Feedback & Reports

An excellently-maintained beat, with yellow posts at all the access points along the bank and paths cut through the undergrowth. But in spite of lots of fly, I hardy saw a rise and never touched a fish. I was hoping to stay for the evening rise, but the forecast of cloudy and cool proved wrong, and the afternoon was hot, so by 6 I was exhausted and gave up.

River low, weather warm with some sun in the afternoon. Fished long and hard with only one small trout lost and two takes missed, a few flies coming off in the morning bringing up the odd fish but from about 1pm onwards the river died and what fish we did locate were super spooky. An enjoyable but difficult day on dry flies.

A pleasant day at the Rectory but with no Salmon caught. One beautiful Shad of about a pound caught on my size 6 Black Doctor. Flies observed Alder, Mayfly (quite a few ) and the odd medium olive. Not many trout rising from 8-30 am until 12-30. It is nice to see the increased number of Mayflies above the river. Rain for a week please.

My first ever Salmon. Caught on an Usk Grub, 12lb beautiful fresh silver fish.

1 Salmon

All on mayfly ranging 9-15". River very low and clear - fish mainly in larger pool tails and heads.

12 Trout

Turned up at Beacons Reservoir at around threeish hoping that some evening dry fly sport would be on the cards. It was blowing a nice," trouty "westerly breeze and overcast with low clouds when I arrived at this picturesque reservoir ,deep in the heart of the Brecon Beacons. Initially I fished the roadside shore and with a team of two, my home tied bibio variant and PTN and it wasn't long before I was into a very strong Beacons brownie , which when netted looked very similar to some of the brownies in the irish loughs , beautifully marked , a quick pic and straight back in . I did work the area around the dam wall using various flies , butchers , Montanas and gold beaded nymphs but no takers so headed back to the easterly shore , and early evening good picked up another superbly conditoned fish , taking my version of a Kate McClaren with confidence !!!!! The last fish of the day was in the shallower area of the reservoir and hammered my bibio pattern just in the ripple. A fun few hours , and bumped into a pleasant chap , Alun , who is a member of the Ospreys club locally and purchase season permits for the reservoir and beats on the Taff. I'll be returning again to this charming water again very soon . . . . . . . . . . .

3 Trout

A stunningly beautiful location, with a perfect stream, but low water levels made fishing very difficult. Arrived at around 9am with mist/cloud hanging on the tops of the surrounding mountains. It felt slightly muggy, and there was a tiny bit of drizzle mid morning, but it soon burnt off, turning into a hot and bright day.
Access was good, the banksides felt more open than other stream beats that I have fished – not so hemmed in by hedges, more like open woodland – but I soon realised that with such low water levels this was not going to be an easy day. There were barely any fishable spots it the first few hundred yards, but I managed to catch two perfect WBT in two tiny deeper spots before the Yurt. Having not fished this beat before I was beginning to think that it was going to be a short day, but as I waded upstream it changed… a real Jekyll and Hyde character. There are some deceptively deep and large pools, but apart from these trying to find fishable spots was really difficult.
I worked my way up to the end of the beat, having some success, and then spotted a largish fish just under the last big tree. No matter how hard I tried I could not get it to come out and take my hook… actually that is not true, it did take my nymph but I was too hasty and struck too soon. It just sort of sat there knowingly under the tree roots, as if it knew what I was up to!
I then decided to walk back down and try and fish some of the small runs, again with some success. It was only early afternoon by the time I reached the bottom of the beat again, but I wasn’t satisfied... so I went back up again, and there seemed to be more fish around this time. I made it right back to the top of the beat again, and that fish was still there under the roots. Still no luck.
The water was very clear but I had some success fishing nymphs off a Klinkhammer, all in the faster water. I missed a few. All fish were small (6”-8”) and very healthy. There was some fly life, but no rises that I saw all day.
Tricky fishing, but what a beat and what a location.

7 Trout

River fairly low and quiet. Only one salmon seen, disturbed by another angler.

1 Trout

lovely Brown Trout 18" taken on Iron blue size 18 small hatch of Baetis niger

1 Trout

A nice day on a pretty beat. A few mayflies about and a few fish rising, water clear and running fast. Thanks to W & U and the beat owner.

8 Trout, 2 Grayling