The Arundell Arms

Recent Pictures

2008-07-17T15:11:00.002+01:00

Here are some recent pictures to get the pulse racing!

Tim Smith's salmon, shortly before being released. The 9lb fish took a bottle tube fly in Top Pool on beat 3, River Lyd.

Charles Allen looks pleased with his very first sea trout. He used a Stoat's Tail on a sink tip line on beat 3.

A shoal of sea trout on the nearby River Fowey in Cornwall!

Braving The Flood

2008-07-10T16:47:00.002+01:00

Huge amounts of rain this week has meant a fishing holiday cut short for many guests. Unfortunately, the rivers have been unfishable on most days, and even venturing outdoors has taken courage!
One new recruit to the world of fly fishing this week was Cordelia Jenkin. Fishing with Tim for a couple of days, Cordelia wasn't put off by miserable weather conditions and picked up casting a fly like a duck to water...

Cordelia hooks her first trout on a dry fly, watched by a very proud grandmother!

This one's for breakfast!

Th River Wolf was the only fishable water on Tuesday, and the upstream nymph brought Cordelia several beautiful wild brown trout...

The Beasts of Tinhay...

2008-07-07T11:16:00.003+01:00

While taking a beginner's course yesterday, we witnessed a couple of very large brown trout attempting to savage small rainbows as guests were playing them! These huge fish have been in the hotel lake for years and feed on minnows and the smaller trout as well as insects. Hatching a plan, David used a jumbo-sized leech fly and caught one of the smaller ones... a seven-pounder! There are several fish in the lake that would dwarf even this one!

Jake Walton's Tamar salmon

2008-07-07T11:11:00.002+01:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Jake Walton's sealiced salmon that he landed last Friday. Jake was fishing with David Pilkington on the hotel's Lower Tamar Fishery rod and used an Ally's Shrimp to tempt the fish. What a cracker!

Adam's Macnab

2008-07-02T18:56:00.003+01:00

Yesterday, Adam Fox-Edwards became the first angler to achieve the Arundell Arms Macnab of a trout, bass and sea trout in a single day! It was exhausting to say the least, but Adam fished like a demon and met the challenge with style. The bass were heaving in the estuary, the trout proved very tricky (the weather at that point was awful!) and the sea trout... well, magnificent as always.
The pictures tell the story...

The tide starts to flood and three hopeful anglers race to the water's edge. The game is on!

Pilks' deadly sandeel imitations. What bass could refuse?

The rod tip arches over and Adam hooks his first fly-caught bass in inches of water.

Okay, it's not a monster Adam... but it counts!

The school bass were packed tightly into shoals and almost fighting to take a fly!

Small, but stunning (and very spikey!) nonetheless.

A fine packed lunch by the sea? How very civilised!

Beat 4 on the Thrushel - the quest for species number two.

It was a struggle in monsoon downpours, but Adam finally nymphed a nice brown trout of around 10 inches.

Haunting... waiting for sea trout time.

Adam finally clinches victory, with this gleaming, fresh sea trout of 1lb 4oz - congratulations!

The Big One

2008-07-02T18:50:00.002+01:00

This huge sea trout of 12lb was trapped in the Gunnislake fish trap by the Environment Agency in late May. The Agency uses the Gunnislake trap to monitor the local salmon and sea trout populations. The cracking fish is now more than likely residing somewhere in the River Lyd!

VIDEO: The Devon Macnab

2008-06-30T17:58:00.002+01:00

Catch a wild trout, a bass and a sea trout in a single day! The Devon Macnab is a new challenge at the Arundell Arms, and offers an exciting day of guided wild fly fishing for the more experienced angler.
For more details, click HERE

Here's the video from the Macnab 'test run'; hotel instructors David Pilkington and Tim Smith just about made it! David managed to lose a couple of trout before finally getting to grips with one, and then landed and released six bass before Tim even had a take. Tim did manage a couple in the end, before the final task of the sea trout. David had his on the bank within 10 minutes of starting on beat 3, while Tim lost three, finally fluking one during a last-minute stop off on beat 2. This Macnab business isn't for the feint-hearted! Enjoy!

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VIDEO: The River Ottery

2008-06-22T22:08:00.002+01:00

Here's the first in a series of videos on fishing at the Arundell Arms. Enjoy!

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Last-minute Macnab - Grab your place now!

2008-06-17T11:17:00.005+01:00

There is still room on the following dates for the above, with four spaces left on July 1st, one on August 18th and five on August 19th. If you haven't yet heard about it, click HERE for more details!

A single price of £420 covers two night's dinner, bed and breakfast, a full day's guided fishing for wild trout, bass and sea trout, a packed lunch and VAT.
Come join us; try the challenge for yourself and be one of the first to catch all three wild species of fish in one day!

It's All Go!

2008-06-09T09:06:00.005+01:00

First of all, apologies for the lack of updates of late - it's been all go here at the hotel! With great fishing conditions and hordes of visiting anglers, the Lifton brown trout haven't had a chance! Recent courses have been very popular and successful (when sudden monsoon-like downpours haven't spoilt the show). There are one or two sea trout and salmon being landed throughout the Tamar, and constant good water has meant that they are well-spread up the river.
It's nearly time to start some serious night sea trout fishing, and the bass are now around the coast in numbers. There's so much fishing to choose from... and so little time!

Some new recruits to the wonderful world of fly fishing had a ball on the little River Wolf...

Tim Smith with a perfect early sea trout of 1lb 10oz while fishing the hotel's rod at Endsleigh...

Evenings on the north Cornish coast - just perfect for chasing bass..!

Newcomers On The Lyd

2008-05-19T20:39:00.003+01:00

This weekend's Beginners' Quickie Course was a washout on the first day... The brave participants persevered in the rain on the lake and the drying room was put to very good use by the end of the morning! The trout proved tricky to catch, with just one rainbow landed by 11 year-old Luke Hillier. The next day was a different story and blue skies graced the Lyd valley and a few wild brown trout made an appearance.

Tim's group took on beat one on the Lyd - a riverside packed lunch was, of course, essential!

The Devon Fly Rod Macnab - EXTRA DATE!

2008-05-15T21:34:00.009+01:00

Following high demand for our exciting new challenge, an extra date (for up to six rods) has been added... Tuesday 19th August.
If you are interested, click HERE for more information.

The Devon Fly Rod Macnab - LAST FEW SPACES!

2008-05-14T08:32:00.003+01:00

Our two dates for the above are nearly full now with only four spaces left on July 1st. If you haven't yet heard about it, click HERE for more details!

A single price of £420 covers two night's dinner, bed and breakfast, a full day's guided fishing for wild trout, bass and sea trout, a packed lunch and VAT.
Come join us; try the challenge for yourself and be one of the first to catch all three wild species of fish in one day!

Financial Times Magazine

2008-05-14T08:26:00.004+01:00

Many thanks must go to Bob Sherwood, contributor to the Financial Times Weekend magazine, for a fantastic article on fishing at the hotel and Anne Voss-Bark. The full story was printed in last weekend's magazine, but a condensed version can be found here: Financial Times - Arundell Arms Story.
Although the weather was less than pleasant on the day, Bob (an AAPGAI instructor himself), Gary Champion and Anne Voss-Bark all caught fish on the Lyd, and the photographer did a superb job!

First On The Chart...

2008-05-12T23:42:00.002+01:00

Tim Smith pinched an hour while David was teaching today and headed for beat 7a. After a fruitless run through Quarry Pool in the sweltering heat, the very first cast in the neck of Lydfoot brought a violent take... the first sea trout of the season was on! Tim eventually landed the fish and carefully removed the size 8 Stoat's Tail from its jaws before returning it to the Tamar. The fish was measured at between 22 and 23in, estimated at four pounds... a nice one to start the season with. Summer is here!

The Devon Fly Rod Macnab - DATE CHANGE

2008-05-10T21:34:00.003+01:00

We've had to change a date for our exclusive challenge... the Devon Fly Rod Macnab
The first of the two available days has been moved from the 3rd to the 1st of July.
If you haven't heard of this awesome experience yet, click on the link above!

The Magnificent Seven (+1!)

2008-05-10T21:24:00.002+01:00

Congratulations must go to the Mitchell party for taking to fly fishing with such apparent ease! The group of shooting pals hadn't tried casting a fly before, and after two days of guidance from David and Tim, were double-spey casting and side-casting wet flies to perfection on the Tamar. It was a shame that the trout didn't appreciate the deft skills, and proved rather hard to catch. Nevertheless, several small fish did fall foul of the flies! We hope to see you all again soon folks... 'twas a pleasure!

Bank Holidays Are Made For Fishing

2008-05-06T23:00:00.004+01:00

(Click on the pics to enlarge them!)
The bank holiday weekend's Beginners' River/Lake Course saw a gathering of lovely folks descend on Lifton in some long-overdue sunshine. The first day saw everyone get to grips with casting quickly, so it was soon only fair to throw a fly or two at a trout...

Tom was first up, and the near five-pound rainbow just wouldn't give up! Taking his time to play the monster, Tom eventually had the fish in the net... what a great one to start on!

The last couple of days saw the course take to Lifton's rivers. Although conditions were perfect and the gorgeous weather more than welcome, no one thought to tell the trout! Although fish were hard to tempt, all of the participants managed at least one wild brown trout from either the Lyd or Thrushel.

Charles gets to grips with wading and the fine art of double spey casting!

Tony and Wendy enjoy a well-deserved al fresco lunch on the banks of the Thrushel.

Andy throws a line to be proud of...

... only to miss yet another lightning-fast brown trout!

Tom makes a relaxed cast with style... nice work.
And, of course, last but by no means least... the star of the show...

Thanks must go to Charles, Tom, Andy, Tony and Wendy for being a thoroughly enjoyable bunch to teach and to spend time with. We hope to see you all again soon!

The First Of Many!

2008-05-04T23:55:00.003+01:00

After a busy day on a beginner's course, David and Tim dashed to beat 7a on the Tamar to try their luck. Just half a dozen casts later in the tail of Quarry Pool, and David's size 4 Pilk's Bumble was snaffled by something silver...

During the lively fight on the 7-wt sea trout outfit, Tim snapped away with the camera, and the fish tired

Just about fitting in the sea trout net, David estimated the first salmon of the year on the AA water at around 7lb.

Unfortunately, the fish wouldn't keep still for the 'grip and grin' shot, and flipped back into the Tamar to continue it's upstream journey!

Just to top a memorable hour's fishing, David and Tim spotted these characters as the light went. The red deer could hear the camera shutter over the noise of the river at 100 yards!

Go Wild In The West!

2008-04-30T16:12:00.008+01:00

Do you like catching wild fish on the fly? Why not try the Devonshire Fly-rod MacNab - a wild brown trout, bass and sea trout... on the same day!
On the spring tides of July and August, sea trout run the rivers of Devon and school bass swarm in the estuaries. Sieze the opportunity to enjoy a full day's guided fly fishing for these truly wild fish, in spectacular surroundings at the Arundell Arms.
If you think this is for you, if you can cast competently and walk a mile, then contact the hotel for details.

We now have three dates available (Tuesday 1st July, Monday 18th August and Tuesday 19th August), for up to six anglers (between two guides) each day. These dates are bookable on a first-come, first-served basis, exclusively for hotel residents.

Typical Itinerary

10.00am Trout fishing on hotel rivers

12.00pm Drive to Torridge Estuary (approx. 1hr)

1.00pm Packed lunch on the water

2.00pm Bass fishing on the flooding tide

6.00pm Drive back to hotel

7.30pm Dinner

9.30pm 'til late! Sea trout fishing on hotel rivers

Ideal Tackle

It is possible to achieve the MacNab with one outfit - a 9ft 6-wt. However, here's a basic guide to tackle...

Trout: 7ft 6in to 8ft 6in 3-wt to 5-wt outfit
Bass: 9ft 7-wt to 8-wt outfit (plus line tray)
Sea trout: 9ft 6-wt outfit
Waders essential

Tackle can be hired at the hotel. Suitable flies, leaders and accessories are also available.

Spotting Otters

2008-04-17T21:25:00.002+01:00

While on the rivers, David and Tim have seen lots of evidence of a healthy otter population. Silt banks on the edges of pools are places to track the shy creatures...

This otter print was spotted today while trimming overhanging trees on beat 6a at the Thrushel / Wolf confluence...

Perfect dry fly water for the wild trout fisher!

First Time Success

2008-04-14T08:52:00.002+01:00

The first Beginner's Quickie course of the 2008 season was a great success despite changeable weather. Saturday saw a hectic schedule of casting lessons, knot tying, video replays and demonstrations, culminating in an afternoon's fishing on the lake. Most participants managed to hook fish, with several good rainbows landed on buzzers, dry flies and olive lures.
Unfortunately, heavy overnight rain coloured the River Lyd for the start of Sunday, but it remained fishable and everyone took to fishing the downstream wet fly instantly. Although conditions were less than ideal (everyone got a good soaking at some point!), some lively wild brown trout were caught and released. David and Tim were impressed with the progress made by the group, and hopefully a seed was planted for a fishing future for all!

A squad of new anglers! Plus David (far right) makes the first ever honest judgement of the one that got away!

David demonstrates the art of classic upstream dry fly fishing.

Alas, the two residents of the banks of Blue Charm Pool weren't really that fussed...

Spring is (nearly) here!

2008-04-09T19:40:00.004+01:00

Grins all round: Sean and Fionnoula Gammons with their first rainbow trout from Tinhay Lake.

It's been busy this week for beginners and improvers, most of whom have managed fish from the lake, and some that have braved the cold and fished the rivers. While the sun has shone and given some much-welcome warmth, morning frosts and a persistent, chilly northerly breeze have slowed insect hatches.
Yesterday, nine-year-old Fraser Bell showed his Dad how to land trout, by catching and releasing a fine two-pounder, while his father Mike managed to lose not one but two at the net!
Jamie Thompson, fishing with father Hugh and son Oskar, did well to land four trout on the Tamar today, which all fell to heavily-weighted shrimp patterns. Young Oskar caught his first grayling yesterday when wet-fly fishing with David, and has shown real promise, firing tight loops under the Lyd and Tamar's over-hanging trees... good work!
The warm weather last week saw the arrival of sand martins and swallows to Lifton... they must be confused by the arctic blast we've had this week!

Casting For Recovery

2008-04-01T18:40:00.002+01:00

The past weekend saw the hotel hosting a Casting For Recovery retreat - it was a tremendous success! Here is the full press release from the Countryside Alliance...

Arundell Arms hosts “magical” weekend for breast cancer angling initiative

Nine brave ladies enjoyed a weekend of fly fishing at the Arundell Arms in Devon from 28-30 March as participants in Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland, a unique outdoor-based programme specifically designed for women who have, or have had, breast cancer.

Casting for Recovery provides fly fishing programmes at idyllic retreats around the UK and Ireland. The Arundell Arms retreat was only the second to be held in the UK, and further retreats are planned for Wales in April, West Sussex and Northern Ireland in September. Venues for 2009 will be announced over the coming months and will include Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

Any woman who has experienced breast cancer is eligible to apply to attend a retreat (with medical clearance from their doctor). Retreats take place over two-and-a-half days and all accommodation, meals, counselling, and professional instruction are provided at no cost to participants due to the financial backing of the Countryside Alliance, although Anne Voss-Bark, owner of the Arundell Arms, generously donated the recent retreat to the programme. Trained medical staff and fly fishing instructors are on hand at all times and the fishing tackle and appropriate clothing is provided by Orvis UK.

Fly fishing offers proven benefits for recovering breast cancer patients. The casting action provides the gentle exercise recommended by physiotherapists for joint and soft tissue mobility. Fly fishing also offers participants a chance to reflect and escape in tranquil surroundings. Casting for Recovery was founded in the United States in 1996 and has since helped almost 3,000 breast cancer survivors.

The UK and Ireland Programme Co-ordinator is Sue Hunter, who recovered from breast cancer to become an international gold medallist fly fisher. Sue said: “The retreat in Devon was a huge success and we are immensely grateful to Anne Voss-Bark and her staff for their hospitality and enthusiasm for the programme. The participants arrived on the Friday not knowing exactly what to expect and left on Sunday having made friends for life and having thoroughly enjoyed their time in the beautiful Devon countryside. The delight on some of the ladies’ faces as the caught their first fish was magical and left no one in any doubt that Casting for Recovery is an immensely rewarding initiative that will continue to help many other ladies across the UK and Ireland.”

It's smiles all round for the participants, guides and organisers at Tinhay Lake.

First-time anglers and CFR participants Maureen (left) and Ava with Ava's first trout!

Dancing dries on the River Thrushel

2008-03-27T21:10:00.004Z

David and Tim stole an hour this afternoon to do a recce on the Thrushel (it's hard work but someone's go to do it). Even though the river was still high and a little coloured, several brown trout succumbed to carefully-presented dry flies. The guys gave a one-weight (yes, one-weight!) rod a trial - fantastic fun on a river this size!
With the spring flowers making a welcome appearance, there are certainly worse places to be at this time of year...