The river was in fine condition until the heavy weekend rain, the water level has now dropped and the river is looking beautiful. There is plenty of bankside cover to hide behind when approaching trout. There are also sections where the grass has been mown short to enable easy casting and good access to the water for landing and releasing trout.
Lakes – last week members visited the lakes on 41 occasions and caught 13 trout including a wild fish from Little Bognor. All of the fish, except one, were caught at Little Bognor. The water temperature in the rainbow lakes will increase in the heat wave this week. It is probably unrealistic to expect to catch trout when the water temperature is so high but the fish at Little Bognor are rising throughout the day in the much cooler, spring fed water.
River – last week members visited the river on 18 occasions and caught 10 trout. Yesterday afternoon, from Rotherbridge to Taylors Bridge, fish were rising for midges and damsel flies and it was possible to catch trout on both dry fly and nymphs.
The fish are quite spooky, it is essential to approach carefully and present the fly without alerting them. In the bright sunshine the trout seek shelter under marginal bushes, trees and streamer weed. Fishing in open water, in the heat of the day, will probably not be successful. In the early morning and the evening, a well presented dry fly under an Alder tree or a weighted GRHE nymph run along the side of a bed of streamer weed should produce a couple of trout.
Leconfield Fly Fishing Club 