Feedback & Reports

The river was quite coloured and a little high. We fished in the morning and had reasonable success with mayfly patterns. I also returned at the very end of the day and had one more trout. Mayfly were coming off every now and then though not many trout were rising to them. This is a lovely beat and we will fish it again.

8 Trout

We had a great time on this beat which provides a good range of challenges and some exciting fishing. Fish were rising to mayfly during the afternoon despite the coloured water. This is now our favourite beat on the upper Monnow and we will be back next year.

12 Trout

We booked 3 beats for the day and had so much fun on the other two that we had virtually no time on this beat. A fews casts into the first pool up from the confluence produced a lovely trout and then we were off. Will come back and fish it properly next time.

1 Trout

The river was slightly coloured but running very fast. The beat was a pleasure to fish and the occasional mayfly on the water brought sporadic rises. We saw several pools with big trout but could not tempt them. Both our (smallish) trout fell to French Partridge mayfly patterns. We did drop a plastic see-through fly box containing 50-60 may fly patterns somewhere along the beat but it was probably washed way down stream - if anyone should happen to find it, I would love to get it back - many hours at the fly bench were in that box! Would fish it again and take more time.

2 Trout

10 lbs fresh cock salmon on small pot bellied pig (cascade) double. Intermediate shooting head with 5` slow sinking tip.

1 Salmon

River was coloured and really pushing through; even in shallow riffles you could feel the strength of current. Anglers should take care as the current has gouged out deep, fast channels.
Great sport on Mayfly. I arrived at around midday and there was a steady hatch from about 1pm until 4.30pm, when a cool breeze came up and seemed to end it. I had lots of splashy rises to the fly, missing a lot (!), losing a couple and netting a few around the 8 to 9 inch mark but saw lots of trout much larger.
No fish taken.

5 Trout

Many thanks to the local rod who showed me how to do it within 5 mins of arriving! He very kindly advised a few spots and later his advice was invaluable in explaining how I might fly fish a small part of Llangoed pool and a small tube did the trick for a fresh 10lber. Quite simply would not have happened without local expert advice, so huge thanks!
Thanks as ever to WUF.

1 Salmon

Recent catch reports for this beautiful lake suggested I was either in for a feast or a famine: as things turned out it was somewhere in between. It's a long drive from where I live and I wasn't fishing until almost midday. Overcast skies and a cold southeasterly wind meant the first couple of hours were very quiet and I took only one small trout. As the day warmed and the wind dropped a bit there were a couple of flurries of activity, one in the early afternoon and another in the early evening. These helped me to take ten trout it total, the best of which was close to a pound and feeding only a couple of feet from the shore. I fished a team of wet flies with the Zulu and Green Peter taking most fish. When the fish were active I also had plenty of rises, swirls and missed takes which gave the impression the fish were not really feeding heavily. I have often encountered this behaviour fishing Irish loughs after periods of rain - the locals claimed it was because the rain had washed so much food into the lake that the fish were stuffed full. I find that a much more appealing explanation than straight forward incompetence!

10 Trout

Grabbed two hours in the afternoon and was entertained by four hard fighting wbt between 3 and 6 inches. Water high and fining off after previous days rain.

4 Trout

Arrived about 4pm, fished for a couple of hours. Cattle (including a bull) in the first field by the footbridge so be cautious.
Big mayfly hatches visible, caught a nice browny about a pound on a small dry imitation. River appears quite high from the rain and the holes are very deep at the moment. As such it is difficult to wade continuously. Apart from the cattle drink, access to the river is also difficult as the vegetation is thick from edge of field to bank.

1 Trout