PROOF!!

This was at Bellbrook Trout Fishery in Devon.

Enjoy.

Cherry, Not Black

I tootled up to Dartmoor the other day. I say "tootled" but it was more of a "sped" really as I was quite excited! I was excited because I had decided to fish the Blackbrook - the only Dart tributary that I have never fished.

For those that do not know, there are 25 odd miles of fishing on Dartmoor,  owned by the Duchy of Cornwall and on which one can flick a fly for a crisp ten pound note. Go to one of the many outlets selling day-tickets (some of them are hotels - with bars), hand over said tenna, consult an O/S map and then........ away you go. The main East and West Dart are easy to find and follow, but some of their tributaries are a bit more hidden and when you find one, unless you know the area, it is difficult to be sure which one you have found; thus I say the consult a map bit.

The first thing that will strike you, as it always does me even after having fished these waters for 20 years, is their clarity. One tends to forget that even when other rivers are the colour of tea, the upper Dart and tributaries are often as clear as gin. Actually more like a good whiskey because of the peat - but just like a decanter of Oban's finest you can see the bottom no matter how full it is.

 The Cherry Brook

This day, the day that I had chosen to fish the Blackbrook tributary, I parked in the little quarry below The Prince Hall Hotel, next to the Outdoor Centre, and tackled up.

The thing about small stream fishing is that you need next to nothing. A box of flies, a rod of course (6.5 - 7.5ft and rated for a #3 is good), a reel with a floating line, some tapered leaders and some low diameter tippet are pretty much all you'll need. Fish are rarely big enough to keep and so a priest or bass bag are unnecessary.

I put my very light weight waders on as selective and careful wading can be helpful to stay concealed and struck out across the moor.......................the wrong way. For some reason I turned left at the bridge and not right. I don't know why - I just did. Anyway it didn't matter as a left at the bridge brought me to the Cherry Brook, which is when I realised my error, and so, although I ticked it off many years ago, I fished up this instead. It's a lovely mixture of runs, deep pools and short stretches of pocket water where wee brownies of 6 - 12" hide away from the world and are only caught by those willing to work for them.

During the day black is best. Small and black. I chose a sz18 black gnat with a nice orange post that allows it to be tracked in the faster runs and was soon raising the odd fish. It was a sunny but windy day and the fly, even with the post was more difficult to see in the normally calm pools than in the faster water due to a ridiculously severe upstream ripple. If it hadn't been for this I may, just for shizzles and giggles, have gone to a sz20, and as the day moved to early evening I could have gone to a sedge pattern as there were a few about, but I couldn't be arsed so I just persevered with what I had on!

Moving from rock to rock and doing plenty of kneeling and quite a lot of slipping, tripping and cursing, in the less than perfect conditions, I managed a leash of 7" fish and a slightly larger one of about 9" (all beautiful) plus the usual parr or two and some weed. A very satisfactory day and a good test for my still recovering lung as I reckon I walked a good few miles over some rough and in places quite unnerving (for a short-legged chap such as myself) ground. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself - but it doesn't take much.

Still haven't fished the Blackbrook though................................