River Lyn 20th May

[exerod]

I was supposed to be on the Frome but things started to look a bit iffy when I got to Dorchester, river high and dirty. Carried on, hoping to get to the lower river before the coloured water arrived. Not surprisingly I failed, lower river up a foot with visibility of about an inch. Time for plan B, to head for the upper Exe but that was also a washout. Having now driven 120 miles without wetting a line I thought I may as well keep going and try the Lyn.

Arrived Lynmouth 2pm to find the river high but clean and about two feet lower than the overnight spate peak. Met up with my friend Bill who had been out all day but not seen a fish as it had really been too high in the morning. High tide was about 12.30 and we got lucky with a small run of fish coming through in the afternoon. We got three sealiced fish (all returned!) on spinner and had another couple of takes. I did manage to move a fish to fly but only by going up to a three inch cascade tube.



Bill with his first of the season (and Maddy)


Yours truly (and Maddy)


Number three (and Maddy)


Tight lines

Andy

[robmason]

Cracking stuff Andy. I suppose the lower Exe will be out of order for some time?

[elwyman]

Great fish, well done Andy. Not a bad return for a small river like the Lyn!

These small spate rivers can be very productive if you hit them right. I fished the Lledr, which is a tributary of the Conwy, for a couple of hours on Saturday. No fish seen, but the early salmon and some big sea trout run the river in May.

There are some horrendous waterfalls and gorges for the fish (and angler) to negotiate, and fish often get 'trapped' in certain pools if the spate drops too quickly. The water is gin clear in low water, so you can often spot fish in pools.

I've not fished it much, but it looks to be a very interesting river.



The Lledr is popular with canoeists, for obvious reasons, some impressives pics here;

www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/lledrpics.htm

[macd]

andy,

great pics. great backdrop. looks like a good day out.

ross

[exerod]

springer said:

Well done Andy, you can certainly say you worked hard for them.

springer

Its the sort of hard work I don't mind!

Elwyman, thanks for putting up the link with the canoeist photos. I expect a few worms have been drowned in there over the years. It looks exactly like the Lyn in spate, the sort of river where a hooked fish leaving the pool is a bit more than a minor inconvenience!

I'm hoping the rain keeps coming as I need a full week of it to get fish up the Exe to where I fish, then I will have a real chance to get one on fly. Rob on the other hand would probably like it to dry up a bit for the lower river.

Andy

[robmason]

Exe is a raging torrent today.