Brown Trout and Bluebells, fly fishing on Dartmoor

[@oreilly6365]

That fallen tree amongst the bluebells looked the perfect spot for a nice sandwich! Lovely to see. Thanks

[@gordonmillsjr.1957]

Thanks Chris for another lovely vid. There’s not enough British fly fishing content in the net - and your films are wonderful. I learned how to fish rivers on the upper Teign near Chagford (as you did), and have become an avid follower of your channel. Keep doing what you’re doing mate. 👍

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Many thanks Gordon, not long to wait now (our season starts 15th March). I agree that most of the stuff on youtube is American/ New Zealand based. Fantastic locations and fishing but out of reach for the majority of uk fly fishers. We just need it to stop raining now, atm it looks like early season might be flooded off!

[@royalwolfflyfishing15]

Stunning stream there. and some nice catches. Tight Lines

[@laurieharper1526]

Lovely place, Chris. Your videos are helping keep me sane at the moment, so thank you. I've missed the start of this season because I've been moving house and all my tackle has been in storage since mid March. The good news is that all the moving in, DIY and painting is almost finished and I shall get my hands on my rods a week on Monday. The River Test is 500 yards from my new front door, so I intend to make up for lost time.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Good to hear Laurie, sometimes watching videos is the next best thing. 500 yards to the Test, how fantastic, I'm not jealous in the least😭👍

[@joosepflies]

Lovely video. Thanks for sharing the flies.

[@wildfisher]

What a delightful river and well done getting a few fish. Looks like it would be hard going for an old codger like me though, rough going! 🙂

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

I think you'd winkle a few out Fred😀 Most people I've taken there struggle with the back cast, very easy to spend all your time catching tree trout🙂

[@carlhughes9584]

Lovely. You certainly get out a lot. You've been out more than me on the rivers and I'm single, no kids etc.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Thankfully my kids are old enough now that they do their own things. I'm lucky that the beats are close enough to allow quick smash and grab sessions, often after work, sometimes no more than an hour. If I make it to retirement however................

[@carlhughes9584]

Do ever fish lakes for wild trout. Presumably you have a few in the south west. I've got right into and actually say I may even be preferring it to rivers. There's potential the chance of catching monster wild trout and there's just something special about being by a wild lake in open and high country. Almost feels spiritual. It's great ...... And no bloody trees to grab your flies.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Occasionally Jonathon but most of the lakes near me are stocked ones. We have a few on the Moor but the water is so acidic that the Trout aren't much bigger than the ones in the rivers and I've personally found them harder to catch. You also run the risk of being bitten to death by midges if the wind drops! I have had some cracking evenings up on Fernworthy years ago which is almost wild fish but it's difficult to commit to a 45 min drive plus PAY for your ticket just for an evening session! How is your river doing now? Did you get any of the rain today?

[@carlhughes9584]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 Our rivers in North Wales are acidic and thus we generally, don't get the big river browns of South Wales, yet we have many acidic mountain lakes and some can contain really big wild trout of 5 pound plus. I'd only drive an hour for evening lake session if I either fished into the night or camped and then stayed to fish the morning. Locals will fish in the night for big wild trout in the summer. Basically like seatrout fishing. Had some rain but it's soaked into ground. Rivers are painfully low and slow. I must get out tomorrow. It's daft, I being praying all through winter for this time and yet hardly been and it's half way through May. Will make up for it next two weeks and go every evening. I live very close to river like you and it's looks very similar. I am also only 15 minutes drive from the river Dee.

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Agreed, we have to make the most of it while we can, blink and it will be closed season again!

[@carlhughes9584]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 Absolutely. You can't waste glorious May especially! Starting from tomorrow, I aim to go fishing virtually everyday for the rest of May.

[@ascot1049]

Lovely.

[@bbbbbbbbbbbbbb993]

Hi Chris, heading to dartmoor soon, what river is this? under the duchy permit? cheers

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Um, it's not Duchy but I would say very similar to the East Dart high upstream. The Duchy permit has loads of beats to go at, the permission for this stretch is shall we say, debatable?

[@bbbbbbbbbbbbbb993]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 haha any chance for the location, looks beautiful, would love to head there?

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Not sure if this will work but I think this is my "book of face "link? facebook.com/profile.php?id=100028560594311 if you message me here I MIGHT let you know where it is😀

[@fieldsman3307]

Well done Chris what a lovely video and I have to say I do envy you all of that , assume it to be somewhere on the Dart but it's just heaven and reminds me of the East Lyn on Exmoor also a good idea putting in an inset pic of the fly and may I ask what rod length you use there, cheers Mike

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Hi Mike, it's not the Dart🤔 but yes very similar to the Lyn (another stream I'd love to get back to) the stream is mostly ignored because the fish are so small but I love it there. The access is er somewhat debatable but the area is heavily used by local dog walkers and in 20 years I've never had an issue😏 For many years I used a 7' 6" 3 weight rod here but now I have a 6' 6" 2 weight a bit easier to thread through the trees and if you are lucky enough to connect with a better one you get a bit more of a battle ( these fish are never going to make the reel scream but the Dartmoor fish always punch above their weight).

[@johnmaskell5124]

What a beautiful place to fish! Is it club owned that stretch or on open access land?

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

As far as I'm aware John it's open access, I used to see people bait fishing it from the local town but I've not seen anyone fish there now for many years. There used to be two spots that you could fish on but one has been sold and is now private.

[@alexanderjoyce3305]

Lovely videos and amazing to see trout in such tiny streams. I'm sure you've been asked a dozen times but what rod, reel and line do you use? I'm in the market for a #3 around 7ft for similar adventures with lots of trees and bushes!

[@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724]

Hi there Alexander, in this video it's a 6' 6" 2 weight. For many years I used a 7' 6" 3 weight on this stream so your choice would be perfect aswell. Still trying to decide if this rod casts best with a 2 or overlined with a 3, I'm not sure how much difference it makes with such short casts? You can find trout right up on to the open Moor, in places you could easily jump over the stream!

[@alexanderjoyce3305]

@@chrismatthewsflyfishing7724 Thanks Chris, appreciate the response, glad I'm on the right track! I have been using a #4 8ft and losing a lot of flies and giving great business to my two fly tiers :)