Feedback & Reports

River very low. 1 wbt 6", 6 grayling 10" to 12" on variety of small dry flies. Must have missed 20 - not my day

1 Trout, 6 Grayling

Arrived about 11am and spent a fruitless hour fishing spiders in the fast water. Switching to dries (size 16 hare's ear emergers), I then caught grayling steadily from the glides below and above Lady Alexander's Catch until a stiffening downstream breeze stopped the fun at about 5pm. Caught 17, all returned, mostly 8-10" but 5 were over 12" and the best 16"; many more missed. Nice, straightforward fishing and worth the drive after weeks spent scratching around shrunken Cotswold streams.

17 Grayling

Only fished Lady Alexander's Catch pool. Overcast in morning, bright in afternoon. Lower access gate does not open cleanly; need to regrade the path surface. Fished well in morning with better fish being caught (grayling to 1.5lb) on bead head hares ear fly. Very difficult in the afternoon once sun came out but able to tease a few out of the deep fast water using heavy bugs and Czech nymphing.

1 Trout, 8 Grayling

1 Grayling

2 Trout, 6 Grayling

Wet most of the day, lovely stretch but not joy.

Water was looking good and I was quite hopeful for a salmon. Started with a Cascade and made several changes through the day, but I did not see any sign of a salmon. There was plenty of fly life and lots of rising fish so I changed to the trout rod in the late afternoon and had some fun with the trout and grayling. Best grayling about 14 inches and the trout included what was probably the smallest fish I have ever caught on a fly!

3 Trout, 5 Grayling

Advice from the booking office to keep an eye on falling levels at Llansteffan prompted me to cash in a washed-off day from earlier in the season in an attempt to catch Abernant at its best. Usually, provisions for the day comprise a doorstep sandwich and a flask of tea. On this occasion, however, an en-route visit to a supermarket had to suffice and which produced a tortilla wrap, a bag of crisps and a worryingly named bottle of sugar free pop. Despite falling a few inches overnight, Lady Alexander's Catch remained eminently fishable with the fly coming round in a very satisfying manner and I set about experimenting at various depths. A shallow presentation proved fruitless, as did searching the depths with a short tube. Although not heavily coloured I concluded that visibility might be the key to success and attached a lurid yellow and orange creation, name unknown, on a size 8 double to the end of a sinking leader. A dozen casts later and my heart was set racing as the line went tight and then thump-thump-thumped as a well hooked salmon expressed its dissatisfaction with the situation. The fish gave a good account of itself but was duly netted and then returned without leaving the water. The bottle of Fanta Zero with which I toasted my success turned out not to be the omen I had feared.
Picture and estimate sent by return to admin@wyeuskfoundation.org. The bottom seam of the net is 33" but no way was the fish as heavy as the calculator suggests. It still had several lice but was a tad on the lean side and didn't look fresh run. Adipose fin intact! 8-9lbs was my estimate.
Blydi grêt!
As ever, Wye, oh Wye!

1 Salmon

An enjoyable day on Abernant. The fish did not fall on the hook, but steadily caught most of the day. Caught on nymphs at a variety of depths. Spiders and emergers. Nothing seems on work for long, but changing tac kept me in the fish. No monsters, a pound and a half grayling and a trout just over a pound were the best of the lot. All returned. One of the easier Upper Wye Beats, wading is mostly Gravel, access is good. I fish this area a lot and each beat has it's own unique character. A special Place.

8 Trout, 11 Grayling

Trout to 10 inches and grayling to 14 inches.

3 Trout, 14 Grayling