Immediately following, and for sometime after a flood, water can be the colour of strong tea, stained by the peat bogs high on the Cumberland Waste including Spadeadam, Greyfell Common, High Grain's Waste, Butterburn Flow, Wiley Sike and others.
Wet fly fishing using traditional north country spiders including snipe & purple, snipe & yellow, partridge & orange, March brown and Greenwells is successful on the River Irthing during the early months of the season. Flies should vary in size between 12's and 16's dependent on water height and colour. As a general rule of thumb the darker the water, the larger the fly. Members are asked to use barbless or de-barbed hooks whenever possible.
A fly rod of between 8'6" and 9'6" capable of casting lines between #5 and #6 is generally considered suitable for the river. A floating double tapered line is adequate for most water conditions.
On some sections of the Irthing, and particularly on the River Gelt, upstream worming using light tackle is the only suitable method to be deployed because of the terrain and small pools.