Feedback & Reports

Nice place to walk the dogs, as for fishing, disappointing.

1 Trout, 7 Other

My first time on the Monnow and certainly not the last. An excellent day on a lovely beat in spite of the late afternoon rain. I arrived to find another angler tackling up and was hoping to get a few tips but Sod's law, it was Brian's first time here too!
There is a nice mix of fast water, deeper pools and long slower glides but today the water was pretty coloured. There was not much fly life today and rises were sporadic. I managed 9 fish on a mix of dry and duo, with an elk caddis and ptn, fished on my 9ft 4wt. Another half a dozen hooked but not brought to net so a great day's sport (minor interruption from two black labs and an owner throwing sticks in the river).
Thanks to Brian, who was great company and good conversation over a sandwich lunch and pint at the Bell. Will definitely be booking this beat again - thanks WUF.

9 Trout

Hooked and lost a couple of fish at the bottom, one which was quite a good one. Then took a fish on the middle beat, before increasingly heavy showers finished the day.

1 Trout

Ed Brown 12lb fresh cock 7.45pm Bigsweir on a pot belly pig cascade tube.
John Leigh 10lb Bigsweir caught on fly he also caught a 6lb bass.
Nick Spragg 10lb Bigsweir caught on fly.

3 Salmon

12 Trout

Lovely stretch of water with good variation that should keep you busy for the whole of the day.
The weather was warm and overcast with rain starting in late pm/early evening. I used a 10ft 3wt all day.
Shame the river was so very coloured - for example I was wading at just above the knee deep and was not able to see my feet. Not knowing the water; I was pleased I had my wading stick with me for the deeper sections. I met one of the land owners who said that there had not been much rain and couldn't understand why it was so dirty. It was more like Bisto in the slower stretches.
There were sporadic fly life throughout the day but very few fish rising. There were better hatches in the late evening.
Stuck with dries most of the time to see what I could get to rise and unexpectedly managed 12 WBT.
All in good nick and safely returned. The best was about 11 inches.This was more by "prospecting" than casting to a rising fish. Elk Caddis and CDC mays/emergers proved best. Left the water at 9pm when the rain was too much to bear.
Excellent company from fellow angler and lovely lunch at The Bell.

12 Trout

Water very coloured. Plenty of salmon crashing out but very tricky conditions. Caught a large chub on a large tube fly!!

1 Chub

One 6" trout. Late afternoon. Dry fly. Otherwise no fish about to speak of. Disappointing.

1 Trout

Small sporadic hatches of upwinged olives brought the occasional rise which resulted in one hook up and one lost fish on a dry fly from one of the few accessible pools. There was no further interest in the dries or nymphs offered the rest of the afternoon/evening.
Another beat with very difficult access along much of its length, especially the top right bank section above the second weir. Dense vegetation is to be expected at this time of year but large sections had overhanging trees down to the water, several fallen trees causing blockages (forcing an exit from the channel) and the steepness of the banks - in several places over 6ft straight up or down depending whether you were attempting to enter or exit the stream. Some spots could be fished from the bank but a long handled net would be required to land any decent sized fish. The lower section was not fully explored due to rain closing in and fading light so may have provided us with some more accessible spots.

4 Trout