Great comments Pete, I love the idea of bamboo rods and you've done well scouring ebay (I know atleast one other club member who does the same ... no names ... Henry!). After my last post, my wife encouraged me to get Sandy to hand build a glass rod in memory of her mother, who introduced me to fly fishing (no comments about mothers in law ... Ian) . Sandy involved us in every step of the process, helping us select the right blank for the type of fishing the club has and then choosing components to match the gorgeous McFarland Spruce Creek special 3wt blank. The quality of the hand build is amazing with all the features I wanted, a fab glassfibre rod tube and bespoke tweed rod bag. I'm looking forward to fishing dries with it in the coming season. The price for this is equivalent to a mid range rod from the major manufacturers.

That's quite a trio of events. Great result with the fishing and the good looking grayling. Mike our River Manager has been out to check the reported beaver activity, please be awarethat beavers are protected by law and this has been enforced robustly across the country - permits and permission are needed to do anything. General view is that the beaver has frequented our beat a number of times and been feeding. Our beats are unlikely territory for constructing a dam/lodge given nearby still-water and carriers, but if folks do see activity or construction workings, please let me/Mike know.

I forgot to mention that A/B/C/M beats are all catch and release and have not been stocked for over 5 years. This year we did see a few 2lb red tagged stockies drop into these beats and have determined the likely source is a syndicate about 1.5 miles upstream who have stocked lightly with fish of this size.

Definitely two peas in a pod and a great result regardless of whether it's the same fish or not. If it is the same fish on the same day, then it shows our beats are not being stressed

Richard, thank you for sharing your thoughts at the end of a unique season. The upper Wylye beats definitely have a different feel to them and elicit different views between members. The committee would love to hear other members thoughts on the different beats, I know die hard fans of the Nadder beats, and similar fans for our catch and release section on the Wylye or the confluence of the two rivers. For me this year has been a revelation in exploring beat H when it reopened in late summer. I explored the pools in the forest section for the first time and found they offered sight fishing for willing wild trout, some sizeable stockies and the rarity rising grayling. Post your views or email a committee member if you've got something on your mind and want it raised for discussion

Great post and question. I'm like you in wondering how bamboo rod would fish specifically for dry fly use but i went a different route to get a slower actioned rod. I got a Taniwha glass fibre 7ft 6" 4 weight which is perfect for many of my fly fishing needs on the club waters. The slower action and easier rod loading with a shorter length of line out of the tip has definitely changed my success rate at closer range. Another highly recommended option is to get Sandy Nelson to custom build a glass rod specifically for your needs.

Blimey, you are on a roll in the evenings, shame they are stockies vs wild fish! Definitely questions to be asked about stockie migration but good the tags let us know how they move. I'll get in touch with Mike B and start the discussion again. Thanks for posting Richard

Blimey, you are on a roll in the evenings, shame they are stockies vs wild fish! Definitely questions to be asked about stockie migration but good the tags let us know how they move. I'll get in touch with Mike B and start the discussion again. Thanks for posting Richard

Great post Richard. I'm glad you managed to tempt activity in the heat. This is the second red tagged trout we've had reported as caught in the catch and release beats this year (the other was on beat M). I spoke with Mike B and we believe they have likely migrated the long way down from beats K/L. No other clubs are stocking on the Wylye with red tags this year (or last year). We are going to have to think about our stocking policy if the stockies migrate this far.

A fabulous wildie, what great colours

That's brilliant Justin, if you get the name of the person then can you post it as a reply so that other members can use it if they needed.

Such a fabulous posting Richard. It was a pleasure to meet you at the new members walk and to see that you finally netted that Tiger to break your duck! I think the net was entirely warranted and its a well marked wild brownie. I hope yo see you on the bank this season and to hear of more successes across out beats

Hi Justin, there's an outside chance that Taniwha Rod works in Salisbury can do this. It's worth contacting them to see.

Great results for all the hard work

That's a huge trout Stu!

Beat M is very underused and along with beats A/B/C is a real wild trout fishery, and it's good to see quality trout being caught straight after the season start. Great result Martin!

Awesome result Martin, which beat (letter) were you fishing?

Hi Pete, welcome to the WFFC club and I look forward to hopefully meeting you on the members beat walk on the 30th April. I hope you enojoy our wonderful stretches of the Wiltshire and Dorset chalk streams; with the high aquifier levels there should be good flows all season. I look forward to members posting their successes on the Forum with pictures of fish and any successful flies used [Remember to refer to beat letter vs specific locations when posting]

Fantastic pictures alongside the club hut and up towards the weir pool. Hope that the aquifers are in better shape for the 2023 season