Its now late March, the rods have been restless the fishering folk(copyright soon to be adopted by all!) equivalent of stir crazy. Freezing “Beastly” conditions the tyne had ice grue yes looked like the Artic, iced mud on the tracks and a general disenchantment by all. The ruddy moles are turning the place into a war zone ,rabbits chewing all the tree bark…so frankly sod em all! However my friends in the North are optimistic they tell me its looking like things are due for a welcome change, yet still a nasty wind blowing currently but hope that nature will permit Spring to do its wonders!

Our first team hit the river a week back and managed a few days where eventually the river behaved. A beautifully mended kelt was landed by Dave assisted by Barry M followed up by a fresh sea trout on …then off ! (soft mouths OR anglers ?!).

After Dave’s kelt and sea trout miss Kenny decided to concentrate stepped in and after them. He spotted a fish moving through the tail of dead tree, clearly a Fish Counter dodger! Then, sadly hit into one that was very brutal and came off, views being was a very decent fresh one and the river is very powerful there not helped by a biggish river so consolation all round dammit! The gang enjoyed their trip and are back early April. They enjoyed their time in the Golden Lion in Corbridge so I’ll suggest maybe give the place a try! Trip Advisors reviews are decent too.

This morning I’m hearing that fish are showing which is about time, the tides have been very helpful water 40 degrees F. Some rain due in the west but snow up in the hills. So all in all a proper spring for once which might help provide some welcome sport. Fish in the edges if its up, think about the warmth needed and perhaps where a salmon could warm itself. Think perhaps large patterns, gaudy and don’t be afraid to impart some movement to induce their aggression.

The combination of hurricanes and north Atlantic deep depressions (storm Brian) brought an awful lot of rain. Our hardy parties endured frustrating times and yet some fish were caught and some good fresh fish still running. After the trip arranged by tony R Roger followed up with a lovely email to the estate. “just to say how much I really enjoyed fishing your beat, greatly boosted by being lucky enough to catch a fine 14lb salmon the first day..and thanks to Barry for guidance , casting improvements and netting the fish!”. Neil W brought his party up for some days in the beginning of the second week, I really hoped that the river would settle and with some luck success.
As it happened it WAS NOT EASY !! Day one was fishable but Day 2 Neil asked could they fish the lakes and they had a fantastic time with a variety of Browns, Blues and rainbow…no specimens but good sport. Saturday was the day and eventually one fish was kind enough to be caught by Neil’s friend John nearly 13and a half pounds. that’s it for Neil this year and his friends but thanks a lovely chap who knows his fishing.
The next party were a late addition, Mark B who had caught a lovely fish a month or so earlier on the fly came back with his friend who persisted with the fly and both caught fish ! Well done and hard earned when the conditions were not easy by any means.
John M and his pal were joined by Brett Mc all great anglers and deserved some sport but the ridiculous amounts of rain in all directions just meant the river was carrying a massive amount of residual water and new from rains that just would not stop sadly…John and Co called it a day for the season and Brett gave it a game go but the river refused to settle. We had some new clients look at the beat guided by Barry Mitchell and they were lucky to have a fine evening touring the estate and beat. Kenny B saw some fish and was enthralled by the wonderful peace and tranquillity. Looking forward to seeing you in 2018 Kenny.

It was with great anticipation that Tony Rae’s gang of Roger and Norman set forth from Essex winding their way up the A1 and settling in Corbridge at the Angel. Little did they know that to the west the weather gods were up to mischief.

Barry Mitchell briefed the team and with all sorts of tips encouragement and mastery of the ‘Sausage Roll’ cast it was fairly clear that the salmon would be easily fooled and sport forthcoming!
Alas the river started to misbehave and it started to rise aargh ! Fish were spotted but nothing…then as 4pm arrived bang! Norman hit a fish …relief all round , champagne …!

Day 3 ‘not again’ the bloody rain must have been falling somewhere and the river rose like a mighty tyrant even the top of beat marker was in danger of being washed away ! Sorry Lads …and thanks Roger for your lovely WhatsApp notes and pictures …your welcome back of course.

….that Farnley is a delightful place in autumn to enjoy with your friends and family! The charming Ralph Holmes brought his team early in October and much laughter followed. It was as much as a social occasion (good food and drink so I hear !) as a lucky one, days of silliness and some very decent catches ! I think 8 fish for the party? Really well done indeed, I may be able to get hold of some pictures and when I do will add to this post. Thanks Ralph and we must chat more. We look forward to the “Return Of Holmes” (with apologies to Arthur..).
Once again Barry Mitchell did the honours and brought his team. Scotland the Brave were represented by Jamie who has a couple of very comfortable nights in the lodge and the new fridge came in handy for some liquid refreshment. The Northumbrian guides fishing team of Kevin A and Barry strove hard and caught a few …but the salmon were really running hard !

Earlier Anthony Turners lovely group took the beat on with Sheila, John and Lucy enjoying the balmy weather and although the fish were difficult to tempt but John got one brilliant stuff!
The conditions were a bit up and down so not easy.

LATE ADDITION…
Earlier on in Autumn Chris B’s team in early September had a fine few days (sorry for late inclusion I now have photos to share from Susie and Simon SEE BELOW ! I missed an email from Barry Mitchell sorry ..) thanks and a really friendly bunch , sorry I could not be up to say hi.

A warm sunny day here in late September in West London and the texts are in…. already 3 fish on this fine Thursday and its only 12.30. Barry N and Robert W are having a fine time river has a little more sparkle in and the weather is benign.
Its been a great week so far and I think John M is going to probably drown me at Upper Caberston in October because it is his week..sorry John promise I’ll land a few soon.
Back up to the Estate and in somewhat of a hurry given all the excitement. The action has been at times incredible ! 10 fish one day and its all too easy or so it seems. On the day in question Robert W’s guests had all the action and Robert only a sea trout. The truth is no one put a foot wrong, yet the fish were suddenly on and it was a day of crazy periods of fish slashing at the flies , getting on..shaking off and some yes some landed and released. Good fish in all and up to the mid twenties … nearly all cock fish.
Looking back a week ago Chris Porters team had a great time and really enjoyed their fishing, Barry Mitchell was on hand to witness the thrills and spills including we estimate a 12lb sea trout pictured below.
John M hit the beat on the 11th Sept and his friends had a lovely time for two of the days one day in particular pretty spectacular …the last day was washed off but the two other days more than made up for it ! As he said on his email ‘ 6.30 the river was perfect had breakfast and it was up two feet and the colour of coffee’..Thanks for a great time and reserve next year (my guess is they were too exhausted haha)
2018 is Done !
John had a few :

Chris B and his family and friends fished Farnley for the first time and its a long time since I’d spoken to Chris and promised he would have a great time. As it turned out their friends and family from the locality and family joined the party and all really had the most relaxing and lovely time,as an added bonus fish were caught!
We had a lunch laid on one day and here is the spread in the Lodge

From June to the end of July at the time of writing it would be great to say that all the clients had fantastic fishing! The truth is that a terrific run of fish is coming through and even yesterday evening many fish were passing up through the pump stream mainly salmon. Fish are regularly getting caught and we still have some spaces if you get in quickly August and October call me on 07733389474 but don’t delay.

So what is the story of early summer so far ?

The weather as usual had a great impact on the teams getting out to enjoy the estate. In June we had very few bookings only two parties out ! As this is our first year of opening up the estate to new faces we knew it would take time for word to spread and we think all indications suggest things will continue well. 2018 will be very popular!
Sadly Roger Naish and Roger Craigs teams did their utmost to get connected but had to deal with unusual conditions with temperatures well above average which put the fish down. There were a lot of fish in there. They are a charming group and full of smiles I really hoped that the weather would let up and it did …after they left dammit!
A few of us fished the river very lightly in June between doing a lot of improvements on the estate and when the river had a bit of colour we struck lucky and some very decent fish were caught. Christopher Porter popped in for an evening and caught an absolute beauty. So as June progressed a few lovely fish were caught and a real whopper estimated to be 35lb plus lost by David Corcoron it was very lightly fished.
In early July Dom Fairman’s party had to cancel and luckily , David the Elk and Boz took the beat.
We had some rain so things turned out pretty good , day one with our guide Barry Mitchell they had fish on but nothing on the bank! Day two great news and fish taking and landed !

Boz got into the act following Elks cracking salmon estimated 16-17lb.
Phil Adams an owner of the beat downstream got a party on the river and by heck did they have a cracking few days !
Fish were on , off pulls , fish showing and then it all started to happen here is an article in the Scottish Sun which tells its own story :

Next up a great local team led by Danny Jacobson , Eddie and Decca decided to get stuck in and whilst it was not easy fishing they lost a few but landed some lovely fish ! In in all a great time was had and Danny caught one that looked fresh from Greenlands rich feeding grounds :

A week back Barry Mitchell our casting guru and guide took his first tentative steps into Dead Tree under my poor guidance and Kielder decided lets just add to a decent to heavy flow by adding more! So Barry got a bit of a soaking and fortunately no harm came of it. On the same day John M had his first few hours on the beat and enjoyed the water. No fish nothing seen.
Yesterday the 14th March Barry returned and enjoyed sublime conditions and saw some early sea trout racing through! Only a few hours on the beat so far this year…everyone has been busy helping with a lot of work on the Estate.
It looks like the good conditions will continue so some fish may be forthcoming …just need some rods to get in and get after them.
Barry N will be offering some of the local experts his take on the beat and he has somewhat of a reputation for putting people into fish. Its possible if your booking he may be able to spare some time to help rods new or even experienced to understand the wiles of the river.
IF you fancy some quality spring fishing call me 07733389474 John R