Suffice to say the weather has been nothing short of dire for our fishing this season, what happened to the usual spates every now and again? instead unrelenting dry conditions. In September we eventually had some decent downpours that lifted the river a bit! and our spirits. The water seemed to cause the bank plant life to go crazy which meant a mad phase of strimming and mowing along with dealing with trees that decided to fall over across our paths to add to the estate work. To keep abreast of this and other goings on please follow this link to our Instagram site : Farnley Estate Instagram
We welcomed back our many regular friends Chris B John M Trevor and Glyn, Christopher P, Dr Phil, Phil L and Tim, Richard R et al. A new guest Brian J and his friend enjoyed the estate but the heat and lack of water really meant it was a poor first opportunity here, we hope they will return in better times.
Chris B , Val and their guests enjoyed a lovely time looked after by Barry Mitchell and in between some fine lunches they managed some fish ! Chris had an absolutely lovely one around 15 pounds well done. Another grilse and a decent 13lb fish landed in the Hut Pool capped a good visit. We were saddened to note the passing of James DeLahooke shortly after his trip here he was a regular here and a fine fisherman RIP. https://www.racingpost.com/bloodstock/death-of-james-delahooke-at-77-whose-eye-for-a-horse-fuelled-juddmonte-success/577724
John M and his pals arrived soon after to hopefully connect with a few but the river was not in great fettle sadly ! It was a struggle but a nice 10 pound salmon and two sea trout to 6 pounds. The river got up quickly and it meant they picked up stumps and headed off early probable the first time all year the river was too big and coloured to fish.
A long standing fisherman Christopher P arrived with great expectations as the water had settled following the rise and the colour was superb! His team enjoyed some excellent sport with seven landed and probably an equal number made contact. Their tally is interesting in that one 6 pound fish caught Monday, a six a five and a nine Tuesday and then the bigger ones ! Wednesday 9..12 and a 13 pound fish!! Quite an achievement.
Phil Adams our neighbour and co owner of the Grey Court beat took three days after this and hopes were fairly high as the water looked fairly good and the weather was more suitable for us fisherfolk. The first day proved to be an absolute classic because after this the river fell back and it really was not a lot of use fishing wise. There were fish showing one or two pulls and a day that ended in five caught two of which on Grey Court and three on Farnley. Richard had two of these with a little help from Phil landing and later on a really good one was landed by Phil in the Hut after a serious battle estimated to be around 22 pounds on the Ally Gowans calculator. It was a fun day with a glass or two of Chateau Courac and great Mediterranean food for lunch.
Phil’s well deserved Tyne twenty pound salmon
Hot on the heels for their second trip John, Trevor and Glyn armed with flies a plenty to tempt the fish. Ready for action :
Tyne Fishers John Trevor and Glyn
The river was unfortunately in poor fettle we really need rain now !! They had a few but not what one would expect in September, however a noteworthy sea trout of seven pounds was landed.
A battling Tyne Sea trout 7lb
We have three more parties coming and we will report back soonest! Good luck to all Tyne fishers and some very interesting news we have seen silver yes fresh fish moving in the past few days so possibly a small autumn run if the water can just hold up ????