Feedback & Reports

5 small brown trout. None bigger than 12 inches.

5 Trout

First time back here for several years and was delighted to see the improvements to the beat with the new styles since I was last here. Great stuff! 10-11" on the Byton gauge and only a tad murky after the recent heavy rain. Booked a bit late so only fished the afternoon, so only got as far as the bridge from the bottom of the beat. No fly and hardly a rise but some of the grayling did come up to a HE emerger, fished duo with a FBPTN which took the majority of the fish. A heavier version also worked bugging with heavier nymphs in some of the deeper pots. The grayling were all 9-10 inchers though so the bigger ladies weren't in the mood today. The trout were 9-12". Just a thought: there is a lovely long deep pool in the section between the first major RH bend and the house which is totally occluded to river level by tree branches (so you can't cast under them any more). This used to be great spot. It would take little effort to clear it - maybe the river owner can get some pole-saws out and open this up again? Similarly the lovely pool above the bridge used to be a banker but is almost totally overgrown from the far bank wall on the far side. Give it a year and the river here will soon disappear as further down. A few minutes with a pole-saw could work wonders and open this up for the punters too! I look forward to coming back and exploring above the bridge again. Maybe there will be some bigger girls about next time?!!

4 Trout, 15 Grayling

Arrived at 7am with 0.76m on the gauge and the river heavily coloured but just fishable. Quiet at first but saw a few fish show at pub decking and cables. River clearer and had dropped 5cm at lunchtime. Unusually no fish seen at Rock all day. River picked up a little more colour by the evening as a result of more rain at Brecon. Had very enjoyable afternoon in L.T's company and was pleased to net a sealiced 3lb sea trout for him. River should fish well tomorrow.

Torrential rain the night before rendered the river up and chocolate but absolutely bursting with life and perfect for Barbel. Used standard feeder tactics with pellets and boilies. Day started slowly on the tail of the Vanstone pool but came alive late afternoon after changing swims. Barbel from 6½lb to 8½lb and a ½lb and fought like tigers. More salmon jumping all over the beat than we have ever seen before. All the wildlife both in and by the river treated us to breathtaking entertainment all day and at dusk. 7 Cormorants seen, all flying downstream. Thank you Wye and Usk for an exceptional day.

9 Barbel, 1 Chub

First visit to this beat and we had a really good day.
The barbel seemed to start feeding from mid afternoon onwards. Most fish falling to swimfeeder and pellet but also a few on meat. Best Barbel of the day weighed 8lbs 7oz with most being around the 6lbs mark. Other fish were eels caught on meat. Hope to return here on next trip.

13 Barbel, 10 Chub, 2 Other

Having read the advanced information we planned to fish the meadow but arrived to find two anglers already on there. We happened to bump into Don on the bank who helped us find two decent swims in the woods.
It was our last day of the trip so we only managed to fish 10-3 before having to make the trip back north. I managed two good barbel, both 8lb+ and a chub of around 4.5lb. My fishing partner managed just one smallish chub.
Much like the day before on another stretch upstream it felt like we hadn't got the tactics quite right. It also felt that it would have switched on more had we been able to stay on until dusk.
We liked the stretch and would definitely fish it again.

2 Barbel, 2 Chub

Parked at the farm behind the gate as look to steep and muddy for our little van (short walk). Lovely looking place, there is a noisy pump in the middle of the beat though didn't run all day. Good conditions we caught 5 eels in this area on meat, did a lot of walking and covered whole beat. Plenty of places to fish if you clear swims in the downstream area.

1 Barbel, 3 Chub, 5 Other

The beat was tricky to find, but we got there in the end. The access to the river was excellent. Unfortunately my fishing companion fears anything that moo's, so we were limited to one field, which I suspect was not the best part of the river. Undeterred, we found a nice looking swim and I proceeded to catch a chevin first cast. A tough day followed, with a further three chub and the smallest barbel I have ever caught. My beef fearing friend struggled, blanking, which was no more than he deserved!
Nice beat, but unlikely to return until the cattle go to slaughter....
HFG

1 Barbel, 4 Chub

very nice day testing terrain,jungle warfare, all fish caught on heavy nymphs (sadly)

8 Trout

Caught two trout with dry flies despite the water being quite coloured. Access was not too easy and wading was not always possible due to the high level of the water.

2 Trout