Rother, no bother

 

 By now some readers will be aware of the annual Wild Trout Trust auction which provides wonderful opportunities to fish new water, normally out of your reach. A successful bid brought Brian and I to the River Rother in West Sussex, a first for both of us.

 We were greeted by our hosts for the day, Gabby Conder and Nathan Friel, before walking a short length of the beat to view the river and chat about fishing. They were excellent company and their advice ensured we would have a good day.

 The valley bottom is sandstone, and the river has carved itself a mini-canyon, mostly steep sided and overgrown; it put me in mind of some west-country rivers (or a freestone creek as our cousins over the pond would say). The steep, even sheer, banks mean you must find one of the gentler sloped access points, then wade up or down from there. Beneath the canopy. Most is wadable, save for some of the larger, deeper pools. The many bends mean riffle/glide/pool, one after another, with the course rarely wider than twenty feet. There are some coarse fish with the Trout and Grayling. The first fish I spotted was a little Brook Lamprey, fleeing from my progress upstream. The WTT advised the host club to phase out their supplementary stocking, and Gabby said it’s working … the wild trout are getting bigger.

 The surrounds are woods, copses, and pasture, adding to the wilderness feel. The fenced-off banks are untouched except for the odd, minimalist, tree-trim. Several large trees came down last winter and have been left in situ. Shaded areas were illuminated by blooming Bluebells and Wild Garlic.

 The fauna add to the wild feel; there were a pair of Geese, Buzzards battling Crows, Swifts, Swallows, Wagtails, Thrushes, Blackbirds, Pheasants, Rabbits, Squirrels, and along sandy margins I found tracks of Mink and two species of Deer. Rounding one bend I startled a flock of over twenty Mallard; one female crash-landed back into the water after hitting a branch, but was able to get airborne again.

 The club’s rules are laid-back, so you can fish a team of nymphs, dries, the Duo, even a weighted Woolybugger. Fishing can be challenging due to the stream’s overgrown nature, but the intimacy means no need for long casts, so an eight foot rod, or shorter, suffices. Brian and I struggled a bit in the a.m., but after lunch on the sward with our companions we finally had some idea of what to do, and enjoyed a great afternoon’s sport, (considering this was a new water), bringing three and five to the net respectively, as well as losing a few more. My best went one-and-a-quarter pounds, the smallest about six ounces. One I lost was easily two pounds, but came off when I tried to draw it to my waiting net. Too hasty! My fish came to a pair of tungsten bead nymphs on an indicator rig, while Brian’s fell for the charms of a black spider sort of thing.

 You’ll have to wait until next spring for your chances in the WTT auction, but I highly recommend that you have a go!

[n.b. The photographs are free stock pictures; my own camera got a terminal soaking when I waded too deep today]