Beresford Dale, Derbyshire

Apologies in advance to those who might have seen this elsewhere, but it's been a while since I posted here and I'm feeling guilty :oops:

My good friend Roy and I decided to throw financial caution to the wind and fish a bit of angling history - the stretch of the River Dove that runs through Beresford Dale beat and includes the fishing house/temple that Charles Cotton built in memory of Isaac Walton.

We arrived about 10ish and had a quick look at the river before tackling up - it looked very promising, fish rising and a few mayfly starting to come off. Sadly, the early promise was not quite fulfilled in the morning as the sun burnt off the mist but we managed a couple of fish each as we worked our way up to the top of the beat.

One of them was a sizeable brownie that made my day - I'd spotted him cruising along the opposite bank lazily taking emerging mayfly off the surface and more by luck than judgement I managed to roll cast a mayfly emerger pattern a few feet in front of him with no great expectation of success, but unbelievably he very gently surfaced and took my fly. Unbelievable is the right word, as I stood there momentarily nonplussed before my aging brain finally twigged what had happened :o

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As things had gone a bit quiet hatch-wise we decided it was time for an extended lunch break/siesta after which things livened up a little and I had a few on a mayfly dun pattern and a few more towards the end of the day on a spinner, with Roy taking a similar number on a mixture of dries and nymphs.

I'd like to claim I was taking the purist approach on such a historic beat by fishing dry only but I did try a largish PTN from time to time. However, despite hooking several I didn't manage to bring one to the net. As Roy kindly pointed out, it couldn't have been the fault of the TXL so that only left operator error :eek::D

We also met up with Andy from the Trent Rivers Trust who have worked hard to gain access to this beat - a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic guy and I'm sure the Peak Passport scheme will go from strength to strength with people like him involved.

All-in-all a good day and, as ever, it was a pleasure to share the bank with Roy. It's a lot of money to stump up for a relatively short beat and you inevitably end up making comparisons with some of the superb, similarly-priced day ticket water nearby on the Wye. Also, whilst not as busy as Dovedale further downstream we did encounter a fair number of walkers. Most were friendly but, of course, there's always one who doesn't see why his dogs shouldn't swim in the river right by where you are fishing. But, that said, it is a piece of angling history and I'm glad to have fished it at least once and I'm sure that with people like Andy to help look after it, it will only get better.

A few more pictures

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all the fish were in fine condition

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Cotton's Fishing House

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this is as close as you can get to the inside of the house

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this must be the perfect spot for a smoke and quiet contemplation :)

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or maybe this is the perfect spot :D

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obligatory tackle tart photo with the famous Pike's Pool in the background - there be monsters in there!

What an amazing place that is.
It looks so very peaceful and isn't this possibly the local of some of the very earliest of our beloved past time?

Hi Neil,

That's a cracking report and those photos are absolutely fantastic ( my photos never look that good) Izaak Walton, would certainly approved; and probably said? Scholar, you Are a Compleat Angler!

Regards

Mostyn

Fantastic post Neil!!! Amazing scenery and stunning trout. I'd say you captured the experience and magic perfectly.

Biggest thanks for posting this. Simply wonderful!

G

nice piece and pics.