Feedback & Reports

Excellent fishing, plenty of fish @ the pound mark with the odd one or two pushing 1.5lb. Great mayfly hatch but only sporadic rising, possibly the cold wind put the fish down? Most fish caught on weighted nymphs.

8 Trout, 16 Grayling

For those interested in fishing a mayfly hatch - it has started at Hergest Court. The flies hatched on and off all afternoon. At anytime there were a handful of flies struggling on the surface of the water and unlike the previous report this time the fish were taking nothing else. Whilst I sat and had my lunch I spotted only one fly, in twenty minutes, that escaped either the fish or the birds.

This beat (I have only ever fished the downstream half) has undergone some significant clearance work since I was last here - this is both good and bad for the angler. Overall the water level is now significantly lower throughout the beat and there is less holding water for fish - I also sensed the fish I caught were smaller than on previous visits (although one fish did reach 14 inches). On a positive, the beat is now much easier to both wade and cast and some streamy runs have been developed.

8 Trout

Only fished between 11:30 and 1, one 5" WBT caught on pheasant tail nymph fished duo.

1 Trout

I fished this yesterday with 0.5m on the gauge and a cold westerly 30mph+ wind.

The wind made presentation and bite deterction almost impossible and the extra water made wading difficult even on the shallows just above the bridge.

I missed three pulls on gold headed nymphs and had the smallest trout in the world come off half way in.

There were yellow mayfly's hatching steadily throughout the afternoon but I only saw six fish rise all day, 2 of which were to one of my flies fished while prospecting hoping to pull fish to the surface. Sadly both fish were missed, one small and the other a very good fish.

It is a length that I'm sure would offer good sport in the right conditions and is possibly more suited to low levels to allow wading further out

Bright with a cold strong downstream wind. Fished the top half of the beat from 11.30 to 2.30. No flies showing and nothing rising. A change from duo to two gold/copper head HENs brought immediate success and picked up succession of pretty brownies the best pushing 1.5lbs. Odd mayfly and sulphur may coming off after lunch tempted me to try dry fly again, but apart from one splashy rise from a small fish, there was no interest, so reverted to nymphs and caught a few more. The wind didn't let up all day. Tried the lower glide as evening approached but nothing moved to dry or nymph. Perfect beat to chose for a first visit to the Usk. Good to meet Chris Price. Thanks for the flies. Sadly I didn't need them this time but I'll be back.

10 Trout

I know the upper Arrow quite well but this was my first experience of Whittern. A first always presents challenges and on this occasion they were exacerbated by a continuous, strong downstream wind.

Throughout the afternoon there was a significant and prolonged Mayfly hatch. I watched as they bounced vulnerably on the water expecting the trout to latch onto them but it simply didn't happen. Only once did I encounter a fish picking them off but he was close to a shaded bank protected by low hanging vegetation as well as that annoying wind. I tried but failed.

When all my other tactics for bringing fish to the surface came to naught I resorted to trundling a heavy nymph through some of the deeper runs. This produced two (11-12") beautiful trout. Nice fish but I was left feeling rather frustrated. I'd failed to make the best of a day that seemed full of promise - I guess that's part of the enduring challenge and why we love the sport. "I'll be back!"

2 Trout

1x 10lb fresh Salmon, caught on a Willie Gunn brass tube fly From Colmans. My first Wye salmon.

1 Salmon

6 Trout

Nothing caught or even seen for that matter

Did not fish