Feedback & Reports

1st time fishing the Usk - Glan-yr-Afon.
River had a good level of water. Very bright and sunny?
One or two small fish rising but no takers. A few mayfly around and a lot of caddis in the afternoon. Tried nymphing to no avail. Tried some parachute adams amongst many others to no avail. All in all a beautiful stretch but I found it really difficult in sunny conditions. Need to work on my rivercraft. Great weekend though and will be back to the Usk to conquer! Stayed at the Old Rectory Hotel 4m away which was very nice and can highly recommend.

A few small trout were brought to hand and several lost on what is quite a physically demanding beat access wise, still a favoured beat none the less.
3 wbt to eight ins.

3 Trout

Perhaps a little ambitious to try and cover both beats in one go, only managed a few hundred yards of the middle beat missing and losing several on barbless before the climb back to the car.
1wbt.

1 Trout

no catch this day but a sunny day and the res was down a little

Hot and bright. Good olive hatch. No Mayfly as yet. Picky fish and few risers. Four netted largest over 2 pounds. Great day as ever.

4 Trout

Fished hard all day, river in reasonable condition, my son caught 3 Shad on SHFC. A lot of canoes all day long.
could not fish lower part of beat due to canoes picknicking on exposed gravels.

3 Other

Hot, sunny, windless day. Water very clear, odd fish rising but otherwise no general rise to speak of, lovely location.
Like a previous angler I encountered a large mink (with an attitude) it looked at me and then walked past literally at my feet completely unconcerned. reminder not to leave any fish unattended.
Did observe a Lamprey from the bank digging mid river in the gravel

A lovely stretch of flywater. I saw 2 salmon splashes in Cockpits pool in same place, so probably same fish. No takes, fished all the lies. However, beautiful day out.

3 Trout

Well, after years wanting to fish this beat we finally did. Nestled in the stunning beauty of the Cambrian Mountains it's a truly remote Llyn. You definitely need a 4x4 to access the 2 mile track. Not because of the traction but you need the clearance as the potholes are almost fishable!
We arrived a bit late as this is a 1.5 hour drive from our weekend base in Hay. It was very bright and surprisingly windy given the general stillness of the day back in Hay. The fish rose for the first hour and we caught 4 wbt on dries. Stunning, chubby, black finned wbt, 6" to 8". Put up a real scrap on a 4 wt rod.
The fish then switched off, and stayed switched off for the rest of the day. Too bright, too early in the year, not windy enough? Or did we start too late? Who knows, but those 4 in the first hour was our lot. Caught on a Bristol Hopper and Black Klink.
This was our first time, so things we learnt: 4x4 recommended to take on the track (walk is about 30 mins). Our fish were taken close to the bank so dry flying you could start at a 4wt or even 3wt. Keep moving and string up a dry and nymphing (5wt / 6wt) rod if you can to save you yomping back to the car. We wore waders as the bank is very boggy and there's a small beach at the hut where we assumed you could wade. Watch your step, there are some deep, hidden holes all along the bank, possible leg breaker, therefore, best to go with a mate. Be careful at the opposite bank to the hut, you can be walking through bog and be thigh deep in one step. Don't scrunch up the paper with the padlock combination and chuck it at the bottom of your bag. You need it for the way out!
Wonderful experience, will be back!

4 Trout