Feedback & Reports

I had booked Abernant and took a peek at 10am. I shouldn't have bothered as surely a wash-off with the Llanstephan gauge over 3 foot! However, predicting a no-go I had booked Upper Glochfaen as a contingency and Abernant was on the way. 45mins further North into mid-Wales proper and a very different Wye at Upper Glochfaen.
I could see a very high debris line from the days before but the river was dropped and very clear. I fished for 5 hours and was very cautious with wading as per WUF instruction. Tried a variety of Grayling wet fly with teams up to three and also experimented with a floating strike-indicator. No fish caught, felt or seen, but I enjoyed the day and because I was looking at my feet a lot, I did spot what I presume was a Salmon Redd in fairly shallow water - quite impressive.
I very much prefer dry fly fishing and today exposed my lack of knowledge and experience with wet fly techniques. Perhaps time for a guided lesson?

Blanked, river was up and very cold... -3 air temp.

Staying at Michealchurch Escley for the annual Christmas pilgrimage, took this chance to try at Chanstone, normally it would be Turnastone but no longer available. Terrible freezing rain, challenging wading, difficult banks to negotiate. Did have three takes but missed them all.

Good river condition, but one small grayling caught only.

1 Grayling

This was my third attempt at fishing this beat. The previous two were complete disasters; first visit was about the same time last year and the river was literally about to burst its banks, completely coloured and impossible to fish. The second attempt failed soon after leaving the house as the car started to play up.
A rare case of me being organised and having already bought all my Christmas presents meant that Christmas eve was free. The car was better and despite all the rain we've had in South Wales I noticed the weather had been much better just over the border, so I decided to have another go.
Fortunately it was a case of third time lucky. I arrived to find the weather pleasant and the river looking amazing. I made my way to the bottom of the beat and soon after was delighted to have the first grayling of the day. Two more 8" Grayling and an oos trout came from the same pool.
The rest of the fish came from various pools along the whole length of the beat. The biggest Grayling was ~12" but most fish were between 8 and 10 inches, hard fighting and in immaculate condition. Trout came from shallower glides whereas most of the Grayling came from the deeper pools. All fish went for a size 14 gold head nymph.
This is a stunning beat and certainly challenging. I'm sure I spent more time picking my nymphs out of overhanging branches than actually fishing! Saying that I couldn't have wished for a better way to enjoy my last session of 2014.
Thanks WUF and Merry Christmas!

5 Trout, 9 Grayling

Just a short 4 hour session. Managed just the one chub with the river pushing through and well up.

1 Chub

River looked good for a few fish but did not happen, no bites at all to report. River about 5ft up or so.

Decided to use an earlier wash off for a pre -Christmas session, before it rains again over the next few days! River pushing through though, albeit dropping, and much higher at 0.69m, than the level I usually fish the Irfon when bugging or fly fishing, so decided to trot some maggots instead. Not surprisingly, the fish were not in the places where I usually find them on this beat! River a bit coloured until midday then clear. Found 13 obliging grayling and one OOS trout. As usual this year, most fish were of 10-11" with a few better fish of 13-14". Kingfishers and dippers for company and, unfortunately, a cormorant early on.

1 Trout, 13 Grayling

13 x grayling 10-16 inches, 1 x out of season trout, trotting. I took the only window of opportunity which seemed to be available. More heavy rain due tonight, but at 0.75 and falling to 0.65 by the end of the day, the Irfon looked to be fishable. All the other grayling streams on our list were still in flood. Charlie Picton, who used to look after this water, would reckon that a big winter flood tended to break up the grayling shoals. I certainly had to go looking for them on this occasion, but fish were to be found here and there. No really big ones today, but several at 16 inches. The temperature only got up to 5 degrees and the sun never showed itself, but about 2 in the afternoon there was a brief but intense large dark olive hatch. I actually heard the sound of rising fish before I noticed the duns on the surface. A clever angler would have had a dry fly rod made up ready.

13 Grayling

A slow day on a river that looked just right. One bite, one fish, a PB Chub of 5lbs. Thanks WUF. Happy christmas.

1 Chub