Feedback & Reports

Approximately 15 brown trout varying in weight from 1lb to 1.5lb.

Following on from my fishing the previous night on Dan-y-Warren, I ended my short, but superb, stay, in Crickhowell (the Old Rectory in Llangattock, great place to stay!) with a few hours at Glan-yr-Afon. This must be one of the most picturesque, idyllic places to cast a line. Tricky wading as previous anglers have commented, but worth the effort. I've always found this part of the Usk a real challenge, but this time it was fantastic. 5 trout hooked, 4 banked (all put back in great condition, barely lifted out of the water), all on nymph through deeper, slower runs. Tried the dry fly for a while, but river was running fast and hard to control the fly line. Thanks WUF for providing such a beautiful beat. Heron there as always. There is nothing better than catching a wild brown trout on the Usk, followed by a beer in the Bear!

I started fishing around 11am approximately 150 upstream from the bridge. The entire beat has limited river access due to fairly steep banks and trees. Despite nearly 36 hours of dry weather, they river was still fairly colored. I primarily fished a large adams or stimulator with a suspended hare's ear or light colored emerger. I did however try a various combinations of lower water column nymphs as well as streamers. I only landed one 8 inch Brown trout, and very few missed strikes. I noticed some nice mayfly and BWO hatches throughout the day but only saw one fish (10-12 inch) rise near the top of the beat. I suspect that with a little clearer water and lower flows this could be a pretty productive stretch of river.

Anyway, despite my poor results after 7 hours of fishing...ANY DAY ON THE RIVER BEATS A DAY AT WORK!

My wife and I stayed at the Old Storehouse, 2.5 miles South of Brecon. The place is very homely and Peter takes top notch care of his guests. We hope to return soon.

Two small brown trout (approx 6 inches)caught on parachute adams, both returned. A number of other takes on a size 20 GRHE, but nothing successfully landed. Conditions very difficult due to strong wind. Despite this I observed some limited hatches of various olives and a few rises.

1 fish caught between 2 rods (12 inches), returned, and 3 missed. Klinkhammer, emergers and goldhead damsel nymph best. Water level was high and falling all day and colour improved following flood previous day.
Tricky wading - wading staff essential.

Caught 3 brown trout on sunken hair's ear nymph between 11am and 5pm. Water seemed about right. Quite a few fish rising also.

Arrangements were made so despite the weather forecasts PB and SG had to fish! Standing on the bridge at 10.00 the river was clear and it was apparent there was a significant hatch - Large dark olives and yellow may duns conspicuous as always. Fishy action was not immediately apparent but by 11.30 blue winged olives were hatching which instigated intense local rises in quieter areas of the streamy water. Targeting one of these at long distance produced 8 takes in an hour - 4 missed, 2 came off, including 1 significant fish - a penalty of having to fish a dry fly downstream in this location, and 2 came to hand - fish of 12 and 15 inches, the usual Usk tigers! By 1 the river was colouring making the tricky wading even more risky and by 2 that was it - too much colour to fish so PB and SG wended their way home. Usk fish always seem more selective than Wye fish and were definitely homing in on the BWOs - a size 16 parachute did the business when all else failed. Excellent fishing while it lasted despite the persistent rain.

5 fish between 2 rods, all returned. Emergers and klinkhammers were most effective during the evening rise. Many missed takes. All fish were a good average size with beautiful golden colouration to their flanks.
Murky fast water made for a tricky start after the overnight rain, but an evening rise was our saviour. 3 canoeists ploughed through the beat in the afternoon also.

Nothing Caught

Brown Trout - 7 small fish (6" - 8") returned, and 1 approx 1lb taken. Flies - black gnat dry, greenwells glory wet, light olive dun wet. River nicely clear, and flowing sensibly after the recent spate!