Feedback & Reports

River running powerfully with some colour. Had to keep moving to find the fish and all fish came from different swims, mostly from the deeper water upstream. A very well fed cormorant was working the upstream section all day, surfacing in front of me several times. Possibly explained why fish weren't shoaled up.
Undergrowth has been beaten down by recent floods and frosts making access to river easy. Over all, an enjoyable few hours trotting this lovely river.

4 Trout, 2 Grayling

Coldest day of the year? Spent the first two hours clearing ice from the guides. Really bright sun,low in the sky and behind me all day causing unavoidable long shadows,water crystal clear. Fished tungsten bead nymphs...first fish a decent sized trout 15" or so and then only one small 9" grayling...couldn't locate the shoal though. Good to be out again!

1 Trout, 1 Grayling

10 x grayling 6-17 inches, trotting and Tenkara. Back to the rivers, but in fact this was quite hard work. I can't complain about the water level, down to 0.60 now and pretty clear. But the air temperature in the Irfon valley on this day of freezing fog was only above zero from 2 in the afternoon until around 4. There's a world of difference between minus one degree and plus one degree, or rod rings frozen or not frozen, when you want the trotting gear to work properly. I sidestepped the problem of iced rings for most of the day by using the Tenkara rod. Also, the grayling seemed to be dispersed rather than tightly grouped as is often found by this time in the winter and I had to wander a good deal. Still, there were quite a few healthy looking and bright silver fish of 15 and 16 inches in the bag - typical Irfon.

10 Grayling

Gauge at 0.7m, clear and falling slightly. Wade-able in places but much fishing was from the bank. Trotting maggots under a 2g Avon. Grayling were well spread and present in most pools and creases, with sizes varying from fingerlings to 12" (only 2 of the larger fish were hooked, one was lost). Whilst a bleak time of year, another lovely day on the Irfon with plenty of action to keep us interested. One salmon parr was landed.

2 Trout, 12 Grayling, 1 Chub, 1 Other

River clearing well now so ideal for us try for the pike. Had a cast on beat 4 and twice a huge pike followed the bait in but turned away at the last minute.Tim tried the same spot and caught a superbly conditioned 14lb fish first cast. River still a little to high but will try again midweek.

2 Pike

A tough day due to very low temperatures the day before, but river in fine form. Both anglers search hard for grayling but they alluded us, despite a few attentions from out of season brown trout. Temperatures plummeted again around 3pm. With warmer and more settled temperatures, the fishing would have been a lot easier, but searching is the name of the game at this time of year.

3 Trout

Could only connect with trout on this extremely cold day. Snow on the ground and river running with a good pace. Looking at river levels, this beat seemed the only one just about fishable. The few trout to hand all took pink beadhead body quilled fly on the point bouncing bottom. No grayling today, maybe the floods now the cold snap has put them down for a few days. The flow was strong and nearly knocked me off my feet on more than one occasion and with the water temps low not advisable to take a dunking. Still a lovely stretch of water which, come April should fish extremely well.

Stunning stretch of water particularly with a hard frost on the ground. Tough days fishing and didn't catch but plenty to enjoy.

Pike fished the whole beat, blanked, fell over, got cold.

2 x grayling 11-12 inches, trotting. Oh dear me! Today's visit smacked of desperation. After more than 2 months without fishing a river, I was ready to take almost any chance to get back to it. Ordinarily, I would like to see the Irfon gauge at no more than 0.60, maybe 0.75 at a pinch for some carefully selected trotting. Seeing it at 0.98 the night before and showing signs of falling, I took a very long chance and made a booking. Hopefully the "light showers" predicted for the next day would not have too much effect and maybe the river would continue to fall. Such optimism! The light showers, when they came, would be better described as relentless and the river was rising all the time I was there, eventually to 1.31 metres. I picked up a couple of small ones from under the bank at my feet, lost a couple more, but when the colour came into the water the bites switched off. I went home as I never have much confidence in a rising colouring river. However, there should be chances later in the week if the rain will only hold off for a bit.

2 Grayling