Feedback & Reports

River good, fish rising, none caught, fished at Aberfan foot bridge, it is difficult to get down to the river at this point and the amount of rubbish in the river is disturbing

Fished the stretch by Quakers Yard Railway Station. Fished spinner, lures and worm. Not a nibble all evening I'm afraid!

Found some rising fish today. Olives were hatching and after several presentations of my dry imitation were ignored, I switched to an Olive emerger pattern which I'm pleased to report resulted in a hard fighting pristine 15 incher.
I've seen several comments about the condition of the river and whilst it is true to say there is a fair amount of rubbish this should not detract from what is an absolute gem of a trout river with just about every type of feature you could imagine suggesting a myriad of different tactics and approaches. And that this river, once an environmental disaster and now a fully restored ecosystem is nothing short of remarkable. I shall be putting thoughts of the Usk aside from now on.

1 Trout

Fabulous trout river but conditions (very bright and sunny; river low and running gin clear) were against me today. I found some risers later in the day but these fish are not easily fooled. I didn't put any fish down but I just could not get the right presentation and the merest hint of drag meant the fish would not come up to my dry fly. Might try fishing downstream spiders next time.

1 fish taken on dry fly, approx 1lb weight. Fished French nymph technique mainly. Low water and very clear cold and mixed weather including snow. Stayed at the Tregenna Hotel in Merthyr Tydfil, good cheap, older accommodation needing a bit of an update but food quality quite good.

1 Trout

Fished the whole day through rain and wind... This didn't seem to put the fish down as we had a good hatch in the afternoon of olives. The first few fish were taken on nymphs in fast water, this included a big out of season grayling of 2lbs plus (safely returned). The afternoon was more exciting as the fish seemed more inclined to look up to a well presented dry fly. We came across a pool that had some big fish in that were sipping away but couldn't seem to find the right pattern that they wanted. I persisted and eventually got a rise and landed a stunning 3lbs cock fish. He had beautiful markings on him and was safely released to get bigger. After this another few fish were caught on nymphs. We didn't have a fish under a pound for the whole day.
The only thing I would comment on is the amount of rubbish in the river and on the banks... We saw everything from syringes to a mattress in the river... This would be a place that we would come back to time and time again if it was a little cleaner. Something needs to be done...
Saying that - an amazing days fishing! Oh and some of the most challenging wading we've ever done! We're in our 20's and we went for a couple of swims each!! If we could post pictures of fish we would - WUF this may be a good thing to do?
WUF Note: We would be very grateful to receive any photos sent to admin@wyeuskfoundation.org and would be happy to include them in the fishery's gallery, the monthly reports and elsewhere.
With regards the litter, Merthyr Tydfil Angling Association work hard in removing it from their stretch of the Taf. Unfortunately, it is a curse on this and many other urban rivers across the UK but please be assured efforts will continue to clean them up.

7 Trout

A good hatch of March Browns produced a brace of nice 12" trout on a dry F fly. River full of litter though - shame really. It would be very pretty between Quakes Yard and Aberfan otherwise. Wading can be slippery over the large stones and boulders in the river bed. Would recommend a wading staff
Thank you to MAA for providing a nice day on the river

2 Trout

Excellent river with some beautiful looking fish. 3 trout all on nymphs

3 Trout

Spent a few hours on the Aberfan stretch of the Taff. Arrived at 1.00pm hoping to find hatch of LDO, MB's and therefore rising fish. Rod was rigged up with size 12 parachute Adams, my 'go to' dry for this time of year. Walked the banks looking for risers - and found some. Landed 6 nice fish, with each one spotted and targeted carefully with the dry. All in mint condition. Nothing small, every one in 14 - 16 inch range and very strong. Missed, pricked and lost many more. Hatch and rise over by 3.00pm. Could have caught more by fishing nymphs blind, but what fun is that compared to a take off the surface!

6 Trout

Really lovely stretch of river, however the banks have a lot of rubbish which is disappointing. Conditions were excellent and there are a lot of very nice pools and runs. Started at Quakers Yard station and worked my way upstream for about a mile. Landed one small trout on a Nymph and missed a few others. I am sure a more skilled angler than I would have caught a few more considering the conditions.
MTAA Note: We know that we have a problem with waste/rubbish. The association does various clean ups on parts of the river with Keep Wales Tidy and just normal members doing their bit. However, with the river Taff being an urban river it is pretty hard to keep up with it all. In time we hope to eradicate all rubbish.

1 Trout