Recently received tweets from a certain Pure Piscator led us to assume that these words were coming from our old friend John Henderson or a former member of his disbanded work party returning to active service. Instead it turns out they were coming from a gentleman by the name of Andy Dickinson, who shares the enthusiasms of the old PP crew, but is actually no relation.
Andy is a resident of Buckfastleigh and a neighbour of the Dart. We recognised a fellow traveller and took it upon ourselves to say hello. Today’s post comes from Andy and we hope there will be many more to follow.
The West Dart River above Hexworthy Bridge, Dartmoor. An area of outstanding natural beauty, and one of the two main tributaries of the mighty River Dart. There is something about this river and all other rivers in fact, that runs far deeper than its waters, and that is its ability to captivate the hearts and minds of fisher folk like you and I. You don’t have to be a fisherman to appreciate this but if you are, you most certainly will. Its constant state of change reminds me of the great Heraclitus quote “you can never step into the same river twice, for new waters are always flowing onto you”. How true it is, like life itself, constantly moving onward from its source to the sea. From origin to end. In this unfettered place you won’t be troubled by parking meters, or distracted by billboards trying to sell you things you don’t need. You will never have to queue for a ticket or miss the last train to wherever. What you will find here though is plenty of space, fresh air, wild and rugged landscape, bird song, buzzards, butterflies, kingfishers, ancient trees, large granite boulders, deep pools, swirling eddies, fast runs and if luck has it a few wild brown trout a sea trout or a salmon. The only two decisions you will really have to make is what fly, and what time to leave to catch a well deserved pint in the Forest Inn at the end of a successful days fly fishing before heading home for a hearty supper of fish pie, boiled spuds and a chunk of bread. For more information on fly fishing on the upper River Dart visit westcountryangling.
