishing. Cascades, willie gunns and silver/gold stoats appear to be working their magic.

Good luck and tight lines

Tawpug

 

[Tawpug]

River continues to fine down. Much of the colour has dropped out and the flow rate is settling. Fish are moving. Saw two lovely fresh peal yesterday - both in the 4-5lb bracket and very silver and also a couple of grilse. FishyRich nipped dowm for an hour and fished my rod last evening - he had a lovely fresh run cock grilse of about 6lb on the single hander and a self tied BW shrimp (cascady looking thing) in the lie that I saw the fish move in this morning. He has now had three salmon this week - having lost his previous four. That's fishing for you I suppose. Salmon are being caught throughout the system - please remember the EA restrictions and at this late stage of the TAw season it is especially important to return all coloured fish (regardless of size).

Tawpug

 

[DAZ]

Hello mate.

and I hear that there are grilse being caught down at Umberleigh.

You hear right - A mate of mine fished a beat just above Umberleigh the last couple of weekends.Although not doing very well to his own rod,he witnessed a good number of fish being caught,also,a good number of fish showing themselves.His mate,who is a regular on the river,reports that he has done very well the last few weeks on the salmon.

Tight lines.

DAZ.

 

[Tawpug]

The river has at last fined down and is runingclear with good flows. Fished early sturday morning - an otter in junction was a splendid sight but nothing much else, save for one fresh grilse that showed twice in one of our lower pools. Knocked it on the head when the sun burned thro' the fog. Spent the rest of the day in the garden tryin to regain contol. 6 weeks of monsoon rain had resulted in things detting away a bit.
Returned to the river Saturday evening. As soon as the sun disappeared a chill came down - not much doing at all. I decided to fish on into the dusk and was rewarded with a lovely 4lb peal - a little dark but welcome nevertheless. I put her back as I tend not to keep fish after the middle of August.

So there we are - that was the 2008 season. It started well and there were good numbers of peal, including school peal, in the system which was nice to see. However, the season in North Devon will be remembered for the torrential downpours that rolled in day after day right thro' the Summer.

Still, I has a blast on a marvellous river. I'm already making plans for 2009!!

Tight lines

Tawpug

 

[elmidd]

The 2008 reports

The 2008 reports

Sounds like a good season despite the high water. Been great reading your reports, keep up the good work. I'm moving to Devon this autumn so I'll be nearer the rivers. I'm a Torridge fisher myself but your Taw updates are very useful and I might be able to provide some less detailed and regular input from 'the other river' next season. Have a relaxing close season Tawpug!

El Midd