Feedback & Reports

Fished from lunchtime to about 7pm. Small olives hatching off all day, with a good hatch in the early afternoon. Two of us managed 17 grayling to 17", and 8 trout to 14", almost all on small dry flies cast to rising fish. Should have started earlier. Got very cold after about 6pm when the sun went behind the hill. Nice beat.

8 Trout, 17 Grayling

1 Eel on meat. Lost one barbel and only had two other bites all day.

1 Other

I had been looking forward to fishing this beat for some time and nothing was going to spoil it for me. The fishing was slow to start but the surroundings breathtaking. The canoe traffic was substantially less than the previous day on Wyebank and just as courteous. Most of them will share a joke with you if you engage with them. After a wander and a chat with the other two anglers on the beat, Don arrived. From this point on and after taking on board all of his clearly substantial knowledge, I moved swims to the top of the beat where the deeper water runs. I opted for the swim known as 'the new swim' and it was not long before I was into the first fish of the day, a chub of around 4lb. It would be another hour or so before the first barbel arrived, a beautiful fish of around 6lb. This was followed by my best fish of the day at 8lb 4oz. A further 2 barbel and 1 chub were added before the light gave up on me. All fish fell to double glued halibut eclipse pellet, hair rigged and 3 foot hook lengths. I cast to the far bank aiming at a spot some 10 foot short of the far bank foliage. All of the credit must be given to Don, an extremely obliging and knowledgable river keeper and a real gent! I will most definitely be back on Courtfield in the future.

4 Barbel, 2 Chub

Enjoyed fishing from 10am to 7pm and caught 11 brown trout around 10 inches. Mostly cloudy with heavy rainfall around 4pm that stimulated the fish nicely and there appeared plenty rising in the evening after the rain. Used only dry flies, with parachute Adams working best, followed by daddy long legs, F-flies. All fish returned safely. This is one of the best beats on Usk as there are plenty of fish, easy access from parking to river, easy wading. Thanks WUF for providing this fantastic opportunity.

11 Trout

One fish seen, otherwise very very quiet.

Not the river conditions we expected to meet when we looked at the weather forecast earlier in the week, what happened to the rain! We did have a salmon rod booked but with the river so low and quiet we both coarse fished, plenty of resident salmon about though. A very interesting bit of water, we did fish most of the beat to get a feel for it but no surprise all the fish came from the bottom. First time on a very well kept beat, will be back.

6 Barbel, 27 Chub

Weather constantly changing throughout day. Nothing coming to worm, spin or fly.

Autumn has suddenly arrived and the early morning and dusk temperatures have dropped. A lovely day again here with trout in abundance. I'm still lost for what they are taking. I had two bites from my favorite nymph, but nothing else. I must renew my strategy for next season. No sign of salmon. It's getting late in the year now. Maybe some rain will help.

Hard going in the morning but things picked up mid afternoon. Plenty of fish rising, mainly to tiny stuff that was impossible to match. A few larger olives were coming off however which interested a few fish in my emerger patterns.
All the grayling were around the pound mark and exceptional fighters. Nice beat that I will definitely fish again.

1 Trout, 5 Grayling

Tough conditions once again on this stunning beat. Had two barbel and 4 chub. Thanks to Don and WUF. Will be back!

2 Barbel, 4 Chub