Sutton Brook

I've posted a couple of times about the DRAC stretch of this water but have not fished it for a good while now. Today I received the following comments to a very early post so I'll cut and paste here for all to see that some stretches of the brook are looking pretty healthy.
Love the website Nick, it looks spot on!! I'm still convinced it is a Mordex though.

Hi dave, browsing around and stumbled across your blog site? I feel duty bound to enlighten/update you and some of your fellow bloggers on your comments regarding Sutton brook .I have fished almost its entire length at some point or other over the past 50 years and been chairman of Blount flyfishers for the last 24. We now control the fishing rights on around 3 miles of the brook from just below Sutton village road bridge almost continuosly as far as Longford. The fishery is run solely as flyfishing for trout and grayling and has survived {not without crisis} for at least 35 years Fortunately for us our fishery creates the perfect habitat for trout and the food they eat and contains a heathy population of indiginous breeding stock,which is supplemented annualy with brown trout of takeable size ,anyone intrested in joining our small friendly syndicate should contact me without delay on 01159 328669 Nick Bulmer chairman Blout flyfishers or visit our germinating website at www.blountflyfishers.moonfruit.co.uk P S, Dave the reels a grice and young not a mordex.

Autumn in South Derbyshire

This afternoon I knocked off early from doing some jobs and took a walk over to the River Dove with Barney. It was a great afternoon and although I did not wet a line what a cracking time to be out.

The Dove looked in fine fettle carrying a little extra water. This is definitely my favourite time of year as the temperature drops there seems to be an unbelievable fresh smell to the air.

What a handsome lad!

The colours are incredible at this time of year with greens through yellow and golds to russet and brown.


The gravel pit above is just off the path down to the river and if you look closely there is one angler out enjoying the afternoon sun.

A brook rod

I've just acquired a delightful little Greys GRX 7' rod from one of the members of flyforums. Although I do have a 7 footer this one is a little more refined and I will be looking forward to trying it out next season.
This rod will be just the ticket for small rivers and brooks such as the River Ecclesbourne. I have had a GRX previously this was a 9'6" #6/7 which always fished nicely on venues such as Foremark or Thornton. In my opinion these are extremly well made rods and when I saw this one up for grabs I did not hesitate. There is a lot of bunkum and tripe about fly rods generated by advertising and fashion, you do not have to spend hundreds of pounds to find a nice rod that will last you many seasons.

Back end-ish Derwent

After a period of inactivity following our house move I was determined to get out for one last fling at the trout. Yesterday was the planned trip and I packed up the car with my tackle, worked the morning and headed off up to Darley Dale at lunchtime. The weather was incredibly warm and I had hoped this would generate an afternoon of activity from the brownies on the DRAC water. On arrival though there was quite a stiff westerly breeze which seemed to put the fish down for most of the afternoon.
I soon bumped into Phil and it is always good to pick his brains on this stretch he appears to know very well. A few new runs were introduced to me so although not productive yesterday have plenty of potential for the future. Lots of ground (and water!) was covered for not much return and I ended the afternoon with the one fish below and Phil did not fair much better. Around 1730 the wind really got up and we dropped in on the stretch closest to the road for a last cast but it was becoming increasingly difficult to turn the leader over. My car was parked up at Redhouse and I set off back upstream hoping to find a sheltered spot to drop into. It soon became obvious I would not find one so I bade farewell to the 2011 trout season.

Ellastone Heartbreaker

Ellastone has a reputation for being a real spirit breaker at times and can return the angler a broken man. Last night was one of those typical evenings with the fish not really on the fin. It looked really good from the bridge but I only managed three fish all evening, the last one was the best but it was taken in the dark. My successful flys were a grey duster variant the PP and the LTD sedge. I also tried various olive patterns and spinners during a sporadic rise but nothing really hit the spot, well not until I got a cold can from the fridge upon returning home.
With the benefit of hindsight the water was quite coloured which I would have expected to clear by now after last weeks rain.

River Ecclesbourne

Last night I thought I had blown it upon looking over the bridge at Ellastone to find the Dove still the colour of drinking chocolate. Fortunately as plan B I had put my 7' #3 rod in the car and so drove over to Hazlewood.
The fishing on the Ecclesbourne is pure jungle warfare and by this stage of the summer it is very overgrown and the balsam is rampant. I did my share of pulling up but it would take an army to eradicate it.

It is very hard work to trick the Ecclesbourne into giving up her treasures and last night I had a brace in just under an hour and a half which is good going. Both fish fell to a PTN and of the three fish I saw move I caught two so was quite pleased. The third ended up with me standing on tip toes to retrieve my fly from the canopy, not an unusual experience on this river. I hope you agree that although small the trout are great looking fish. They came from the two pools immediately upstream of the bottom pool by the bridge. I fished up til just past the cattle drink that has now been neatly fenced off. By this time I had got a right lard on as it really is graft battling through the undergrowth. The water had a slight tinge to it but was a damn sight more fishable than the Dove.
Things sound like they are getting moving on our impending house move so this may be my last trip for a while unless I can sneak out early next week. Tight lines all!

Ellastone

My rod from Steve Parton was long overdue a christening and last night the thought of that forced me up to the Dove when the weather was really telling me otherwise. Showers in Derby soon became persistent rain as I went west along the A50 but after being in all weekend needed a few lungfulls of fresh air without the kids bending my ear or the dog requiring attention.
It was blowing up the Dove valley and I could see the squalls passing over the bridge at Ellastone, ah well in for a penny as they say. The rod cast like a dream and is incredibly light. I have been fishing with a Snowbee 9' ZR2 for a while and although the Sparton is only 6" shorter it felt like I was fishing a 7'6" rod so really pleased with it. Only one small brownie came to hand and I dropped another fish off, both on nymphs. Good news then as it did not start out life with a blank and I'll look forward to some more hopefully productive sessions with it.
Balsam has sprung up with a fury at Ellastone this season so I pulled up a few clumps and would ask other anglers on the stretch to do the same. The exit from fording the millstream near the bridge was almost entirely choked with the damn stuff for those who know the beat.