Feedback & Reports

Unfortunately this was a pointless exercise, the river looked more like a carp pond due to recent flooding, very swollen and absolutely no visibility. There was plenty of fly life, some mays, etc in so many respects it could have been perfect on what is a really lovely beat. I tackled up all the same just for the hell of it. Still, had a very comfortable night at the Bell Inn but it was very disappointing to get these conditions on what is generally only an annual trip to this area.

An hour's fishing in the evening - booked in the expectation of a warm summer's evening... well it only rained for half the time and the river had just about fined down to be fishable. 4 good sized fish in 5 mins from the top to a size 16 bead head PTN around 8pm. Lots of flies around the bank / field. On the right day, this must offer cracking sport.
(On a separate note, there seemed to be a lot of an invasive plant (the reddish stemmed one) along the length of the beat and creeping into the corn field).

4 Trout

With Pontsticill reservoir over flowing now is the time to fish our upper Taff beats. The Taf Fechan fishes well on downstream wets when the reservoir is over flowing. Use small flies 16 or below.

Very difficult going. Not so much as a take.

River high and very coloured. Fly fished Beat 1 of Golden Grove during the day. No fish seen or bumped, apart from some small trout.

5 Trout

Fished from about 11 to 5 in the bay. Fished worm on the bottom and bubble. Calm with frequent rain. Caught 2 rainbows late on, 1 brown and 9 perch. An enjoyable days fishing, a few others fishing to our left, some had tents and were quite noisy, heard what sounded like branches being broken of trees. Did not see the baliff.

3 Trout, 9 Other

Fished Talybont for about three and a half hours on Sunday evening from four o clock. Dark and dirty with a fair bit of rain. but got five good quality browns (all returned) on claret muddler, yorkie and sedgehogs. Not a lot of fly about but the odd fish showing in the surface.

5 Trout

Trout: 1 @ 9.5", 3 @ 8", 1 @ 7". River high but clear.

5 Trout

Cloudy water but all in all good fishing. 5x WBT all around a pound.

5 Trout

I had put in more hours than I would care to remember at Talybont last year with more failure than I would care to admit. This time, planning to fish for a few hours before driving on to camp near Brecon, I had loosened up for barely 10 minutes when I lifted into a gentle taker just a few yards out.

After a long fight with much line taken and later several jumps at closer range, this handsome fish finally lay on its side and the netting was easy. At 2lb 9oz it made this three-day trip before it had really begun. A top dropper Kate McLaren was responsible. One further savage take further down the bank followed.

For Upper Usk fishers stymied by the weather Talybont, though not easy, is a fascinating choice. The following day I also enjoyed Crai Reservoir (south of Sennybridge and very popular with cuckoos for some reason) though the east bank gives very limited access to the water beyond the gorge. Keep well above the water for quicker, safer access to the far (west) bank, and be aware the dam may not be crossed, which means a long, ankle-testing walk back! Bring £12 cash in an envelope with car details and go through Cnewr Farm archway (on main road near dam) to post in box just inside the courtyard on the right.

1 Trout