Feedback & Reports

Perfect river conditions but cold and raining. Beautiful spot. 1 small trout landed and returned but had we been proper fishermen we would have caught more.

1 Trout

Blanked. Hot sunny day, gin clear water. Fished from 0930 till 1600, despite a profusion of fly life (yellow mays, mayflies, olives in a range of sizes and a lot of hawthorns) I only found three rising fish, spooked two and hooked one for it to come off shortly after. Tried prospecting with a dry, the duo and upstream nymphing with a variety of weighted patterns to no avail. Did see a couple of cormorants that might have spooked the fish.

Stunning wild stretches of water with heavily wooded banks and waterfalls. Bluebells and flowers blooming and perhaps one of the most beautiful bucolic settings I have had the pleasure of seeing olives out in force, fooled some on an adams which they seemed to prefer to my olive patterns. 7 trout caught, 3 on dries and 4 on nymphs, best fish was probably over 2lbs and 5 of the 7 were better than a pound.

7 Trout

Another blank day, no signs of fish until about 4 o'clock when I saw a smallish fish breaking the surface a few times, covered it 4 or 5 times but no luck.

River clear and low, didn't see a fish all day.

Transferred to the upper Usk as a result of wash off on the Arrow. Fairly consistent hatch including a large number of olives for most of day but no fish rising. Water fairly clear. No fish and no takes. Attributed to cold flush of water, cold wind and (most likely) inability of anglers who went through their fly box in vain. Despite lack of fish a beautiful place and enjoyable day.

BLANK! Nonetheless a lovely part of the Usk and lots of wildlife around. I was very alarmed however to see such a thick biofilm and algal growth on all the rocks. Yes the water was low and sunny, but far too much algal growth for my liking and not what you expect on the upper Usk. The river is obviously getting substantial nutrient enrichment from somewhere. The sewage treatment works at Sennybridge a possible source?

WUF note - We have passed this on to Natural Resource Wales and they are going to sent a team to carry out some water testing in that area.

Blustery and chilly wind that blew straight down the river. Little movement until mid-afternoon, intermittent sun. V limited hatch @ 2.30. 1 x brown trout, of about 1 & 1/2 llbs on BWO. First time I have fished the Usk - a lovely day and great fun.

1 Trout

Well I believe I was a bit over optimistic about my chances today! Water was very low, gin clear and very cold!!! Air temp didn't rise above 4 degrees. Only one fish seen as I moved down river. In afternoon there was a sporadiac hatch of BWOs and pretty big ones at that. Think I wait till the weather heats up before I try again.

A bit more time this visit, so explored and fished the much more extensive lower section - and it is stunningly beautiful with all the classic small falls so often pictured. I even found a few rising fish which were too shy or I was too clumsy to catch. Lovely day even if blank.
Note: The WUF fishing pressure on this beat is very light but the bankside angling path and all access points to the pools are well worn and I have met very pleasant other anglers who "have a season rod" on this stretch and know several others who also have "season rods". What is the basis of the WUF access to this beat because it certainly isn't lightly fished?

WUF note - The owner reserves the right to allow a select few local rods to fish this beat at his discetion but on the whole it is one of our more lightly fished beats.