An amazing meeting of good weather and some free time on Sunday allowed me to get up to Dartmoor to fish the River Dart on the Westcountry Angling Passport scheme. I arrived at Two Bridges late afternoon / early evening and decided that with only a few hours of daylight left I’d fish the section nearest the Inn.
The weather was particularly glorious with sunshine and calm conditions. What a joy to be able to fish in shorts & T-shirt! This was to be the first trip here for a while, and I opted for wellies this time on the basis that the temperature would see me sweating profusely if I wore my neoprene waders… besides, the river Dart here is quite shallow in places and I preferred comfort over fishing convenience on this occasion.
I took along my trusty #4 rod with floating line, and tried a selection of small dry flies. Despite there being quite a lot of insect lift, there weren’t that many fish rising. I had 4 small brown trout and lost another, but only saw one sizeable fish on my wanderings (which I didn’t spot until I’d already spooked it). The end result of my efforts was a thoroughly pleasant evening in idilic surroundings, no other fishermen in sight with the bonus of a few fish. Next time maybe I’ll manage to spot the better fish before I scare them off…
