Feedback & Reports

Nice day when out of the wind. Fished Woodstream as that gave more wind protection and better casting. Landed a nice brown of around 1lb on Thunder and Lightning tube around midday at the bridge.
One salmon topped and tailed above bridge but was fished over and not seen again.
Stuart Bigley and David MacPherson fished at the top and through the Rockpool with no takes.
John Lewis fished an orange and black tube but did not contact any fish.
Little or no fly life in the stiff cold westerly but a few trout did show mid afternoon. I had no luck fishing a pair of waterhen bloas in the margins.
We all enjoyed the opening day.

1 Trout

5 x trout 9-13 inches, Waterhen Bloa. Fished from 11am until about 3pm. River pretty high on opening day but running reasonably clear. Air temperature in single figures, but a very chilly and strong downstream wind made it feel colder. Thick snow on the Beacons. However, large dark olives were coming off for a good 3 hours - I saw very few duns taken from the surface, but spiders fished just under were being taken with great enthusiasm, presumably by fish interested in the ascending nymphs. Dry fly not attractive. The main problem was that butter fingers here missed most of the takes - I must have pricked or lost a dozen lightly hooked fish. Not a bad start to the season.

5 Trout

Managed a start at first light despite driving through sleet and heavy winds! However, the day turned out to be bright and breezy. River still pushing through and with quite a bit of colour. Fished a swim by the "inspection drain" near to ST pump station. Used a sliding 2oz feeder with a 3ft lead core lead and 2ft hook length to a size 6 knotless hair hook. Hook bait was mixed meat chunks marinated in halibut oil and loose feed was hemp with 4and 6 mm pellet.
First cast produced a 5lb chub then quiet for an hour before 2 barbel each around 7lb. 3 remaining chub (3-5lb then spread during the day) before heading back to Surrey at around 5pm.
A great day's fishing in a wonderful spot!

2 Barbel, 4 Chub

Glorious weather and a good height of water but no fish seen or caught.

A fantastic opening day to the season and a pleasure to be guiding two good anglers.
We arrived at the beat in the middle of a snow shower and with snow on the top of Pen y Fan we were hopeful that we may catch. However, opening day is often a triumph of hope over experience.
The river was in stunning condition and the fish turned out to be obliging. The majority of the fish where caught just below the surface however a couple on dries really finished the day of well. There was a very sustained hatch of large dark olives that went on from midday until late afternoon by which time we were frozen solid and happy to have had such a great day. All the fish caught were in great condition and fought hard. Lets hope that this is the sign of the season to come.

13 Trout

Great to be out on the river again. Water was clearing and starting to fall and so was full of anticipation. However, no sign of any fish during the day. It was good to get the muscles working again and look forward to a good season.

River at 2'6" and clearing at Llanstephan so good level for this high water beat. Cold and windy all day. No fish caught or seen. Great to be back on the river.

I enjoyed myself so much on this beat just before Christmas i couldn't resist returning for the opening day of the trout season.
I wasn't feeling too confident as i drove along the A465, admiring the snowy uplands and upon arriving it soon became apparent that there was a strong and bitterly cold north westerly wind blowing downstream. Within minutes of being out of the car the fingers were getting numb.
I was pleased to find the river looking good and started to work my way upstream with a team of beaded PTNs. I noticed there had been some pruning since my last trip which certainly made a few of the pools easier to fish.
Over four hours, I managed to locate my first trout of the season, a plump specimen at 8" and landed 5 grayling. Two were stunning males of about 12 and 14". Shame there weren't any more trout but it was still the perfect way to start the year.

1 Trout, 5 Grayling

River at a good height, fished the spinner on beat 3 and the fly on beat 6, nothing seen, good to be back on the river

Conditions were very cold and windy. River was 2ft up but had two chub to 4lb on pellet.

2 Chub